Monday Chalktalk NCAAF News & Notes for January 21
editor1 |Jan 22,2008
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Courtesy National Football Foundation -
www.footballfoundation.com
NFF Chairman Archie Manning and NFF Board Member Bob Kraft will
be on opposite sides during Super Bowl XLII in Glendale, Ariz.,
on Feb. 3. Manning's son Eliwill quarterback the New York Giants
in the big game while Kraft is the principal owner of the New
England Patriots. Eli, a 2003 NFF National Scholar-Athlete from
Ole Miss, hopes to follow in the footsteps of the 1997 NFF
National Scholar-Athlete from Tennessee who won the Super Bowl
last year, his brother Peyton.
Jason Alford, a rookie defensive tackle and the long snapper for
New York Giants who played in college at Penn State, will
become the first student-athlete in the history of the NFF's
Play It Smart program to play in the NFL's grand finale game.
Alford helped launch the highly-successful mentoring program at
Orange High School (New Jersey) as one of the program's first
participants in 1998.
Of the 17 candidates announced as finalists for the Pro Football
Hall of Fame on Jan. 15, four players already have the
distinguished themselves as inductees into the College Football
Hall of Fame in South Bend, Ind: Pittsburgh's Marshall Goldberg,
a back with Chicago Cardinals from 1939-1943 and 1946-48; Ohio
State's Randy Gradishar, a linebacker with the Denver Broncos
from 1974-1983; Texas A&I's Darrell Green, a cornerback with the
Washington Redskins from 1983- 2002; and Southern Mississippi's
Ray Guy, a punter with the Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders
from1973-1986. The 2008 Pro Football Hall of Fame Class will be
announced at a press conference February 2, at the Super Bowl
media center in the Phoenix Convention Center.
NFF News
NFF National Scholar-Athlete and Draddy Trophy Finalist Jacob
Tamme, the standout TE from Kentucky, is participating in the
2008 Under Armour Senior Bowl this week in Mobile, Alabama.
Kickoff is set for Saturday, Jan. 26 at 3:00 p.m. and will be
televised on the NFL Network.
The Sun Belt Conference hosted the NFF's MacArthur Trophy while
it awaited the winner of the Allstate BCS National Championship
game. Commissioner Wright Waters and his staff went to great
lengths in caring for the historic trophy, sending it to be
cleaned at the As You Like It Silver Shop on Magazine Street in
New Orleans and enlisting the New Orleans Sherriff office to
transport the trophy to LSU for their national championship
celebration, which took place on Saturday in front of 25,000
fans, who braved the unseasonably frigid temperatures at Tiger
Stadium. With the conclusion of the national championship game,
the City of New Orleans wrapped up a fabulous job in the hosting
a record three bowls for the region: the Allstate BCS National
Championship Game, the Allstate Sugar Bowl and the R+L Carriers
New Orleans Bowl.
Lisa Malin has been named the new Executive Director of the
College Football Hall of Fame in South Bend, Ind. Malin, who has
been with the Hall since it opened in South Bend in 1995, has
served as the Hall's interim director for the past five months,
following the tenure of Rick Walls, who now heads the Cincinnati
Reds Hall of Fame.
The College Football Hall of Fame in South Bend, Ind., is
featuring the 1988 Notre Dame National Championship team in a
special 20-Year Anniversary tribute with an exhibit and special
appearances by coaches and student-athletes.
NFF Chapter News
Cincinnati head coach Brian Kelly will be the guest speaker at
the NFF Toledo (Ohio) Chapter March 10 awards banquet. The
chapter scholar-athletes will visit the Toledo Children's
Hospital prior to the event... NFF College Hall of Famer and
Missouri great Roger Wehrli was featured speaker at the NFF
Greater St. Louis Chapter meeting last week.
Two-Minute Drill
Boise State and Brigham Young have set a four-game series from
2012-15. The Broncos also added a road game at Southern Miss
this fall... Oklahoma finalized its 2008 football by scheduling
Chattanooga on Aug. 30 and TCU on Sept. 27, both in Norman. The
Sooners also have contracted with Ohio State for games in 2016
and '17 and the Horned Frogs for a game in Fort Worth in 2012...
Louisiana Tech has slotted a six-game home schedule for the
first time since moving into NCAA FBS, opening with Southeastern
Conference opponent Mississippi State in Ruston on Aug. 30.
Cincinnati's Papajohns.com Bowl-winning football squad was
recognized during ceremonies at the Bearcats-Pittsburgh
basketball game last Saturday... Baylor has enrolled Miami
(Fla.) transfer QB Kirby Freeman. Freeman completed his
undergraduate degree and is eligible for the '08 season...
Delaware has been chosen as ECAC Team of the Year for the 11th
time since the honor first was bestowed in 1974. Blue Hens' head
coach K.C. Keeler claimed the Maxwell Club Tri-State Coach of
the Year kudos... A facilities committee within the board of
Regents at the Washington has approved the go-ahead for the
school's plan to remodel Husky Stadium... Michigan QB Ryan
Mallett is transferring to Arkansas... Charlie and Nancy Creech
have donated $250,000 to Toledo for construction of a new
athletics weight facility.
Greg McMackin has moved from defensive coordinator to the head
coaching post at Hawai'i... Joker Phillips has been designated
as Kentucky's head coach when current head coach Rich Brooks
retires, whose current contract has been extended through
2011...Mississippi State extended head coach Sylvester Croom's
contract through the 2011 season...Kansas' Mark Mangino accepted
his third National Coach of the Year trophy last week with the
American Heart Association's Paul W. "Bear" Bryant Award in
Houston. NFF Hall of Fame coach Tom Osborne (current director of
athletics) of Nebraska was presented the Paul W. Bryant
Lifetime Achievement Award... Buffalo head coach Turner Gill has
signed an extension through the 2012 campaign with the Bulls...
Connecticut's Randy Edsall has agreed to a five-year contract
extension... Richmond named Mike London head coach.
Former starting quarterback Kent Austin is returning to Ole Miss
as offensive coordinator... Jay Norvell has been named
offensive coordinator at Oklahoma... Auburn's new defensive
coordinator is Paul Rhoads ... Former Kansas QB and NFL standout
Nolan Cromwell is Texas A&M's offensive coordinator for 2008...
Texas has inked former All-Big 12 Conference and Texas-Ex QB
Major Applewhite as assistant head coach and running backs
coach... Northwestern selected Mick McCall (offensive) and Mike
Hankwitz (defensive) as new 2008 coordinators... Georgia Tech
selected Dave Wommack as defensive coordinator...Bill Young is
leaving Kansas to take over as Miami (Fla.) defensive
coordinator... Nigel Burton is the new defensive coordinator at
Nevada... Former Michigan State head coach Bobby Williams is
reuniting with Nick Saban as an assistant at Alabama... UCLA
named Norm Chow offensive coordinator... Colorado State named
Curtis Modkins offensive coordinator... Tracy Rocker, a College
Football Hall of Fame defensive lineman at Auburn, was named
defensive line coach at Mississippi.
Over 50 area children were treated to last week's East-West
Shrine Game in Houston as part of "Team Smile" with area
dentists and local Shriners... NFF National Scholar-Athlete and
Delta State LB Michael Eubanks earned recognition as a member of
the D2Football.com All- America team... NFF Chairman Archie
Manning was featured last Friday on the Kia Southwest Sports
Report regional television talk and highlights' program in the
Dallas-Fort Worth area... Retired Western Kentucky head coach
Jimmy Feix has been named to the Fellowship of Christian
Athletes Hall of Fame... Longtime Big East Conference
coordinator of football officials and on-field official (he was
referee in the first Big East contest) John Soffey is
retiring... Brian Waters (North Texas), Jason Witten
(Tennessee), Jason Taylor (Akron), and Hines Ward (Georgia) are
the four finalists for the NFL's Walter Payton Award (in memory
of the NFF Hall of Fame RB from Jackson State), given annually
to a pro player for outstanding civic along with on-field
ability... Saginaw Valley State (Mich.) athletics is
participating in the "Gear Up" program to present academics and
athletics messages to area students.
Former Tulane and Denison (OH) director of athletics Rix Yard,
90, died in Newport News, Va. He also served as assistant
football coach under NFF Hall of Famer Woody Hayes at Denison
(OH) from 1946-49... Ernie Holmes, 59, of the Pittsburgh "Steel
Curtain" defensive line and Texas Southern fame, passed away
after an auto accident near Beaumont, Texas, last Thursday...
Hardin- Simmons(TX) DB Brentdrick Walker, 20, was killed in a
motorcycle accident last Saturday in Abilene, Texas... William
"Rooster" Andrews, 84, died on Jan. 21 in Austin. He played for
the Longhorns during the 1943-45 seasons and was a member of the
NFF Greater Austin Chapter.
Correction: 2007 Rudy Award recipient Terry Clayton received the
award because of having to compete in NCAA FBS without his
hearing. He is totally deaf.
Key NFF Dates for 2008
May 1: Announcement of College Football Hall of Fame Bowl
Subdivision Class of 2008 - New York City
July 18-19: College Hall of Fame Enshrinement Festival - South
Bend, Ind.
July 23-27: NFF Play It Smart National Conference - Arlington,
Texas
Dec. 9: 51st Annual NFF Awards Dinner at the Waldorf=Astoria. -
New York City
www.footballfoundation.com
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