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Everyone can agree that Will Muschamp did a pretty poor job as Florida's head coach. And everyone can also agree that the reason he didn't succeed was he did a pretty poor job of recruiting.
And if you're at Florida and you struggle to recruit enough to push your offense past more than a glacial pace, you should be fired and the school should be allowed to forego the buyout.
That context is why Coach Boom should just stop paying so much attention to what his successor says. And he should definitely stop responding publicly, trying to make the case that all was well in Gainesville in the area of talent procurement.
Just ... no.
All that said, it's always fun to watch coaches engage in a spat so here's the latest on the tiff between Muschamp and Jim McElwain.
Will Muschamp isn't so sure what Jim McElwain is complaining about.
In November, Muschamp said Florida had a "deep and talented roster, so don't let that new guy tell you he ain't got any players," but last week McElwain said the Gators roster "really insufficient" in some areas, specifically on offensive line and linebacker.
Muschamp said he was unaware of McElwain's comments, but Auburn's defensive coordinator offered a strong rebuttal.
"He said he could coach a dog and win," Muschamp said. "Heck, (does he) like the dog better than his players?"
Muschamp was referring to remarks McElwain made during his introductory press conference.
"I believe I can win with my dog Claribelle," McElwain said. "That's the attitude. There's good players here. That's just our responsibility to get that going."
A few Friday links:
-- Good grief ... perhaps another 5-star DB at Florida State?
The recruitment of five-star Levonta Taylor started early but the Virginia Beach (Va.) Ocean Lakes star has had his fill of the recruiting process. On Friday night, Taylor, the nation's top rated defensive back, will announce his commitment at his school.
"I'm not going to have any hats on the table," said the 5-foot-10, 180-pound Taylor. "It's going to be a surprise. Georgia, LSU, Virginia, Florida, Florida State, UCLA, USC, Clemson and Ohio State are some of the schools I'm considering. I don't really have a list of top schools. I'm just going to pick the best one for me."
That whoooooshing sound you hear? It's Florida State and Clemson pulling away from the rest of the ACC.
-- In this article, Jalen Ramsey said he isn't out to make friends on the FSU team.
"Jalen is at the top of his game every day," Fisher said. "And I tell him, 'Beat them in the ground.' He'll embarrass them. He makes them compete."
One of Fisher's favorite sayings - it might be the most-used Jimboism of all, in fact - is that he'd "rather say whoa then giddy-up."
With Ramsey he's never had to say "giddy-up."
Now he has had to say "whoa" a few times, including last year's open practice in August where he kicked the star defensive back off the field for an overly aggressive hit on Karlos Williams.
Ramsey apologized for the incident. And was in Fisher's good graces the next day. But it was a glimpse into Ramsey the competitor. Then again, every game is a glimpse into Ramsey the competitor. The guy is a jawing, pointing, hard-tackling, trash-talking ball of fury.
Now that Jameis Winston is no longer on the team, Ramsey is without question the most confident player on Florida State's roster. Heck, my man was at FSU's pro day on Tuesday, in front of 122 NFL scouts, general managers and coaches, wearing a shirt with his name and picture on it.
He knows he's good. That confidence (call it cockiness if you want) isn't a bad thing either. Not for a cornerback.
-- The College Football Playoff committee is meeting in Indianapolis, and they decided to keep the weekly rankings.
After meetings Wednesday and Thursday to review the 2014 season and consider possible changes, selection committee chairman Jeff Long said the committee would produce one fewer Top 25 ranking in 2015 - but "it's a function of the calendar," because the season begins one week later, he said, not a desire to make changes.
"Generally, we think last year went very well," said Long, Arkansas' athletic director. "We were pleased with the reaction from fans. Our goal is to build on that success."
And this:
Even a mildly controversial final ranking worked out pretty well last season. Ohio State moved into the No. 4 spot - and thus into the playoff field - ahead of Big 12 teams Baylor and TCU, while unbeaten Florida State was ranked No. 3, behind one-loss teams Alabama and Oregon. But Oregon routed Florida State in the Rose Bowl. And Ohio State beat Alabama in the Sugar Bowl, then Oregon in the championship game.
Wait, "mildly" controversial? Not the way I remember it. Seems like a revisionist account. Because a whole heck of a lot of people were complaining about Ohio State ... before Ohio State beat Alabama and smoked Oregon.
-- Four different teams in the Final Four, four different drug-testing policies.
Copeland is among those who call the lack of a uniform testing program in college sports a glaring blind spot for the NCAA, which tries to regulate almost everything from recruiting, to paying players, to gambling and more.
He's not alone.
"How ironic that the NCAA has this TV contract that brings in billions of dollars for the tournament, but no consistent rules to protect the integrity of what they're selling," said Travis Tygart, CEO of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency.
The diffuse policies in play at the Final Four, and around the country, do have a few things in common:
* They have relatively limited lists of banned substances.
* They don't test blood for human-growth hormone.
* They have no means of dealing with cases that don't involve a positive test but show other evidence of drug use. That's how Lance Armstrong and several athletes implicated in the BALCO scandal lost their records.
* Most schools don't have an independent agency to evaluate results and mete out punishment, which can put administrators at odds with their coaching staffs and athletic departments.
-- And Kansas State's president defends the NCAA's involvement (or lack thereof) in academics.
The NCAA has come under criticism for part of its response to a lawsuit filed against it by former North Carolina athletes. In the filing, the NCAA wrote the association "did not assume a duty to ensure the quality of education student-athletes received at member institutions."
Two former Tar Heels athletes have filed a lawsuit against the school and NCAA, saying neither has done enough to ensure athletes get a quality education.
The NCAA reopened its academic misconduct investigation at North Carolina in June. The focus is no-show courses in one department, which were often treated as independent studies that required no class time and one or two research papers. An investigation conducted by former U.S. Justice Department official Kenneth Wainstein reported that the fraud ran from 1993 to 2011 and affected more than 3,100 students, roughly half being athletes.
NCAA President Mark Emmert was asked about the statement in the lawsuit filing on Thursday during his state of the NCAA news conference. He said member schools want the association to handle eligibility issues but mostly want autonomy when it comes to academics.
"I have no desire at Kansas State University to have the NCAA more involved in our academic enterprise," Schulz said.
LW
