Not sure what the heck Bud Foster was thinking when he thought of an idea to make players pay fines out of their Cost of Attendance money.
Virginia Tech defensive coordinator Bud Foster, the highest-paid coordinator in the country, told reporters that the team has discussed fining its players from their cost-of-attendance stipends.
"We're going to look at that," Foster told reporters. "You know, some people got in trouble for getting up and punishing people at 6 a.m. in the morning. And obviously you need some discipline. I think that's one way you can potentially do that, to control that a little bit. These guys now, they haven't had access to money unless they've been Pell Grant recipients. So they'll want that when it's all said and done at the end of the day."
It's a good thing it never advanced beyond Foster just talking about the idea. Because had it gotten to the stage of it actually happening, we're talking fireable offense.
Virginia Tech athletic director Whit Babcock quickly squashed any idea of fining athletes, according to reporters, saying "it will be discontinued immediately."
A few Thursday links:
-- ESPN's Adam Rittenberg with a nice read on Maurice Clarett.
It hits on Clarett's central theme to the Seminoles: Without personal development, the biggest and strongest men often remain lost boys.
"A lot of y'all need to grow the f--- up," Clarett says. "That's the bottom line."
When finished, FSU players and coaches give Clarett a standing ovation. Coach Jimbo Fisher tells the team Clarett delivered one of the most "real" talks he has heard in 28 years in the game. Tight ends coach Tim Brewster, a Denver Broncos assistant during Clarett's brief time as a Broncos draft pick, congratulates Clarett on "an amazing success story."
Associate head coach Odell Haggins, seated in the front row, says it's one of the most inspiring speeches he has heard in 22 years at FSU.
"This man is keeping it real with y'all," Haggins tells the players. "This is true love speaking to you. I use the word love. Listen to the man."
They're listening.
And this:
Clarett tells his story in great detail, something he picked up in prison while watching a Denzel Washington interview with Charlie Rose ("From the specific comes the universal," Clarett often says). He mixes in humor, even in describing his failed attempt to evade police in Columbus on Aug. 9, 2006. ("A Hyundai is not a getaway car," he tells the Florida State players.)
He can be professional and profane in the same breath. He describes being a successful entrepreneur and a street hustler; a drug dealer, a drug and alcohol abuser and a depressive; a caring father to Jayden, 9, and a fiancé to Ashley, who stuck with him through everything. He drops LeBron James' name ("We were buddy-buddy") and explains how he felt during a disastrous 2005 NFL combine ("I was done with football") and after being drafted in the third round ("I knew I would be exposed").
"I'd seen the 30 for 30, but I never knew what really went down, like him having mental issues, thinking about killing himself," Alabama tight end O.J. Howard said. "It makes you think about where you're at now. You can't really get caught up in all the negativity, all the hype, the parties, doing drugs. Because it's so easy to fall down the wrong path.
"His story made us realize that could be us."
-- Stewart Mandel opens the mailbag and wonders if there's an NFL quarterback playing in the SEC.
First of all, future Top 2 NFL draft picks – both of whom I could see being stars for the next decade – don’t exactly litter the rosters of any conference, SEC or otherwise. Also, we’re only a year removed from four SEC quarterbacks Johnny Manziel, Aaron Murray, AJ McCarron and Zach Mettenberger – going in the draft, while another, Connor Shaw, played as a rookie. Granted, if I’m putting my life savings on a quarterback from that class it would be Teddy Bridgewater, not the SEC Five, but that’s still a pretty impressive output from one league in one year. But it was also an aberration.
The SEC over the years has not produced star quarterbacks at nearly the same rate they do running backs and defensive linemen, but this year’s crop is shaping up to be particularly underwhelming. The fact that expected contenders Alabama and Georgia still don’t know what they’re doing at that position is not a positive sign. Obviously Mississippi State’s Dak Prescott is the league’s one established star quarterback. I’d hesitate to call him NFL-ready, but I’ll fully admit I’m not a trained NFL draft evaluator. A guy I wouldn’t be surprised to hear his name called next spring is Arkansas’ Brandon Allen, but in Bret Bielema’s offense he’s not going to put up gaudy stats. The guy who most likely will light up the box score is Auburn’s Jeremy Johnson.
-- In Norman, use of tailbacks presents a most interesting decision for new OC Lincoln Riley.
Riley, on his players: “I think they’re confident about our schemes because they know everybody’s going to be involved. They understand to be good, we have to be able to do both” run and pass.
My take: How Riley uses his tailbacks is the most mysterious part of his first year. How he incorporates Samaje Perine and Joe Mixon together. How much Baker Mayfield throws to the tailbacks out of the backfield. The more OU goes with a two-tailback set, the less it has to depend on so many wide receivers. It’s possible the Sooners aren’t as destitute at receiver this season, with the addition of DeDe Westbrook and Mark Andrews, but relying primarily on three at a time instead of four will make things easier.
Center Ty Darlington, on how much the Sooners will run and pass: “Not just the run-pass ratio, but finding ways to get our running backs the ball. Running backs are probably the deepest position group on our team. Everyoine knows Samaje, and people are talking about Joe for good reason. Daniel Brooks behind him. Alex Ross is a dynamic ballplayer. Rodney Anderson is going to be a very good football player here. We’ve got some backs we want to get the ball in their hands.”
My take: Interesting that Darlington listed Ross’ fourth, behind even Brooks. I don’t think Darlington did it on purpose or meant it. But some observers think Brooks is more aligned with the Air Raid than is Ross. Ross is an awfully good tailback. Perine is all-American caliber, but Ross averaged more yards per carry last season — 6.8-6.5. And that’s no small sample size, 88 carries. But Ross isn’t a prototype in the Air Raid; not necessarily an accomplished receiver, not a quick sideways dancer. Ross is a straight away home run threat.
-- For athletes, how much water is too much water?
“A lot of people, including coaches, think that it is dangerous for athletes to get dehydrated, even a little dehydrated,” said Kevin Miller, an associate professor of athletic training at Central Michigan University in Mount Pleasant, Mich., and co-author of the new report.
The coaches and others worry that dehydration leads to muscle cramping and possibly heat illnesses, including serious heat stroke. So, hoping to keep their athletes healthy and safe, they press them to drink fluids before, during, and after a practice, whether the athletes feel thirsty or not.
And if an athlete should develop cramps or feel excessively hot during the workout, they are told to down even more fluids, and if the cramps continue, still more, “until, before you know it, a player will have drunk a gallon or two of fluid or even more,” Dr. Miller said, “which is something that we know actually happens.”
The problem with this situation is that, according to the latest science, dehydration during sports is rarely if ever dangerous, but overhydration undeniably is.
Last year, for instance, in a heartbreaking incident, a high school football player in Georgia experienced cramps during practice, and hoping to alleviate them, began gulping large amounts of water and Gatorade. By the end of the practice, he had swallowed about four gallons of fluid, according to media reports. Not long afterward, he collapsed at home and was rushed by helicopter to the hospital, where, several days later, he died.
-- Introducing some fresh sounds from a band called The Arcs.
You had me at "multiple percussionists" ...
LW
