Former Arizona State WR Kerry Taylor Throws Dennis Erickson Under the Bus

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If Arizona State Sun Devils' head coach Dennis Erickson would ever run for President of the United States, or any office for that matter, I don't know that Kerry Taylor would vote for him.

The former ASU wide receiver decided he was going to toss his former coach under the bus, run over him, back up, and run over him again just for good measure.

After doing an interview with a local television station, Taylor took to Twitter just to make absolutely sure his voice, and his displeasure, was heard by all who would listen.



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"Just did an interview about the problems of ASU football and why Dennis Erickson is NOT the right man for the job," Taylor tweeted. "I want ASU to win Pac12 Championships, all us ASU fans do. But in order for that to happen we need a new Head Coach. That's all I'm saying."

 

Tim Ring, the reporter who did the interview with Taylor, took to his own twitter account to let his viewers know when the interview would be played on the station.

 

"A lot of people are asking about the Kerry Taylor interview," he tweeted. "This will NOT air on Ch 3 tonight. Coach Erickson will get time to respond. The interview will be properly vetted with both sides getting a fair chance to have their say. The piece tentatively will air NEXT Sunday."

 

I don't know a lot of college football players who would be that open about their former head coach. But can you blame Taylor for what he said? Players who commit to certain universities do so with the hope and possible expectation that this program can win conference championships.

 

Erickson' first season as the head man at Arizona State ended with a 10-3 record, respectable for a first year head coach in a tough PAC-10, now PAC-12, conference.

 

Since then, however, the Sun Devils are a combined 15-21 and have missed the post season.

 

With the 2011 season coming up, ASU has a great chance to take home the PAC-12 South title especially with USC on bowl restrictions. This might be the one big chance Erickson has to prove Taylor wrong.

 

While I'm not going to say a former player can't have his own opinion, I will say it's not something the current players need to be worried about when practices start back up. They are going to be asked about it and there are going to be reporters who will try to get another player to agree with Taylor's comments.

 

When it's all said and done, the Sun Devils need to get past the problems a former player has with his former coach and worry about what happens on the field this coming season. That not only goes for the players but also for Erickson himself.

 

These quotes will follow him throughout this season, especially if the team begins to struggle. The only way he'll be able to shake off the thoughts of the former wide receiver, as well as the surrounding media, is to win games and prove they are a strong team in the PAC-12 conference.

 

Otherwise, Erickson might be shown the door before the 2011 season comes to a close.

Oregon Ducks: Chip Kelly Has the Oregon Ducks Firing on All Cylinders

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When you look around the college football landscape there are a few things that you take notice of. Unfortunately, the only thing most fans and media have been noticing as of late are the problems surrounding Jim Tressel, Terrelle Pryor, and the Ohio State University football program.

Almost 2,500 miles to the west, there's another football program who has quietly been having success and making sure they keep their name on the lips of just about every national college football writer theer is.

The Oregon Ducks came in to the 2010 season without running back LaGarrett Blount, who left for the NFL, and 2009 starting quarterback Jeremiah Masoli who transferred to Ole Miss after being dismissed from Oregon's football team.


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"We have standards in this program," Kelly said during an interview with SI.com. "If you can't adhere to them then you can't play here. [Masoli] crossed the line and he's no longer here."

The Oregon head coach admitted that there may have been some bad press surrounding not only Masoli and Blount but also LaMichael James who was arrested back in February of 2010 on charges of domestic violence.

When asked about some of the things being said about the football program because of the actions of those three players, Kelly made it clear what's expected of his team. "Our players need to understand that when you represent [Oregon], you represent it 24/7. It doesn't change when you're off the field. The players who have done that the right way are still here and the players that haven't done that aren't here."

His actions regarding Masoli have shown that he's has no problem kicking a star player off a team for doing something detrimental to the program.

With Masoli's departure, a young quarterback by the name of Darron Thomas stepped into the spotlight and took control of the offense. It didn't take long to show just what kind of player he was going to become for the Oregon Ducks.

In two seasons as the head coach, Kelly has taken this program to back-to-back BCS bowl games, the Rose Bowl and the BCS National Championship. Although both were losses, it seems the Ducks' head coach has this program firing on all cylinders.

"Kelly could be the biggest sleeper coach in FBS football," said Fox Sports' Lisa Horne. "You have to understand where Oregon football was and where it is now. From 1942 to 1994, only two coaches posted career aggregate winning records at Oregon: Jim Aiken and Len Casanova. The Ducks have won only one Rose Bowl (1917) and had a 68-year bowl drought starting in 1920—they were basically the laughingstock of the Pac-8 and Pac-10."

He is already a big name around college football and someone who, without a doubt, will get interest from not only other Division-I but also the NFL.

"I see myself trying to hopefully be [at Oregon] tomorrow," Kelly said when asked about possibly going to the NFL after his days at Oregon. "Our philosophy with this football program is 'Win the Day' and I can't talk about things way down the road because then my actions wouldn't match my words."

With those words, it seems Kelly is committed to staying with the University of Oregon for as long as he possibly can. While long term coaches are a rarity in college football these days, Lisa Horne told me it's quite possible he could be there for the long run.

"He could be one of those career coaches like Joe Paterno or Bobby Bowden—something that in this era of college football is rare—and so far, he seems committed," she said. "Kelly has demonstrated his close ties to the Ducks' community by writing a check for $439 to a fan who demanded a refund for his traveling expenses after watching the Ducks embarrass themselves [in 2009] against Boise State."

Two seasons just doesn't seem to be quite the right amount of time to be able to rate just how good Chip Kelly is as a football coach. His teams have been one of the strongest offensive teams in college football during his tenure, leading the nation last season in points per game (49.3) and finishing second in total offense (537.5 ypg), just one tenth of a yard behind the Oklahoma Sooners (537.6).

Heading in to the 2011 season, the Oregon Ducks are once again expected to be one of the strongest teams in not only the PAC-12 but also in college football.

Running back LaMichael James will be returning as well as quarterback Darron Thomas, two players who were a huge factor in the team's success last season.

It might not be fair to say Kelly has a chance to solidify his career at Oregon going in to just his third season at the helm. However, he's already drawing comparisons to another long tenured college football coach.

"Kelly is in his third year now and has two big BCS Bowls under his belt, albeit both were losses," says Horne. "The only coach that comes close to those kind of attributes, in my mind, is Bob Stoops, of Oklahoma."

But Horne didn't stop there, even putting Kelly among some of the best active college football coaches out there.

"Mike Bellotti changed the Ducks' program, but Chip Kelly put the stamp of "BCS contenders" on them," she says. "He's a top 20 coach for sure, but he's only coached two full seasons at Oregon, so it's hard to rank him compared to other coaches with longer tenure, like say, Steve Spurrier. If Kelly wins a BCS Championship in the next few years, he jumps to a top 10 coach, but right now I put him at No. 20."

That's high praise for a coach heading into just his third season at the helm. But, if things continue to go the way they've gone over the last two seasons, maybe top 10 just wouldn't be good enough.

For a coach who began his career at Central High School in Manchester, New Hampshire, I'm not sure you could have ever convinced him he would be a house hold name at one of the biggest and most well known college football programs in the country.

Now if they would only change those hideous uniforms. But that's another story for another day.

USC Trojans DB Patrick Hall Will Miss 2011 Season With Torn ACL

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For the second time in three years, cornerback Patrick Hall has suffered a torn ACL which will cost him his second season as a member of the USC Trojans.

Back in 2009, in his only practice with the team, Hall tore the ACL in his right knee which forced him to redshirt and try to recover from the injury during the 2010 season.

A year later, Hall's luck couldn't have been worse.

During a voluntary workout a week ago, Hall intercepted a pass and landed awkwardly on his left knee. Right off the ball Hall knew the injury wasn't good. “I was able to walk off the last ACL tear I had and I knew it was the same thing (this time),” Hall told Dan Greenspan of Scout.com. “I just didn’t want to show everybody.”

Hall went on to tell Greenspan that after talking to the trainers he hopes he can be at least jogging in three months time. Because he's will have missed two complete seasons, Greenspan notes that Hall will need to petition the NCAA for a sixth year of eligibility.

The USC defensive back is waiting for the swelling to subside and should be undergoing surgery to repair the ACL tear in the next few weeks.

Stanford Cardinal: Breaking Down QB Andrew Luck



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The Stanford Cardinal could not have been more excited when they found out their star quarterback, Andrew Luck, would be returning to school for another college football season instead of heading to the NFL Draft. Regardless of the fact he could have been the top overall draft pick.

 

After passing for 2,575 yards and 13 touchdowns as a freshman, Luck had a breakout sophomore season throwing for 3,338 and an astounding 32 touchdowns to just eight interceptions not to mention completing more than 70 percent of his passes.

Jim Harbaugh, Luck's former head coach at Stanford, was the man who talked his quarterback into returning to school before taking the head coaching job with the San Francisco 49ers. One might wonder if Luck was re-thinking his decision to return to school but ended up keeping his promise to the university.

At 6-foot-4 and 235 pounds, Luck stands tall in the pocket and delivers a strong pass to his receivers. While he can take the normal three-step drop after the snap, Luck is also a guy who can roll out and deliver a pass on the run.

He is as good with the short ball as he is with the long ball. What has helped the Stanford quarterback over the last few years was having talented running backs behind him to keep an opposing defense honest.

In his freshman season, Luck had Heisman candidate running back Toby Gerhart behind him. A bruising running back who was a lot faster than he looked. After Gerhart departed for the Minnesota Vikings and the National Football League, Stepfan Taylor came in and looked every bit as talented as Gerhart, rushing for almost 1,100 yards (1,099) last season.

Luck has had his share of enormous games for Stanford over his two years as the starting quarterback, but when you watch his performance at home against USC in the season's sixth week would stand out. Sure he didn't throw for more than 300 yards, but completing 20 of his 24 pass attempts (83.3%) is impressive for any quarterback, especially against a conference rival.

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USC Trojans: Could Armond Armstead's Career Be in Jeopardy?

The USC Trojans could be without their best defensive lineman, Armond Armstead, after he checked himself into a hospital on Tuesday complaining of chest pains.

He sat out the team's first spring practice session and addressed the media afterwards as to what had happened and what the situation was.

"I was having some chest pains, so that's what caused me to go initially," Armstead said. "I'd been sick for a couple weeks -- it was an ongoing thing. I was coordinating with the trainers and the staff and then going to see the doctors, trying to figure out what was going on. I feel fine now, that's the thing. As soon as I got out of the hospital I was just at home chilling with my family and I felt great. I wanted to move the appointment up with the doctors to see if I could get the results sooner but the tests haven't come back yet."

USC expected Armstead to be one of their starting defensive lineman in 2011, but head coach Lane Kiffin continues to hold him out of practice until results come back from the doctors.

"We're still getting stuff back in," said Kiffin. "Some tests have not come back, so we're holding him out in the meantime."

While the Trojans' coaching staff could be looking on the bright side and hoping for the best for their young lineman, Scott Wolf of the Los Angeles Daily News reports that sources close to USC are worried that this could be a lot more serious than they want to believe.

Wolf says there are concerns this could be a heart problem. If that's the case, could it possibly end Armstead's football career?

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National Signing Day: Which Hat Will They Choose?

College football readies for one of their biggest day of the off season. National Signing Day.

It's the day where the top recruits in the country sit at a long folding table, presumably with their parents, in front of three or four hats representing their college choices and several microphones from local television and radio stations.

When the moment comes, they pick their school by putting on the hat of their choice to a loud applause from approve friends and family.

There are already several players from around the country that have already made their choices and have given their verbal commitments.

For the rest, it comes down to having the spotlight for those five or 10 minutes depending on how long the networks want to cover each event. There's no doubt that ESPN will have a lot of those decisions live and if you don't have access to watch television while you're at work, there are several big time internet services that you can check as each decision comes down.

If you're used to hanging out on my blog, go head over to National Football Authority as I'll do my best to keep you updated as each decision comes down and bring you my thoughts on each player, who they signed with, any shockers that might happen, the winners, the losers, and everything in between.

Here are a list of the top 15 players that are expected to make their decision during National Signing Day, the finalists they're choosing from, and where they're expected to commit.

One player that isn't on this list, Jadeveon Clowney, a player that is listed as the number one prospect in the country by Rivals.com, isn't expected to make his decision until February 14th.

Curtis Grant - Linebacker (Richmond, VA)
Finalists: Florida, North Carolina, Ohio State, Virginia
Predicted: Ohio State

Cyrus Kouandjio - Offensive Tackle (Hyattsville, MD)
Finalists: Alabama, Auburn, Iowa, Miami, New Mexico, USC
Predicted: Alabama

Tony Stewart - Outside Linebacker (St. Augustine, FL)
Finalists: Florida State, Clemson
Predicted: Florida State

Isaiah Crowell - Running back (Columbus, GA)
Finalists: Alabama, Auburn, Georgia
Predicted: Georgia

Stephone Anthony - Outside Linebacker (Wadesboro, NC)
Finalists: Clemson, Florida, North Carolina, NC State, Virginia Tech
Predicted: Clemson

Timmy Jernigan - Defensive Tackle (Lake City, FL)
Finalists: Florida State, LSU, Florida, Alabama, Tennessee
Predicted: Florida

Marqise Lee - Athlete (Gardena, CA)
Finalists: USC, Cal, Oregon, Miami
Predicted: USC

Marcus Roberson - Cornerback (Ft. Lauderdale, FL)
Finalists: Florida, Auburn, Georgia, USC, Texas Tech
Predicted: Has already verbally committed to Texas Tech but still considering four other schools

Lamar Dawson - Inside Linebacker (Danville, KY)
Finalists: Kentucky, Oregon, Tennessee, UCF, USC
Predicted: Tennessee

Nickolas Brassell - Wide Receiver (Batesville, MD)
Finalists: Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Alabama
Predicted: Ole Miss

Aundrey Walker - Offensive Guard (Cleveland, OH)
Finalists: Michigan State, USC, Ohio State, Florida State, Wisconsin
Predicted: Ohio State

Erique Florence - Safety (Valley, AL)
Finalists: USC, Alabama, Auburn, Arkansas, Cincinnati
Predicted: Auburn

Antonio Richardson - Offensive Tackle (Nashville, TN)
Finalists: Tennessee, Miami, Auburn, Georgia, USC, LSU
Predicted: Tennessee

Jacoby Brissett - Quarterback (West Palm Beach, FL)
Finalists: Florida, Miami, North Carolina, Washington, Wisconsin
Predicted: Miami

There will be many more decisons made by some of the top high school recruits in the country but these 15 are going to be the ones that are talked about the most leading up to their decisions and even after they've made their choice.

If you're a big college football fan, you should love this time of year.