Month: February 2014

For Whom The Cowbell Tolls: Mississippi State’s National Signing Day?

Bearing in mind that we managed to get ‘They Might Be Giants’ in an article, we thought it important to get some Ernest Hemmingway in this article…..and that’s why we’ve gone with the ‘For Whom The Cowbell Tolls’ headline….(apparently it’s also the name of a Mississippi State blog, so we’re not exactly first in with this one…) Anyway, despite many people thinking that he would be out of a job before the 2014 National Signing Day, Dan Mullen’s victory in the Egg Bowl over Ole Miss and subsequent bowl win over Rice has now put a smile or two on the faces of the Cowbell Army. The Jamoral Graham signing was great because, as ESPN said – he can play

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Karma? How was Arkansas’ National Signing Day?

Bret Bielema isn’t much liked in SEC corridors. Maybe it’s because he was Wisconsin’s head coach. Maybe it’s because of his wife and her tweeting ways. Maybe it’s because he hasn’t won a SEC game. Anyway, Arkansas fans will certainly like him a lot better after a solid National Signing Day – which included getting a player to come play for him instead of National Champion Florida State. That was the case with 4-star athlete JoJo Robinson . Robinson had been pursued by LSU, Auburn and Miami, too. They think he might be the next great UA punt/kick returner. We can’t wait. Anyway, Bielema has always been pretty good at getting running backs, and he added one more in Juan Day.

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Ole Miss: The country’s most bizarre National Signing Day

After a tremendous 2013 National Signing Day, it would have taken Godlike qualities (and a Nick Saban resignation) to have propelled Hugh Freeze to those heights. Instead, the Ole Miss coach continued with another tremendous National Signing Day, solidifying his offensive line with a bunch of offensive linesmen, including four-starrer Rod Taylor, as well as Tyler Putman, and Jordan Sims. They’ll join JUCO O-Lineman Fahn Cooper, who enrolled early. Defensively, Freeze got JUCO DB Tee Shepard, who had previously committed to Notre Dame and Mississippi State, before he decided to play in Oxford at the last minute. Shepard had said that he would be playing his sophomore year in a community college. Did that all change? We don’t really know. Speaking

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Bauer, Giant WRs highlight Missouri’s National Signing Day class

There’s a band out there called ‘They Might Be Giants’. Have a listen. You’re never going to keep them down. We know that they’ve been around longer than Missouri’s wide receiving class….but the guys that Gary Pinkel’s recruited might be giants, too. Only one of the SIX wide receivers who decided to come to Columbia is play for Pinkel is under 6ft…and he’s 5 ft 10. Four-star receiver DeSean Blair – the pick of the bunch (who actually committed to Louisville before deciding he wanted to play in the SEC– is 6 ft 4, while Dorial Green-Beckham’s brother, Darnell, is 6 ft 5 (Important question: What does Mrs Green-Beckham feed her kids, and could we have some?). Missouri fans are

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After the Franklin carnage, Vanderbilt rebounds on Signing Day

Former Vanderbilt head coach James Franklin left at the wrong time. His departure in January to Penn State led to a number of de-commitments, and worries that Vanderbilt would not be able to fill their numbers. Defensive co-ordinator Derek Mason, from Stanford (which is better than Vandy in terms of academics, but would still be twinned with them in terms of academics-before-athletics institutions), came to town. And although he had a slow start, the speed that Vandy recruited in the last few days before National Signing Day would have made Nick Saban or Les Miles happy….and they picked up a monster DE recruit from under Stanford’s nose in Nifae Lealao. He also added 4-star DB Emmanuel Smith, who had offers from Ole

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Despite Evans, a superb National Signing Day for Auburn

Regardless of the screw-up with local boy Rashaan Evans, Auburn had a very, very good National Signing Day. To explain the Evans situation: five-star OLB Evans went to a local Auburn high school and it was anticipated that he would become an Auburn Tiger. So much so that Auburn put his name on their website, celebrating their victory. Well, it was a little too early, rather like Alabama fans celebrating a 2013 Iron Bowl victory. At his commitment ceremony, he opted to play for the Alabama Crimson Tide. Anyway, it’s all in the past, because Gus Malzahn had a great haul – at prep and JUCO level. Auburn signed the best JUCO player in the land in WR D’haquille Williams

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Florida Chomps Way to Top 10 National Signing Day Haul

The Florida Gators may have had a goddawful 2013 season, but if the 2014 season plays out like National Signing Day did, then the fanbase will have little to complain at Will Muschamp about. Five-star CB from Arizona Jalen Tabor decided that he’d prefer to take his talents South, and opted for Gainseville. Tabor’s move made Adoree Jackson’s decision not to play for the Gators (he’s going to USC) less of a kick in the teeth. He’ll be helped out in the secondary by DB J.C. Jackson, who many felt wouldn’t be a Gator by the end of the day, DB Duke Dawson (already enrolled) and DB Quincy Wilson, who was one of Florida’s earliest signings of the day. Muschamp also picked

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Texas A&M continues National Signing Day excellence

We’d like to make this clear: Texas A&M fans on Twitter spent an awful lot of time in hope as some of the country’s biggest recruits made their decisions to come to schools, but they weren’t exactly crying their eyes out when it didn’t happen. That’s because Kevin Sumlin had already put together a monster JUCO recruiting haul, and the signatures already coming in were among the best classes in the country. And, thank God for Aggies fans (and much-maligned (and generally by us) defensive co-ordinator Mark Snyder), a bunch of it was on the defensive side. DE Myles Garrett, the No.2 player at that position in the nation, is coming to College Station, as is already-signed athlete Speedy Noil.

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South Carolina comes in with solid National Signing Day haul

With Jadeveon Clowney and three other juniors going to the pros – as well as talisman quarterback Connor Shaw- South Carolina needed to shore up their class with an excellent National Signing Day…..and did. A lot of the big signings were on the defensive side. Steve Spurrier picked up DE Dante Sawyer, LB Bryson Allen-Williams and defensive tackle Dexter Wideman – who had committed earlier to Florida State – and reports have said that they expect DE Jhaustin Thomas to make an impact, too. Four-star Defensive back Chris Lammons came aboard, and DE Blake McClain, who was meant to be going to Nebraska, decided that he preferred the Palmetto State as well. On the offensive side, the Head Ball Coach lost his

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Tennessee comes in with HUGE recruiting haul

After years of being terrible, Tennessee head coach Butch Jones has come in with just what the doctors in Knoxville ordered: A monster haul. By the end of National Signing Day, 32 players had signed up to be Volunteers (yeah, you read that right), much to even the biggest UT bloggers, who titled their National Signing Day post: “Where did all these bricks come from?” The answer is that Tennessee kicked butt and got signings in pretty early – including shoring up their defense with some excellent recruits. The biggest signings of these was safety Todd Kelly (59 on ESPN’s Top 300 list), OLB Dillon Bates (105), and DE Dewayne Hendrix (176). On the offensive side – and something that

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