I lead this week's mailbag with some Oklahoma talk:
From Dylan in Tampa: What are your thoughts on a scenario where Rhett Bomar doesn't get kicked out of OU and stays through his senior year?
Would OU be as good? Does Bradford supplant him? Does OU get to the Big Twelve Championship Game? Does Colt McCoy then win the Heisman? Could be a very different world.
Feldman: Interesting question. Obviously it's purely in the hypothetical. Bomar did have a good season at Sam Houston State, although you'd have to wonder if he would've been quite as brilliant a quarterback as Bradford has blossomed into. Coaches don't like to dwell on hypotheticals. A few weeks back The New York Times' Thayer Evans broached this subject with former Oklahoma offensive coordinator Chuck Long, who over the course of the interview acknowledged that Bradford had been recruited for "depth," and was pretty non-committal about the subject. "Who knows what would have happened if Rhett Bomar was still there?" said Long, who became the coach at San Diego State in December 2005 and was fired last month.
I spoke to Bradford's high school coach Bob Wilson, who said he wouldn't bet against his protégé. "You're asking the wrong guy I'm prejudiced," he said. "I think Sam would've pushed for the job."
I agree and I suspect Bradford would've overtaken Bomar, although it is pretty uncommon for a younger, even more gifted QB to supplant a healthy starting QB who has a year more experience in a system. Still, I believe with the steps Bradford has made it would've been hard for the Oklahoma staff to not give him a chance to win the starting job. Remember, even though Bradford was only deemed a "three-star" recruit out of high school, some of that I suspect had to do with his physical maturity. He came to Norman around 190 pounds (he's 215 now) and as Wilson points out, Bradford didn't get to spend much time in the weight room in high school because his off-seasons were spent either playing for the high school golf team or travelling with his AAU basketball squad. Then again, it's easy to say that now since he's a proven commodity. Maybe Bomar plays well, albeit never quite at the level Bradford sustained and we might not know if the Sooners would've given him the keys to the offense till 2009.
From Nicholas in Atlanta: Why isn't Bob Stoops treated like Jim Tressel? Both are 1-2 in national championship games. Both lost to LSU. Both were blown out (Stoops to USC, Tressel to Florida). Yet no one wants to see Tressel and Ohio State near the big game, why no nastiness towards OU and Stoops? What happens to the national perception of Stoops and OU if they win or lose the game??
Feldman: It's a fair point. Some of it I think stems from Tressel and the Buckeyes getting less support perception wise from their conference than what Stoops gets from the Big 12, namely because Texas beat USC for the title a few years ago. Meanwhile, many people lament some supposed lack of speed or athleticism amongst Big Ten teams, so it's really a double slam. But if the Gators hammer the Sooners, you can bet it's coming. Stoops, who was once dubbed Big Game Bob, will get the treatment.
I've actually been hearing from some Sooner fans for years that this is the Mike Stoops' Curse, where OU hasn't won a really big game since Bob's brother left for Arizona.
From Scott in Iraq: Do you think that Brady Hoke will be able to make SDSU a consistent winner? If yes, how long? What do you think motivated him to take on such a challenge?
Feldman: I was a little surprised that the San Diego State AD seemed to have a finalists list down to a few head coaches who have spent most of their careers east of the Rockies. And while Hoke did recruit California for Michigan, I think DeWayne Walker would have stronger recruiting ties in California, and that is really key at a place like San Diego State, where you won't get the best players out of Southern California, but you have to be shrewd and get the next-level prospects. Hoke did get to almost triple his salary, which I imagine was a nice enticement. Plus, there are a lot of folks who feel like San Diego State, because of its location, is something of a sleeping, um, not giant . . . sleeping Rutgers maybe. Although I think even that's a bit of a stretch because RU is more committed to building a top 25 program financially than SD State is, but it still has promise.
As for how long it might take Hoke to make the program a consistent winner, I'll say at least three years. Chuck Long left behind some good players, but the program doesn't have anywhere the numbers it needs to be at the level of Utah or BYU. That takes some time.
From Jonathan in Westerville, Ohio: Counting Mike Singletary, over 20 percent of NFL teams are coached by an African-American. Will there ever be a time where 20 percent of NCAA teams have African-American head coaches (over 23 coaches)?
Feldman: I'm going to say yes. I don't think it will happen in the next five years, but things can move along once there's a spark. Look at the different vibe of things in the NFL now. It hardly comes up now and I feel like after the Colts-Bears Super Bowl between the teams coached by Tony Dungy and Lovie Smith, the issue has settled down. I think you probably have a better chance of seeing the 20 percent mark reached sooner than you will any form of an NCAA football playoff for major college football.
RANDOM STUFF
• Good story about the development of UCONN NFL prospect Will Beatty by Jeff Dewees: The 6-foot-6, 310-pound left tackle has become such a force on the Huskies offensive line that he was named to the prestigious Senior Bowl. He was also a first-team All-Big East selection this year.
"It's been a long, inspiring, and yes, somewhat improbable journey. "I have so much respect and admiration for Will," Edsall said. "When he came here, he was just this raw, good athlete. He was a guy who needed some direction, just needed to be pushed. And I probably pushed Will harder than any athlete I've ever pushed, being that I'm from the York area. All of the kids here I have a special interest in, but Will being from (York), it was a bit different.
"Will's always had the ability, but he's had to push himself. I know he's been up more than any player I've ever had for 6 a.m. workouts, and it's all paid off. He's had a very good year. To see how far he's come, it's a credit to Will, to his coaches and to his family. I couldn't be more proud."
• Huge pick-up for UCLA beating USC for former Trojan commit Morrell Presley, who will arrive in a few weeks and begin school on Jan. 5:
Presley, who just graduated from Carson (Calif.) High School, is rated the nation's No. 1 tight end by ESPN.com. He is scheduled to play in the Under Armour All-America Game in Orlando, Fla., next month. "I am obviously thrilled with Morrell's decision," Neuheisel said in the release. "He is a quality young man with tremendous upside as an athlete. "Morrell personifies the new age tight end," Neuheisel said of the 6-foot-4, 215-pound Presley. "He is physical, so he can mix it up, yet agile enough to create mismatches with opponent defenses.
Now, look for a few more big head-to-head battles between the Bruins and the Trojans over UCLA O-line commit Stan Hasiak and USC commit De'von Flournoy, a receiver.
• Rutgers also made some noise on the national scene by snagging Antwan Lowery, the nation's No. 8 DT, who reportedly picked RU over offers from Florida, Florida State, Miami, Michigan, Oklahoma and USC.
"Big week for Rutgers on the recruiting trail," said ESPN recruiting analyst Craig Haubert. "After landing the talented Merrell twins earlier this week the Scarlet Knights made another move with family ties. Big defensive tackle Antwan Lowery committed to Rutgers and will join his older brother Antonio who is a linebacker there. It has certainly been a family affair this week in Piscataway. Ties aside the addition of Lowery is a big one as has the tools to be a handful in the trenches. He is big bodied kid who looks like a defensive tackle. Of the top 12 defensive tackles he is one of the biggest overall and carries the most bulk. He can be a stout presence against the run as he does a good job of taking on blocks and is very good at using his hands to separate and shed from blockers to make tackles."
• One of Steve Sarkisian's first big initiatives at Washington will likely be wooing Jake Heaps, a promising local junior QB.
As Tom Wyrwich reports, "speculation has gone beyond rampant. Does Heaps want to stay close to home and try to rescue the Huskies? Is he interested in the Mormon tradition of BYU? Does the long football history of Notre Dame entice him? The answers are yes, yes and yes again. He plans on taking unofficial visits on most weekends next semester to get closer looks.
"It's going to be a fun process for me, and go out there and visit all these schools I dreamed about visiting," Heaps said.
His time is short. He wants to pick a school by the start of his senior season, and like many elite prospects, Heaps might try to graduate from Skyline a semester early and enroll in college in January 2010 to be a part of spring camp. Heaps is devoting this offseason to getting college-ready. He has coverages to learn, techniques to fine-tune and weight to gain. He is on a more-than-4,000-calorie diet to try to put on 15 to 20 pounds before next fall.
"I don't want to go to a college and be overwhelmed physically," he said.
• Has Preston Parker played his last game for FSU, Steve Ellis wonders.
• Oregon's Chris Harper is a super talent, but he might be heading back home to play at K-State now that Bill Snyder is back running the show. Or at least that's how it sounds from this Kansas City Star story.
"Football's cool," says Harper, who ran 35 times for 137 yards and two touchdowns, completed four passes for 40 yards and a touchdown and caught nine passes for 122 yards and two touchdowns for the 9-3 Ducks. "Life outside of football isn't too great. & It's boring, man."
I spoke with Oregon O-coordinator Chip Kelly Wednesday night and we got to talking a little about Harper, who at 6-2, 235, could probably shine as a QB, TB, TE, WR and also at defensive end and linebacker. "He is so dynamic," raved Kelly. The Ducks head-coach-in-waiting also did say he loves Harper's potential at quarterback but because of his shoulder injury they had to shut him down and have been using his at receiver.
• There's a little bit of drama surrounding the transfer of Notre Dame tight end/lacrosse player Will Yeatman, the South Bend Trib reports:
"There are only 55 other Division I lacrosse schools Yeatman could potentially transfer to, and only 11 of those play football at the highest level (Football Bowl Subdivision). One of those is Navy, which appears on ND's football schedule every year. Army pops up on the football schedule in 2010. Syracuse, perhaps a potential future football date, was also on the banned list. Four schools Air Force, Penn State, Ohio State and, yes, North Carolina appear on ND's spring lacrosse schedule. That would leave Yeatman four football/lacrosse schools where he was free and clear to transfer to without any entanglements Duke, Virginia, Maryland and Rutgers. When asked Tuesday if he planned to block the one-time transfer exemption for Yeatman, ND lacrosse coach Kevin Corrigan responded, "This isn't over, and until it is, I have no comment."
This is unfortunate and a pretty unique situation given how few schools play at a high level in both sports.
Bruce Feldman
