In this week’s Youtube hit I found a great highlight video that is packed with hits and great plays from the first half of the 2006 college football season. It even has my favorite sign of the year by a Kentucky fan, shown when they played Louisville. “We’re gonna lose…BIG”

What if I told you that despite the cutting of 825 jobs and 459 course selections at Rutgers University, all of the assistant coaches at Rutgers are getting double digit pay increases? My first thought was that this is just a piss poor display by the administration. Kind of like when the average wages in America go down, and our Senators and Congressmen vote another pay raise for themselves.

There’s one major flaw in that comparison, the coaches will probably produce a return on investment. And over the long haul, possibly create enough revenue for the school to start turning a profit. I’m in no way condoning the elimination of jobs and courses, but in reality those raises wouldn’t amount to a drop in the bucket toward saving those jobs and courses.

A successful athletic program will help the school to hold on to what it has, though. It also creates added social events for the alumni and student body. Where before, all there was to do was….

Atlantic City Baby!

Jeff Samardzija’s football career came to an end today, as the former Notre Dame wide receiver agreed to a guaranteed $10-million contract, over five years, with the Chicago Cubs. Samardzija was drafted as a pitching prospect by the Cubs last Summer, but had been splitting his time between baseball and football.  The new contract ensures that the Shark will play baseball full-time.

Many NFL draft pundits had pegged Samardzija as a late-first round selection in April’s draft.  Samardzija’s chances of playing at the highest level seem much more likely in the NFL, as most minor league pitchers fail to reach the big leagues, but the guaranteed $10-million gives the former college star the type of long-term financial security that he would not reach until becoming a four- or five-year veteran in the NFL.

It will be interesting to see if an NFL team considers spending a late-round pick on Samardzija.  Drew Henson and Josh Booty are two athletes that turned to the NFL after failing to succeed in the Major Leagues.

Before I get started I just wanted to thank the guys of In the Bleachers for letting me join up with them. It’s an honor and a privilege to work with them. And while I promised to not just talk about West Virginia, I thought I would ease my way in with a little story about how being honest with recruits can gain you more than just the trust of said recruit.

It seems that Mississippi St. is not exactly being honest with their recruits, and it may cost them for many years to come, or until Sylvester Croom is released from his contract. Whichever comes first. Considering my recent trip to Starkville for the WVU-MSU game, I’m leaning on the latter. Two juco players that were committed to MSU were cut loose from their commitment to the Bulldogs without warning. And it not only hurt the chances of these two players continuing their careers, it also pissed off the coach of the Jones Junior College (in Mississippi). And now Jones coach, Eddie Pierce is telling anyone and everyone that will listen that they should not trust one word out of MSU coach Sylvester Croom’s mouth. And by proxie, they should believe everything coach Rodriguez says. Well, almost everything (Alabama).

“I called up there to Mississippi State during the middle of our season and told them Archie and Tim would probably not graduate in December,” said Pierce on Thursday afternoon. “They did not say anything about that. I had no idea about this until yesterday when Melvin Smith called us and told us they no longer had scholarships. “I called Coach (Sylvester) Croom yesterday and (assistant) Coach (Rocky) Felker called me back this morning. He told me that it’s a business and that’s just the way it goes sometimes. This makes me sick to my stomach and I have lost all respect in the world for Mississippi State.

“Rashad had signed with West Virginia,” he said. “I called Coach (Rich) Rodriguez in October and told him it looked like Rashad would not graduate in December. He told me they could not take him if that was the case. He was honest with me and Mississippi State was not.” Pierce said he had advised another Bobcat standout, defensive back Ellis Lankster, to strongly consider Mississippi State last month. Lankster committed to Mississippi State, but has since committed to West Virginia.

And Lankster will know one thing when he arrives in Morgantown, besides the fact that he should have been thinking about winter clothes before he got here, that he will be treated honestly and fairly.

And with that, my West Virginia posting on here comes to an end. Or at least until some really juicy news comes out of Morgantown.

How long will Spiller still be in Clemson Orange?

The backfield duo of sophomore James Davis and true freshman CJ Spiller combined for over 2000 yards rushing and 27 touchdowns. They were a force that every team that faced the Clemson Tigers had to stop if they wanted any chance to win the game. Although Davis was listed as the starter, it was Spiller who many thought, including myself, would supplant Davis in the coming year as the #1 back in Tigerland. Spiller has the speed, good hands, and ability to making tacklers miss that has every coach on the Clemson staff drooling. But due to other factors that might never happen.

The Charleston Post and Courier ran a piece documenting the homesickness that CJ Spiller is experiencing. Spiller has a family and a 9 month old daughter in Lake Butler, Fla. Most of them want to see him come back to play in the state of Florida. He did not say whether he is completely sold on the notion of coming back to Clemson for the 2007 season, but he did say he would participate in Spring Drills with the team.

Keeley Dorsey, a freshman at the University of South Florida, died last night after a team conditioning workout. He was 19.

Dorsey, a running back, collapsed at the school’s athletic facility and did at USF’s University Community Hospital in Tampa. There is no word as of the cause of death.

Dorsey saw limited action his first year on campus after coming down from Tallahassee, where he stared for Lincoln High School. He rushed for 68 yards and one score, a 52-yard sprint during the USF opener against McNesse State.

He was considered to be a role player prospect after looking at Kansas State, Rutgers, and Southern Miss.

“I hurt for Keeley. I hurt for Keeley’s parents. I hurt for our team,” coach Jim Leavitt said. “Keeley was a tremendous person. He was always upbeat and an inspiration to me and all of us. He had a great impact on our team, and he will be sorely missed.”

(USA Today/AP provided information for this report)

Chucky is back in the ACC to bring fear in the hearts of the Offensive Coordinator

We knew that it wouldn’t take long for former NC State head coach Chuck Amato to find another job, and we also knew that Bobby Bowden was feeling a little lonely after seeing his son step down as offensive coordinator. So what’s the next best thing? Hire his old friend Chucky back on the staff. Bowden announced yesterday that Amato will be on the Florida State staff. Amato will serve as the linebackers coach and executive head coach, which he held before he left to be the NC State coach. Jimbo Fisher was hired last week as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in another sign of an overhaul of the coaching staff..

I got my glasses as the Sunglass Hut. How about you?

Florida State fans should also be happy because there is now one less Bowden assistant/relative in the head coaching buisness that Bobby could feel bad for because his job is in jeopardy and lose to. Amato brings some familiarity back to the Seminoles’ staff and if anything else he will rival Bowden on which coach wears the coolest sunglasses on the team.

It’s official, we can strike Colt Brennan’s name from the 2007 early entrants list. After setting the NCAA record for Touchdown passes in a season with 58, Brennan has decided he wants a shot at his own record, heading back to the Rainbow Warriors for his final season. Hopefully this will give him many more chances to pull a few more Peyton Mannings with some hot Hawaiian women.