Notre Dame wants to remain independent in football, but that might not matter if the Big Ten and Pac-10 decide to expand and create sweeping changes to major college sports.

“Our preference is clear,” Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick said Tuesday. “I believe we’re at a point right now where changes could be relatively small or they could be seismic.”

Swarbrick said it will be up to him and university president Rev. John Jenkins to “evaluate the landscape” if realignment happens.

“You can each come up with a scenario that would force our hand,” he told a small group of reporters at a Manhattan restaurant.

The Big Ten announced in December it will explore options for expansion in the next 12 to 18 months. Last month, the Pac-10 also made it known that it would be considering adding schools.

Notre Dame has had a non-football Big East membership since 1995.

Notre Dame to the Big Ten has been a constant source of speculation for years. Its South Bend, Ind., campus is located in the heart of Big Ten country and the Irish already have established rivalries with Michigan, Michigan State and Purdue.

The Fighting Irish rejected an offer to become the league’s 12th member in 1999 and since then Notre Dame has gone about reaffirming and re-embracing it independent status in football.

Swarbrick has picked up where predecessor Kevin White left off, scheduling offsite and neutral site games around the country, a move that harkens back to Notre Dame’s barnstorming golden age.

Last season, the Irish played Washington State in San Antonio, Texas. Next season, they’ll play Army at Yankee Stadium and on Monday it was announced they would play Maryland at FedEx Field, the home of the Washington Redskins, in 2011.

New coach Brian Kelly said he likes the fact that Notre Dame plays games from coast to coast.

“It’s great when you look at the schedule and see games all over; at Yankee Stadium, at USC,” he said.

Notre Dame’s long and lucrative relationship with NBC, which airs all Irish home games, has helped the storied program flourish on its own, despite not winning a national title since 1988. Notre Dame’s current deal with NBC ends after the 2010 season and was reportedly worth $9 million per year. Another five-year deal is set to begin in 2011.

Notre Dame is also guaranteed to receive money from the BCS every year, no matter how the Irish play.

Of the 120 major college football teams, only Notre Dame, Army and Navy are not in a one of 11 conferences.

The Big Ten has given no hints about what schools it might want to add or how many, but speculation has been rampant. Texas and Missouri from the Big 12 and Pittsburgh, Rutgers and Syracuse from the Big East are names that have been thrown around by media and fans.

But if Notre Dame ever had a change of heart, the Big Ten would no doubt welcome the Irish.

Since th most likely adding two teams to reach the minimum 12 needed to hold a footbal the speculation ramped up again. Colorado from the Big 12 and Utah, BYU and San Diego State from the Mountain West are some of the teams that have been mentioned as possible Pac-10 targets.

“I’ve been around this business for 29 years,” Swarbrick said, “and this is as unstable as I’ve ever seen it.”

So what could lead Notre Dame to consider giving up its independence?

“What if realignment impacts the shape of the BCS?” Swarbrick said.

“The Big East has been a great conference for us,” he said. “If there is a fundamental change to the Big if Swarbrick had his way, he’d choose the status quo.

“We’re trying like hell to maintain our football independence,” Swarbrick said. “I think it’s good for college football and it’s good for Notre Dame.”

Posted on March 10th, 2010 by admin
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The NCAA has given Texas and Maryland a one-year reprieve from a new rule that limits off-campus football recruiting by a coach designated as the head coach-in-waiting.

That will allow Texas defensive coordinator Will Muschamp and Maryland offensive coordinator James Franklin to fully participate in the critical spring evaluation period in April and May.

The new rule says coaches “publicly designated” to be the next head coach are bound by the same recruiting rules as the current head coach. That would limit them to one off-campus visit with a prospect and it could not be during the spring evaluation period. Other assistants can have multiple off-campus visits.

Texas spokesman Nick Voinis said Tuesday the grace period gives the schools time to seek permanent relief.

Only Texas, which lost to Alabama in the BCS championship game, and Maryland are currently affected by the rule that was proposed in June 2009 and passed in January.

Texas athletic director DeLoss Dodds has complained that the rule was unfair because Texas and Muschamp agreed to his coach-in-waiting contract in November 2008. Dodds has said Texas was “singled out” by the rule and put at a “direct disadvantage” in recruiting.

NCAA spokesman Erik Christianson said in an e-mail to the Associated Press that the NCAA determined the rule applied to both schools, but they were given the grace period to consider their options.

Those options could include revising the contracts, asking for a permanent exemption to the rule or seeking to have it changed, Christianson said.

If nothing changes after one year, both schools will be bound by the rule, Christianson said.

The rule change was supported by the NCAA’s football issues committee. The rationale was that recruiting by a “head coach in waiting” creates a competitive advantage for a program at a time when the NCAA has moved to curb off-campus recruiting by head coaches.

The change was not supported by the NCAA’s recruiting cabinet, which noted that designating an assistant as a future head coach is likely to happen several years before the coach is promoted.

Posted on March 10th, 2010 by admin
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Garrett Gilbert has the humble thing down.

Five plays into the BCS title game, coaches called his number to replace the injured Colt McCoy. The backup freshman quarterback, who had all of 26 college passes to his name, couldn’t find his helmet.

The 6-foot-4, 215-pound Gilbert is taller and has a stronger arm than predecessor Colt McCoy. (US Presswire) “I went to the wrong bench at first,” Gilbert said.

No, not the Alabama bench, the bench where the Texas defensive players were congregated.

That was bad enough, and it went downhill from there.

Gilbert looked tentative, overwhelmed. Basically, he played like what he was: a freshman who had barely p and his life. At halftime, he had completed one of his 10 passes for minus-4 yards. A simple confidence-building shovel pass near the end of the first half turned into an awkward interception after being bobbled. The gallant Gilbert became road kill as Alabama’s Marcell Dareus ran over him on the way to the end zone.

It was the first of Gilbert’s five turnovers that night (four of them interceptions). Texas was down 24-6 at half.

“There’s not much after 37 years I didn’t think I’d seen,” Longhorns coach Mack Brown said. “I’m not sure any of us handled it very well. I thought we all were in shock.”

The halftime locker room was cauldron of emotion and confusion. Coaches trying to emotionally prop up a team that looked like it had been smacked with a 2×4. Players fixating on McCoy, who, in one last desperate attempt, tried to play catch with his dad in the locker room. Standing seven yards away, Colt couldn’t muster a worthy throw because of the pinched nerve in his shoulder.

At that point, it was official. The quarterback king’s career was dead. Long live the new guy.

“You never ask for something like that to happen,” said Gilbert, who was, and still is, considered The Next One at Texas. “When Colt went down, I didn’t know what to think.”

Gilbert has had two months to clear his head. It’s slowly sinking that the night of J to the quarterback in the short term and maybe Texas in the long term.

“That’s right, no doubt,” said Garrett’s father, Gale, a backup quarterback on five Super Bowl squads. “I think it was a big confidence builder.”

Texas formally trotted out McCoy’s successor to the media at the end of a spring practice session this week. It was the first time we had spoken to Gilbert since he sat hunched by locker, head down, at the end of the 37-21 loss to Alabama. Back then, we were caught up chronicling the devastating end to McCoy’s career, trying to frame Alabama’s first national championship in 17 years and making deadline.

What could an understudy say anyway, forced into a Broadway lead in the blink of an eye? Better for others to frame the moment.

“This is going to be great for you,” receiver Jordan Shipley said The Next One privately as they walked off the field. “I am going to enjoy watching you.”

That’s the takeaway from one of the most bitter losses in Texas history. It’s easier to deal with a championship lost because a new quarterback emerged. In the second half, Gilbert found his confidence and his receivers. With six minutes left, Texas was within three, 24-21, and a comeback for the ages was in the works.

Orangebloods choose to remember that, not Gilbert then reverting to raw freshman. He turned it over on Texas’ final three possessions.

“Instead of being excited about being in a championship game, he was disappointed we lost,” Brown said.

Gilbert was the No. 1 quarterback target of the ‘Horns in the 2009 recruiting class, and his second-half line in the BCS title game revealed that maybe a high school star had been reborn. He completed 14 of 30 for 190 yards and two touchdowns against one of the nation’s toughest defenses.

If the first half of the Alabama game was a car wreck, then the second half offered hope.

“A lot of people told me to use it as a learning experience and forget about the bad parts,” Gilbert said. “Obviously, it’s still a tough loss.”

The overall lesson learned by Brown was never to be boxed in like that again. As good as Texas and McCoy were last season, fate and Alabama exposed a fatal flaw. A couple of significant Vince Dooley, the Georgia legend, and his brother Bill, who won 162 games in 26 years at North Carolina, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest.

That’s why things will change fairly drastically. As good as the 6-foot-4, 215-pound Gilbert is, he won’t be the constant centerpiece in the offense. Texas, 61st in rushing last seaBrown has promised it. The offense will have more of a pro-style look, there will be players in motion, look for a fullback or H-back to lead block and more tight end.

Gilbert and running back Tre Newton will be counted on to produce points. (US Presswire) We will still see Texas’ famous spread attack and its no-huddle, just not as much. Most significant, Gilbert will be under center for perhaps the first time since his Pop Warner days. In becoming the Gatorade national player of the year and setting the Texas schoolboy career passing record, Gilbert worked in the spread.

No surprise there. One of the nation’s football hotbeds has become a breeding ground for spread quarterbacks. The state of Texas led Division I-A in starting quarterbacks last season (22). Texas has helped lead that revolution with native Texan spread guys producing a national championship (Vince Young) and the school’s career passing record (McCoy).

“You average [39] points per game and win 13 games, so what we did was right,” Brown said of last season. “But what has happened is, it’s harder to find tailbacks than it used to be. We’re having trouble finding tight ends. We’re having trouble finding fullbacks.

“If we’re going to get to the BCS, we’re going to play a physical two-back team. We need to go and have some two-back physical running.”

Combine a new quarterback, Texas tweaking its offense and the nation’s unholy obsession over Tim Tebow going under center, you’ve got some issues. At least to some.

“It’s just different,” Gilbert said. “I don’t know if there is anything tougher about it.”

“He’s just a work in progress,” receiver James Kirkendoll said. “He’s got a lot of work on him … He’s still trying to figure it out. He showed flashes of it in the [championship] game. He’s going to learn. We’re here to guide him along the way.”

In the first public practice of the spri kind of like the title game. He threw a troubling interception across the middle to defensive back Christian Scott, but also threw a deep, sideline rocket to Kirkendoll for about 30 yards.

Gilbert is the subject of one of several questions surrounding Texas this spring. Who will he throw to? Shipley is gone. Promising Marquise Goodwin is running track. Who will replace All-American corner Earl Thomas? Who will run it? There hasn’t been a go-to back at Texas for a while. There are holdovers like Vondrell McGee, Tre Newton and Fozzy Whittaker, but if you’re looking for something new, check out redshirt freshman Chris Whaley, a 6-3, 245-pound brute with speed.

Fortunately, Brown has a good track record at retooling. The quarterback position has moved seamlessly from Major Applewhite to Chris Simms to Young to McCoy. You have to feel good, then, about Gilbert.

He is taller than McCoy, with a stronger arm. Not many kids have a former NFL quarterback as a dad. Texas coaches and fans have had a glimpse, under trying circumstances, of what is to come.

Best of all, for now, Gilbert has the humble thing down.

“Obviously, the expectation level is high and it should be,” Gale Gilbert said. “I think he is wired probably to handle that.”

Posted on March 9th, 2010 by admin
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The first Pinstripe Bowl will be played at Yankee Stadium on Dec. 30 and will be televised by ESPN.

The game will include the No. 3 team in the Big East and the No. 6 school in the Big 12, excluding Bowl Championship Series participants.

ESPN agreed to a six-year contract, the Yankees said Tuesday, and New Era Cap Co. Inc. agreed to a four-year deal to be the title sponsor. Future games will be played no earlier than Christmas and no later than New Year’s Day.

This will be the first bowl game at Yankee Stadium since Nebraska defeated Miami 36-34 at old Yankee Stadium on Dec. 15, 1962.

The first football game at the new $1.5 billion stadium will be Nov. 20, when Notre Dame plays Army.

Posted on March 9th, 2010 by admin
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Garrett Gilbert has the humble thing down.

Five plays into the BCS title game, coaches called his number to replace the injured Colt McCoy. The backup freshman quarterback, who had all of 26 college passes to his name, couldn’t find his helmet.

The 6-foot-4, 215-pound Gilbert is taller and has a stronger arm than predecessor Colt McCoy. (US Presswire) “I went to the wrong bench at first,” Gilbert said.

No, not the Alabama bench, the bench where the Texas defensive players were congregated.

That was bad enough, and it went downhill from there.

Gilbert looked tentative, overwhelmed. Basically, he played like what he was: a freshman who had barely p and his life. At halftime, he had completed one of his 10 passes for minus-4 yards. A simple confidence-building shovel pass near the end of the first half turned into an awkward interception after being bobbled. The gallant Gilbert became road kill as Alabama’s Marcell Dareus ran over him on the way to the end zone.

It was the first of Gilbert’s five turnovers that night (four of them interceptions). Texas was down 24-6 at half.

“There’s not much after 37 years I didn’t think I’d seen,” Longhorns coach Mack Brown said. “I’m not sure any of us handled it very well. I thought we all were in shock.”

The halftime locker room was cauldron of emotion and confusion. Coaches trying to emotionally prop up a team that looked like it had been smacked with a 2×4. Players fixating on McCoy, who, in one last desperate attempt, tried to play catch with his dad in the locker room. Standing seven yards away, Colt couldn’t muster a worthy throw because of the pinched nerve in his shoulder.

At that point, it was official. The quarterback king’s career was dead. Long live the new guy.

“You never ask for something like that to happen,” said Gilbert, who was, and still is, considered The Next One at Texas. “When Colt went down, I didn’t know what to think.”

Gilbert has had two months to clear his head. It’s slowly sinking that the night of J to the quarterback in the short term and maybe Texas in the long term.

“That’s right, no doubt,” said Garrett’s father, Gale, a backup quarterback on five Super Bowl squads. “I think it was a big confidence builder.”

Texas formally trotted out McCoy’s successor to the media at the end of a spring practice session this week. It was the first time we had spoken to Gilbert since he sat hunched by locker, head down, at the end of the 37-21 loss to Alabama. Back then, we were caught up chronicling the devastating end to McCoy’s career, trying to frame Alabama’s first national championship in 17 years and making deadline.

What could an understudy say anyway, forced into a Broadway lead in the blink of an eye? Better for others to frame the moment.

“This is going to be great for you,” receiver Jordan Shipley said The Next One privately as they walked off the field. “I am going to enjoy watching you.”

That’s the takeaway from one of the most bitter losses in Texas history. It’s easier to deal with a championship lost because a new quarterback emerged. In the second half, Gilbert found his confidence and his receivers. With six minutes left, Texas was within three, 24-21, and a comeback for the ages was in the works.

Orangebloods choose to remember that, not Gilbert then reverting to raw freshman. He turned it over on Texas’ final three possessions.

“Instead of being excited about being in a championship game, he was disappointed we lost,” Brown said.

Gilbert was the No. 1 quarterback target of the ‘Horns in the 2009 recruiting class, and his second-half line in the BCS title game revealed that maybe a high school star had been reborn. He completed 14 of 30 for 190 yards and two touchdowns against one of the nation’s toughest defenses.

If the first half of the Alabama game was a car wreck, then the second half offered hope.

“A lot of people told me to use it as a learning experience and forget about the bad parts,” Gilbert said. “Obviously, it’s still a tough loss.”

The overall lesson learned by Brown was never to be boxed in like that again. As good as Texas and McCoy were last season, fate and Alabama exposed a fatal flaw. A couple of significant Vince Dooley, the Georgia legend, and his brother Bill, who won 162 games in 26 years at North Carolina, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest.

That’s why things will change fairly drastically. As good as the 6-foot-4, 215-pound Gilbert is, he won’t be the constant centerpiece in the offense. Texas, 61st in rushing last seaBrown has promised it. The offense will have more of a pro-style look, there will be players in motion, look for a fullback or H-back to lead block and more tight end.

Gilbert and running back Tre Newton will be counted on to produce points. (US Presswire) We will still see Texas’ famous spread attack and its no-huddle, just not as much. Most significant, Gilbert will be under center for perhaps the first time since his Pop Warner days. In becoming the Gatorade national player of the year and setting the Texas schoolboy career passing record, Gilbert worked in the spread.

No surprise there. One of the nation’s football hotbeds has become a breeding ground for spread quarterbacks. The state of Texas led Division I-A in starting quarterbacks last season (22). Texas has helped lead that revolution with native Texan spread guys producing a national championship (Vince Young) and the school’s career passing record (McCoy).

“You average [39] points per game and win 13 games, so what we did was right,” Brown said of last season. “But what has happened is, it’s harder to find tailbacks than it used to be. We’re having trouble finding tight ends. We’re having trouble finding fullbacks.

“If we’re going to get to the BCS, we’re going to play a physical two-back team. We need to go and have some two-back physical running.”

Combine a new quarterback, Texas tweaking its offense and the nation’s unholy obsession over Tim Tebow going under center, you’ve got some issues. At least to some.

“It’s just different,” Gilbert said. “I don’t know if there is anything tougher about it.”

“He’s just a work in progress,” receiver James Kirkendoll said. “He’s got a lot of work on him … He’s still trying to figure it out. He showed flashes of it in the [championship] game. He’s going to learn. We’re here to guide him along the way.”

In the first public practice of the spri kind of like the title game. He threw a troubling interception across the middle to defensive back Christian Scott, but also threw a deep, sideline rocket to Kirkendoll for about 30 yards.

Gilbert is the subject of one of several questions surrounding Texas this spring. Who will he throw to? Shipley is gone. Promising Marquise Goodwin is running track. Who will replace All-American corner Earl Thomas? Who will run it? There hasn’t been a go-to back at Texas for a while. There are holdovers like Vondrell McGee, Tre Newton and Fozzy Whittaker, but if you’re looking for something new, check out redshirt freshman Chris Whaley, a 6-3, 245-pound brute with speed.

Fortunately, Brown has a good track record at retooling. The quarterback position has moved seamlessly from Major Applewhite to Chris Simms to Young to McCoy. You have to feel good, then, about Gilbert.

He is taller than McCoy, with a stronger arm. Not many kids have a former NFL quarterback as a dad. Texas coaches and fans have had a glimpse, under trying circumstances, of what is to come.

Best of all, for now, Gilbert has the humble thing down.

“Obviously, the expectation level is high and it should be,” Gale Gilbert said. “I think he is wired probably to handle that.”

Posted on March 7th, 2010 by admin
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So much for Alabama coach Nick Saban’s attempt at praising Auburn.

Saban accepted a trophy for winning the Iron Bowl during halftime of Saturday’s Alabama-Auburn basketball game. After thanking the fans at Coleman Coliseum, the football coach expressed his respect for “the University of Auburn.”

The school’s name is Auburn University.

Some Tide fans in attendance chuckled, before booing the intended sentiment for their top rival.

Alabama came from behind to beat the Tigers for the second straight time this past season, earning the Foy-ODK Trophy. The Tide went on to finish 14-0 and win the national championship.

Saban promised it was “not the end but the beginning” for his program.

Posted on March 7th, 2010 by admin
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Longtime Fresno State assistant coach John Baxter is leaving the Bulldogs to become Lane Kiffins associate head coach and special teams coordinator at Southern California.

Kiffin announced the latest addition to his coaching staff Thursday.

Baxter spent the last 13 seasons as Pat Hills right-hand man at Fresno State, coaching the Bulldogs perennially outstanding special-teams units and spending time as their tight ends and receivers coach. He also developed a nationally praised program to teach academic study skills to his players.

Kiffin still hasnt hired an offensive coordinator nearly two months after he left Tennessee to return to USC.

Posted on March 5th, 2010 by admin
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Campus police say a college football coach in Texas is backing players who removed every campus newspaper because they contained an article about teammates getting arrested on drug charges.

Former Kentucky and Baylor head man Guy Morriss is the coach at Texas AM-Commerce, where an incident report filed by university police says he told officers he was proud of his players.

Im proud of my players for doing that, he said. This was the best team building exercise we have ever done.

Morris did not stop there. When asked about the The East Texan newspaper, he panned I dont read that crap.

Morris, who led the Lions to a 5-5 record last year, wasnt the only one to offer comment.

I dont think they are smart enough to do this on their own, athletic director Carlton Cooper said early Wednesday of the incident.

No one has been arrested over the removal of 2,000 copies of paper on Feb. 25. Editor James Bright estimated the loss at about $1,100.

Campus police are investigating, school spokesman Randy Jolly said.

Morriss has been disciplined, but Jolly declined to discuss details. Also disciplined are the football players involved in the East Texan thefts, school officials said in a statement.

Copies of the weekly newspaper, which is distributed free around campus, disappeared the morning of Feb. 25, shortly after football practice let out, according to the incident report. The lead story was about the arrest of two football players on drug charges.

Surveillance video near one of the newspaper racks showed two football players hauling off all copies of the paper, police said.

A policy printed in the newspaper says the first copy is free, but each additional copy costs 25 cents.

Bright, a senior journalism major, said Morriss reaction is appalling.

He is condoning criminal activity, Bright said. And to me, that is unacceptable.

Posted on March 5th, 2010 by admin
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A college football coach in Texas is backing players accused of removing every copy of a student newspaper from racks around campus because of a front-page article about teammates being arrested on drug charges, according to a police report.

The incident happened at Division II Texas AM-Commerce. The coach is Guy Morriss, who also coached at Kentucky and Baylor and played 15 seasons in the NFL with the Patriots and Eagles.

Im proud of my players for doing that, Morriss said, according to an incident report. This was the best team building exercise we have ever done.

No one has been arrested over the removal of 2,000 copies of The East Texan on Feb. 25. Editor James Bright estimated the loss at about $1,100.

Campus police are investigating, school spokesman Randy Jolly said. Morriss has been disciplined, but Jolly declined to discuss details.

Also disciplined are the football players involved in the East Texan thefts, school officials said in a statement. Athletic director Carlton Cooper apologized, saying players made an error in judgment.

AM-Commerce does not stand back idly when crimes like these are committed, said Dr. Dan Jones, the schools president.

Morriss declined comment Wednesday through a school spokesman. When reached at home by a reporter from The Associated Press on Tuesday, Morriss hung up.

Copies of the weekly newspaper, which is distributed free around campus, disappeared the morning of Feb. 25, shortly after football practice let out, according to the incident report. The lead story was about the arrest of two football players on drug charges.

Surveillance video near one of the newspaper racks showed two football players hauling off all copies of the paper, police said.

An officer notified Cooper that players appeared to be involved, and the athletic director expressed concern because he didnt think they were smart enough to do this on their own, according to the incident report.

A day after the papers disappeared, police interviewed Morriss at the campus police office. The coach repeatedly referred to the article about the drug arrests as crap and said he didnt read it. He then said he was proud of his players, and repeatedly asked how taking a free newspaper could be considered stealing.

A policy printed in the newspaper says the first copy is free, but each additional copy costs 25 cents.

Bright, a senior journalism major, said Morriss reaction is appalling.

He is condoning criminal activity, Bright said. And to me, that is unacceptable.

Morriss is 5-5 after one season at Texas AM-Commerce, which is about 60 miles east of Dallas. He was 27-54 as head coach for two seasons at Kentucky and five at Baylor.

Posted on March 4th, 2010 by admin
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Colt McCoy is throwing 40-50 balls a day in an intense rehabilitation program for the injury that knocked him out of the national championship game and hopes to fully participate in the NFL draft combine.

The former Texas quarterback said Monday that the nerve injury in his right shoulder is really coming along and is close to being 100 percent.

Hopefully Ill be able to throw in the combine. Thats my goal, I love to compete, I want to go out and compete with those guys, go out there and throw and be myself, McCoy said. But obviously if the doctors dont let me, Im not going to be able to do that.

McCoy has remained mostly in California doing rehab since getting hurt in the BCS title game Jan. 7. He returned to Texas to be recognized Monday night with the Davey OBrien Award as the nations top quarterback, and plans to return to the West Coast after speaking at an FCA banquet Thursday night in Austin.

On the Longhorns fifth offensive play against Alabama last month, McCoy took a hard tackle that pinched a nerve and caused his throwing arm to go numb. He didnt return in Texas 37-21 loss.

The injury and I think the way that my college career ended has kind of sparked a fire inside of me as far as Im going to show that Im going to be ready to go. Im going to show them that Im the best, Im going to show that Im confident, he said. I cant wait to step out on the field again, forget the taste thats in my mouth for the last time I played a game. Thats whats driving me every day.

McCoy, whose rehab is being overseen by noted sports doctor James Andrews of Birmingham, Ala., said if his doctors determine he cant throw at the combine that begins next week, he will still do everything else possible in Indianapolis. He also plans to participate in the Longhorns pro day March 31.

There is nothing structurally wrong with his throwing shoulder and McCoy is going through the process of restrengthening his arm.

My arm feels really good. Im able to do everything they ask me to do, he said. Its really healing quickly.

While his 45 career wins at Texas are an NCAA record, McCoy fell short of his ultimate goal of winning a national championship.

Its one of those things that youll think about forever. … Disappointing is probably the real word, McCoy said. But at the same time, Ive been raised the right way and youve got to find a positive in every situation. I think about that and I think about how I still have a lot of football left to play. Im confident that my best football is ahead of me and thats what keeps me going.

The OBrien winner last year was Oklahomas Sam Bradford, who missed all but three games of his junior season because of a shoulder injury sustained in the season opener last September. Bradford, the 2008 Heisman Trophy winner and a close friend of McCoys, is also entering the NFL draft and has Andrews as his doctor. Bradford is working out in Florida.

He definitely boosted me up a little bit, talked to me and said, Hey, its one of the most frustrating things in the world. Youre strong and youll get over it, McCoy said. It kind of stinks that both of us had to go through something like that in the same year. We both try to look for the positive things, and both hope the best for each other.

Posted on February 16th, 2010 by admin
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