Christian Green Down to Two

Christian Green, 5 Star WR, out of Tampa Bay  is officially down to two schools. Green marked Florida off his list today. Green is now down to Florida State, the front runner, and Georgia. Green had this to say about the two schools and his trip to FSU this weekend:

"I am starting to get excited about it, I am just ready to start the new phase of my life, my career. It will be either FSU or Georgia. Right now, I think I have a certain feeling of where I want to go. But I have one more visit to make first. I am really looking forward to getting up to Florida State this weekend. I just want to talk with all the players and coaches and see what they have to say. I want to get to know them better. Man, I have always liked Georgia, coach Richt and the players and coaches up there. They have a great work ethic and want to win championships. They are trying to bring in players that want to win championships."

Florida State has an advantage because Green's cousin E.G. Green played at FSU under Bobby Bowden. Now as with most of all the recruits we have to wait until next Wednesday. It can't get here soon enough.

Lane Kiffin Fallout

Lane Kiffin bolted in the middle of the night for University of Southern California last night. This bring back memories of 1984 when the Baltimore Colts left for Indianapolis in the middle night in moving vans. Yes, Lane Kiffin did address the media last night, but this was only for about 2 minutes and did not take any questions. Their had been no rumors about Kiffin even being in the search in regards to the USC position. This announcement came as a total shock to the college football world and especially to Volunteer students and alumni. Once the rumors started about Kiffin's departure students started to congregate outside the football complex. Eventually this turned into a mini riot with things being set on fire and people yelling "F--- You Kiffin!!!" to any car leaving the complex.

The meeting with his formal players did not go over well with them interrupting him before he could finish and some even walking out. You have to feel bad for some of his recruits from last year and any recruits that has already enrolled in UT for spring classes. They bought into the Lane Kiffin hype and believed him when he sat on their couches at their home, when he was pitching his case as to why they should come to UT. Now all these recruits are at UT and are waiting to see who will be coaching them next year. This departure has caused a shakeup in the recruiting ranking as well as UT has fallen 2 spots already.

Kiffin is reinforcing what is becoming a common trend in college football with coaches lately, which is that loyalty and giving your word does not mean to much. anymore. The days of Bobby Bowden and Joe Paterno type's are over. Coaches no longer will be at schools for 30 years. Most coaches it seems like now are always looking for a bigger paycheck or maybe a shot at the NFL.

What has happened to loyalty?

I have always watched college football over NFL due to the fact that there use to be loyalty in college football. People are more loyal towards college football programs than NFL. This is true in regards to players and coaches. You tend to see programs recruiting former players brothers or sons if they are available. At the University of Georgia we have had brothers and sons all go to the University. Some examples are the Bailey brothers, Stinchcomb brothers and the Tereshinski family. The reason I am talking about this is in regards to Bobby Bowden.

How can Florida State University even start to listen to a board member about calling for Bowden's retirement or even forcing him to step down. Yes, Bowden might be off to rough start this year but overall he was the person who single handily put Florida State on the map and made them a national powerhouse. Since taking over the Florida State program he has 18 ten win seasons, won 20 bowl games, has an award named after him and has won two National Championships. He is also second all-time in wins behind Joe Paterno. When a coach has a resume like Bowden's you do not force him out, you let him retire when he is good and ready. Florida State needs to remember that without Bobby Bowden they would be getting stomped by Florida and Miami every year and not able to bring in top recruits every year. 

I can see something like this happening in the NFL but not in college. The NFL is all about money and wins. Coaching changes happen every year, sometimes you can even lose your job when you win 13 games, as Marty Schottenheimer found out in San Diego a few years ago. Bowden has nothing but good intentions for the program when he thinks he is no longer able to bring in top recruits and compete for the ACC and National Championships he will step down.  The board of trustee's needs to just sit back and let Bowden do his job and stay out of the football program.