Making the morning rounds.
• Eh, we'll believe it when we see it. Mack Brown went on ESPN's "College Football Live" Thursday and declared Texas' starting quarterback job "wide open this spring" under an overhauled offensive coaching staff, a pronouncement that was met with a resounding "meh": The few local and national outlets that bothered to mention it would all be "shocked" to see anyone other than incumbent Garrett Gilbert emerge atop the depth chart again, in part because he can't be any worse than he was in his first season as a starter – if backups Connor Wood and Case McCoy couldn't even get on the field with the wheels careening off en route to a last-place finish in the Big 12 South, a revamped staff probably isn't going to help their chances. Orangebloods.com, Shaggy Bevo]
The talk in Austin Thursday was dominated instead by a 17-year-old, hyped offensive line commit Christian Westerman, whose longtime pledge to the Longhorns is suddenly in jeopardy. [Austin American-Statesman]
• Leach won't back down. Former Texas Tech head coach/spread passing guru/radio host/soon-to-be author/pirate savant Mike Leach told Sports Illustrated's Stewart Mandel he was only contacted by one school with a head coaching opening this winter, Maryland, despite his solid resumé after a decade in Lubbock. The obvious stumbling blocks are Leach's pending lawsuits against Texas Tech, ESPN and analyst/disgruntled father Craig James over the network's coverage of Leach's controversial exit from Tech for whatever it was that happened to James' son in December 2009, which Leach admits has "limited my market." But he also refuses to let bygones be bygones for the sake of a new job: "First of all, I didn't do anything wrong, and the depositions clearly reveal that," he said. "The fact that I'm trying to get paid for the last year I worked, the fact I'm in litigation to collect what's mine, doesn't affect my ability to coach and doesn't impact another institution in any way." [Sports Illustrated]
• Nothing to see here. Auburn athletic director Jay Jacobs emphasized again Thursday that Cam Newton's father, Cecil, didn't violate a mutual agreement with the school when he showed up at the BCS Championship Game earlier this month, because he was only in the stadium after the game: "My understanding is he actually came in after the game was over for the celebration," Jacobs said. "Now, I haven't spoken to Mr. Newton. But based on what his attorney said, that's my understanding. As far as I'm concerned, he didn't go against anything we mutually agreed upon."
Though not technically banned from the premises, the elder Newton had reportedly agreed to keep his distance in the wake of the NCAA's verdict that he'd committed a recruiting violation by working with a quasi-agent to "actively market [Cam Newton] as part of a pay-for-play scenario" at Mississippi State, for which he was ordered to have "limited access" to the program at Auburn. At any rate, Cecil wasn't at the game on Auburn's dime. [Birmingham News]
• Hawkeyes under the wheels of justice. Former Iowa player Cedric Everson faces up to 30 days in jail after being convicted Thursday of misdemeanor assault, a minor victory considering he initially faced multiple sexual assault charges stemming from a dorm room incident in 2007 that could have landed him a sentence of up to 25 years. [Des Moines Register]
Another ex-Hawkeye, outgoing receiver Derrell Johnson-Koulianos, also caught a legal break this week when prosecutors dropped the most serious charge, keeping a drug house, stemming from Johnson-Koulianos' arrest at his home last month. He still faces misdemeanor charges for possession of cocaine, marijuana and various other substances. [Des Moines Register]
• In the fold. Georgia was Thursday's recruiting winner, picking up a pair of commitment from hyped Valdosta, Ga., teammates Malcolm Mitchell (right, via the Atlanta Journal-Constitution) and Jay Rome, both of whom are ranked among Rivals' top 100 incoming prospects in the country. Rome drove 80 miles with his family and head coach to tape record an announcement in Florida for ESPNU's "Recruiting Insider"; Mitchell kept it local, announcing his choice live over four radio stations from a "packed" buffet off I-75. [Atlanta Journal-Constitution]
Oh, and if you're waiting to hear a decision from top-ranked South Carolina defensive end Jadeveon Clowney, well, keep waiting. [USA Today, Rivals]
Quickly… Auburn preps for this weekend's national championship celebration in Jordan-Hare Stadium, and – fingers crossed – Cam Newton may actually be in attendance. … Arkansas releases plans for a $35 million, 80,000-square foot football center, populated by ghosts. … UConn running back Lyle McCombs kicks off the 2011 Fulmer Cup with a pair of misdemeanor marijuana charges. … Former Florida (and current Cincinnati Bengals) defensive end Carlos Dunlap is back in school in Gainesville, pursuing his degree. … Marvin Austin tries to rehab his reputation at the East-West Shrine Bowl. … Texas independence is an idea whose time has come, for at least the tenth consecutive year. … And Jim Tressel does his best impression of a 1987 B-Boy.
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Tressel hat tip: @elevenwarriors.
Matt Hinton is on Twitter: Follow him @DrSaturday.
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