Lots of diverse topics in this week's mailbag:
From Jared in Memphis: What is going on with "The Jailer" Jerrell Powe?
I'm not an Ole Miss fan, but I am rooting for him to play college football. Does he have a shot to play this year?
Feldman: Powe is very excited these days and word out of Oxford is that he has good reason to be. He is on track academically (he was told he needed to pass 24 hours for the year and have at least a 2.0 GPA.), and I spoke to him last night and he said his GPA is 2.3 and he's going to have enough credit hours. Among the courses he said he took were Geology, English, Public Speaking and an African-American studies class. He took Algebra as well and says he will be taking it again in the summer. "Me and Algebra, well, that's kinda like going one-on-one with Jake Long," he said. (I think that means he's fired up about the challenge of it.)
Another big plus for Powe is that his wrist and back are feeling better and he's shed 38 pounds, going from a high of 381 to 343. He hopes to get down to 325 by the start of training camp. "I've been cutting out some of those fried foods I love so much," he said. "If I eat it, it's only maybe once a week."
I'm happy for Powe. Anyone who has ever gotten to know him knows how gregarious and likeable he is. He's been through so much just to get to college. Lots of other folks would've given up.
From Adam in Charleston, W.V.: Why is it that no matter what, people are always banging away at the Mountaineers? We can never get any respect. Some polls early on had us at No. 20. All the hype is always about who we lost to graduation or the draft, but never about this year's recruits and JC transfers or always about Bill Stewart and his losing season at VMI. We also just put a killer coaching staff together. Why is the new coaching staff never mentioned in everybody's outlook for the Mounties?
Feldman: I think the skepticism is over a few things. The team lost a lot of key players on defense. There is a great player back in Pat White and that alone assures WVU of being in the top 15 I think, but there has been a coaching transition and sometimes, with a lot of new staff members, chemistry can suffer. The schedule also is a bit tougher this year, with a road trip to what should be an improved Colorado and playing a strong Auburn team.
From Pam in Indianapolis: With a lot of the mock drafts talking up Curtis Painter, do you think he has a good chance at the Heisman?
Feldman: I wouldn't say Painter has a good chance. He's more of a long shot. He put up very good numbers for a decent team, but in truth, mock drafts aren't much of a benchmark. There are plenty of other college QBs that might not be touted as first-rounders who will get more attention (Chase Daniel, Pat White and of course Tim Tebow).
The big challenge for Painter will be working with a bunch of new receivers and taking Purdue to a higher level. Keep in mind Kyle Orton started to get people's attention when he opened up with 18 TDs and no INTs before sliding off the radar. Painter would need to be near flawless and the Boilers have to be a top-10 team. Keep in mind that for as much improvement as he made in 2007, he only threw three TDs and had five picks in the Boilers' five losses.
We'll find out a lot about Painter and Purdue by midseason since they have consecutive games against Oregon, CMU, at Notre Dame, Penn State and then at Ohio State. If they win all five of those games, then he will be in the middle of the Heisman race.
From Colin in N.J.: I wanted make a comment on your 'late entry'
referencing Charlie Weis' Michigan remarks. Most people are missing the historical perspective here, which is obviously important to ND fans.
Coach Weis was adding to the rivalry by having a little fun and changing up the words of the legendary Bo Schembechler.
Feldman: Good point, Colin. I didn't think the Michigan thing was anything to get too fired up about, although I'm sure that video clip may get some play in the week leading up to the game. A few other readers sent in wondering the same thing I did, about the "I've never been one to make excuses" part that came before it. Thanks to Jack in Columbus, who submitted his favorite Weisisms that "definitely weren't excuses:"
1. "Let me just say people better enjoy (beating us) now, have
their fun now."
2. "I could get hoodlums and thugs and win tomorrow."
3. "They've had the advantage in recruiting because I came late.
Now it is X's and O's. Let's see who has the advantage now."
4. (To his players): "Every game you will have a decided schematic
advantage."
From JJ in Huntsville, Ala.: Do you think incoming LSU freshman Jordan Jefferson has the talent to take the starting job sometime this season?
Or will J. Lee become the next Matt Mauck/Flynn?
Feldman: I do think Jefferson's got the talent, but ultimately it'll have more to do with whether he has the maturity and poise to handle absorbing a college offense so quickly and having the presence to manage the game.
That's a lot to ask a true freshman.
Random Stuff
• If Rich Rodriguez is forced to pay West Virginia $4 million, his accountant says Michigan should pick up the tab, and the Wolverines might be inclined to do so,
reports Fred Girard:
"The school should, "as an inducement to netting [Rodriguez] as a coach, make him whole on the transaction," including any taxes involved, his CPA, David A. Hammack, of Maumee, Ohio, said in a memo. "This would mean not only fronting the $4 million payment to WVU, but also grossing it up for Rich, since the $4 million would be part of his first-year compensation," Hammack wrote to Rodriguez's financial adviser, Mike Wilcox, on Dec. 13. Representative Bruce Madej said in an e-mail he could not "say for certain" athletic director Bill Martin has ruled out making such a payment for Rodriguez.
My three cents: I'm actually surprised, given how much money Michigan has, that it didn't already foot the bill as it would've surely avoided a lot of this on-going soap opera that has unfolded around its new head coach.
• There is a hefty quote in Shandel Richardson's blog from C.J. Holton, an incoming Miami freshman, about the reaction from local fans after he switched from FSU to UM:
"Well, a bunch of people were kind of shocked. I got it from a lot of people. I got a bunch of hate mail, just people talking crazy stuff. One dude told me before I leave that I better make sure to get a
[bulletproof] vest. That was the craziest thing I heard."
• Bo Pelini thinks Frank Solich got a raw deal, reports Rich Kaipust:
"I do know this: The one person I feel sorry for in the whole thing is Coach Solich," Pelini told a crowd of 525 Thursday night. "I wish he could be back here with us. Just through the whole thing, I thought he was the one who got the short end of the stick, and that's too bad."
• The 2010 season isn't that far off and there is some uncertainty about the FAU stadium Howard Schnellenberger has been talking about, reports the Boca News' Dale King:
"The famed coach who was called to FAU in 1998 to craft a football program said the university is sticking to its schedule of having a 30,000-seat stadium up and running by the 10th year of the century. The City of Boca Raton isn't so certain. In fact, city manager Leif Ahnell recently wrote to FAU telling the university to slow down. Ahnell said an FAU master plan has to be approved first. Also, the question of where the interchange from I-95 to Spanish River Boulevard will be located is still up in the air. The new ramps are critical to the construction of a stadium. Schnellenberger offered a sometimes light, sometimes serious look at the FAU football program. He said naming rights are available in various parts of the proposed stadium, and donations are also needed. The coach estimates the cost of the new athletic facility at "between $65 and $75 million. It needs to be in place by 2010. That's the timetable we are on."
For all of his carnival barker bluster, never underestimate Schnellenberger. He was, after all, the guy who was talking about on-the-brink-of-extinction Miami program winning a national title when it was broke. The staff was literally scraping together change to go to a corner payphone to call recruits.
• Cool list in Esquire about the 75 skills every man should master.
I rolled my eyes at a bunch of these (Nos. 12, 15, 16, 29, 32, 50, 57). A few I'd add off the top of my head:
Be able to start a conversation with the person next to you on a plane even if you don't find them attractive.
Get your point across on e-mail without starting a fight.
Get up-and-down out of a bunker.
Be able to hit to the opposite field in a softball game.
Know how to set your buddy up with someone in the bar while not getting yourself caught up in the mix.
Learn when it's acceptable to remark, 'Yeah, she is good-looking' while in the company of your girlfriend/wife.
Know when to not take things too seriously.
Feel free to come up with better ones.
Bruce Feldman
