ILLINI ... UGH ![]() The fallout continues. The complaints at Illinois that started with former Illini OL Simon Cvijanovic and bled into other sports reached a new level of destruction Monday with administrators relieving AD Mike Thomas of his role as overseer of an athletics department that is being viewed as uncaring and uninformed, most of all with regard to the student-athletes it is there to serve. Frankly, the whole thing just reeks, with fingers being pointed in every direction, most of all at former head football coach Tim Beckman, and no one seeming to take any responsibility. The only ones “in charge” seem to be the complainants, whose words, verified or not, send the supposed adults scurrying in the most politically correct position they can find, whoever they take down in the process be damned. The irony is Thomas, in many ways a quality AD who did some great fundraising work in Champaign, Ill., fired Beckman a week before the 2015 season started, and now, just a little more than two months later, he gets the axe himself. Thomas, though, somehow leaves with some sort of respect still intact, not to mention a nice little $1.5 million buyout to help ease his transition to non-AD life, while Beckman remains the scapegoat. It’ll be interesting to watch, when all is said and done with investigation, if the latter ultimately wins a wrongful termination lawsuit. While no fan here of Beckman and what he produced on the field at one of my alma maters, the depiction of him as this diabolical menace who ruled his Orange & Blue kingdom with an iron fist and non-stop threats doesn’t seem to mesh with the somewhat fatherly figure who guided the Illini on a more straight and narrow path in the community and classroom. No doubt change is needed at Illinois. Thing is, a large part of that change was being implemented by the two guys shown the door in the past few months – the two most recognizable figures in the athletic department, if not the entire school. Should those left behind fail to get this train back on track, there may be no more heads to roll. | ![]() An apology is in order. To anyone who cares or has a connection to or an affinity for the Naval Academy’s football program and happens to come across the words that emanate from here, “sorry” is the operative word right now. Reality is, every discussion concerning American Athletic Conference this season with the braintrust at YDKJ without fail would include comments about the Midshipmen, about their offense, about their knack for fielding a competitive team every year at a level that, symbolically speaking, is several pay grades above, about their lurking in the shadows while the likes of Memphis, Temple and Houston were championed as the flag-bearers for the AAC as it pushed its way into the stratosphere supposedly privy to only the power-5 outlets. Essentially ignored, seen an nothing more than an afterthought by a nation of college football followers … that was Navy, and, oh, the heads here shook in disappointment at the unknowing, unthinking masses. Only one problem with that high-and-mighty insight. It has to be shared in order to have any merit. With that, “epic fail” is the only way to describe the recognition shown here, on this site, in this blog, before now to the 2015 Middies, their record-setting quarterback Keenan Reynolds and their remarkable head coach Ken Niumatalolo, who took the reins in 2007 when Paul Johnson bolted for Georgia Tech, fine-tuned the triple-option offense already in place and kept Navy right on winning and bowling. At this point, it has won eight or more games and been to a bowl 11 of the last 12 seasons. Niumatalolo has been there every campaign, either as an assistant or the guy running the show. Considering in the previous 121 years the Middies only played beyond the regular season nine times, that’s quite a streak. Maybe, in a way, they’ve become somewhat victims of their own success. Coming into the season, a first in the AAC for Navy, it was expected to be pretty good. It was expected to win, well, eight or more games – the usual. It had proven its worth in the last decade and change. It was, in essence, a given. Memphis, Temple and Houston were not. Heck, outside of those who may have studied every snap of the Owls’ previous two seasons under Matt Rhule and seen a flash of something special possibly brewing, no one knew that they’d start the season 7-0 and give potential college playoff entrant Notre Dame all it could handle before falling, 24-20, two weekends ago. Navy? Frankly, possessing an offense that even the most athletic or disciplined of teams struggle with, it figured to give ND trouble when it played the Irish two weeks before it traveled to Philly to face Temple. Oh, and it did, before turnovers and manpower shortage finally forged an unconquerable gap between the two. Doesn’t matter, though. Thing is, the AAC has been trumpeted all along this season right here. Not just due to an alma mater connection with Temple, but the sense to recognition what was brewing at Memphis and Houston. Before losing to Navy, 45-20, Saturday night at home in the Liberty Bowl, the Tigers had shot up to No. 15 in the national polls and No. 13 the CFP rankings. Memphis, and Houston, had reached last week unbeaten. It, Houston and Temple had cracked the polls and remained there. There is no argument that those three programs deserved all the pub they received. The problem is, Navy was just as worthy. Now ranked, and sporting a spotless AAC record just like Houston and Temple, it has a chance to show that, you know what, maybe it’s been even more worthy all along. The Middies visit the Cougars in two weeks, and, should they win that, they’d likely face Temple in the inaugural AAC title game. Should they win that, umm, we might be talking a New Year’s bowl game – something that hasn’t been achieved by Navy in more than half a century, when, ironically enough, they were coached by none other than Wayne Hardin, who later carved out the finishing touches of his Hall of Fame career at Temple, leading the Owls to their first bowl win and last trip to the national polls prior to this season. Reynolds, who shares the NCAA career mark for rushing TDs at 77 with former Wisconsin star Montee Ball, is the headliner for certain. A slick ball-handler and shifty runner, he’s good for 100 yards and 1.5 scores per game. But he’s got a bull at fullback in Chris Swain (6-1, 245) as well, and the defense is classic, swarm-to-the-ball effective as four guys – defensive backs Quincy Adams and Lorentez Barbour, and linebackers Daniel Gonzales and Micah Thomas – average six tackles per game or more. What the Middies did to Memphis, which was simply undress a very, very good team before its own fans, pretty much derailing the Heisman campaign for Tigers QB Paxton Lynch in the process, should sound the alarm to their remaining opponents and the rest of us … to wake up. They’re legit. Legit in big-time circles. - Jack Kerwin | [email protected] |
AROUND THE NATION
PARTY CRASHER Pretty amazing that Oklahoma State had to reach 8-0 and then smoke No. 8 Texas Christian, 49-29, before everyone stopped, took notice and realized, uhhh, hmmm, maybe the Cowboys are the best team in the Big 12. Gee, ya think … Not for nothing, but they even have better unis than their more ballyhooed conference brethren TCU and Baylor. If they run the table the rest of the way, which would include beating Baylor and Oklahoma, both games being in Stillwater, Okla., it is very likely the Pokes will find themselves in the college football playoff. | EYE TEST Two glaring “offs” for the eyes behind this piece are Clemson being the new No. 1 in the AP poll and Memphis dropping 10 spots to No. 25. Obviously, you get smoked in your house by an unranked opponent – as the Tigers did, 45-20 by Navy, which, ahem, is 7-1 and now ranked – and you should drop. But not 10 spots. Not when you’ve been one of the better stories this season and proven yourself against a strong SEC team in Ole Miss. Clemson? Sorry, seen ’em several times, and no way are those Tigers the nation’s top team. They’re just getting the job done however they can, style points be damned. | BEST CONFERENCE Surprisingly, it’s the Big Ten right now, not the SEC. Best team, yeah, it’s Alabama now. But conference, the B1G is best, with unbeatens Ohio State and Iowa legit top 10 squads. Michigan State dropped a ridiculous eight spots after losing by one point at Nebraska, but sits at No. 14, one spot ahead of Michigan. Wisconsin and Norhwestern, ranked 23rd and 24th, respectively, round out the conference’s six top 25 teams. Right now, the SEC has four top 25 teams, as does the Big 12 and the American. |