Most Viewed Stories
College Football Capsules: Pelini says Nebraska ‘force to be reckoned with'
LINCOLN, Neb. — A 33-0 Holiday Bowl rout of Arizona was Nebraska’s sixth win in seven games and provided further evidence that coach Bo Pelini has positioned the Cornhuskers to be major players on the national scene again.
"If we continue down the road we’re on right now, we’re going to be a force to be reckoned with," Pelini said.
Pelini has gone 9-4 and 10-4 in his first two seasons after taking over a broken program that was accustomed to measuring success in conference and national championships.
Had it not been for one second being put back on the clock in the Big 12 championship game, allowing Texas to kick the game-winning field goal, the Huskers would have won their first league title since 1999.
Nebraska rebounded from that disappointment to turn in the most dominating performance of the bowl season, throttling Arizona on Wednesday night in San Diego.
The 20th-ranked Huskers allowed 109 total yards, a school bowl record and the fewest yards allowed since they held Baylor to 84 yards in 2000.
Their offense broke out of a long funk to roll up 396 total yards, with scores on seven of the first eight possessions.
By defeating the No. 22 Wildcats, Nebraska won three games against Top 25 opponents for the first time since 1999. Missouri and Oklahoma also were ranked when Nebraska beat them.
Pelini is optimistic about the future.
Center Jacob Hickman is the only offensive starter who won’t be back in 2010. Nine players who made five or more starts on defense will return.
The biggest gap to fill will be that of Associated Press national player of the year Ndamukong Suh (en-DOM-uh-ken Soo), who finished fourth in Heisman Trophy voting and could be the first player taken in the NFL draft.
"I don’t know all the history, but I find it hard to believe there’s a more dominant defensive football player who’s ever played at Nebraska," Pelini said.
Linebacker Phillip Dillard and safeties Larry Asante and Matt O’Hanlon also are leaving, but Pelini said he believes the Huskers could end up having an even better defense next season.
"Ultimately, we have some big pieces of the puzzle coming back," Pelini said. "We’re going to be a little bit deeper. As well as we’ve played, we haven’t been real deep. We have more guys in the program, more guys coming up who have an idea what we’re doing defensively. I feel real good about the future and where we’re going to be next year."
Jared Crick, an All-Big 12 first-team defensive tackle who was overshadowed playing alongside Suh, will be the focal point up front. He’ll probably be joined by Baker Steinkuhler, son of Husker great and 1983 Outland Trophy winner Dean Steinkuhler. Cameron Meredith is set to replace Barry Turner at one of the end spots.
Eric Martin, a special teams standout, should be ready to play a prominent role at linebacker, and there should be little or no drop-off at safety with P.J. Smith, Eric Hagg and Courtney Osborne in the mix. Hagg spent most of this season at nickel back.
Before the Holiday Bowl, Nebraska was on track to have its least productive offense since 1968. The Huskers still averaged only 323 yards a game, 127 under its 2008 average.
Zac Lee, who will have surgery next week to repair a torn tendon in his right (throwing) arm, started all but two games. He’ll be pushed in the spring by Cody Green and possibly Taylor Martinez after having a 14-to-10 touchdowns-to-interceptions ratio.
Pelini and offensive coordinator Shawn Watson adopted a play-it-safe philosophy at midseason, asking Lee to manage the game and keep the Huskers out of bad plays. The ho-hum offense went through a four-game stretch in which it produced a total of four touchdowns. The Huskers were able to get away with the strategy, for the most part, because their defense had emerged as one of the nation’s best.
The Huskers got creative against Arizona, unveiling the wildcat formation for the first time, with Rex Burkhead taking direct snaps on many of his 17 carries and running for a team-leading 89 yards. Lee carried a game-high 18 times for 65 yards, and receiver Niles Paul went 20 yards on a reverse.
Lee threw for 173 yards, including a 74-yard touchdown to Paul, and wasn’t intercepted.
"As an offense, this is a good way to finish the year," Lee said. "It’s been as much an up-and-down year as possible. We got a little bit of redemption. We got some things ironed out, and hopefully we can use this as a springboard to next season."
Pelini will be expecting greater consistency from an offensive line that at times failed to generate much push.
"I want to be a physical football team, and I want to be able to run," he said. "Believe me, I understand the need to throw the ball. Everybody has to be able to throw. But we’re going to be committed to and be able to run the football on people when we want to. To me, that’s the key of a good football team."
The Huskers’ schedule is not overly daunting. Their toughest nonconference game is at Washington, and they play Texas and Missouri at home. They have to travel to Oklahoma State, but Oklahoma and Texas Tech are not in their rotation of Big 12 South opponents.
"Where we are right now, we can beat anyone in the United States," Pelini said. "That’s how far we’ve come."
Nebraska’s Suh says ending career is bittersweet
LINCOLN, Neb. — Star Nebraska defensive lineman Ndamukong Suh says finishing his college football career is bittersweet for him.
Suh and his defensive mates posted their second shutout of the season in Wednesday night’s 33-0 Holiday Bowl win over Arizona in San Diego.
He said he’s "super happy" he decided to return for his senior season rather than declare for the NFL draft. The AP national player of the year said he ended his career the right way.
Suh said he became emotional as he walked off the field after his final home game, against Kansas State on Nov. 21.
He plans to return to Lincoln to watch the Huskers in the future, and he expects to see them win a national title.
State News
TCU's Patterson is Bobby Dodd coach of the year
ATLANTA — TCU coach Gary Patterson has won the Bobby Dodd coach of the year award.
The award announced at halftime of the Chick-fil-A Bowl game between Tennessee and Virginia Tech on Thursday night.
The award is selected from a vote of all previous winners and a panel chosen by the Bobby Dodd Foundation. Patterson was an unanimous selection.
Patterson has taken TCU (12-0) to a No. 3 ranking and a Fiesta Bowl matchup against Boise State.
Patterson has an 85-27 record at TCU.
Elsewhere
Urban Meyer says he wanted to hide chest pains
NEW ORLEANS — Wanting to protect his children and football team, Florida coach Urban Meyer was "very careful" about releasing information regarding his hospital stay following the Southeastern Conference championship game.
He hoped to keep private his chest pain, ambulance ride and diagnostic tests — at least until he had a chance to tell those closest to him.
"I have three children that mean more to me than anything. I have a football team that means more to me than anything. I didn't want it to get out at all," Meyer said at a Sugar Bowl news conference Thursday. "We were very careful. I didn't want anyone alarmed."
"And I think at some point, whether you're a football coach, whether you're a lawyer or whatever, you think at some point there would be a lot of respect for families involved and children and 11-year-old boys and 16-year-old girls and 19-year-old girls," he added.
"Do what you have to do to protect them. If that means not coming clean with full details about something very personal, if you can't understand that, then first of all, I think you've got to recheck yourself. And then second of all, I think at some point you certainly will understand that."
According to a 911 recording, Meyer complained of chest pain and said his side was tingling before he was hospitalized Dec. 6.
Meyer's wife told an Alachua County dispatcher that her 45-year-old husband had a pulse but wasn't talking when she contacted emergency officials at 4:27 a.m., hours after the Gators returned home from a 32-13 loss to Alabama.
"My husband's having chest pains," Shelley Meyer said. "He's having chest pains, he just woke up in the middle of the night and said he's having chest pains."
Shelley Meyer said her husband had taken a sleeping pill that night and had suffered chest pains before. She repeatedly tried to rouse Meyer, who was lying on his stomach on the floor.
"Urban, Urban, talk to me," she says.
The 911 recording first was obtained by ESPN.
Initial reports indicated the Florida coach checked into a Gainesville hospital, where he was treated for dehydration and released. Shelley Meyer told dispatchers her husband was breathing and appeared to be grunting.
"He almost sounds like he's kind of trying to cry," she said.
Meyer abruptly resigned last Saturday, citing health problems, and then decided he would instead take an indefinite leave of absence. He plans to coach the fifth-ranked Gators in the Sugar Bowl against No. 4 Cincinnati on Friday night.
He declined to answer questions about his health Thursday as well as the timing of his announcement.
"I think there will be an appropriate time to address some of those situations," Meyer said. "Today would not be the day. This is about a celebration of a great football game with two really good teams, one undefeated team and one team that was undefeated until the SEC championship game."
-- Mark Long
Richt buoyed by strong finish to 8-5 season
ATLANTA — Mark Richt's pursuit of a defensive coordinator is still on while the search for Georgia's next starting quarterback is on standby until spring practice.
Richt's Bulldogs capped an 8-5 season with a 44-20 win over Texas A&M in Monday night's Independence Bowl. The win followed a 30-24 victory over then-No. 7 Georgia Tech to close the regular season.
Georgia's streak of 13 consecutive season with eight or more wins is the longest in the nation, but that wasn't a point Richt celebrated on Thursday as he reviewed the season.
"People have a picture in your mind of what we should be and we do, too," Richt said. "We certainly don't want to say that 8-5 was the greatest season in Georgia football by any means. I like the way we finished and I like the way the guys battled until the very end."
The school's search for a new defensive coordinator stretched into the new year after LSU officials said Thursday they have reached a new deal to keep defensive coordinator John Chavis, who had interest from Richt. Georgia earlier was denied in its pursuit of Virginia Tech's Bud Foster.
Richt fired defensive coordinator Willie Martinez, linebackers coach John Jancek and defensive ends coach Jon Fabris after the regular season. The three declined an invitation to coach in the bowl game.
Graduate assistants and student assistants filled in as Georgia had one of its strongest defensive games against a potent Texas A&M offense.
"I would say it was a great effort by the team in general but without question our defensive players did a wonderful job," Richt said. "I think we put a good plan together. I think our players were just stellar in their attitude toward rallying around our coaches. I was real proud of them."
Richt said he wouldn't comment on Chavis or other candidates "until we've got our man." He added that Rodney Garner, the team's assistant head coach and defensive line coach, is not a candidate for the position.
Richt has another tough choice looming: He must decide who will be the team's next starting quarterback.
Quarterback Joe Cox finished the season as the only senior starter on offense. Backup quarterback Logan Gray, who will be a junior in 2010, is considering a position change. Aaron Murray and Zach Mettenberger, who will be redshirt freshmen, are the likely top candidates in spring practice if Gray makes a switch to receiver or another position.
"The things I'm going to be looking for are a guy who can hit his target, a guy who can make good decisions, a guy who can handle the pressure of the job," Richt said. "It's the same thing I'm looking for when we go recruiting. I think whoever wins that job has got to have a very good respect for the football."
Richt is not committed to naming a starter by the end of spring practice.
Georgia's biggest rebuilding job will be on the defensive line, where seniors Jeff Owens, Kade Weston and Geno Atkins were seniors. The team may also lose two juniors on defense — linebacker Rennie Curran and safety Reshad Jones — to the NFL draft. The deadline to declare for the draft is Jan. 15.
"They are certainly debating about what they are going to do," Richt said.
Richt said the last two wins were "positive absolutely for the program."
"I think finishing with the big victory against Georgia Tech, who was and is a top 10 football team and is certainly our archrival within the state, that was a very big day for our program and then certainly to finish the way we did Monday was, too," he said.
Georgia should return all its top offensive linemen except Vince Vance, a part-time starter. Most of the team's top skill position players, including tailbacks Caleb King and Washaun Ealey, receivers A.J. Green, Tavarres King, Rantavious Wooten and Israel Troupe and tight ends Aron White and Orson Charles were freshmen or sophomores this season.
Caleb King said the bowl win was a good start for 2010.
"It gives us momentum for next season so it was a great win for the program," King said.
Punter Drew Butler and placekicker Blair Walsh also were sophomores who will return from what Richt called a character-building season.
"I think when you have a group of guys who will not give in, will not quit, will not surrender to adverse times, I think it is a sign your program is strong and I've never really had any doubt about that whatsoever," he said.
-- Charles Odum
Bowl victory gives Wisconsin hope for 2010CHRIS JENKINS,AP Sports Writer
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — No, Wisconsin didn't figure prominently in the Big Ten title race this year.
But after Tuesday night's victory over Miami in the Champs Sports Bowl, the Badgers (10-3) head into the offseason filled with confidence about their chances for next season.
"We have re-established Wisconsin football," defensive back Jay Valai said. "I'm not going to say we're going to the national championship next season. But beating Miami isn't just a springboard, it's like going off a diving board for next season."
With quarterback Scott Tolzien, running back John Clay and a wide range of talented young players returning, much will be expected of the Badgers in 2010. But Tolzien has seen the Badgers struggle under the weight of high expectations before, and knows nothing is guaranteed.
"I've been here when we had high preseason rankings, and it's all about what you do with those," Tolzien said. "We can't get complacent. We have to stay hungry, but you can definitely see based on what we did against Miami that when everyone does their job, everyone competes on every play, the sky is the limit for this group."
Coming off a so-so 2008 season, Wisconsin coach Bret Bielema began facing doubts about his ability to sustain the success of his predecessor, Barry Alvarez. And after getting off to an impressive 5-0 start this year, the Badgers came up short in their two biggest tests of the season, dropping back-to-back games at Ohio State and home to Iowa.
That's why beating No. 14 Miami was such a big deal to the Badgers.
"I think everyone realized that up to this game we had won the games we were supposed to win, but there wasn't a big win, per se, against a ranked opponent," Tolzien said. "You know, just a real exclamation point, really."
Bielema said the bowl game victory was the payoff for challenges he made to his players, Clay and Tolzien included.
"I got to get on these guys," Bielema said. "I made John mad. I made Scott mad. Guys get upset for a little bit. It's all in everybody's best interest. I hear things I don't like to hear, but it makes me better. I'm going to read things that I don't like to read. The bottom line is how you handle that criticism and how you move forward."
After Tuesday's game, running back John Clay committed to returning next season and is excited about the possibilities of playing in what he expects to be an explosive offense.
"We got Scott coming back," Clay said. "All the wide receivers coming back. Sky is the limit for this offense. I'm not going to miss any opportunity to be a part of this again."
Tolzien was perhaps the most pleasant surprise of the season. After winning the job in preseason practices, he revived a passing game that had struggled last season, completing 63.6 percent of his passes for 2,445 yards and 16 touchdowns with 10 interceptions in the regular season.
"Definitely, there's no substitute for game experience," Tolzien said. "One thing I've tried to do ever since coming into the program was, you know, stick to the plan and trust the coaches, trust the system and work hard. That combined with all the talent we have on our offense has really made my job come along real smoothly throughout the year."
The Badgers' running game got off to a slow start, but finished the season strong. Clay ran for 1,423 yards and 16 touchdowns in the regular season, averaging 5.3 yards per carry. Backups Montee Ball and Zach Brown also were effective at times.
Clay credited the offensive line.
"I said I was going to take them all out to dinner and I'm going to keep my word — though it's probably going to have to be at an all-you-can-eat buffet," Clay said.
Ball said the Badgers can be dominant on the ground next season.
"The way we ran (against Miami), absolutely we can do that again next season," Ball said. "It's a great combination, especially with the offensive line we have in front of us. They were dominating the line of scrimmage and it's going to be fun running behind them next year."
Throw in a young defense that should improve and become more consistent, and the Badgers believe they're on the rise.
"Our players didn't change overnight, but they changed the details of what they go through," Bielema said. "The cumulative effect is what you saw (Tuesday). To get to 10 wins from where we were a year ago, what people thought of us, I think we looked within ourselves first. Then we just kind of moved ourselves forward."
-- Chris Jenkins
Pinkney wrapping up 6th year at East Carolina
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — When Patrick Pinkney talks about graduating at East Carolina, he sounds like a grizzled old alum. After all, the Pirates' quarterback earned an undergraduate degree back in 2008.
"It's been a while," he said.
Pinkney wasn't ready to say goodbye, however, and when the NCAA granted him a sixth year of eligibility in 2009, he came back to lead East Carolina to another Conference USA title. This weekend, he'll try to finish his lengthy career with a win when the Pirates play Arkansas in the Liberty Bowl on Saturday.
The son of a former East Carolina defensive back, Pinkney began his career with the Pirates in 2004 — but he was a long way from taking the field. He redshirted that year, then missed the 2005 season because of a shoulder injury.
In 2006, Pinkney was on the scout team. He finally started playing in '07, starting five games that year and 13 a season ago.
This past January, the NCAA granted him one more year, making up for time he missed while injured and giving East Carolina a 23-year-old quarterback for teammates to tease in 2009.
"Pat knows he's old," wide receiver Dwayne Harris said. "He doesn't get offended by it."
Arkansas' quarterback, Ryan Mallett, has been in college three years. He's already played his way into NFL draft discussion. Mallett played at Michigan in 2007, sat out last season after transferring to Arkansas and has put up big numbers for the Razorbacks in 2009.
Contrast that with Pinkney, who didn't play a down his first three years with East Carolina.
"I don't know how he did it," said Mallett, who grew restless while sitting out his one season at Arkansas. "I couldn't do that, man."
Despite his experience, Pinkney needed to make an adjustment this season. The Pirates started 3-3 before winning six of seven, including a 38-32 victory over Houston for their second straight Conference USA championship.
"Patrick, being a sixth-year quarterback, tried to do too much early in the year. He put too much on his shoulders," East Carolina coach Skip Holtz said. "As the year went on, Patrick settled down. He went back to making the read, taking what the defense gives him and not trying to go over the top and force the ball for a touchdown."
That was obvious in the Conference USA title game. Houston's Case Keenum threw for 527 yards and five touchdowns, but he was also intercepted three times. Pinkney, meanwhile, threw for 262 yards and a touchdown but wasn't intercepted.
"Patrick's biggest strength is he is so even keeled. He doesn't get rattled or down," Holtz said. "But Patrick's biggest weakness is he's very even keeled. He's not emotional, he's not a real fiery guy. ... But having a guy with his decision making helps you do a lot more with your offense."
Pinkney received a degree in health fitness and says he's started working toward his masters, but he'd also like to play in the NFL and doesn't feel he should have to switch positions. Pinkney is only 6 feet tall, but he can point to another former East Carolina player for inspiration — Tennessee Titans running back Chris Johnson.
"A lot of people thought he wasn't going to play running back in the league because of his size," Pinkney said. "He's the leading rusher in the NFL."
Before worrying about the pros, Pinkney will play one final college game, and it won't be an easy one. East Carolina lost in the Liberty Bowl last season to Kentucky on a late fumble return. Now, the Pirates will face another Southeastern Conference team — and one that is playing close to home.
Win or lose, Pinkney expects an exciting end to his six-year odyssey.
"I'm going to miss it," Pinkney said. "It's the memories of your teammates. It's going to be emotional after this last game here. Obviously I'm going to soak it in and play my best."
-- Noah Trister
Montana promotes Pflugrad to head coach
MISSOULA, Mont. — Montana promoted wide receivers coach Robin Pflugrad to head coach Thursday, eight days after Bobby Hauck left for UNLV.
The 52-year-old Pflugrad (flew-GRAD) was an assistant coach for the Grizzlies from 1986 to 1994, then returned in July after three seasons as wide receivers coach and recruiting coordinator at Oregon. The former Portland State receiver coached and recruited for 13 seasons at Pac-10 schools Oregon, Washington State and Arizona State.
"I am looking forward to the challenges of the job and am excited to get on the recruiting trail," Pflugrad said. "We had a tremendous senior class at Montana in 2009, which needs to be replaced, and that will be a daunting challenge."
Hauck was 80-17 in seven seasons at Montana. He led the Grizzlies to seven Big Sky titles and to the Football Championship Subdivision title games in 2004, 2008 and 2009. Montana was 14-1 this season, falling 23-21 to Villanova in the championship game.
"Robin is the right person for the job," athletic director Jim O'Day said. "This has been an opportunity he's been looking forward to for many years. There's no doubt in my mind he will continue to build on the success of the program."
In his first stint at Montana under Don Read, Pflugrad worked with the quarterbacks, running backs and wide receivers, and was promoted to assistant head coach in 1991. He worked with quarterback Dave Dickenson, the 1995 Walter Payton Award winner who led the Grizzlies to the national title that season.
"I want to thank Don Read for giving me an opportunity to get into the coaching profession, as well as for bringing me to Montana with him in 1986 when he started there," Pflugrad said. "I also want to thank Bobby Hauck for giving me a chance to come back to Montana and once again become part of the Grizzly football family."
Pflugrad was selected over former Montana quarterback Brent Pease, now Boise State's receivers coach, and Wisconsin defensive coordinator Dave Doeren. Both Pease and Doeren were assistant coaches at Montana. Carroll College coach Mike Van Diest and Utah offensive coordinator Dave Schramm also interviewed for the job.
Stump Mitchell offered Southern head coaching job
BATON ROUGE, La. — Redskins assistant coach Stump Mitchell has been offered the head coaching job at Southern University.
The school announced the offer and Mitchell says he will make a decision after the Redskins' season is over. Washington (4-11) plays its final game Sunday and it could be the last with the Redskins for coach Jim Zorn and his staff.
"I think it's great that they considered me as being qualified to take over a program like that," Mitchell said. "They've offered it to me. I don't know what's going to happen here. But if it's not here, it'll be there."
Mitchell played running back in the NFL for nine seasons with the Cardinals, rushing for 4,649 yards. He has been an assistant coach in the NFL for 11 years. He joined Washington's staff with Zorn in 2008 after nine years with Seattle.
Mitchell is running backs coach and assistant head coach.
He also served a three-year stint as head coach at Morgan State.
Southern athletic director Greg LaFleur played with Mitchell on the St. Louis Cardinals from 1981-86.
Southern fired coach Pete Richardson after a 6-5 regular season. He had been with the school for 17 seasons.
Arkansas suspends 3 before Liberty Bowl
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Arkansas suspended three players Thursday — including two defensive starters — for unspecified violations of team rules. The Razorbacks face East Carolina in the Liberty Bowl on Saturday.
Linebacker Wendel Davis, safety Matt Harris and wide receiver Marques Wade are not expected to play. Davis is the team's second-leading tackler. Harris is third.
An athletic department spokesman confirmed the suspensions shortly after the Razorbacks finished addressing the media Thursday. Coach Bobby Petrino was not expected to be available to reporters until Friday.
Harris and Davis are both seniors, and Wade is a junior. Harris is the son of former Dallas Cowboy Cliff Harris.
"I'm very disappointed that Matt won't be able to play in his last college football game," Cliff Harris told KTHV-TV in Little Rock, Ark. "His action is not consistent with his commitment and dedication to the Razorback program. I understand the need for discipline in a football program and I hope that Matt has learned a very painful lesson."
The Arkansas defense has been a weak link at times this season, allowing a Southeastern Conference-worst 402 yards per game. Davis started all 11 games he played in 2009, and Harris started 10 games.
The Razorbacks have talked a lot this week about the need for focus. Arkansas hasn't won a bowl since 2003, and the Hogs were blown out in their last appearance by Missouri, 38-7 in the 2008 Cotton Bowl. Since beating Arizona State in the 1985 Holiday Bowl, the Razorbacks are 2-12 in bowls.
Tennessee S Berry says he's entering NFL draft
ATLANTA — Tennessee safety Eric Berry is skipping his senior season and entering the NFL draft.
Berry said after Thursday night's Chick-fil-A Bowl loss to Virginia Tech that he played his final college game.
Berry, the Jim Thorpe Award winner as the nation's top defensive back, says he wants to help his parents "sit down and relax."
The announcement was no surprise. Berry, a junior from Fairburn, Ga., near Atlanta, is expected to be a high first-round pick.
He had four tackles, including one for a loss of six yards, in the Vols' 37-14 loss to Virginia Tech.
LSU DC Chavis staying put
ORLANDO, Fla. — LSU defensive coordinator John Chavis is staying put after drawing interest from Georgia for the Bulldogs' vacant coordinator position.
Chavis joined head coach Les Miles' staff last January following 14 seasons as defensive coordinator at Tennessee.
LSU athletic director Joe Alleva said in a statement Thursday it was important for the program's future to invest in Chavis. The statement said Chavis will receive an increase in compensation, though terms were to be announced later.
The Tigers are 12th in the nation in scoring defense, allowing 16 points a game.
No. 13 LSU faces No. 11 Penn State Friday in the Capital One Bowl.
Georgia is seeking a new defensive coordinator after Willie Martinez was fired.
Auburn inks former Florida QB Newton
AUBURN — Former Florida quarterback Cameron Newton has signed a national letter of intent with Auburn.
The Tigers announced the signing of Newton on Thursday night.
Newton, from Atlanta, was kicked off the Florida team last year after he was arrested and charged with stealing another student's laptop. The charges were dropped earlier this month after he completed a pretrial intervention program for first-time offenders that typically includes probation.
This season, he played at Blinn College in Texas and led the team to a junior college national championship.
With this year's starter Chris Todd out of eligibility, the Tigers are expected to give Newton every opportunity to win the starting job next season.
Bedford leaving Florida for Louisville
NEW ORLEANS — Florida's coaching situation is getting more unsettled.
Cornerbacks coach Vance Bedford is leaving the Gators to become defensive coordinator at Louisville. New Louisville coach Charlie Strong, still working as Florida's defensive coordinator, hired Bedford even though he said last week he didn't plan to take anyone from Florida with him.
Bedford will coach the Sugar Bowl on Friday, then head to Louisville with Strong.
His departure could mean at least three new assistants for Florida in 2010. Florida coach Urban Meyer, who is taking an indefinite leave after the Sugar Bowl, already hired a new receivers coach. Now he has to replace Strong and Bedford.
USC LB Kaveinga transferring to BYU
LOS ANGELES — Southern California coach Pete Carroll says linebacker Uona Kaveinga is transferring to BYU.
Kaveinga played sparingly as a sophomore this season for the Trojans (9-4), making two tackles on special teams and as a backup middle linebacker.
Carroll announced USC had released Kaveinga from his scholarship Wednesday.
London hires 4th Richmond aide
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — New Virginia coach Mike London has hired Steve Atkinson, director of football operations at Richmond, as the Cavaliers' director of player development.
Atkinson directed the day-to-day operations of the Richmond football office for London, the Spiders' head coach in 2008 and 2009. He is the fourth Richmond aide to follow London to Virginia.
