College Football Capsules: Leach faces James in Texas Tech lawsuit deposition

LUBBOCK — Mike Leach sat across from his accuser Saturday as Craig James gave sworn testimony in the former coach's lawsuit against Texas Tech.

Relax, people. Notre Dame isn’t going anywhere. The fact that the Irish are even talking about it, though, likely means somebody else will, maybe sooner than you think.

What was supposed to be a meet-and-greet for recent hire Brian Kelly took an unexpected turn early last week, when the new Notre Dame coach was asked whether college football’s last major independent might consider joining a conference.

Spotting athletic director Jack Swarbrick off to one side, Kelly pointed in that direction.

"Go ask Jack," he said.

A handful of reporters did. They got an earful. Instead of the usual bland assurances, Swarbrick said Notre Dame was "trying like hell" to stay independent. College football was at a tipping point, he cautioned, and the resulting changes "could be relatively small or they could be seismic." With the landscape "as unstable as I’ve ever seen it," he said everything was up for discussion.

Got all that?

"You each could invent a scenario that would force our hand," Swarbrick said. "It’s not hard to do."

It’s a fascinating offer, to be sure, even if only half the rumors floating around are true.

According to several reports, the Big Ten Conference, flush with cash after launching its own TV network, hired an investment firm to explore expanding beyond its current 11 teams. The possibilities included adding just Notre Dame, or as many as five other schools, which would be accomplished by cannibalizing one or more of its weaker conference rivals.

The invitation to Notre Dame, if true, hardly qualifies as news. The Irish and the Big Ten have been flirting for years.

But the courtship heats up every time talk of a major realignment in college football does, which might be the real news in Swarbrick’s surprisingly dire response. The last time Notre Dame felt the landscape shifting below its feet, the shaking was caused by conferences gouging one another in a headlong rush to get to the TV payola trough first.

That was a half-dozen years ago, when Atlantic Coast Conference commissioner John Swofford kicked things off by trying to steal four football-playing schools from the Big East and settling for three. By the time the chain-reaction thieving was finished, more than a dozen schools had shifted allegiances with a predictable result: The rich got richer.

The underlying dynamic hasn’t changed. There is even greater strength in numbers when time comes to negotiate TV deals. That’s why the Big Ten and Southeastern Conference — thanks to a long-term TV deal with ESPN — wield more influence today than ever and Notre Dame wields less.

Going it alone is never easy, but Notre Dame won’t have to stage a bake sale to hold onto its independence. The Irish haven’t been serious contenders for a national title for going on two decades. But such is the lure of their storied past that they continue living off it, anyway.

A television contract with NBC pays $15 million a year through 2015. Notre Dame collects another $1.8 million every season, thanks to its unique arrangement with the Bowl Championship Series. Every time the Irish qualify for a BCS bowl, they pocket another $4.5 million that unlike the rest of the BCS participants, they don’t have to share with conference brethren.

All that money still falls short of the $23 million every Big Ten member raked in last year, but it’s plenty enough to guarantee Notre Dame’s independence. And at the moment — or until Kelly figures out how to make the Irish relevant on the field once more — that’s their biggest selling point.

"That was what Notre Dame always stood for ... a team would go any place and play anybody at any time," former coach Dan Devine said the last time the Irish seriously considered joining a conference. "I don’t think it should change now."

It won’t. What might change, though, is the membership of the Big East, where most of Notre Dame’s other sports teams compete. Not quite five years after the ACC raid, the Big Ten is said to be considering adding Big East members Pittsburgh, Rutgers and Syracuse, as well as Big 12 member Missouri.

Big East commissioner John Marinatto responded to the ruckus that Swarbrick’s remarks stirred by saying he wouldn’t stand idly by and watch his conference get ripped up again. Good luck with that.

-- Jim Litke

Oregon QB Masoli suspended for 2010 after burglary

Just 10 weeks ago the future couldn’t have looked brighter for Oregon football.

Sure, the Ducks had just lost to Ohio State in the Rose Bowl, but the team was back in Pasadena for the first time since 1995. And Oregon was going into the 2010 season as the reigning Pac-10 champions, returning versatile quarterback Jeremiah Masoli and young rushing star LaMichael James.

But since then, Oregon’s bright future has dimmed considerably as player after player has run into trouble — including Masoli and James.

Both appeared in Lane County court Friday to plead guilty in separate cases. Oregon coach Chip Kelly acted soon thereafter, suspending Masoli for the upcoming season. James, along with place-kicker Rob Beard, were suspended for the opener at home on Sept. 4 against New Mexico.

Kelly read a to-the-point statement at a brief news conference. He did not take questions.

"The actions that our players take when they’re in the community and they’re not on the football field or in the classroom, are just as important to us," he said. "How they behave as student-athletes here, it’s not just on the field. And if they cross that line, I’ve said all along there will be a punishment that will go along with that."

Some believed that Masoli, who had been considered a potential Heisman candidate, would be dismissed from the team. But he was allowed to stay on scholarship and may practice with the team. He has the option of using a redshirt year.

Masoli pleaded guilty to second-degree burglary in the theft of a pair of laptops and a guitar from a campus fraternity in late January. A plea deal reduced his charge from a felony to a misdemeanor.

Former Ducks receiver Garrett Embry also pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of second-degree burglary in connection with the case.

Both were sentenced to 12 months of probation and 140 hours of community service. Together they must also pay $5,000 restitution.

In the same courtroom hours earlier, James pleaded guilty to misdemeanor harassment in connection to an altercation with a former girlfriend last month.

James was sentenced to 10 days in jail and 24 months of probation. He reported to jail on Friday afternoon but was quickly released and instead put on electronic surveillance for the duration of his sentence.

James, who set a Pac-10 freshman record with more than 1,500 yards rushing last season, originally faced five misdemeanor charges, including strangulation, harassment and assault. All but one harassment charge were dropped.

In a statement that was included in court documents related to the case, James apologized to his former girlfriend, who claimed he grabbed her neck and pushed her to the ground during an argument.

"I hope to put this matter behind me now and learn from it. I have made a mistake and accept the consequences," the statement said. "I look forward to demonstrating to my University, to my team and to the community that I am a better man than recent events suggest."

James rushed for 1,546 yards last season, the ninth-highest total in the nation. He had seven consecutive 100-yard games before Ohio State limited him to 70 in Oregon’s 26-17 loss in the Rose Bowl.

Masoli threw for 2,147 yards and 15 touchdowns last season. He also rushed for 668 yards and 13 touchdowns.

Beard pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor harassment charge last week for his role in a Jan. 24 street fight that left him seriously injured. He was placed on probation.

Others on the team who have gotten into trouble include linebacker Kiko Alonso, who pleaded not guilty to drunken driving charges in Eugene Municipal Court last week. Kelly suspended Alonso for the 2010 season upon learning of the arrest.

Defensive end Matt Simms was dismissed by Kelly after he was cited on assault charges last month. Simms pleaded guilty to physical harassment for striking a man he thought had beaten Beard.

Receiver Jamere Holland was dismissed from the team by Kelly after posting vulgar comments and criticizing Kelly on the Facebook social networking site.

-- Anne M. Peterson

Cal adds Akili Smith to coaching staff

BERKELEY, Calif. — California has hired former NFL players Akili Smith and Ronnie Bradford as administrative assistants on the coaching staff.

Coach Jeff Tedford said Saturday that Smith will work with the offensive coaches and Bradford will work with the defense.

Smith spent the past two seasons as the quarterbacks coach at Grossmont College in San Diego. He played college ball at Oregon when Tedford was an assistant. He was the third overall pick by Cincinnati in 1999 but lasted only four years in the NFL.

Bradford worked on the defensive staff with the Kansas City Chiefs last season under current Cal defensive coordinator Clancy Pendergast. He spent the previous six years with the Broncos. Bradford played 10 seasons in the NFL with Denver, Arizona, Atlanta and Minnesota.