Under The Radar: Class Counts, Follow The Money and Shoveling

1. What Happened to Winning with Class? After winning at Ohio State, Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield grabbed a large OU flag ran around the end zone and then headed towards midfield. There he planted the flag while his teammates jumped up and down on the Ohio State logo. It was a classless move. But given the amount of trolling on social media and in the media by coaches, players and fans, it is not surprising. While players are young and in the immediate exuberance of a big road win they may act in ways that reflect poorly, coaches should take those moments to teach class. And while OU may think they are done with Ohio State, if the Buckeyes were to run the table with wins over Penn State and Michigan they could see the Sooners in the College Football playoff. Needless to say that video would resurface…..

2. The Real Cost for Head Coaches: The NY Times this weekend posted an interesting read on what schools are paying for their head coaches. It goes in-depth to take into account not only what schools are paying for their current head coaches, but also what they are still paying the coaches they fired previously. It is a look behind the numbers at the true cost of doing business in big-time football.

3. Liability Follows The Money: A former Notre Dame player is suing Head Coach Brian Kelly for allegedly keeping certain medical test results hidden from him. While this is a medical issue the truth is that attorneys seeking damages always follow the money. With the salaries Head Coaches are now making, and the very public way which those salaries are discussed any good lawyer will attack the employee with the deepest pockets. That being said, most Head Coaches are indemnified by their employer for these things. But the threat of litigation and the publicity the head coach’s name attracts are why they are the one’s named. A word to the wise: every University should have a major wall between the medical staff and the coaching staff guaranteeing the independence of all medical decisions.

4. Shoveling the Run Game: Against Penn State Pitt utilized the shovel pass on a number of occasions. For statisticians those are forward pass plays even though it is blocked like a run and must be defended like a run. The 50+ yards Pitt racked up will go as passing yardage for Penn State’s defense. But for coaches those are generally graded as run plays and should be a concern for anyone evaluating their team’s run defense.