News & Notes

Huskies show Neuheisel the money.
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It was the surprise of the off-season. Washington AD Barbara Hedges lured then-Colorado head coach Rick Neuheisel to the University of Washington for big money. In August the two made it an official marriage as coach Neuheisel signed a contract for nearly $1 million a year.

Neuheisel was named head coach Jan. 9. He was hired away from Colorado after former Husky coach Jim Lambright was fired following Washington's 6-6 season.

The new Husky head man's total compensation is $997,000 a year under the five-year contract, which can be extended another two years by mutual agreement.

Neuheisel will receive an annual base salary of $225,000, with other compensation from the university bringing it to $812,000. He also will receive $85,000 in outside compensation and can earn $100,000 a year in performance incentives.

Wake Forest gets an early jump on the 2003 recruiting class

Last spring, Wake Forest shocked the college world when head coach Jim Caldwell was able to sign heralded quarterback C.J. Leak, a 6-foot-4, 225-pound All-American, from Independence High in Charlotte. Leak chose Wake Forest over Penn State and Notre Dame and is currently on the Demon Deacons squad as a college freshman this fall. Apparently, Wake Forest has shocked the football world again by allegedly committing a 2003 scholarship to Leak's talented 14-year-old younger brother, Chris.

Word has it that Wake Forest has offered the incoming high school freshman quarterback a full scholarship, according to family members and his coach, after being impressed with his athletic skills as a quarterback.

In accordance with NCAA rules, the school can't comment on unsigned players. But the boys' father, and their high school coach confirmed the offer to the younger Leak. Chris Leak will play for the Demon Deacons in four years provided coach Jim Caldwell is still the coach. The Charlotte Observer reported.

"It's pretty new to me," Charlotte Independence football coach Rusty Jester said of the early offer. "But it's an awful good opportunity for a 14-year-old to have his education taken care of."

Many believe Chris, now at 5-11 and 190 pounds, will become the better player.

"He's heavier and more disciplined than I was at the same age," C.J. Leak said. "He's disciplined, with good fundamentals and I think (Wake Forest) just sees him developing and getting better four years down the road."

Jester said Chris Leak "is extremely advanced for a 14-year-old. He throws the ball very much like a mature quarterback. His leadership ability and other variables have yet to be tested," he said.

"But as far as throwing and athleticism, he's there," Jester said. "He's very much a quality quarterback."

Heisman rides a Suzuki

It's definitely a sign of the times. Every bowl game seems to have a corporate tie-in and now the Heisman Trophy has one too.

Last season, the Rose Bowl gave in to corporate sponsorship and was renamed the Rose Bowl, presented by AT&T. While the Heisman Trophy hasn't gone that far, it now has a big-time sponsor.

American Suzuki signed a three-year, $1.5 million deal with the Downtown Athletic Club—the presenter of the trophy—and became the chief sponsor of the award.

No corporate tag will appear before or after the words Heisman Trophy, said Rudy Riska, executive director of the Heisman Trophy.

The DAC, which emerged from bankruptcy in June, has presented the Heisman since 1935.

The WAC looks like it may lose two more teams as SMC and TCU make plans to giddyup' to conference USA.

ESPN reported that Southern Methodist University and Texas Christian University will leave the Western Athletic Conference to join Conference USA, which also will add South Florida (currently Division I-AA in football and already a member of Conference USA in basketball).

Kentucky decides game trophies symbolizing alcohol are no longer appropriate. . .
out goes the Beer Barrel (vs. Tennessee) and Bourbon Barrel (vs. Indiana).

Less than one year after a fatal alcohol-related truck crash involving two Kentucky football players, Tennessee and Kentucky have discontinued using a beer barrel as the trophy for their football rivalry. No longer will the game be played for the beer barrell.

Kentucky athletic director C.M. Newton announced that he and Tennessee athletic director Doug Dickey made the decision to stop the 74-year-old tradition. The blue, white and orange-painted keg has traditionally gone to the winner of each year's game.

But last November, the annual post-game display was canceled out of respect for the victims of the crash one week earlier that killed Kentucky transfer player Arthur Steinmetz and Eastern Kentucky student Scott Brock.

Tests showed that Kentucky football player Jason Watts, the driver and sole survivor of the wreck, had a blood-alcohol content 1 1/2 times the legal limit following the Nov. 15 crash. He pleaded guilty to two counts of reckless homicide and was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

Newton also would like to see the Bourbon Barrel trophy, given annually to the winner of the Kentucky-Indiana football game, go the way of the now-defunct Kentucky-Tennessee Beer Barrel.

"Our recommendation, and hopefully Indiana will go along with it, is that it's time to put that one to rest also," Newton said Monday.

Kentucky and Indiana have played for the trophy, a half-barrel mounted on a board, since 1987.

Newton said getting rid of the barrels is in keeping with stricter alcohol guidelines that his department enacted after the Watts crash, as well as the school's decision to end alcohol-related sponsorships of Kentucky athletics.

"We've gone to a zero-tolerance policy as a department and we put our money where our mouth was," he said.

Auburn does the right thing and ends the Oliver affair.

After haggling in and out of court for months, Auburn has agreed to pay $210,000 to former coach Bill Oliver to settle his lawsuit claiming he was promised the head coaching job and missed out on $112,000 in compensation.

Auburn president William Muse said the money will come from the Greater Auburn Fund, which is made up of private contributions from alumni and Auburn supporters to help finance athletic programs.

Oliver, who became interim coach when Terry Bowden abruptly resigned at midseason last year, did not get the permanent head coaching job, which went to Tommy Tuberville. Oliver, a highly regarded defensive coordinator who came to Auburn from Alabama in 1996, last spring sued Auburn, athletic director David Housel and influential trustee Bobby Lowder contending he been misled and the facts of his interim hiring had been misrepresented.

Muse said the university did not agree with Oliver's claims but agreed to settle the suit because it was going to be "time-consuming, disruptive and expensive."

"Perhaps more than anything else, this sad situation coming at this time in Auburn's great history just needs to be resolved in hopes that the new era we are now beginning at Auburn can be free of this controversy," he said.

Staying home with Dad is a courageous decision by Tennessee LB Granzow and one he will never regret.

It must have been hard for him to do, but Tennessee reserve linebacker Judd Granzow said he will miss the 1999 season to stay home in California this season to be with his ailing father, who has cancer.

Granzow, a junior who was expected to back up Raynoch Thompson at right linebacker, wants to be with his father who has lung cancer that has spread.

Last season, the tough Granzow had 33 tackles for the Vols, including 21 unassisted tackles and one forced fumble. He had a team-high six tackles against South Carolina, whom the Vols defeated 49-14.

The 6-foot-4, 235-pound linebacker transferred from Moorpark Community College in Feb. 1998. Granzow, 23, played 11/2 years of professional baseball before giving up the game because of a shoulder injury.

Granzow said he hopes to be redshirted this season and eventually return to Tennessee. Granzow's father lives in Granada Hills, Calif.

Fritz Shurmur succumbs to cancer.

Before he ever had a chance to coach a single down for the Seattle Seahawks, defensive coordinator Fritz Shurmur, the coordinator of the Green Bay Packers defense that dominated the league in 1996, died August 29 at 67.

Shurmur, a legend among defensive coaches and a well-published author of books on defensive philosophy, was in his 20th year as an NFL defensive coordinator. He followed Mike Holmgren to Seattle last January when Holmgren was hired as the Seahawks' coach and GM.

In June, Shurmur returned to the Green Bay area for treatment of esophageal and liver cancer, which was found during a routine checkup in May. Shurmur died at his home in nearby Suamico, Wis.

Shurmur was the league's longest-serving defensive coordinator. He spent five seasons with the Packers and was instrumental in the team's run to consecutive Super Bowl appearances. He also served as a defensive coach with the Phoenix Cardinals, the Los Angeles Rams, the New England Patriots and the Detroit Lions. Shurmur joined the Packers in 1994, replacing current Green Bay head coach Ray Rhodes as defensive coordinator.

Shurmur was known as a defensive innovator and a teacher of the game. He wrote four books on defense and coached for his entire adult life, beginning in 1954 as a graduate assistant at his alma mater, Albion (Mich.) College.

He was a defensive coach at the University of Wyoming from 1962-70 and head coach at the school from 1971-74. A native of Wyandotte, Mich., he held a master's degree in education and received an honorary doctorate from Albion in 1997.

Oregon's Bellotti agrees to a seven-year extension.

Dynamic Oregon football coach Mike Bellotti, the subject of rumors last off season as a candidate for several jobs, has agreed to a seven-year contract extension that could pay the Duck's fifth-year coach in excess of $700,000 a year. Bellotti, who has led the Ducks to a 30-17 record and three postseason appearances in his first four years, has more victories during that span than any other football coach in school history.

The agreement runs through the 2005 season and calls for the first three years to be followed by a four-year annual rollover arrangement. The new contract replaces a previous four-year deal that was to have expired following the 2001 season and could have paid as much as $470,000 a year.

Bellotti, 48, will be paid a base salary of $150,000, the same as his current salary under his previous contract. He will be guaranteed an additional $250,000 in outside income, will receive $100,000 in deferred compensation plus an additional $20,000 in non-cash benefits, such as automobiles and club memberships.

Albany's Mike Dailey is named Arena Coach of the Year.

Mike Dailey, who guided the Albany Firebirds to the most regular season wins in team history with 11 and the league championship, has been named the Arena Football League Coach of the Year. Albany's 11-3 record tied the Iowa Barnstormers and Tampa Bay Storm for the best mark in the league in 1999. This is Dailey's first Coach of the Year honor.

Dailey, in his eighth season in Albany and third as head coach, saw his team win the league title, their second consecutive Eastern Division title, and fourth in the last 10 seasons. Albany has won four division titles in their 10 years in the AFL. The Firebirds led the league in scoring (58.7 ppg) and boasted the top rated passer for the fifth straight season (Mike Perez 1995-96; MikePawlawski 1997-99).

Over the course of his three seasons as head coach in Albany, Dailey sports a 28-15 record and a 22-7 mark the past two seasons, including playoffs. He has helped orchestrate wins over Tampa Bay, Arizona and Orlando over this time.

Firebirds win ArenaBowl XIII.

The Albany Firebirds captured their first-ever Arena Football League championship, holding off the Orlando Predators, 59-48, to win ArenaBowl XIII before 13,652 at the Pepsi Arena in Albany, New York.

Mike Pawlawski threw four of his seven touchdown passes to Eddie Brown as Albany (14-3) built a 17-point halftime lead and fought off repeated comeback attempts by the Predators in the second half.

The Firebirds were appearing in the ArenaBowl for the first time in their 10-year history. They ended the Cinderella run of Orlando (9-8), which entered the playoffs as the lowest seed before knocking off the top two seeds - #151;Tampa Bay and Iowa.

Ex-Hawkeye LB Loftin charged with extortion for allegedly threatening Iowa coach Ferentz

A former Iowa football player Ryan Loftin, a 6-foot-5, 240-pound LB who started all 11 games last season but had been moved to the second team this year, was arrested August 28th and charged with felony extortion and misdemeanor fifth-degree theft. He apparently was trying to blackmail the school into giving him back his scholarship.

The Des Moines Sunday Register reported that first-year coach Kirk Ferentz received a letter, signed with the name Ryan Loftin, that threatened a media smear campaign against the coach, allegations of NCAA violations, and the sharing of Iowa's team secrets with opponents.

According to court documents obtained by the paper, "Loftin did threaten to expose classified information that would harm the professional reputation and business of the victim," court records said. "Loftin expected to force the victim to continue to provide continued support through scholarship funds."

The theft charge involves notebooks, believed to be Iowa playbooks taken from Ferentz's office.

Loftin, 22, has received his undergraduate degree but had one year of eligibility remaining. He quit the team Aug. 17 after he said he was concerned that his knee would not hold up for the 1999 season.

Hawaii captures the IPFL title.

In front of 4,527 rowdy fans at the Austin Texas Travis County Expo Center, the visiting Hawaii Hammerheads captured the championship of the IPFL (Indoor Professional Football League), by beating the Texas Terminators 28-13.

"This game was won on sheer determination by our players from the beginning," Hawaii coach Guy Benjamin said. "There wasn't a player on that sideline in the second half that didn't think we would prevail."

Behind an opportunistic defensive effort, the Hammerheads held the Texas offense, the league's highest-scoring unit well below its regular-season average of 40.8 points per game. In doing so, Texas finished with just eight first downs and 144 yards of total offense. Aside from recording four turnovers (two fumble recoveries and two interceptions), Hawaii also held the regular-season champion Terminators scoreless for two quarters.

Former NFL QB Don Strock will be named Florida International University's first coach.

Former Miami Dolphins quarterback Don Strock is ready to head the football program at Florida International University. The school, which plans on fielding a Division I-AA team in 2001, will formally apply to ask the state Board of Regents in November to start a football program. If approved, as expected, Strock is hoping to become the Golden Panthers' first coach.

"It's a great opportunity to help build something from the ground up, and it's something I can grow with, too," said Strock, who spent the past three seasons as the Baltimore Ravens' quarterbacks coach. "I spent half my life in South Florida, and I'm excited about that, too."

Strock, 48, played 15 seasons for the Dolphins before retiring in 1987, helping them to the 1983 Super Bowl while splitting time with David Woodley. He spent two years coaching arena football and one in the World League before joining the Ravens' staff.

For now, Strock will occupy himself with such things as fund-raising, working with budgets and other administrative tasks. But Strock said FIU's size and number of alumni can make the program an asset.

Nebraska coach Solich says "no" to star RB Evans... he won't return to the Huskers.

The Nebraska career of talented but often injured RB DeAngelo Evans is over. Cornhusker coach Frank Solich said on September 21 that he made the final decision not to allow former running back to return to the team.

Evans, who quit the team after a frustrating start, had a change of heart last week and went to Solich asking for a second chance.

Solich indicated that he spoke to his coaching staff and players, and concluded Evans' initial choice to leave the team should stand. He declined to elaborate on his reasons.

"I don't think you can ever not take into consideration certainly the team's feelings, so you try to get a pulse on where everything is," Solich said.

As a freshman Evans rushed for 776 yards. In 1997 a pelvic injury sidelined him for the season and last year he played in just three games after having preseason knee surgery. He finished with 227 yards on 38 carries.

Evans, said he was frustrated after having just 19 carries in blowout wins over Iowa and California. He gained 74 yards before abruptly quitting after the Cal game.

"I left the team because I didn't feel like I was being used in the offense way I should have been," Evans said. "It was a heat of the moment kind of decision. I felt like I made a mistake and wanted to come back."

Despite the retirement rumors, BYU's LaVell Edwards signs a five-year extension.

BYU ended speculation about the future of coach LaVell Edwards in September by announcing a five-year contract extension. Terms of the contract were not disclosed.

Edwards, the winningest coach in school history with a career record of 245-91-3, began the season in the midst of talk that he planned to retire after the 1999 season. Although he has repeatedly denied the rumors, the obvious problems that can occur with recruiting prompted the announcement of the contract extension.

"There are many rumors and reports circulating that he is ready to retire," BYU president Merrill Bateman said. "We are pleased to announce that he has agreed to coach the Cougars for several more years."

Edwards ranks eighth among active NCAA Division I coaches, winning 72 percent of his games. He needs 11 wins to pass Nebraska's Tom Osborne for sixth place on the list of career coaching victories.

"This announcement should send a clear message to recruits and fans that BYU football will continue its winning ways into the next century," said athletic director Val Hale.

UC-Davis running back's injury costs him lower leg.

UC Davis running back Sam Paneno's lower right leg had to be amputated 10 days after he dislocated his knee in a game against Western Oregon. The dislocation cut off the blood flow to his lower leg and foot, and despite surgery to repair the injury, the lack of blood and oxygen caused irreversible damage, according to team physician Dr. David Cosca.

Paneno, 22, had played one of the best games of his college career before suffering the injury during the first play of overtime in the Aggie's victory on Sept. 11.

Shortly after Paneno was injured, coach Bob Biggs said it was the worst he'd seen in more than 20 years at UC Davis.

"It just puts everything in perspective. You talk about college football being such a great game - about people being fortunate to play this game - and then something like this happens. In football, we take every precaution you can take, but you can't prepare for something like this. It's hard. There's no good answer to these things."

AFM asks . . .

We asked some of the top coaches in the countryto finish this statement. . .
" The most important aspect of a great team is. . ."

Mike Bellotti
Oregon

"...chemistry and that team's belief in itself."

Gary Darnell
Western Michigan

"...trust. You want to be able to trust the ones you trust. If all members have committed to the team's goals, then each member must trust that all members are doing their part."

Hal Mumme

"...morale."

Joe Taylor
Hampton University

"...loyalty. When individuals are loyal to themselves and to the team, the team will possess the necessary chemistry and proper leadership."

Bob Davie
Notre Dame

"...chemistry and personality, along with a great work ethic."

Brian Billick

"...is the ability to raise its level of play to whatever is required to get the job done."

Jim Mora
Indianapolis Colts

"...unselfishness on the part of the players. The willingness to sacrifice individual success for team success..."

Frank Solich
Nebraska

"...unity. Teams generally face some type of adversity throughout the course of a season, and the togetherness and unity that is displayed in fighting through adversity enables a team to move forward in a positive manner."

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