Athletic Director Tim Pernetti told Steve Politi on Tuesday that there won't be any in-season firings, and reiterated that to the the SNY crew last night. You wonder if Mike Rosario's seeming lack of effort will have any effect there. That's just about all I want to think about basketball at the moment. Enough. At least Greg Echenique had the basic decency not to flee for Duke. Rutgers fans need to take what they can get at this point, so it's more than fair to declare Echenique a success at Rutgers if only for all the harm that decision ended up causing Duke.
There was a good Jerry Carino feature yesterday about how the present despair affects the proposed basketball facility upgrades, which interviews a couple of high profile Rivals posters like RU72 and BK. Must have been a good day to pick up a copy of the Tribune, with that and the stories about Mike Teel's situation with the new regime in Seattle, and how Jamaal Westerman is coping with the Jets still kicking around. How bad has it gotten for Vernon Gholston that there's not even really a point in automatically featuring an obligatory Gholston dig in every story about Westy? Gholston's historic failure is taken for granted at this point.
It's disappointing to see George McDonald decide to return to the Cleveland Browns, but you can't really get too upset about losing him. McDonald would have been a great hire; too good even to the point where he'd probably be out the door in a year. He was only available to begin with because of a special circumstance, and that quickly changed. Too bad, but it's not a red flag or anything of the sort. Just a gamble that happened to not pay off this time.
Football Scoop initially said that Schiano was now looking at Maryland WR coach Lee Hull, who's a native of South Jersey, and also has some ties to PA. Not a bad hire in the vacuum, but it's critical to find someone with pull in Southern Florida. They later retracted the report. Could be news out of this week's coaching convention, although it wouldn't be a surprise if all the coaching turnover at other schools slows the process down somewhat.
Keith Sargeant's report about the two finalists for the men's soccer opening is interesting. That's not only an important development in itself, but also may offer some insight into the mindset of Pernetti during a coaching search. Presumably, he has a big rolodex from his tenure at CSTV. For whatever reason, the presumed favorite Masur doesn't seem to be an option, and now a sleeper has emerged as a finalist along with McCourt. Brian Lewis speculates that money is a factor, and that McCourt's the favorite.
Lots o'happenings on Twitter (reminder: follow this site @ruscoop) as of late. Andy Simms says that his agency PlayersRep has signed on Devin McCourty as a client, and that DMC will be attending the Senior Bowl. Seems believable, because he also mentioned repping those Pitt and Cincy clients training with McCourty in Naples. While we're on the topic, the Rutgers FB pro day will be held on March 10th.
Anyone know if Quincy Douby is getting involved with the efforts of Sam Dalembert and other athletes to assist with the devastation in Haiti? No clue, but I'd like to hear if anyone does.
CNBC's Jim Cramer on Tuesday: "I like Rutgers. I'm a Rutgers fan."
Lane Kiffin's departure to USC is just so perfect, fitting, and in character - the natural culmination of everything that he's said and done over the past twelve months, that any further sub-analysis would merely distract from the glory and splendor of this moment. The absolute best part of course seeing Tennessee fans turn on Kiffin at the drop of a dime. Makes you appreciate having one of the handful of FBS coaches who isn't a complete and utter scumbag at the helm.
Greg Romeus is returning for Pitt next year (h/t: Brian Bennett)? Lame! In other news, five UNC Tar Hells are off the roster.