Posted by Tom Fornelli

A new name has emerged in the Minnesota head coaching search.  According to a tweet from Tom Dienhart , former Tennessee head coach and current CBS college football analyst Phillip Fulmer is a candidate for the job.



How seriously we should take this, I'm not sure yet.  Fulmer has made it known that while he enjoys the television work, his ultimate goal is to get back into coaching, which is why his name has surfaced in recent coaching searches at Notre Dame , Louisville and even back in Knoxville over the last year.

You also have to wonder if, at the age of 60, Fulmer would want to take on the task of rebuilding a football program at Minnesota that isn't exactly used to success over the last 40 years.  There's also the question of whether Minnesota would want to hire a 60-year old coach as well, or if they'd prefer a younger target.

Posted by Tom Fornelli

Well, the word came earlier this week that if Minnesota lost to Purdue on Saturday that Tim Brewster would be fired.   Minnesota lost 28-17 to the Boilermakers on Saturday afternoon, and now reports are surfacing that Brewster has been fired.  Though Brewster told the Pioneer Press that nobody from the school had talked to him about his job status , a report from GopherIllustrated.com says that Brewster has been informed he will not return next season , but that he will finish out the 2010 season.

The article is for subscribers only, but the site did publish this tweet.



Still, it's important to point out that no official word has come from the University of Minnesota just yet, and until that happens we can't really be sure what's going on in Minneapolis. 

Posted by Tom Fornelli

It seems Las Vegas may know more than Florida coaches are willing to give them credit for.  Earlier this week several Las Vegas sportsbooks took the Florida and LSU line off the board thanks to some questions about the status of Florida quarterback John Brantley.   Florida coaches said Brantley was fine, and he practiced during the week.

Now, just a few hours before game time, we get this.  According to a tweet from Gator Country , sources are saying that Brantley will be a game-time decision.



Obviously if the report is correct and Brantley can't go it would put Florida at a serious disadvantage against LSU.  Well, as big a disadvantage as you can face when Jordan Jefferson is starting for the other team.

Posted by Tom Fornelli

A rumor broke out on some North Carolina message boards that the North Carolina systems Board of Governors (the one that governs all of the UNC campuses, not just Chapel Hill's) had instructed North Carolina chancellor Holden Thorp to fire head coach Butch Davis.   A rumor that, considering everything that's been going on with the North Carolina program, isn't hard to believe.

But don't, because according to the board's chairwoman Hannah Gage, it's not true.

"None of that happened. None, none, none," Gage told the Raleigh News & Observer . "I can assure that none of that happened. That hasn't been part of any discussion we've had."

Which makes sense seeing as the UNC system Board of Governors doesn't really involve itself with the athletics programs of the UNC schools, leaving those decisions to the individual schools.

Of course, considering everything that has taken place in Chapel Hill since Butch Davis took over the program, I can assure you that this won't be the last rumor you hear about him being canned.  Eventually, one of them will be true.

Posted by Tom Fornelli

On Tuesday rumors started to surface that Florida quarterback John Brantley was hurt and could possibly miss this Saturday's game against LSU in The Swamp.  The rumors were shot down by offensive coordinator Steve Addazio who said there's no truth to any of the rumors and that Brantley is fine.  Brantley himself said "I'm a bit sore.  It's nothing major."

Still, the assurances from Addazio and Brantley didn't seem to have much of an affect on those who stand to make or lose a lot of money on this week's game: Las Vegas.  Several casinos in this country's capital of vice and decadence have completely removed the Florida/LSU line from their sportsbooks, as they're not so sure these are just rumors.

"We're hearing that (Brantley) is questionable," said Jay Kornegay, Sportsbook Director at the Las Vegas Hilton. "Whenever we get confirmation, either way, what his status is, if he's playing or not, that'll make it a betting game again."

Now, obviously, just because Vegas has pulled the game doesn't mean for certain that Brantley isn't going to play this week.  Judging by what Brantley himself said, I'd be surprised if he wasn't trying to flag down errant snaps from Mike Pouncey this Saturday.  Still, there are a couple reasons to be wary of what Brantley's real status is.

1. Football coaches aren't in the business of giving free information about their team or players to the opposition.
2. Casinos aren't in the business of losing money.

For those two reasons alone it's not wise to make an assumption either way.  Let's not forget that Brantley did have to leave the Alabama game for a spell after getting hurt during the fourth quarter.  He did return, but it's possible that whatever was nagging him then hasn't subsided just yet.

Posted by Tom Fornelli

On Tuesday the Pioneer Press reported that were Tim Brewster to be fired by Minnesota that the school's first choice to replace him would be Tony Dungy .   Before going on to play in the NFL and become a Super Bowl-winning head coach with the Indianapolis Colts, Dungy played football at Minnesota.

Dungy had also been atop the school's wish list during its last coaching search, the one that ended with Tim Brewster being hired. 

Dungy went on the Dan Patrick Show on Tuesday and was asked if he had any interest in the Minnesota job.  Based on his answer Dungy seems perfectly content with his television gig.

"I am loving my time at Football Night in America -- I'm looking forward to watching the Oregon Ducks play and I'm spending time in Tampa with my family. So I have too much on my plate to even think about any coaching jobs, including my alma mater."

Of course, though Dungy says he hasn't even thought about the job, he never said he wouldn't be interested either.  So, if Minnesota has been planning on asking him about it, odds are that answer won't keep them from making the phone call.

Though they do still have to fire Tim Brewster, or else it would be incredibly awkward.

Posted by College Football Blog staff

CBS's Dennis Dodd passed along a report today that the Big East is showing some interest in TCU, of all schools. It's hardly a geographic fit, though Dodd rightly points out that DFW isn't exactly convenient for the Mountain West either.

But while we were dismayed in years past to see the Big Ten (and then the Big Twelve) keep their conference names the same despite their changing their membership numbers, at least then we understood; there's some precedent for using numbers as your brand name, after all. It happens.

Redefining the cardinal directions, however, is where we draw the line. If the Big East takes in TCU, then it can't be called the Big East anymore. We rolled our eyes when they moved west in 2005, but at least DePaul and Marquette are still east of the Mississippi. TCU, however, is a deal-breaker. Fortunately for the conference brass, however, we've compiled several more agreeable alternative names.

• TCU and the Eight Dwarfs
• Big Manifest Destiny
• Big Pretty Much Whoever
• Please Play Football With Us Notre Dame
• Big East Southwest North
• TCU's Annual Automatic BCS Bid
• Big

Posted by Tom Fornelli

Chip Brown of Orangebloods.com earned some notoriety this summer when he seemed to be ahead of everybody else regarding the breakup of the Big 12 that ended up with Nebraska leaving for the Big Ten and Colorado joining the Pac-10, but he currently finds himself in a bit of hot water with TCU head coach Gary Patterson.   On Thursday afternoon Brown went to his Twitter account to ask his followers from Texas A&M a question.



Patterson was informed of the tweet following practice on Thursday and didn't take kindly to it, telling the Dallas Morning News that the tweet was inaccurate and that Brown was a liar.

I asked Patterson about this "fact" and his response was, "That's a lie. Nobody at Texas A&M ever contacted me. ... He's a liar. It's just like the Kansas State job." Patterson was referring to a report from a few years ago that had him heading to Kansas State to take that job but, obviously, he's still at TCU.  After hearing Patterson's reaction to his tweet, Brown went back to his Twitter account to defend himself.



Of course, Brown also went on Twitter to say that he never said Texas A&M contacted Patterson about the job, corraborating with Patterson's account, but that had the Aggies contacted Patterson, he'd have taken the gig.  Which seems a bit odd to me.

If you admit that Texas A&M never contacted Patterson then how do you know he'd have taken the job?  Just because you think Patterson would have gone to College Station doesn't make it true, and it definitely doesn't make it a fact.