EACH MORNING I scan the Internet, as, I suspect, many of you do.
I seek ideas for columns. I seek stories that sprout ideas for columns. Mostly, though, I seek information.
On Wednesday, I learned something through that info. It is this:
I, and many of my readers, are going to have to re-train our brains.
It hit me as an article caught my eye that read, "Pitt coach Paul Chryst replaces offensive coordinator [Bob] Bostad with [Joe] Rudolph."
Naturally, I was drawn to the story. Then it dawned on me. It doesn't matter anymore who Pitt's football coach hires. It doesn't matter anymore what happens within the football circles of Pitt, Rutgers, Connecticut, Cincinnati, Syracuse, South Florida and Louisville. At least it doesn't matter to the vast majority of my readers.
The WVU-Big East divorce has been finalized. Now all that matters to West Virginia University fans, at least in regard to football, is what happens within the Big 12, the Mountaineers' home next season.
Time to look West, young men and women, to the Texas cities of Waco, Austin, Lubbock and Fort Worth. To the Oklahoma cities of Norman and Stillwater. To the Kansas cities of Manhattan and Lawrence. To Ames, Iowa.
Allow me to be of service if you need help wrapping your brains around that. Below are Big 12 football tidbits. Consider it dipping your toes.
One has to start somewhere. Might as well be here.
Understand first that in Lubbock, the Red Raiders of Texas Tech have already started spring drills. (Yes, it's February.) After a disappointing 5-7 season, Tech has a new defensive coordinator in Art Kaufman, who is installing a 4-3 base defense, and the Raiders are off and running.
Next, understand WVU coach Dana Holgorsen isn't the only one filling out his coaching staff. In Ames, which you must know is the home of Iowa State, Cyclones coach Paul Rhoads recently announced the hiring of former North Carolina secondary coach Troy Douglas. The hire fills out the Cyclone staff under Rhoads.
"Troy possesses a dynamic background after years of coaching the secondary at the BCS level," Rhoads said in a release. "His experience recruiting the state of Florida is important to our program. He coached with (Iowa State defensive coordinator) Wally Burnham at South Florida, so he came highly recommended."
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Re-train in the membranes, WVU fans
EACH MORNING I scan the Internet, as, I suspect, many of you do.
I seek ideas for columns. I seek stories that sprout ideas for columns. Mostly, though, I seek information.
On Wednesday, I learned something through that info. It is this:
I, and many of my readers, are going to have to re-train our brains.
It hit me as an article caught my eye that read, "Pitt coach Paul Chryst replaces offensive coordinator [Bob] Bostad with [Joe] Rudolph."
Naturally, I was drawn to the story. Then it dawned on me. It doesn't matter anymore who Pitt's football coach hires. It doesn't matter anymore what happens within the football circles of Pitt, Rutgers, Connecticut, Cincinnati, Syracuse, South Florida and Louisville. At least it doesn't matter to the vast majority of my readers.
The WVU-Big East divorce has been finalized. Now all that matters to West Virginia University fans, at least in regard to football, is what happens within the Big 12, the Mountaineers' home next season.
Time to look West, young men and women, to the Texas cities of Waco, Austin, Lubbock and Fort Worth. To the Oklahoma cities of Norman and Stillwater. To the Kansas cities of Manhattan and Lawrence. To Ames, Iowa.
Allow me to be of service if you need help wrapping your brains around that. Below are Big 12 football tidbits. Consider it dipping your toes.
One has to start somewhere. Might as well be here.
Understand first that in Lubbock, the Red Raiders of Texas Tech have already started spring drills. (Yes, it's February.) After a disappointing 5-7 season, Tech has a new defensive coordinator in Art Kaufman, who is installing a 4-3 base defense, and the Raiders are off and running.
Next, understand WVU coach Dana Holgorsen isn't the only one filling out his coaching staff. In Ames, which you must know is the home of Iowa State, Cyclones coach Paul Rhoads recently announced the hiring of former North Carolina secondary coach Troy Douglas. The hire fills out the Cyclone staff under Rhoads.
"Troy possesses a dynamic background after years of coaching the secondary at the BCS level," Rhoads said in a release. "His experience recruiting the state of Florida is important to our program. He coached with (Iowa State defensive coordinator) Wally Burnham at South Florida, so he came highly recommended."
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EACH MORNING I scan the Internet, as, I suspect, many of you do.
I seek ideas for columns. I seek stories that sprout ideas for columns. Mostly, though, I seek information.
On Wednesday, I learned something through that info. It is this:
I, and many of my readers, are going to have to re-train our brains.
It hit me as an article caught my eye that read, "Pitt coach Paul Chryst replaces offensive coordinator [Bob] Bostad with [Joe] Rudolph."
Naturally, I was drawn to the story. Then it dawned on me. It doesn't matter anymore who Pitt's football coach hires. It doesn't matter anymore what happens within the football circles of Pitt, Rutgers, Connecticut, Cincinnati, Syracuse, South Florida and Louisville. At least it doesn't matter to the vast majority of my readers.
The WVU-Big East divorce has been finalized. Now all that matters to West Virginia University fans, at least in regard to football, is what happens within the Big 12, the Mountaineers' home next season.
Time to look West, young men and women, to the Texas cities of Waco, Austin, Lubbock and Fort Worth. To the Oklahoma cities of Norman and Stillwater. To the Kansas cities of Manhattan and Lawrence. To Ames, Iowa.
Allow me to be of service if you need help wrapping your brains around that. Below are Big 12 football tidbits. Consider it dipping your toes.
One has to start somewhere. Might as well be here.
Understand first that in Lubbock, the Red Raiders of Texas Tech have already started spring drills. (Yes, it's February.) After a disappointing 5-7 season, Tech has a new defensive coordinator in Art Kaufman, who is installing a 4-3 base defense, and the Raiders are off and running.
Next, understand WVU coach Dana Holgorsen isn't the only one filling out his coaching staff. In Ames, which you must know is the home of Iowa State, Cyclones coach Paul Rhoads recently announced the hiring of former North Carolina secondary coach Troy Douglas. The hire fills out the Cyclone staff under Rhoads.
"Troy possesses a dynamic background after years of coaching the secondary at the BCS level," Rhoads said in a release. "His experience recruiting the state of Florida is important to our program. He coached with (Iowa State defensive coordinator) Wally Burnham at South Florida, so he came highly recommended."
Also, Iowa State defensive back Durrell Givens was charged with possession of a controlled substance this past Saturday. He played in 11 games last season and had 31 tackles.
In Stillwater, Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy announced the addition of Van Malone to the Cowboys coaching staff. Malone previously served as secondary coach and recruiting coordinator at Tulsa from 2010-11.
Kansas State head football coach Bill Snyder announced that 14 Wildcats have been named player representatives for the 2012 season. You read correctly, player reps. The role, according to the school, is to promote traits such as "unselfishness" and "great attitude." Snyder also promoted Tom Hayes to defensive coordinator, Joe Bob Clements to defensive run-game coordinator and hired Mike Cox as linebackers coach. The Wildcats open spring practice April 4 and return eight starters on offense, six on defense and both kickers from its 10-3 team that played in the Cotton Bowl Classic last season.
Getting the hang of this? Good. Onward we go.
Kansas coach Charlie Weis (yes, that Charlie Weis) signed New Jersey standout running back Tevin Shaw late, pushing the Jayhawks' class to a total of 21. Shaw, who attends Piscataway High School, reportedly dominated the state of New Jersey in 2011 by racking up first-team all-state honors. KU and Weis, by the way, will visit Morgantown in the upcoming season.
In Norman, the reported gaps in the 2012 Oklahoma football schedule were filled out. OU will open the season at Texas-El Paso on Sept. 1 and host Florida A&M on Sept. 8 in the home opener. The final non-conference game will be Oct. 27 when Notre Dame visits Owen Field.
In Austin, the rich keep getting richer. The Longhorns received their fifth commitment for 2013 by adding to an already deep running back stable. Kyle Hicks, described as a shifty back from Arlington Martin in Texas, gave his word. Hicks, 5-foot-10 and 192 pounds, will join a strong corps of backs in two years. By the time he arrives, current Longhorns Malcolm Brown and Joe Bergeron will be juniors, and Johnathan Gray, the nation's top-ranked back in the 2012 class, will be a sophomore.
At Baylor, there are reports the school's first Heisman Trophy winner, Robert Griffin III, likely won't throw at the NFL combine in Indianapolis this week, and instead will save that for his pro day March 21. He moved that up a day to avoid clashing with Andrew Luck's pro day. Luck, of course, is the son of WVU athletic director Oliver.
And then there's the mess at TCU, which is joining the Big 12 alongside West Virginia. In Fort Worth, the cleanup is beginning after a nasty drug sting that involved Horned Frog athletes.
Chancellor Victor J. Boschini Jr. recently delivered this message: "We're not going to tolerate this. If you want to do this kind of thing, don't go to TCU."
There remain a few months of Big East competition for WVU athletes. But for Mountaineer football fans, the time is now to re-train those brains.
Reach Mitch Vingle at 304-348-4827, mitchvin...@wvgazette.com or follow him at twitter.com/MitchVingle.
Article Preview
This article is available only to our premium digital content subscribers.
Re-train in the membranes, WVU fans
EACH MORNING I scan the Internet, as, I suspect, many of you do.
I seek ideas for columns. I seek stories that sprout ideas for columns. Mostly, though, I seek information.
On Wednesday, I learned something through that info. It is this:
I, and many of my readers, are going to have to re-train our brains.
It hit me as an article caught my eye that read, "Pitt coach Paul Chryst replaces offensive coordinator [Bob] Bostad with [Joe] Rudolph."
Naturally, I was drawn to the story. Then it dawned on me. It doesn't matter anymore who Pitt's football coach hires. It doesn't matter anymore what happens within the football circles of Pitt, Rutgers, Connecticut, Cincinnati, Syracuse, South Florida and Louisville. At least it doesn't matter to the vast majority of my readers.
The WVU-Big East divorce has been finalized. Now all that matters to West Virginia University fans, at least in regard to football, is what happens within the Big 12, the Mountaineers' home next season.
Time to look West, young men and women, to the Texas cities of Waco, Austin, Lubbock and Fort Worth. To the Oklahoma cities of Norman and Stillwater. To the Kansas cities of Manhattan and Lawrence. To Ames, Iowa.
Allow me to be of service if you need help wrapping your brains around that. Below are Big 12 football tidbits. Consider it dipping your toes.
One has to start somewhere. Might as well be here.
Understand first that in Lubbock, the Red Raiders of Texas Tech have already started spring drills. (Yes, it's February.) After a disappointing 5-7 season, Tech has a new defensive coordinator in Art Kaufman, who is installing a 4-3 base defense, and the Raiders are off and running.
Next, understand WVU coach Dana Holgorsen isn't the only one filling out his coaching staff. In Ames, which you must know is the home of Iowa State, Cyclones coach Paul Rhoads recently announced the hiring of former North Carolina secondary coach Troy Douglas. The hire fills out the Cyclone staff under Rhoads.
"Troy possesses a dynamic background after years of coaching the secondary at the BCS level," Rhoads said in a release. "His experience recruiting the state of Florida is important to our program. He coached with (Iowa State defensive coordinator) Wally Burnham at South Florida, so he came highly recommended."
