Steve Spurrier, ladies and gentleman ...

The room was packed. Must be time for Steve Spurrier.

The South Carolina head coach and the headliner of SEC Media Days came through the print media room at the Wynfrey ready to put on a show. And he didn’t disappoint. No wonder he was last.

Spurrier is full of one-liners, quips, self-deprecating humor and honesty.

Steve Spurrier doesn’t pull any punches. He calls it like he sees it and will answer any question he’s asked. It’s not rare in college football, there are coaches who do the same, but there’s something different about Spurrier.
And everyone knows it. That’s why they pack the room when he’s there. Everyone wants to hear what he’s got to say.

He’s just funny. Like Collin Mickle said ... There’s only one Steve Spurrier.

Check out the Opelika-Auburn News Web site ... or AuburnVersus.com for video of Spur Dog to see what I’m talking about. It should be up soon.

UPDATED 4:14 p.m.: OK, the Steve Spurrier video’s not up yet, but hopefully by this weekend it will be. But to make a point of what I was talking about earlier, here’s a question and answer from Spurrier’s interview that got the biggest laugh of the entire week.

QUESTION: When you send out your coaches looking for certain height and weight parameters, how strict are you now with those when you’re looking for players?
SPURRIER: We’re not completely real strict. I know we’ve got two or three linebackers committed right now. I think all of ‘em are about six foot or 6’1”. We sent a memo, No more six foot linebackers, let’s go for 6’2” or 6’3”, if we can (laughter).
We all try to get the best we can, but at times, you know, well, he’s not quite as tall as we hoped, but we think he’s a good player. We got to go with who you can. Sort of like going after girls, I guess. Got to get the best you can, right (smiling)? Some of these guys actually have good looking wives, which is unusual.

Like Collin says, there’s only one.

Bengals waive Kenny Irons

We interrupt the Media Days coverage with this NFL update: Kenny Irons has been waived by the Cincinnati Bengals. It’s a tough break for Kenny, one of my favorite guys I’ve ever covered.

Irons tore his ACL as a rookie last preseason and spent the year on injured reserve. His rehab obviously hasn’t been easy: He was waived by the Bengals after failing a pre-camp physical. According to the Bengals’ press release, he had told team officials he’d had “setbacks” in his rehab due to scar tissue buildup.

If the knee won’t let Irons pass a physical, it’s hard to see how he’ll catch on with another team, though it’s possible he could sign and go straight to the physically-unable-to-perform list. Here’s hoping it works out for him. Of course, if he does go through waivers without any other team making a play for him, he could always re-sign with the Bengals, according to this story from the Cincinnati Enquirer:

If Irons were to clear waivers—meaning no other NFL team would claim his rights—the Bengals could re-sign him and place him on a reserve list, but he would not be eligible to play during the 2008 season.

And now, Auburn

That’s right…after two days of other schools, here’s what you all come here to read about: Auburn. And Tommy Tuberville didn’t disappoint, providing plenty of little nuggets of news for your viewing enjoyment.

It’s a strange feeling, honestly, to see real news at SEC Media Days.

And yet, lightning struck twice over the past two days. Thursday, Phillip Fulmer was served a subpoena just outside the Media Days hotel, then offered up the lamest excuse imaginable to explain his unconvincing denials.

Friday, it was Auburn’s turn to make news. Fortunately for Tuberville’s blood pressure, the news wasn’t nearly as embarrassing as Fulmer’s

coverup

ahem, I mean “mixup.“

Tuberville traditionally meets with Auburn beat writers shortly before he takes the stage with the rest of the media, and there are usually a few interesting nuggets. This year was no different:

* LB Bo Harris has left the team and will transfer. His destination is currently unknown, according to Tuberville. Harris’ departure has been rumored for a while, but it’s official now.

* DB Ryan Williams is working on his academics. Williams, who spent most of June back home in Mobile, will need a good academic performance in the about-to-end summer semester to get on the field in the fall.

* DE Andre Wadley is recovering from his mysterious illness, which sent him to the hospital for several days after he fell ill during a workout. The circumstances of Wadley’s illness are mysterious. “He’d had no problems (earlier),“ Tuberville said. “They didn’t know whether he got the flu while he was working out, had a bug or a virus. They’ve done all kinds of tests on him. To this point, there’s been no answer to what happened.“

* And there’s everyone’s favorite topic, the quarterbacks. According to Tuberville, Kodi Burns would be the starting quarterback if the season started tomorrow. But in case you were wondering, it doesn’t. Tuberville said he “wouldn’t be surprised at all” if Chris Todd won the job in preseason practice. One thing is for sure: Both quarterbacks will play, but they won’t have co-starters. There’ll be a No. 1 and a No. 2, which I think is very important if you’re going to run a two-quarterback system.

* DT Tez Doolittle, an Opelika native, is coming on strong in his rehab from a ruptured Achilles’ tendon. Tez told Tuberville he’s 100 percent healthy; Tuberville says team doctors see him as about 95 percent. Both numbers seem wildly optimistic to me, but we’ll see.

* As you may have heard, Auburn was picked to win the Western Division by the assembled media. I would put this higher, but it doesn’t strike me as very newsy: Only 70 people voted in the poll—of almost 800 registered media attendees. Auburn was a landslide pick, though: 48 first-place votes, vs. 21 for LSU. Ole Miss (?!?!?) somehow got one first-place vote. Hopefully that person won’t be invited back for 2009 Media Days.

* I should also mention that Tuberville singled out freshman cornerbacks D’Antoine Hood and Harry Adams as the rookies who could make an impact right away. But don’t get too excited…A few years back, Tuberville’s Media Days take was that RB Jerold Watson would be the freshman star of 2004. How’d that work out? Besides, the two freshmen would have to find playing time behind Jerraud Powers, Aairon Savage and Walter McFadden, among others.

* By this point, I’m guessing Auburn fans are tired of reading the words “NCAA Clearinghouse,“ but here it is again. Running back signee Reggie Hunt is the only remaining signee whose academic status is unknown. Hunt is waiting for a sign-off from the Clearinghouse before he can enroll at Auburn. If the Clearinghouse doesn’t approve Hunt’s transcripts, he’ll go to Copiah-Lincoln junior college in Mississippi. “As of this morning, I haven’t heard,“ Tuberville said. “We’re all waiting.“

Much more to come from Media Days, including a story for tomorrow’s paper about the quarterback situation and a notebook that looks at Tuberville’s relationship with Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino, who also met the media today.

Friday morning with Tuberville

Welcome to the third-and-final day of SEC Media Days 2008.

It’s been a blast here at the Wynfrey in Hoover. And, honestly, I’m sad to see it coming to and end. But, not so fast.

This morning, the Auburn beat writers got to talk with Tommy Tuberville prior to today’s festivities kicking off.
Here’s some of what he said that caught my eye, er, ear. Whatever.

On being picked to win the SEC WEST:I
t’s kind of different to think we’re going to win the West when your quarterback is unproven. I don’t think that happens very often, because your quarterback is the guy that’s got to really do a lot.

On the quarterback situation:
This year, we will play two quarterbacks. But we will have one starting quarterback – a guy that everybody knows that is our starter. It could change during the year, it might not, but, obviously, it’s going to be a scenario, too, like we played in the bowl game where Brandon Cox played and Kodi (Burns) came in at certain times.
I don’t know who’s going to be the quarterback. I wouldn’t be surprised at all if Chris Todd is not our starting quarterback. Kodi would be as of today. But, Chris has worked very hard, as Kodi has. (Todd’s) shoulder is much better.
But we’re going to need both of them. But I want everybody to know that we will have a starter on the depth chart.
We’ll use two, maybe three. We’re probably going to have to use three. We’ll have to see how that’s going to work out.
Neil Caulde has worked hard. I tell ya, Neil’s throwing the ball well. It could be a scenario like Brandon, you know, him going in and throwing the ball in certain situations.
But quarterback situation is in good hands.

On the media picking Auburn to win the West:
I think they’re looking at us playing LSU at home this year, which is probably one of the scenarios.
I think that our quarterback situation is up in the air, (LSU’s) is more up in the air, because of losing (Ryan) Perrilloux. I think they’re (voters) are looking at that.
A lot will be told before we get to that game anyway on who’s going to be the better team going into the game.
We’ll take it. We’ll accept it. It’s been a while since we’ve been picked No. 1, I think. If you look at last year’s season, it could have been a great year for us. We lost three games basically on that last play of the game, out of the four games we lost. Hopefully, we can play better early.

On how the players will take being picked to win the division:
I think some (players) will embrace it. The experienced guys will understand it’s more talk than anything. It has nothing to do with reality. it’s just what people think about you in terms of possibilities.
We’ve got a lot of room for improvement. Two new coordinators who really don’t have a clue about this league in terms of the speed. Tony a little bit. But even Tony’s been out of it for a while.
You’ve got to have a plan. That’s one thing that I like about what we’ve done. We’ve got a great plan going into two-a-days in trying to make this team … to get the most out of them.
If we can get the most out of this team, we’ll give it a run. It’s going to depend a lot on the other teams, too – who we play.
We’ve got some of our bigger games at home.

2008 Previews: Clemson

Clemson is on tap for Preview No. 46. Previews of all 65 BCS conference schools, plus Notre Dame and state schools, will be posted daily in no particular order. To view all previews, click here.

This could be Tommy Bowden’s best team yet at Clemson.

How many times have we heard that one?

Despite a few large holes, the Tigers are by far the most talented team in the ACC and are fully capable of winning the conference and possibly even going undefeated.

But how many times have we heard that one?

But if there’s a year the chronic underachievers can break through, it should be this one.

Playmakers are everywhere on offense, starting in the backfield with stellar running backs James Davis and C.J. Spiller (you may recall that he’s still running during that 83-yard TD in the

Peach

Chick-fil-A Bowl) and steady quarterback Cullen Harper.

All of Harper’s top targets also return, including Aaron Kelly, who caught 88 passes for 1,031 yards last season.

The offensive line is a big concern, losing three starters. Replacing left tackle Barry Richardson is currently in the hands of underwhelming junior Cory Lambert, and a new left guard and right tackle also step in.

Defensively, the Tigers are set on the line and in the secondary, but must replace 639 career tackles at the outside linebacker spots. Kavell Conner and Scotty Cooper are long on talent but short on experience.

There are also questions at kicker, where Mark Buchholz was admirably inconsistent, missing four field goals in a loss to Georgia Tech and a 54-yard try against Boston College. He did kick a game-winner against South Carolina, though.

The schedule stacks up unbelievably well, with two notable exceptions. Here it is:

Aug. 30: vs. Alabama (at Atlanta)
The atmosphere in the Georgia Dome should be great, assuming there’s no tornado. This should be an interesting game, but one the Tigers should be able to take. (And here’s an interesting fact for you: The Tide hasn’t beaten a team with a Tiger mascot since Nov. 16, 2002)

Sept. 6: The Citadel
Clemson has this weird tradition of playing a team from the Southern Conference every year.

Sept. 13: N.C. State
The Wolfpack might be frisky, but it shouldn’t be a problem.

Sept. 20: South Carolina State
Now two games like this is just unacceptable.

Sept. 27: Maryland
The Terrapins might be pretty good this year, but won’t be a match for Clemson in Death Valley. Or at least shouldn’t, but this is Clemson we’re talking about.

Oct. 9: at Wake Forest
TRAP ALERT! A Thursday night game against a most-likely undefeated (or at worst one-loss) Demon Deacons squad in revamped BB&T Stadium will be a tough one. This should be a highly-entertaining game.

Oct. 18: Georgia Tech
This one just doesn’t bode well for the Ramblin’ Wreck at all.

Nov. 1: at Boston College
The Eagles are flying low in 2008.

Nov. 8: at Florida State
Now here’s an interesting one. The Tigers are better than FSU, but the Seminoles should be playing well by this time and will be fired up at home. Bowden Bowl X could have some national title implications, and not for FSU for once.

Nov. 15: Duke
Next.

Nov. 22: at Virginia
This one could be interesting in that the Tigers will either be A) undefeated with their biggest rival coming up, B) trying to lock up the ACC Atlantic, or C) in the midst of another disappointing season. Either way you look at it, there’s mild upset potential here, even if the Cavs are going to be really bad.

Nov. 29: South Carolina
No matter how badly things have gone, Tommy Bowden has been able to beat the Gamecocks almost every time. And this year should be no different.

When you look at it, there’s really no reason Clemson should lose a game, assuming they play to their potential. But they’re Clemson, so I refuse to even make a projection.