Florida wide receiver Antonio Callaway is expected to be eligible to practice and play with the Gators this fall, according to a report from The Gainesville Sun‘s Robbie Andreu.

UF wide receiver Antonio Callaway will be eligible to practice and play in games, according to a source close to his situation.

— Robbie Andreu (@RobbieAndreu) August 3, 2016

Source says there’s a good chance Callaway’s student conduct code case will not be resolved before the Sept. 3 opener.

— Robbie Andreu (@RobbieAndreu) August 3, 2016

I’ve been hearing that Callaway is expected to get a favorable ruling in his case. Just a matter of time now.

— Robbie Andreu (@RobbieAndreu) August 3, 2016

While Andreu’s reporting obviously doesn’t shed any more light on Callaway’s alleged student conduct code violation — one of the greatest mysteries or unreported stories on the Florida beat in years, depending on your perspective — it does stand as the first bit of substantive reporting from a legitimate outlet indicating a positive outcome is likely for Callaway, and it’s the first reporting I’ve seen to indicate a timeline on a decision for Callaway.

Callaway has been suspended since January, though that suspension was not confirmed until March. Callaway’s lawyer, Huntley Johnson, said in March that there was “no good reason this investigation was not closed,” and has continued to advocate for Callaway both in the system and in the press since, though he modified his stance slightly in June, when Callaway was allowed to return to classes and workouts with the football program.

I wrote in April that there had been positive message board whispers on Callaway dating back to at least then, and wrote earlier this week that signs were pointing to Callaway’s eventual return, but I have heard very little throughout this process, as Florida and sources around the team have been as tight-lipped on Callaway’s status as anything in my memory on the beat.

Andreu’s reporting — and Wednesday’s dawn of fall camp — suggests to me that we will have a full and official statement on Callaway’s status, if not a final one, quite soon.

Alex Ross

6’1, 220, Sr.

Jenks, OK

2013: 3 carries, 19 yards (6.3)

2014: 88 carries, 595 yards (6.8), 4 TD; 13 targets, 10 catches, 65 yards (6.5); 23 KR, 31.2 average, 2 TD

2015: 32 carries, 172 yards (5.4), 1 TD; 30 KR, 21.5 average

Oscar Gamble: When it was announced Alex Ross would be transferring from Oklahoma as a graduate transfer, it came as a two-fold boon since Ross is regarded as a great kick return man. His five touchdowns and 786 career rushing yards weren’t too shabby either.

I haven’t seen Ross around Mizzou’s facilities yet, but if he is 6’1 and 220 pounds, that would give Josh Heupel and Cornell Ford two larger backs to lead a power-oriented rushing attack. In the depth chart I’ve been updating regularly, I have Ross listed as the starter with Nate Strong and Ish Witter behind him, but fall camp could see that change.

Sam Snelling: Ross was a huge get for Missouri in the offseason. He’s a guy who never got a ton of carries at Oklahoma but shone through in the return game. And if there are two things Missouri has available, it’s carries and return opportunities. Ross is a bigger, more straight-line runner, and I’m not sure he’s a 20 carries-per-game type, but if he can be productive in five to 10 carries and be dangerous in the return game, he could be a huge asset for Missouri this year.

TheRonDavis: Other than Drew Lock, Ross is perhaps the most important player for Mizzou this fall. He’s a dynamic return man for starters, which is something that the Tigers desperately need, and he can potentially be the feature back. He’s a bigger running back, so he can run between the tackles and break off a big run or two using his return man speed.

Using your return man as the main running back can be dangerous, as the biggest collisions usually happen on kickoffs, so it might be wise to divide up the carries across the board. But if Ross proves he can handle the workload better than any other of the 47 running backs the Tigers seem to have, he needs the majority of the carries.

Bill C.: Obviously we don’t want to go too far down the “Newcomers are going to save the day!” road — that’s usually a pretty fraught path to take. But Ross has more of a track record than most newcomers, and the fact that he was squeezed out of the rotation at OU by Samaje Perine and Joe Mixon is hardly cause for shame.

As I’ve mentioned before, Ross isn’t as efficient as you would like to see from such a big back, but the speed is undeniable. Mizzou was woefully deficient of big plays out of the backfield last year, and he could change that.

Nate Strong

6’0, 210, So.

East St. Louis, IL

Oscar Gamble: Missouri sure lucked out when Nate Strong managed to become academically eligible in July. The JUCO running back, originally from East St. Louis, certainly fills a need for a Tigers’ offense that managed just 1,385 yards and five touchdowns last year. Strong is enrolled and on campus — I saw him at Missouri’s “Night at the Zou” event. He’s a solid 6’0 and looks sturdy, so it’s easy to believe he’s 210 pounds of mostly muscle.

The question for me is Strong’s durability. He was hurt in high school and again at Hinds C.C., and he could be asked to shoulder a lot of carries this fall. Even if he splits carries with Alex Ross and Ish Witter, we don’t know how effective he can be and that’s before we mention Missouri’s rebuilt offensive line.

Sam Snelling: If there’s a newcomer who I’m over-excited to see play, it’s Strong. Missouri hasn’t had a real physical presence at running back in a while, and it’s rare that you get the strength along with the breakaway speed.

Strong was a standout at East St. Louis and was playing well in junior college before breaking his arm, so he certainly has the ability to step in and get carries right away. And even if he isn’t a major contributor this season, I don’t think there are many people who don’t think he’ll be a major contributor in the future.

TheRonDavis: I am one of the biggest Natereace Strong fans. I think he’s powerful enough to run over a defender, and fast enough to run past them. Plus, he’s finally at his dream school. He busted his tail to receive his associates degree in just a year and a half to get to Columbia.

The one knock on Strong is his inability to stay healthy. He battled injuries through his high school career at East St. Louis, and he broke his arm last season at Hinds Community College (though he told me he broke it after trucking a defender — I don’t think there’s a cooler way to break your arm). Regardless, if he stays healthy and learns the playbook, he needs to be in the mix playing this year. He’s too talented to sit on the bench.

Bill C.: It feels like Strong has been committed to Mizzou forever, and now he gets a chance to carve out a niche. A good story, that.

I think what I’m most excited about with the backfield is that no single player has to absolutely come through. Witter doesn’t have to become a feature back if he’s not ready, and if either Ross or Strong don’t pan out, that’s okay because the other one still could. (And if neither do, you’ve still got Trevon Walters, Ryan Williams, and Damarea Crockett in pocket.) Strong has everything you want in a running back, but he won’t face the same type of expectations that it seemed Chase Abbington did from the moment of his arrival.

Damarea Crockett

5’11, 210, Fr.

Little Rock, AR

Oscar Gamble: Flipping Damarea Crockett – Crockett-Rocket, as I will be calling him – from Boise State back in late January was a big coup for the Tigers. He looks like a future lead back based on size and explosiveness, and it may be hard to keep him off the field this fall.

I hope Missouri is able to redshirt for two reasons – it means the RB group remains fairly healthy and successful and it gives us one more year of him down the road.

Sam Snelling: When you factor in the amount of guys who come in with good reputations all playing the same position, you begin to wonder who is the odd man out. Crockett looks big enough and appears to have the speed to be an instant-impact type of player, but will there be enough carries to go around? And will Crockett avoid the redshirt?

TheRonDavis: I wrote a couple weeks ago that Crockett is the most important freshman on Missouri’s roster. Adding Natereace Strong is a huge boost for the running backs, but Crockett can still play his way into the mix. He was one of the most highly-touted recruits of 2016, and there’s good reason for it. He’s bigger than some of the running backs that were already on campus, and, like Ross, he’s still explosive enough to run past defenders. In my opinion, Ross, Strong and Crockett have the most potential to make Mizzou’s running game great again.

Bill C.: Anybody who calls him Crockett-Rocket is fired.

We continue our 2016 UCLA Football Fall Preview with a look of the defensive line.

The defensive line is a unit in some degree of flux due to the shift from a predominantly 3-4 defense to a predominantly 4-3 defense. I say predominantly because if you ask Defensive Coordinator Tom Bradley about his base defense, he’s likely to say something like, “We’re multiple,” meaning that the team will shift formations dependent on the situation.

Frankly, the move away from the 3-4 is not unexpected. When Bradley was the DC at Penn State, he ran a 4-3 defense and, after the difficulty UCLA had stopping the run last year, putting another down lineman on the defensive front just makes good sense.

The shift in scheme does mean that a few players have shifted positions from linebackers to the defensive line. The two most notable position changes are senior Deon Hollins and redshirt freshman Keisean Lucier-South who have both moved from linebacker.

Overall, UCLA lists seventeen players as defensive linemen. They are:

Of course, Kenny Clark is gone. He’s off to play for the Green Bay Packers after being selected in the first round of the NFL Draft.

This year’s line will be anchored by Hollins at one defensive end, Takkarist McKinley on the other side, and Eddie Vanderdoes and Eli Ankou at the tackles. This is a seasoned defensive line which promises to be even better because of the return of Eddie Vanderdoes. But the thing that this line does is create problems for the opposing offensive line. Opposing teams can’t just say, “We’re going to double team Vanderdoes” because, if they do, they will leave someone else unblocked. Among the probable starting four, they have a total of 113 games experience. That’s a lot of experience on the defensive line.

Underclassmen Matt Dickerson and Jacob Tuioti-Mariner and JUCO transfer Nick Terry add depth to the starting four. Meanwhile, redshirt freshmen Rick Wade and Keisean Lucier-South should also compete for playing time.

UCLA also has four true freshmen on this year’s roster in Boss Tagaloa, Jake Burton, Osa Odighizuhwa and Marcus Moore. Any or all of the guys could see some playing time, but, hopefully, with the level of experience on this year’s line, most, if not all, of them will be able to redshirt. That will depend on how healthy the starters can stay.

A projected 3-deep depth chart should look like this:

That’s how things will likely shape up for the defensive line. Of course, staying healthy is key to the success of the unit. We saw last year what happened when Eddie Vanderdoes got hurt. But, the upside is that guys who may not have played last year got a chance to get experience and that should make this year’s line even stronger as a result.

One thing is almost certain. These guys will be tested each and every week as teams will try to pound the ball thinking that, because teams ran all over UCLA last season, they will be able to do it again this year.

I look for Vanderdoes, Ankou, Hollins, and McKinley to prove them wrong.

What are your thoughts? Do you think the depth chart will look different? If so, leave it in the comments below.

Go Bruins!!!

Special teams are an often neglected segment of football which is ironic because it is so crucial to wins and losses. I hate to do this to you, gentle reader, but read this post I wrote in the aftermath of the 2014 LSU game. Poor special teams play gave LSU the ball in UK territory three times in the first half alone (not even mentioning a punt return for a TD). Those breakdowns are equivalent to turnovers. UK wasn’t going to win that game regardless, but LSU’s job became far simpler with the game out of hand, and UK having to ditch their game plan and play catch-up.

That’s why special teams matter. A team must be solid at special teams to make the job more difficult on the opposing team. If UK averages 15 yards per punt return, that increases the pressure on the opponent’s defense. If UK allows less than 5 yards per punt return, the opposing offense has even farther to go for good field position let alone a touchdown.

2015 Special Teams…Somewhat Better

UK’s special teams in 2015 was ranked 72th overall last season, according to FEI. This is an improvement over 2014 when they finished the season ranked 93rd. The field goal teams had the highest rating, and the coverage units were slightly below average, but still improved from an admittably low bar.

High profile failures against Georgia and LSU in 2014 were replaced with high profile failures against Tennessee. Those events were frustrating but Cameron Sutton and Evan Berry were the best return men in the SEC last year, and made several teams look foolish. So it goes.

The return teams were a mixed bag, according to FEI. The kickoff return team’s efficiency was ranked 54th in the country which was a big leap from the previous season; however, the punt return team was ranked 98th which was seven places lower than 2015. Kentucky was worse on punt returns.

Both return teams must improve in 2016 for the sake of field position.

2016 Special Teams Outlook

The special teams will presumably be better, but that’s largely based on the athletes recruited by Stoops increasingly filling the roster. The quality of the second and third string is better than it was 4 years ago, for example, and it is those players will who will now participate on special teams for the most part.

The returners this year are currently unknown. The incoming freshmen will compete with the likes of JD Harmon, Sihiem King, and Ryan Timmons for return duties. The major area that needs improvement is the punt return team. This is difficult given that SEC teams feature punters that regularly put serious hang-time on their punts; however, UK needs to make the most of the opportunities they get. Make the first tackler miss and then make the most of what the blockers have set up.

What continues to be mildly concerning is UK’s lack of a dedicated special teams coach. Now, to a certain extent UK proved last season that a dedicated special teams coordinator isn’t necessary for improvement. You recruit enough athletes to stock your roster, your special teams will typically be pretty good. The issue of special team game-planning may not be as much an issue as the development of the kickers.

In any case, new linebacker coach Matt House will oversee special teams duties with the help of the other assistant  coaches. House comes from Florida International which FEI ranks has having the 17th best special teams in 2015.

Austin MacGinnis – Place Kicker

MacGinnis was one of the handful of recruits Mark Stoops elected to keep after Joker’s departure. That was somewhat surprising as the roster seemed to need as many non-kickers as possible. Further surprising was when MacGinnis was redshirted eliminating the argument that UK needed to take him because they had to have a kicker in 2013. It wasn’t until 2014 that keeping MacGinnis on the roster made sense to the public.

That moment came at the Swamp when the redshirt freshman connected on a 51 yard field goal with UK down 17-20 in the fourth quarter to force overtime. He would finish the season making 80% of his field goals, and 100% of his extra points. That was third best in the SEC last season.

By this point, everyone knows MacGinnis kicks harder than a cassowary and has ice-cold veins. He was on several All-SEC Preseason teams. His presence was a luxury to the team, because if they can get within 45 yards of the endzone, the coaches are going to feel pretty good about walking away with at least three points.

Then he got injured. MacGinnis wasn’t as effective last season making 76% of his field goals and 96% of his extra points. His ranking fell to the middle of the pack in the SEC. His unfortunate miss against Vanderbilt in the second half impacted a game where points came at a premium.

If healthy, MacGinnis will make UK a better team. In close games, MacGinnis may have a bigger impact on the season that most of the players on UK’s roster.

Grant McKinnis-Punter

The freshman will presumably be the starting punter this fall taking over for graduated Landon Foster. He’ll need steely nerves as teams will target him if he displays hesitancy or slow technique on tape or in pregame warm-ups. It’s premature to judge, but this could be a problem area given his youth. If he comes ready to play like MacGinnis then there shouldn’t be any problems from a mental standpoint.

Outlook

The coverage teams will likely be solid again in 2016, but UK will need more help from its return men. It’s also very important that MacGinnis remain healthy and efficient. UK has averaged a little over two field goals per game the last two seasons. That almost translates to an extra six points, and MacGinnis’ talent in part changes the math for Stoops’ 4th down decisions.

Overall, UK needs stronger play from its special teams to improve field position. UK was terrible at field position last year. Better returns gift the offense better field position, and lock-solid coverage units give the defense more leeway.

In a season that has high stakes and slim margins, special teams will be critical.

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IT’S FOOTBALL TIME AGAIN, WOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

It’s our first of five, count ’em five podcasts before the season even gets under way September 3rd against Eastern Washington in Pullman. In this first preseason edition, we visit with Jacob Thorpe from the Spokesman Review and get his thoughts on the team before they head down to Lewiston to begin fall camp. We touch on the offense and what a possibly revamped defense might look like with some fresh faces.

Then, a visit with former WSU receiver and current San Diego Charger Dom Williams. We’ll talk about his time in Pullman, what he thinks of the 2016 edition of the team, and the finest ice cream flavor known to man.

Then, as usual, we end with our Dunderhead of the Week and Ask Michael Anything.

So glad to be back for another season. Thanks for listening!

When last we checked in on the intrepid Maurice Smith, all signs pointed to him transferring to Miami. Now, according to his mother, Georgia is really the apple of his eye.

From ESPN, citing the AJC story (a rag I bluntly refuse to link as long as trollmaster Michael Carvell is an unofficial ‘Dawg recruiter,):

Mother of Maurice Smith says Nick Saban blocking son’s transfer from Alabama Crimson Tide to Georgia Bulldogs

The mother of Alabama reserve defensive back Maurice Smith told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that her son is being blocked from transferring to Georgia by coach Nick Saban.

Smith, a senior from Sugar Land, Texas, is still listed on Alabama’s roster online. With two career starts under his belt, he worked with the first-team defense during the spring.

In mid-June, AL.com reported that Smith was seeking to leave as a graduate transfer, which would make him eligible to play immediately at another school.

“He wants to go to Georgia. Period,” Samyra Smith told the AJC. “That’s where he wants to go.”

Look, this is going to be hyped up as a Kirby vs. Saban battle, which it is not. Forests of trees shall be slain, and a small ocean’s worth of ink shall be spilled to make this another “Oh, awful Nick Saban” story, which again it is not.

No where has it been reported that Saban will not let Smith out of his NLI, which contract governs the commitment of Smith. No where has it been said that Saban is flatly refusing to release Smith to go to the ‘Dawgs, the ‘Canes or to help start up the scrappy Shelton State Community College Buccaneers. What Saban has refused to do, based on reports from Miami and momma, is not allow Smith, who is a true Senior, have a waiver to play immediately under a grad transfer.

Whether or not to permit an undergrad to waive the one-year residency requirement is purely at the discretion of the school where a player commits. The schools are not obliged to do it; they are not required to do it; they are not even strongly encouraged with the promise of an ice cream and pizza party to do so.

The NCAA bylaw on waivers, section 14.5.5.3.9 (c), reads in pertinent part:

the student’s previous institution shall certify in writing that it has no objection to the student being granted an exception to the transfer residence requirement. If the student’s previous institution denies his or her request for the release

This isn’t a dictatorial measure, either. That provision plainly provides written notice and the opportunity for a hearing outside of the athletics department. There are due process procedures in place; none of which, it should be noted, have even been triggered yet, because, to the best of our reading, no written notice has been given to Smith. Instead, we have seen the Smith family and the ‘Canes and ‘Dawgs media apparatuses spring into high gear because the Alabama staff will not afford them an extraordinary, highly irregular waiver request.

Saban thinks that Smith is better served finishing his senior year at Alabama. That is his right to do so. And, Maurice Smith thinks he’s better off elsewhere; again, that’s his right. But, Smith has a choice under NCAA bylaws, he can stay his senior season at Alabama, or he can be released from his Alabama NLI and is going to be subject to the exact same transfer requirement as nearly every player in the NCAA/NAIA system since Methesulah’s day:

4.5.5.1 General Rule. A transfer student from a four-year institution shall not be eligible for intercollegiate competition at a member institution until the student has fulfilled a residence requirement of one full academic year (two full semesters or three full quarters) at the certifying institution.

So, when you read the #MadOnline think pieces the next few weeks, and you see the click bait headlines about Saban refusing to release Smith from his NLI, know that there are very clear guidelines that govern transfers. Smith doesn’t just want to leave — he wants to leave and be immediately eligible to play.

The Alabama staff is not obliged to make that transfer process a game of Chutes and Ladders; nor, should it be emphasized, is their requiring Smith to play by the same guidelines as everyone else, some cruel, petty, vindictive move: what the staff is doing is just the ordinary course of affairs for the abiding majority of student-athlete transfers. Winning the media war or eliciting sympathies do not change the guidelines which govern Smith’s eligibility, residency or transfer.

Whether or not that NCAA residency requirement should exist is, of course, a different matter, and one beyond the scope of this article.

“He wants to go to Georgia. Period. That’s where he wants to go.”

Good luck to you, Maurice…in 2017.

—

(h/t Josh Chatham for pulling down the bylaws for this one.)

As we roll into August, some of our regular Arizona Wildcats features will be making their return.

So here we are, with the first Tuesday Twitterbag of the 2016-17 school year. Be sure to follow our main account @azdesertswarm and tweet us your burning questions about anything that’s on your mind, Arizona Athletics-related or not. The less serious, the better.

And away we go:

Ok, so I’ll break this up into two parts. First up is Arizona Stadium. Greg Byrne stated back in April that he’s looking to completely rebuild the west side, and do it in the next 4-6 years. Essentially, I would expect it to look similar to what the north endzone looks like now mixed with what the west side currently has (i.e. individual chairbacks throughout the seating area with suites and press box above). He also said that he likes the east side the way it is so that U of A can continue to offer some of the lowest entry-level ticket prices in not only the Pac-12, but all Power Five conferences. So the only major changes I see coming to the east side are the new chairbacks they put in this offseason in the 100 level. Cleaning up some of the concrete facades would be nice too.

Changing the west side would include a better visitor’s locker room, probably some state-of-the-art suites, modern facilities for concessions and restrooms, and, in a perfect world, cabanas.

Now for part two of this question. The type of indoor practice facility will be totally dependent on whatever the donation is that Arizona gets for it. Obviously bubbles are cheaper, quicker, and get the job done, but I also think it would have been destroyed by the monsoon storms that came through Tucson this week.

As far as location, I don’t see any reason why it wouldn’t be where they currently practice (Kindall Field at Sancet Stadium) plus the space that is in between Bear Down Beach and 6th St. There’s plenty of room there to get it built, and while it’s being built, there’s still room for an outdoor practice field besides Arizona Stadium. I don’t think putting it far away from Lowell-Stevens would make sense. You could also just build a roof over Bear Down Field, but it likely wouldn’t be big enough for the team’s liking.

Make no mistake about it though. To keep Rich Rodriguez at UA long-term, or to draw interest from another top coach, an indoor practice facility is absolutely needed.

For football, we gave a couple of options in this week’s roundtable. Personally, I would take Chacho Ulloa with Kahi Neves a close second. Those are two guys that are going to get time at relatively thin positions on defense, and will have the chance to play their way into significant playing time.

For basketball, I’ve been driving the Lauri Markkanen bandwagon for a while now. Yeah, Kobi Simmons and Rawle Alkins are gonna be major contributors, but I think Markkanen is the kind of player we’ve rarely seen in college basketball, and he will be a nightmare for just about every team Arizona faces this year. Finnish Freak, all day, every day for me.

I totally rely on Gabe for all of my football recruiting knowledge, so I’ll just stick with what he says. If I have to pick just two players, it would be former UCLA commit Hunter Echols, and five-star receiver Joseph Lewis. But there will be more than two more commits for this particular class.

Thanks for the questions everyone and remember to send yours in for next week’s edition!