Unfortunately, former Washington State quarterback Ryan Leaf‘s redemption from being a questionable player, for which he is seeking attention, is incomplete.

We know this because Leaf called Oregon State coach Mike Riley “an idiot” this past week as he tried to drum up publicity for his new book.

Said Leaf: “I know the Chargers made mistakes, but I made a bunch of mistakes myself, and I’ve got to take responsibility for that. I mean, Mike Riley is an idiot, but I can’t do anything to change that. He wasn’t supposed to be a head coach in the NFL. Why was he there?”

No. 1: I do not think Riley is an idiot. I’ve never heard Riley’s intelligence called into question by anyone. And, by the way, I was there when he was about to get fired by San Diego.

No. 2: Leaf’s intelligence — intellectual as well as emotional — has been called into question by just about everyone who has known him throughout his life, even by those who defended him, such as former Washington State coach Mike Price.

Leaf is not qualified to call someone an idiot. The life he has led, from an NFL bust, to blaming everyone but himself for being a bust, to pleading guilty to felony drug charges, to calling a truly nice guy an idiot, shows that his bulb continues to burn dimly. Saying such a think so publicly only makes Leaf look crass and petty and juvenile.

Leaf told Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune that he wants to pursue a career as a motivational speaker, particularly working with young people.

“I don’t want anyone to ever feel how I felt,” Leaf said. “I was just miserable. I wasn’t happy with who I was.”

So, Ryan, if Riley cared about your opinion, how do you think he’d feel about being called “an idiot”?

The problem with redemption is the person seeking it actually needs to be redeemed, and not just trying to get some attention so he can sell some books and maybe pick up an easy paycheck for a speaking engagement.

ESPN’s KC Joyner tabbed five pass-catchers he sees as potential breakout stars — and among them is Washington tight end Austin Seferian-Jenkins:

How about one tight end for good measure. And does this sound familiar? A tight end playing for a West Coast team who has the size (6-foot-6, 258 pounds) to overwhelm cornerbacks and safeties and the speed to run past linebackers. His route-running skills are so vast that his team can move him around to a variety of places in a formation to utilize those incredible physical abilities in any manner imaginable. Seferian-Jenkins is so gifted that he contributes to his college’s basketball team (11 points and 18 rebounds in 49 minutes against Pac-12 competition).

That description sounds an awful lot like how someone would have described Tony Gonzalez during his days playing for the California Golden Bears. That’s a high bar to set for a young player, but Seferian-Jenkins has that type of potential. An All-Pac-12 nomination should be in his near future.

Plus, with Stanford’s tight end duo of Zach Ertz and Levine Toilolo, and UCLA’s Joseph Fauria, there shouldn’t be a lack for top-tiered big men catching balls next year. Also, Oregon’s Colt Lyerla had a solid true freshman year. And the USC duo of Randall Telfer and Xavier Grimble, and Utah’s Jake Murphy round out a very talented crop of Pac-12 tight ends.

From the Chicago Tribune:

Sources told the Tribune that a Big Ten plan would remove the top four teams from the BCS bowl pool and have semifinal games played on the college campus of the higher seed. That would do away with the facade of “neutral” sites such as New Orleans, Miami and Pasadena, Calif., and ease travel concern for fans.

The championship game then could be bid out, like the Super Bowl. …

“We have to listen to the fans; we cannot be tone-deaf,” said Northwestern athletics director Jim Phillips, who chairs the Big Ten‘s Administrators Council. “The Big Ten is open and curious.”

While that statement alone — “open and curious” to a playoff — will surprise a lot of people, the plan itself is one that should excite Big Ten fans. The possibility of playing games with national championship implications in places like Columbus, Madison, State College, Ann Arbor, East Lansing, Lincoln and Iowa City should draw rave reviews from Big Ten fans.

Why? Because the current setup is inherently stacked against the Big Ten, which plays virtual road games in most of its bowls. The Big Ten faces the SEC in Florida, the Pac-12 in California and the Big 12 in Texas. Although Big Ten fans travel well to bowls, especially BCS bowls, the advantage Big Ten teams would have in cold weather in this plan can’t be denied.

Think about it: SEC teams would be forced to travel up north. In late December, no less.

Big Ten teams would have to finish in the top 4 of the final BCS standings to make the playoff, which no Big Ten team has done since No. 1 Ohio State in 2007. And Big Ten teams would have to finish No. 1 or No. 2 to land a home game. But the possibility is tantalizing.

If the Big Ten champ finishes No. 3 or No. 4 in the BCS, it would have to travel for a postseason game, most likely to some warm-weather location in the South or West.

Sound familiar? Big Ten teams do it every January.

There is the matter of protecting the Rose Bowl, which is Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany’s No. 1 priority. Delany often has stated that the Rose Bowl is the Big Ten‘s top external relationship, and he doesn’t want to have access compromised.

While a playoff would prevent the Big Ten champion and the Pac-12 champion from meeting in Pasadena every year, we’d still see a lot of entertaining Big Ten-Pac-12 matchups at the Rose Bowl. And while a playoff system would take attention away from the bowl games, the Rose Bowl is the only contest that has prestige even when it doesn’t factor in the national title race. If any bowl can maintain its shine in a playoff environment, it’s the Rose.

A playoff is coming to college football. It’s just a matter of when.

The Big Ten can either continue to be an obstructionist or accept the inevitable and plan for it.

This proposal keeps the league’s interest in mind, which is exactly what Big Ten fans should want.

But Urban Meyer wasn’t all we talked about. You’d know that if you participated. If not, you can check out all the action with this handy-dandy full transcript. And here are a few assorted highlights:

Craig (Kentucky): Why did so much of the national press focus on Kyle Dobson’s flip from Wisconsin to Ohio State as the reason why Coach Beliema was upset with Coach Meyer? Clearly the stated reason was a “tactic” that Meyer was thought to be doing shortly after being hired at Ohio State. Even if it wasn’t illegal (as Beliema later admitted) it must have been something that was fishy, and may have violated the spirit of an NCAA recruiting law. Will the real accusation ever come out?

Brian Bennett: That’s an excellent observation, Craig (Gosh, people from Kentucky are smart). Bielema clearly knows that flipping a committed recruit isn’t “illegal,” since he’s done that himself. I always thought Bielema was referring to something else. But since he gave no details, we have no idea what it is he was talking about. If he wasn’t going to get specific, he should not have taken that complaint publicly, in my opinion.

Bob J (Los Angeles): So Iowa takes forever to name a defensive coordinator and then their offensive coordinator of 13 years leaves suddenly. Is there some sort of shake up going on in Iowa City or was it just a matter of Ken O’Keefe having an opportunity he couldn’t pass up? I know we’ll probably never know because Kirk Ferentz tells us nothing ever but what do you think?

Brian Bennett: You’re right in that it’s hard to decipher. I don’t think Ferentz was trying to get rid of either guy. He’s been very loyal to his assistants. And if he wanted to make a change at OC, it would have come a lot sooner than this to give him more time to make a good hire. I think O’Keefe leaving was a result of his prior relationship with the new Dolphins coach. Don’t blame him for leaving after all the criticism he has faced.

Nate (JAX, FL): Brian, I recently just read the Tom Shatel piece he did on Bo.. very interesting. My question and what stuck out from the article to me was how Bo brought up that his husker teams over the past 4 years are tied with 7 other schools with the most wins… but he also has lost 4 games in each of his 1st 4 years as well. I know you can look on the bright or dark side of things but if 9 wins is what makes the coach happy should the Husker faithful start preparing for 9 wins a year for as long as Bo is the head coach? He seems content with it…. thank you.

Brian Bennett: I disagree that he seems content with it. I thought he made very clear in that (excellent) article that he really wants to get to the next level and is searching for ways to do. Let’s not forget that he hasn’t been a head coach for all that long, or that the program wasn’t exactly on top when he got there. Pelini has done good work thus far, but he has to figure out a way to get to the next step, which is often the hardest part of the process.

Brian (The Villa): By no means am I an OSU fan, but I have to admit, the hiring of Meyer has me a bit excited. I feel like the Big Ten has become a bit apathetic over the past decade or so, content to sit upon the laurels of their tradition and big time programs. Meyer has made it very clear that if you want to be relevant and win, you had better come to play. A rising tide carries all boats, and I think his energy will make the whole league better even if he isn’t the one winning. Your thoughts?

Brian Bennett: I agree with you (gosh, people named Brian are smart). I think the Big Ten needs a little influx of competitive juice. I don’t want this to become a win-at-all-costs league, but clearly the Big Ten needs a little nudge after not really being relative in the national title chase for a few years now.

Up next: LaMike dislocates Bears

Who & against whom? Oregon running back LaMichael James, despite leaving the game early in the fourth quarter with a dislocated elbow, dominated California on Oct. 6 in a 43-15 Ducks victory.

The numbers: James rushed for 239 yards on 30 carries — 8.0 yards per carry — with a 53-yard TD against the Bears.

A closer look: James, who led the nation with 150.4 yards rushing per game, produced four of the six 200-yard rushing performances in the conference in 2011. This blockbuster night against Cal wasn’t his biggest performance — he rolled up 288 yards at Arizona — but it was his most impressive. And not just because he became the sixth player in Pac-12 history to eclipse 4,000 yards for his career. And not just just because he became just the fifth FBS player since 2000 to rush for 200-plus yards in three straight games. It was because the Bears had a good run defense. If you eliminated this game — poof! — Cal would have surrendered just 109 yards rushing per game and 3.34 yards per rush this season, totals that would have ranked them among the nation’s top-20.

Boise State president Bob Kustra has an answer for you: too late.

In an interview with The Idaho Statesman, Kustra said, “I can’t imagine how anyone can pull that off. We would never want to pull it off in a fashion that dealt shabbily with our existing partners in the Mountain West. I don’t think that could ever work.”

Jon Wilner of the San Jose Mercury News tweeted last week, citing a source, that Boise State was under pressure to join the Big East for 2012, presumably to make up for the likely loss of West Virginia. Yes, there are dueling lawsuits still unresolved, but West Virginia has made it clear several times that it plans to join the Big 12 in time for the 2012 season no matter what.

If you think actions speak louder than words, then just take a look at West Virginia canceling its September game against Florida State as further proof that it will be leaving, no matter conference bylaws or court rulings.

Boise State agreed to join in 2013, along with San Diego State, Houston, SMU and UCF. If any of those schools leave a year earlier than scheduled, they would cause their old conferences the same headaches the Big East is dealing with right now, especially in terms of scheduling. For football-only members like Boise State and San Diego State, they would also have to make accommodations for all other sports much earlier than anticipated.

Should West Virginia go as anticipated, and no new teams join for 2012, the Big East faces the prospect of having seven football-playing members for 2012. The league is going to have to get pretty creative when it comes to scheduling if this ends up being the case.

Regardless, the common denominator is that all of them will need to have big offseasons — starting this spring. We’ll go in alphabetical order, starting today with Boston College:

Spotlight: Doug Martin, first-year offensive coordinator.

2011 summary: Turnover at the coordinator position was again a story line, as Kevin Rogers, who was in his first season, took a leave of absence for health reasons in early September and never returned to the team. Tight ends coach Dave Brock was named acting offensive coordinator and coached the quarterbacks. It was another dismal season for the BC offense, which lost its leading rusher, Montel Harris, for the majority of the season to a knee injury, and finished No. 82 in the country in rushing offense, No. 100 in passing offense, and No. 112 in both scoring offense and total offense.

The skinny: Martin will be the Eagles’ fifth offensive coordinator in five seasons, as BC has replaced Steve Logan (2008), Gary Tranquill (2009-10), and Rogers and Brock (2011). Martin was a former head coach and offensive coordinator for seven seasons (2004-10) at Kent State, and came to BC after one season as offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach at New Mexico State. The Aggies ranked No. 25 among FBS teams in passing offense last year, averaging 273 yards per game, and they averaged 398 yards of total offense per game. If BC is going be a player again in the Atlantic Division race, it must improve offensively. Martin will have eight returning starters to work with, but he must get more out of quarterback Chase Rettig.

Feb. 6, 2012

Tulsa, Oklahoma - University of Tulsa Head Football Coach Bill Blankenship announced today the appointment of Calvin Thibodeaux to the Golden Hurricane coaching staff as defensive tackles coach. Thibodeaux spent last season coaching at Dartmouth College.

A 2006 graduate of the University of Oklahoma and four-year letterman on the Sooner football team, Thibodeaux helped the Sooners win three Big 12 Championships while making four trips to BCS bowl games, including the national championship game twice – 2003 Rose Bowl, 2005 Sugar Bowl, 2006 Orange Bowl and 2007 Fiesta Bowl.

Thibodeaux returns to the site where he opened his college career. His first collegiate game as a true freshman was played at Tulsa’s H.A. Chapman Stadium on August 30, 2002 as the No.1-ranked Oklahoma Sooners opened the season against the Hurricane.

“We’re excited to have Calvin join our Tulsa family,” said Blankenship. “There are multiple things that really excite us about Calvin joining our coaching staff. First, his ability to teach and communicate is very impressive. He has a great background playing at Oklahoma and coming from that family tree certainly gives him impressive credentials.

“Calvin did a great job at the University of Houston so he has some familiarity with Conference USA, and I really like that fact that he spent a year at Dartmouth. In recruiting for Dartmouth, he understands the type of young men that we’re trying to reach out to academically. Then, having been at Houston, Calvin has a great idea of the kind of players with the combination of academics and athletic ability that we need to have at The University of Tulsa to win Conference USA championships,” Blankenship said.

Thibodeaux spent last season coaching the defensive line at Dartmouth College, helping the Big Green post its first winning season in Ivy League play in seven seasons. He coached first-team all-Ivy League and first-team All-New England defensive tackle Eddie Smith.

Before that, Thibodeaux spent the 2010 campaign as the defensive line coach for Navarro College, which posted an 11-1 record and won the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) national championship. The Navarro defense produced 41 sacks, while the rushing defense ranked 11th nationally and total defense ranked 12th. Thibodeaux tutored NJCAA All-American and Championship Game Defensive MVP Toby Jackson.

Prior to his stint at Navarro, Thibodeaux served as a graduate assistant coach at the University of Houston for two seasons (2008-09), working specifically with the defensive line and the outside linebackers. During his first year with the Cougars, Houston broke a 28-year bowl drought and produced the Conference USA Defensive Player of the Year in defensive end Phillip Hunt, who amassed 14.0 sacks.

“It’s a blessing to be able to come back to the state of Oklahoma. My first college football game was against The University of Tulsa in the 2002 season. I started my career there, so being able to come back and coach at Tulsa is a real blessing,” said Thibodeaux.

“I’d describe my coaching as being passionate, a motivator and a teacher. In order to be a great coach your players have to trust you and believe in what you’re doing,” added Thibodeaux. “I take the experiences from the University of Oklahoma and learning from Bobby Jack Wright and Jackie Shipp and playing for Brent Venables. Then being able to work beside Jim Jeffcoat at Houston, a guy who played 15 years in the NFL, won a couple Super Bowl rings and coached in the NFL, I’ve been able to carry over all those experiences into my coaching philosophy.’

During his Oklahoma playing career Thibodeaux was named all-Big 12 as a junior in the 2005 season after leading the Big 12 Conference with 10 sacks, the fifth most in Sooner history. He earned his bachelor’s degree in public affairs and administration in December 2006.

A native of Houston, Texas, Thibodeaux signed with the Calgary Stampeders in the Canadian Football League, playing in two preseason games.

He and his wife, Terrika, and are expecting their first child in March.

Feb. 6, 2012

Rice head football coach David Bailiff announced on Monday that cornerbacks coach Chris Thurmond has been promoted to Defensive Coordinator and also announced the hiring of Larry Hoefer as safeties coach and David Sloan as tight ends coach.

Bailiff also indicated that Offensive Coordinator John Reagan will switch from tight ends to coach the Rice running backs while linebackers and special teams coordinator Darrell Patterson has been named Assistant Head Coach.

“When we made the change at Defensive Coordinator, there were a number of options that were considered, but Chris was clearly the best candidate for the job. His impact on our cornerbacks was obvious from the first day he came to Rice, and that was proven out last fall. We lost some key veterans early in the year, but the younger players were able to step in and play well. I can’t wait for Spring Practice to start so our entire defense can begin to embrace the schemes he wants to employ.” Bailiff stated.

Hoefer brings 35 years of college coaching experience to South Main. His last coaching stop was at Baylor, where he coached the safeties from 2003-07 and the linebackers from 2008-10. He also served as Defensive Coordinator in 2007. “Larry is a Texas football coach to his core and he is respected by high school coaches throughout the state. He was born in Abilene, played college football here and has made his mark at several schools in the state. He coached with Spike Dykes at Texas Tech and had some great years at UTEP as well as produced some fine players at Baylor,” Bailiff said.

Sloan, who went from a lightly-recruited junior college tight end to become an All-Pro with the Detroit Lions, was promoted to the staff after serving two years with the Owls in a support role. “David showed how badly he wanted to get into coaching. I don’t know a lot of All Pros with a family who would choose to live the life of a graduate assistant, but he did. Our tight ends have the benefit of learning from someone who became an All-Pro through hard work. I know they are thrilled to have him as their position coach,” Bailiff added.

Bailiff is currently interviewing candidates to replace defensive line coach Derrick Jackson, who is leaving Rice to take a coaching position at Wake Forest.

The Owls will open 2012 Spring Drills the first week of March.

LSU was No. 1 in his first poll, but dropped to No. 3. The last month hasn’t been the best for the Tigers, who had several prospects decommit leading up to signing day and didn’t finish in the top 10 of the final recruiting rankings.

It’s not like anybody should feel sorry for LSU, which has plenty of talent returning and figures to be dominant on defense again. If Zach Mettenberger comes through at quarterback, the Tigers will be as good a choice as any to win the national title. Their schedule is considerably easier in 2012.

Alabama moved up from No. 3 to No. 2, and the new No. 1 team is headed up by a coach everybody in the SEC should be familiar with — USC’s Lane Kiffin, who made a little noise (most of it off the field) during his 14 months at Tennessee.

The SEC has five teams in the top 11 of Schlabach’s revised rankings.

Georgia moved up one from No. 6 to No. 5. The Bulldogs return just about everybody on defense and have a cushy schedule, but when’s the last time the Bulldogs lived up to lofty expectations? Talk about pressure. Anything less than a second straight SEC championship game appearance by the Bulldogs will be viewed as a huge disappointment in Athens next season.

South Carolina stays put at No. 10 and also has to prove that it can handle success after winning 11 games for the first time in school history this season.

Arkansas checks in at No. 11, meaning the Hogs are up three spots from where Schlabach had them last month. The feeling in Hog Land (Yes, we hear you Hog fans) is that Arkansas isn’t being shown the love the Hogs deserve heading into next season. The good news is that they get Alabama and LSU at home. The bad news is that they’re 1-5 against those two teams in the last three years. Maybe this is the season that Arkansas breaks through in the West. The two big keys: Does the defense improve under first-year coordinator Paul Haynes, and does star running back Knile Davis return to his pre-injury form?

Moving into Schlabach’s revised Top 25 were the Florida Gators at No. 25. Look for Florida to be a load on defense next season. Will Muschamp also hopes new offensive coordinator Brent Pease can revive an offense that’s hit the skids each of the past two seasons. We should know by late September if the Gators are going to be a player in the East race. They go to Texas A&M the second week of the season and visit Tennessee the third week.