FIU Panthers Prowl

The Blind Side & what follows

Well, didn't hit the lottery. In fact, missed it by so much, I should get a few bucks for it -- you know, rent on Mediterranean Avenue -- because it's almost as hard missing by as much as I did as it is getting three of six.

So, bleary-eyed, not-busy-tailed, eating my large slice of bacon pizza from Pizza Rustica and sucking down some cold caffiene, I pound out this last post before heading for bed. Or a few minutes of Dave Brubeck (RIP).

The national shocked reaction to Mario Cristobal's firing, not from fans but from media, ADs and coaches tells you how FIU's 2012 season was viewed to those with more than a facile eye. This wasn't a Gene Chizik or Joker Phillips, sinking for a few years and being jettisoned before the boat sinks in shark-infested waters. This was a bad day writ large. What should work doesn't. Bad things that shouldn't happen do. What isn't messed up by someone else or just the vicissitudes of the universe, you mess up yourself.

Cristobal's not blameless nor is the staff. Everybody gets a piece of 3-9 cowpie. But rarely is there a single person or facet that plunges you to that level. Fans want a single shooter to blame. Get the Oswald and life's back to rainbows and Kit-Kats. But that's not life on or off the field.

If Mitch McCluggage stays perfect on long snaps; if Jack Griffin stays perfect on extra points; if Willis Wright doesn't get stripped at the goal line by Western Kentucky safety Jonathan Dowling on the gadget pass bomb; If freshman E.J. Hilliard fumbles one fewer time against Louisiana-Monroe; we're talking about a bowl today. And there's no difference in the actual coaching. That's why coaches are control freaks about the things they can control -- there's so much they can't in this business of getting young men aged 18-to-22 to do the right things as a group.

(Continued Thursday morning from the Miami Country Day School Parents Association meeting after I went facedown on my keyboard last night...)

Anyway, this says relationship between Pete Garcia and Mario Cristobal came into play. Garcia hired Cristobal, but soon after, their relationship began to cool. By last winter, it was that forgotten pot roast in the back of Grandma's freezer since 2009. A couple of Camp Mitch sources say Garcia had little involvement in retaining Cristobal after the Pitt or Rutgers flirtations. And said flirtations doubtlessly annoyed Garcia as he might have to swing into action to find quickly a new El Jefe for his highest profile, only-thing-close-to-revenue-producing sport.

Then again, the football budget hadn't budged much over the last five years despite the program's success. Even before the collapses, this season's attendance was disappointing, which is under Garcia's umbrella. And Cristobal's stature within FIU continued to grow the longer he stayed. Combine that with his relationship with Garcia and he's a potential power threat to Garcia in his own department.

When there's a Cold War with your supervisor, don't misstep or the door opens to being booted out. And 3-9's a misstep.

Right now, it looks rash. Whether or not it's ultimately judged to be the right move depends on what follows. If you pull a wildcat divorce on your wife and wind up with the other woman for the next 40 years, you made the right move. If, three years later, you're eating Spam and paying two alimonies, you should've stayed with your first woman.

Butch Davis' name, of course, popped up and he fits the Garcia MO of big splash. But Davis left North Carolina just ahead of the NCAA and FIU just finished flushing the NCAA violations out of its system.

Why would Davis come to FIU? The same reason anyone with a broadcast primetime past goes basic cable series -- cleansing the name or rebuilding a reputation for quality work. Also, it's a chance to do what they do. Hall of Fame NFL coach George Allen finished his coaching life at Long Beach State.

With that in mind, here's a couple of other guys I thought of: 

Joker Phillips – After a bowl appearance in 2010 at the University of Kentucky, the SEC devoured Phillips. But Conference USA isn’t the SEC. Phillips background as a skill position assistant and offensive coordinator fits FIU's talent pool. Though he just took the University of Florida receivers coach/recruiting coordinator job, surely his contract has an out for a head coaching chance. FIU pay would be three steps down from his Kentucky salary, but a step up from that of a UF assistant.

Jeff Tedford – I have no idea if Tedford would want to leave Califronia for South Florida. Or, if he even wants to be a head coach again so soon or at all. But this one has intrigue. Tedford available after being fired from Califronia-Berkeley and, possibly, cheap. The remainder of his Cal-Berkeley deal, which runs through 2015, guarantees him $1.8 million per year. What another head job pays him is just that much less of the $1.8 million that Cal has to pay. FIU could pay him $300,000 and it makes no difference to Tedford's bank account. And he can coach college offenses.

 

Mario speaks about The Blind Side

I knew Mario Cristobal flew into Atlanta last night. According to what former FIU commit Brett Sheehan, a Suwanee (Ga.) Collins Hill quarterback, Cristobal was in the Sheehan home last night.

Clearly,  he didn't know he was about 12 hours from "former FIU head football coach" Mario Cristobal.

"Very puzzling," he said Wednesday afternoon by phone, his low, halfting tone of voice screaming of his surprise.

He ran through the summary of FIU football when he arrived -- coming off 0-12, an APR among the worst in the country, about to get slammed with a 30-scholarship punishment and go on five years of probation.

"In four or five years, we quickly put FIU on the map nationally," Cristobal said. "We gave FIU an identity. We went to two bowl games, won a conference title, beat a BCS opponent. The importance of getting into Conference USA was emphasized and we helped do that. It's obviously puzzling and shocking after a year when we had so many critical injuries at key spots and close losses."

Cristobal said he's already getting calls about other jobs. "Obviously people recognize what we've done as a program, one of the better stories over the past couple of years."

He didn't want to say much more. But anybody who knows Cristobal, who looks at his career, realizes that what kept him at FIU was the kids he recruited and that he's 305. He didn't want to move his family from here. And I do know that even as this season spun out, he didn't regret the decisions he made last December (Pitt) or February (Rutgers). 

By the way, Carol City's Simeon Thomas, a 6-3 2013 commit that was part of what looked like an excellent haul of defensive back recruits, said on Twitter he didn't know if he was still coming to FIU.

More Cristobal firing stuff; Perez, Beaupre take Sun Belt pool honors

This afternoon, I asked Garcia what if, two or three years down the road, FIU remains at three-to-five wins a season after he makes what many see as a bold move in firing Cristobal. What does that mean for his job?

"I'm held accountable for everything in the athletic department," Garcia said. "My job is to make sure the entire athletic department is headed in the right direction. Right now, I didn't think the football program was headed in the right direction. It's my job to hire a coach that will make us competitive year in and year out and successful. Success is going to bowl games and having winning seasons. That's how our coaches are evaluated and how I'm evaluated."

If that's not the case, he said, "Then I've got to be held accountable."

Garcia hired Richard Pitino nine days after firing Isiah Thomas last spring, although Garcia insists he didn't know Pitino was available when he fired Thomas (see my posts from back then for commentary on that). But Garcia said he hasn't talked to anyone about the job yet, though his cell phone is being blown up, and the timetable is to have a coach in place by the time classes resume on Jan. 7. That leaves one month before signing day. He won't, he insists, speed up the process if it means settling for a candidate on which he's lukewarm.

Garcia has a pal named Butch Davis who needs a job and knows how to recruit in South Florida and to South Florida. And I'm not a fan of personnel or coaching moves to please a fan base, but there needs to be a juicing of excitement about the football program, both in paid attendance and booster bucks because it's the only thing close to a revenue sport FIU has. 

Now, as far as the money to pay a name coach...Cristobal worked relatively cheap for the job and the market, making a base salary of $453,183 (various bonuses pushed that over $500,000). According to Cristobal's contract, FIU now owes him $906,366 if he doesn't get a job next season. If he does, FIU owes him one year's base salary plus a pro-rated amount.

Texas A&M paid FIU $500,000 to get out of its commitment for a game next year and FIU's saving the $500,000 they won't pay A&M to come down. The Maryland game gets them another $500,000 or so.

On the field, FIU might lose Collins Hill (Ga.) quarterback Brett Sheehan, one of FIU's first 2013 verbal committments, who had a stellar year. Sheehan retweeted a Scout.com report that quotes him saying he's decommitting from FIU in the wake of Cristobal's firing. Sheehan's rated at two stars by Scout, Rivals and ESPN.com.

SWIMMING & DIVING

I'd planned to spend today writing about how Johanna Gustafsdottir went from being a fat (by swimming standards) burnout victim to an owner of half the FIU swimming record book who feels very much at home in Miami.

As it turns out, my only break in Cristobal coverage is to tell you that Sonia Perez was picked as Sun Belt Swimmer of the Week and junior Sabrina Beupre as The Belt's Diver of the Week.

Perez won the 400 Individual Medley at the Mizzou Invitational setting a new school record of 4:12.95 That and her school record 500 freestyle time of 4:50.32 were among four Sun Belt-best times this season she reeled off at the meet. Beaupre placed third in both the 1-meter and the 3-meter competitions at the University of Missouri-hosted meet.

 

Gameday XII: FIU vs. Louisiana-Monroe

This is simple: if FIU quarterback Jake Medlock plays, he gets into a shoot out with ULM's Kolton Browning, who has about 8,000 yards of total offense against FIU over the previous two games. OK, maybe I exaggerated by a zero and change and Browning's mobility could still be limited by that ankle. But in that case, it's hampered passer against hampered passer. Could go either way, but I'd say 40-30, Monroe.

If Medlock doesn't play: Monroe will try to throw some exotica against freshman E.J. Hilliard and come out with a couple of interceptions, one of which gets run back for a touchdown. The Panthers defense gets run ragged, leading to a couple of late garbage time scores that makde 54-24 look even worse than it is.

That's one black man's opinion. I could be wrong.

The next quarterback to threaten Medlock's job might not be Hilliard, but Collins Hill (Ga.) senior Brett Sheehan. Sheehan's season ended with a 66-41 playoff loss last Saturday that saw him go 27 of 49 for 349 yards, five touchdowns and two interceptions.

One local guy who has known and covered Dade high schools and recruiting since he was knee high to a grasshopper said while he was never a big Hilliard fan, Carol City defensive back Simeon Thomas would be a steal for FIU if he follows through on his verbal commitment.

Recruits, new guys & hoop time

Expect to see De'Andre Jasper on offense this week in addition to kickoff returns. Punt returns? True freshmen often make coaches nervous. With the problems FIU's had putting drama into the punt return, don't expect FIU coaches to feel more secure handing the job over to a kid four months out of high school.

Click the link below to check out highlights of Bradenton Manatee defensive back Willie Smith, who verbally committed last week to FIU. ESPN's and Scout.com have him at two stars. He led Manatee in interceptions last season.

http://www.hudl.com/athlete/419417/#highlights/7971384

Louisiana-Lafayette opened a 6-point favorite and is up to 6.5 at most sports books.  

In answer to your questions about DeMarkus Perkins and James Louis: Perkins has played in each game this season on special teams and taken some defensive snaps.

Louis has off-the-field issues, not all of them have to do with Camp Mitch. Remember what I said on another blog about recruits? You never know what might kneecap their careers.

MEN'S BASKETBALL

Expect the FIU-Louisville game on Dec. 19 to be a 7 p.m. game. Television isn't set yet.

Rhodes a game-day decision; Steve Sabol RIP; Louisville favored (duh); Collins Hill QB commit starts well

Back from a furlough day. Not much gripping out of Camp Mitch today...

Junior running back Kedrick Rhodes sat out practice again Tuesday with his right foot or ankle injury. FIU coach Mario Cristobal said whether or not Rhodes would play would be determined on Saturday.

This is just me, but a back who has failed to finish two consecutive games; has an injury bad enough to hold him out of practice consecutive days; and going into the last non-conference game with eight consecutive conference games to follow -- the first two of which are five days apart -- adds up to us more likely to see Lonesome Rhodes than Kedrick Rhodes on Saturday.

STEVE SABOL PASSES

This is a blog on FIU's sports, but, let's be real -- football is the only sport that consistently moves the needle here. One of the men responsible for football's place in our national fabric, NFL Films' President Steve Sabol, died Tuesday at 69 from brain cancer.

Rare is the sports-loving U.S.-raised kid who didn't dream of making a dramatic game-winning play in his sport to be replayed in slow motion with big, thundering music as a soundtrack. That's because for the last 50 years, NFL Films showed us how you can tell a game's story through a filmic package as dramatically as Hitchcock tell could the story of a man with a broken leg seeing the aftermath of a murder. Football's violence and athleticism gained a balletic beauty filmed by Sabol-directed cameras and backed by Sam Spence's music, then a poetic nobility in John Facenda's or Harry Kalas' narration of Sabol-written scripts. Especially in the days before 27 highlight shows run endlessly into Monday morning, we saw the league through NFL Films half-hour shows like Game of the Week or NFL Action.

I dealt with Sabol only a few times over my 23 years at The Herald, but enjoyed each conversation immensely. I think he did, too, as another football history junkie with a long memory. 

Several months after the last time I talked to him, the Dolphins were late in the 2010 season and the story idea well of me, Jeff Darlington and Armando Salguero was as dry as the team we were covering. I pulled out my iPod and portable speakers for some NFL Films music just because, why not? Suddenly, Jeff had two good ideas. I had one. Armando had a few. Ideas flew like spirals across an NFL Films screen. We laughed at the coincidence.

Coincidence, my 12E. RIP Steve Sabol, master salesman and muse for generations of NFL afficianados.

This classic piece of music and narration originally accompanied images in "The Championship Chase" NFL Films' 1974 season highlight video. 

 

VEGAS SAYS

The line on this game opened with Louisville as 11-point favorites and has quickly moved to 13 or 13 1/2-point favorites depending on the sportsbook. The over/under, however, went from 59 to 57 or 57 1/2.

SHEEHAN KILLING IT

The first two weeks for Suwanee (Ga.) Collins Hill quarterback Brett Sheehan, an FIU commit for 2013: 26 of 40 for 291 yards and two touchdowns plus stood in for the head shot that gave his team 15 yards and set up the game-winning field goal as time expired; 22 of 25 for 275 yards and three touchdowns passing and a 40-yard touchdown run.

So, not bad. 

SOCCER SPIN ON TRACK

Obviously, this won't happen this season and it's long been discussed. But, soon, FIU plans to turn FIU Soccer Field from a north-south to an east-west field and put a track around it, thus giving the track team someplace on campus to at least practice. The project (estimated cost: $3 million) still needs to go up for bid.

Enter Sandman?; FIU busing

Lauderdale Lakes Boyd Anderson offensive lineman Sandley Jean-Felix, a 6-5, 300-pounder, committed to FIU Saturday night. Rivals and Scout.com both have him at three stars with various other offers. The Herald high school hawks ranked him as the No. 7 senior in Broward County. Word is at FIU's camp he was folding opposing linemen like corrugated boxes.

 

The AP Top 25 poll came out Saturday. As far as FIU's concerned, the biggest news is Louisville, which visits Sept. 22, starts the season ranked no. 25.

Oh, by the way, for the Duke game: ACC zebras. That's all I'm going to say about that (for now).

(UPDATE: I was called Monday afternoon with the information that Sun Belt officials will be used for the game against Duke. I guees my Camp Mitch source, usually unimpeachable about such things, was mistaken)

ROAD TRIP

Spearheaded by Pete Garcia, the athletic department and the Student Government Association will bus 1,000 students to the Sept. 15 game at Central Florida, feed them on the way and give them a ticket to the game.

How will the students be selected? OK, before Aug. 31, they have to click https://qtrial.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_difTrGx3YgRUinr. Then, they have to attend the home-opener, Sept. 8 vs. Akron. An e-mail will be sent afterwards to students who attended the game telling them where and when they can get their Road Trip pass. First 1,000 to pick up the pass, you're on the road.

 

 

Committment...Or, "new players;" Hobbs preseason All-Conference USA soccer

The football team's got the day off. FIU got a verbal commitment for 2013 from Miami Columbus High linebacker Jordan Guest, who attended Monday's practice. Guest, unrated by Rivals, Scout or ESPN, is 6-3 or 6-4 and looks like he'll be 200 to 210 easily.

Check out today's story on Sam Miller and Richard Leonard at http://www.miamiherald.com/sports

BASEBALL

State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota pitcher Robby Kalaf has joined former Valrico Bloomingdale High teammate and pitcher Cody Crouse as a verbal commitment to FIU. Crouse, a a 6-6 right handed senior at Valrico this season, committed in July for 2013.

 Kalaf, a righty, went 2-4 with a 3.92 ERA and 22 strikeouts in 11 innings for State last season.

VCLLEYBALL AND MEN'S SOCCER

Wednesday was the first day of official practice for two fall programs with new head coaches, former volleyball assistant Trevor Theroulde and Kenny Arena assuming the positions.

Conference USA coaches voted senior defender Anthony Hobbs to the preseason all-conference team. 

 

Football Practice Day 2: More Underroo Olympics; Thomas commits

Not much to report from Saturday morning's session at La Cage Aux Chats.

On the offensive upside, even when cranking out plays at Xerox rate, there looked like only one case of obvious even-five-beers-in-Bob-could-see-it miscommunication. I thought the defense generally had the better of it, as it should be given all factors (early in real camp, everybody back, know the scheme, blah, blah, blah). But, again, no pads on yet, so it's like judging a building by its miniature model.

It's not real until somebody gets smacked in the mouth. Before that, this is more educational...

 

Among those who dropped by practice were Belen cornerback Xavier Hines, who verbally committed to FIU Thursday, and Carol City defensive back Simeon Thomas, who did so Saturday. Scout.com and Rivals.com rank Thomas as a three-star recruit.

Remember what I said about length on defense two days ago? Thomas is listed variously at 6-3 or 6-4. I'd go with 6-4. Either way, he's all arms and legs, the kind of defender who's a problem to get around so you have to go right at him. He looks like he'll fill out big enough to be a linebacker, but could also drop back and be a rangy safety. He allegedly ran a 4.6 at FIU's camp recently.

Hines said of choosing FIU, "I feel at home here. It's down the street from my school. It's in an area my mom and my family can watch me play (he lives 10 minutes away)."

Also, he said, he doesn't like cold weather.

"It wasn't that tough (to choose FIU)," Hines said. "Ever since the beginning, I had FIU in mind. My father just wanted me to try a lot of different places first before I gave a committment here." 

 

Fall Football Practice, Day 1 (officially) -- 2 hours in FIU Underroos

Coming to you live from the GC at Camp Mitch via colada, it's the report from Day 1 of FIU fall football practice!

That exclamation point ends the hype part of this report.

(Quick aside: just ran into running back Kedrick Rhodes in the GC. His increase in muscular thickness is even more visible out of uniform.) 

There's only so much you can tell from the first day of practice of any sport. A football practice involving helmets, jerseys, shorts but no pads or real contact -- "running around in the underwear" as some football coaches say colloquially -- buries itself under Inconclusive.

As far as accuracy, I thought the quarterbacks looked fine for the first day. I thought the receivers could've helped them out more, but, again, it's Day 1. You see some of the same passes slip through fingers in three weeks, then you reach for the Pepto-Bismol.

First team receivers: Wayne Times, Glenn Coleman, Jacob Younger. Second team: Willis Wright, Jairus Williams, Dominique Rhymes. James Louis, who transferred from Ohio State last year, wasn't at practice. Word is he's got some schoolwork to do. Tight ends: redshirt freshman Ya'keem Griner and Zach Schaubhut, who made some nice catches. 

The best throw and catch of the day came on the same play. Freshman E.J. Hilliard arched a 15-yard out to the far sideline almost over cornerback Richard Leonard. Leonard skimmed the ball a second before Wright adjusted to make the grab and tap down. Lorenzo Hammonds made some nice throws, too. But there's no quarterback competition or controversy. This is Jake Medlock's job to lose and he certainly did nothing to do that today.

"We were more efficient with the ball in the passing game than typical on Day 1," Mario Cristobal said. "That's good to see. And I saw it from at least the first three quarerbacks. They took teh bulk of the reps -- Jake taking the first set, Lorenzo the second one, E.J. the third."

Freshman Favian Upshaw also took reps at quarterback. Cristobal said they structured practice so that the younger players got as many reps as the veterans to get them up to speed. Clearly, there's a feeling that, despite the plethora of returning talent, this freshman class will refuse to be shelved.

"We are forced to create extra periods for three and some of the fours because those guys are talented enough to contribute," Cristobal said. "We just have to see if they can get all the mental stuff."

Look especially at the freshmen linebackers to get into the mix.

Not into the mix will be tight end Bryan Attaway from Kingsland (Ga.) Camden County High; defensive back Denzel Conyers from Gulfport Boca Ciega; and Pembroke Pines Flanagan wide receiver Jeremy Smith. Academic issues eliminated these 2012 recruits.

 

Flaig, McCollum, Durante (The Younger) all commit; at Troy now at 1 p.m.

Hearing FIU's got a verbal commit from Vero Beach offensive lineman Chris Flaig, a 6-5, 300-pounder under pursuit by a few other Florida schools and, reportedly, was visited by University of Miami offensive line coach Art Kehoe. Flaig plays tackle, but also can do long snapping. He's rated at two stars by both Scout.com and Rivals.com.

6-0 North Miami High cornerback Troy McCollum verbally committed to FIU Wednesday afternoon over a long list of suitors. Scout.com lists him as a two-star recruit, while Rivals.com and ESPN have him as a three-star recruit.

"The facilities are great, new dorms and the assistant coaches where down to earth. There's a family atmosphere," said McCollum, who says he plans to major in engineering or sports exercise.

Asked to expand upon the coaches being "down to earth," he said, "They joke around with you and are cool with you. They don't act like they scared to talk to you."

McCollum said he knows current FIU defensive back Junior Mertile, freshmen wide receiver De'Andre Jasper and Johnnie Durante. 

Speaking of Durante, his younger brother, Krop sophomore Jovon Durante, has made a very early verbal committment to FIU for 2015. The talk on the younger Durante, a defensive back and wide receiver like his brother was at Krop, is he might be one of the top 10 players in the state by his senior year. Nothing's certain, of course, but his older brother was a First Team All-Dade large school selection last year. Jovan's got a little bit of giddyup -- as a freshman this spring he made the Class 4A state final in the 200 meters.

 

TIME CHANGES

FIU's road game Oct. 20 against Troy is now a 1 p.m. Eastern time game to be shown on the Sun Belt Network (Comcast Sports Southeast).

Practice starts Friday for 10-2 football season

Upon my official return today from vacation, it's time to start work on special section stuff and prepare for the daily practice grind, which begins at 8 a.m. Friday at FIU Stadium. Unofficially, I started working on section stuff Saturday night with the game-by-game preseason prediction. Last season, I was one game off on the record, predicting 9-3 (6-2) before an 8-4 (5-3) season, but correctly nailing the Louisville upset.

This season, the game-by-game came out 10-2. What say you all out there in the webworld?

Some video of Tampa Bay Tech's Hakim Henderson. FIU's had some success recruiting there and can always use more tight ends who can create matchup problems, especially in the red zone.

 

For those who feel I should've updated the blog more from my family vacation than each of the first three days -- bringing it at that point to five blog updates in the last six family vacation days, going back to the Isiah Thomas firing -- to paraphrase Eddie imitating Richard, have a Coke and a smile.

I didn't feel it was worth breaking from my Parkinson's-limited father-in-law's first day at the beach in years -- and on his 86th birthday -- to blog about 6-3 guard Dennis Mavin announcing via Twitter that he's transferring to FIU from FAU (he'll have to sit out this season). Nor did I think my daughter, niece and nephew needed to be told "idle for a bit" while I blogged about the swimming and diving team's 3.39 spring GPA earning them a Scholar All-America honor by the College Swimming Coaches Association of America. Nice job by the water women, though.

By APR, FIU's female student-athletes found the time to address both sides of that hyphenated term in 2010-11: tennis, softball, golf and basketball each had an APR of 1,000 for that academic year. Tennis had a 1,000 multiyear APR, of course.

Football Recruiting & In the Stax

Don't be surprised if FIU lands Tampa Tech defensive end Antonio Guerad.

 

And here's some video on Monday's commit, Panama City Bozeman defensive end Chandler Burkett

 

And here's some video of Sam & Dave.

 

Cristobal signs another extension; men's soccer schedule out

I'll have more details this evening -- I'm officially on vacation and planning to observe working silence for a few hours this afternoon -- but FIU has added a year to football coach Mario Cristobal's contract to 2017 and given him another raise a year after bumping him up to over $453,000 on base salary.

Realistic about FIU's limits, I don't think Cristobal was looking for the big payday for himself, but did want the football equivalent of occasionally sending flowers and candy when it's not a birthday, anniversary or Valentine's Day -- more money for assistants, some upgrades on facilities befitting a program trying to work its way up.

I'll break this down when I get a peek at the contract or at least the highlights, hopefully later today.

FUTBOL

The men's soccer schedule came out Wednesday.

Kenny Arena's first season as FIU men's soccer coach opens with a for-fun exhibition at Barry Aug. 16, then a home game that counts against Bryant University (is the prime major there building and servicing air conditioners and heaters?) on Aug. 24. They have one home game in September, Sept. 16 against Missouri-Kansas City. Their next three home games are Oct. 6 against Alabama-Birmingham, Howard and defending Conference USA champion SMU.

Memphis comes in on Oct. 27 and a home game against Tulsa ends the regular season on Nov. 3. Between those games is a short ride up to FAU Oct. 30.

Early in the season, the Panthers play five consecutive road games: Aug. 31 at North Florida, Sept. 2 at Jacksonville, Sept. 7 at Wisconsin, Sept. 9 against Illinois-Chicago and Sept. 14 against Furman. Their first Conference USA match of the season will be at South Carolina Sept. 29.

Sun Belt coaches pick FIU No. 1 (again); coaches & media pick Williams as Defensive POY

COMMIT: Chandler Burkett, defensive end from Panama City Bozeman, committed to FIU Monday afternoon.

Back to Sun Belt Media Day...

The Sun Belt preseason football poll of coaches picked FIU to win the conference title by a narrow margin over defending Sun Belt champion Arkansas State. Half the 10 coaches gave FIU first place votes with No. 1 votes also going to Arkansas State (two), Louisiana-Lafayette (two) and Western Kentucky. FIU was the preseason co-pick last year along with Troy.

Asked about keeping his players minds right when so much points to them rolling through The Belt, FIU coach Mario Cristobal said, "I think you said it best right there -- "again." Human nature is what it is, but in this case, human nature might serve us well. We kind of have seen this picture before. Had a great start, stumbled a little bit, then got back on track. I think that's going to serve as a great example and great experience as well."

The vote for Western came from Western coach Willie Taggart, who drew snickers last year when he voted his team No. 1 as they came off a two-win season. He looked like an Old Testament prophet when they came in 7-1 in the Sun Belt.

"I can't pick anybody else but us," Taggart said Monday. "I don't know those other teams. I'm not around those teams. I don't know what they did in the offseason."

The All-Sun Belt team, selected by the coaches and some media folks (including me), included seven FIU players.

FIU got three on one side of the ball (junior running back Kedrick Rhodes, senior offensive linemen Rupert Bryan and Caylin Hauptmann) and four on the other (defensive tackle Isame Faciane, defensive end Tourek Williams, linebacker Winston Fraser and safety Jonathan Cyprien). Williams pick as preseason Defensive Player of the Year signifies how dominant FIU's defense is expected to be this season, especially in Sun Belt play. That's FIU's anticipated edge over Arkansas State (great offense, young defense), Lafayette (great offense, young and iffy defense), Western (questionable no-Bobby-Rainey offense, good defense). So far, just asking general questions about defenses and defensive players in the shoot-'em-up Sun Belt, the players and coaches have brought up FIU instantly.

Surprisingly, kicker Jack Griffin got outvoted by Lafayette's Brett Baer, whose punting and kicking was responsible for Lafayette upsetting FIU last year at The Cage. I voted for Baer as a punter, a position that went to North Texas' Will Atterberry.

Akansas State quarterback Ryan Aplin, last year's Sun Belt Player of the Year, was the preseason Offensive Player of the Year. The rest of the offense: running backs Rhodes and Lou-La's Alonzo Harris; wide receivers Ark State's Josh Jarboe, Troy's Eric Thomas and Lou-La's Javone Lawson; tight end Western's Jack Doyle; offensive line Bryan, Hauptmann, Ark State's Zack McKnight, Lou-La's Leonardo Bates, North Texas' Cyril Lemon.

The defense aside from the aforementioned FIU players: defensive linemen Troy's Tony Davis, Western Quanterus Smith; linebackers Troy's Kanorris Davis and Western's Andrew Jackson; defensive backs Ark State's Don Jones, Lou-La's Melvin White and Troy's Brynden Trawick. Western's John Evans was the return specialist.

We're at Sun Belt Media Day and will have more from it throughout the day (we hope).

Gore finally enrolled, on roster

It's been common knowledge for months that running back Jakhari Gore, four-star running back out of Columbus High and cousin of Coral Gables/University of Miami/San Francisco 49ers running back Frank Gore probably would land at FIU after leaving LSU. But nobody likes to count transfers until they hatch in a classroom. Folks at Camp Mitch were hand-wringing into late last week.

Count him. Gore's enrolled in classes, on the roster and is expected to be available in 2013. That'll give FIU a backfield that includes senior Kedrick Rhodes, already a 1,000-yard rusher, and a 4-star recruit with two years eligibility left. Considering Gore's relative lack of size (5-9, 170) as well as the room-a-zoom-zoom pace FIU's new offense wants to maintain, it's good he'll be sharing the load.

APR

While men's basketballs single-season 833 APR from 2010-11 could cause some nastiness out of the NCAA, especially coming after a 900 for 2009-10, the football team's 897 from the same year might just draw a stern "Not good enough" from 700 West Washington Street.

 

 

APR OK...except in MBB; a QB

The NCAA released its overall reports on four-year Academic Progress Rates for scholarship athletes on Wednesday. I was on furlough -- day off, no pay, no contact allowed with any parts of The Herald -- on Wednesday. So, I'm blogging from the balcony about this stuff today.

Overall, FIU showed well, especially the women's teams. The women's tennis team, recognized by the NCAA for its excellence (see a few posts ago), led the way with a 1,000 APR and the lowest women's team, cross country, rolled in with a 958. That beat the best men's team, baseball, which pitched a 952. All programs have their full complement of scholarships.

The only deficient FIU team was men's basketball: 909, well below the target 925.

It gets worse. That number, while lowest among FIU's athletic programs, isn't horrid when looked at the previous four-year totals, going backwards chronologically: 910, 886, 874, 854, 870. Still, the 909, being below 925, might earn FIU some finger-wagging and a slap from the NCAA.

But the single-year APR, according to college academics sources, was 833 in 2010-11. That followed a single-year APR for 2009-10 of 900, according to Isiah Thomas' 2011 yearly evaluation (there's always a year lag in APR reporting to account for summer classes, etc.). And that could earn a little more nasty attention from the four-letter organization in downtown Indianapolis, especially for a school that doesn't bring much history or cash.

833, eight wins in one year, 26 wins over three years...there you go.

FOOTBALL RECRUITING

Also, Wednesday, Collins Hill (Ga.) quarterback Brett Sheehan, who threw to FIU freshman wide receiver Nick England often enough for England to make honorable mention All-State, announced a verbal commitment to FIU for 2013.

 

 

 

Football Futures

A pair of secondary recruits, Tampa Freedom cornerback Nate Godwin and Delray Beach Atlantic safety Brisly Estime, claim offers from FIU.

 

 

Officially, the folks at Camp Mitch can't say anything about verbal commits. And usually kickers don't elicit many happy wiggles. But imagine you're a program still trying to gain national respect and you get a fourth member of the large school's all-county first team team in one of the nation's hottest recruiting areas. Even if it's a kicker, as is the case with Central's Emilio Nadelman, The Herald's 2011 6A-8A All-Dade First Team kicker.

You do the math.

PREDICTIONS

As noted in a previous post, Lindy's preseason magazine likes FIU to take the Sun Belt championship with them to Conference USA. Phil Steele's College Football Preview, perhaps the most exhaustively researched and statistically analytical preseason mag, agrees with Lindy's.

But Athlon's picks Arkansas State and FIU both to finish 7-1 in the Sun Belt with Arkansas State to get the title. USA Today brings the true pessimism, saying FIU will finish 5-3 in The Belt, 6-6 overall.

The common thread: the defense, statistically one of the nation's best last year, returns 10 starters and the schedule isn't exactly a trip through Dante's Inferno with the Arkansas State game at home.

 

Ball Stuff...

The only question that remains about Richard Pitino's men's basketball coaching staff is who the African-American assistant will be.

Pitino's already hired former longtime Pace High coach Mark Lieberman and Mike Balado of FIU, UM and Miami-Dade Community College. But trying to recruit in basketball without a black coach is like going into a WWF Battle Royale and tossing your competitors all your foreign objects. It'll be used against you at every turn, in ways you never expect. Then, there's the whole can-relate-to-the-player thing.

Barry University assistant coach Michael Bradley, who knows the South Florida recruiting scene well, is a possibility. And Bradley certainly would strengthen FIU's pull in South Florida, which has always been wispy at best.

Expect that decision before summer basketball practices start.

FOOTBALL RECRUITING

FIU offered defensive end Tevin Jones of Locust Grove (Ga.) Luella High.

 

Georgia's like Louisiana, where FIU's gotten some mid-level ranked talent away from the local schools: not densely populated, but what there is runs dense with good players, enough to feed many programs.  Don't be surprised if FIU goes Harlan County there as well as Louisiana.

A Seed; An Offer; A Thank You and Goodbye for Goodbye

FIU will be the No. 3 overall seed, the second highest seed in Pool B, for the Sun Belt Conference baseball tournament.

FIU faces No. 6 seed Troy Thursday noon, No. 7 Middle Tennessee State Friday noon and No. 2 Arkansas State 4 p.m. on Saturday. The best record in the pool plays the team with the best record in Pool A for the championship next Sunday.

FIU swept Troy in West Dade, scoring 20 runs in the three games; took two of three from Middle at home, although they got mercy ruled, 13-3 in the one loss; and took two of three, including a 16-5 mercy rule KO win, at Arkansas State last week. 

FOOTBALL

Boca Raton Olympic Heights cornerback Degaulle Sama says he's received an offer from FIU.

HILTON

The Stadium Club was the site of a celebration and send off for T.Y. Hilton Saturday night. As Hilton highlights from Miami Springs High and FIU played on eight flat screen TVs around the room, various speakers, including FIU President Mark Rosenberg, spoke of Hilton as a person, player and what he's meant to FIU.

President Rosenberg said he showed a 1981 graduate film of the 2010 19-14 loss to Rutgers in which Hilton had 110 all-purpose yards and the alumnus said, "Mark, I have never seen anybody cheer for FIU before."

Hilton himself wasn't able to be present, having to remain in Indianapolis.

This was what greeted folks on the right as they entered.