Thoughts of the Day: Cam Carroll has skills

A few thoughts to jump start your Monday morning:

Cam Carroll knew exactly what he was getting into when he transferred from Tulane to the University of Florida. He was well aware the Gators were returning one of the top 1-2 running back combos in America in Montrell Johnson Jr. and Trevor Etienne, plus a stud recruit in Treyaun Webb. He was completely unfazed.

“For me entering the portal it was a well-thought-out decision,” Carroll said Sunday evening after the Gators had completed practice. “Once I entered, Coach (Jabar) Juluke reached out to me. I sent him my transcript. I talked to Coach (Billy) Napier and it felt like home. Being able to be in a room like Trevor and Montrell it obviously would scare a lot of people, but me, personally, I took it as an opportunity to not only learn from them but also grow.”

Photo of Florida running back Cameron Carroll hurdling a defender in the 2023 Orange and Blue Game. Photo via Chris Spears GatorBaitMedia.com

Carroll isn’t your everyday transfer upset that he’s buried on a depth chart. He spent five years at Tulane, redshirting in 2018 and then missing all but the first game of 2022 with an injury. In between he ran for 1,612 yards (5.3 per carry) and 19 touchdowns, plus caught 23 passes for 247 yards (10.7 per catch) and five more TDs. He ran for 741 yards and 12 touchdowns in 2021. In 2022 he ran for 516 yards (6.1 per carry) and three touchdowns, plus caught 17 passes for 198 yards (11.7 per catch) and three more TDs.

He's got skills. When he transferred to UF some thought because of his size (6-0, 232 pounds) he would be a between the tackles bruiser or because he’s so surehanded out of the backfield that he would be a third down back who could run routes. He can do those things, but he’s also capable of leaping over tacklers (see the spring game), taking on a blitzing linebacker or a rush end in protection and if he gets to the second level turn a routine carry into a sprint.

“A lot of people would be surprised to hear I hit right at 22 miles per hour at 230,” Carroll said. “I might be big, but if I get out on the edge you’re still going to have a hard time.”

No promises were made and none asked for when he transferred to Florida. He says he was more than willing to fit in wherever the coaching staff felt was best for the team, but he’s already proven that he can be a valuable commodity. He works on every phase of his game every day including catching passes with the wide receivers. He’s bonded with his mates in the running backs room and fits in so well with teammates that it’s as if he was here from day one instead of transferring in.

For those who might question if there are enough carries to go around, consider the 1984 Gators were a 3-headed backfield rotation of Neal Anderson, John L. Williams and Lorenzo Hampton, all first round NFL picks. Napier’s 2019 Louisiana team had 1,147-yard rusher Elijah Mitchell (16 touchdowns) to go with Raymond Calais (886, 6 TDs), Trey Ragas (820, 11 TDs) and Chris Smith (334 yards, 4 TDs, 10.44 per carry).

“I didn’t know that,” Carroll said. “Good news for this year.”

Let’s get one thing straight about the ACC …

First and foremost, you can forget Florida State and Clemson joining the SEC unless ESPN tells Greg Sankey do it and we’ll give you an even better contract than the one we’re going to rewrite when Texas and Oklahoma join the league. Sankey and the SEC presidents don’t feel the need to expand. At 16 teams, Sankey already has the best and most powerful league out there so unless ESPN steps in, forget about FSU and Clemson in the SEC.

Second – and this also involves ESPN – why would ESPN weaken a league it has under contract until 2036? Clemson and FSU are already the football bell cows in the ACC and they will remain the bell cows, probably until 2036 when the media rights contract with ESPN and grant of rights deals all expire. They might be very good football programs in the Southeastern Conference, but they’ll be powerhouses in the ACC. ESPN is not going to budge.

Third, it is true that Florida State, Clemson, North Carolina and North Carolina State voted against the ACC expanding to add Stanford and California. These four schools along with Virginia, Virginia Tech and Miami have been whining about the lack of money they get from their media contract with ESPN. While Stanford and California would give ESPN some late night ball games on the Left Coast, the TV needle will not move. So, if Cal and Stanford joined, it would just dilute the yearly per school payout for the current ACC schools. Remember this, in 2026 when the Southeastern Conference schools are most likely hauling in somewhere between $90-100 million a year from their contract with ESPN, the 14 ACC schools will be bringing in less than $50 million. All ACC schools would have to take a cut in yearly pay so that Stanford and Cal could join, plus you would have the added travel expense.

Fourth, SMU, is a bridesmaid again. SMU thought it would be joining the Pac-12 but there will be no Pac-12 after 2023. SMU was mentioned to join the ACC once California and Stanford were accepted, but that isn’t happening either. The Big 12 would be a rather good place for SMU but former Southwest Conference buddies TCU, Baylor, Houston, and Texas Tech don’t want them. Finally, why would the ACC want SMU, which plays in a 32,000-seat stadium that it never fills and whose athletic program counts four national championships in all sports in history?

So, what’s going to happen Tuesday when there is a drop dead date for schools that want to leave the ACC after the 2023-24 athletic year? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. The ACC will stay just the way it is. The Big Ten won’t expand to add Clemson and FSU. Clemson and FSU, while seriously upset that their SEC and Big Ten cousins can afford to drive a Maybach, will continue to drive their Chevys. Stanford and California will continue to be orphans who can either go independent, join the Mountain West or continue to pray that the Big Ten will further expand. Oregon State and Washington State will join the Mountain West and SMU will continue to play in the American Athletic Conference.

Flipping the College Football Playoff script

The dilemma of the week and foreseeable future for college football will not be further expansion. Something will happen with the four orphans from the Pac-12, we just don’t know what quite yet. The dilemma is what to do about the College Football Playoff which is something that calls for solutions in a hurry.

This will be the final year of the 4-team playoff with expansion to 12 teams set for 2024. Prior to the messy divorce that torpedoed the Pac-12, the plan was for the Power 5 conferences to send their champs along with the highest ranked conference champ from the Group of 5. Now, however, there are only four power conferences so do we have five guaranteed spots and seven at-large? Do we add two conference champs from the Group of 5 and remain with six guaranteed spots and six at-large? Or do we scrap all the guarantees and go with the top 12 teams regardless of conference?

Then there is the money. In 2026 there will be a new contract that is expected to fetch in the neighborhood of $2 billion. How will that money be split up, particularly if there are no automatic bids for conference champs? One suggestion is to have the power conferences have their playoff and the Group of 5 conferences to have theirs. Can the bowls continue to exist if the playoff is split in two?

Finally, can all the conferences act like adults and come to a conclusion that works?

The NCAA vs. Jim Harbaugh: The plea deal is off

The plea deal that had been negotiated between the NCAA and Jim Harbaugh has been rejected, which means it will go before the Committee on Infractions sometime months away, well after the 2023 season. That means the 4-game suspension that Harbaugh was willing to serve is off the table. He will coach the entire 2023 season and there is a rather good chance he will win an NCAA championship. SEC people can go ahead and clutch their hearts, but Michigan is actually good enough to win it all to become the first Big Ten team to win a national championship since Ohio State did it in 2014.

There are no guarantees that Harbaugh will still be around in 2024, which will be the earliest this case is heard. Harbaugh could win the national championship then tell the NCAA to stick it where the sun doesn’t shine and go coach in the NFL. He’s come close to taking an NFL job after each of the last two seasons. What a way to ride off into the sunset while giving the NCAA the finger.

ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT: Hunter Yuracheck, the well-regarded athletic director at Arkansas, wrote a guest column for Whole Hog Sports in which he closes by saying, “If there is any chance of maintaining the collegiate athletic ecosystem that has become synonymous with the college experience not only for the athletes, but for students, fans, staff, and communities nationwide, a national framework provided through congressional action is our best hope.”

What BS. When Congress can figure out how to balance a budget without adding another trillion dollars to the national debt and do it without giving itself a pay raise, then maybe I’ll be willing to believe its intervention can do something good for college sports. Until then, BS!

It’s okay to pay coaches millions of dollars and have a coaching staff payroll of several million. It’s okay to have these elaborate staffs for recruiting and to spend lavishly to lure a recruit to your campus for a weekend. It’s okay for a head coach to helicopter to a high school campus when a car would do.

And on and on and on.

Athletic directors and school presidents chase network dollars at the expense of longstanding rivalries and the overall health of their athletes – see Rutgers or Maryland sending their athletes thousands of miles to the Left Coast on the weekend, then whisking them back for classes on Monday – but let someone pay the athletes and it’s time for Congress to step in and act. Oh yes, the same Congress that has spent so much borrowed money that the international credit rating agencies have downgraded the United States which means everyone will be paying more for everything.

We’re supposed to believe these guys can solve the problem of NIL? Oh please.

I think solving the problems that plague college athletics begins with seceding football from the NCAA and getting it out from the jurisdiction of academics who know how to spend everybody else’s money but are clueless when it comes to actually making and keeping it. Football pays the bills. Put it in the hands of business people who understand that if you spend more than you make, you go belly up. Let these same people set up rules and regulations that actually make sense. Give athletes extended healthcare benefits for injuries suffered during their playing days. Give athletes at least two years to finish school free of charge when their playing days are over.

Above all, get college athletics out of the hands of the National Collegiate Athletic Association and forget this silly notion that answers can be found in Washington. If this means privatizing all of college sports, so be it, but start with football by putting it in the hands of people who know what a bottom line is.