College football

Coaches opposed to playoff

By FRANK PASTOR, VINCENT THOMAS, ANTONYA ENGLISH
Published December 29, 2005

TAMPA - A Division I-A playoff system might be great for college football fans and commentators, but coaches Kirk Ferentz of Iowa and Urban Meyer of Florida want no part of it.

"I think the whole concept is ludicrous, personally," Ferentz said at Wednesday's coaches news conference for the Outback Bowl. "If they want to do it "plus-one' (adding a national championship game after the BCS games are played), I have no problem with that. I have no problem with two teams claiming to be national champions at the end of the year, either.

"But that's our society. We're driven to know who the champion is, and heaven forbid we've got two of them."

Meyer, who clamored for a playoff system when what he thought was a very good Bowling Green team did not receive a bowl invitation in 2002, said he has come around to Ferentz's way of thinking.

"When you start playing 12 games and an SEC championship game and a bowl game, starting 14, 15, 16 games and with 85 scholarships, you're non-functional," Meyer said. "Competing in the conferences that we compete in, you're down to the bare nubs by the end of the season."

DRAFT DAYS: Florida receiver Chad Jackson said Wednesday he won't make a decision about the NFL until after the Outback Bowl. Jackson has not heard back from the NFL, but said he would have to be a first- or early second-round selection to forego his senior season.

"If not, I'll be back," Jackson said. "I'll be back to get better and learn from the coaches. I've got that gut feeling I am (staying in school) but you never know what's going to happen. My thought process right now is staying here and getting better unless something comes up different."

Jackson has 110 receptions for 1,472 yards and 15 touchdowns the past two season. He said he'll "get a lot of opinions from a lot of people," namely the Gators coaching staff and his parents. If he decides to leave, he'll have to sell his case to Meyer, who has been vocal about Jackson's room for improvement, and his mom, who wants him to stay in school and get his degree.

Cautionary tales aside, Jackson has his criteria.

"If you've got the opportunity to (get picked) in first or second round, then I'll take it," he said.

Why?

"That's where the money is."

MOVING ON: Former Florida running back Skyler Thornton is likely headed to Valdosta State. A native of LaGrange, Ga., Thornton left the team Dec.20 and Meyer cited lack of playing time for his decision. He had 96 yards on 20 carries.

WELCOMED BACK: Iowa wide receiver Clinton Solomon earned a spot on the team not once, but twice. After playing 13 games as a freshman, Solomon was academically ineligible for the following season. He transferred to Iowa Central Community College and regained his eligibility.

He returned to Iowa as a junior and caught 97 passes for 1,609 yards and 12 touchdowns the past two seasons.

"He paid in my mind a pretty steep price for it," Ferentz said. "We made no guarantees that we would bring him back. We wanted to see what he was going to do during that year's time. He did a great job, to his credit, and has done a great job since being back."

BUMP IN THE ROAD: Defensive back Antwan Allen overcame adversity to put himself in position to become the first player in Iowa history to start in four January bowl games.

The Armwood graduate sat out the Ball State game this season as punishment for an assault causing injury conviction resulting from an incident in which he broke the jaw of a man during a brawl in November 2004 in Iowa City.

"After I got all the details and we let things get sifted through, I was comfortable with the way things worked," Ferentz said. "To me, it was a wrong place, wrong time type of episode. Antwan's been nothing but exemplary with his conduct since he's been on campus since Day One and been a tremendous player."

IN THEIR THOUGHTS: Ferentz and Meyer sympathized with Colts and former Bucs coach Tony Dungy, who recently lost his 18-year-old son, James, to an apparent suicide.

"You feel for any parent who has to experience the funeral of one of his children," Ferentz said. "That's just a human basic there, so certainly our hearts go out to him, and anyone with any sensitivity at all feels the same way about the whole situation. He's just an amazing person."

Said Meyer, "(Dungy) was a family guy, and I have three kids myself. I can't imagine going back to work after that, so our hearts are with him and his family."

[Last modified December 29, 2005, 00:52:13]