Cotton surprises Rebels with departure
Ole Miss’ depth at quarterback took a hit over the weekend when redshirt freshman Raymond Cotton announced he was leaving the team. The 6-foot-4, 225-pound Cotton made his decision public Saturday after reportedly wrangling over staying with the Rebels or leaving with his parents’ help.
Ole Miss head football coach Houston Nutt was hoping Cotton would decide to stay with the team and compete for the starting quarterback job like he did this past spring when he met with the media Friday at the Southeastern Conference’s Media Days. Nutt seemed optimistic about Cotton staying with the team, especially if he would listen to his father and mother who both wanted him to remain in Oxford. (July 26, 2010, Page 6)
Farewell, Raymond Cotton, we barely knew you
The answers given by the Ole Miss players regarding whether quarterback Raymond Cotton should stay with the team or not predicted the outcome even before Cotton’s final decision was made on Saturday.
Cotton, for better or worse, decided to leave Ole Miss after just one season on the team for what he believes will be a better opportunity for him to play right away.
Answers to questions are rarely sugarcoated by Ole Miss senior defensive end Kentrell Lockett and that was evident in the way he responded to the Cotton situation on Friday at the Southeastern Conference’s Media Days. (July 26, 2010, Page 6)
Nutt talks about Rebels’ expectations
Being picked to finish at the bottom, or near the bottom, of the Southeastern Conference standings is nothing new for Ole Miss coach Houston Nutt. His teams while he was at Arkansas faced that situation several times during his 10-year tenure.
Ole Miss was picked to finish sixth in the SEC West by the media at the annual Media Days event held in Hoover, Ala., this past week, a fact Nutt wasn’t making too big of a deal out of. (July 26, 2010, Page 6)
Sowell looking to build on experience
Things have definitely improved in Oxford for Ole Miss junior offensive tackle Bradley Sowell. A year after a heap of pressure was put on him as the man who had to replace All-America tackle Michael Oher in the starting lineup, the 6-foot-7, 310-pound Sowell is now the strength of the line.
Sowell represented the offense Friday at the Southeastern Conference’s Media Days where he talked about his growth as a leader and player and how he worked through some of those struggles last year. (July 26, 2010, Page 7)
QB Cotton leaves Rebels
SPORTS EDITOR BLOG — Ole Miss’ depth at quarterback took a hit Saturday morning when Ole Miss coach Houston Nutt announced that redshirt freshman Raymond Cotton was leaving the team. (more…) (July 24, 2010)
DLs Lockett, Powe tabbed All-SEC by media
Ole Miss’ defensive line is expected to be a strength for the team this year and the improvement and experience shown over the last few seasons was visible in this year’s Southeastern Conference preseason All-SEC team released this morning.
Defensive tackle Jerrell Powe and defensive end Kentrell Lockett, both seniors, were selected to the team that is voted on by the media each year. The 6-foot-2, 320-pound Powe made the first team, while the 6-5, 260-pound Lockett made the second team. Powe was also a first-team member of the Coaches All-SEC team that was released earlier this week. (July 23, 2010, Page 6A)
Mallett, Hogs could be a contender
Arkansas quarterback Ryan Mallett could have avoided the Southeastern Conference’s annual Media Days event if he wanted to. The 6-foot-6, 238-pound Texarkana, Ark., native could be getting ready to take part in an NFL training camp instead of taking questions from a room full of reporters like he did on Thursday.
While the lure of playing in the NFL might have been attractive for a time after the 2009 season ended for Mallett, he ultimately felt like coming back to help the Razorbacks was the right choice for him personally, and the entire program.
Mallett’s return to Arkansas not only helps solidify Bobby Petrino’s tenure at the school, it has elevated the Razorbacks in the pecking order of schools that could win the SEC West title this year, a fact that seems to be the most pleasing to Mallett. (July 23, 2010, Page 6A)
Vanderbilt quick to move forward
Bobby Johnson may not be the head coach at Vanderbilt any longer, but his name, and the man that replaced him, was still a big topic at the Southeastern Conference’s Media Days Thursday. Johnson abruptly retired from his role as head coach just nine days ago, a move that not only caught the rest of the league off guard, but his staff and team as well.
Vanderbilt athletic officials have done a good job of making a quick transition from Johnson’s tenure into that of supporting new, interim coach Robbie Caldwell. That fact shows in the school’s 2010 football media guide. Besides the records and years that Johnson coached in Nashville, there is only one other page that lists his name in the team’s media guide. His retirement story, located on Page 28, simply lists Johnson’s accomplishments between 2002 and 2009. In this league, the longer a team spends looking back, the easier it is to get beat. (July 23, 2010, Page 6A)
New-look UGA has high hopes
Ten offensive starters returning from last year, plus the installation of a new defensive scheme, have helped turn the Georgia Bulldogs around in the view of many prognosticators eyes heading into the 2010 season.
Georgia, under the direction of Mark Richt, always seems to have lofty preseason expectations placed on them. But after having a sub par 2009 in which the defense was much maligned and the offense grew stagnant in key situations, some changes had to be made by Richt.
The hiring of former Dallas Cowboys assistant coach Todd Grantham and his installation of a 3-4 scheme has been well received according to Richt, while those 10 returners on offense and the best punter and place-kicker in the league give the Bulldogs a lot to be excited about heading into the year. (July 23, 2010, Page 7A)
Nutt: No problem with Cotton
SPORTS EDITOR BLOG — Reports that Ole Miss freshman quarterback Raymond Cotton was possibly looking to transfer from the team have come up to be false. (more…) (July 22, 2010)
