Is Youngstown State interested in Vince Marrow for its head football coach opening?
Random notes:
There’s speculation that UK recruiting coordinator Vince Marrow, a Youngstown, Ohio, native, might be a candidate to replace Bo Pelini at Youngstown State. Earlier this week, Pelini was named defensive coordinator at LSU.
Is Marrow interested? A Youngstown television station caught up with Marrow on the recruiting trail to ask him exactly that.
“A lot people from home have been calling me saying, ‘Hey, we want you to come back home.’ But I’m just up here recruiting, looking at kids and all,” Marrow told WKBN. “Is my interest there to be the head coach there? We’ll have to see. We’ll have to see.”
Marrow also added this: “I know I will be a head coach sometime.”
▪ The biggest mystery in all of college basketball has to be the Florida Gators. Sixth in the AP’s preseason Top 25, Mike White’s club is 4-3 in the SEC and 12-8 overall. The Gators have lost three straight, including 78-71 at home to Mississippi State on Tuesday night when Florida blew a 16-point lead.
The problem? Defense. Mississippi State shot over 60 percent in the second half on the way to outscoring Florida 43-26. “I’ve done a poor job with this team defensively, to say the least,” said White afterward. “Our level of pride defensively is different from any team I’ve had.”
Before Tuesday’s game, ESPN’s Joe Lunardi had the Gators as a No. 10 seed. CBS Sports’ Jerry Palm had the Gators as a No. 11 seed. In other words, on the bubble.
The Gators visit Rupp Arena on Feb. 22, two weeks before the Cats take a trip to Gainesville for the March 7 regular-season finale.
▪ The biggest surprise in college basketball may be Rutgers. The Scarlet Knights are tied for third in the Big Ten with a 7-3 mark, just behind Illinois and Michigan State. They are 16-5 overall.
So quick, who is Rutgers’ head coach? It’s Steve Pikiell. If that name rings a bell, Pikiell was the head coach of Stony Brook, when the Seawolves lost to Kentucky 85-57 in the first round of the 2016 NCAA Tournament. Pikiell took over at Rutgers the next season, and after going 15-18, 15-19 and 14-17, he’s having a breakthrough season.
▪ Don’t look now but Villanova has won seven straight. That’s the same Villanova that peaked at just the right time to win titles in 2016 and 2018.
▪ Nick Richards isn’t the only college center having a big junior year. Iowa’s Luka Garza, a 6-foot-11 junior, is averaging 23.1 points and 10.7 rebounds for the Hawkeyes. Garza averaged 13.1 points and 4.5 rebounds last year as a sophomore.
▪ Just when I write things are looking up for the Reds in 2020, the team announces that third baseman Eugenio Suarez, who hit 49 homers last year, has undergone surgery on his shoulder after a swimming pool accident. Suarez is expected to miss the start of the season.
▪ Good for Dusty Baker, the former Reds manager hired this week to manage the scandal-ridden Houston Astros. You can knock Baker’s game strategy, but Dusty knows how to run a clubhouse.
▪ Did you see where former UK star De’Aaron Fox intentionally missed a free throw, rebounded it and scored at the end of regulation for the Sacramento Kings to force overtime with the Minnesota Timberwolves? The Kings won 133-129 in overtime.
▪ Texas A&M Coach Buzz Williams wore a Pat Summit T-shirt to his postgame press conference after his Aggies beat Tennessee 63-58 in Knoxville on Tuesday night.
▪ Word is UK offensive lineman Logan Stenberg earned great reviews at the Senior Bowl. Former Cincinnati Bengals offensive line coach Paul Alexander tweeted that Stenberg “is one of the toughest OL in this year’s draft. He’s a big, mauler staple who needs to learn how to use his feet more effectively. But big, tough guys play . . . usually a long time.”
▪ Super Bowl prediction: Chiefs 31, 49ers 24. I think San Francisco has the better overall team, but Kansas City will have the best player on the field in what should be a great game. And I’d like to see Andy Reid win a Super Bowl. Kyle Shanahan will have more chances.
