Taggart deserves a pass: What would Joe have said??

Our beloved Willie Taggart has found himself in a little hot water, but does he really deserve it?
His Western Kentucky football team is playing Kentucky Saturday and Taggart got upset because he saw so many students on his campus wearing Kentucky apparel.

Taggart tweeted, “They probably couldn’t get into UK.”

The former Manatee High great later apologized and said he was just miffed because WKU students who wear UK apparel are not showing allegiance to his school.

Feeling here is Taggart deserves a pass. He runs a clean program and has given a lot of kids who were headed for trouble a chance.

But here is a better question:

What would Joe Kinnan say if he saw a bunch of students wearing Southeast apparel during game week against the Seminoles?

Could we safely assume whatever he said would make Taggart’s comments seem rather mundane?

 

Weis should do for Kansas QB what Florida did for Mike Blakely

The plight of University of Kansas quarterback Brock Berglund is a prime example of what is wrong with college athletics and how the NCAA tries to control an athlete’s life.

The Associated Press reported that the freshman from Denver was dismissed from the squad last week when he didn't attend a mandatory team meeting with the Jayhawks' new coaching staff.

He wants to transfer and feared that by attending the meeting he would be locked in for another semester, the AP report said.

Berglund told the AP in a phone interview that he sent a written request to school administrators in late December asking for permission to speak to other universities, but the request was denied.

The 19-year-old has a meeting scheduled for Friday in Lawrence, Kan., with the university's student-athlete appeals board, which will make a determination on whether the denial of Berglund's transfer request was fair.

This is another example of how college coaches can leave anytime without repercussions even if they break a contract, while athletes have no freedom of movement.

It’s particularly troublesome for Berglund and others in his situation because the coaches who recruited him are not longer there.

Berglund has hired a lawyer to help him get released from his scholarship so he can play for another school, according to the AP report.

A similar situation occurred last year with Manatee High running back Mike Blakely who was recruited by Urban Meyer at Florida. Meyer left Florida when Blakely got there at mid year and he wanted to leave.

Fortunately, for Blakely, Gators new coach Will Muschamp allowed him to leave to play for SEC foe Auburn. Manatee High legendary coach Joe Kinnan contacted Muschamp on behalf of Blakely.

"It's just very fortunate that Coach Muschamp, a class act, went ahead and released him to go to Auburn. He didn't think he would have an opportunity to go to Auburn, but it worked out,” Kinnan said at the time.

Ironically the new head coach for Kansas is former Florida offensive coordinator and Notre Dame head coach Charlie Weis.

One of the first things Weis did was bring in senior transfer quarterback Dayne Crist from Notre Dame. With only one year of eligibility it doesn't appear Crist came to play backup.

Weis announced this week that Berglund was no longer part of the Kansas football team, but no mention was given about his release to pursue other schools.

Kinnan visits Taggart and Woodie at Western Kentucky

Talk about surprise visits!

Western Kentucky head football coach Willie Taggart and assistant Raymond Woodie were going about their business today on campus when the two Manatee County products received a pleasant surprise.

Joe Kinnan, Manatee High's legendary football coach, unexpectedly showed up on campus unbeknown to Taggart and Woodie.

Kinnan, who once coached at Eastern Kentucky, is currently vacationing in the Bluegrass state. It was a nice reunion for him and Taggart, who played quarterback for Manatee High under him before going on to earn All-American honors at WKU.

"We had no idea he was coming. It was a complete surprise," said Woodie, who played his football at Palmetto High and was an All-American at Bethune-Cookman.

Taggart and Kinnan have stayed in touch since their days together with the Manatee High football team when Taggart led the 'Canes to a state title in 1992 as a junior and to the state championship game his senior year.

Things get tougher for Manatee as Aquinas re-loads again

Life just got a little tougher for the Manatee High football program this spring, though we should not be surprised.

St. Thomas Aquinas, which reloads its football roster better than most college programs, just keeps getting richer and richer.

The school, which is known for bringing in highly touted seniors in its own version of one and done and fielding what is basically an all- star squad, apparently isn’t going to miss a beat even with a new coach.

Bryan Cox Jr., one of the most highly touted high school players in the Class of 2012, is transferring from Avon High in Ohio to St. Thomas, it has been reported in numerous publications.

Rivals.Com and ESPN.Com have already listed St. Thomas Aquinas as Cox’s new high school.

The 6-3, 230-pound defensive end has received 16 offers from major college football programs according to Rivals.Com and many more are expected. Among the official suitors are those from Miami, Michigan State, Iowa, Pittsburgh and West Virginia.

Avon finished 10-1 last year winning all of its regular season games. Cox was credited with 38 solo tackles, which he feels is misleading because teams ran away from his side.

Bryan is the son of former Miami Dolphins All-Pro linebacker Bryan Cox, who played 12 seasons in the NFL.

The Miami Dolphins hired Cox as its pass rush coach last February. He spent the previous two seasons as the defensive line coach for the Cleveland Browns.

Manatee and St. Thomas Aquinas will be in the new Class 7A division after competing in 5A. The Raiders have won three of the last four 5A state titles and been to the championship game in six of the last seven years.

The only time St. Thomas Aquinas failed to make the title game was in 2009 when Manatee defeated the Raiders in the semifinal in what was one of the program’s greatest victories considering the reality of what is going on at the Fort Lauderdale school.

Everybody has an opinion on Mike Blakely

Mike Blakely, the Manatee High running back who garnered the most attention around these parts last season when he signed with Florida, is getting a lot of mixed reviews and he hasn’t even hit the practice field.

Everybody seems to have an opinion on Blakely, who recently underwent shoulder surgery and is expected to miss spring practice.

Some people hail Blakely as a sort of savior referring to him as the type of every down back Urban Meyer was missing last year when the Gators had what most of their fans would call a disappointing season.

One so called expert labeled Blakely as the Gators most overrated signed in the class of 2010, but says a lot of that has to with assorted injuries he had to deal with last season. However, some say its proof Blakely is not sturdy enough be the so called “featured back.”

One thing for certain is that jury is out on Blakely and he certainly has a lot of upside, particularly if he can stay injury free.

Kinnan-Holtz mend fences

It looks as if Manatee High head football coach Joe Kinnan and new USF coach Skip Holtz have mended fences.

The two shared lunch together Tuesday when Kinnan made a surprise visit to the first USF media football luncheon under the reign of Holtz. They were smiling and talking to each other while looking like two buddies renewing acquaintances.

It seemed different from when Holtz first took over the Bulls program and last February took away a scholarship that had been promised to Brion Carnes, Manatee High’s quarterback last season.

Kinnan was upset about the decision and made his feelings known saying USF was not welcome at his school. However, it looked like water on the bridge on Tuesday. Speaking of Carnes, expect him to redshirt this season at Nebraska.