Associated Press
The college football notebook …
AUBURN, Ala. ó Ted Roof, a successful defensive coach at Georgia Tech who struggled as a head coach at Duke, has been named defensive coordinator at Auburn by new coach Gene Chizik.
The 45-year-old Roof spent last season as defensive coordinator at Minnesota, which improved from 119th nationally in total defense in 2007 to 79th under his direction.
“Ted has a wealth of experience and success as a defensive coach, and philosophically, we think alike,” Chizik said Tuesday.
Roof was a linebacker for Georgia Tech in the 1980s facing Pat Dye’s Auburn teams and has vivid memories of the Tigers’ style. He was in Chizik’s office when Dye wandered in Monday.
“I made this comment to Coach Dye that when you got done playing Auburn it felt like somebody had taken a rubber hose and beaten you with it,” he said. “As a football player, you always respect the physical teams, the teams that hit you in the mouth. “When I think of Auburn, I think of physical football, tough and hard-nosed.”
He spent two seasons as a graduate assistant at Alabama, then served as an assistant at West Georgia and Duke.
He joined the Georgia Tech staff in 1998 and became defensive coordinator in 1999.
In 2001, the Yellow Jackets ranked 23rd nationally in total defense and 32nd in rushing defense.
He joined the Duke staff in 2002 and became head coach in 2003, going 6-45 before departing in 2007.
Chizik said he was impressed by Roof’s work at Minnesota. “Ted took a Minnesota defense and made dramatic improvements in his one year as defensive coordinator. It was a defense that was very physical and aggressive, and created a lot of turnovers.”
TEBOW NAMESAKE
He may be Tim Tebow’s youngest fan, his father definitely admires the Florida quarterback.
Logan Tebow Bradley was born Tuesday morning at Morton Plant Hospital in Clearwater, Fla. His father, Tom Bradley, is a big fan of the Gators. He told WTSP TV he wanted to honor the quarterback and decided to give his newborn son the middle name Tebow. Plus, he said, it could be a sign of a third national championship for the team.
Mom Nicole picked the first name.
TEBOW’S FLAWS
Tim Tebow’s kryptonite is roller coasters. Planes, bumpy roads and anything else that causes motion sickness would do the trick, too.
“I do get motion sickness,” Tebow said this week. “No roller coasters. I actually did that before we played Michigan because people were so nice. They were like, ‘Please come,’ so I rode and all night it was bad.”
Did you lose your lunch?
“Many times,” he said.
ICE COLD
Oklahoma fullback Matt Clapp has a unique way of preparing for games. He takes an ice bath.
His high school coach suggested it to Clapp during his sophomore year. So he gave it a shot.
“I tested it out and that night I had rushed for 200-something yards, like four or five touchdowns, played a great game on defense. Ever since then I did it before every game,” he said.
So how does it feel?
“You go numb,” said Clapp, who has caught three touchdown passes and often gets used as an H-back or tight end. “It definitely rejuvenates you.
“After I get out, I do a bunch of stretching and I’m good to go.”
GEORGIA STARS
Matthew Stafford and Knowshon Moreno are leaving Georgia for the NFL draft.
Stafford, a junior, returned to campus from his family’s home in Dallas on Wednesday to make the announcement. Moreno, a third-year sophomore, made the trip from Belford, N.J.
Stafford and Oklahoma’s Sam Bradford may be the two top quarterbacks in the draft, assuming Bradford also declares early. Detroit has the No. 1 pick and could use a quarterback.
Moreno had 1,400 yards rushing with 16 touchdowns this season to join Herschel Walker as the only players in school history with back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons.
JOEPA’S GLASSES
Penn State police are looking out for Joe Paterno’s Coke bottle-thick glasses ó the bronzed ones that were perched on the statue of the iconic football coach that stands outside Beaver Stadium.
Vandals apparently cut the glasses off just above the base of the ears of the 7-foot sculpture between 11 a.m. Friday and 11 a.m. Saturday, when a police officer noticed the damage.
VIRGINIAJunior wide receiver Kevin Ogletree is leaving Virginia to enter the NFL draft after leading the team with 58 reception this season.
Ogletree, of Queens, N.Y., finished fifth in the ACC in catches and third in receiving yards with 723. He sat out 2007 with a broken leg.
FLORIDA STATE
Florida State pass rusher Everette Brown is leaving school a year early for the NFL draft.
Brown led the ACC in sacks and tackles for loss this past season. He was a near-unanimous pick for the all-conference team and was a second-team All-American.
MARYLAND
Maryland wide receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey will skip his senior season and enter the 2009 NFL draft.
Heyward-Bey ranks second in school history in career receiving yards (2,089), is third in receptions (138) and tied for third in touchdown catches (13).
YALEJacksonville Jaguars defensive assistant Tom Williams was introduced Wednesday as the head football coach at Yale, making him the first African-American to hold the job and only the second black coach in the Ivy League.
LSURon Cooper, a former collage head coach who has guided the South Carolina defense for the past five years, has been hired as LSU’s new secondary coach.
MORRISS HIRED
Former Baylor and Kentucky coach Guy Morriss was hired Wednesday to coach Division II Texas A&M-Commerce.