Oregon AD new chair of CFP committee
Mullens replaces Texas Tech’s Hocutt after two-year term.
Oregon Athletic Director Rob Mullens will be the chairman of the College Football Playoff selection committee, starting next season, and three new Power Five ADs are joining the 13-member panel.
Mullens becomes the third chairman, replacing Texas Tech AD Kirby Hocutt. Hocutt replaced Jeff Long, who held the position for the first two seasons. Mullens will serve a two-year term.
College Football Playoff also announced the addition of six new committee members, replacing those whose terms had ended. Joining the committee in 2018 will be Florida Athletic Director Scott Stricklin, Georgia Tech AD Todd Stansbury, Oklahoma AD Joe Castiglione, former Clemson and Rice coach Ken Hatfield; former Southern California star and Pro Football Hall of Famer Ronnie Lott; and former Arizona Republic sports columnist Paola Boivin.
Miami: After further review, Miami’s home winning streak is over.
The NCAA says that Miami’s loss to Wisconsin in the Orange Bowl counts as a home loss for the Hurricanes. The game was played at Hard Rock Stadium, which has been Miami’s home field for a decade.
Miami originally listed it as a neutral-site contest. The Hurricanes were 7-0 at home in the regular season.
If there was a silver lining, it’s this: The Orange Bowl crowd also counts as home attendance for Miami, and pushed the Hurricanes’ total for the season at home to 469,454. That’s a program record, topping the 417,233 in the 2002 season.
Miami’s home opener for 2018 is Sept. 8 against Savannah State.
North Carolina: Investigators are looking into whether an NFL agent violated North Carolina’s sports agents law by contacting a Tar Heels football player despite not being registered with the state.
According to a search warrant, the Secretary of State’s office sought Facebook records for Tennessee-based agent Brandon Smart. The document states Smart contacted UNC senior offensive lineman R.J. Prince to schedule a time to discuss “the NFL draft process” last year.
The document states Prince notified UNC officials, who informed the Secretary of State’s office on Nov. 15. The office began an investigation on Dec. 6.
Smart didn’t immediately return a call or email Wednesday from The Associated Press. Secretary of State’s office spokesman George Jeter told the AP that UNC “handled this properly” and investigators “appreciate the contact they gave us.”
Auburn: JB Grimes is returning for his second stint as Auburn’s offensive line coach.
Auburn coach Gus Malzahn announced Wednesday that Grimes will replace Herb Hand, who left to become co-offensive coordinator and line coach at Texas.
Grimes coached at Auburn from 2013-15, helping the Tigers to the BCS championship game and a Southeastern Conference title in his first season.
Grimes left to coach Cincinnati’s offensive line in 2016 and spent last season in the same post at UConn.