The week in news- Pariahs, Malcontents and Power Hour

In the midst of March Madness, St. Patrick's Day, house guests, nice weather outside and a host of other distractions I still managed to come across quite a few interesting college football stories this week. Here we go.

Mike Leach and Craig James were apparently in the same room this week and nobody wrestled. Bummer. Leach dropping James with a "Ram Jam" could take this ongoing saga to a whole new level. After a week of testimony the Leach legal team apparently feels like their case against Texas Tech is even stronger. Leach also says that he plans to return to the college game. Curious comment considering that a portion of his lawsuit against Tech has to do with the fact that the damage to his reputation will prevent him from being able to get another coaching job.

Coincidentally I maintain a subscription to Texas Monthly magazine in an effort to keep up with my roots in some way, shape or form. The April issue showed up at my house this afternoon and features a fairly in depth article about the ongoing drama between Texas Tech and the Dread Pirate Leach. The more I read about this case the more I am convinced that the powers that be at Tech were looking for a reason to get rid of the fan favorite Leach and half of the "Pony Express" and his kid finally gave it to them. Thoughts?

Another former coach that may have trouble finding work in the future is South Florida's Jim Leavitt. Apparently he is trucking right along with a lawsuit of his own.

Former Oregon Head Football Coach Mike Belotti has resigned his current position as the Ducks Athletic Director and will take a job as an analyst on ESPN. Considering the slew of off field issues Oregon seems to be having lately Bristol is probably sounding pretty good right now. Do they have flannel there?

A year ago Bryce Brown signed with Tennessee after a long drawn out recruitment that was riddled with all sorts of drama. As of yesterday Brown is no longer a part of the Volunteer football team. I wonder if Lane Kiffin bolting for So Cal and getting mixed up in this contest has anything to do with it? Will Brown end up with Kiffin at USC?

Regardless of what Brown does the most recent 5 star holdout recruit Seantreal Henderson somehow made it more officially official this week that he will actually sign his letter of intent to play for Kiffin at USC some time in the pseudo near future. Whatever. Patrick Bateman has some interesting thoughts about this scenario and what it says about the Trojans pending NCAA sanctions over at Barking Carnival.

While I have some of my favorite programs to root against on the brain I will go ahead and mention that a sequel to "The U" is apparently in the works. While I have never been a Miami fan I have to say that I really enjoyed the first installment which ran as part of the ESPN "30 for 30" series. All good stories need a bad guy or two and college football is no exception.

Back to the 5 star recruit bit for a second but for a completely different reason. Farmer Ted wrote a really interesting post this week on Better off Red about former Husker running back Marlon Lucky. Lucky was a 5 star recruit that had a solid career in Lincoln but he never quite lived up to the expectations that tend to come with a 5 star rating. It happens. Lucky was on hand at his 2nd Nebraska pro day this week to take one last crack at the NFL. Best of luck to him.

Idaho is giving Head Football Coach Robb Akey a new contract. This news wouldn't typically catch my attention but as soon as I saw this I was reminded of that crazy Humanitarian Bowl the Vandals won over Bowling Green a few months ago. Coming out for the 2nd half Coach Akey looked right into the camera and said something to the effect of "stick around, you'll love it." Coach Akey made good on his word and the 2nd half turned into one of the best bowl games of the season. Congrats to Coach Akey on the contract. I will think hard about picking against the Vandals in the 2010 Bowlarama.

Tim Tebow unveiled a new throwing motion at his pro day this week and has since been invited to the NFL Draft. Stay at home! I am having flashbacks to watching Brady Quinn three years ago. Dimes where are you? Should your boy Tebow go to New York?

Speaking of Brady Quinn he was traded to the Denver Broncos by the Cleveland Browns this week. Best of luck to Brady. He should at least be familiar with the offense.

I am going for the Brady Quinn trifecta here just because I can. KGG brought up an interesting hypothetical argument this week on Subway Domer about whether Charlie Weis would pick up Brady Quinn or Jimmy Clausen if given the choice. Interesting discussion. I'm a huge Quinn fan but I think I would have to go with Clausen. Did I just say that?

The 2011 Notre Dame vs. Michigan game will be played under the lights at the Big House. Deal me in.

Saturday is Junior Day at Notre Dame. While I don't expect Coach Kelly to go Mack Brown style and pick up 20 commitments 2-3 would be nice. ISD has all the details on the recruits that will be present.

And the final bit of news. If you are a Notre Dame fan I highly recommend that you listen to Notre Dame Power Hour with Mike Frank from this Monday the 15th. Former Irish Assistant Coach and Recruiting Coordinator Bob Chmiel was on the show and offered some refreshingly unfiltered insight on the past, present and future of the program. Take an hour and check it out. You will find it well worth the time.

With that I'm off. Enjoy the weekend. Next week we will start gearing up for spring football in earnest. LB Coach will finish breaking down the 3-4 for us and we will have a chance to start digesting the initial spring football information that should start to flow out of South Bend.