ESPN College Football

Posted by ESPN.com's Brian Bennett

No more college football games until next August. How sad. But fear not, the blog goes on year round. As do your emails.

Jared from Williamsburg, Va., writes: In your Big East ties to the FedEx BCS National Championship Game post, you missed the fact that Florida TE Aaron Hernandez is former UConn QB and current (well, graduating) WR D.J. Hernandez's younger brother, who
had at one point committed to UConn.

Brian Bennett: Good call, Jared. Hernandez had a nice game, too, catching five balls for 57 yards for the Gators. Given the state of UConn's quarterbacking, methinks he's happy to be running routes for Tim Tebow.

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Steve from Cincinnati writes: I know we are talking about coaching in the Big East but how about a shoutout to Cincinnati where Urban Meyer played from 1983-1986?

Brian Bennett: Another good call. So, whenever Brian Kelly leaves, do you think Meyer will come back to lead his alma mater to greatness? Umm ...

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J. Hammack from Pittsburgh writes: With Shady McCoy departing according to reports, who in your opinion steps in his place? Cameron Sadler is a very fast option, but small. What's your opinion on Chris Burns? And do you think Shayne Hale makes a difference next year?

Brian Bennett: Burns is the guy who's built the most like McCoy. I can't say I've ever seen him play, since I wasn't around for spring or fall practice at Pitt. I hope to see him this spring, as well as the other candidates you mentioned. I think it will be a wide-open competition, and don't be surprised to see some sort of rotation, at least early in the season.

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Chris G. from Morgantown, W. Va., writes: Brian, I enjoy reading your blogging and think that these blogs are one of ESPN's better ideas. What do you think of WVU's signings (Carter, Austin, Heastie, Smith, etc...) and how they will be worked into games next year, if at all?

Brian Bennett: It looks like an impressive class, full of speed and athletes. It's pretty much impossible to say at this point how many will see the field or in what role. I wouldn't be surprised if Eugene Smith doesn't work his way to backup quarterback status (at least) by the start of the season. Tavon Austin seems to me to be an ideal candidate for a redshirt since he appears to possess the same skill sets as Noel Devine and Jock Sanders, but then again you can never have enough athletes on the field. Bill Stewart showed this year that he's not afraid to throw true freshmen into the fire, so there's a good chance we'll see a bunch of them next season.

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Kevin Fritz from Louisville writes: With Latarrius Thomas and Matt Simms leaving Louisville, plus the growing turnover of coaches exiting and possibly being demoted, isn't it obvious that Steve Kragthorpe has lost control of this program and needs to gracefully exit now? That way a new coach can be brought in and salvage what could be one of the school's worst recruiting classes in recent memory.

Brian Bennett: That would be a wild overreaction. Nobody likes to lose players, but Matt Simms probably wasn't going to start anyway, and Thomas has been plagued by injuries. The program will survive their defections.

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John Stovall from Parts Unknown writes: Brian what is going on with Jeff Brohm -- will he be back or not? Whom will Kragthorpe blame next ? First, it was Petrino's fault then it was the players, the assistant-coaches and now it's Jeff Brohm. He is running out of victims and excuses.

Brian Bennett: All indications I'm getting are that Brohm won't be back as offensive coordinator, though he may stay with the team in another capacity if he does not opt for another job. As I wrote earlier this week, Kragthorpe is apparently seriously considering handling the playcalling himself. I don't know if I agree with you that he's blaming anyone, but if Kragthorpe becomes his own O.C. then he will definitely have even more of a target on his back if things don't go well. Not that it could get much bigger.

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Hector J. from Atlanta writes: Brian, I love the blog! As a USF Alumnus I have had to suffer through two painful October slides. Therefore, I will not make any predictions but I do want to know from you if you think USF (having Grothe, Selvie, RBs Ford and Taylor, WRs Hester-Love-Mitchell and some experience upfront defensively and at LB) will be able to win more than 2 games next year in the BE and make it to their fifth bowl? Thanks.

Brian Bennett: They're probably going to have to win more than two Big East games to make a bowl this time around, unless they beat either Miami or Florida State in the nonconference slate. The Big East looks so wide open that the Bulls have no excuse for not contending next year. They still have a lot of questions, though, beginning with the offensive line.

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Avon from Parts Unknown writes: The BC athletic director "thought they had a coach who wanted to be there for a long time." How ironic. Benedict Arnold College has a loyalty issue!

Brian Bennett: The Boston College saga is a little amusing for Big East fans, who saw the Eagles bail on the league after professing their own loyalty to the Big East. What goes around comes around.