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Boise State hopes to open its new football complex before the 2013 season.

Southern Miss is still looking for a receiver on the recruiting trail.

The Star-Telegram reports that if TCU and BYU do play, it won't be on Thanksgiving weekend.

ULM coach Todd Berry is building a recruiting pipeline into Oklahoma.

Dave Doeren has completed his coaching staff at Northern Illinois.

New Louisiana coach Mark Hudspeth is picking up some key recruits.

Tulane coach Bob Toledo is looking for a special-teams guru to help improve his subpar unit.

The Mountain West made the right call when it held off on expansion.

ULM coach Todd Berry has received a one-year contract extension through the 2014 season, the school announced Thursday.

“In a very brief period of time, Coach Berry and his staff have made a significant impact on our program both on and off the field,” athletic director Bobby Staub said in a statement. “We’re excited about what both the present and future holds for Warhawk Football.”

Berry is in his first year at ULM, and the Warhawks are 4-6 with a chance to become bowl-eligible. They close the season with back-to-back home games against North Texas and Louisiana. The Warhawks are 3-0 at home this season and have won eight of their last nine games in Malone Stadium.

ULM went 6-6 last season and has never made a bowl appearance.

Troy’s quarterback battle is definitely down to two, but coach Larry Blakeney is going to let the competition continue to fall camp.

Marshall defensive players are trying to make emotion and intensity a staple of their everyday routine.

Louisiana-Monroe coach Todd Berry wasn’t pleased with the way his team returned from spring break.

Southern Miss coach Larry Fedora is happy his team is out of spring football with no serious injuries.

Western Kentucky coach Willie Taggart is placing high expectations on his new team and it’s responding well this spring.

New Louisiana-Monroe coach Todd Berry has been lauded for his promotion of competition during his first week of spring practice, but when the Warhawks donned pads for the first time Monday, Berry took competition to a whole new level.

Louisiana-Monroe made every player live during sessions involving the offense and the defense -- including the quarterbacks.

“With our offense, the quarterback has got to be live,” Berry told the Monroe News-Star. “We can’t evaluate them if they’re not. So much of our offense is predicated on those guys making plays.”

Berry said prior to spring practice that every position was open, including the starting quarterback spot that Trey Revell won after spring practice a year ago. Senior Zach Rhodes, sophomore Cody Wells and redshirt freshman Kolton Browning are also competing for the starting job.

Revell passed for 1,739 yards, 12 touchdowns and 12 interceptions in 10 games last season. Wells, who started two games last year but played in all 12, threw for 762 yards, six touchdowns and seven interceptions.

Rhodes, who took a hiatus from football in 2009, played in six games as a redshirt freshman at SMU in 2007. He transferred to Louisiana-Monroe after the year and sat out the 2008 season because of NCAA transfer rules.

Berry has been known for his reliance on his quarterback's playmaking abilities. At UNLV, quarterbacking duo Omar Clayton and Mike Clausen were both dual threats. Clayton is the only UNLV quarterback to throw for 300 yards and rush for 100 in a single game.

Boise State football coach Chris Petersen will visit Oregon and Oklahoma to learn some new ways to be more efficient during practice.

UNLV will hold open competition at wide receiver.

Central Michigan’s trip to the GMAC Bowl cost the school more than $188,000 after receiving $350,000 from the bowl.

Marshall faces one of the more challenging schedules in recent history.

New head coach Todd Berry is changing the tempo of Louisiana-Monroe practices.

Temple football heads into spring practice after one of the most successful seasons in school history.

Suspended Boise State safety Jason Robinson was arrested Monday on a warrant for felony aggravated battery.

BYU quarterback Riley Nelson, last year’s backup, hopes to win the starting job for 2010.

New Louisiana-Monroe coach Todd Berry tries to remain patient as he installs his new system this spring.

New UNLV coach Bobby Hauck is trying to bring a sense of excitement and urgency to spring football.

Former BYU quarterback Max Hall gives his thoughts on the Cougars quarterback race.

The Mid-American Conference and the Humanitarian Bowl are working toward a deal that would add the bowl to the MAC’s permanent rotation.

Central Florida is ready to begin its most-anticipated spring in quite some time.

Boise State coach Chris Petersen is expecting his veteran players to learn as much as his newbies during spring practices.

The defense is now the strong point of Louisiana Tech, but the Bulldogs are still looking for some impact players to build around.

The Nevada offense looked sharp during the team’s first spring scrimmage.

Air Force has two more spring practices to get an idea of its depth before heading into the offseason.

Louisiana-Monroe coach Todd Berry is hoping this spring establishes an identity for his new squad.

Utah is now in the process of filling a hole left a middle linebacker by Nai Fotu, who was lost for the 2010 season with a knee injury.

Louisiana-Monroe and Baylor have agreed to a home-and-home series beginning in the 2012 season.

Louisiana-Monroe will travel to Waco, Texas, on Sept. 22, 2012, for the first game of the series and then the two teams will open the 2013 season in Malone Stadium on Aug. 31.

Baylor's visit to Malone Stadium will be the first-ever by a Big 12 Conference school and the first major conference school since Minnesota visited in 1996.

"We are excited about having a Big 12 team coming to Malone Stadium," Louisiana-Monroe football coach Todd Berry said. "Art Briles has done a phenomenal job with the Baylor program and they are going to be a quality and challenging opponent. Hopefully this will lead to us getting more BCS opponents into Malone Stadium."

Louisiana-Monroe and Baylor have never met.

Former Hawaii alum Craig Stutzmann has been hired as an offensive assistant at Memphis.

The University of Louisiana System board will approve contracts for Louisiana-Monroe coach Todd Berry and Louisiana Tech coach Sonny Dykes today.

Brad Rock of the Deseret News recounts times in the past when BYU was close to joining the Pac-10.

Air Force will use a slew of players to help replace graduated nose guard Ben Garland.

Bobby Sherrod, a guard from TCU’s undefeated 1938 football team, died this week.

Louisiana-Monroe players are quickly adapting to their new head coach.

A switch in conference might not be the best move for TCU.

Here's a breakdown of three issues facing each program heading into the spring:

Arkansas State Red Wolves
Spring practice starts: March 29
Spring game: April 24
What to watch:

• Three-time All-Sun Belt rusher Reggie Arnold is gone and finding his replacement will be their top priority. Derek Lawson, who was third on the team in rushing with 244 yards and two touchdowns, returns and he’ll be the incumbent through spring. But he’ll face competition from Sir Gregory Thornton and Frankie Jackson in the fall.
• Ryan Aplin, who started three of the final four games last season, should be the leading quarterback this spring. Redshirt freshman Phillip Butterfield, however, will also challenge him for the spot. Butterfield was in the mix last fall camp before his season ended with a knee injury.
• Arkansas State is currently without an offensive coordinator after Clay Helton, who came over from Memphis last month, left for USC last week. The Red Wolves still have a month before spring football starts, but trying to fill that void this late is going to make any transition to a new offense tough.

Florida Atlantic Owls
Spring practice starts: March 31
Spring game: April 24
What to watch:

• The Owls lost seven starters from the offense, including four from the offensive line. The only player returning is center Ryan Wischnefski. Several players will be fighting for those spots, including Troy Niblack, Samuel McRoy, Jared Pizzuti and Max Karrick. The 2009 FAU offensive line was the best in the program’s short history. It helped FAU become the No. 2 passing offense in the Sun Belt.
• FAU returns senior quarterback Jeff Van Camp, who started the second half of the season after Rusty Smith was injured. But six of the team’s top seven receivers are gone, including both tight ends Jason Harmon and Jamari Grant. Senior Lester Jean is the lone returning receiver. He had 501 yards and four touchdowns last season. The good thing is that FAU quarterbacks like to spread the ball around, so developing a new rapport with some receivers this spring shouldn’t be too difficult.
• The team is counting on new defensive coordinator Kurt Van Valkenburgh and secondary coach Dick Hopkins to make the defense competitive. The Owls had one of the worst defenses in the country and one of the worst in program history. There will be a lot of competition in the secondary, especially since three walk-ons filled those starting roles.

Florida International Golden Panthers
Spring practice starts: March 3
Spring game: April 1
What to watch:

• Senior Wayne Younger and junior transfer Wesley Carroll, who came from Mississippi State where he was an all-freshman selection in 2008, will compete for the starting quarterback job after Paul McCall graduated. Younger played in spot time last year and threw four interceptions and no touchdowns.
• Darriet Perry should be the leader heading into the running back competition, but Perry struggled at times last year, mostly because of injuries. Kendall Berry, who played out of the Wildcat last year, and Syracuse transfer Jeremiah Harden also will compete for the starting role.
• New offensive coordinator Scott Satterfield will be happy to see star receiver T.Y. Hilton back after he struggled with knee injuries most of last year. Hilton is one of the most dynamic receivers in the conference and having him healthy should give the offense confidence.

(Read full post)

New Louisiana-Monroe coach Todd Berry has completed his coaching staff.

The university announced the hiring today of new cornerbacks coach Brandon Shelby. Shelby was a defensive standout at Oklahoma (2001-04) and played in two BCS National Championship games and three consecutive BCS bowl games during his career with the Sooners.

Shelby comes to Monroe, La., after spending one season as the secondary coach at Portland State. Prior to that he spent one season coaching defensive backs at San Diego. Under Shelby, San Diego cornerback Al-Rilwan Adeyemi was named Pioneer League Freshman Defensive Player of the Year after finishing the season with five interceptions, two of which he returned for touchdowns.

Shelby began his career as a defensive assistant at Oklahoma in 2006.

Louisiana-Monroe’s pass defense ranked 90th in the country this season and seventh in the Sun Belt Conference allowing 236.92 yards per game.

Berry, who came from UNLV, took over a Louisiana-Monroe team that has not had a winning season as a member of the FBS. It has not had a winning season since 1993. Since then, the Warhawks have finished 6-6 twice, including last season, but have never been to a bowl game.

Several candidates for the South Florida job opening are from the nonautomatic qualifying schools, including East Carolina coach Skip Holtz, who appears to be the front-runner.

The first week of recruiting for new UNLV coach Bobby Hauk has been a success.

New Louisiana-Monroe coach Todd Berry has built his staff from connections he has made throughout his career.

San Diego State scored a recruiting coup by gaining a verbal commitment from a player who was previously committed to Arizona.

Speculation about whether DeWayne Walker will leave New Mexico State to become the Seattle Seahawks' defensive coordinator continues to swirl.

1. The longer the University of South Florida investigates head coach Jim Leavitt’s altercation with special teams player Joel Miller, the more uneasy that Leavitt and the Bulls coaching staff becomes. It would seem as if the quicker the university makes a decision, the smaller the effect on recruiting. If Leavitt stays, no worries. If the university forces him out, mid-January is not a good time to make a coaching change.

2. Ran into UConn coach Randy Edsall as we exited the No. 1 Huskies’ 80-68 women's basketball defeat of No. 2 Stanford at the XL Center in Hartford on Wednesday night. Edsall’s Huskies play South Carolina in the Papajohn’s Bowl on Jan. 2. Edsall said UConn must stop big plays and make the Gamecocks drive the length of the field. Good news: South Carolina’s minus-3 turnover margin. Bad news: UConn allowed a 67.1 completion percentage. The Huskies must make more plays than that.

3. Todd Berry returns to an FBS head coaching position at Louisiana-Monroe, which means a former Army coach is replacing a former Navy coach (Charlie Weatherbie). It’s surprising that Berry got a second chance after going 5-35 at Army from 2000-03. Ball State coach Stan Parrish needed 21 years to get another head coaching job after going 2-31-1 at Kansas State. Parrish’s Cardinals went 2-10 this season.

New Louisiana-Monroe head coach Todd Berry said all the right things during his press conference on Wednesday, including a promise to get things turned around quickly for the Warhawks.

Berry replaces Charlie Weatherbie, who was not retained after the regular season ended.

“Todd Berry is the right man at the right time for ULM,” Louisiana-Monroe athletic director Bobby Staub said during a press conference on Wednesday. “He's here to build a winning program both on and off the field and with the support of the entire Warhawk family, I'm quite confident he'll be successful in doing just that.”

Weatherbie was 76-155 in seven seasons with Louisiana-Monroe. He won one conference title in 2005 and had a couple of major upsets, including a win over Alabama in 2007. But he never took the Warhawks to a bowl game. They had an opportunity this year if they had defeated Louisiana-Lafayette in the second to last game of the season, but the Warhawks were upset.

That game likely cost Weatherbie his job.

Berry is going to have a tough time building Louisiana-Monroe up quickly. The Warhawks return just 11 starters from this year’s team and suffered heavy losses on the offensive line and the defense, including linebacker Cardia Jackson, who was just named the Sun Belt’s Defensive Player of the Year. Only four players return to a defense than ranked first in the Sun Belt against the run and second in total defense.

Berry did retain defensive coordinator Troy Reffett, who completed his first season as defensive coordinator with the program. Berry also brought back Steve Farmer, who worked for the Warhawks from 2004 to 2008 and was the offensive coordinator from 2007-08 after serving as the offensive line coach.

In Farmer’s first season as offensive coordinator, the Warhawks posted their highest points per game average since moving to NCAA FBS status in 1994.

Farmer spent the past season as the offensive coordinator at Illinois State.

Still, overtaking Troy and Middle Tennessee, which should be the favorites to win the Sun Belt next year, won’t be an easy task. Troy has won four consecutive Sun Belt titles and Middle Tennessee won nine games this year and returns a lot of those players.

“One of the interesting things for me right now is that I don’t hope, I know,” Berry said during his press conference. “That is special for myself and my wife because I know exactly what I am getting into. Hopefully the administration here, along with a few of the players around, understands who I am and what I am about. I don’t know exactly when that is going to come, but it is going to happen in a hurry. We are going to go to work right away in doing that.”

Berry is the second new Sun Belt coach hired this season. Western Kentucky hired Willie Taggart to replace David Elson on Nov. 23.

The Monroe News-Star is reporting that former UNLV quarterbacks coach Todd Berry will be introduced as the new head coach at Louisiana-Monroe during a news conference at Malone Stadium today.

The school has not issued a release.

Barry replaces former head coach Charlie Weatherbie, who was not retained at the conclusion of the regular season.

Berry spent the 2004 and 2005 seasons as the offensive coordinator at Louisiana-Monroe under Weatherbie. In 2005, the offense ranked third in the Sun Belt Conference in total offense and first in passing.

Berry spent three seasons at UNLV before being let go after Mike Sanford was fired as head coach. In 2008, UNLV’s offense tied for the national lead in red zone scoring percentage (95 percent) and tied the school mark for fewest interceptions thrown (six).

Berry has eight years of head coaching experience. He coached Illinois State from 1996-99, and was responsible for turning a team had not won a conference title since 1950 into a title contender. The Redbirds advanced to the NCAA Division I-AA playoffs in his third season in 1998. The following year, they went undefeated in the conference and advanced to the I-AA semifinals.

After Illinois State, Berry spent four seasons as the head coach at Army.