The Indianapolis Colts have sustained a couple of major losses & I'm not talking about Marvin Harrison. Tony Dungy retired this past January, leaving Jim Caldwell, his designated replacement, as the Colts new head coach. Caldwell was the former QB coach & assistant head coach. Defensive coordinator Ron Meeks left the fold a few weeks ago as did special teams coach, Russ Purnell. Thursday, the coaching exodus reached critical mass. Offensive coordinator Tom Moore & offensive line coach Howard Mudd both 'retired'. Yes, both are of retirement age & both have been with the Colts in their respective positions going back to Jim Mora's tenure with Indy. Owner Jim Irsay accepted both resignations with "I'm pleased, we're going in the right direction". Huh??? In the last 4 months you lose one of the best head coaches in the league, both longtime coordinators, one of the best O-line coaches in league history & your special teams coach & you're going in the right direction? That's one helluva lot of leadership & experience to replace isn't it? Plus it's way late in the game to be getting a primo coordinator, so you'll have a new head coach & two new coordinators who've never held these positions. Yes, the Colts are a veteran team, but having new play callers on both sides of the ball could be challenging. Color me skeptical, plus I think there's more to Mudd & Moore's  departure than simple retirement.

Boston College outside linebacker, Mark Herzlich, has been diagnosed with Ewing's sarcoma, a malignant tumor of the bone or soft tissue. Herzlich had completed his classes this semester & returned home for a few days. He began experiencing severe pain in his left knee & leg so he saw the family doctor who immediately referred him to an oncologist who made the diagnosis. The is a pretty serious form of cancer tho the survival rate is good. It's doubtful Herzlich will play football this season but after getting over the initial shock he said "at first I thought, 'what about football?', but then my survival instinct kicked in & now I just want to get well, football may or may not be in my future". Herzlich was the ACC defensive player of the year & most thought he would enter the NFL Draft as a junior, where he would've easily been a 1st round pick.  Here's hoping he has a swift & full recovery.

The 'old ball coach' has furthered a rumor that's been floating around the SEC for years. South Carolina coach, Steve Spurrier has been quoted as saying he expects, if Florida wins another national championship, Gator coach, Urban Meyer to head north to coach the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame. He was offered the post in '04 when he left Utah & went to Florida. He's said from time to time, he'd consider coaching at Notre Dame before his career was over. He's won 2 national titles in his 4 seasons with the Gators & as Spurrier noted, "after 12 years there I thought I needed something new, you accomplish so much, sometimes it's simply time to move on, find another challenge. I think Urban's that kind of guy". If Charlie Weis doesn't right the Irish program, Meyer just might get another offer to move to South Bend.

Big-12 defensive coordinators probably have nightmares about trying to stop the spread offense that are rampant in the conference.  Now 3 programs have actually changed their defensive schemes from the tried & true 4-3-4 alignment to a new 4-2-5 formation adding another safety. Kansas State, Kansas & Texas used the new scheme almost exclusively during spring practices. I think other teams are tinkering with ways to slow down the spread & put faster athletes on the field to do just that. The spread is designed to 'spread' the defense out, cut off a lot of their communication, so every defender has to make more individual decisions & defending the spread requires players who are great tacklers as they're often isolated. I don't know the source of this quote, but it certainly applies to the spread offense, "if your team doesn't have speed, you're destined to chase it all day".