Urban Meyer denies turning in UF over ‘bump’ violation

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Hello, college football offseason. I notice you’re in full swing today.

This morning, Clay Travis over at OutkicktheCoverage.com wrote — on his first piece for Fox Sports, no less — that Urban Meyer and Ohio State “turned in” Florida assistant coach Brian White for an alleged “bump violation” involving Curtis Samuela four-star athlete for the class of 2014.

The bump rule, which involves coaches communicating with a prospect during a no-contact period, is a secondary infraction. Furthermore, an investigation into Ohio State’s complaint uncovered no wrongdoing.

But, Meyer’s been asked to respond… and he has… so here we are.

It is absolutely not true that I turned in the University of Florida,” Meyer wrote in a text message to multiple outlets. “Weeks after, I learned our compliance guy (without any coach involvement) forwarded an article to the conference office. This is standard procedure. Once again, zero coach involvement.”

Surprise, right?

Ohio State did what it was it was technically supposed to do in this situation and a common occurrence  whether it was Meyer or someone in the Buckeyes’ compliance office who actually sent the complaint to the Big Ten is not all that important. ESPN.com reports that Meyer “endorsed” the complaint, but wasn’t initially aware of it — probably since it originated from a Rivals.com article dated in April.

With that, Meyer’s critics can go back to focusing on the Aaron Hernandez situation, to which Meyer has no comment.

Former Navy coach Niumatalolo joins UCLA staff

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LOS ANGELES – Former Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo is joining UCLA’s coaching staff as director of leadership.

The school said in an announcement Friday that Niumatalolo will serve as an advisor to the Bruins’ football staff and players.

Niumatalolo led Navy for 15 years and was the winningest coach in school history at 109-83. The Midshipmen, however, finished with losing records the past three seasons, including 4-8 the past two.

Navy played in 10 bowl games under Niumatalolo. He also was the only coach to win his first eight games in the storied Army-Navy rivalry.

Troy, Jon Sumrall agree to new 4-year contract through 2026

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TROY, Ala. ⁠— Jon Sumrall agreed to a new four-year contract as Troy’s coach after leading the Trojans to a Sun Belt Conference championship and national ranking in his debut season.

The school announced the deal, which runs through 2026, but didn’t release details.

The Trojans went 12-2 and won their final 11 games, second only to national champion Georgia, including the league championship game and the Cure Bowl against UTSA. For the first time, they finished a season ranked, ending up 19th in The Associated Press Top 25.

“When we appointed Coach Sumrall in December 2021, we challenged him to return Troy football to the top of the Sun Belt Conference,” Chancellor Jack Hawkins Jr. said. “It didn’t take long, as the 2022 season was the best in our FBS history.”

Troy held all 14 of its opponents to under their season average in scoring, beating UTSA 18-12. The Trojans beat Coastal Carolina 45-26 in the Sun Belt title game.

“Last year was an amazing accomplishment for everyone associated with Troy football and was the product of relentless effort from our players and staff, athletic administration and university leaders,” Sumrall said.