Jack's coming back

Jacksonville State coach Jack Crowe has signed a new, five-year contract to remain with the Gamecocks, according to today's Anniston Star (sorry, subscribers only).

The story says Crowe will earn a base salary of $150,000, with incentives for academic and athletic performance, including bonuses for winning conference and national titles. Crowe is 43-34 at JSU, and is coming off four straight winning seasons. After winning OVC titles in 2003 & '04, the Gamecocks finished 6-5 each of the last two years. Not everyone over at gojaxstate.com is happy about this.

Brown's back in town

Tennessee Tech did indeed make it official yesterday, announcing Cookeville native Watson Brown as the new head football coach. There's an exhaustive release on the move up at TTU's official site. There's audio of Brown's statements and of Tech athletics director Mark Wilson.

The release details Brown's entire athletic experience, from his time at Cookeville High School all the way up to his most recent job with UAB. They could have headlined the release "Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Watson Brown's Career But Were Afraid to Ask."

New coach #2 - instant rivalry?

The Birmingham (Ala.) News today reports that Watson Brown is leaving UAB to become the new head coach at Tennessee Tech. The (Nasvhille) Tennessean, meanwhile reports that Brown is the lead candidates for the job among three others. The news says TTU will make an announcement today at the Golden Eagles' basketball doubleheader.

The OVC had two head coaching vacancies, and both were filled by UAB guys; Samford hired the Blazers' running backs coach (and former offensive coordinator), Pat Sullivan, last weekend. What's really interesting about that is part of the reason Sullivan left UAB may have been that he didn't want to deal with Brown (The News' Kevin Scarbinsky says they don't get along), who was rumored to be moving into the AD spot at UAB. Now, he'll be coaching his Bulldogs against Brown's Golden Eagles squad every year. Brown at least will be spared a return to Birmingham in 2007, as Samford makes the drive to Cookeville.

Well, two of our post-season storylines have played out. Now we'll have to see what Samford and Tennessee State decide about possible moves to other conferences.

Spoo's back

Bob Spoo is back in charge of the Eeastern Illinois football program, according to the (Charleston, Ill.) Journal Gazette/Times-Courier. Still no word on the surgery and recovery that kept him sidelined for the entire 2006 season, but hey, that's his business and not ours, I guess.

Spoo made his return official Friday, in sort of an awkward way, announcing that former Panthers quarterback Mike Donato will not return. Donato, the starter for the Panthers' 2005 OVC championship season, was dismissed. No other details were provided.

Friday news - It's all Samford

The Birmingham (Ala.) News today reports on Pat Sullivan's hiring as head coach at Samford. The paper says the UAB assistant was offered the top job with the Blazers, but elected to head across town to Samford instead. That's a pretty big deal. If Samford was willing to outspend UAB to get a coach, it could be a sign of bigger things to come in that program (and a signal, perhaps, to the Southern Conference? We'll see).

In a column in The News, Kevin Scarbinsky says Samford scored a touchdown in luring Sullivan away from UAB, a troubled program where back-room politics apparently dominated the coaching search (like they don't everywhere else, but if Scarbinsky's right this looks like a particularly messy case).