It seems that notable NCAA scandals this offseason aren’t just limited to Ohio State. The eyes of the football world are now locked on the West Coast, thanks to a pair of Yahoo! Sportsstories that featured controversial scouting service owner Willie Lyles talking about his dealings with the University of Oregon Ducks and head coach Chip Kelly. Both stories, one at Yahoo! Sports directly and the other […]

One of the frequently-cited merits of the NFL is its supposed parity. There’s often substantial change in how teams do from year to year, and with a hard salary cap and a short season that can further emphasize the role of randomness (although even long seasons don’t remove the role of randomness entirely), fans of […]

One of the most remarkable stories of the last decade has been the increased awareness of steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs, which went from subjects primarily discussed in weightlifting circles to national media debates, criminal trials and FBI investigations. The effects of PEDs are still hotly debated, but substances that could potentially increase strength, muscle […]

One of the most interesting aspects of the ongoing Ohio State scandal, which has already led to head coach Jim Tressel’s departure, has been how it’s affected star quarterback Terrelle Pryor. Pryor has been one of the most central figures in the scandal, which started with revelations that he and other players had sold or […]

One of the biggest stories in football in the last weeks has been of Ohio State head coach Jim Tressel. Tressel put up a 106-22 record with the Buckeyes over the past 10 years, taking them to the 2003 national championship with a Fiesta Bowl victory over the Miami Hurricanes and earning appearances in two […]

The running-back-by-committee idea, where teams focus on splitting carries between two or more backs instead of primarily handing off to one player all game, has only been around for a decade or so, but it’s had a noticeable impact on the NFL. Its roots can be traced to Mike Shanahan’s time as the head coach […]

Los Angeles is a force on the American cultural, entertainment and sporting scenes. The City of Angels itself held 3,831,868 people in 2009, with the metropolitan area containing 15,250,000. Two NBA teams, one MLB team and one NHL team make their homes in the city, with another MLB and NHL team in nearby Anaheim and […]

One of the most notable differences between the NCAA and NFL brands of football is how distinct the offensive systems are. In the college game, you have everything from the run-focused triple option used by Army, Navy and Georgia Tech to the high-tempo spread options of Auburn and Oregon to passing-focused offenses like Hawaii and […]

Being a high-level athlete in any sport isn’t an easy task, and football is no exception. Generally, football players who succeed at the NCAA and NFL levels have superior physical skills that they’ve honed through a lifetime of experience playing the game and years of hard work in the weight room to build their bodies. Even experience and physical […]

This year’s NFL lockout has a notable impact on just about everyone involved with football. Thus far, it’s affected the operation of the draft, kept some rookies from receiving playbooks, caused some veteran players to sponsor their own versions of training camps, launchedprotracted court battles and even served as an excuse for one owner to slash his employees’ pay. However, its largest […]