B1G Ten Tour - Latest News & Notes

B1G Ten Tour - Phil Harrison's Big Ten News and Notes

Phil Harrison
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Update on Brian Bobek-

Last week, news was confirmed that OSU center Brian Bobek was set to transfer. We now know where Bobeck will be going, and it'll be just a short plane ride within the conference.

According to the Columbus Dispatch, Bobek released a statement on Sunday that he would be taking his ball-snapping talents to Minnesota.
Of course, that's not word for word with the statement, but the revelation is a bit of good news for Golden Gophers as Bobek should be more than adequate at the position, simply appears to be buried on the Ohio State depth chart with the coaching change.

Because of the NCAA transfer rules though, Bobek won’t get his chance to don the Maroon and Gold on game days until he sits out a year.

Bobek will undoubtedly be looking to make a mark with two years of eligibility remaining beginning in the fall of 2013.

Meyer’s Contract Details Released-

We finally get to understand the full terms of the Urban Meyer contract, and in a shocking development, it involves a lot of money In fact if the Meyer stays put in Columbus for any length of time, it makes him the highest paid Big Ten Coach.

You can sift through the fine print in greater detail here, but here are some cliff- notes:

-Meyer--like many head coaches--has bonuses that kick in for making BCS games ($150,000) and winning division championships ($50,000) as well as making a title game ($250,000) via the national variety.

-Even though OSU is not eligible for postseason play, Meyer is still eligible for the bonus for finishing with the most wins in the division, as well as finishing in the upper echelon of the BCS rankings. As Brian Bennett of ESPN points out however, there is an issue with the whole BCS ranking fine print. You see, OSU is not eligible to be ranked in the BCS standings. Oops. Even though Meyer lives on the famed Muirfield Village Golf Course in Dublin, OH, there are simply no mulligans in contract negotiations.

-There are also clauses that protect both parties. For one, Meyer can opt out of his contract (and still get paid money) if further information becomes available regarding additional transgressions with the NCAA prior to his watch. And for Ohio State, Meyer can be given his walking papers if news becomes available of an intentional violation of NCAA rules by him, his players, or staff.

-And then of course, there is the “health” clause, if you want to call it that. Meyer is also rewarded for staying through 2014, 2016, and 2018 with bonus eligibility.

Unfortunately for Meyer, there is no bonus for ticking off opposing coaches. That may have resulted in some big financing by the university.

Update on Stoneburner/Mewhort-

We already know of the problem that Jake Stoneburner and Jack Mewhort had in early June, but all eyes and ears were waiting to see how Urban Meyer responded. The answer? Rather severely.

As reported by 10tv News in Columbus, the dynamic duo--who tried to allegedly run from police after nature called--have been released from scholarship, with the ability to rejoin the team once the summer ends.

That’s a fairly harsh penalty from Urban Meyer who has already drawn criticism for the way discipline was dished out down in Gainesville. The two will now have to pay their own way through school over the summer and have limited ability to use the football facilities in a year in which installing a new offense and working on the chemistry with QB Braxton Miller are key.

Kudos to Meyer so far, but let’s remember that this is the summer, when these things can be done, and OSU is not going bowling this year. Life is not fair, and so it remains for those judging this Urban warfare tactic. The jury will likely be out for deliberations until the first incident that occurs when things are occurring on the football field that have extreme circumstances at stake.

Breneman Down and Out-

He’s still a year away from playing for Penn State and head coach Bill O’Brien, but highly touted TE recruit Adam Breneman is out for his senior season of high school football. The 6’5”, 225 lb. high school senior-to-be suffered a torn ACL during an offseason seven-on seven-drill at Cedar Cliff.

You probably won’t hear much more on this until next year, but it bears watching as next preseason camp rolls around. It is well chronicled how O’Brien’s former employer--THE New England Patriots, utilized the tight end and you gotta believe that the new sheriff in Happy Valley has grandiose plans along those same lines.

Breneman was no doubt in the blue-print, but more times than not, an athlete doesn’t fully recover from a torn ACL--both physically and mentally, until two years after the event. Keep an eye on the depth chart next year.