In late October, the Texas Longhorns will play Ole Miss in Austin. Texas heat should have abated by then, but one thing will be scorching in DKR - Texas Memorial Stadium. Pete Golding and his Rebels will have a mad on for the Longhorns.
Steve Sarkisian is no dummy, but he has given the Rebels a motivational edge for the October game. It will likely not be enough for Ole Miss to pull off an upset, but sullying an opponent is never a good idea.
In a conversation about college football's Wild West, Sark inserted himself into a dispute between Clemson and Ole Miss. Dabo Swinney claims that Ole Miss tampered with a Clemson player who had transferred from Cal, "Dabo Swinney claims Ole Miss coaches were recruiting Tigers linebacker Luke Ferrelli while he was in class — and after he had just transferred from Cal. Sent Ferrelli a photo of a million dollar check, and Swinney has the receipts to prove it."
Ferrelli is now enrolled at Ole Miss. Swinney has demanded NCAA action, but to no avail. That example and many others like it have incensed Steve Sarkisian. Tampering is widespread, but Sark directed a barb at the Rebels, "At Texas, we will only take 50% of a player’s academic credit hours. You may be a semester from graduating, but you’re going all the way back to 50% if you play here and want a degree. But at Ole Miss, they can take you. All you have to do is take basket weaving, and you can get an Ole Miss degree."
Steve Sarkisian and Joe Namath
Sarkisian was born five years after Joe Namath guaranteed and delivered a Super Bowl win for the New York Jets. The guarantee became the most famous of Namath's many noteworthy quotes. The former Alabama football superstar also commented about basket weaving in response to a reporter's question. Asked if he majored in basket weaving at Alabama, Namath answered, "Nah, that class was all filled up. But I found an even easier one -- journalism.”
Maybe Sark was not aware of Broadway Joe's quip and was not channeling Namath when he talked about Ole Miss. But like Namath, Sarkisian lit a fire, and Pete Golding will not let his team forget it.
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