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Bench Warmer
Baylor
The Bears filled their schedule for next season by adding a road date at Mid-American Conference school Buffalo on Sept. 22. It will mark the Bulls' first game against a Big 12 school in the history of the conference. The only other time that Buffalo played a Big 12 team came in a 1968 trip to Iowa State … Eric Schnupp, the offensive line coach at West Texas A&M the past three seasons, has been named the tight ends coach and the assistant strength and conditioning coach. Schnupp, a former football player at Miami from 1997-2000, coached on the same staff as offensive coordinator Lee Hays at West Texas A&M. … Schnupp's hiring was the fifth change made by coach Guy Morriss to his staff since the end of last season. … Among the members of Baylor's recruiting class of 22 players were the sons of former Baylor players Mike Singletary (DE Matt Singletary), Vann McElroy (DB V.J. McElroy) and James Francis (LB Chris Francis). "I'm going to hug [former Baylor] coach [Grant] Teaff for recruiting their daddies here so they were familiar with Baylor and us with them," Morriss told reporters after the class was announced. "I think it helped." … Among the other players in the class were QB John Weed, who has two years of eligibility after transferring from Tyler Junior College, and QB Michael Machen, who graduated from Kent State and still has one more year of eligibility remaining. Both Machen and Weed will compete with sophomore Blake Szymanski for the starting quarterback job when spring practice begins on March 20. Machen's route to Baylor is particularly circuitous after three years in the Atlanta Braves' minor-league system and stops at Alabama and Coffeyville (Kan.) Community College. The 6-foot-6, 240-pounder also considered offers at Houston and Nevada after throwing for 2,177 yards and 11 touchdowns during his career with the Golden Flashes.
Colorado
Returning senior QB Bernard Jackson is in a tight three-way battle for the starting position with junior-college transfer Nick Nelson and redshirt freshman Cody Hawkins, son of Colorado coach Dan Hawkins. Despite the presence of his son, the Colorado coach said he would not show any favoritism. "When I walk out on that grass, they are all my boys," Hawkins told the Denver Post. "It's great to have competition. It's great to have experience as it pertains to Bernard. Nick is not experienced, but he's won a lot of games." Cody Hawkins passed for 105 yards at the Buffaloes' first spring scrimmage and Nelson added 51 passing. Jackson was limited to only one pass after not practicing earlier in the week. "Part of it also is just trying to force feed those two guys [Cody Hawkins and Nelson] along a little bit," Dan Hawkins said. "And then, obviously we will bring Bernard along." … Hawkins does not expect the quarterback battle to sort itself out until fall practice. … Cha'pelle Brown has moved from defensive back to wide receiver and Joe Sanders will move from linebacker to tight end during the spring. … S Reggie Foster and RB Thomas Perez will be held out of spring practice for academic reasons … Former Colorado QB and professional golfer Hale Irwin will speak at the school's commencement ceremony on May 11. … WR Chase McBride (shoulder), TE Devin Shanahan (knee) and OL Erick Faatagi (knee) all will have practice time curtailed this spring because of injuries.
Iowa State
Former Minnesota assistant Tony Petersen has been hired as new coach Gene Chizik's quarterbacks coach. Petersen's experience with the multi-faceted Gophers' offense is expected to spur the development of incumbent QB Bret Meyer. … Chizik has overhauled his coaching staff and also reshaped his roster with 11 junior-college transfers. … Although Chizik will have a lot of work to do in transforming the program, the new ISU head coach will be rewarded handsomely with a six-year contract that will pay him a school-record $6.75 million contract. The contract will provide Chizik with a $100,000bonus if he qualifies for the Big 12 championship, $100,000 bonus if he wins the championship game or a BCS bowl game. He's also been able to convince ISU athletic director Jamie Pollard to pay his assistants competitive wages. New defensive coordinator Wayne Bolt will earn about $240,000 next season and offensive coordinator Robert McFarland will earn $275.000. McFarland most recently worked at Division I-AA Stephen F. Austin. Bolt was out of football last season after serving as UAB's defensive coordinator from 2003-05. … The Cyclones will start Chizik's coaching tenure with a Thursday night game on Aug. 30 against Kent State. … The Iowa State-Iowa rivalry has intensified after ISU set ticket prices at $90 apiece -- among the highest one-game prices commanded in college football -- for the 4,000 tickets the Cyclones have made available to their cross-state rivals for the Sept. 15 game in Ames.
Kansas
New offensive coordinator Ed Warinner has vowed to keep things simple to help boost production for returning starting QB Kerry Meier. "What that has done is taken some pressure off of the quarterback," Kansas coach Mark Mangino told reporters at a news conference before spring practice. "The quarterback is not going to have to do as much thinking as in the past, and instead, more playing." Meier and Todd Reesing will have some intense competition for the starting job throughout the spring, despite Meier throwing for a freshman-record 13 touchdown passes last season. "Kerry is considered the incumbent, but he has to compete for that position," Mangino said. … Missing a bowl game last season has served as a huge inspiration for Kansas, one of only three Big 12 North teams not to go bowling. "It would be hard to overlook that 800-pound gorilla sitting in the middle of the room, wouldn't it? If that's not motivation for you, you're in the wrong sport. You need to pick something else up," Mangino told reporters. … Massive 235-pound senior FB Brandon McAnderson will get a shot at replacing departing Big 12 rushing leader Jon Cornish at TB. … Former Miami Dolphins defensive assistant Steve Tovar has been hired as the Jayhawks' LB coach. … Former RB Gary Green III has been switched to DB -- the same position where his father, Gary, earned Pro Bowl honors in the NFL.
Kansas State
Former Tampa Bay Buccaneers and USC defensive assistant Greg Burns has been hired as KSU's secondary coach. Burns has been a part of a staff that claimed two national championships at USC. But after leaving the Trojans to work in the NFL, Burns was deemed as the scapegoat of Tampa Bay's defensive collapse last season and was let go by coach Jon Gruden after the season. … The Wildcats will begin spring practice on March 29. Their spring game will be played on April 21 -- latest among Big 12 teams along with Missouri.
Missouri
Coach Gary Pinkel is excited about the return of players that accounted for 98percent of last year's yards from scrimmage. The Tigers ranked eighth nationally in total offense. … Missouri's biggest challenge will be finding six new defensive starters. Defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus' biggest chore will be to find some production after losing key players like LB Marcus Bacon, LB Dedrick Harrington, DE Brian Smith, DE Xzavie Jackson and S David Overstreet. And his job got a little harder when CB Domonique Johnson, who started five games as a sophomore last season, quit the team last month. Hardy Ricks, who started eight games after Johnson lost his starting job last season, will get the first shot at replacing him. … NT Lorenzo Williams will miss up to three weeks with a condition known as anterior compartment syndrome. The Columbia Daily Tribune reported that Williams' injury is a condition that occurs when the leg muscle becomes too large for the sheath that surrounds it. Other players missing practice include T Kurtis Gregory (shoulder and knee surgery), G Monte Wyrick (knee surgery). LB Quran Barge also is recovering at his home after suffering a stray gunshot wound during his semester break. He is expected to be ready for fall practice. … New starters will be needed to replace WR Brad Ekwerekwu, G Mike Cook and T Joel Clinger. … Missouri has its first two players in Pinkel's coaching tenure who are skipping their final semester of high school to join the Tigers early: LB Michael Keck, who arrives as the most heralded defensive recruit since Justin Smith in 1998, and LB Luke Lambert. Both are taking part in early practices. … After backup QB Brandon Coleman's departure, redshirt freshman Dominic Grooms and junior Chase Patton are battling for the No. 2 position behind starter Chase Daniel.
The Bears filled their schedule for next season by adding a road date at Mid-American Conference school Buffalo on Sept. 22. It will mark the Bulls' first game against a Big 12 school in the history of the conference. The only other time that Buffalo played a Big 12 team came in a 1968 trip to Iowa State … Eric Schnupp, the offensive line coach at West Texas A&M the past three seasons, has been named the tight ends coach and the assistant strength and conditioning coach. Schnupp, a former football player at Miami from 1997-2000, coached on the same staff as offensive coordinator Lee Hays at West Texas A&M. … Schnupp's hiring was the fifth change made by coach Guy Morriss to his staff since the end of last season. … Among the members of Baylor's recruiting class of 22 players were the sons of former Baylor players Mike Singletary (DE Matt Singletary), Vann McElroy (DB V.J. McElroy) and James Francis (LB Chris Francis). "I'm going to hug [former Baylor] coach [Grant] Teaff for recruiting their daddies here so they were familiar with Baylor and us with them," Morriss told reporters after the class was announced. "I think it helped." … Among the other players in the class were QB John Weed, who has two years of eligibility after transferring from Tyler Junior College, and QB Michael Machen, who graduated from Kent State and still has one more year of eligibility remaining. Both Machen and Weed will compete with sophomore Blake Szymanski for the starting quarterback job when spring practice begins on March 20. Machen's route to Baylor is particularly circuitous after three years in the Atlanta Braves' minor-league system and stops at Alabama and Coffeyville (Kan.) Community College. The 6-foot-6, 240-pounder also considered offers at Houston and Nevada after throwing for 2,177 yards and 11 touchdowns during his career with the Golden Flashes.
Colorado
Returning senior QB Bernard Jackson is in a tight three-way battle for the starting position with junior-college transfer Nick Nelson and redshirt freshman Cody Hawkins, son of Colorado coach Dan Hawkins. Despite the presence of his son, the Colorado coach said he would not show any favoritism. "When I walk out on that grass, they are all my boys," Hawkins told the Denver Post. "It's great to have competition. It's great to have experience as it pertains to Bernard. Nick is not experienced, but he's won a lot of games." Cody Hawkins passed for 105 yards at the Buffaloes' first spring scrimmage and Nelson added 51 passing. Jackson was limited to only one pass after not practicing earlier in the week. "Part of it also is just trying to force feed those two guys [Cody Hawkins and Nelson] along a little bit," Dan Hawkins said. "And then, obviously we will bring Bernard along." … Hawkins does not expect the quarterback battle to sort itself out until fall practice. … Cha'pelle Brown has moved from defensive back to wide receiver and Joe Sanders will move from linebacker to tight end during the spring. … S Reggie Foster and RB Thomas Perez will be held out of spring practice for academic reasons … Former Colorado QB and professional golfer Hale Irwin will speak at the school's commencement ceremony on May 11. … WR Chase McBride (shoulder), TE Devin Shanahan (knee) and OL Erick Faatagi (knee) all will have practice time curtailed this spring because of injuries.
Iowa State
Former Minnesota assistant Tony Petersen has been hired as new coach Gene Chizik's quarterbacks coach. Petersen's experience with the multi-faceted Gophers' offense is expected to spur the development of incumbent QB Bret Meyer. … Chizik has overhauled his coaching staff and also reshaped his roster with 11 junior-college transfers. … Although Chizik will have a lot of work to do in transforming the program, the new ISU head coach will be rewarded handsomely with a six-year contract that will pay him a school-record $6.75 million contract. The contract will provide Chizik with a $100,000bonus if he qualifies for the Big 12 championship, $100,000 bonus if he wins the championship game or a BCS bowl game. He's also been able to convince ISU athletic director Jamie Pollard to pay his assistants competitive wages. New defensive coordinator Wayne Bolt will earn about $240,000 next season and offensive coordinator Robert McFarland will earn $275.000. McFarland most recently worked at Division I-AA Stephen F. Austin. Bolt was out of football last season after serving as UAB's defensive coordinator from 2003-05. … The Cyclones will start Chizik's coaching tenure with a Thursday night game on Aug. 30 against Kent State. … The Iowa State-Iowa rivalry has intensified after ISU set ticket prices at $90 apiece -- among the highest one-game prices commanded in college football -- for the 4,000 tickets the Cyclones have made available to their cross-state rivals for the Sept. 15 game in Ames.
Kansas
New offensive coordinator Ed Warinner has vowed to keep things simple to help boost production for returning starting QB Kerry Meier. "What that has done is taken some pressure off of the quarterback," Kansas coach Mark Mangino told reporters at a news conference before spring practice. "The quarterback is not going to have to do as much thinking as in the past, and instead, more playing." Meier and Todd Reesing will have some intense competition for the starting job throughout the spring, despite Meier throwing for a freshman-record 13 touchdown passes last season. "Kerry is considered the incumbent, but he has to compete for that position," Mangino said. … Missing a bowl game last season has served as a huge inspiration for Kansas, one of only three Big 12 North teams not to go bowling. "It would be hard to overlook that 800-pound gorilla sitting in the middle of the room, wouldn't it? If that's not motivation for you, you're in the wrong sport. You need to pick something else up," Mangino told reporters. … Massive 235-pound senior FB Brandon McAnderson will get a shot at replacing departing Big 12 rushing leader Jon Cornish at TB. … Former Miami Dolphins defensive assistant Steve Tovar has been hired as the Jayhawks' LB coach. … Former RB Gary Green III has been switched to DB -- the same position where his father, Gary, earned Pro Bowl honors in the NFL.
Kansas State
Former Tampa Bay Buccaneers and USC defensive assistant Greg Burns has been hired as KSU's secondary coach. Burns has been a part of a staff that claimed two national championships at USC. But after leaving the Trojans to work in the NFL, Burns was deemed as the scapegoat of Tampa Bay's defensive collapse last season and was let go by coach Jon Gruden after the season. … The Wildcats will begin spring practice on March 29. Their spring game will be played on April 21 -- latest among Big 12 teams along with Missouri.
Missouri
Coach Gary Pinkel is excited about the return of players that accounted for 98percent of last year's yards from scrimmage. The Tigers ranked eighth nationally in total offense. … Missouri's biggest challenge will be finding six new defensive starters. Defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus' biggest chore will be to find some production after losing key players like LB Marcus Bacon, LB Dedrick Harrington, DE Brian Smith, DE Xzavie Jackson and S David Overstreet. And his job got a little harder when CB Domonique Johnson, who started five games as a sophomore last season, quit the team last month. Hardy Ricks, who started eight games after Johnson lost his starting job last season, will get the first shot at replacing him. … NT Lorenzo Williams will miss up to three weeks with a condition known as anterior compartment syndrome. The Columbia Daily Tribune reported that Williams' injury is a condition that occurs when the leg muscle becomes too large for the sheath that surrounds it. Other players missing practice include T Kurtis Gregory (shoulder and knee surgery), G Monte Wyrick (knee surgery). LB Quran Barge also is recovering at his home after suffering a stray gunshot wound during his semester break. He is expected to be ready for fall practice. … New starters will be needed to replace WR Brad Ekwerekwu, G Mike Cook and T Joel Clinger. … Missouri has its first two players in Pinkel's coaching tenure who are skipping their final semester of high school to join the Tigers early: LB Michael Keck, who arrives as the most heralded defensive recruit since Justin Smith in 1998, and LB Luke Lambert. Both are taking part in early practices. … After backup QB Brandon Coleman's departure, redshirt freshman Dominic Grooms and junior Chase Patton are battling for the No. 2 position behind starter Chase Daniel.