By Zac Ellis

The relatively young Mark Stoops era has gotten off to a positive start at Kentucky, but it seems a handful of players won’t be around to enjoy it. Kyle Tucker of the Louisville Courier-Journal reports that five Wildcat players are leaving the program.

Per source, DeMarcus Sweat, Bookie Cobbins, Demaris Rancifer, Josh Harris, Sterling Wright leaving UK football. School not ready to confirm.—
Kyle Tucker (@KyleTucker_CJ) June 06, 2013

Kentucky has yet to confirm the players’ departures.

All five players were recruited by previous head coach Joker Phillips. Of the group, Sweat made the biggest impact in 2012, playing in 10 games as a freshman wide receiver while catching four passes for 84 yards and two touchdowns.

Cobbins, a redshirt sophomore wide receiver, played in two games last season while recording no stats. Harris and Wright, both safeties, redshirted their freshman seasons in 2012. Rancifer made one tackle as a redshirt freshman linebacker last season.

Braylon Heard, who rushed for 348 yards last season, is leaving Nebraska for Kentucky. (Eric Francis/Getty Images)

By Zac Ellis

Nebraska running back Braylon Heard is transferring to Kentucky, ESPN’s Joe Schad reports. Heard rushed for 348 yards last season with the Huskers after rushing for 113 yards during his freshman campaign.

Heard was rumored to be considering a transfer closer to his hometown of Youngstown, Ohio, where he starred at Cardinal Mooney High. That happens to be the same high school new Kentucky coach Mark Stoops attended. Heard reportedly also considered transferring to Pittsburgh.

Nebraska’s apparent depth at running back might have played into Heard’s decision to land with another program. The Huskers lost standout running back Rex Burkhead, but they return Ameer Abdullah, who will only be a junior this fall after leading Nebraska with 226 carries and 1,137 rushing yards last season. Coach Bo Pelini also has two running backs in his 2013 signing class in Terrell Newby and Adam Taylor.

Read More…

DeWayne Walker set the coaching carousel spinning once more with his late departure from New Mexico State. (AP)

Tommy Tuberville’s sitting by the phone* and Jimmy Sexton’s got that particular sparkle in his eye. It can mean only one thing: The coach firin’ season is upon us once more. We’ll be tracking the carousel of progress, right here, for as long as it takes to stop spinning. Raise a glass to times past, won’t you? * Well, not anymore, but never tell us we don’t have the gift of very specific prophecy through throwaway jokes.

New Mexico State [updated 02.01.2013]

• Who’s out: DeWayne Walker, who jumps to the NFL with less than two weeks remaining between now and Signing Day. And not even for a coordinating gig: Walker will coach defensive backs for the Jacksonville Jaguars. Walker released the following statement through the athletic department: “I really appreciate the opportunity that Dr. Boston and New Mexico State gave me to be a Division I head football coach. Unfortunately, I did not get the program as far as I would have liked from a wins and losses standpoint. But, we do have a better locker room, better kids and a better foundation for the program moving forward. There are a lot of people that I want to thank for their support and will be reaching out to those individuals in the coming days. They have helped me in moving the program forward. I am excited about starting a new chapter in my coaching career, as is my family. I wish New Mexico State great success in the future and wish everyone the best. Go Aggies!” • Who’s in: Doug Martin — the one who played at Kentucky, not the one who played at Boise State. Although if Martin The Younger is really so opposed to his excellent nickname, we’re gonna refer to Martin The Elder as coach Muscle Hamster instead. It’s been a whirlwind courtship for Martin and the Aggies: He was announced as offensive coordinator on January 17, temporarily promoted to interim head coach on January 24 and will be officially announced as DeWayne Walker’s successor on Monday, February 4. Martin’s previous head coaching experience consists of a seven-year stint at Kent State, from 2004-2010. Read More…

Mandatory afternoon reading from Patrick Stevens, who’s undertaken a mathematical examination of coaching tenures in major college football in this age of quick-trigger personnel decisions and unearthed some chilling tidbits. Kentucky’s skipper, a first-time head coach, is now a relative old-timer? Believe it:

* Kentucky’s Mark Stoops, the first hire of the post-2012 season wave, has been on the job longer than 22.8 percent of his fellow FBS coaches. He was hired Nov. 27.

* West Virginia’s Dana Holgorsen, promoted in the summer of 2011, has been on the job in Morgantown longer than 54 other head coaches.

Please remove all children, pregnant women, nursing mothers and heart patients from the vicinity before reminding yourself just how long Kirk Ferentz has clung to the head job at Iowa. And before you ask, because you will: We did check, and as of press time, still no quantifiable metrics exist to demonstrate how dumb FIU was to fire Mario Cristobal.