2014 All-Bilo TE of the Year Winner: FBS, FCS, D2

We have been covering our candidates for the 2014 All-Bilo College Football TE of the Year Award for FBS, FCS, and D2 all evening. I am proud to announce that the finalists have been sifted through, and I am now in a position to gladly say the winners have been chosen for their various divisions. Without further delay, they are as follows:

FBS


Jonnu Smith, Florida International
HIs numbers spoke for themselves in 2014, and Smith led all TEs nationally in production on the field. Only a sophomore, Smith has two full seasons to add to his impressive resume, but I think the NFL will be calling after the 2015 season. If not, Smith should cause more damage in the Sun Belt and around the nation for two more seasons.

FCS


Mycole Pruitt, Southern Illinois
The Salukis may be a little lost amongst the new power players in the Missouri Valley Football Conference, but Pruitt is a star who stood beyond stars at a loaded position in FCS football, Tight End. Pruitt blew up the division in 2014, but he now departs on a high note, as he has completed his career.

D2


Tim Brown, West Chester
Brown was a scoring machine for the Rams in 2014, and so wins the TE of the Year award for 2014 in the Division 2 classification. Brown's 17 TDs on the season were a huge number not just for any TE in the country on any level, but for any receiver.

2014 All-Bilo TE of the Year Semifinalists and Finalists: D2

Here are my semifinalists for the 2014 All-Bilo TE of the Year: D2

Tim Brown, West Chester
Cole Spurgeon, Colorado Mines
Jamie Potts, Grand Valley State
La'Velle Spivey, Urbana
Bryce Duncan, Minnesota State-Mankato
RJ Miller, Mercyhurst

Congratulations to all of our semifinalists, and here are our finalists:

Tim Brown, West Chester
Cole Spurgeon, Colorado Mines
Jamie Potts, Grand Valley State

Stay tuned for our winner later tonight!

2014 All-Bilo TE of the Year Semifinalists and Finalists: FCS

Here are my semifinalists for the 2014 All-Bilo TE of the Year, FCS:

Mycole Pruitt, Southern Illinois
Harold Spears, New Hampshire
Andrew Rubestelli, Jacksonville
James O'Shaughnessy, Illinois State
Brian Parker, Albany
Will Tye, Stony Brook

Congratulations to all of our semifinalists, and here are our finalists for the award for the 2014 College Football season:

Mycole Pruitt, Southern Illinois
Harold Spears, New Hampshire
Andrew Rubestelli, Jacksonville

Pruitt, a senior, had a huge season in 2014, catching 81 passes on the season for 861 yards, and a solid 13 TDs on the year. He graduates on a serious high.

Spears, another senior, caught 56 passes on the season, picking up 838 yards and an additional 4 TDs on the year.

Rubestelli caught 39 passes on the year, and led Jacksonville to a resurgent season in 2014. He totaled 660 yards and 9 scores in his senior season.

Stay tuned for the winner!

2014 All-Bilo TE of the Year Semifinalists and Finalists: FBS

Here are my semifinalists for the All-Bilo College Football TE of the Year for 2014, FBS:

Jonnu Smith, Florida International
Clive Walford, Miami
Evan Ingram, Ole Miss
Nick O'Leary, Florida State
Maxx Williams, Minnesota
Thomas Duarte, UCLA

Congratulations to all of our semifinalists for 2014. Now, without further delay, our finalists are as follows:

Jonnu Smith, Florida International
Clive Walford, Miami
Maxx Williams, Minnesota

Smith, a sophomore, led all FBS TEs in 2014 with 710 yards receiving, and posted 8 TD receptions while catching 61 passes for FIU. He averaged over 10 yards per catch, and emerges as the best prospect in the nation at the position in 2015.

Walford caught 44 balls in 2014 for Miami, helping the development of his freshman QB Brad Kayya in the process. Walford accounted for 676 yards and 7 scores on the season.

Williams caught 8 TD passes on the season, tying for the lead at TE with Jonnu Smith. He may have only caught 36 passes on the year, but most of his receptions were those that changed games for the Gophers on the season. Williams will be taking his abilities to the NFL in 2015.

Up next...the winner!

2014 All-Bilo TE of the Year Quarterfinalists: D2

Here are my quarterfinalists for the 2014 All-Bilo TE of the Year award, D2:

Tim Brown, West Chester
Cole Spurgeon, Colorado Mines
Jamie Potts, Grand Valley State
Lucas Hefty, Upper Iowa
La'Velle Spivey, Urbana
Bryce Duncan, Minnesota State-Mankato
RJ Miller, Mercyhurst
Cooper Schroeder, Alderson Broadus
Connor Doherty, Northern State
Daree Goodwin, West Liberty

Stay tuned later tonight as I name the semifinalists and finalists!

2014 All-Bilo TE of the Year Quarterfinalists: FCS

Here are my candidates for the 2014 All-Bilo TE of the Year, FCS:

Mycole Pruitt, Southern Illinois
Harold Spears, New Hampshire
Andrew Robustelli, Jacksonville
James O'Shaughnessy, Illinois State
Josh Cook, Idaho State
Brian Parker, Albany
Will Tye, Stony Brook
Trey Huelskamp, Davidson
Jake Hartman, Bucknell
Deane Cheatham, James Madison

Stay tuned later tonight as I name the semifinalists and finalists!

2014 All-Bilo TE of the Year Quarterfinalists: FBS

Here are my quarterfinalists for the 2014 All-Bilo TE of the Year, FBS:

Jonnu Smith, Florida International
Clive Walford, Miami
Evan ingram, Ole Miss
Stephen Anderson, California
Casey Pierce, Kent State
Jean Sifrin, U Mass
Nick O'Leary, Florida State
Maxx Williams, Minnesota
Thomas Duarte, UCLA
Cam Serigne, Wake Forest

Stay tuned, as I will announce the semifinalists and finalists later tonight!

Mike Debord Named OC at Tennessee, Al Borges Names OC at San Jose State

In a strange, almost bizarre turn, Tennessee named Michigan Olympic Sports Coordinator Mike DeBord to the job of OC this week.
DeBord last coached football in 2007 as OC, and was virtually run out of the program due to struggles the program had under his tenure on the job. He was kept on due to his relationship with the university in a non-football capacity, and ran the Olympic Sports program while also assisting in athletic department capacities. He was largely thought to be a candidate for the AD job before Jim Hackett came onboard after Dave Brandon was run off by torch and pitchfork.
This move was not exactly met with joy and celebration around the nation, as several (at least eight) other candidates had been attached to job, and all are current coordinators in other programs, including Boise State OC Mike Sanford and UCLA OC Noel Mazzone.
In other news, veteran college OC Al Borges has surfaced once again after wrongly being blamed for Michigan's struggles, and has turned up on Ron Carragher's staff as OC at San Jose State. Borges has served all over the country, and had his greatest success on the west coast when he was Cade McNown's OC and QB coach at UCLA in the late 90's. Borges has seen action at Oregon, Auburn, San Diego State, amongst other stops along the way in a long and successful career.

UCLA DC Jeff Ulbrich Leaves For NFL Falcons

UCLA Defensive Coordinator Jeff Ulbrich has left the program on the heels of signing day for the Atlanta Falcons Linebackers Coach job last night.
There was a string of activity in the last three or four days regarding whether or not Ulbrich would leave for the job, and finally, last night, it was decided that he would go. Head Coach Jim Mora put up a fight, at least in public, to keep Ulbrich from leaving, but privately, one wonders how much of a fight was actually put up to keep him.
Ulbrich was often embattled in the job, and had a very public meltdown on the sideline that had him screaming at Mora at halftime of the Oregon game that was caught on camera. It would seem from an observer standpoint that Ulbrich was never a great fit at DC after being promoted to the job before last season.
According to several sources in Los Angeles, the general consensus is "good riddance" at this point, as several fans of the program and sources that cover the program would have liked to see changes with both coordinators. Noel Mazzone was considered for the Tennessee OC job that eventually went to Michigan Olympic Sports Coordinator Mike DeBord, a hire that I will question later.
Now the waiting game begins in Westwood that would already have been considered a bit of a transition season. 2014 was supposed to be a season where UCLA was supposed to compete for a national title. Regardless of finishing in the top 10 in the final rankings, UCLA was never seriously a candidate for the playoffs, and that has to be considered a disappointment by some, but not others who never believed the hype that was building as far back as July in the media.
One early name that has surfaced is former USC DC Clancy Pendergast, who has been a candidate at Washington State and Utah in the last month. Pendergast has a deep conference grounding, and would be an excellent candidate for the position, and has both extensive NFL and College experience.
It isn't widely thought that UCLA has an internal candidate for the job, however that is not impossible. Jim Mora, if he cannot find a suitable candidate, could call defensive plays himself, as his area of expertise is defense, however, that is likely not the desired outcome of this particular issue.
More on this job as word comes down.

Central Michigan Hires Bonamego As Head Coach

Central Michigan, the last FBS program in the nation to have an open position at head coach, hired Detroit Lions Special Teams Coach John Bonamego as head coach last night after a lengthy process that followed the surprising departure of Dan Enos, who left suddenly to strangely take on the OC job at Arkansas.
The official word came down early this morning central time about the hire, which followed a rather disorganized approach that included conversations with both former Michigan head coach Brady Hoke and Ferris State coach Tony Annese, amongst others.
The athletic department is not immediately returning calls this morning, as the final details of the contract are being negotiated through the weekend.
Bonamego last coached in the college ranks as an assistant in 1999, after having served at Maine, Lehigh, and Army, but has been in the NFL ever since after stops at Jacksonville, Green Bay, New Orleans, Miami, and finally his last stop, Detroit.
A Central Michigan alum, Bonamego was likely not the first choice for the beleaguered program, as Annese and Hoke both had stronger resumes as college head coaches, despite Hoke's recent run at Michigan. Hoke was highly successful in the MAC at a previous stop at Ball State, and turned San Diego State into a winner in just two years after several losing seasons there prior to his arrival. Annese has Ferris State running in the right direction, and like Hoke, has built a strong tie in the Michigan high school ranks. Bonamego will have to build those ties quickly, and will likely need some booster assistance to get that process started in the area.
CMU will open the 2015 season with back to back home games in Oklahoma State (9/5) and Monmouth (9/12) before trekking on the road to take on Syracuse and Michigan State the following two weeks.
The issue now will lay in who Bonamego hires as his staff. Much of the former staff under Enos bailed for other jobs around the nation in both the NFL and college ranks in the last 48 hours when it became obvious that Bonamego had been hired. It is certain that Bonamego had conversations with several former staffers before they departed about possible roles in the program.