As the NCAA continues its crackdown on the vital issues, it does so in its usual coherent, logical and reasonable manner. Especially if you aren’t a D-1 BCS school.

The NCAA has denied William & Mary’s appeal of a ruling that prohibits it from using its logo showing two Indian feathers at NCAA championship events or from hosting NCAA Tournament games where the logo would be displayed.

The news came Thursday in a letter from the NCAA Executive Committee, affirming a May decision that the green and gold logo is hostile or offensive to American Indians.

In that same ruling, the NCAA said William & Mary’s nickname, the Tribe, was not necessarily abusive, hostile or offensive, and therefore still could be used.

Oooo-kaaayyyy. This is the offending logo (at least most of it).

Yeah, that’s one to piss off people.

The receivers will get a lot of attention in training camp. Between highly touted recruits like Dorin Dickerson, to Derek Kinder trying to step up to be the go-to guy, to Joe DelSardo earning more playing time (not to mention being used correctly as the possession, sure-handed receiver over the middle that he is), to the redshirt freshmen and true freshmen trying to get playing time on the depth chart.

“Right now, there is Derek Kinder and a lot of uncertainty,” wide receivers coach Aubrey Hill said.

“Derek and Joe DelSardo have some playing experience, but it really is wide open. Obviously, Derek is the player who has been solid throughout the whole time from last year until the spring and into the summer. But everyone else, who knows? I mean we will treat Joe DelSardo like the veteran, and he’s made some plays for us, so we will find a role for him. But, after that, it will come down to what guys make plays and good decisions.

“We have talent, I think a lot of guys with talent, just no experience and so we have a long way to go. One thing we didn’t have last year we have now with all these young guys is competition. Competition, competition, competition. So now everybody is practicing hard every day because every job is open”

…

Kinder said the key for the receivers is to focus each day and improve so that they are ready to help the team early. He said the receivers have talked about not letting the team down and believes the unit is more athletic and talented than it has been the past few years despite its inexperience.

“There is no doubt these younger guys have a lot of talent, and they are all going to push each other,” Kinder said.

“We have an opportunity to become a strength, but it will take a lot of hard work. We all have to stay motivated. For me, you know, Greg [Lee] left some big shoes to fill, so that’s what pushes me, I’d like to do my best to try and make you forget about him if I can.”

Not dropping as many passes will do it for most.

I think that Dickerson will be lining up all over the place. In the backfield, as a receiver. Heck, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him lining up like a tight end at times. Hopefully Coach Wannstedt and OC Cavanaugh will get, dare I say, imaginative in utilizing him. Honestly, I have no idea right now about the rest of the receivers at the moment.

Another part of the offense that has plenty of question — tailback. LaRod Stephens-Howling isn’t going to give up being the penciled in starter without a fight. He gets some love from his hometown paper. Howling added 20 pounds to his frame so that he is now a 5′ 7″, 175 pound back.

“I feel a lot better about my weight now, and I’m able to run with it,” Stephens-Howling said. “So, I’m a lot better now, and I’m more prepared for this season. I’m ready to go.”

While Stephens-Howling had no problems fitting into his new team last season, he’ll have a former teammate on the squad this year in offensive lineman Scott Corson.

“Scott is here with me this year, and he’s a great guy,” Stephens-Howling said. “Being a Johnstown Trojan before this, I’m so proud to have a former teammate with me. And he has somebody who has been here a year, so he could come to me and ask me for help.”

…

“It’s never been a problem for me to run inside, between the tackles, either,” Stephens-Howling said. “That’s what I did in high school. So, I know I can do it. Don’t forget, speed kills, and I’m ready to kill them out there.”

The advantage Howling has at the moment over the freshmen — beyond simply having a year of playing time under his belt — is being able to catch the ball out of the backfield.

On freshman running back Kevin Collier:

Kevin was okay. It’s tough as a running back when you don’t have pads on. This is a big thing with running backs coming out of a running offense. Kevin Collier last year, Conredge Collins, a lot of these guys have not had a lot of passes thrown to them. In high school, and in programs they’ve come from, they’ve had their success running the ball. Probably the biggest thing right now for Kevin won’t be his football and his run skills. It’s going to be catching the ball which is probably where we’ll need to spend a lot of time.

I think most fans have Collier already starting, but I like Howling and think he will end up at least splitting the carries this season.

With Maurice Clarett, many ask how a kid with such potential to earn a fortune in football could piss it all away. I’m now wondering how he managed to hold it together as long as he did.

Maurice Clarett was arrested early Wednesday after a highway chase that ended with police using Mace on the former Ohio State running back and finding four loaded guns in his sport utility vehicle, a police spokesman said.

Officers used Mace to subdue Clarett after a stun gun was ineffective because the former Fiesta Bowl star was wearing a bullet-resistant vest, Sgt. Michael Woods said.

“It took several officers to get him handcuffed,” Woods said. “Even after he was placed in the paddy wagon, he was still kicking at the doors and being a problem for the officers.”

Safe to say that the entire Buckeye Nation is just hoping he goes to jail very soon and for a long time. Just so they don’t have to take more crap for having to acknowledge he was ever a part of their team. Right Lee?

The general consensus on the first day of split practices was that it was a success.

“Eventually, we will have to get these young [guys] together with the older guys so they understand the intensity with which we play.”

Several newcomers were bumped up to practice with the more experienced morning group. Junior-college transfer Jeff Otah, who is expected to win the starting left tackle job, practiced with the first team.

Two other freshmen, offensive lineman Joe Thomas and quarterback Kevan Smith, practiced in the morning. Smith will alternate morning workouts with freshman Dexter Davidson, and backup quarterback Bill Stull will work primarily with the afternoon group so there is a veteran quarterback to run the offense and mentor the younger players.

It really doesn’t mean anything on the first day, but Davidson showed what would appear to be some nerves in the first day.

Freshman quarterback Dexter Davidson struggled in the second practice, fumbling the first two snaps from freshman center Scott Corson and later an exchange with freshman tailback Kevin Collier, who showed nice quickness in his cuts in traffic.

At the very least, Coach Wannstedt felt it was a success.

Wannstedt was especially pleased with the morning session, as fifth-year seniors like quarterback Tyler Palko and tight end Steve Buches provided strong leadership to the offensive group.

“The older guys came out here and went to work like it was all business,” Wannstedt said. “And that was good. It’ll be good for a couple days, but we’re going to need to get these young bucks with the older guys so they understand the intensity level. But, for right now, the teaching part of it is the way to go.”

Some younger players like freshmen Dorin Dickerson from West Allegheny High School and T.J. Porter from Pahokee, Fla., will alternate working with the veterans in the morning. And Jeff Otah, a 6-foot-6, 340-pound transfer from Valley Forge Military Academy, will attempt to win the left tackle job.

Freshman quarterback Kevan Smith from Seneca Valley and offensive lineman Joe Thomas from Cleveland also worked out with the veterans.

“I’ve been working with the first-team guys for a while now, so I was kind of used to it,” Porter said. “But it was a little overwhelming, at first, since today was when it really counted. But I got the jitterbugs out and feel like I fit in a little better after a while.”

Wannstedt also was impressed with young linemen like freshmen McKenzie Mathews from Syracuse, N.Y., John Malecki from Franklin Regional and Jared Martin from Davie, Fla., and second-year players Mick Williams and Gus Mustakas. Each has a chance to contribute this season.

Other things:

On the injury front, Freshman Dan Loheyde twisted his left knee in a special team’s drill. That’s it for the first day.

Jason Pinkston and Aaron Smith are still waiting for academic clearance from the NCAA, but there doesn’t appear to be major concern.

Freshman DE Justin Hargrove will not enroll at Pitt until January. This was previously noted last month. It is due to a severe head injury suffered last season.

The raw feed is always the best place to start so here’s the transcript from Coach Wannstedt’s post-practices press conference.

On the opening day of practice:

Splitting the team up like this and having almost two [practices], it’s almost like an NFL practice from the standpoint that we’ve got about 50 guys in the morning and 50 in the afternoon. It did accomplish what we had hoped from the standpoint that every kid out here got a lot of work. No one’s going back to their dorm room tonight and making the case of “Boy I wish I would have had more of an opportunity.”

I liked what we did today. We mixed the ball around good. We’ve got a better feel for what we can do running-wise. We have to run the football. There’s a lot of different ways to do it. We’re looking at some options there as we go through camp.

The usual Coach Wannstedt positive view. He’s already in mid-season form, I’m happy to report on his cliches.

On the athleticism and speed of Pitt’s young defensive linemen:

We’re a little bit faster than we were. McKenzie Mathews and those guys all can run. We’ve got some athletes over there. It’s just a shame we’re pressuring them so much as freshmen, but it is what it is. We are what we are.

On the difference in the players’ acclimation to the system this year as opposed to 2005:

Last year was last year. Let’s just focus in on today and moving forward. The guys came out here today and worked. It was the first day. Obviously there were too many balls on the ground. As we got tired this morning with a few of the older guys, a couple of guys jumped offside and some of those sloppy things that as we get more conditioned, as we get a little more tougher mentally, we’ll eliminate those things.

[Emphasis added.]

Coach Wannstedt’s first action in training camp was to switch positions for a couple players. Freshman Elijah Fields moved from WR to S (widely expected) and JUCO Lowell Robinson moved from S to WR. The Fields move was expected the Robinson move seemed more about the numbers.

“I looked at Elijah and said, ‘Is it tomorrow; is it next year?'” Wannstedt said. “He’s going to be a great player for us. Where can we put Elijah where we feel he’s going to be a two-, three-, who knows, four-year starter for us? I think at safety there’s a greater opportunity for him.”

…

The 6-foot-2, 210-pound Fields, however, was just as tenacious on defense. He had 11 interceptions as a senior, and Wannstedt has been enamored with the idea of Fields at safety since the Big 33 Football Classic in June.

“Elijah is going to be a heck of a player,” Wannstedt said of Fields, who was named the Associated Press Class A Player of the Year, as well as the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review’s Male Athlete of the Year. “It’s just going to be a matter of getting him some work.”

To compensate for Fields’ move, the Panthers also switched junior-college transfer Lowell Robinson from safety to receiver.

Robinson was an All-American last season at Erie (N.Y.) Community College, where he had seven interceptions and returned three for touchdowns. The 6-foot, 195-pounder also averaged 19.9 yards on punt returns, and Wannstedt hopes the 21-year-old Robinson will add maturity to a young receiving corps looking for playmakers.

“He has a great chance to be a punt and kickoff return guy,” Wannstedt said. “The more times he handles the football in practice, it will give him more confidence in that respect.”

I assume that means he will be back there to return punts with Darrelle Revis. Revis is considered to be the best punt returners in the Big East. It was thought that Revis might also be returning kick-offs, but maybe Robinson might do that.

Coach Wannstedt and the other coaches must really be enamored with Fields at Strong Safety. It was believed that Robinson would immediately challenge there. Especially as a JUCO, but both players apparently looked good in no-pads practice.

I guess it’s a good sign of some early intensity from some of the upperclassmen.

he first camp scuffle was between center Joe Villani and defensive tackle Vernon Botts during one-on-one drills in the morning session. They exchanged words and clung to each other’s jerseys, but it wasn’t broken up until Botts slapped Villani upside the helmet.

Presumably with an open hand.