Remember, Cam Newton is an icon and an entertainer.

Video can be seen here.

Here’s your rundown to start the week…

Heat Up The Hot Seat – ESPN blogger Ryan McGee did an article on an advance look at the college coaches that will likely be feeling the hot seat in 2011.  Houston Nutt was indeed on the list.  A terribly disappointing 2010 has the pressure on, but his recent recruiting class indeed provides a source of hope.  For further entertainment, Lane Kiffin is #1 on McGee’s list.  Seeing Lane get canned early in his USC gig would surely bring joy to many.

Specimen – If nothing else, Cam Newton looked like a Greek god physically at the NFL combine. The much hyped Heisman winner looked the part in the physical drills, but he still has had mixed feedback from media and NFL personnel.  Check out video of Newton at the Combine here.  Who’s the better specimen, Cam at the Combine in 2011 or Tebow in 2010?

Alabama Combine – For you Bama fans, check out good video of Julio Jones and Mark Ingram at the combine.  Julio Jones looked very impressive.

More Combine Fun – If you thought it was all business in Indianapolis for the NFL combine, you thought wrong.  St. Louis Rams scout Luke Driscoll was in town to scout the talent, but ended up getting arrested early Friday morning for urinating on a building in downtown Indianapolis and exposing himself to a female officer.  The NFL shield is shining in Indy.

Clowney Mania – Need to feed your Jadeveon Clowney obsession?  Here’s another way to do so.

Inflation – Sure, the price of gas is up, but so is the pay of SEC Assistants.  As we mentioned the other day, Florida assistants are making big money, now it looks like LSU assistant coaches might be getting a raise.

SDS Countdown – SDS is counting down the top 20 SEC players for 2011, and last week we saw #18 – Stephone Gilmore, #19 – Chris Relf, #20 – Zach Mettenberger.  This week will continue to the countdown…

Hits From Last Week – In case you missed it, SDS contributor William Wallace lit up the internet with his nuttiness surrounding the Toomer’s Corner incident.  The comments might be better than the article itself.  If anything was more talked about on the message boards than the controversial Toomer’s Corner article, it’s the photo of shirtless Steve Spurrier.

Spring Football – Be sure to check your team’s information in the SEC East and SEC West spring guides.

Before anyone thinks I’m here to belittle the Alabama faithful, you’re absolutely wrong. Auburn people may not have poisoned a tradition, but they did some pretty stupid things. My son was the first person to show me the picture of the Bear Bryant statue with the Cam Newton jersey on it. I told him at the time that this picture was in very poor taste, and was also very stupid. Anyone who understands a rivalry game KNOWS you don’t give the other team locker room fodder. You know the coaches had one of those pictures in every locker in the Alabama dressing room at Bryant-Denny Stadium before the Iron Bowl, and Alabama came out and played like a team on fire in the first half.

I’m not going to get into the money thrown at Cam Newton before the Iron Bowl. In honesty, that’s always been part of the game. I can remember when opposing teams used to wave pizza boxes at Charles Barkley when he was at Auburn. Allowing “Take the Money and Run”, and “Son of a Preacher Man” to play over the Bryant-Denny Stadium was a bit over the top, though.

One other thing that has taken off like the Cam Newton rumors is the internet rumblings repeating the claims of “Al from Dadeville” that Auburn students rolled Toomer’s Corner when Bear Bryant passed away in 1983. Paul Finebaum was a writer for the Birmingham Post-Herald in 1983, and he stated emphatically to “Al” that it never happened… that he would have known about it or read about it if it had. There has now been an exhaustive search done, and no newspaper, radio or television station has a record of any such story. There is no one old enough to remember Bear Bryant’s death, that can remember this supposed incident. So, can we stop fanning the flames with that falsehood?

However, as an Auburn fan, I’ll be the first to admit that we have sometimes laughed a little too hard at things that were in very bad taste. I’ve seen pictures of a skeleton dressed like the Bear at Auburn-Alabama games, with signs saying, “Shake the Bear’s hand. $5″. If we’re ever going to make a better rivalry out of the Iron Bowl, it’s going to take both sides looking inward, instead of both sides pointing fingers outward. I’ve seen a lot of that over the past few days; Alabama people putting together drives to help try and save the trees, and Auburn people who are accepting this help with an open heart, instead of plotting their revenge. It’s times like this that give me hope that we can all get past this, and learn from it.

Trees or no trees, there will be celebrations on Toomer’s Corner. They didn’t start rolling the trees until the 1970s. Before that they rolled the power lines around the intersection. Putting the power lines underground didn’t stop the tradition of rolling Toomer’s Corner, and if the trees die off, the Auburn family will still find something to roll, even if the University has to create something for them. The trees may die, but as long as there is the Auburn spirit, the tradition will carry on.

Depending on your point of view, this might be a good or a bad thing.  For me, the business side of football is indeed intriguing and something I enjoy discussing.  What else should we be doing in the offseason?  Watching pre-March madness basketball?  Please.

Tim Tebow taught me something very important about the business of football – I watched the Tim Tebow documentary that aired on ESPN last month.  It was excellent.  One of the biggest takeaways from the documentary was learning about the business of Tim Tebow and how big it actually is.  Tim Tebow the person, the athlete, the man.  Combined, it equated to big time money.  In the documentary, it was incredible to see just how many resources went into Tim Tebow as he prepared for the draft.  Whether it was agents, lawyers, his family, trainers, nutritionists, quarterback coaches, corporate jets, world class facilities, etc. it was all an investment into the business of Tim Tebow.  And the payoff was indeed worth it.  Why allocate so much time, money and energy into the development of Tebow?  Because the return justifies it.  The return was nothing short of a huge contract with the Broncos, numerous endorsements and expanding the reach and quality of the brand of Tim Tebow.

Cam Newton is now duplicating this process that Team Tebow executed a year ago.  The process has already begun with media workouts and attempts to, essentially, market the talents, abilities, and brand of Cam Newton.  While some dismiss it as arrogant or silly to hold media workouts, the reality is that it is business – and smart business.  The business of Cam Newton is big and growing (spare me the Auburn jokes at this point, please).  Football analysts are becoming increasingly high on Newton’s abilities and now Under Armour has reportedly signed Newton to a record rookie endorsement deal.

NFL negotiations are also on full display right now as the players battle the owners over a number of business aspects of the NFL.  Revenue sharing, length of season, and a number of other items are under negotiation, and reports are that the negotiations are not progressing well.  Even as the possibility of a lockout approaches, as a football fan, the dumbest thing you can do is dismiss this process as nothing more than two sides that are just greedy for more money.  It’s much more complex than this.  The NFL is a business that generates and drives revenues in the billions of dollars and as such, there are a number of variables that go into it.

As a college fan, it will become increasingly interesting to see how the NFL negotiations impact the draft, the combine and the future of those college athletes that decided to leave college early amidst a high level of uncertainty.

The college game is far from immune to the impacts of big dollars and big business, and one only needs to look to the summer of 2010 as a prime example.  Last summer brought a massive reminder that the game is very much dictated by business – that time in the form of conference realignment and expansion.  As conferences and major programs clamor for television contracts and more revenue, big business trumps tradition and conference loyalty.

Like many, I would assume that this conference shifting/expansion/realignment is not over, and will again re-surface at some point.  A deteriorating Big 12 conference will likely be the catalyst.  Conferences like the Southeastern Conference will indeed look to grow market share, penetrate new markets and boost revenues – sounds very much like a business, no?  As Saturday Down South contributor Paul Atwood wrote recently, we’re in a new era of college football – one which the business terms used above are just as important as terms like play calling, recruiting, and coaching.

If this case lingers, it will be interesting down the road if Auburn has to still spend big bucks while Cam Newton is long gone and playing in the NFL.  Furthermore, is this clear evidence that this case is still open?  If it is closed, why do you still need attorneys?  Welcome to college football in 2011.

On the defensive side of the ball, the Tigers lose 8 starters and 10 guys on the 2-deep depth chart.  On the D-Line, no player will be missed more than Nick Fairley and the impact of his 11.5 sacks.  Including Fairley, Auburn loses 3 starters, and 5 total D-Linemen.  Moving to the linebackers, Josh Bynes and Craig Stevens are both graduating, and Bynes was a key leader in the Tigers National Championship run.  The Tigers lost quite a bit of experience in their defensive backfield, as Zac Etheridge, Aairon Savage, and Demond Washington are all departing.

Note:  Even on special teams, the Tigers graduate their starting kicker, punter, holder, and kick returner.

Needs Met: Even without signing Cyrus Kouandjio, Auburn signed one of the best O-Line classes in the nation.  They signed 4 O-Linemen, and many think the jewel of the class is Christian Westerman.  However, I think that Greg Robinson is an absolute road grader.  Auburn added to their offensive backfield with 2 RB’s and 1 QB.  If you watched the Under Armour game, then you have already seen the   potential of QB Kiehl Frazier.  The two running backs that Auburn signed are huge pickups.  Tre Mason looks ready to jump in and get carries next year, and I think Quan Bray can play anywhere on the field.  Bray told me that the Auburn coaches said he could play anywhere on offense, and he might even return kicks/punts.  Their needs in the receiving corps were met, as they signed 2 WR’s and 2 TE’s.  Brandon Fulse is a huge tight end pickup, and WR Jaylon Denson looks ready to push for PT next year.

I know that everyone is high on Auburn’s O-line signings, but the Tiger’s DB class looks better in my mind.  Here is my reasoning:  Sometimes when a team signs a top O-lineman, that player may not play for a couple of years.  However, skill position players can come in and contribute much quicker, and I think 4 out of 5 of the DB’s that Auburn signed could play next year.  It would not surprise me at all to see Jonathan Rose, Erique Florence, Jermaine Whitehead, and Robenson Therezie on the field next year.  Ask me to pick the best of the bunch, and I honestly don’t know.  At the LB position, the Tigers signed 4 LB’s, and the best of the 4 is easily Kris Frost.  I had the opportunity to see Frost play this year, and I would be shocked if he didn’t play.  Moving up to the D-Line, there were 4 D-Linemen in this class.  Gabe Wright looks ready to go as an interior D-Lineman, and I really think Wright could play from day 1.

Biggest Get: Pulling Christian Westerman away from Texas was impressive.  Considering Auburn’s needs on the O-Line makes him even more important, but to get him to switch from Texas is amazing.  It seems that no one ever gets a guy away from Texas.

Biggest Miss: I know this will be a sore spot, but Cyrus Kouandjio is the biggest miss this season.  Cyrus is the one player in this class that looks as ready (or more) as Westerman.  Auburn didn’t seem to have a chance at Kouandjio about one month ago, but after he committed on NSD, it seemed like Auburn had pulled him away from Bama.  However, things changed, and this one will sting for a while.

Final Evaluation: Auburn lost quality players at just about every position, and they signed quality players at every position.  This class will help a lot next year, but I think it will be two years to see the real dividends of this class.

Final Grade:  A+

Note:  For another in depth look at this class, check out Auburn Writer Johnny Smith’s look at this class:  http://www.saturdaydownsouth.com/2011/immediate-impact-signees-for-auburn/

If you talk about key losses for Auburn, the first position you think of is at quarterback. In all seriousness, you don’t replace someone like Cam Newton. Cam Newton was more than a QB. He was Auburn’s leading rusher, passer and short yardage back. As high as I am on Kiehl Frazier, I don’t see him coming in this Fall and taking the job away from Barrett Trotter and Clint Moseley.

At tailback, Auburn was already thin, and losing Mario Fannin creates an opportunity for immediate playing time. Look for incoming freshman Tre Mason to have an impact on the Auburn running game this fall as a backup to both Mike Dyer and Onterrio McCalebb. He has the breakaway speed needed at the position, but needs to add some pounds between now and the start of the season to be effective between the tackles.

The one position on the Auburn team that gets the most ink is the offensive line. Auburn lost four of the five starters on the offensive line from last season. Fortunately for Auburn, they have also signed two consecutive classes of offensive lineman that are capable of immediate help. Auburn isn’t as thin or inexperienced at this position as many believe though. They retrurn three linemen who have been starters at one point in their careers, so the 2011 signee with the best chance of having an immediate impact is Reese Dismukes. Dismukes is the top rated center coming out of high school, and he has already enrolled and will go through Spring practice with the team. With the players signed in 2010 and 2011, there will be plenty of talented underslassmen to fill in any holes in the line.

With the loss of Darvin Adams, Terrell Zachary and Kodi Burns at wide receiver, it’s almost a given that some of the incoming freshmen will get significant playing time. You have to assume that Trovon Reed will get one of the starting positions, along with returning WRs DeAngelo Benton and Emory Blake. You can’t operate an offense with just three WRs, so look for incoming freshmen Sammie Coates and Jaylon Denson to see a lot of PT. With their size, (both are 6′ 3″), they should be able to create some mismatches with smaller DBs.

The offense should be alright in 2011, especially in the Gus Malzahn system, but the biggest problem for Auburn in 2011 will probably once again be on the defensive side of the ball.

Auburn’s front seven last year was as good as any in the country. One of the things Auburn was able to do defensively with their front seven last year was take the other teams’ running game away from them, making them one-dimensional. Of the two deep roster last year, the only players returning with significant playing time are Jonathan Evans, Nosa Eguae, Daren Bates and Eltoro Freeman. Auburn has also been grooming LaDarious Phillips to be a DL starter this fall. There were other players with limited playing time, but this is a position where I see some freshmen starters. Kris Frost has an excellent chance of being a starter this fall, along with Gabe Wright. Auburn has signed a lot of talent at this position, and there are several who could win starting positions, or see significant PT.

I saved the greatest need for last. While many look at the four lost starters on the OL, I have no worries about that position. The greatest losses and greatest need is at DB. Auburn was woefully thin at the position last year, and several players were thrown into the fire that weren’t completely ready for SEC competition. Key returnees in the defensive backfield are Mike McNeil at safety, and Neiko Thorpe and T’Sharvin Bell at CB. Auburn’s class of defensive backs has been rated tops in the nation, and I look for all of them to play this fall. I also wouldn’t be surprised to see all of them starting by the end of the season. One of the things they bring to the table is size. The smallish DBs that graduated are being replaced with taller DBs, with more speed and a greater wing span. It may take some time to get valuable experience, but the DB should be greatly improved.

In summary, I look for TB Tre Mason, C Reese Dismukes, WR Sammie Coates, WR Jaylon Denson, LB Kris Frost, DT Gabe Wright, S Erique Florence, S Anthony Swain, CB Robenson Therezie, CB Jermaine Whitehead and CB Jonathan Rose to be the incoming freshmen most likely to have an immediate impact this Fall for Auburn.

For years, Bill Snyder at Kansas State took lots of criticism for signing JUCO players, and he still does sign Junior College guys all the time.  After the season that Auburn’s Nick Fairley and Cam Newton had, I don’t think anyone will be saying much about signing JUCO transfers.  Newton and Fairley were two of the biggest players in college football this year, and both of them were JUCO’s.  Fairley had trouble getting into school, and he went to a Junior College right out of high school.  Newton, on the other hand, started out at Florida and had trouble in Gainesville.  From Gainesville, he went to a Junior College for a year, and then got his second chance at Auburn.

The argument against a JUCO guy is that those players did not come up through the ranks of the program, and they are usually not leaders on the team.  However, most coaches feel that the positives far exceed the negatives, when it’s done right.  Most JUCO players are recruited for situations where teams have an immediate need, and SEC coaches don’t normally sign a JUCO player unless he can come in and start immediately.  In years past, coaches have brought these guys in mostly on the offensive and defensive line, because they are older and strong enough to play in the trenches of the SEC.  However, recently the SEC has seen the emergence of JUCO guys coming in and playing at the skill positions.

Cam Newton, as a JUCO transfer, probably had the greatest impact on any team ever seen from a Junior College Transfer.  He took an above average program at Auburn, and turned them into National Champions.  It does make some Auburn fans upset to say that Cam made that team, but if Cam had gone  to any other team in the SEC besides Vanderbilt, that team would have won the SEC.  I believe there is no “I” in team, but I know there is a “CAM” in ChAMpionship.

While programs will still be founded on recruits coming straight out of high school, no doubt Junior College Transfers will be a staple of the College Football World.  After the success of Newton and Fairley, this topic is too interesting not to talk about.  In the past three years, SEC teams have signed 69 Junior College Transfers.  Let’s take a look at which ones have had the biggest impact on their respective team.

2010 Recruiting Class

Cam Newton (Auburn) – 2854 Passing Yards, 30 Touchdowns – 1473 Rushing Yards, 20 Touchdowns, Won the Heisman Trophy and National Championship.

Matt Simms (Tennessee) – Simms may not have had a great campaign this year at Tennessee, but he does provide a good backup to Bray next year

2009 Recruiting Class

James Carpenter (Alabama) – Started every game at Left Tackle for the Crimson Tide from the day he stepped on campus.  Helped to win a National Championship and blocked for Ingram’s Heisman Campaign

Nick Fairley (Auburn) – Played in 2009, but shined in 2010.  In 2010 had 56 Tackles, and led the SEC in                   sacks with 12.  Was to Auburn’s Defense, what Cam Newton was to the Offense.

Chris Matthews (Kentucky) – In 2010 accounted for 925 receiving yards and 9 touchdowns.

Pernell McPhee (Miss. State) – In the past two years MchPhee has 88 tackles and 7 sacks.

2008 Recruiting Class

Terrance Cody (Alabama) – Only accounted for 51 tackles in two seasons, but was an immovable force in the middle.  Cody’s presence was huge in the 2009 campaign.

Chris Todd (Auburn) – May not have been Auburn’s best QB ever, but helped Auburn through some tough times.

*Feel free to comment and add names I missed, or add any impact JUCO’s prior to 2008.

Newton should grade well at the NFL combine, and with Andrew Luck (Stanford QB) staying in school, Newton will be one of the top three QB’s in this year’s draft.  Plus with Michael Vick’s success this season, it only helps Newton’s case that a running QB can be successful in the NFL.

What do you say Auburn fans?  One year, One Heisman, One National Championship.  Heck of a season, but it’s sort of odd only having a player like this for one season.