Hope Gurley makes it...Harbaugh getting richer every day

A couple of quick things...

Had a brief discussion on yesterday's show about Gamecocks WR Tori Gurley's decision to give up his final two seasons of eligibility to enter the NFL draft.  While I do believe this particular decision is different from other recent early departures from Carolina's program, it's still a head scratcher.  The reason?  Gurley is unlikely to be drafted.

Several sources close to the team that I spoke with all believe Tori to be a fine young man with a good head on his shoulders, but all advised him to play just one more season in what should be an even better offense.  To the cynics who believe USC's "advice" is being given selfishly, you're wrong.  Receiver may be the deepest unit the team has, with Alshon Jeffery, Ace Sanders, DL Moore, Jason Barnes and Lamar Scruggs all returning.  Gurley won't be missed much at all, but HE will miss out on guaranteed playing time as one of the top two targets at USC.  There are NO guarantees in the NFL if you don't go in the top half of the draft.

In Tori's defense, I understand that he's 23, will turn 24 during the 2011 season and is already four years out of high school.  He's ready to earn a living.  I sincerely hope he makes it, but even one more year of polishing his game on a good team would go a long way.

The opposite is true in the case of Stanford head football coach Jim Harbaugh, who will never have a better time to jump to the NFL.  As I type, reports out of Miami say the Dolphins would be interested in hiring him, bringing the KNOWN total of interested pro teams to four.  That list also includes the Forty Niners, the Broncos and the Panthers (laughable to some, but he played there for a bit).

As more teams throw their hats in his ring, the annual salary increases and the odds of him returning to Michigan as HC decrease.  The only caveat is this: if (and it's a big if) he really WANTS the Michigan job he'll take it despite not being able to earn as much money.  While the Wolverines would have no problem making him the highest paid coach in college football, the number they can produce will still be far less than what a motivated NFL team will offer.

Gonna be fun to watch this story play out this week.  Stay tuned...