Defensive lineman Cam Jordan is in his 15th season with the New Orleans Saints. He’s an icon with the National Football League franchise.
And Jordan takes credit for the Saints parting ways with Todd Grantham, now the OSU defensive coordinator. Jordan told former teammate Terron Armstead on Armstead’s podcast that Grantham was the worst line coach in Jordan’s career. Said he was ready to retire last December when he made a phone call to Saints management, demanding a change.
Soon enough, Grantham was out of a job and into a new one, restoring the Cowboys’ defensive reputation.
But the rancor expressed by Jordan is nowhere to be found in Stillwater. Grantham’s relationship with his new players seems quite solid.
“I love him,” said safety Parker Roberson. “He’s aggressive. He’s the type of coach, he doesn’t put up with much. And that’s the type of coach I would want. I don’t want a coach that’s just going to lay back, and if we mess something up, he doesn’t yell at us. So he’s very aggressive with how he coaches, and I think that’s a great coaching attribute.”
The Wednesday ScissorTales rank the Southeastern Conference’s non-conference schedules, check in on the Oklahoman who kicked a 70-yard field goal and explain why NBA superstars are worth their paychecks. But we start with Mike Gundy’s defensive coordinator, who has a long, solid résumé in the coaching game.
Grantham has worked in college at Virginia Tech with Frank Beamer, Michigan State with Nick Saban, Georgia with Mark Richt, Louisville with Bobby Petrino, and Mississippi State and Florida with Dan Mullen. Grantham worked in the NFL for the Colts, Texans, Browns and Cowboys.
But Grantham has been fired from his last two coaching jobs, Florida and the Saints, with games remaining on the schedule. Not good.
Still, his new charges speak highly of the 58-year-old Grantham. You’d expect no less of players trying to win playing time and a coach who hasn’t produced a bad game yet. Still, the fledgling relationships seem legit.
“He’s a really funny guy,” veteran defensive lineman Jaleel Johnson said. “You wouldn’t think so, but he really is, man. He makes us laugh all the time. He can also be very serious, with him coming from the NFL.”
Grantham has been off limits to outside media since his January introductory press conference, during which he came off as a high-energy, high-personality coach. His players confirm such dimestore analysis.
“He’s great, man,” said safety Cameron Epps. “He’s a great guy. He makes sure we know our stuff. He coaches us hard.”
Grantham figures to be a big upgrade over Bryan Nardo, whom Gundy fired last off-season along with virtually every other coach on the Cowboy staff. Nardo was a stealth hire, from Division II Gannon University. His 2023 Cowboy defense was solid; his 2024 Cowboy defense was one of the worst in school history.
Before last season, OSU was a on five-year run of success, ranking higher in the Big 12 than the Cowboy offense in efficiency each season. That’s quite a change for a school known for 15 years for high-powered quarterbacks, tailbacks and receivers.
But OSU rode defense to the 2021 and 2023 Big 12 Championship Games. Grantham has a standard to meet.
And it sounds like he’ll accept that challenge with aggression.
“We’re going to get after people,” said linebacker Brandon Rawls, a transfer from Saginaw Valley. “We’re going to stop the run … he wants to get after you all four downs. He’s not letting off the gas. Going to hit you in the mouth all four quarters. That’s what I like the most.”
Johnson said he was enthused when told, by Grantham, that he was NFL-caliber,
“Hearing from him that he sees me as one of those people, playing in the league, and all the greats that he has coached, it’s just wonderful having him around, man,” Johnson said. “We’re getting after the quarterback this year, I can tell you that for sure. I’m excited.”
That NFL pedigree pays off, even when a star lineman makes a phone call and you’re out of a job.
OU 10th in SEC non-conference schedule
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The SEC non-conference schedules aren’t cookie-cutter. Some teams play two power-conference opponents among their four non-SEC games. Most play one. One plays none.
And OU’s non-conference schedule is below the middle of the 16 SEC teams. Here’s how they rank:
**1\. South Carolina:** Virginia Tech in Atlanta, South Carolina State, Coastal Carolina, Clemson. Two power-conference foes puts you way ahead of the curve in the SEC, especially when one of them is Clemson.
**2\. Florida:** Long Island, South Florida, at Miami, Florida State. If USF is a competitive mid-major, this is a rattlesnake schedule.
**3\. Arkansas:** Alabama A&M, Arkansas State in Little Rock, at Memphis, Notre Dame. The trip to Memphis gives the Razorbacks two massive games.
**4\. Alabama:** at Florida State, Louisiana-Monroe, Wisconsin, Eastern Illinois. Florida State and Wisconsin aren’t their traditional selves, but still.
**5\. Texas:** at Ohio State, San Jose State, Texas-El Paso, Sam Houston. The opener in Columbus is quite historic.
**6\. Texas A&M:** Texas-San Antonio, Utah State, at Notre Dame, Samford. If you want to move the Aggies ahead of the Longhorns, I won’t argue.
**7\. Mississippi State:** at Southern Mississippi, Arizona State, Alcorn State, Northern Illinois. The game in Hattiesburg lifts this schedule above the crowd.
**8\. Louisiana State:** at Clemson, Louisiana Tech, Southeastern Louisiana, Western Kentucky. Not much after the opener in the other Death Valley.
**9\. Kentucky:** Toledo, Eastern Michigan, Tennessee Tech, at Louisville. Watch out for Toledo.
**10\. Oklahoma:** Illinois State, Michigan, at Temple, Kent State. Nothing at all other than the Wolverines.
**11\. Auburn:** at Baylor, Ball State, South Alabama, Mercer. The Tigers play on the banks of the Brazos.
**12\. Missouri:** Central Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, Massachusetts. KU-Mizzou should be a lot of fun.
**13\. Vanderbilt:** Charleston Southern, at Virginia Tech, Georgia State, Utah State. Last year, Vandy beat Virginia Tech and lost to Georgia State.
**14\. Ole Miss:** Georgia State, Tulane, Washington State, The Citadel. Potentially better than 14th, depending on how mid-majors Tulane and Wazzu develop. Potentially worse, too.
**15\. Tennessee:** Syracuse in Atlanta, East Tennessee State, Alabama-Birmingham, New Mexico State. Quite an easy schedule, unless Syracuse is good again.
**16\. Georgia:** Marshall, Austin Peay, Charlotte, Georgia Tech in Atlanta. No road games, since the Bulldogs play Tech in Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
Oklahoman native Cam Little nailed a 70-yard field goal for the Jacksonville Jaguars against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Phelan M. Ebenhack, AP
Oklahoman kicks longest field goal ever
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For 49 years, the longest field goal in football history was kicked by Ove Johansson, a soccer player who, while playing American football for Abilene Christian on October 16 against East Texas State, kicked a 69-yard field goal.
Johansson died at age 75 in 2023. His status lasted two years longer. On August 9, Oklahoman Cam Little nailed a 70-yard field goal for the Jacksonville Jaguars against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Little, who kicked at the University of Arkansas and Southmoore High School, does not get credit for the National Football League record. That distinction still belongs to Justin Tucker, whose 66-yarder for the Baltimore Ravens in 2021 came in the regular season. Exhibition games don’t count toward NFL records.
But no matter. Little gets credit for the longest field goal in American football history, same as Johansson got credit before him, even though his kick came in Abilene Christian’s NAIA days.
Johansson’s 69-yarder came amid the wild kicking days of the 1970s, when kicking tees were allowed in college. In 1977, Arkansas’ Steve Little (no relation) and Texas’ Russell Erxleben each kicked 67-yarders. Wichita State’s Joe Williams matched that in 1978, and Fort Hays State’s Tom Odle did, too, in 1988.
Texas A&M’s Tony Franklin had nailed a 65-yard field goal in 1976; Kansas State’s Martin Gramatica matched it in 1998.
Cross-country field goals became a thing in the 1970s; the New Orleans Saints’ Tom Dempsey became the first kicker to break the 60-yard barrier, with a 63-yarder in 1970. No other NFL kicker reached at least 60 yards for 14 years, and Dempsey’s NFL record lasted until Matt Prater’s 64-yarder for the Denver Broncos in 2013.
The NFL never allowed kicking tees on field goals, but college football allowed them until 1989. And both the NFL and college football have narrowed the goal posts over the decades, the colleges most recently in 1991. Gramatica’s 1998 field goal is as much a college record as any other.
The high school record is 68 yards, by Dirk Borgognone of Reno, Nevada, in 1985. That was with the use of a tee.
Little’s 70-yard field goal won’t be the record, and that’s the correct call. Coaches don’t care about exhibition-game results, so trotting out a kicker for a 70-yard field goal has few ramifications. Lane Kiffin, as coach of the Raiders, let Sebastian Janikowski attempted a 76-yard field goal in an exhibition game.
That never would happen in a regular-season or playoff game, since on missed field goals now, the ball is placed at the spot of the hold for the kick. A miss on a 70-yarder would give possession to the opponent at the kicking team’s 40-yard line.
But no matter. Little’s 70-yarder moves the bar a little back, and Jags coach Liam Cohen is more likely to let Little take a swing at history sometime this season.
From Ove Johansson to Dirk Borgognone to Tom Dempsey to Justin Tucker, kickers have pushed the limits on field goals. And Cam Little now leads the club.
Mailbag: NBA superstar pay
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NBA fans in Oklahoma are getting more and more inquisitive about the finances of pro basketball.
**Mark:** “If the NBA collective bargaining agreement is between the league and the players association, and if the players association is made up of ALL the players equally, and if the league is 90% role players and 10% stars, why do they agree to a deal where the stars get 90% of the money?”
**Berry:** It’s a great question. The CBA does not mandate that great players get 90% of the money. The CBA sets limits on salaries (30-35%, depending on a variety of factors). Really top-heavy teams (like the Thunder eventually could become) end up with the top three getting 85-90%.
Two things, as far as I can tell, work to make the CBA fine for all.
%5E If you limit salaries, then the amount of payroll spent will go down. Teams now go into the luxury tax quite often, usually for the very best players. But if you squash the salaries for the superstars, it’s less likely that the teams will venture into the tax. Paying the luxury tax for Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, or Steph Curry and Klay Thompson, or Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams, is one thing. It’s quite another to pay the luxury tax for Peyton Pritchard or Kevon Looney or Aaron Wiggins.
%5E The players union knows that the greatest players actually are UNDERpaid. LeBron in his prime was worth more than he ever was paid. Certainly that’s true for Jokic and Giannis and now SGA.
The List: Seeking first title game
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In college football, 14 power-conference programs never have made their conference title game. Here’s how they rank, in terms of years with a championship game opportunity:
**1\. Ole Miss, Kentucky & Vanderbilt, 33 years:** The SEC Championship Game was instituted in 1992. The Rebels, Wildcats and Commodores have yet to make it to Atlanta.
**4\. Texas Tech & Kansas, 23 years:** The Red Raiders have come close a couple of times; the Jayhawks, not so much.
**6\. North Carolina State & Maryland, 20 years:** I can’t explain it. Southern Methodist made the ACC Championship Game in its first try. Wake Forest made it in Year 3. Boston College in Year 3. Duke and Virginia have made it. But N.C. State still waits. Maryland got tired of waiting and jumped to the Big Ten in 2014. But the Terrapins haven’t sniffed the Big Ten Championship Game.
**8\. Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota & California, 14 years:** The Big Ten Championship Game was born in 2011. The Hoosiers came close last year, the Illini might this year and the Gophers, well, there’s always hockey season. Cal-Berkeley never made the Pac-12 Championship Game, which started in 2011, and the Golden Bears didn’t make any noise in the ACC last season, after jumping across America.
**12\. Syracuse, 12 years:** The Orange joined the Atlantic Coast Conference in 2013. Still waiting.
**13\. Rutgers, 11 years:** The Knights went to the Big Ten with Maryland in 2014. No surprise, there’s been no title game.
**14\. West Virginia, eight years:** The Big East never established a title game. The Mountaineers joined the Big 12 in 2012, the league restarted its title game in 2017 and WVU hasn’t made it to Arlington yet.