Yahoo Sports is starting to get into the podcasting game. Dan Wetzel, one of their main reporters, debuted his first podcast today. One of the most famous (or infamous) names of college football this offseason was his first guest on the show, and a figure central to the Oregon-LSU game and controversies surrounding both college football programs.
Willie Lyles talked to Wetzel, and had some startling revelations about his ties with LSU. Listen to the podcast by going here and finding the relevant link.
- Lyles said he provided some legitimate scouting information for Oregon and LSU, and that some of the stuff released was a facade. Some of the information was good information.
- LSU hired Lyles as a JuCo scout for California and Kansas despite being a Texas expert. Lyles said he never really worked with JuCo talent, never scouted Kansas or California, and that his main expertise continues to be Texas recruiting. Lyles said he was hired as a scout as a way to get paid by the Tigers for his recruiting services.
- Lyles was told that he was hired as a JuCo scout for California and Kansas because the Tigers couldn't purchase more than one recruiting service from the same state (we'll take a wild guess and pick Texas as the state in question), so if LSU was using Lyles, it'd be in violation of that particular NCAA rule. The Tigers would thus be able to have more than one access point to Texas recruiting services if Lyles was listed as a JuCo scout for California and Kansas.
- Lyles had no involvement in the recruiting process with Russell Shepherd, who was suspended for the season-opener vs. Oregon. Sheperd apparently was suspended for talking to someone else involved in a Lyles investigation, so this seems to corroborate well.
- Lyles is going to talk with the NCAA today about a lot of things--particularly his scouting services, and what will happen. Stay tuned for any further updates.
- If you care, Lyles picks Oregon to beat LSU 31-21. Look out for Terrance Mitchell!
For more on Oregon football, go to Addicted to Quack. For more on LSU football, check And The Valley Shook.