Louisiana Tech and Jeremiah Masoli

Jeremiah Masoli was kicked off the University of Oregon football team earlier this year.

Rumors began swirling about 2 weeks ago about where Masoli may land. Would it be the NFL supplemental draft? Would it be Louisiana Tech or Mississippi State? Masoli visited Ruston, LA on the weekend of June 25th. No confirmed reports ever linked him to Mississippi State and a report out of Oregon even had his mom completely discounting those rumors. Many may be asking, why Louisiana Tech? Coming out of high school, Masoli did not have any FBS offers. Coming out of City College of San Francisco, he held offers from Arizona, Auburn, Arkansas, and Oregon. Two of the four coaches who recruited him are now at Louisiana Tech, Sonny Dykes (Arizona) and Tony Franklin (Auburn).

Masoli is two courses away from graduation at Oregon. If he can complete these courses a waiver from the NCAA for him to play this season seems nearly a given. Instead, if Louisiana Tech has to seek a waiver following his past at Oregon to allow him play this season, that is where the road will get treacherous. The NCAA already has previous cases where a player has been kicked off a team and tried to transfer and play the next season. Every time, they denied him the right to play that season.

Another avenue that could bring Masoli to Tech and in a bulldog uniform would be for him to transfer, sit out next season and use his redshirt season and play in the 2011-2012 season. The question then is would Masoli rather sit out a year at Louisiana Tech, or try his hand at the NFL supplemental draft.

Some concerns surfaced last week about possible illegal contact Masoli may have had with an agent. These concerns have been cleared. There is still a chance Masoli could possibly be a Bulldog, but count those chances as slim.

This is all very interesting from a Louisiana Tech point of view in light of an unsure quarterback situation. With a total of six quarterbacks on the roster and none of them being named the starter yet, Masoli certainly would make that list all the more interesting. Those players includes seniors Ross Jenkins and Steven Ensminger, sophomores Colby Cameron and Tarik Hakmi, and freshmen Doak Raulston and Taylor Burch.