Gator quarterbacks coach Dan Mullen said freshman Tim Tebow would get plenty of reps in the spring. Tebow may get a series or two each half this fall. Mullen said his wife, who works on the Golf Channel, was asked repeatedly by pro golfers, who were Gator alums, about the Tebow recruitment. He also said there would be a different package of plays created for Tebow. Mullen said he is still looking for a No. 3 quarterback.

LSU: The Tigers return to the field on Saturday. They have to replace six starters on offense and on defense. The only returning starter on the defensive line is Chase Pittman. Defensive linemen Melvin Oliver, Claude Wroten and Kyle Williams are gone. Cornerback Ronnie Prude and linebacker Cameron Vaughn have to be replaced.

ARKANSAS: The Hogs have an interesting situation at quarterback. Cole Barthel has transferred to Arkansas Tech. Alex Mortensen left and returned. Mitch Mustain will not report until summer. Robert Johnson might transfer if he doesn’t switch positions. He is the only quarterback athletic enough to make a move to another position. The battle will probably eventually come down to Casey Dick and Mustain. Freshman linebacker Tyrell Graham has left the team.

GEORGIA: The Bulldogs start spring practice Saturday. Joe Tereshinski is the No. 1 quarterback going into spring drills despite most of the attention being on sophomore Blake Barnes; redshirt freshman Joe Cox and freshman Matthew Stafford. Georgia has to replace 11 starters next season. Sophomore receiver Mohamed Massaquoi is the only returning player with more than 16 catches. Sean Bailey won’t participate in the spring and may miss 2006 because of a knee injury. Kenneth Harris, A J Bryant, Mario Raley, Demiko Goodman, T J Gartrell and Michael Moore hope to take up the slack. The slogan for this season is “Finish Harder”. In the 12 losses under Mark Richt only three have been more than seven points.

The Bulldog defense has a lot of work to do. Six starters from the defense, including three from the secondary, from are gone. Four linebackers-senior Danny Verdun, junior Brandon Miller and seniors Tony Taylor and Jarvis Jackson-- are back. In the secondary, juniors Thomas Flowers and Paul Oliver are the leaders going into spring. The defensive line lost Will Thompson, Kedric Golston and Gerald Anderson. Junior Charles Johnson is the returning end and sophomore Jeff Owens and senior Ray Gant are the starters at defensive tackle.

ALABAMA: The Tide offense suffered several interceptions last Friday and several center/quarterback exchange problems in day two. Safety Jeffrey Dukes has emerged as a playmaker in the secondary. Linebacker Juwan Simpson (Achilles) and receiver Will Oakley (hamstring) have been the injuries thus far. Former receiver Ezekiel Knight looks a bit lost at his new linebacker position. Receiver Nikita Stover is progressing to a second team jersey. Coach Mike Shula has a new contract worth $1.8 million with a six-year deal. Justin Britt, who has been a defensive lineman, is moving to offense at least for the spring. He has been a fixture on the defensive line. Britt will not take part in contact drills due to his shoulder surgery in the offseason.

With Tide running backs Ken Darby (tendonitis) and Glen Coffee (pelvis) sidelined, sophomore Jimmy Johns was in a first team jersey. Redshirt freshman Roy Upchurch and Ali Sharrief worked with the second team. Tight end Trent Davidson has officially moved from tight end to offensive tackle. He worked on the right side behind Kyle Tatum and Drew Davis. With Matt Collins missing practice due to a class, junior Darren Mustin stepped in with the first team defense at middle linebacker.

AUBURN: Kevin Yoxall has been named the national strength and conditioning coach of the year. The Tigers started spring practice Tuesday. Defensive back Will Herring being moved to linebacker was favorable in the first day. New defensive coordinator Will Muschamp also started this week. Offensive coordinator Al Borges was pleased with the quarterbacks and receivers. The Tigers are looking at several different players as punt returners such as sophomore Robert Dunn, senior Courtney Taylor, senior Lee Guess and sophomore Anthony Campbell. Auburn joined Stanford, Boston College, and Duke as the four BCS schools that received recognition for its APR. The Tigers put on pad Thursday.

SOUTH CAROLINA: Coach Steve Spurrier said he wants a new academic center, athletic training room, improved living quarters for players and upgrades to Williams-Brice Stadium. Spurrier said their facilities are a little better than Vanderbilt’s. Sidney Rice was the most dependable receiver last year. A second receiver needs to emerge during spring drills. Some of the possibilities are sophomore Kenny McKinley, reshirt freshman O J Murdock, Noah Whiteside, and Freddie Brown III.

TENNESSEE: The Vols opened practice Thursday needing to replace defensive linemen Jesse Mahelona, Parys Haralson and Jason Hall. Justin Harrell and Turk McBride return. Xavier Mitchell comes back in the fall following shoulder surgery last month. Defensive end Robert Ayers, a reshirt sophomore, has excited the coaches. Tackle Demonte Bolden, who comes from Hargrave Military, is coming off a reshirt season.

Vol defensive back Corey Campbell has decided to leave the team after three years. He played in nine games last season with no starts. He had three tackles, a pick and a fumble recovery. He was among eight players cited or arrested between January and August. Campbell was arrested for taking 25 feet of coax cable from a Wal-Mart in Knoxville. He pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of shoplifting last August. Running backs Arian Foster (knee), Montario Hardesty (knee) and LaMarcus Coker (shoulder) all are recovering from surgery. The only full-time returning offensive lineman is senior left tackle Aaron Sears. Eric Young could be the new right tackle. Ramon Foster, Dave Ligon and Anthony Parker all had starts last year. Trooper Taylor, the former running backs coach, is heading up the receivers. He will try to motivate Bret Smith, Robert Meachem and Jayson Swain who underachieved last season.

OLE MISS: Michael Oher has moved from guard to tackle. The Rebels hit the field for the first time on Saturday. Daverin Geralds (6-4, 290), an offensive lineman from Scotland High (La.) in Baton Rouge, has signed with the Rebels. Duke and Stanford wanted him to sign with them.

MISSISSIPPI STATE: Four-star linebacker Chasman Davis hurt his knee but the prognosis is good and he is expected to make a full recovery. The original thought was much worse. He has already had surgery to repair the nerve. ACL surgery is coming in a few weeks.

KENTUCKY: The Wildcats begin spring practice March 29. Andre Woodson returns as quarterback with 17 career games under his belt. He has thrown only seven picks in 341 career attempts. Also battling for the position is Curtis Pulley, a sophomore, who scrambles well.

DUKE: Tight end Ben Patrick, who led the team in catches last year, is transferring to I-AA Delaware

FLORIDA STATE: The Noles begin spring practice March 13. Defensive end is a position that endured many injuries last season. Coming into spring practice, both Darrell Burston and D J Norris are coming off shoulder surgeries, so their contact will be limited. Alex Boston, Neefy Moffett and Everette Brown will get the majority of the reps. Burston and Boston have starting experience and Moffett and Norris played a lot last year in reserve roles. Incoming freshmen Justin Mincey and Kevin McNeil are candidates to provide depth.

Seminole mat drills ended Tuesday. Redshirt freshman cornerback Jamie Robinson made a perfect score on mat drills Friday. Strength and conditioning coach Jon Jost said he didn’t remember another freshman getting a perfect score and leading the team in mat drills. Most improved: Mario Henderson and Jacky Claude; Best offensive leader: Drew Weatherford; best defensive leader: Buster Davis, Top newcomer (fall enrollee): Jamie Robinson and Top newcomer (January enrollee): Myron Rolle.

MIAMI: Spring practice begins Tuesday, March 21 with the annual spring game on Saturday, April 15 at 10:00 a.m.

VIRGINIA TECH: Last week three assistant coaching vacancies were announced. Former N. C. State head coach Mike O’Cain is the new quarterbacks coach. Kevin Sherman, former of Wake Forest is the new receivers coach who takes over for Tony Ball who went to Georgia and Curt Newsome from James Madison is the new offensive line coach. O’Cain was a Clemson assistant replaces Kevin Rogers who went to the NFL. Defensive backs coach Lorenzo Ward is rumored to be going to the NFL.

BOSTON COLLEGE: The Eagles need to replace receivers Will Blackmon, Larry Lester and tight end Chris Miller. Tony Gonzalez and Jason Lilly need to step up. BC has road games at FSU and Miami, but the opening game is against Clemson at home on Sept. 9.

CLEMSON: Spring starts March 4. Will Proctor is hoping to replace Charlie Whitehurst at quarterback. The Tigers were in seven games decided by a touchdown or less and lost four of them. Clemson lost defensive linemen Charles Bennett, Cory Groover and Trey Tate. Memphis linebackers coach Chris Rumph will be named to replace Marion Hobby. Troy defensive end coach Mike Pelton also interviewed for the job.

NORTH CAROLINA: The Tar Heels start Friday. The quarterback battle is between Nebraska transfer Joe Daily and Cameron Sexton. Daily threw for a Nebraska single game 342 yards for the Huskers in a win over Baylor in 2004. Roger Heinz is also competing for the job. Senior Ronnie McGill returns at running back after scoring five touchdowns in seven games. Jesse Holley returns as the leading receiver. New offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti, formerly of Fresno State, has his first spring in Chapel Hill. Under Marvin Sanders as defensive coordinator, the unit went from being ranked above No. 100 to among the top 50.

N C STATE: Pat Meyer, the strength and conditioning coach, has been promoted to offensive line coach. This is a big spring practice for quarterback Marcus Stone because he is the undisputed starter.

TEXAS: The Longhorns start spring practice today with a hole at quarterback. Redshirt freshman Colt McCoy and true freshman Jevan Snead will be battling. The Longhorns received eight verbals over the weekend after a junior day.

GARY DANIELSON has been chosen as the CBS college football analyst to replace Todd Blackledge who went to ESPN.

BRENT BEAIRD IS A SPORTS WRITER FOR THE CLAY COUNTY LINE IN ORANGE PARK, FLA., HE ALSO WRITES FOR RIVALS.COM, SAMSPORTSLINE.COM AND GATOR BAIT MAGAZINE. HE CAN BE HEARD ON ESPN 1460 ON MONDAY AND THURSDAY AFTERNOONS ON THE RUMBLE WITH MIKE DEMPSEY AND TOM MCMANUS.