As most of you know, Oregon Athletic Director Rob Mullins has pulled his name from consideration for the same position at Texas A&M. He had been one of the leading candidates, if not THE leading candidate, for the job before things changed abruptly at the end of last week.

Here's what I've been told. There are a few reasons this thing fell apart, including Mullins getting a pay hike from Oregon and A&M starting to have a few concerns after a closer look at his tenure with the Ducks. Several of their programs, including both the football and men's basketball programs, were put on probation during his time there. Still, the offenses were pretty minor.

There's another issue, I've been told, and it's kind of baffling. Apparently A&M President Micheal Young is attempting to prevent the next athletic director from having a higher salary than he does. Young, evidently, doesn't hold the AD's position in the same level of esteem that he does the football and basketball coaching jobs. Those positions, it seems, require high salaries as the cost of doing business -- the AD job, he thinks, doesn't.

This is strange on several levels. First, Young is supposedly out the door next year, so why does he care? More importantly, why does he holding such sway over the process as it's been described? And if Chancellor John Sharp and the Board of Trustees were the driving force undermining the comfort level of Scott Woodward, why aren't they driving the bus (with help from Jimbo Fisher) on this hire?

With Mullins and Texas Tech's Kirby Hocutt out of the picture, I'm not sure where they'll go right now. But if you're worried about R.C. Slocum being the full-time AD, don't. I don't think he fits the bill and R.C.'s done enough. He's probably not really interested in the full-time gig anyway.

From what I've heard (and Fletch has told me), it looks like the Aggies are now in the driver's seat for Longview QB Haynes King, St. Louis LB Antonio Doyle, East St. Louis (Ill.) S Antonio Johnson and Richland (N.J.) DT Isaiah Raikes.

And one other guy: Myers Park (N.C.) WR Mushin Muhammad III.

I separated Muhammad because the idea A&M is not only in it for him but may well lead now just blows me away. I was impressed that they got him in for an official visit, but to get him to come back in on his own dime just a couple of weeks later is pretty impressive. It's a sign of just how capable this staff is at the recruiting game. Now, will they close the deal on him? I don't know. But if they do, that's two big-time wideouts in this class (Demond Demas being the other). And they lead for two others: Troy Omeire and Devin Price. Could they find the space to take four in this class? They don't need to, but geez, that would be very hard to pass up.

On May 2, Tampa Bay Bucs DE Jason Pierre-Paul lost control of his Ferrari on a slick road and slammed into a concrete barrier in Florida. The impact caused him to suffer a fractured vertebrae in his neck.

While the injury is considered very serious, it does look like Pierre-Paul will be able to resume his NFL career. The recovery time is significant -- five to six months at the least. But that's for a full fracture and a non-surgical recovery.

A&M running back Vernon Jackson appears to have suffered a similar injury, though perhaps not as severe. The initial indications of a fractured vertebrae appear to have been downgraded to a crack. So, if the injuries are similar and JPP can return, it would seem like Jackson will be able to as well. If his timeframe for recovery is similar to that of JPP, then Jackson should be return to the football field sometime late this summer. It's possible that the injury isn't as serious.

Jimbo seemed more confident in Jackson's ability to come back from his injury when he spoke to the media at the Houston Touchdown Club two weeks ago. He's going to speak to reporters again tonight before speaking to the Brazos Valley A&M Club, so hopefully he'll give an update.

If not, Pierre-Paul may give us a general idea of just what Jackson may be dealing with.

1) A&M took 2 out of 3 from Alabama this weekend in Tuscaloosa. That's a series they had to have, but the inconsistent hitting continues to be a real serious issue. That was a series they should've swept, but the bats were silent Saturday. That happens at least once a series and it's a problem.

2) Asa Lacy got tossed for arguing balls and strikes Saturday. I can't recall the last time I saw that in a college game.

3) MLB.com has Braden Shewmake going 27th overall to the Cubs in its latest mock draft.

4) Buzz Williams is trying so hard to make inroads with high school coaches that he's speaking to them at two different seminars Friday morning. The first is at 6 a.m. Ugh.

5) I'm going to go on a limb here: the starting offensive line for A&M on week 1 is Moore/Hocker/McCollum/Jenkins/Green.

6) I don't think it'll actually happen, but Aggie football could have a signing class with players from Texas, Louisiana, Tennessee, New Jersey, Florida, Georgia, Colorado, Illinois, Washington and Missouri. That would be wild.

7) Someone asked in the Mailbag (which yes, I will answer eventually) what the most over-achieving athletic program is. It has to be track, doesn't it? If not, women's soccer?

8) I feel better about the linebacker situation than you do.

9) Don't forget Josh Ellison and Braedon Mowry in the 2020 class.

10) John Doxakis is the best pitcher on A&M's staff again. And he will be gone after this season.

1) George Springer, AL MVP (at the moment). Come at me, bro.

2) Did you think it was possible that Chris Davis (.305 in his last 59 AB after staring 0-33) would have a better April than Jose Altuve? Yeah, me neither.

3) Cody has parent's night out Friday. Arie and I intend to go watch Avengers: Endgame again. Exciting, huh?

4) If you're a restaurant, don't overbook then understaff on Mother's Day (or any other "holiday" designed to sucker consumers).

5) Anyone surprised (if this is indeed true)?

6) For Christmas: Disneyland for $2500 or Disney World for $6000? State your reasoning. And those of you who don't care or want to make snide comments...sit this out.

7) How brutal must it have been to be a 76er yesterday and see your season end on a shot that hits the rim twice before going in?

8) If a guy has fathered 114 children and didn't raise any of them he is:

A) A total sleaze

B) Genghis Khan

C) On the Batchelorette. (Sorry, saw a tweet about this and needed two more notes)

9) Bill Nye the Science Guy dropped an F-bomb when discussing climate change on an HBO show. You know what that means? You can now add an F-bomb to the things that have come out of Bill Nye's mouth that I don't give an F-bomb about.

10) Cody being Cody: The other day, my now 5-year-old daughter comes into my office. "Daddy, are we fixing up the house to sell it?"

"Yes."

"Then will we fight the Germans?"

"What?
"The Germans are bad."

Ok, being a history buff, I can't necessarily fault the logic. But what got her on that? Arie immediately blamed me and my watching of war documentaries. I said no way, that I don't watch those with her around. As it turned out, it was a viewing of Wonder Woman that did it.

She didn't hate the Nazis; she hated the Germans for killing Steve Trevor and making Wonder Woman sad for 100 years. Again, valid reasoning.

Arie works with a German national, so she had to tell him the story. He shook his head and said, "Wait until she finds out about what they did to Captain America."

That was brilliant! So Cody was out riding her bike in circles in front of the house and I said, "Cody, guess who Captain America was fighting when he went into the ice and couldn't be with Peggy?"

"Who?"

"The Germans."

She stopped. "Son of a b**ch."

Lesson one: Teach your kids not to hate. They'll figure out who's good and bad eventually on their own.

Lesson two: And this is most assuredly NOT SAFE FOR WORK