Nashville resident, former Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany inducted into Rose Bowl Hall of Fame

Nashville resident Jim Delany, who spent 10 years as commissioner of the Ohio Valley Conference before going on to serve as commissioner of the Big Ten, was inducted into the Rose Bowl Hall of Fame during a ceremony Thursday ahead of Ohio State and Utah playing Saturday in the 108th Rose Bowl.

Delany, 73, led the Big Ten to unprecedented heights in his time there from 1989-2020.

He helped create the Big Ten Network, the college football replay system, the Bowl Championship Series and the College Football Playoff.

Delany also oversaw the addition of Penn State, Nebraska, Maryland and Rutgers to the Big Ten and was a strong advocate for gender equity in college sports throughout his career.

“This is a tremendous honor; the game, the parade and the Rose Bowl venue constitute one of the world's great traditions," Delany said. "New Year's Day and the Rose Bowl have become synonymous since the first game between Stanford and Michigan in 1903. To be associated with the Tournament of Roses and the Rose Bowl game over the past 33 years has been a privilege and a great thrill."

COMING HOME: Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany is moving back to Nashville

Delany and his wife Kitty Fisher, a former Tennessean reporter, moved back to Nashville after his retirement in 2020.

Delany, who also is in the Ohio Valley Conference Hall of Fame, is joined in the 2021 Rose Bowl Hall of Fame class by former USC running back Anthony Davis and Michigan State linebacker Ron Simpkins.

The trio will be recognized during the Rose Bowl Parade and during the Rose Bowl game.

TSU's Aristocrat of Bands marching in Rose Bowl parade

The Tennessee State Aristocrat of Bands marched in the Rose Bowl Parade. This is the band's 75th anniversary.

TSU's band was one of four college bands and the only historically Black university band in the parade.

The Aristocrats will also perform at Disneyland, the California African American Museum and at halftime of a Lakers game at the Staples Center during the trip.

Ke'Shawn Vaughn scores his first rushing NFL TD

Former Pearl-Cohn and Vanderbilt running back Ke'Shawn Vaughn scored the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' first touchdown and the first rushing touchdown of his NFL career last week against the Carolina Panthers.

Vaughn broke two tackles and ran 55 yards for the first-quarter score.

He finished as Tampa Bay's leading rusher with 70 yards on seven carries in the 32-6 victory. Vaughn, who had a touchdown reception in his rookie season last year, is being counted on more heavily with the Bucs' leading rusher Leonard Fournette on the injured reserve list.

Ex-Austin Peay interim coach joins Butch Jones' staff

Marquase Lovings, who served as interim head coach at Austin Peay in 2020, is the new running backs coach at Arkansas State where former Tennessee coach Butch Jones is the coach.

Lovings was the defensive line coach at Austin Peay before stepping in to replace Mark Hudspeth, who resigned in the summer of 2020. Lovings led the Governors to a 4-5 record.

When Scotty Walden was hired as Hudspeth's replacement, Lovings returned to Nicholls State as the defensive line coach where he had been in 2018.

Also, Austin Peay defensive back Kody Perry, the OVC defensive player of the year, has entered the transfer portal. Perry led the Governors with 85 tackles, including eight for loss, and a sack. He had two interceptions and three pass breakups.

Former MTSU administrator is Clemson's new AD

New Clemson athletics director Graham Neff spent more than two years early in his career in the athletic department at Middle Tennessee State.

After being a student basketball manager at Georgia Tech, Neff served in a senior administrative role at MTSU from 2011-12.

The Lilburn, Georgia, native moved to Clemson in 2013 as the Tigers’ associate athletic director of finance and facilities and was promoted a year later to deputy athletic director.

Ex-MTSU quarterback Joe Craddock hired as Troy offensive coordinator

Former MTSU quarterback Joe Craddock is the new offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Troy.

Craddock, who also played baseball at MTSU, completed 342 of 546 passes for 4,001 yards and 27 touchdowns during his career (2006-08). Craddock led MTSU to a 24-14 win over Maryland.

Craddock was the tight ends coach at UAB last season and before that was the offensive coordinator at Arkansas (2018-19) and SMU (2015-17).

Ex-Vandy coach Melanie Balcomb will be at Trevecca Monday

Former Vanderbilt women's basketball coach Melanie Balcomb will be back in Nashville Monday when Trevecca plays Ohio Dominican at 5:30 p.m.

Balcomb, who was at Vanderbilt from 2002-16, is in her first season as an assistant at Ohio Dominican. She was senior associate head coach at Purdue (2019-20) and an assistant at Texas Tech (2017-19).

Balcomb lives in Gahanna, Ohio, a suburb of Columbus where Ohio Dominican is located.

Olympic thrower joins Belmont coaching staff

Nick Ponzio, who represented Italy in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, has joined the Belmont track and field team as a volunteer coach.

Ponzio, a native of Temecula, California, represented Italy in the shot put as his great grandfather immigrated to the U.S. from Sicily. Ponzio gained Italian citizenship on June 15, 2020.

He was an All-America thrower at USC from 2015-18 after starting his career at Florida.

Qualls, Barton named co-coordinators at Cumberland

Josh Qualls and Chris Barton were named co-offensive coordinators at Cumberland.

Qualls, who spent the 2021 season as an offensive graduate assistant at MTSU, will oversee the pass game while Barton will oversee the run game.

Broc Loveless resigned at the end of the season as the Phoenix offensive coordinator to go into private business.

"We are ready to see what Chris and Josh can do together," Cumberland coach Tim Mathis said. "It is exciting to have two good, young coaches with great football minds to get our offense back on track.".

Before joining the MTSU staff, Qualls was an offensive assistant at Arkansas-Monticello. Barton spent his first season at Cumberland as the offensive line coach and was on the staff at Georgia Southern before that.

Lipscomb Academy coordinator hired as Ezell-Harding coach

Corry Stewart is the new football coach at Ezell-Harding.

Stewart was the co-defensive coordinator at Lipscomb Academy the last three seasons and before that spent nine seasons on the staff at Father Ryan.

Ezell-Harding plays eight-man football.

“We are convinced that Corry Stewart is the coach to help continue to move our football program in the right direction,” Ezell-Harding athletic director Jason Charlton said. “Our program is poised for some exciting things, and coach Stewart is the leader to help us realize that potential.”

TSU center enters transfer portal

TSU center Jeremiah Frazier, who made the All-OVC football newcomer team, has entered the NCAA transfer portal.

Frazier is a 6-foot-3, 315 pound freshman from Pike Road, Alabama.

He helped TSU finish fifth in the OVC in total offense (141.3 yards), second in passing (203.6) and sixth in rushing (114.7).

Also, West Florida director of player personnel and specialist coach Kyle Hoffman is the new director of recruiting at TSU.

Belmont is sixth in Mid-Major Top 25

After putting together a five-game win streak, Belmont men's basketball moved to No. 6 in the College Insider Mid-Major Top 25 poll.

The Bruins (10-3) defeated Lipscomb (94-65), Samford (85-73), Saint Louis (64-59), Chattanooga (76-68) and Bethel, Indiana (115-86) during the streak.

Gonzaga is first in the poll followed by San Francisco, Loyola Chicago, Iona and BYU.

The Belmont women are 16th in the Mid-Major Top 25.

Caleb Plant gives hams to Ashland City families in need

Former IBF super middleweight world champion Caleb “Sweethands” Plant was back in Ashland City Dec. 22 to give back to his hometown.

Plant, 29, along with his father and coach Richie, and wife Jordan handed out 100 hams to families in need that lined around the Ashland City Courthouse.

“I appreciate you all and the support you’ve given me throughout the years,” Plant said. “I just wanted to come home and help people who might be having a tough time right now. It’s nothing to be embarrassed about; we’ve all been there, myself included. If I have a chance to help, I will always do it. I love you all and appreciate you.”

Plant lost his title on Nov. 6 in the 11th round of a bout against Mexican superstar Canelo Alvarez at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas,.

Plant had also donated 70 pairs of shoes to his former school, Cheatham Elementary, during the Canelo vs. Plant promotion.

OVC basketball tournament tickets on sale

All-session tickets for the 2022 OVC men's and women's basketball tournaments are now on sale. The tournament is March 2-5 at the Ford Center in Evansville, Indiana.

Tickets can be purchased for $60 through each OVC school's ticket office and the Ford Center’s website at OVCSports.com/Evansville until Feb. 1.

The price of an all-session ticket increases to $80 after Feb. 1.

Tennessee Tech station to broadcast basketball games

Tennessee Tech's student radio station WTTU 88.5-FM will begin broadcasting men's and women's basketball games beginning Jan. 20.

The games will feature play-by-play and analyst commentary from some of the station's student broadcasters.

This will be in addition to the broadcasts on 106.1-FM The Eagle and streaming video on ESPN+.

Lineman camp at Ensworth

A free camp for youth football linemen grades 5-8 will be offered Jan. 8 at Ensworth.

The camp will be from 1:30-3 p.m. and registration is available at https://bit.ly/3pCOrlv.

If you have an item for Midstate Chatter contact Mike Organ at 615-259-8021 or on Twitter @MikeOrganWriter.

Sports on Nashville TV

The five highest-rated sports events locally for the week ending Dec. 12 in Nashville:

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Former Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany enshrined in Rose Bowl HOF