• They're tearing Shady apart! After weeks of telling everyone who'd listen that he was returning to school, Pitt running back LeSean McCoy was suddenly expected to do an about-face last Friday and declare for the draft; he did not. The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported Monday morning that McCoy planned to declare later in the day; instead, Dave Wannstedt said LeSean needed more time to decide, though the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette continued to insist "all indications are still there that he will ultimately declare himself eligible for this year's NFL draft." Last night, a Pittsburgh television station blog shed a little more light on McCoy's waffling:

Very close sources to this story are 100% confident that Shady McCoy wants to return to Pitt. He does not want to turn professional and leave Pitt. He loves being "Shady" McCoy and the big man on campus at Pitt. ... He loves the fans at Pitt and loves college life. However, he is being pressured to turn pro. LeSean doesn't want to cause friction within his family. On the other hand, he doesn't want to leave Pitt and be unhappy "going to work" in the NFL. From what I'm told, McCoy is "an emotional wreck" and my source told me that "he really feels sorry for McCoy."

Speculation is the "pressure" is coming from McCoy's mother, specifically, though there's no good confirmation for that assumption. Thursday is the deadline for underclassmen to declare themselves eligible. If McCoy really wants to stay, maybe he can "lose" the paperwork, or have it faxed to the wrong office at midnight, or "forget" to fill out a crucial box, or something. Anyone who wants to come back to school, and has a free ride waiting for them, owes it to himself to come back to school -- especially when Beanie Wells, Knowshon Moreno and Shonn Greene are in the same draft class.

And don't look now, but C.J. "If Dabo is the coach, I'm coming back" Spiller is "undecided" about his draft future, too.

• Mays shall return, too. It's not exactly the Return of the Tebow Child, hype-wise, but Southern Cal fans got a pleasant surprise Monday when Pete Carroll said All-America safety, automatic top-20 draft pick and all-purpose physical god Taylor Mays will return to school in 2009, along with oft-injured teammates Josh Pinkard and C.J. Gable. I'm no more plugged into the draft circuit than those shot-in-the-dark mock drafts floating around, but the conventional wisdom assumed Mays was gone, to say the least. What's a 6-4, 225-pound safety whose blue-chip teammates insist he's the fastest player on the team going to do with another year of college? Pray he doesn't get hurt, I assume.

Also returning: Oklahoma defensive tackle Gerald McCoy, who confirmed his decision at an OU basketball game Monday night. As for Sam Bradford, if Bob Stoops has any idea which way his quarterback is leaning, he's not telling.

• A Harbaugh got to get paid. The first outlet to report Jim Harbaugh's flirtation with the New York Jets? The site National Football Post, run by Harbaugh's old friend, Mike Lombardi, and Harbaugh's agent, Jack Bechta, who immediately reported back to the San Jose Mercury News that, despite the NFL rumors, Harbaugh is "very close" to signing an extension with Stanford. The Mercury News' Jon Wilner smells a rat:

Whether Harbaugh leaves The Farm, or Bechta tries to use the interview/discussions with NFL teams to drive up the price of the extension, these developments should put to rest any notion Stanford fans have that Harbaugh is wholly committed to the Cardinal — that he considers Stanford “the ultimate destination,” the phrase he used a few months ago on the Dan Patrick Show. I can think of 32 jobs he’d rather have, at least.
[...]
... the situation sure smells of hypocrisy given the manner in which Harbaugh reacted to defensive coordinator Scott Shafer leaving for Michigan last winter. According to multiple sources, Harbaugh stood before his team and sharply criticized Shafer for his lack of loyalty to the program and the university. How did the chat with the Jets go, by the way?

Prediction: If, somehow, Harbaugh returns to Stanford despite his ambition, contacts and last name, we're going to go through this on an annual basis for at least three more years.

• The Ball Coach and other courtesy titles. Don't be fooled this year by titles on the Steve Spurrier's coaching staff: Arkansas secondary coach Lorenzo Ward will join South Carolina as "defensive coordinator," but that's only a courtesy title to ensure a multiyear deal; Ward will coach the USC secondary. The defense as a whole will continue to be run by "assistant head coach" Ellis Johnson, who gave up the coordinator title but not the job after bringing the consistently porous Carolina D into the top 15 nationally.

Quickly ... All quiet on the Boston College coaching front, possibly because BC is waiting to interview new Florida offensive coordinator Steve Addazio, who's hospitalized with a knee infection. ... As expected Utah cornerback Sean Smith followed teammate Paul Kruger in declaring for the draft. ... Roddrick Muckelroy and Lamarr Houston will return to Texas, along with Sergio Kindle, leaving UT's front seven in pretty good shape for '09. ... Kentucky defensive end Jeremy Jarmon will be back with the Wildcats after considering a jump to the pros. ... Southern Miss coach Larry Fedora received a one-year contract extension for salvaging a winning season from a 2-6 crater at the end of October. ... 2008 was "not a comfortable year" for Joe Paterno, except for the Big Ten championship. ... And long lost recruit Kerry Murphy is finally enrolled at Alabama.