Bear Woods isn't just one of the best names in college football. The Troy linebacker, with his long dreadlocks and crazy game-day face paint, is one of the more interesting characters, too. Oh, and he's one of the country's better linebackers.Anyone who saw the Trojans' R+L Carriers Bowl game against Southern Miss could confirm that Woods can be a pretty scary-looking dude. I had a chance to chat with him this week and was really glad I did. The story behind those rope-curl dreads that cover half the numbers on his back: He first had the idea to grow his hair long to honor the mother of one of his best friends who was battling cancer. Eventually, after Woods' hair grew 10 inches, he had it cut and donated it to Locks of Love, an organization that turns hair into wigs for financially disadvantaged kids suffering from hair loss because of a medical condition, often cancer."I'd really seen the whole process, and I did it as a way to help," he says.Woods has donated his hair to Locks of Love four separate times. For this go-round, Woods says he hasn't cut his hair for almost two years.Woods, whose real first name is Jonathan (his grandfather dubbed him "Bear" as an infant), made more than 100 tackles last season despite missing three games with various injuries to his left foot. Not bad for a guy who came to college as a walk-on quarterback. He grew up in a small town (Macclenny, Fla.) and thought he might earn a scholarship to play safety for Ohio State. "I think it came down to me and two in-state guys they were looking at, and they ended up going with the two in-state guys," Woods says. "Miami asked me to walk on as a linebacker, but since it was a private school, that wasn't about to happen."So Woods came to Troy, where he has blossomed into a star and something of a cult hero. He has gained 11 pounds and is now a stout 243 pounds. The bad news: That chance to play against the defending national champion Florida Gators (UF is just a 45-minute drive from Woods' hometown) in Week 2 won't happen. The NCAA has ruled that Woods must miss the first two games of the 2009 season because Troy didn't have enough medical evidence to give him a redshirt in 2006."It's gonna be tough," he says. "There's going to be so many people at that game from my town, and most of them probably don't know I'm not going to be playing yet."As for the face paint, one of his teammates goaded him into doing it. Who knows, maybe someday Woods will take the look into the pro wrestling world. He said a former Troy teammate, Windham Rotunda, has a huge WWE pedigree and has tried to talk him into going that route. Woods has other priorities at the moment. "Right now, I'm just focusing on football," he said.

Random stuff

• Is Jonny Miller, a quarterback from Colorado, the first major piece in Doug Marrone's massive rebuilding job at Syracuse? He could be. Among coaching contacts I have, most are big believers in Marrone's recruiting acumen and think he's a good fit for this job. Miller is a prospect whom colleague Tom Luginbill really likes a lot, as I recall from a conversation we had this spring. The 6-foot-2, 215-pounder has a solid grade of 79 from ESPN's Scouts Inc.:"This kid has a chance to be very good. He is a polished pocket passer that happens to be a very good overall athlete and can make plays with his legs when things break down," Luginbill said.This is how Miller explained his choice to Syracuse beat writer Donnie Webb:

"I am very excited about Syracuse. I loved the coaches, the facilities are great and the academics surpassed my expectations! The people I met were the most welcoming and supportive fans I have seen. Everybody is on the same page to get Syracuse back where they belong and I can't wait to start recruiting other players and make that happen. My grandma, uncles, aunts, and new nephew came down for my visit from Plattsburg NY and it was a really special time for me as I got to know the Syracuse coaches better. I think the new staff is the best bunch of guys I have ever met. The players I met were top notch people and athletes. We are going to bring Syracuse back to prominence in a hurry!"

• Miami defensive back Randy Phillips hasn't paid too much attention to preseason preview magazines. When asked about UM's not being ranked on many top-25 lists, he seemed pleased. "It's a good thing," the senior said. "We'll just take everybody by storm when we play those first four games."The Canes' first four games Phillips referenced: at Florida State; Georgia Tech; at Virginia Tech and Oklahoma.• Cool story from Darren Sabedra about the humanitarian work Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh did last month in Peru:

In Peru, Harbaugh helped build shelters for the poor, teamed with fellow humanitarians to put a roof on an orphanage and packed bags of food that could feed a family for nearly a month. He also attended daily Mass with the locals and, naturally, was part of an impromptu football game that morphed into what he called "Peru ball."

• Florida wide receiver/outfielder Riley Cooper has a big decision ahead of him, Ben Volin reports:Cooper, who caught 18 passes for three touchdowns last season, was a 25th-round MLB draft pick of the Texas Rangers and has until Aug. 17 to decide whether he plans to focus his career on football or baseball. Cooper has a couple of tough decisions to make, but it's a good situation to be in.

Should Cooper, a two-time First-Team All-State selection at receiver and free safety at Clearwater Central Catholic, give up his football career and his shot at a third national title in four years? Should he sign a professional baseball contract now, when his leverage is his highest (college graduates are often given low-ball contracts by MLB teams because they have no other options)? Should he come back to Gainesville to improve both his NFL and MLB draft stock?"We don't know. We're just taking a wait-and-see approach," his father, Larry Cooper said Sunday night from his home near St. Petersburg. "I don't think we'll know those answers until the deadline gets closer."

Cooper is one of those gifted players who kind of gets lost in all the attention that bigger Gators stars have received. However, he is expected to start at wide receiver and ease the loss of Percy Harvin and Louis Murphy. UF would still have plenty of viable, dangerous options without him, but Cooper's experience and size would be a big plus.• A second quarterback commit has joined Andrew Hendrix at Notre Dame, as unheralded (and I'm told very underrated) Tommy Rees opted for the Irish over a handful of MAC schools. Rees also has some strong football bloodlines on his side, Jeff Bonato reports:

Tommy, by the way, is the son of Bill Rees, who was director of player personnel for the Cleveland Browns when they drafted Brady Quinn from Notre Dame. In an online blog posted by a Central Michigan University grid fan, the elder Rees is quoted as saying this about his son: "He could be an athletic pocket passer. He can move around and get out of trouble. He is a very accurate passer with arm ability. He can throw with touch and velocity and can throw deep. A college coach must ask: 'Does he fit into what we are doing?'

• D.J. Williams could be Arkansas' first All-American tight end, writes Terry Wood.My three cents: Wood makes a good argument, but if I'm ranking the top tight end talents in the country, I'm starting with Arizona's Rob Gronkowski and Oklahoma's Jermaine Gresham. If I were making the selections for an NFL team, I'd lean toward the Gronk, but because Zona's still sorting out its quarterback situation while Gresham has Sam Bradford, I'll go with the Sooner this season.• Tennessee coach Lane Kiffin's hunt for his first quarterback recruit is narrowing to a pair of Californians, colleague Greg Biggins reports:

Chase Rettig was patiently waiting for Lakewood (Calif.) signal-caller Jesse Scroggins to make his decision in hopes of landing an offer from one of his two favorite schools -- USC or Tennessee. Scroggins has yet to make his call, but Rettig still picked up an offer from one of the two Tuesday morning. "Tennessee just offered," Rettig said Tuesday. "I was pretty excited because I loved my time at their camp, and the SEC is big-time football. The timing is crazy, because I was actually thinking about committing to Boston College today, and then I got an e-mail from one of the coaches to call Coach [Lane] Kiffin, and when I did, he told me they were offering. I still like BC a lot, and I think that's a great opportunity for me. That's a great academic school, and I know I could get in there and compete early for playing time. I like the coaches a lot, and the school has produced a lot of NFL quarterbacks in the past, so this is going to be a really tough decision for me."

My three cents: A big plus for both quarterbacks is that each will be a midyear grad and can enroll early and compete with Nick Stephens for the starting job in the spring. Tennessee probably could take two quarterbacks, given how thin its depth chart is. Another possibility would be for the Vols to try to persuade Memphis QB Barry Brunetti to decommit from West Virginia.• And, as the quarterback domino effect keeps moving, Tyler Bray, the lanky 6-6 quarterback prospect who had flashed on USC's radar of late, has opted to commit to San Diego State. I think this is a really, really good pickup for the Aztecs' new staff.• Running back is a need position for Michigan in the 2010 recruiting class, writes Josh Helmholdt:

Michigan currently is the favorite of Livonia Stevenson's Austin White (6-0, 186) and Newark (Del.) Hodgson Vo-Tech's Jamaal Jackson (5-8, 158). The Wolverines are also in the top two for Ramsey (N.J.) Don Bosco Prep's Tony Jones (5-8, 178) and Miami Central's Brandon Gainer (6-0, 194) and are top three for Miami Booker T. Washington's Eduardo Clements (5-10, 185). White, Jackson, Jones and Clements could each project at the slot receiver position for Michigan as well, but Gainer is a true running back prospect and ranked as the No. 12 player at the position nationally by Rivals.com. Michigan has made a big jump on his list in the last few months and now joins Florida State atop his list. He plans to take an official visit to Michigan this fall and decide soon after where he will attend school.

Speaking of Michigan, MGoBlog points out that Jeremy Gallon announced on his Myspace page that he scored high enough on his ACT and will be eligible in the fall:

"The One n Only JG FOR ALL WHO ARE WONDERING I QUALIFIED FOR SCHOOL AND I WILL BE AT MICHIGAN THIS FALL…GO BLUE I am a Michigan Wolverine."

Gallon, a slot wide receiver/return man, is rated as the country's No. 80 athlete by ESPN's Scouts Inc.• One of the new offensive-line starters at Ole Miss to keep an eye on this fall will be sophomore Rishaw Johnson. The 6-4, 296-pounder from Louisiana is the most athletic lineman the Rebels program has seen in years. Earlier this week, I was chatting with a source inside the program who raved about Johnson's explosiveness and work in the offseason program. This came after I had asked who he thought would have a breakout season for the Rebs. Apparently, Johnson recently power-cleaned 400 pounds, setting a school record.• Ron English's work as the new head man at Eastern Michigan will be an intriguing story to follow. He inherits a bad, bad defense, but at least his team returns plenty of experience. Rod Beard has a look at Year 1 of the English era: