They're the teams within the team - those cohesive little units bound together by their shared responsibilities within the larger team context.

Whether it's the offensive linemen firing off time after time into those familiar blocking sleds, or the defensive linemen drilling repeatedly on how to shed blockers, or the defensive backs breaking on ball after ball - these teams in miniature hone their tasks on the practice field until those tasks become second nature.

Two programs, one with a middling college football tradition and one comfortably nested among college football's elite, currently face the heavy hammer of the NCAA's compliance police. Both have removed personnel from their ranks, including the head coaches, and claimed that those moves have exorcised the demons haunting their offices.

Bubba Starling
University of Nebraska/Kansas City Royals
Hometown: Gardner, Kan.

There is no truth to the rumors that Bubba Starling could hit 10 home runs, rush for 350 yards, cure the common cold, reverse the trade deficit and teach the cast of “Jersey Shore” some manners — all in the same afternoon. It only seems that way.

by Braden Gall (@AthlonBraden on Twitter)