Bowl action continues … Warm-up for Saturday’s NFL playoff games with one more bowl game as East Carolina (8-4) plays Florida (6-5) in the Birmingham Bowl at Noon ET on ESPN. And while nobody cares who wins this game there are some potentially interesting pro prospects to check out. In particular, ECU QB Shane Carden (#5, 6-2, 220) will be one of the best second-tier prospects at the position for this year’s draft, while WR Justin Hardy (#2, 6-0, 190), Carden’s go-to target, also has late second-day potential. Meanwhile, WR Cam Worthy (#9, 6-1, 220) and WLB Mo Falls (#48, 6-2, 250) are other later round or free-agent ECU candidates. Its been a tumultuous season at Florida that ended with the firing of head coach Will Muschamp. If there is any consolation for the Gators its that junior DE Dante Fowler (#6, 6-3, 265) could be a top 10-15 pick at the upcoming draft, although pro scouts will be looking for consistent effort against the Pirates on Saturday. At the same time, junior RB Matt Jones (#24, 6-1, 230) and junior OT D.J. Humphries (#70, 6-5, 305) have early third-day potential, while the Gators have a number of decent later round prospects including junior OG Tyler Moore (#73, 6-4, 320), massive OT Trenton Brown (#74, 6-7, 350), OT Chaz Green (#75, 6-5, 300), C Max Garcia (#76, 6-3, 315), WLB Mike Taylor (#51, 6-0, 235) and P Kyle Christy (#4, 6-2, 200).

Coug DL headed to draft; Sooner WR to return … Washington State junior DE Xavier Cooper is the latest underclassmen to announce that they will be entering the upcoming draft. The 6-4, 295-pound Cooper, who had 37 tackles including 5 sacks for the Cougars this fall, has some late-round potential as a 5-tech 3-4 DE. On the other hand, Oklahoma got a little of good news with the announcement that junior WR Sterling Shepard, the team’s leading receiver this past fall, will stay in Norman for his senior season.

Next shoe falls in Philly … The rumored tension in Philadelphia between G.M. Howie Roeman and head coach Chip Kelly appears to have been resolved with Kelly taking over the Eagles’ personnel department, while Roseman gets ‘promoted’ to executive vice president of football operations just days after owner Jeff Lurie saying he would be staying on as G.M. Bottom line is that if there was a tug-of-war between the two the clear winner is Kelly who is now firmly and unquestionably in control of the team’s roster. Kelly will also be responsible for hiring a new personnel executive of his choosing. All of this comes in the wake of the firing last week of Tom Gamble, the team’s director of player personnel, although the fact that Gamble was reportedly an ally of Kelly is a tad difficult to fathom.