College Football Notebook: Shoulder surgery for Tebow

Associated Press

The college football notebook ...

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Florida quarterback Tim Tebow had surgery on his right shoulder Monday and was expected to be ready for spring practice in April.

The 2007 Heisman Trophy winner had surgery at Shands Florida Surgical Center to remove a bone spur and hopefully reduce chronic inflammation.

Tebow announced Sunday that he will return for his senior season.

He injured his non-throwing shoulder against Kentucky in October 2007 and re-aggravated it earlier this season. He had painkilling injections before each of the final six games last season. It was unclear whether he received shots this season.

"The surgery went well," team physician Dr. Pete Indelicato said in a statement. "He should be able to begin throwing in the next three to four weeks and a full recovery is expected."

FLORIDA STATE

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida State safety Myron Rolle will study at Oxford instead of entering this year's NFL draft.

Rolle won a Rhodes scholarship in November and plans to seek a one-year master's degree in medical anthropology, The New York Times reported Monday in an entry on its college football blog.

"I'm very excited to go," Rolle wrote in a text message to the newspaper.

Rolle, projected to be an early round pick, said he plans to enter the 2010 NFL draft.

CLEMSON

CLEMSON, S.C. — Dabo Swinney doesn't appear to be shaking things up with the Clemson coaching staff heading into his first full year officially leading the team.

Instead, the new coach will rely mostly on familiar faces such as Billy Napier, who on Monday was promoted to offensive coordinator. Napier will also serve as quarterbacks coach.

"Billy and I have worked together for four of the last five years," Swinney said in a statement. "We have a good working relationship and the same philosophy, the same approach."

SOUTHERN MISS

HATTIESBURG, Miss. — Southern Miss has given first-year football coach Larry Fedora a contract extension following a strogn finish.

The Golden Eagles (7-6) ended the season with five straight wins and knocked off Sun Belt champion Troy 30-27 in overtime in the New Orleans Bowl, extending their streak to 15 straight winning seasons.

PLAYER DIES

CHARLOTTE — A North Carolina college football player has died from complications of a seizure he suffered while visiting his family during the holidays.

Stephen Seard's family said he died in Owings Mills, Md., on Saturday. Seard was a junior offensive lineman and engineering student at Johnson C. Smith University in Charlotte.

SHRINE PICKS

ATLANTA — Georgia linebacker Dannell Ellerbe will be joined by two Georgia Tech players, defensive tackle Darryl Richard and cornerback Jahi Word-Daniels, in Saturday's East-West Shrine Game in Houston.

Ellerbe, from Hamlet, played in 43 games with 20 starts in his career. He was a second-team All-SEC pick as a junior.