SAY WHAT you want about Mark Snyder, but you must say this: He hasn't always had the best of luck.
SAY WHAT you want about Mark Snyder, but you must say this: He hasn't always had the best of luck.
Yeah, yeah, I hear some of you: Snyder was lucky to get a fifth season as head coach of a struggling Marshall football program. I gotcha.
But here at the top of June, more than 60 looooong days (the longer, the better) before the start of preseason camp, let that go for a minute. Give the guy a break, at least for today. After his last jolt of astoundingly bad news, he needs one.
In case you missed it last week, one Anthony D. Graham, known better to the world as A.J., missed his graduation lineup because he got picked out of a police lineup. He remains in the Leon County Jail in Tallahassee, Fla., held without bail on a robbery with a firearm charge.
He was a dual-threat quarterback, one good enough to sneak out of nowhere and win Florida's "Mr. Football" award. He was one of the most highly touted members of Marshall's last signing class, one of those late finds that get recruitniks lathered up in the first week of February. He was hailed as Marshall's long-sought Quarterback of the Future, maybe the immediate future.
Now his future doesn't look so great and Herd fans are even more depressed.
As always, the burden of proof rests with the prosecution, but I wouldn't want to swap places with Graham. I'm not an expert in the Florida criminal system, but I am thinking that state is grouchier than most about gun-related offenses. And if you've read that state's statute on the subject, you know a judge can hand out any sentence for a robbery with firearm charge, up to life.
Again, I'll pass on being in Graham's shoes. And, for that matter, those of Snyder, who really had no choice but to release Graham from his scholarship.
The cynics say there's a reason Graham fell into Marshall's lap. (Actually, the real cynics in Florida are wondering how Bobby Bowden let this one get away, but ...) I'm sure Snyder's biggest detractors are faulting the coaching staff for not researching Graham's background enough.
Perhaps. On the other hand, he seemed to win over the folks at Tallahassee's Godby High. I figure Godby coach Shelton Crews has to be beside himself after vouching for Graham and his leadership abilities. "He's a very quiet kid, very cool, calm," Crews told me on signing day.
I doubt that any background checking pointed to what transpired last week. Graham's situation probably shouldn't be added to the heap of Snyder's sins, real or perceived. As lousy as the timing was - right after the DeQuan Bembry/Darius Marshall incident - it's probably for the best that it happened before Graham arrived in Huntington.
(As a bonus, Marshall doesn't get hit with Fulmer Cup points!)
In the realm of "what else can go wrong," this ranks right up there with Albert McClellan ripping his ACL during a no-pads practice. Or Emmanuel Spann blowing his knee out the day before spring practice. Or Jimmy Skinner's tipped-ball interception against Kansas State in 2005 - no, the decision wasn't the best, but the Herd gets by with it the other 99 times out of 100.
The Snyder era has proved ripe for second-guessing. But if you don't feel at least a twinge of sympathy for the man these days, you have no heart.
SAY WHAT you want about Mark Snyder, but you must say this: He hasn't always had the best of luck.
Yeah, yeah, I hear some of you: Snyder was lucky to get a fifth season as head coach of a struggling Marshall football program. I gotcha.
But here at the top of June, more than 60 looooong days (the longer, the better) before the start of preseason camp, let that go for a minute. Give the guy a break, at least for today. After his last jolt of astoundingly bad news, he needs one.
In case you missed it last week, one Anthony D. Graham, known better to the world as A.J., missed his graduation lineup because he got picked out of a police lineup. He remains in the Leon County Jail in Tallahassee, Fla., held without bail on a robbery with a firearm charge.
He was a dual-threat quarterback, one good enough to sneak out of nowhere and win Florida's "Mr. Football" award. He was one of the most highly touted members of Marshall's last signing class, one of those late finds that get recruitniks lathered up in the first week of February. He was hailed as Marshall's long-sought Quarterback of the Future, maybe the immediate future.
Now his future doesn't look so great and Herd fans are even more depressed.
As always, the burden of proof rests with the prosecution, but I wouldn't want to swap places with Graham. I'm not an expert in the Florida criminal system, but I am thinking that state is grouchier than most about gun-related offenses. And if you've read that state's statute on the subject, you know a judge can hand out any sentence for a robbery with firearm charge, up to life.
Again, I'll pass on being in Graham's shoes. And, for that matter, those of Snyder, who really had no choice but to release Graham from his scholarship.
The cynics say there's a reason Graham fell into Marshall's lap. (Actually, the real cynics in Florida are wondering how Bobby Bowden let this one get away, but ...) I'm sure Snyder's biggest detractors are faulting the coaching staff for not researching Graham's background enough.
Perhaps. On the other hand, he seemed to win over the folks at Tallahassee's Godby High. I figure Godby coach Shelton Crews has to be beside himself after vouching for Graham and his leadership abilities. "He's a very quiet kid, very cool, calm," Crews told me on signing day.
I doubt that any background checking pointed to what transpired last week. Graham's situation probably shouldn't be added to the heap of Snyder's sins, real or perceived. As lousy as the timing was - right after the DeQuan Bembry/Darius Marshall incident - it's probably for the best that it happened before Graham arrived in Huntington.
(As a bonus, Marshall doesn't get hit with Fulmer Cup points!)
In the realm of "what else can go wrong," this ranks right up there with Albert McClellan ripping his ACL during a no-pads practice. Or Emmanuel Spann blowing his knee out the day before spring practice. Or Jimmy Skinner's tipped-ball interception against Kansas State in 2005 - no, the decision wasn't the best, but the Herd gets by with it the other 99 times out of 100.
The Snyder era has proved ripe for second-guessing. But if you don't feel at least a twinge of sympathy for the man these days, you have no heart.
nn
It didn't escape my notice that Graham was listed at 6-foot-3, 160 pounds on his booking information. He was listed in my signing story as 6-4, 194, and Crews said Graham weighed in during his MU visit at 206.
That's quite disconcerting that he could have lost 46 pounds in a matter of months. But I'm thinking that's not quite the case - there have been a few quarterbacks in our day listed with exaggerated heights and weights. We could throw in 40-yard dash times, too.
Graham may have lost weight by bad habits, but I'm not so sure he ever got within shouting distance of 206.
nn
Random rumblings:
A Rutgers season-ticket holder came to the defense of that school's athletic director, Tim Pernetti, over my criticism of the Scarlet Knights' schedule this fall. As you may remember, the Knights not only play two members of the Football Cheesecake Subdivision, they will play Texas Southern, a game their walk-ons would win.
He points out that Pernetti, who came to RU this spring from an executive position at CBS College Sports, inherited the schedule and a tough fiscal situation related to expansion of the football stadium. Still, the fan is rather unhappy to buy season tickets at a higher price for a dreadful seven-game home schedule.
I also heard from South Florida fans. Let me just say this: In a battle of wits, I'll take Rutgers and lay the points.
So if Memphis has to vacate its 2007-08 basketball season, as is likely the case, do I have to erase the memory of Derrick Rose dominating at Cam Henderson Center? And do we reset the Tigers' Conference USA winning streak to 19 games, instead of 61?
I'm always amazed at the occasional case of somebody posing as an athlete to take a college board exam. Back in my day, a 16-year-old had a much easier time purchasing alcohol than I did gaining the right to take my own ACT. I think I had to submit two forms of ID, take a urine test and sign an affidavit in blood, or something like that. There may have been armed guards at all exits, but I've tried to forget it all.
I'm also amazed that anybody would squander a good chunk of his Saturday to take an exam for somebody else. My price for that would have been prohibitive.
Upon seeing the coaches decide to no longer reveal their final vote in the ESPN/USA Today Top 25, I again wonder: Do major college head coaches have any standing when they teach their players about courage?
Reach Doug Smock at 304-348-5130 or dougsm...@wvgazette.com.
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