Former Kent State QB Julian Edelman had a big day in his first regular season NFL game on Sunday afternoon. Filling in for an injured Wes Welker, Edelman debuted with eight catches for 98 yards. The Patriots lost to the Jets 16-9 but it was good to see Julian get his chance. Edelman also had two kick returns for 39 yards and a punt return for two yards. The Boston Herald writes about Edelman's debut here.
David Carducci was not shy in sharing his opinions on the Kent State football program in today's Record Courier. After watching Saturday's game and following the team for several years, it is hard not to agree with the article.
"He has some veteran players on this team who make the same mistakes every week, every season. Those young men should never see the field again. Allowing them to play or even practice is an insult to players like Jarvis, who demonstrated a pride in his performance with every snap he played at Kent State, and who showed how much he cared about his coaches and his teammates by ignoring the recommendation of his doctors and leaving Robinson Memorial Hospital in a wheelchair just to be at Dix Stadium Saturday night."
Brian Lainhart continues to be one of the bright spots for the team. On Monday he was named MAC East Defensive Player of the Week. Lainhart had 11 tackles, 2 forced fumbles and an interception in Saturday's 34-14 loss to Iowa State.
It doesn't look good that QB Giorgio Morgan will play on Saturday. Doug Martin had this to say about the status this morning during the MAC Football teleconference. "I just don’t know. It’s going to be a day-by-day thing. Last night watching him in practice I would doubt that he would play. He’s still really hampered with the ankle; he’s not moving very well and until he can really go out and protect himself and play like he’s capable of we don’t want to put him out there. Spencer played so well, we’ll probably just stay where we are. He’s had MRI’s, he’s had everything done, there’s no damage. It’s just a typical sprained ankle. There’s nothing real serious there, it’s just him getting back to where he can move around."
The Miami RedHawks come to Kent on Saturday night and they have some problems of their own. After being shutout in their first two games to Kentucky and Boise State, it took the 11th quarter of the season for them to score. They did so in a 48-26 loss on Saturday at Western Michigan. Miami had turnover problems of their own with five of them, including fumbling on the first play from scrimmage that led to a WMU touchdown. Miami coach Mike Haywood participated in the MAC Football teleconference this morning. "The players really got that psychological monkey off their back in finally scoring; it seemed like they became a lot more relaxed once they scored the first touchdown," said Haywood. "I thought they executed a little bit better and had a little bit more confidence. We have to build upon that confidence as we go into Kent and really looking forward to that opportunity."
Doug Martin had this to say about his team's matchup with the RedHawks on Saturday night. "The first thing you see when you turn on the film is their kids played really, really hard on both sides of the ball and they are very athletic, they've got speed. One of the things when I first came in this league, we looked at Miami. They always had speed and that was kind of the team we tried to emulate in recruiting and trying to recruit the same type of players. They do a great job, especially in defense, I think of utilizing their talent, putting guys in position where they can get mismatches on people. It's a really well coached team and I can say they're going to play hard."
The Kent State men's basketball team had added a new player to its roster for the 2009-10 season and his name is Brian Frank. Frank is a walk on for the upcoming season. He is a 6-4 guard/forward combo and a native of Florida. He attended Buchholz High School and IMG Academy. He started his undergraduate career at the College of Wooster. He averaged 15.3 points per game and 5.3 rebounds per game as a senior at Buchholz.
Kent State volleyball senior Arjola Prenga was named MAC Offensive Player of the Week after the Golden Flashes won the 2009 Kent State/Mizuno Open this past weekend. Prenga was named MVP of the tournament.
Junior cross country runner Alexandra Lizarribar has been named Kent State Athlete of the Week.
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
It's about time somebody told the truth about Kent football, but Carducci is still a little soft in the attack. He essentially blames the players, who he simultaneously cosiders talented enough to compete and win in the MAC. Players must be taught. They must be pushed. It has been clear for years that Doug Martin is simply in over his head as a head coach. If these "talented" athletes do not perfrom year after year, who is to blame? The players? Only in the sense that they are the ones who physically have failed to win. It is the coaches' responsibilty to teach, challenge and motivate. Are 100+ players supposed to coach themselves? I don't care how many great athletes are on this Kent roster or any college roster; without a LEADER (coach) they're not going to win. It is 100% clear that a significant number of Kent football players simply do not respect their coaches and therefore underacheive.
The problem is Doug Martin. Is he soft on them? Is he too hard on them when he shouldn't be? The number of injuries that have killed Kent over the Martin era are significant and seem to indicate overtraining or poor medical attention….who knows. Is Martin a poor overal manager? Yes. Is he a poor game-day coach? Yes. Has he been able to correct glaring deficiencies over the years? No. Has he wasted talent? Yes.
Martin must go. Kent must decide to hire a real head coach or cancel the program (or move to I-AA).
Much of the blame since 1994 is L. Kennedy. I know everyone has lined up to kiss his ass over the years for the BB program, but he never once, not one damn time, did he ever make the right decision for the football program. How could one man be wrong so many times and be totally unwilling or unable to make needed decisons? I'm glad a new AD is on the way. I'm only sad that he isn't in place NOW. The earlier they fire Martin the better. Mark my words! Kent State wins 8 games next season (without Eugene Jarvis) under whomever the new AD hires. Martin has wasted all the talent he was able to recruit. Give him credit for Edelman and Cribbs, but he's a terrible head coach.
While I am certainly frustrated with the football program, I don't think the blame falls squarely on Kennedy's shoulders for this. Don't forget the program seemed like it was just starting to turn around in '04 under Dean Pees when the Patriots came calling. I think that hurt a lot more than people want to admit but I agree that Doug Martin seems pretty clueless and it's time yet again for a change. There are so many problems with the football program, but to say Kennedy has done nothing is not true; he just hasn't done everything, mostly in regards to coaching. The reason people think highly of Kennedy isn't just because of the basketball team, it's because ALL of Kent State's teams have enjoyed success at one time or another outside of football while he's been here. That's why Kent State has been the highest ranked MAC school in the Sears Trophy for several years now and has been in the top three of both the Reese and Jacoby standings for something like 11 years in a row, something no other MAC school has even gotten close to. And all that is IN SPITE of the football team being so bad every freakin year. Football is really his one blemish on a pretty good mid-major program. I want a good football team as much as any fan, not only for pride but also to help the athletic department financially instead of being such a huge drain.
Even successful MAC football programs are a drain on the overall athletic department budget. Over, in I-A football, only a tiny percentage of football programs actually make money. In the state of Ohio only Ohio State football brings in money that not only pays for football but funds other non-revenue sports as well. Kent, terrible year after year in FB since the mid-1970s, is an enormous drain on the athletic department: equipment, travel, salaries, insurance, marketing, stadium upkeep and improvements, etc. etc.
As far as Laign Kennedy, let's have a little perspective on Kent's athletic program before he became the AD. Kent had consistent winners in many sports before 1994: wrestling, baseball, gymnastics, etc. Also, prior to Kennedy, the mens and womens basketball teams were respectable. I admit that Kennedy seemed to hit the number with coaching choices for mens BB, but it's not like he ressurected the entire sports program from smoldering ruins.
His inability to manage the football program, i.e. hire a successful head coach, is a major dark spot on his career at Kent. The best that can be said of him is that at least he was not the AD who hired Pete Coredelli. Still, Kennedy has sway at Kent and could have pulled the plug on Martin long ago. He didn't and now Kent, its alumni, and fans have to suffer for it. Arguments can be made evey which way, but nobody is going to convince me that Deen Pees was "this close" to turning that program around. All those years and he peaked out at 6-5 in 2001. Kennedy might be a nice man. He might even have an eye for basketball coaches. He does not, however, have a feel for football and the team's record since 1994 proves this.
I think secretly many people think it's impossible to win at Kent. They take solace in the idea that they fought hard against impossible odds, etc. That's all bullcrap. There is nothing at Kent that precludes a winning football program but administrators and ADs like Kennedy who simply wouldn't know a competent head coach if he bit him on the ass. Kent has the worst winning percentage in FB since 1976 of all current I-A teams. That's at least partly Kennedy's fault, no? I'd say he carries at least 15 years of guilt. 15 years – one .500 season; and three inarguably horrible head coaches chosen by Kennedy: Martin (20-41), Pees (17-51), and Corrigal (8-35-1). Thank God Kennedy won't be choosing the next coach.
About Pees: after going 6-5 in 2001, Pees' next two teams went 3-9 and 5-7. Let's just say I don't see the turn-around in his career at Kent that others might. For Pees personally, he's the luckiest man alive that Belechik saw something in him. Pees must have some skills to work for the Patriots, but I'm 100% sure we will never see him as head coach of any team on any level again.