Clawson move could impact Cavaliers' staff
By Jay Jenkins / jjenkins@dailyprogress.com | 978-7250
January 11, 2008

Multiple media outlets reported Thursday night that University of Richmond coach Dave Clawson would officially be named the offensive coordinator at the University of Tennessee today.

Should that announcement come, as expected, it could set off a domino effect that might impact Virginia’s football program.

Mike London, the Cavaliers’ defensive coordinator, would likely be among the top candidates for the vacant position at Richmond.

Why Richmond?

London, 47, played football at Richmond from 1979-82, graduated from the private school in 1983 and worked in the area after graduation as a detective.

He also broke into the coaching profession at the college level at Richmond as linebackers coach in 1988-89.

It would not be the first time London’s name was attached to a vacancy with Richmond’s top spot.

In 2004, London interviewed to become the school’s head coach, but multiple sources confirmed that Clawson edged out London because London did not have professional experience or experience as a coordinator at the collegiate level.

London now has both.

After working in ‘05 with the NFL’s Houston Texans as the defensive line coach, London returned to Virginia as the program’s defensive coordinator. Virginia, which went 9-4 this season, ranked No. 23 in the nation in total defense, allowing 332.4 yards per game.

Reportedly, Clawson inked a five-year extension last month with Richmond, a deal that boasted a base salary around $300,000.

In March, the University of Virginia released London’s annual salary as $240,000.

London might have company in the quest for Richmond’s job.

South Florida offensive coordinator Greg Gregory served at Richmond in the same capacity in 2000 as the Spiders went 10-3 and made the NCAA Division I-AA playoffs.

Virginia and Richmond are scheduled to play next season at Scott Stadium in September.

 

Grins, gaffes and Gould
By Jay Jenkins / jjenkins@dailyprogress.com | 978-7250
January 11, 2008

With the seconds winding down, Chris Gould capped off a miraculous comeback at Middle Tennessee State with a 34-yard field goal.

Vic Hall dazzled the crowd at Scott Stadium this season with a 67-yard punt return against Duke and stunned Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt by converting a fake field goal in a blowout win.

Punter Ryan Weigand burst onto the scene with a career-best day at Wyoming and propelled the performance into a season worthy of All-ACC honors, albeit on the second team.

Danny Aiken, just months removed from his ironed-pressed duds at Fork Union Military Academy, handled long snaps with precision in 12 of the 13 contests.

Yes, there were great glimpses of brilliance for Virginia’s special teams in 2007. There were, however, some forgettable moments.

Three punts were blocked. Two PATs never reached the uprights. Virginia Tech pulled off a reverse on a punt and Texas Tech converted an onside kick. And the blocking and communication often left lots to be desired on the units guided by special teams coach Bob Diaco.

“I think all we are really shooting for on special teams is to just play consistent all year,” said Gould, who also handled his share of short-field punts. “Obviously, we didn’t get a chance to do that too many times because we had a lot of ups and downs with Duke and Virginia Tech.

“I would say it was an up-and-down year for us on special teams.”

Placement kicks

Departed Starter - PK Chris Gould

Projected Starter - PK Chris Hinkebein (R-Fr.) or PK Jimmy Howell (Fr.)

Grade: B+

After a troublesome season as a junior in 2006, Gould adopted a new, two-style approach on field goals.

The move paid off - Gould nailed 16 of 20 field goals, including five at North Carolina, and made 35 of 37 PATs.

“I haven’t had a chance to sit down with any of the coaches to see how they viewed it, but I think it was a big increase and a good improvement from the year before,” Gould admitted. “I thought I remained pretty consistent.”

The decision to employ Gould in the final three games of the 2004 season as a punter kept the Pennsylvania native from enjoying a redshirt season. Without Gould back, Virginia faces an interesting battle at placekicker in August when training camp opens.

The most logical decision involves handing over the kicking duties to Hinkebein, a two-star recruit that redshirted this season.

Hinkebein, who stands at 6-foot-1 and 170 pounds, uses a three-step approach and has showcased a strong leg before contests this season.

“He is starting to learn the game a little more and starting to understand that you don’t have to put everything you have into every kick,” Gould proclaimed. “I saw his improvement over the course of the three or four months that I got to work with him and see him … and I think he has the opportunity to be pretty good in the next couple of years.

“It is going to take a little bit of an adjustment, but as long as he is willing to put the work in, I think he has the leg and talent to be successful at the next level.”

There is a wild card in the mix.

Recruited merely as a punter, Jimmy Howell has been encouraged to continue working on his placement kicks in his workouts.

Powell, who is currently 6-foot-6 and 250 pounds, boasts a career-long field goal of 48 yards.

“I talked to coach [Levern] Belin and he said that he talked to all the coaches and they said it would be a good idea for me to continue to work on those,” Howell admitted. “I kicked off and did field goals in high school, so I am going to continue to work on that, and potentially I could have all the starting kicking jobs.”

Howell did not handle PATs for West Florence High School (S.C.), but he had a good excuse. Howell was the team’s quarterback and was often the ballcarrier on runs into the end zone.

The winner of the battle can rest easy knowing that Hall returns as a proven holder on placement kicks.

“Vic was unbelievable this year,” Gould said. “He is just an all-around athlete and he can do anything he wants at any time on the field. He is just one of those guys that, if you stick him in, is going to get the job done.

“Obviously, his character and the want-to was shown through his move to corner, and he was really a special teams standout although it didn’t always look like he was being one.”

Punting

Departed starters - P Chris Gould and P Ryan Weigand

Projected starter - P Jimmy Howell

Grade: B-

The Cavaliers continued to operate with two-punter system throughout the 2007 season, a practice started late in the 2006 campaign.

Weigand handled the attempts from Virginia’s territory, booming 52 punts for an average of 45.2 yards. Despite not being nominated for league honors, Weigand was a write-in vote on enough ballots to secure a second-team All-ACC nod.

Weigand did finish his career on a sour note, registering a 23-yard punt that lost a battle with the wind in the Gator Bowl and set up Texas Tech’s game-winning drive.

Gould handled the shorter punts and put 19 of his 26 attempts inside the 20-yard line and had only three touchbacks. His most memorable punt pinned Maryland deep in the third quarter and led to a bone-crushing sack that Chris Long delivered for a safety.

It took 12 weeks, but after having three punts blocked, Virginia elected to switch from the pro-punt style for a spread formation.

It drew rave reviews from the players.

“We probably had 3 ½ weeks to work on it,” Weigand said. “I think part of the success had to do with the fact that Texas Tech was practicing the pro-punt the whole time and we came out in the spread-punt. I really don’t think they were expecting it.

“I have only been in that formation once and it worked well the one time that I was in it.”

Howell, the heir apparent, also liked what he saw from the formation.

“You have the spread and the three men that are there to protect the punter. I like it,” Howell said. “Many of the teams are starting to go to that and I think that is the way to go in the future.

“I have not seen a formation yet where a punter got a roughing call or any of that. You typically have a lot of time that formation.”

Howell, a two-star recruit, confidently said he expects to assume the starting role from the minute he enters the program.

“That’s what the coaches said … it is almost my job to lose,” Howell said. “I just want to go up there and do the best that I can.

“I am going to come in there well-prepared and give them everything they want, hang-time, distance, coffin corners.”

Howell should also benefit from the return of cornerback Mike Brown, an accomplished gunner in 2006. Brown missed the 2007 season with a torn ACL and his teammates do not underestimate his value on special teams.

“Mike Brown really did a great job on the punt team [in 2006],” Gould said. “He was one of those guys that ran down there and it seemed like he was always making a big hit on the punt returner.

“I don’t know if we lacked that this year or if Ryan and I weren’t getting the ball as high, but it seemed like we were lacking that enforcer on the punt team.”

Brown could be teamed up with rising sophomore Ras-I Dowling, a sure-fire tackler on special teams as a rookie.

“Dowling played well this year and with him getting a little bigger, a little stronger and wiser, he is going to be a great addition,” Weigand said. “With him and Mike Brown chasing down punts next year, as long as the punter - Jimmy Howell or John Thornton or whomever - puts the ball in play, I don’t see any reason why we shouldn’t be covering these punts.”

Long snapper

Departed starter - none

Projected starter - Danny Aiken (So.)

Grade: B

As Fork Union coach John Shuman predicted, Aiken was ready to perform on the next level.

Aiken, of course, struggled in his home debut against Duke, but erased the performance from his mind and lived up to the scholarship he was given.

“Danny had a great season,” Weigand said. “He was very dependable. Even after the Duke game, when he had the little blip, I never thought once, ‘Where is the snap going to go.’

“The thought never crossed my mind.”

Aiken has three years of eligibility remaining.

Return game

Departed starter - KR Josh Zidenberg

Projected starters - KR Cedric Peerman (Sr.), KR Mikell Simpson (Jr.), PR Vic Hall (Jr.)

Grade: C-

Virginia finished the season ranked second in the ACC in kickoff coverage, but coach Al Groh was not satisfied with the results from his return game.

The numbers did not lie - the Cavaliers ranked 7th in the league in kickoff returns and 8th in punt returns.

Hall was explosive early in the season and garnered 230 yards on 23 returns, but often struggled to find open space due to porous blocking.

Before missing the Gator Bowl after an altercation with a teammate at the team hotel in the days leading up to the game, rising senior Andrew Pearman handled a majority of the kickoff returns. Pearman started the season strong - he had a career-best 67-yard return at Wyoming - but appeared to lose a step after complications from a back injury.

Prior to his season-ending surgery after suffering an injury against Middle Tennessee, rising senior Cedric Peerman also handled eight kickoff returns, but teams often elected to kick away from the proven returner.

Despite the loss of special teams standout Zidenberg, Virginia certainly has options entering next season on both return teams.

In 2006, Brown assumed punt-return duties late in the season, and Staton Jobe and Cary Koch provide depth if needed.

The most obvious options to return kickoffs include Peerman, who is expected back at full strength, and rising junior Mikell Simpson, who has proven his breakaway speed.

Keith Payne and Raynard Horne, both rising sophomores, also practiced with the second-team kickoff return team, and the coaching staff may elect to look to maximize the touches for play-making receiver Kevin Ogletree.

 

Leitao sends a difficult message
By Jerry Ratcliffe / jratcliffe@dailyprogress.com | 978-7251
January 11, 2008

Dave Leitao was so disappointed with his basketball team last week that he searched his soul for a way to send the Cavaliers a strong message.

Virginia had been scorched by a very good Xavier squad on the road, a 38-point licking that could have been worse had the Musketeers not pulled their starters. Leitao, known for his fiery personality, was livid that his team gave up a staggering 18 three-point baskets and had played shoddy defense from the opening tip to the final buzzer.

It was a long plane ride home.

Somewhere along the way, Leitao decided that the Cavaliers would have to prove their worth to him once again. So, when they returned to Charlottesville late that night, he made some critical decisions.

Earning the UVa name

We’ve already documented some early morning and unusually long, grueling practices in which he emphasized going back to the basics. But the veteran coach didn’t stop there in trying to make his point.

When the Cavaliers showed up for practice, they found that their locker room was locked up and that their normal Virginia practice jerseys were also locked away, causing them to practice in regular, nondescript T-shirts. They had to carry their gear to and from practice because their inner sanctum privileges had been taken away.

It was Leitao’s way of saying that if they weren’t going to play Virginia basketball, then they wouldn’t dress in Virginia’s locker room or wear Virginia’s practice uniforms. In other words, they had to earn those things back.

“Not just when you lose a game, but operate in a manner in which we did [at Xavier], is a time to get back to basics and understand from the ground level why you’re here and what you have to do to be successful,” Leitao said Thursday. “Sometimes those things are taken for granted. The way for me to get things back to the basics was for our players to understand that most things in life are earned and not given. Privileges must be earned instead of just given away.”

Certainly, Leitao isn’t the first college basketball coach to pull such a motivational strategy. In fact, Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski did something similar a few years ago to make a point to one of his Blue Devils teams.

The Cameron cauldron

What complicates UVa’s current situation is that Leitao’s squad must bounce back this Sunday at Duke. Cameron Indoor Stadium’s frenzied atmosphere is renowned as the most hostile environment in college hoops. Good teams have unraveled under the pressure. Bad ones have melted into a pool of goo.

Leitao isn’t concerned with the crowd, but rather the players on the floor. Those players have compiled a 12-1 record thus far as both the Devils and Wahoos open ACC play.

Historically, the odds of Virginia winning at Cameron are not so good. The Cavs haven’t scratched out a victory in Durham since 1995, and that one required two overtimes.

While Leitao coaches to win, he will be looking for something perhaps more important during this trip. He will be looking to see if his players got the message.

He will be looking for suffocating defense. He will be looking for physical play, boxing out, rebounding. He will be looking for his players to not give up anything easy. Essentially, he will be looking for the same thing that Krzyzewski looks for in his players.

The inside players for both teams have been decimated by injuries, so Sunday night’s game could be a shootout between the deadeyes, gunning away from the perimeter. But Leitao and Coach K both realize that the team that walks out of Cameron with a “W” will do it with defense.

That’s what the Cavaliers have to prove to their coach. They have to rediscover their passion and leave everything out on the floor. Then they will have earned the right to call JPJ home again.


 

Zeglinski will miss rest of season
By Whitelaw Reid / wreid@dailyprogress.com | 978-7250
January 11, 2008

In a game last month against Northwestern, Sammy Zeglinski grabbed a loose ball, then attempted to make a quick cut around a defender.

It didn’t work out very well. Zeglinski wound up stumbling and committing a turnover.

At that moment, it was pretty obvious that the Virginia freshman wasn’t himself because of a bum ankle.

On Thursday, the UVa men’s basketball team announced that Zeglinski will be out for the rest of the season. Zeglinski, who has battled an ankle injury since the preseason, is expected to have another surgery - his second in the last two months.

Virginia coach Dave Leitao says the school hopes to obtain a medical redshirt for Zeglinski, thus preserving a year of his eligibility.

“Once you file the paperwork, it has to get looked at by the doctors, by the ACC and all those kinds of things,” said Leitao, whose team opens its ACC season at Duke on Sunday night. “I don’t have a whole lot of experience with dealing with it. I’ve been fortunate in the past not to have guys be injured in that way.”

A player is considered eligible for a medical redshirt if he has not appeared in more than 30 percent of his team’s games by the end of the season.

Since Zeglinski has appeared in just eight contests, he would appear to be a strong candidate.

“I’m still learning the process,” Leitao said, “but at the same point in time, I think once you have a debilitating injury that doesn’t allow you to perform and you are under the percentages - then that betters your chance to be able to receive that.”

Zeglinski, according to Leitao, isn’t down in the dumps.

“He’s a tough-minded guy,” Leitao said. “He’s obviously expressed disappointment - not personally, but his ability to help the team…

“But at the same point in time, I think he’s also encouraged by the fact that in order for him to do what his talents allow him to and what he came here to do, he has to be 100 percent healthy.”

In his brief time on the court, Zeglinski averaged 0.9 points and 1.9 assists.

His absence leaves Virginia with only one real point guard - senior Sean Singletary.

“Obviously not having [him] weakens our ability and rotations in the backcourt,” Leitao said, “and from a point-guard standpoint, it obviously means Sean will log a little more minutes. And Calvin [Baker], who has been very good for us so far, will play a little more point guard now.”

Dunks

The injury bug continues to haunt Virginia. Leitao said that as many as six players have been unable to practice in recent days because of various ailments. Senior Tunji Soroye, who has missed all but two games due to a knee problem, has a “chronic back issue,” according to Leitao. “It has nothing to do with the knee,” Leitao said. “The knee is fine, but he has to take a day off every now and then.”

Other Cavaliers who have battled injuries include Solomon Tat, Jamil Tucker, Will Harris, Ryan Pettinella and Lars Mikalauskas. Mikalauskas (shoulder) is the only player who will definitely be out for Sunday’s game at Duke.

 

Leitao uses lockout to dress down Cavs
Friday, Jan 11, 2008 - 12:07 AM

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- Those guys dressing in the hallways at John Paul Jones Arena?

University of Virginia men's basketball players.

U.Va. lost 108-70 at Xavier on Jan. 3. Since returning from Cincinnati, third-year coach Dave Leitao's players have found themselves locked out of the team's locker room. After practices, senior forward Adrian Joseph said, they have "to go home and take showers."

Sometimes, Leitao said yesterday, privileges "are taken for granted. Most things in life, not just basketball, are earned and not given."

Joseph, one of U.Va.'s captains, said the team has yet to develop a "mindset, a mentality, on how to approach a game. We've got a great locker room, we've got a great facility, and I guess we take it for granted and don't approach a game like we're supposed to. Not every time, but sometimes. And I guess Coach is doing what he's doing right now for us to have a different mindset about everything."

Asked yesterday when his players' locker-room privileges might be restored, Leitao was noncommittal. Virginia (10-3) opens ACC play Sunday night at No. 9 Duke (12-1).

"We've just got to play the game like we mean it, like we want it, and just go out and give it all we got," Joseph said. "Play like it's your last game." -- Jeff White

 

Ankle problem shelves Zeglinski
Cavs' guard hopes to redshirt after second surgical procedure
Friday, Jan 11, 2008 - 12:07 AM
By JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- Sammy Zeglinski's first season on the University of Virginia basketball team has ended prematurely.

A 6-0 freshman from Philadelphia, Zeglinski will have a second operation on his right ankle, U.Va. announced yesterday, and won't play again in 2007-08. U.Va. will ask the NCAA to grant Zeglinski a medical redshirt.

Because Zeglinski appeared in only eight games -- less than 30 percent of the total Virginia will play in 2007-08 -- and suffered a season-ending injury before the halfway point, he's expected to have no trouble getting an extra year of eligibility.

That would make Zeglinski, who's being groomed to replace senior Sean Singletary as the Cavaliers' point guard, a redshirt freshman next season. Other Cavaliers capable of playing the point in 2008-09 figure to include Calvin Baker, who's second on the team in assists this season, and 6-5 Sylven Landesberg, a highly regarded senior at Holy Cross High in Queens, N.Y.

At William Penn Charter School, Zeglinski never had serious problems with ankle injuries. But he hurt his right ankle after arriving at U.Va., and it never healed properly.

"It's been frustrating for him, because he hasn't been able to play full speed all year," his father, John Zeglinski, said yesterday. "Even when he played, he wasn't 100 percent."

In his eight games, Zeglinski totaled 15 assists, nine rebounds, seven points and three steals in 62 minutes.

His final 2007-08 appearance came Dec. 7 against Longwood. Two weeks later, he had arthroscopic surgery on his right ankle. The second operation should further stabilize the ankle.

"He wants to get healthy," his father said. "He wants to be himself again. If that means having surgery, the sooner the better in his eyes, because he wants" to start rehabbing and get back out on the court again.

 

UVa's tailback numbers impressive on examination
Payne’s old coach preaches patience
By Doug Doughty

At the time that tailback Cedric Peerman suffered a season-ending foot injury in the first quarter of Virginia’s sixth game, Mikell Simpson had carried the ball exactly twice all season.

Simpson did not carry the ball in the sixth game or the seventh game, and he didn’t start in Week 8, when he had his breakout 271-yard game in Virginia’s 18-17 over Maryland.

Since there was not a game when Peerman and Simpson shared tailback duties, it is interesting to look at their combined numbers: 226 carries for 1,155 yards and 13 touchdowns. They also had a combined 55 receptions.

Although Virginia needs to replace three offensive linemen, coach Al Groh has to like the looks of a 2008 tailback platoon that could include Peerman, who will be a senior; Simpson, who will be a junior, and would-be sophomore Keith Payne.

It’s a crowded situation even before you consider senior Andrew Pearman, sophomore Raynard Horne, redshirt freshman Max Milien and recruit Torrey Mack.

It’s also worth noting that, when Virginia opened the Gator Bowl in a one-back set, Rashawn Jackson got the call.

That’s nine scholarship running backs and you’ve got to wonder how many will make the 2008 opening-day roster.

Pearman was sent home from the Gator Bowl for behavioral reasons, so you have to wonder about his future, and Simpson was not cleared to play in the Gator Bowl until an academic matter was resolved.

Presumably, Simpson needs to stay on top of his academics in order to be in good standing for the 2008 season.

And, remember, Payne was suspended from team activities during the summer in order to concentrate on academics.

If able-bodied and available, Peerman and Simpson will be in the mix for 2008, but what of Payne, a former Group AAA state player of the year? Payne had 58 carries for 219 yards and two touchdowns this season, but was on the field for one play in the Gator Bowl.

Roanoke talk-show host and Cavalier antagonist Greg Roberts forwarded me an e-mail this week that said Payne had met with his former Oakton High School coach, Joe Thompson, to discuss his collegiate future.

Payne could not be reached for comment Thursday. Thompson said he has spoken with Payne but has not been party to any discussion about Payne looking at other schools.

“What I do know is, I talked to him Christmas Eve and he told me that he had been working with the first team,” Thompson said. “He was excited about that. Then, Simpson came back and I don’t know how much Keith played in the bowl, but he was disappointed about that.”

Presumably, the time that Payne got with the first team was in place of Simpson. When Jackson (6 foot 1, 254 pounds) was in the game, that was a set specific to Jackson, who previously had played fullback.

“I would guess the same thing,” Thompson said. “Leading up to the game, Keith got his hopes up; then they went with Simpson. I can’t argue with that. Simpson had a great season.

“You and I can rationally say that, but it’s tougher on a kid. He has to understand that plenty of good things happened this season. For whatever complaint he might have had, there’s a benefit to the time spent working with the first team.

“Everybody who plays the running back position is going to experience some discontent, but I told him that he needs to stay where he is. I don’t think it’s an issue. Matter of fact, I told him, ‘I don’t know the NCAA rules [for transferring] and it’s not my desire to find out.’

“We’ve got a good relationship with UVa and I don’t want to mess it up.”

 

Being at Tech, Ore should have known to make good decisions
Posted to: Bob Molinaro Sports
Bob Molinaro
Virginian-Pilot columnist
The Virginian-Pilot
© January 11, 2008

Poor judgment is the first step to real trouble.

Poor judgment on and off the field ended the college football career of Marcus Vick two years ago.

Poor judgment by Michael Vick ultimately led to gruesome discoveries, criminal prosecution, a devastated reputation and a 23-month prison sentence.

If there’s any place where athletes should be acutely aware of the serious repercussions that can come from poor decision making, it’s Virginia Tech.

Branden Ore hasn’t been charged with a crime, but it’s rarely a good thing when your name is included in a headline along with the word “drugs.”

It isn’t the best publicity for Tech and its football program, either.

The Hokies running back was a witness this week in an otherwise routine case involving the discovery of about 23 grams of crack cocaine in an automobile Blacksburg police stopped in June 2006. Ore, a passenger in the car driven by Tony Majette, testified that he didn’t know drugs were in the vehicle.

Ore’s testimony is good enough to satisfy authorities, but in the public forum, he’s open to charges of guilt by association. At the very least, hanging out with an alleged crack dealer makes him culpable of colossal stupidity.

Ore hasn’t exactly been a model of maturity at Tech. Last week, he was held out of the first quarter of the Orange Bowl for arriving late for the final practice.

A minor misstep, perhaps, but for some people, the small things have a way of adding up to bigger problems.

When Ore left summer school before this season, only to return to training camp out of shape and temporarily listed at No. 3 on the depth chart, was it just another small episode in immaturity or a sign that the kid truly doesn’t get it?

Said Elisha “Cadillac” Harris, who coached Ore at Indian River High in Chesapeake and remains close to his family, “There are some old habits you need to grow away from.”

Picking friends who aren’t drug dealers would be a decent start.

“He’s got to be mature and learn from the mistakes of others,” said Harris, who talks frequently with Ore.

We were all told that Ore had matured when he returned to the team as a redshirt sophomore following a brief sabbatical as a 7-Eleven warehouse employee.

Tech’s coaches sent Ore home to get his head straight. After missing the spring semester, he gave every indication he had.

“This has been a serious reality check,” he told the Pilot’s Kyle Tucker at the time.

That was in mid-April 2006. Seven weeks later, he was with Majette in the car when the bust went down.

That should have been a reality check – not just for Ore, but for anyone who thinks he’s headed in the right direction.

Since then, evidence suggests he hasn’t really learned a lot. In his case, maybe tougher love is needed, but we’ve seen too little of it so far from Tech coach Frank Beamer . That doesn’t make Beamer any different from almost all coaches who are too much invested in winning to make the tough decisions needed to put a player on the straight and narrow.

In the Orange Bowl, backup running back Kenny Lewis Jr., was averaging five yards per carry in the first quarter, but as soon as Ore had served out his mini-suspension, he was in the game, running the ball 23 times over the next three quarters.

That’ll show him.

A cynical world knows that most of the discipline meted out by college coaches to difficult, talented players is a charade. When Ore showed up before the season out of shape, he was “demoted” for two weeks of practice before being elevated to No. 1 running back.

Maybe not surprisingly, he didn’t have a great campaign. His struggles will keep him at Tech for a senior season, but some of his old (or current) habits could hurt him with the pros. Running backs of Ore’s caliber are a dime (bag) a dozen.

“He needs time to clean himself up and show people that he can be dependable and accountable,” Harris said. “He’s certainly seen enough people fail.”

By exhibiting better judgment, Ore can still demonstrate why he won’t be another casualty.