Sunday, August 20, 2017

Lafayette football: The QB search continues


John Garrett knew it was coming. The new Lafayette College was facing the media at the annual Media Day luncheon last week, and it was inevitable that he would have to face questions about his quarterback battle at some point.

It came at the very beginning of the question-and-answer period, and I’m happy to say I was not the first to bring it up. I might be accused of being a broken record on the subject, so I waited patiently and let Express-Times writer Brad Wilson throw it out.

Garrett delivered some of the familiar phrases like “great group of guys”, “we don’t make the depth chart,” “a really competitive situation”, “when it is clearly determined by the players by their performances on the field”, “a meritorious situation.”

He said the process of evaluating all these quarterbacks hadn’t slowed the progress of installing the offense the Leopards will use when they open the season at Monmouth on Sept. 2. So, finally I asked how long he could continue to evaluate before deciding which QB would prepare for the opener as the designated No. 1.



At that point, Garrett, who has been described to me as ”unflappable” because of the coolness with which he approaches a ticklish problem, went out of character for the first time since I’ve been interviewing him.

“It’s getting close, Paul, isn’t it?” Garrett said, drawing laughter through the room.

“Are you getting a little nervous?”

I hardly had time to get out the words, “I am,” than he added, “I’m not. We’ve got … some guys who have proven they can probably go in the game and play.”

Without ever mentioning a name, he let everyone know that John Garrett the offensive coordinator and John Garrett the head coach are very much on the same page. I’ll bet the newest member of the Lafayette staff, quarterbacks coach David Girardi, is right there, too.

I touched briefly on the QBs with a pair of receivers on media day, too.

Matt Mrazek, who has caught balls from three different quarterbacks in his career – Zach Zweizig, Drew Reed and Blake Searfoss – said, “Whoever Coach Garrett is going with and whoever steps in, I think the offense will rally around him and I can’t wait.”

And tight end Dylan Wadsworth said, “Everyone has been working on executing and being in the right spots; and as long as we’re in the right spots, whoever it is throwing us the ball in the first game, I think we’ll be prepared and everyone’s going to be confident and we’ll be able to execute.”

Maybe I should let it go, but I can’t bring myself to do that. I know Josh Davis and Austin McCrum were placed 1-2 by Garrett at the start of preseason camp, but I’m led to believe that things may have changed. One interested spectator estimated that 80 percent of the snaps went to freshman Sean O’Malley on Aug. 12, with Cole Northrup getting second most and McCrum getting very few. A report from the scrimmage a week later indicated O’Malley again was first in, with McCrum second. Davis did very little throwing on Media Day and other watchers haven’t seen him in action. Sorry to say, I didn’t inquire about him during the Garrett Q&A.

If the schedule as Garrett told me the last time we talked is still in force, the practices have now shifted away from installation of offense to preparation for Monmouth – and Spt. 9 opponent Sacred Heart as well. With nationally ranked Villanova and Ivy League cofavorites Harvard and Princeton as the Leopards’ other non-conference opponents, the first two games seem to have more than incidental significance.

I’m hoping I’ll see a contact practice this week and have a better idea. I’ll be writing a season preview in the next 10 days and would like to get some lineups nailed down, but I’m not holding my breath.  Coach Garrett may favor fast practices, but he doesn’t mind keeping his foot on the brake when it comes to sharing his personnel.   








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