Grobe: Most Important Ability is Durability
Jim Grobe is of my generation, so I can understand why he’s a bit behind the technological curve when he refers to a broken record.
Who has a phonograph record in this age of digital, broken or otherwise?
But the line that Grobe keeps skipping back to like the broken record to which he alludes is that for a player to get on the field this season he has to get on the field. In other words, he can’t play while he’s standing on the sidelines hurt. Grobe is as compassionate and understanding as any football coach, and moreso than most, but he also realizes his job doesn’t give him the luxury of patience when it comes to the physical condition of his players. Someone has to play when the Deacons open against Baylor on Sept. 5, and he’ll spend the next three weeks figuring out not just who is good enough, but who is available.
So players who spend too much time on the sidelines get left behind once the train pulls from the station. Grobe has mentioned many times that older players are usually more durable than younger teammates.
“The thing that was so good about an Aaron Curry, or a guy like Alphonso Smith and Kevin Patterson and Chip Vaughn—you go right down the list and all of our better players have been durable guys,’’ Grobe said. “So you don’t miss practice snaps, and you don’t miss game snaps. And that’s what’s happened to some of these guys that we’re counting on this year. They’ve missed too many snaps.’‘
Ted Randolph has apparently gotten the message. Athletics trainer Don Steelman of the Deacons said yesterday that Randolph, a fifth-year senior who has moved from defensive tackle back to tight end, was hobbled a pulled hamstring. Moments later I walked by the tight end drills and saw Randolph in full uniform, gritting it out and doing as much as he could.
Two younger players who have missed valuable time this week with pulled hamstrings are freshmen Michael Campanaro and Quan Rucker. Campanaro is a 5-10, 175-pound running back/receiver from Clarksville, Md. who was one of the more ballyhooed members of the class. Rucker is a 6-0, 185-pound receiver from Statesville who has been clocked at 4.45 in the 40-yard dash. It would have been a stretch to expect either to play this season, but their early injuries may well have ensured them a redshirt season.
Chris Givens, a redshirt freshman receiver from Wylie, Tex. expected to compete for a spot in the receiver rotation, left practice Wednesday with an injured shoulder. He’s not expected to be out long. If he wants to play against Baylor, he had better not be.
The train will move on, with or without him.