The temperature was climbing toward 90 as the C.W. Post football team practiced Tuesday, but the heat has been turned off the program, especially coach Bryan Collins. The white hot light of scrutiny that came with the addition of Jason Gwaltney has dimmed.
Gwaltney is gone, off to Kean University (N.J.), leaving Collins with a team he terms ``nondescript.’’ That seems to be fine with him. Collins does not say it, but the strong sense is that he is relieved to start a new season without the constant theme of all Gwaltney all the time.
``We had the opportunity here to get a very good running back, arguably one of the best runningback's ever to come out of Long Island,’’ Collins said in his comfortably air conditioned office. It was nearly a year ago, around Labor Day, when the former North Babylon star made Post his latest stop on the college football map after two aborted stays at West Virginia and barely one practice at Nassau CC.
My broadcast colleague, Jordan Lauterbach, and I have had many conversations about this issue.
While he thinks the Pioneers will be better off without Jason Gwaltney, I wish he was still here in Brookville. Despite his poor conviction off the field and his propensity to get in trouble, Gwaltney was a the biggest positive difference maker last season, and would have been again this season.
He was fun to watch. He was dominant. He kept CW Post in the game. Now coming into the new season, it seems like the team will become the anemic squad it was last year without Gwaltney. Unless someone can step up and fill those massive shoes as a slam dunk playmaker, it's looking like another long season for the Pioneers.
--Max Caster
0 comments:
Post a Comment