News from Spring Drills

Oh, yeah, it's spring. No doubt about it. I know it's spring because I, like many other crazy Lehigh football fans, are pouring over the new copy of the Spring Prospectus (just released by Lehigh), drinking up on the Alumni Bulletin's cover story on senior QB Sedale Threatt, and reading up on the latest ink from the Morning Call (Keith Groller's "Lehigh Digs In During Spring Drills"). And in all this spilled ink, there's plenty of fascinating information. I'd suggest you click these three links if you love Lehigh football, since if THESE articles don't get you pumped for September, nothing will.

Let's start with Mr. Groller's piece in the Morning Call, which starts with the bombshell that four seniors have gotten medical exceptions and will be able to play a 5th year due to medical exemption: LB Travis Stinson, LB Rusty Campion, DB/WR Brannan Thomas, and C John Reese. The addition of these players - three of whom were starters last year - have got to be a huge boost to the entire team. Having Campion and Thomas back could add some important senior leadership to a defense which graduated seven starters.

Of the four, however, Reese could be the most important - not only is he an all-league performer, but he's the only center who has snapped to our QB Sedale Threatt - that can only be good news, getting that continuity under center for Sedale's senior year. Coach Coen emphatically agrees - ''It'll be great to have John back out there because we need him,'' he said. Early on, the development of the offensive line seems to be one of coach's big focus areas this spring.

Some other choice quotes from the piece:

''I feel like we're so much farther along,'' Coen said. ''At this time last year, I was still trying to get to know everybody. Everybody's working harder. It's a great bunch of kids who want to get better. We need this [spring] period. We need to get them ready.''

''We lost so many good players, particularly on the lines,'' Coen said. ''We've got a lot of holes. So, now, as a coaching staff we've got to create opportunities for some of these kids to step up and win jobs. It's going to be a very physical springtime. We need to get after it and play a lot of football because we've got to find out who can line up for us on fall Saturdays.''

''We need to move forward and we are, but we realize we were in a lot of games last year that we could have won, but just didn't,'' Coen said. ''We've got to find a way to fight through the adversity in those close games. Champions are great fighters and that's why our theme for this year is: Fight Like Champions.''

"Fight Like Champions". I smell a T-shirt coming!

The spring prospectus shows us a little more detail as well about some of the upcoming battles. Especially at linebacker, prominently mentioned are seniors Rashaun Gasaway and Justin Weaver, as well as juniors Tim Diamond, Ben Pravata, and Dan Torino and sophomore Matt Cohen. Add 5th years' Rusty Campion and Travis Stinson to that mix, and you've got a very intriguing mix of upperclassmen, up-and-comers, and starting experience.

Some of the other interesting tidbits are some battles at some different spots, most notably tight end and fullback. Junior Troy Healion starts on top of the depth chart at TE (and was a favorite target of Sedale's at the goal line), but sophomore Conor Crawford or senior Joe Sutherland could possibly make a run at a starting nod. Similarly, senior John Piascik and junior Adam Watson should be in a tight race at FB, so there's plenty of questions to answer this spring.

Finally, Bill Doherty at the Lehigh Alumni Bulletin penned a great, touching piece on QB Sedale Threatt that is simply an outstanding look at Sedale's life so far. It starts with highlights from the Lehigh/Villanova broadcast (including the infamous "Down 14-0, Lehigh will either fight back or pack it in" announcement by the CN8 announcers - god, I loved that!) and seamlessly weaved it into Sedale's life story. If you thought that anything came easy to Sedale or his mom, I implore you to read the piece. Truly a great job of telling his story.

If the story weren't enough, there are even some headlines coming out of the piece as well:

[Former Lehigh head coach Pete] Lembo still keeps up with Threatt's exploits, and predicts great things for him this year.

"Sedale will be one of the best quarterbacks, if not the very best, in I-AA football next year," Lembo says.

And his old high school coach foresees Threatt shining on an even bigger stage.

"People laugh at me all the time, but I believe that Sedale Threatt will play pro football," says Souza. "He just has 'it' and he just never stops working, never stops competing. He's well aware of all the sacrifices that his mom has made for him, sacrificing her own dreams so that he could live his. And his dream is to play in the pros. With all that he's overcome in life, I wouldn't bet against him.

"And if he doesn't make it in the NFL, he'll be a big-time success in the business world with his charisma, his smarts, his Lehigh degree. Either way, there will be a happy ending to this story."

Can Sedale make the NFL? Honestly, I do not know the answer to that question, but one thing I do know is that everything depends on his senior year and how he improves. I've met Sedale; he is a kid with great charisma, a true leader, and a great student of football. He certainly is a kid who I really WANT to make it to the NFL. But it all depends on this season coming up.