“He is no longer with the team."
That's Doug Marrone on David Legree and that's that. As noted yesterday, Legree is no longer a member of the team...again. And a couple days after moving Andrew Robinson to tight end, the Syracuse Orange suddently have two quarterbacks on the active roster instead of four. Marrone says he has no plans to move Robinson or Cody Catalina back to QB, leaving the door open for true freshman Charley Loeb to step in and be the #3 man once he's eligible.
Legree is the fifth scholarship player to leave the program since Marrone took over. Oh well...frees up a lot of scholarships for guys who really want to be here.
While everyone's attention is on the quarterback position, there's another issue brewing over on the placekicking side as well. Patrick Shadle graduated last season and took with him a wealth of experience. The Orange were left with a couple walk-ons, punter Rob Long and freshman Austin Wallis. The job is, in theory, Wallis' for the taking, especially since all three of the walk-ons have left the team. But just because Austin is the only man left standing doesn't mean the job is automatically his:
REPORTER: Do you have an evaluation of [kicker] Austin Wallis? I know it’s early in practice, but how is the place kicking position?
MARRONE: Not what we need.
REPORTER: Is it possible you have Rob Long kick, punt and do kickoffs?
MARRONE: Everything is possible at that position.
REPORTER: Are you going to hold open tryouts for kickoffs?
MARRONE: We’ve done that already.
i.e. get it together, Austie. Wallis did make the most of a kick at the end of practice yesterday but he's got a ways to go before convincing Dougles he's ready.
Couple more notes:
- Check out some photos from pactice...Syracuse.com/Frank Ordonez
- Mike Holmes and Dorian Graham are adjusting to the safety position...Donnie Webb
- Derrell Smith's move to inside linebacker has been positive so far...Donnie Webb