Look, nothing against Steve Rene. I'm sure he's a nice guy and I'm rooting for him as a person and Syracuse Orange student-athlete. But there isn't a person who has watched Syracuse play football in the last month who thinks he should still be our punt returner.
In case you're wondering, Rene's punt return average is 0.13 yards per try. Good grief.
Finally, a couple weeks after the rest of us, Doug Marrone has come to the same conclusion.
"We're going to put Ritchy Desir back there at punt returner, and we're going to see about Jeremiah [Kobena] as our kickoff returner - just make sure he's fine and comfortable back there, because he's been out for awhile," Marrone said at his weekly pregame news conference.
That means Rene and Prince-Tyson Gulley will both be taking a step down on the depth chart at their respective returning spots. For the best, really.
No word on where Ritchy Rene or Morgan Wayne are on the kick return depth chart this week.
Meanwhile, TANK package fullback Lewellyn Coker has emerged as quite the talker in recent weeks. He openly dared Rutgers to stop the TANK, which they didn't but then they did. Now he's talking about the reasons this converted linebacker won the coveted job:
"They know I’m very explosive and I like to hit," he said. "I guess that’s why they chose me. I did that job well."
"I’m just waiting for them to make up a play so I can do a fullback dive (and carry the ball)," Coker said. "That would be fun because I think it’s good to have a defensive mentality on offense. On defense you just want to attack and hit everything that moves. That’s how it is with me."
That Marrone and Hackett haven't already tried working on a fullback dive in this formation concerns me to no end. Sometimes I think they lack any imagination.
And how's #SHAMARKO doing? He's back in a white "no contact" jersey this week, which means he'll continue to be day-to-day. Thomas sat out a portion of the Rutgers game before returning towards the end. Here's to hoping he's feeling better and any lingering effects from the hit are minimal.