It sounds
like Brian Kelly has no interest in platooning two of the top quarterbacks in the
Big East when UC faces
"I would
say honestly that Zach looks to be more situational more so than saying, 'He's coming
in this quarter,'" Kelly said. "He's more situational, because he can do a
little more in the running game. If we don't need to call on him, beautiful."
Pike will
wear a brace on his non-throwing arm that Kelly compared to Kevlar. Which means
it's heavy, and Pike's left arm slips low when he's trying to throw, meaning he
can't get the same torque on his passes as usual. During practices Sunday and
Monday, the coaching staff has tried to make sure he keeps that arm elevated
when he's throwing.
Pike also
is struggling with direct snaps - not a major part of the Bearcats offense, but
a part nonetheless - so look for even more shotgun formations Friday.
"The
biggest thing was getting Tony Pike back under center and getting him some
contuinity," Kelly said. You're transitioning out from Zach who's been leading
our first team and all of the things that go with communications, cadence, the
way he checks. I know you guys don't think about these things every day, but I
spend most of my days thinking about this stuff. That's been a good transition.
Yesterday was the first day where there was a smooth contunity with Tony back
out here. You could see the little things coming back out to where he was
before he was injured."
With so
much talk about how Collaros makes defensive coordinators have to work that
much harder, I asked Mardy Gilyard why Pike should even be starting.*
*For the
record, I think Pike should get back his job, though I can understand why some
think Collaros is more dangerous.
"He's the
general," Gilyard said. "He laid the ground work for us. Everybody knows that.
Zach respects that."
--And
this wouldn't be a late November news conference at UC without some
Brian-Kelly-to-insert-job-opening-here talk.
Kelly's
gag today was that he couldn't take a job unless Skyline Chili and Graeter's
were prevalent in that city. Which means he could take over the South Florida
and
But
seriously ...
"I can
only be honest with (the team)," Kelly said. "This is the silly season. This is
not new ground for our players. The truth is this happens every year. Nobody
thinks
C. Trent,
of course, brought up the fact he's interviewed for other jobs since he's been
here, as reported in Bearcats Rising.**
"The
process is: after the season, after you're done," Kelly said. "It's always about
looking at what's the best opportunity for you, your family and your program.
It comes back to the same thing.
**Next
book signing at the Barnes & Noble in
Mardy
Gilyard believes his coach.
"Bossman
ain't going nowhere," he said. "He loves the city, and the city loves him. He's
put a foundation down. Coach is the kind of guy who's going to straight-talk it
to you. He shot it straight to me when he didn't even know me."
Yeah, but
Mark Dantonio also told his team he wasn't leaving before he, you know, left
for
"This is
the second or third time this has come up (for Kelly)," Gilyard said. "When it
came up with Coach Dantonio the first time, he dipped. He looked us in the face
and lied to us and was out of here. Coach Kelly, when it came up, I went to
him, just like I did coach Dantonio, and I said, 'What's the deal?' He said not
to worry about anything, that he wasn't going anywhere. It's just one of those
gut feelings."
--Ran
into Haruki Nakamura today after the presser, shaved head and with a cast
covering his right leg. The latter was due to the broken ankle he suffered two
Sundays ago with the Baltimore Ravens. The former was because he was tired of
his hair.
He'll be
at UC for the time being, rehabbing his leg. In doing so, he's living in the
basement of trainer Bob Mangine's house.
