July 31, 2009

By Bill Hass
theACC.com

GREENSBORO, N.C. (theACC.com) – You wouldn’t want to call him “The Incredible Shrinking Man” because there’s always going to be a lot of Ralph Friedgen.

But the Maryland coach walked into the ACC Football Kickoff earlier this week some 95 pounds lighter than his heaviest point last season. Thanks to a prescribed diet that he began last October, the pounds have melted away. He weighs 306, down from 401 when he started.

“I want to get to 150 if I can,” he said.

Wait a minute – down to 150 pounds?

“No, losing 150,” he said, which would put him at 250. “I was born 150 pounds.”

Friedgen weighs in about once a week, but he can tell if he’s continuing to lose weight by his clothes.

“This belt I’ve got on,” he said, unfastening it to show it to everyone, “somebody gave me this belt. When I first got this belt it was like that (holding the buckle and end several inches apart), I said ‘there’s no way.’ (After losing weight) that was the first thing I tried, the first notch. I never thought I could get in that thing.”

Friedgen said he took all his old clothes that didn’t fit anymore into the guest room, where he found clothes he had never been able to wear and felt like it was Christmas. Now he’s sizing himself out of those, too.

“So it’s been an interesting experience,” he said. “I have a daughter who went to Europe for the spring semester and when she came back she said ‘I’ve got a new father.’ The people here have been very complimentary, they tell me I look great and I take that as I really didn’t look very good before.”

Friedgen said some of his players have told him they’re proud of his accomplishment. And fellow coaches have noticed, too.

“The old boy is looking good,” said Virginia Tech’s Frank Beamer. “I’m really happy for Ralph.”

BEST YEARS AHEAD: Virginia Tech was an overwhelming choice to win the ACC championship and represent the league in a BCS Bowl. Many folks believe that if the Hokies beat Alabama in the opening week, they can contend for the national title.

“We’ll see,” Beamer said. “I do like this football team. I like their character, I like how they are as a group, I like how they work, I like how they respect other people. They’re fun to be around. Whether that translates into how the season goes, I think there are other variables – do we stay healthy, do we grow as a team.

“I think things have to fall into place. I think our recruiting has gone the best that it has ever gone; the caliber of kids we get has never been better and that translates into winning. As much winning as we’ve done, I think our best years are ahead of us. I know if you knock on the door (of the national championship) enough times, hopefully you knock it in one of these days and I think that’s where we are.”

Virginia Tech’s offense should run smoother now that Tyrod Taylor is entrenched at quarterback and doesn’t have to worry about splitting time (except when Greg Boone runs the “Wild Turkey” formation).

“People around (Tyrod) are better and that really helps,” Beamer said. “It takes some of the stress off. We needed a quarterback that could make plays the last couple (seasons), and now I think the people around him can make some of those plays.

“I think (being the guy) is what he needs. I think it brings out his leadership, he’s well-respected, I like how competitive he is; I like how smart he is. Now that it’s his, I think we’ve seen it this summer… his leadership is kicking in right now. I think Tyrod is ready to have a really good year.”

TOUGH OPPONENT: In week two Virginia plays one of the toughest non-conference games of the year when it hosts Texas Christian.

“Last year TCU finished seventh in the country (and) they would be certainly one of the favorites in this conference,” said coach Al Groh. “They’re picked to win their conference (Mountain West). They were first in the country on defense, 12th on offense, so they’re very legitimate. They’re averaging 10 or 11 wins a year over the last five years.

“They lost to Utah by one at the end of the game – that’s the Utah team that beat Alabama. This is a team that, (playing) on the east coast, won’t bring a lot of hype with them but is a really good team. I’m very impressed and very respectful of how they play.”

ENERGETIC ‘CANES: Miami coach Randy Shannon likes the spirit of his team.

“I think the players are very enthusiastic right now,” he said. “They’re having fun, they’re enjoying the summer, they’re enjoying being around each other. (They) don’t make it a job, more than anything. Every time you see them they’re always happy-go-lucky and always energetic.”

Shannon said last year’s team was so young it didn’t know how to act in some stressful situations, which led to close losses against North Carolina and Florida State.

“This year if we get in those situations, we should know how to handle it,” he said. “Last year we couldn’t because we were so young. We’re still young, but at least we’ve been in those games.”

HIGH ON SPILLER: It’s not hard for Clemson coach Dabo Swinney to get revved up talking about tailback C.J. Spiller, he of the life-sized poster.

“Tony Dungy wrote a book and talks about the uncommon man, and C.J. is uncommon in a very common world,” Swinney said. “This is a unique individual. He’s a tremendous player from a football standpoint. He’s also a tremendous track star, he’s a Dean’s List student, he’s graduating in December in 3½ years – are you kidding me? If anybody deserves a poster and deserves to be promoted as what college athletics should be about, it’s C.J. Spiller.

“And he goes about his business in a very humble way. He’s the hardest worker, he’s always trying to get better. He’s one of, if not the best, players in college football. If he stays healthy, I’m not worried about C.J. I just know as he goes, we’re going to go. I’m excited to give him the opportunity to touch (the ball) a bunch.”

HIGH ON DWYER: Last season running back Jonathan Dwyer of Georgia Tech was the ACC’s player of the year. And coach Paul Johnson said there’s room to improve.

“I think (Dwyer) can be a lot better,” Johnson said. “I don’t know whether the stats will bear that out, but he can be a lot better player. He can certainly improve in areas that you won’t see in the stats – blocking, being more consistent, having an idea of what’s going on around him, all those things. He may not have as many yards; he may not get as many carries (because) we have more depth.”

PASSING GAME: North Carolina head coach Butch Davis believes it’s necessary for teams to throw the ball these days.

“I can’t speak for the other 11 teams,” he said, “(but) you just can’t be one-dimensional. I know that you can’t pull a Woody Hayes – three yards and a cloud of dust – and run the ball 45, 50 times a ball game and expect to be successful against the schools in this conference. You’re going to have to find a way to manufacture passing yardage. It’s the quickest, fastest way to get big chunks of yardage and I think coaches in this league, they’ll find ways to get the ball to playmakers.”

Davis has a veteran quarterback in junior T.J. Yates, who missed seven games last season with an injury.

“When T.J. got hurt he was one of the hottest quarterbacks from an efficiency standpoint in the entire country,” Davis said. “He lit it up against Rutgers and played extremely well early in the year. He’s got two more seasons and we’re thrilled with where he is right now. It’ll be critical for this football team (to have an experienced quarterback) because of all the other youth and inexperience with some of the players we’re going to have to play offensively.”

DUKE COOL: Blue Devils coach David Cutcliffe was asked if he agreed it’s now “cool” to be a football player at Duke. He readily agreed.

“It’s cool to be a Duke football player because it’s hard to be a Duke football player,” he said. “We don’t want it easy to be a Duke football player. Nobody has ever wanted to be a part of a team that it was easy to be a part of. It’s not supposed to be easy.

“So we have challenged them since we’ve been there. It’s been consistent for 19 months and it’s never wavered, what our demands are and what our expectations are. So what happens is you start looking different, you start carrying yourself different. The (talk) starts going around among the other athletes and then the student body takes notice, these guys pay a heck of a price to play football.”

SOMETHING GOOD WILL HAPPEN: NC State coach Tom O’Brien said the injuries suffered by Nate Irving in a car wreck could have been even more severe.

“Talking about Nate, he’s lucky to be alive,” O’Brien said. “When I got to the hospital and they showed me the car, it’s amazing… he’s still with us when you look at that car. Something good is going to happen to him. He had a bunch of bad luck last year with the high ankle sprain and now this thing, so whenever he gets back, whether it’s this year or next year, he’s going to be a great player. Something good is going to happen for him.”

Irving’s status for this season remains in limbo.

“He’s got an appointment in the middle of August with the leg doctor,” O’Brien said. “He’s been through the lung doctor and the rib doctor and he’s been through a shoulder doctor, he separated his shoulder. Those are all positive. It’s still going to come down to the leg. I don’t think he’s been allowed to put any weight on it. I’ve just got to say it’s indefinite until he talks to this doctor and we’ll have a much better idea.”

NEED LESS BALANCE: Florida State’s Bobby Bowden said if the ACC is going to contend for a national title, it needs a dominant team.

“If you talk about the ACC the last few years you’ve seen balance,” he said. “We ain’t going to get a national championship being balanced. Somebody has got to move to the top. It could happen to anybody.”

Including the Seminoles?

“I hope we’re approaching that but I think we might still be a year away,” Bowden said. “This team right here, it might not start but one or two seniors on offense. On defense we might not even have that many.”

This year’s team can challenge, he said, “if we can play defense. You’ve got to get the ball. If you can’t get the ball away from the other team, (the offense is) liable to be sitting on the bench the whole day, you know it? We’ve got to be able to play defense.”

NO BALONEY: Asked what it was like to finally get his shot as a head coach at age 62, Boston College’s Frank Spaziani quipped: “I don’t worry about the price of baloney anymore.”

He continued, “On the serious side, it means a great deal to know what you had to do to get to this level. It’s rewarding for people to believe in you and give you the confidence that you will do a good job. I know we have a lot of the ingredients to be successful. It’s a matter of putting everybody in the right spots, players and coaches and everybody else, and we’ll get it done – the sooner the better. It’s invigorating, really.”

Spaziani said when the captains are elected, the staff will meet with them to decide the proper way to honor linebacker Mark Herzlich, who is being treated for a cancer called Ewing’s Sarcoma. Herzlich’s locker will be maintained.

The last time they talked, Spaziani said, Herzlich told him the tumor has been reduced and the next treatment phase is radiation.

“I told Mark that we want him around as much as possible and to do whatever he and his doctors feel that he can do,” Spaziani said. “If he can be in meetings and on the sidelines and travel with us – whatever is the best for his health and won’t endanger him in any way on the sidelines. He’s a leader and the kids respect him and we need him around.”

WAKE’S TAILBACKS: Wake Forest has uncommon depth at tailback with Kevin Harris, Josh Adams and Brandon Pendergrass. Coach Jim Grobe said Harris will start training camp as No. 1, thanks to two excellent games at the end of 2008, but doesn’t have a lock on the job.

“I thought Josh had a great spring, I thought Brandon Pendergrass had a really great (finish) at the end of spring (and his) spring game was phenomenal,” Grobe said. “Kevin, I thought, was kind of so-so. But he deserved the opportunity after the Vanderbilt game and the Navy game (EagleBank Bowl).

“I told him ‘you’ve got to have a better August than you had this spring and not think that you’re kind of the incumbent running back because those other two are trying to take your job away.’ Right now it’s Kevin but I feel good about all three kids. Going into August we wouldn’t care who (of the three) was on the field.”

Bill Hass is a long-time observer of ACC sports. His career at the Greensboro News & Record spanned 36 years, from 1969 until his retirement in March, 2006. He is now writing "Bill Hass on the ACC" for theACC.com. His weekly columns will keep fans plugged in to the Atlantic Coast Conference.

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