FIU Panthers Prowl

2013 FIU football schedule

Now that Conference USA got everybody organized, slotted, home dates figured out...

Aug. 31: at Maryland

Sept. 7: vs. UCF

Sept. 14: vs. Bethune-Cookman

Sept. 21: at Louisville

Oct. 5: at Southern Mississippi

Oct. 12: vs. Alabama-Birmingham

Oct. 26: vs. Louisiana Tech

Nov. 2: vs. East Carolina

Nov. 9: at Middle Tennessee State

Nov. 16: at UTEP

Nov. 23: vs. Marshall

Nov. 30: at FAU

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C-USA realignment, 2013 home football opponents set

Ponce to Appalachain State; whose fault on academics?

Sorry, been in the car from Coral Springs to Miami Shores with a McDonald's drive-thru stop...

Former FIU wide receivers coach Frank Ponce will head to Appalachian State, where former FIU offensvie coordinator Scott Satterfield is offensive coordinator, to be quarterbacks coach and passing game coordinator.

Ponce is the second former coach off the last staff to land elsewhere in the college ranks in the last week. Former offensvie line coach Alex Mirabal, set to go back to high school coaching at Columbus High, got the offensive line job at Marshall. Marshall's also where former FIU offensive coordinator Bill Legg earns his bread in the same role.

Of the coaches on the last staff, Mirabal and Ponce generally were the most widely liked. They're also Dade County guys.

CLASSROOM ZEROES AND Fs

All college football coaching staffs recruit some players who probably would need a broom and a job to get on a college campus if they didn't have a fast 40 or a big bench. Everyone would like to be Stanford, packing athletic teams with muscular Mensa candidates, but, alas, few fan bases would support that. Fans don't care about APR. They care about wins.

Academic support staffs and football support staffs spend far too high a percentage of their time holding the hands -- ahem -- of the athlete-students brought to campus to win football games. Sometimes, academic progress is the goal. Sometimes, it's eligibility.

Ultimately, however, whether you should or shouldn't be there, whether you've got someone telling you every few months what classes to take, whether you've got someone constantly asking if you went to class or not, success or failure in the classroom lies with the young man.

A person old enough to vote, fight for our country and have a Heineken (in some states) should be beyond whining about someone else if he fails all his classes or signs up for the exact same class two semesters in a row (and gets a worse grade the second time). Especially if he was already kicked out of school and only allowed back in only through the generosity of the institution.

As I say at the end of my pregame blogs, that's one black man's opinion. I could be wrong.

Albright Sun Belt Swimmer of the Week; Beaupre Diver of the Week (again)

Freshman Danielle Albright won the 500 freestyle and the 200 free Saturday against FAU and Indian River College Saturday. Good enough to win her first Sun Belt Swimmer of the Week award.

Basketball's junior guard Jerica Coley got her Sun Belt Player of the Week award Monday. And, because the sun rose and junior Sabrina Beaupre dived last week with a season high in the 3-meter, we knew FIU's other most consistent athlete would get her fourth Diver of the Week award this season and 14th of her career.

 

Commit list & Several Academic "Uh-oh"s

Sean Avant, WR, Miramar

Jordan Budwig, OL, Davie University School

James Cruise, OL, Palm Beach Gardens

Jeremy Derrick, LB, Hallandale

Chris Flaig, OL, Vero Beach

Jordan Gibbs, LB, Killian

Jordan Guest, LB, Columbus

Xavier Hines, CB, Belen

Sandley Jean-Felix, OT, Lauderdale Lakes Boyd Anderson

Shug Oyegunle, WR, Tampa Gaither

Jonathan Pavlov, TE, North Palm Beach Benjamin

Alphonso Randolph, RB, Ocala West Port

Jonnu Smith, TE, Ocala West Port

Willie Smith, DB, Bradenton Manatee

Vontarius West, CB, Bartow

Treyvon Williams, LB, Norland

BANNED BY BOOKS?

As of right now, one of FIU's most talented offensive skill position players will be academically ineligble for the first four games next season. According to NCAA rules, it'll take passing 27 hours of classes this semester and during the summer sessions for him to regain eligibility. Considering his past academic record that got him in this mess, this is sort of like Nigel Mansell being 28 seconds down to Nelson Piquet with 29 laps to go in the 1987 British Grand Prix, both in Williams-Hondas.

WEDNESDAY MORNING UPDATE: another skill position player FIU hoped to rely is in a similar position. Around seven players, six who have been or are expected to be starters, are in academic trouble. I mentioned this was a possibility in a past blog post.

And, no, I'm not naming names yet. I'm not embarrassing the young men while they still have time to get epiphanies about the opportunities they have.