Marshall Football: What a Difference a Day Makes

Just a few short weeks ago I sat here at this very keyboard and reviewed the entirety of Conference USA Football for the 2009 season. I tried to examine just about every aspect of the league and that resulted in a tome of knowledge that I was quite proud of.

I maintained a fairly impartial stance as I begrudgingly gave credit where credit is due even to those players from Central Florida and East Carolina. 

I winced with each keystroke as I wrote about the running backs at Southern Mississippi, and the All-Star wide receivers at every school in the West Division. It took quite a degree of will power to keep that up as I finally got around to my beloved Marshall Thundering Herd.

What did I find when I got there? Was it the canon-armed quarterbacks of years gone by, the NFL ready running backs, or the high-class all around powerhouse players we produced for so many years?

The answer is, not by a long shot, granted there was some hope in a few players that have proven their worth. For instance Cody Slate continues to be productive for the team, Darius Marshall had a 1,000 yard season this past year and Albert McClellen continues to be a defensive monster.

Then I woke up on May 1, 2009, to find out that two Marshall players had been arrested and were spending the night in the Western Regional Jail. Darius Marshall and DeQuan Bembry had been arrested and were being held on $20,000 bond each.

It took a moment for it to sink in and for me to realize what that would mean for the year ahead.

Football Coaches at the high school and college level often are able to get their star players out of trouble, it's no secret that it goes on. However, I do not imagine anyone short of David Copperfield would be able to hide this from the NCAA.

For my entire collegiate career I have been faithfully in the Joan C. Edwards Stadium student section, through the good times and bad. I have remained there even though there have been far more bad times than good, especially under the Mark Snyder era.

I admit my support has wavered at times over the past few years, but I have never jumped ship. 

One of the big reasons that I have been told the administration has chosen to continue with Coach Snyder, has been that the team stayed out of trouble. Aside from a few minor issues over the past couple of seasons, this has been true, and compared to what the team looked like under the Bob Pruett dynasty.

This is essentially a church camp now, although over the past year multiple players have been caught doing various things they are not supposed to be doing.

So, here we are four months from football season, two Marshall players are in jail and I doubt that the team discipline story will be bought for much longer. What can Coach Snyder do from this point?

Well, I just have my opinion, and that is Coach do what we have been begging for you to do in Huntington for so long. Do what will save your career here at Marshall and make you a popular guy, just win football games.