Kyle Whittingham is remarkably adept at getting troubled young men to turn around their lives. He can rehab players as well as Bill Bellichick.
Players who come into the program from a checkered past are given a clean slate, and a very short leash. They are required to be exemplary students in the classroom, exemplary citizens in the community, exemplary athletes in training and in practice, if they ever want to dress for a game or see the field.
Ex 1) Josh Gordon came into the program from Baylor after having drug problems. While at Utah he screwed around in practice, never attended class, and quietly left the program in October. Got drafted on potential, and has been suspended for the season TWICE in the NFL.
Ex 2) Joe Williams came to the program from UConn, where he was accused (convicted?) of stealing something. He worked like crazy to turn around his life by working hard at school and in practice, but had a disappointing Jr year and start of Sr year. He left the team after the 3rd week last year, and returned a few weeks later. He went on to have the single greatest game in school history (332 yds rushing, 4 TDs), racked up over 1500 yards in 9 games, and now is climbing up the depth chart for the 49ers. He graduated, got married, got drafted, etc, after dealing with some intense personal demons which came to a head early in the season. As it turns out he blamed himself for the death of his younger sister a decade earlier, and had been fighting that demon the entire time. (she had died of a congenital illness, but he blamed himself for her death because he was babysitting at the time)
Sometimes a person just needs a change of scenery and a nudge in the right direction can make all the difference.
In other words, you should plan on seeing Carrington in the ND game. Whether he will still be around in November is entirely up to him.
.
Loading ...
