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View Full Version : Leopards DL coach Holcomb to NFL's Giants



Lehigh Football Nation
February 10th, 2009, 03:11 PM
http://nyg.scout.com/2/838266.html


Holcomb, the newest member of the coaching staff, spent the previous three seasons as the defensive line coach at Lafayette. The Leopards’ defensive coordinator, John Loose, worked with new Giants coordinator Bill Sheridan from 1992-97 and enthusiastically recommended Holcomb.

“Al Holcomb is a veteran coach who has been at the collegiate level his entire career,” Coughlin said. “As a coordinator he has coached all three position groups (line, linebacker and secondary). John Loose called Bill Sheridan and said this is an extremely impressive football coach who is deserving of an opportunity like this if someone would give him a chance to interview – so we did. I was impressed with Al and with his whole thought process in terms of how he got in to coaching. He did not play football at West Virginia but became a G.A. at Temple right out of college. He has a master’s degree and I think he will make a solid addition to our staff.”

That's the second high-profile departure from the Leopard coaching staff in the past week. Normally this wouldn't be an unusual occurrence, but the Leopards had done a fantastic job in keeping coaches in the past five years. That's two assistant coaches that will be sorely missed by the Leopards.

TheValleyRaider
February 10th, 2009, 03:51 PM
Tough loss for the Leopards, but I'm glad the Giants got him xthumbsupx

Andy
February 10th, 2009, 06:56 PM
Considering that Lafayette has beaten Lehigh five of the last seven, the high regard the Lehigh faithful have for Lafayette asst coach Bob Hefner--who's been there for all five--is well understood. However, the fact that coach Holcomb has earned in only two short years the kind of respect that LFN is showing is truly impressive. Best of luck, coach. Go Big Blue!

LFN's posts citing the move of LC coaches to the highest levels of football underscores what is already well known--Coach Tavani has a keen eye for talented assistant coaches. With the welcoming this week of a Lafayette recruiting class of unprecedented quality and as we anticipate Coach's naming of two new talented assistants, these are exciting times indeed for Lafayette fans. GO PARDS!

letsgopards04
February 11th, 2009, 10:46 AM
He may be a good coach but I thought the DL was the weak point of the defense. Very little push. It must be one of those situations where he maximizes talent.

carney2
February 11th, 2009, 01:16 PM
He may be a good coach but I thought the DL was the weak point of the defense. Very little push. It must be one of those situations where he maximizes talent.

DL wore down last year. I was surprised, but many of the backups were undersized and not up to the task.* Still, the Pards have lost both the line coaches - OL and DL - within the past week. At one time or another over the past few years, one or the other of these groups has been the strength of this team. One can attempt to rationalize these losses I guess, but both coaches will be missed.

*To the credit of head coach Frank Tavani and his staff, this year's recruiting class does not include any of those undersized DLs who have no real chance to contribute, but that the Leopards have been stockpiling for the past few years. At one point within the past year or so I counted 16 DLs on the roster, and too many of them were just not big enough to play D-I football.

Andy
February 11th, 2009, 02:02 PM
He may be a good coach but I thought the DL was the weak point of the defense. Very little push. It must be one of those situations where he maximizes talent.

I hear you, 04. There's a reason this was posted by a lehigh guy. BTW, could you name even one lehigh asst coach? Would you know if one of them left if it was a "big loss"? Me either. Were the lehigh guys cringing in fear when coach Holcomb signed on from E. Stroudsburg? This is a case of a lehigh guy trying to make hay over the loss of a very low key coach whose departure is noteworthy because of where he's going (to do admin work). Holcomb was in a tough spot here taking over for a great motivator, coach Antoine Smith, who BTW just left Youngstown for Miami (Ohio). I see this move as a chance for Frank to bring in an enthusiastic, motivator type to work with our outstanding DL recruits.