Volume 126 Issue 21
kansan.com
Thursday, September 26, 2013
COMMENTARY Combs leaves Kansas for uncertain future
Coach Charlie Weis doesn't have a historic program to sell while on the recruiting trail, nor does he have a winning pedigree as a college head coach. Even the stadium he recruits to has a track around the field.
But he has more playing time to offer to potential recruits than any coach in the country, and he hasn't been shy about pointing that out. After all, it was Weis who told recruits to look at that "pile of crap" from last year's 1-11 team while selling them on the opportunity to play early on in their career.
"If you can't play here, where can you play?" he said at Big 12 Media days in July.
Junior college transfer Marquel Combs is about to find the answer to that question. The defensive lineman and No. 1 junior college recruit in the country had scholarship offers from Arkansas, Missouri, Michigan State, Ole Miss, Tennessee, and Texas A&M, just to name a few. But he said he wanted to make an immediate impact and rebuild a program, and what place gave him a better opportunity to do this than Kansas?
But the difference in talent between junior college football and Division 1 football—even at a place like Kansas—is massive, and Combs seemed to learn that the hard way after failing to crack the starting lineup and reportedly preparing to sit out this season while taking a redshirt, beginning his two years of eligibility next fall.
We don't yet know, and may never know, if Combs' inability to get on the field led to his decision to transfer, but you don't need to take many mental leaps to come to that conclusion. Regardless, he is now free to play at any school of his choosing outside the Big 12. Of course, that will be after sitting out this season, which he would have done anyway had he decided to redshirt and stay in Lawrence.
Confused yet?
Charlie Weis may have been throwing his players under the bus with his blunt question to recruits, but he was telling the truth. It's hard to imagine Combs doing any better right now at Arkansas, Missouri, Kansas State, or any of the other dozens of schools that offered him scholarships.
If you can't play here,where can you play?
Edited by Sarah Kramer
Marquel Combs will find out soon enough, and something tells me he won't like the answer.
"We can be the best. The main goal for all of us is to win the national championship."
—Wiggins
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