Things are a little hectic right now for Ralph Friedgen, so much so that he might even be losing track of time. The eighth-year head coach began today’s press conference by wishing the media a Merry Christmas more than two weeks ahead of time. On the other hand, nowadays the Christmas season begins in what, August? Fair enough, coach.
If Friedgen is getting his day mixed up, it’s understandable. The Fridge is currently trying to replace two coordiantors – defensive coordinator Chris Cosh and special teams coordinator Danny Pearlman – schedule practices before the team’s matchup with Nevada in the Humanitarian Bowl on Dec. 30, prepare players for exams and recruit. Friedgen said the team will not practice Monday through Friday during finals week, but that he will fill the time out on the recruiting trail. The program will host 22 prospects later this week. He’s so busy, he might need to pay his daughters to do his Christmas shopping for him.
“You ever see those guys in Vaudeville when they had those plates up there? That’s what I feel like I’m doing right now,” Friedgen said. “I’ve got about six plates.”
So while Friedgen spins plates, his players will be preparing for the Wolf Pack and, true to the holiday spirit, deciding what their bowl gift might be. Each bowl game is contractually obligated to provide gifts to players, and so far the locker room has been drooling over the potential of receiving an iPod Touch or Xbox360, and center Edwin Williams said he heard they were getting parkas, which might come in handy in Boise, Idaho.
“They were talking about an iPod Touch as a gift, and I think that’d be really neat, because I was actually going to ask my parents for that for Christmas,” defensive end Jeremy Navarre said.
“I don’t think the Terrapin Council has really chosen one yet, but whatever it is, it’s going to be good,” wide receiver Danny Oquendo said. “I really don’t mind. I’ve already got an Xbox and an iPod.”
The players are also excited about playing on the Smurf turf at Bronco Stadium and visiting Boise, “one of the places in the world you probably thought you’d never go to,” Williams said.
“It’s a vacation in a way, but at the same time you gotta realize that, of course, you know, you have a game and you want to prepare for it,” Williams said. “The last two bowl games, to be honest, I forgot we even had a game I was having so much fun. [At the 2006] Champs Sports Bowl, we got to go to Disney World. That’s every child’s dream and I was 20. It was fun.”
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