It is hard to say good-bye to a good
friend. Always is. And just like good friends, it is
difficult to turn the page each year after football season,
knowing that several Pirate gridders won’t be back the
following year. There have been special classes in the lore
of Pirate football. While the 2007 seniors likely won’t
collectively be considered the most talented – you can leave
that debate to the classes of 1991, 1983, 1965, etc. –
it is a certainty that
this group of seniors was special.
“The seniors a year ago (2006) did a
great job,” Coach Skip Holtz said. “Guys like James Pinkney,
Aundrae Allison, Ryan (Dougherty), Pierre (Parker), Kasey
(Ross), all of them, were a class that got us back to being
competitive and winning close games. They got us to a bowl
game.
“This class really could have been
content, but they wanted more. They earned the opportunity
to go to Hawaii and to have the focus that they did is
incredible. This was a very committed group of young men who
wanted more than what they achieved (in 2006). No doubt,
(the program) took another step with this group.”
In the 2007 seniors, Holtz had a wide
margin of player types. From an All-American running back
who turned in a season for the ages, to starters turned role
players, to guys Holtz wrote off only to be proven wrong, to
the coach’s own version of the Prodigal Son, the
personalities that were the senior class are to be commended
for helping turn a corner many thought not possible five
years ago. It is a group that collectively set the stage for a host of talented
players who learned from their example to tirelessly continue the
quest of taking the program back to a
no-challenge-is-too-big mind-set.
“The attitude that these young men are
leaving behind (in the program) is so encouraging,” Holtz
said. “I think a lot of this class… I really do. They were
not the most talented but certainly one of the most
successful and I think that is because they bought into the
program and said, ‘(lack of stellar talent) doesn’t mean we
can’t be a better team.’ I believe that attitude helped get
us to where we are right now.”
Right now, the across-the-board
talent and depth in the program is at a high mark not seen in many
recent years. And the rising stars took note of the work
ethic and attitude that the 2007 seniors demonstrated day
after day in the program.
“Right now, we have a very committed group of young men who
are working their tails off to be better and better,” Holtz
said. “We are competing for championships and getting
opportunities to play some of the best teams in the country
– played two Top 10 teams this season. These young men know
we didn’t get here with smoke and mirrors… it was hard work
and determination. They are committed to build on (last
season’s successes).”
Use the drop-down menu at the top of the
page to review each senior's career.
