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Pitt Sate booster Keith Swanson has kindly sent me a few more tidbits about
CDF. After the last two very insightful posts from Keith via his emails I
didn't think there was anything else he could offer, but I sent one more
email begging for info about Fran's emphasis on S&C at PSU, since we Bama
fans have gone rightfully nuts over Fran's emphasis on S&C at Bama. I've
just about picked his brain clean on begging him for more anecdotes about
Fran's tenure at Pitt State and so I know he's relieved:) Keith is about as
big a fan of college football as there is regardless of classification, and
obviously a huge Gorilla fan; he's sent a link to a photograph of PSU's
stadium for those that are interested at the end of this post. PSU, like
Bama, is in the midst (Gorilla's in the Midst?) of updating their stadium
and facilites to be second to none in Div.II. The stadium is not large
capacity-wise, but Keith is particularly proud of PSU's unique gorilla
mascot. If interested, Keith wants you to look at top-right of photo and
notice the huge gas-filled Gorilla on the track (Keith says the Gorilla
likes to welcome all visitors to his jungle); photo is small so look hard.
After paying due respect to the Gorilla tradition, here's his latest Fran
tidbits:
"As mentioned previously, I'm a College Football junkie, but not always at
the Division II Level. I went to a junior college in Kansas, where I was the
Sports Editor for the college paper. This school had no football, as college
basketball was the game. I saw players like Mitch Richmond, JR Rider, Armon
Gilliam, Keith Smart, to name a few. When it was time to go on for my four
year degree, I chose Pittsburg State as my best friend was attending there
and I had a cousin who lived in Pittsburg. I thought Division II was a step
down from the quality players I saw at the JUCO level, so I attended only
one game my first year at PSU. The next school year I received a call from
my brother who informed me that PSU was getting a new football coach and he
thought I should give this guy a chance to see if he could improve the
fortunes at Pitt State, like he did for Soutwestern College in Winfield, KS.
You see, my brother is a Chiropractor in Winfield, KS and while he was there
Coach Fran would have my brother work on his players in between games to get
them back into shape. Coach Fran had a 14-4-2 record at Southwestern, which
at the time was not a football power. That next year, when I attended the
Gorillas first home game and defeated the same opponent that beat them the
year before by the score of 62-14, by the score of 14-13 in the rain, I was
hooked. In Coach Fran WE TRUST!!!
Attached is the link (see below), I wanted to share with you. Also, link
into Pitt State Football/Athletic Facilities/Strength & Conditioning. Now
its not the facilities at Nebraska, but I think you would be hard pressed to
find any in Division II to match it.
To answer your previous e-mail message regarding the strength and
conditioning of the Gorillas while Coach Fran was here. What I recall is
this, when Coach Fran came to PSU he too was embarrassed by the conditioning
of his new team. That quickly changed, within a year the Gorillas were not
only the biggest & strongest, but definitely the fastest of any teams we
faced in our Conference. You know the old saying,"Bigger, Stronger, Faster",
well that definitely described Coach Fran's Gorillas. But I think if Coach
Fran had a choice he would choose Stronger and Faster anyday. Just because
you are 6ft 6in and weigh 345lbs doesn't make you any better that someone
6ft 2in weighing a svelt 300lbs. Coach Fran wants his players to be stronger
and faster at the end of the game when it counts most. I will say this about
Coach Fran's defense while he was at Pitt. They played assignment football,
they never got beat on reverses or anything like that, and his defense flew
to the ball. Most of the time there was 3-6 players bringing down the
ballcarrier as opposed to one-on-one tackles on the edge. I hope some of
this info. is of use.
Keep me updated with the Tides Spring football. I would be curious to hear
what the players think of Coach Fran. I think I know what the answer to the
last statement will be, but it would be nice to see it in print."
Roll TIDE and Welcome To The JUNGLE!!!
Keith Swanson, Kansas City Gorilla Club President
PSU link with pic (small photo, look hard) of inflatable Gorilla:
http://www.geocities.com/littlehanikacp3/My_Page_Littlehanika.html
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