The Big East’s One-Word Wonders

Posted Aug 9, 2009 by Brett McMurphy

Updated Aug 9, 2009 at 10:32 PM

Since I was actually up at the Big East Media Days in Newport, R.I., earlier this week, Tampa Tribune correspondent Gregg Becnel gave me a breather and pitched in and covered USF’s practices on Saturday and Sunday.

Also, if you didn’t see this in Sunday’s Tribune, here was something we did last year - asking the league’s coaches to answer a variety of subjects in one word. Here were their answers - except for Syracuse’s Doug Marrone, who declined to participate. The most interesting answers, I thought, were the responses to decribe your team’s chances to win.

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NEWPORT, R.I.—Initially the most common response was “I can only use one word?”

Eventually all of the Big East’s eight head coaches - with the exception of Syracuse’s Doug Marrone - obliged to participate in a little exercise we call “One-Word Wonder” at the Big East football media days at the Hotel Viking.

We asked the coaches their thoughts on adding a ninth-football member, the challenge of facing University of South Florida seniors Matt Grothe and George Selvie, their thoughts on the upcoming conference race and, of course, we had to ask them about their Twitter pages.

Not every coach in the league has a Twitter page. In fact, UConn’s Randy Edsall was quite proud not to have fallen into the Twitter-trap.

“No way,” Edsall said. “Why would I want to tweet ‘I just went to the bathroom?’ The last thing I want is for everyone to know what I’m doing.”

The coaches were asked to answer the following questions in one word:

Are you in favor of a 9th football member
Yes - Randy Edsall, UConn
No - Brian Kelly, Cincinnati
Who? - Steve Kragthorpe, Louisville
Who? - Jim Leavitt, USF
Ask [the commissioner] - Greg Schiano, Rutgers
Yes - Bill Stewart, West Virginia
Yes - Dave Wannstedt, Pittsburgh

Describe USF QB Matt Grothe
Competitive - Randy Edsall, UConn
Exciting - Brian Kelly, Cincinnati
Competitor - Steve Kragthorpe, Louisville
Exciting - Jim Leavitt, USF
Elusive - Greg Schiano, Rutgers
Winner - Bill Stewart, West Virginia
Winner - Dave Wannstedt, Pittsburgh

Describe USF DE George Selvie
Relentless - Randy Edsall, UConn
Constant - Brian Kelly, Cincinnati
Wow - Steve Kragthorpe, Louisville
Dependable - Jim Leavitt, USF
Fast - Greg Schiano, Rutgers
Awesome - Bill Stewart, West Virginia
Playmaker - Dave Wannstedt, Pittsburgh

Describe your team
Energetic - Randy Edsall, UConn
Unproven - Brian Kelly, Cincinnati
Excited - Steve Kragthorpe, Louisville
Gifted - Jim Leavitt, USF
Tough - Greg Schiano, Rutgers
Competitive - Bill Stewart, West Virginia
Blue-collar - Dave Wannstedt, Pittsburgh

Describe your team’s chances to win the league?
Very good - Randy Edsall, UConn
Great - Brian Kelly, Cincinnati
Good - Steve Kragthorpe, Louisville
Solid - Jim Leavitt, USF
In it - Greg Schiano, Rutgers
Equal - Bill Stewart, West Virginia
Opportunity - Dave Wannstedt, Pittsburgh

Describe your Twitter page
n/a* - Randy Edsall, UConn
Blank - Brian Kelly, Cincinnati
Interesting - Steve Kragthorpe, Louisville
Boring - Jim Leavitt, USF
n/a* - Greg Schiano, Rutgers
Fun - Bill Stewart, West Virginia
Spontaneous - Dave Wannstedt, Pittsburgh

* Edsall and Schiano don’t have Twitter pages