I wasn’t planning to post any more on the Morelli Mess. Just let it go. And I don’t have anything to add. I will point anyone who still cares to a long but really good article on the whole saga. With plenty of weird and interesting little tidbits
They don’t know, Greg says, that he took custody of his young son. That he worked two jobs to make ends meet. That he invested countless hours into Anthony’s development. That they are so close, they have matching barbed-wire tattoos on their left biceps.
I am always heartened to hear when a dad takes his teenage son to the tattoo parlor to get the same tattoos. Especially the cliche and trite barbed wire tattoo.
Sources also told the Trib that Morelli was overwhelmed by the complexities of Harris’ offensive scheme after sitting in on quarterback meetings prior to the Continental Tire Bowl in December.
“He’d be pretty wowed by that – anybody would, not just Anthony,” said Bob Johnson, director of the EA Sports Elite 11 Quarterback Camp. “When you jump into a college meeting, you’re listening to a foreign language because of the terminology. They’re not trying to stop and teach it to him. They’re trying to win a bowl game.”
After the meeting, Morelli realized his chances of playing early – an important factor in his decision – were slimmer than expected when he committed.
“Palko and (Luke) Getsy have been down there two years and know the offense like the back of their hands,” Morelli said. “I felt like I was behind”
Most importantly, he didn’t want to sit.
“From talking to Anthony and Greg the past couple years, early playing time was always a huge deal,” said Greg Biggins, Student Sports Inc. recruiting director. “Any school that was able to come along and sell an open depth chart was going to be appealing to them.”
Not a concern at Penn State, huh?
“You leave a bona fide quarterback coach in Walt Harris,” Lemming said, “to go to a school that isn’t known for developing quarterbacks.”
Jay Paterno, however, is expected to be replaced as quarterbacks coach. His successor will be pivotal the development of Morelli, who possesses NFL tools but needs to improve his mental approach to the game.
I wonder if Jay knows that?
Morelli will have plenty of competition. Penn State signed five other high school quarterbacks, though it promised him four of them would play other positions. Greg Morelli also claims that Lions coaches indicated that Robinson would move to defense.
I think Penn State fans should be very unnerved by this. Morelli seems to be operating under a lot of assumptions of getting into the starting line-up real soon, and without much competition. I wonder what the over/under is in terms of months after the season starts before the Morellis start making noise about promises broken and not getting an opportunity?
