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Former Leto Standout Clark A Hit At FIU

Published: Jul 29, 2007

TAMPA - Bernard Clark, the former Leto High and Miami linebacker who spent last season as a USF assistant, has returned to Florida International University as defensive line coach. Clark had been FIU's defensive coordinator in 2004-05.

First-year FIU coach Mario Cristobal vividly remembers his first meeting with Clark in the Hurricanes' locker room. Clark took one look at Cristobal, then a 220-pound incoming freshman hopeful on the offensive line, and proclaimed (rather loudly) that he better gain some weight if he wanted to play at UM.

Clark apparently hasn't lost his zest for life - or football.

"Bernard coaches so hard," Cristobal said. "He was going so hard at our summer camp that he went down with full body cramps. There you are, talking to the kids about the importance of being hydrated. Then here comes an ambulance, getting ready to cart away one of your coaches."

NO GUNS ALLOWED: During the past several years, several Miami players have been linked to gun-related violence, most notably the shooting death last season of Hurricanes senior DE Bryan Pata.

One of the first rules established by first-year coach Randy Shannon, a former Hurricanes player and assistant coach, was to install a no-gun policy for his players. If a player is caught with a gun, he will be suspended.

"Not one year, for good," Shannon said Saturday. "That's all I'm trying to do, is to prevent those guys from having problems. That's basically what the gun policy is for."

UCF-USF END IS NEAR: With the University of South Florida not interested in continuing its series with UCF, the series likely will end after the 2008 season. UCF coach George O'Leary said he would prefer that it continues.

"I think it would be a great game," O'Leary said. "It's very difficult to get four nonconference games that really mean something to everybody. I don't see any sense in traveling all over the country to get an opponent when we have one 60 miles down the road.

"If it doesn't work out, so be it and move on. I always try to keep two Florida teams on our schedule, Miami is coming on [with a home-and-home series in 2009-10] and we'd like to keep South Florida on. If the game dissolves, it won't be done on our end."

FAYSON THE BALL CARRIER: Florida coach Urban Meyer said sophomore WR Jarred Fayson may find himself an important part of the Gators' running game. Meyer said Fayson has grown to about 207 pounds and that he will evaluate Fayson's role in the running game when practice begins next week. Fayson, a Hillsborough High graduate whom Meyer also plans to use as a punt blocker, lined up at quarterback and carried several times last season, and he also lined up at receiver and carried on end-around plays.

Don't be surprised, Meyer said, if Fayson lines up like a tailback this season. Junior Kestahn Moore came out of spring practice as the Gators' starting tailback, but Meyer said Fayson will get a chance to prove he can carry the ball regularly. Fayson averaged 9 yards on 14 carries as a freshman.

"At this point, I'd say, without question, [Fayson] will be the leading ball carrier, or he'll be in the top three," Meyer said.

CARR IS A CONTENDER: Webber International University coach Kelly Scott said he expects freshman Andrew Carr (Freedom) to contend at quarterback for his NAIA program. Carr, a left-hander, played under offensive coordinator Marquel Blackwell, the former USF quarterback who is now Freedom's head coach. Webber's offensive coordinator is Chad Barnhardt, another former USF quarterback.

"That background will help him a lot in terms of what we want to do offensively," Scott said. "I think Chad and Marquel have taken everything out of that USF playbook."

EXTRA POINTS: Miami coach Shannon said freshman QB Robert Marve, a Plant High graduate injured earlier this month in a car wreck, isn't being ruled out for the season. Marve hurt his left wrist in the wreck, but Shannon said if he heals normally and the Hurricanes' QB situation remains unsettled, he wouldn't hesitate to play Marve and forfeit a possible redshirt. … While this weekend's Florida Sports Writers Association media days featured only the state's head coaches, Rutgers officials inquired about the possibility of Rutgers coach Greg Schiano participating in the event. Schiano wasn't invited, but the school did ship 104 media guides to Tampa for the event. The Scarlet Knights feature 20 Floridians on their roster, second-most in the Big East behind only USF.

Scott Carter, Joey Johnston,

Andy Staples, Brett McMurphy