RB Lyle McCombs Dismissed From Team
By, Matt Schonvisky
Senior running back Lyle McCombs was dismissed from the UCONN football program yesterday and naturally, there are questions, but we will get to that a little later on.
Perhaps the most underappreciated player in the history of the program, McCombs drew ire from many fans. They were most likely frustrated more with the constant George DeLeone special of run up the middle times three, then punt every possession, than with the actual play and effort the Staten Island native exhibited on the field.
One of the last remaining Randy Edsall recruits still around, McCombs had quite the career during his four seasons, including a redshirt year in which he earned multiple scout team honors in the historic Fiesta Bowl run in 2010.
A freshman All-American in 2011 (1,151 yards, 7 TD’s), McCombs started his career with a bang, running for 141 yards and 4 touchdowns against Fordham in his collegiate debut. He went on to rush for over 100 yards in six games his redshirt freshman year, including a season high 152 yards against Syracuse. His rushing total made him only the second running back in UCONN history to surpass the 1,000 yard mark in their freshman season.
2012 came as a year of expectations, the second under head-man Paul Pasqualoni, but a lackluster offense saw McCombs’ production decrease, as he managed just 860 yards in a 5-7 campaign. His season high 133 yards in an overtime win over Louisville, marked the first time the program defeated a nationally ranked opponent on the road, the only highlight on the field that season.
Last year was the worst statistically for McCombs, who entered the season as a Doak Walker candidate, managing a career-low 670 yards. His electrifying 52-yard run in the first half of interim head coach TJ Weist’s debut, helped lead to his career high 164 yards against South Florida, in which he picked up 135 in the first half alone. His 7-yard touchdown reception against Michigan to put UCONN up 14-7, will be remembered by all who were in attendance that night at Rentschler Field.
In total, Lyle finishes his UCONN career as the 4th leading rusher in the history of UCONN football with 2,681 yards, in just three seasons of on-field action. He also finished 2nd in carries with 677 and ran for 11 TD’s, while catching another 3.
So why is McCombs no longer with the team? New head coach Bob Diaco was rather open in answering those questions, without pointing to a specific reason why, rather giving the summation of the former running back’s history at the school.
“It’s an ongoing lack of meeting the expectations of a member of the student body and of the team,” Diaco told the Hartford Courant’s Desmond Conner on Wednesday. “There’s no question when you’re making decisions it’s the total profile you’re looking at, or resume is a better word. He’s built a particular resume over the course of the four years he’s been here.”
“At the end of the day,” Diaco continued, “it’s a privilege to be a part of this school and its student body and a privilege to be on this football team. To have that privilege, you’re held to particular standards and standards of conduct, period. End of sentence. If you’re not going to assimilate and meet those marks, then you’re not going to be a part of it. That’s it. It does not matter who you are. It does not matter what your physical, tangible, on-the-field production is. It is irrelevant. Your football resume is not going to circumvent your academic resume, your social resume, your character resume, it isn’t. You’re going to be held no matter who you are, no matter how productive you are, what you bring from a tangible, skill-standpoint, you’re going to do it the right way in the areas of your engagement as a student-athlete.”
Despite the harsh words from the head coach, McCombs will be allowed to continue his education at the university, which means he did not break any rules in the student code of conduct. A sociology major, McCombs will finish his degree at UCONN and that, in itself, says something about the character that has been called into question.
It would be amiss to not mention that McCombs, however, found himself in some trouble multiple times on campus throughout his career. His non-redshirt debut with the team was in jeopardy before it really even began, as he was suspended for spring ball by Pasqualoni for possession of marijuana in January, 2011, the beginning of a long-line of hiccups that Diaco was referring to.
There was the altercation with his girlfriend the night before a game in 2012, which resulted in him being charged with breach of peace. Then, the altercation during a pick-up basketball game at the student gym on campus in February of this year, when he allegedly punched a fellow student during a disagreement.
The list of errors in judgment are there and that is exactly what Diaco was referring to yesterday. However, the most important thing here is that the school did not turn away from McCombs. By allowing him the opportunity to finish his degree, UCONN is giving him the opportunity to learn from his mistakes, while preparing himself for life after football, a rarity in this day and age of college athletics.
McCombs will be missed on the field, no doubt, but a new tone has been set for the expectations of all involved with the football program at UCONN. His departure leaves a hole in the Huskies back field, but the candidates are there with names like DeLorenzo, Marriner, Johnson and Newsome and this summer will go a long way in determining who that player(s) will be.
For McCombs, you can choose to remember him in one of two ways. The first is as one of the most productive players in the history of UCONN football. The second, as a malcontent whose actions prevented him from becoming one of the all-timers on the field in Storrs. Whichever way you lean, one thing is certain, Coach D is setting a new example here early and that will only bode well for the future reputation of this program, as if we have learned anything, it is perception is everything.
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