Lennon adapting to Carbondale

Hello and welcome to the Squeaky Bleachers blog, an obvious reference to McAndrew Stadium and its louder-than-a-train bleachers. Here you will find tidbits of information on SIU football from a variety of reporters on the Daily Egyptian staff. Any suggestions would be welcome as to how to improve our coverage, but let’s get right into it.
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More on SIU’s head football coach getting used to living and coaching in Carbondale: during a practice last week, Lennon said the biggest adjustment to being in Carbondale is living without his family, who are currently still living in Grand Forks, N.D. The Knox, N.D. native has a wife, Chris, and three children: Jared, 19, Trevor, 17, and Cody, 13.
Lennon also was appreciative of the weather that graced the area last week. Temperatures remained relatively cool during training camp, which undoubtedly made things easier on the players. Lennon said while at the University of North Dakota, he experienced weather that ranged from freezing temperatures to warm weather during training camp and was glad that the weather here remains semi-consistent.
Elsewhere on the field, Lennon told his players last week that despite all the plays and formations that must be learned, winning ballgames all boils down to execution. He stressed the fact that all players should be lining up play after play after play with the confidence in their abilities to execute the gameplan.
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The starting quarterback battle remains a mystery… even to Lennon and his staff. The candidates have basically been narrowed down to Joe Allaria and Chris Dieker, with no edge given to either.
Some interesting perspectives on the QB race:
From Athletics Director Mario Moccia: “For us it is challenging because we had Sambursky who was Mr. Everything and then we had Nick Hill, who was kind of a question mark but turned out to be phenomenal. So this is the first time in arguably seven or eight years that the quarterback position is a question mark.
From offensive guard Aaron Lockwood: “With the quarterback situation, Joe is a great leader and Dieker is a good quarterback. They both know what has to be done and have to come into their own to fill Nick (Hill’s) shoes. We (offensive line) just have to worry about ourselves. The only thing that would matter would be if the center, who might be comfortable snapping to a certain person but for the most part, we just take the orders from whoever gives them and we will just do our thing.
From coach Lennon: “Experience is definitely a plus for Joe. We know he has been in the fire before and can handle the pressure but our expectations are that Chris can do it too. He just hasn’t been given the chance yet.