NCAA 11 (LINDENWOOD ACADEMY LAVA BEARS)

[rawkus76]

GOODBYE MONDAY NIGHTS...
HELLO SATURDAY AFTERNOONS!



By Ivan Mateo
CFSPN.com
Archive

Orlando, FL - Goodbye Monday Nights! That is exactly what Jon Gruden told ESPN this morning. Jon Gruden, a former Monday Night Football analyst for ESPN/ABC, and Super Bowl Champion with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, has decided it was time to put the headset back on. Lindenwood Academy has decided not only to make Jon Gruden the first head coach in school history, but they decided to make him the highest paid coach as well. Mack Brown was the previous highest paid coach with a 5.1 million dollar contract. Gruden has reportedly signed an 7.5 million dollar deal with 1.5 million upfront. This makes Mack Brown's huge contract at one time look like peanuts.

When asked about his decision, Gruden said the following, “After my pre-draft QB clinic on ESPN with [Tim] Tebow, [Colt] McCoy, [Sam] Bradford and [Jimmy] Clausen, it made me want to coach again. It gave me the so called 'itch' back.” Gruden doesn't waste anytime either. After being appointed head coach only for few hours now, Gruden has already hired an offensive coordinator and he didn't have to look far. He hired brother and UFL's Florida Tuskers head coach, Jay Gruden. This isn't the first time they have worked together. From 2002 to 2008, Jay worked as an assistant with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. “I'm looking forward to working with Jon again and who better then my brother?” Jon Gruden also said that they will have their Defensive Coordinator by tonight. “Mr. Knight is finalizing the contract as we speak!” When I asked who that might be, Gruden gave me that smile that made him so famous and said...“You already know.” Ron English the former head coach at EMU? He continued to smile. By the sound of things, it looks like Ron English will be named the D-Coordinator who, before his head coaching duties at EMU, had the Michigan Wolverines run defense as one of the best in the country. There will be no coaching problems or finical problems here at Lindenwood Academy. So far, i see the program on the right path for success. At the same time, it could turn out to be one “HUGE” finical gamble! Only time will tell if this new type of "College" will work or not. We are still waiting on the schools official release with the school colors, mascot and logos. Gruden is also starting to finalize his staff and said he hoped to have all his coaches by the end of the month.

http://www.operationsports.com/Thumb...ay-afternoons/

[rawkus76]

LAVA BEARS HIRE D-CORD!



By R.E. Porter
CFSPN.com
Archive

Orlando Sentinel - The Lindenwood Academy Lava Bears hire Ron English as Defensive Coordinator. English led Eastern Michigan to an 0-12 season last year before the school decided to drop the football program.


http://www.operationsports.com/Thumb...re-new-d-cord/

[rawkus76]

- Press Release

Lindenwood Academy is pleased to announce their school paper "The Lindenwood Honeycomb." The Honeycomb will bring you the most exclusive stories, news, and rumors around campus. We will be following the Lava Bears as they try to maul their way into the National Championship picture. The man who will be in charge of the paper is as excited as anyone about this season. Brisco Kipp, a graduate in journalism from the University of Florida, said he will have the first story published soon. Lindenwood players are now starting to report for summer workouts.

http://www.operationsports.com/Thumb...per-announced/

[rawkus76]

LAVA BEARS REVEAL LOGOS!!



Associated Press Release
CFSPN.com
Archive

Lindenwood Academy Lava Bears

Motto: “The World is YOURS”

Established: 2010

Endowment: 350 million

President: Philip H. Knight [NIKE]

Faculty: 450

Undergraduates: 180

Postgraduates: N/A

Location: Orlando,FL

Colors: Molten Red, Black and Lava Yellow

Nickname: Lava Bears

Mascot: “Bro The Bear” & "The Sacred Lava Tree"

Athletics: NCAA Division 1 Atlantic Coastal Conference (ACC)


http://www.operationsports.com/Thumb...logo-revealed/

[rawkus76]

LAVA BEARS GET 9 TRANSFERS!



By Ivan Mateo
CFSPN.com
Archive

Orlando Fl- Lindenwood Academy head coach, John Gruden, is pleased to Announce the following incoming transfers. Six are from Eastern Michigan University and the other three hail from JUCO and all are eligible to play. "The best part of the deal is they all can come in and compete this year. Hell, a few of them might end up starting. The rest of the guys we have coming in are all true freshmen, with the exceptions of a few preferred walk-ons." Gruden said.

Six of the nine come from Eastern Michigan, as they ended up following newly appointed Defensive Coordinator, Ron English. Those whos transfered include:
6'6 Freshman QB Devontae Payne, who came to Lindenwood because of coach English. He was the one who recruited him to EMU. RS Junior Center, Derek Gotham, who will be the only Junior on the team this coming season. SOPH TE, Garret Hoskins, SOPH LG, Andrew Sorgatz, SOPH LOLB, Andy Mulumba and the big 6'8 SOPH LT, Scott Mcleod. The last three are SOPH RE, Kenyatta Dukes, the #1 rated Defensive player by CIVIALS.com. Kenyatta chose to back out of his original commitment to USC to come to Lindenwood when he heard about the school. Kenyatta played last year at top ranked Blinn CC, where was a 1st team All-American and All-Conference selection. Kenyatta also led the NJCAA with 19.5 sacks. SOPH DT, Bradley Locks, from Snow College was also a 1st team All-Conference selection. Locks chose to come to Lindenwood over Utah, Washington and Baylor. 2nd Team All-American SOPH TE, Lawrence Rivers, who had 39 receptions and 9 Touchdowns last year for Doge City CC, by his own token passed up some big schools with the likes Texas A&M, Arkansas and Iowa.

Dukes, Locks and Rivers are a nice edition to any program and Lindenwood scored big, especially with the signing of Kenyatta Dukes which stunned all of Los Angles when he decided not to sign. "This kid [Dukes] is an unbelievable talent and we're lucky to have him. I watched him since he was in high school and the with the progression he has made now, he's definitely on pace to be one of the greats." English said. Coach Gruden also mentioned that he is just as excited as anyone to watch him play. "We expect big thing from him this year. I'm just glad we could get these players, Dukes, Rivers and Locks, being so close to the start of the season. You can expect the players to start arriving in the next couple weeks to this beautiful "compound" i would call it. Lindenwood Academy."

http://www.operationsports.com/Thumb...t-9-transfers/

[rawkus76]

LAVA BEARS STAFF & SCHEDULE
REVEALED!



By R.E. Porter
CFSPN.com
Archive

Orlando, FL - Coach Gruden has finalized his coaching staff after several, much anticipated, long weeks. Gruden mentioned it was set a couple of weeks ago and they didn't want to release it till now. We might as well say it....This coaching staff is already one of the better ones, if not the best in the country. That is, if you're counting Superbowl Champions and All-Pros. The staff has a possibility to have 5 potential future NFL hall of famers and two former Divison-I head coaches. Did I mention Superbowl Champions? If you dont believe me, just take a look at the list for yourself down below. At the same time, great players dont make great coaches but its sure hard to argue with this group of talent. Also, Lindenwood has released their 2010 schedule. By the looks of things, the players are going to need the best from these coaches just to have a shot at a .500 season. The bright spot for Lindenwood is what ever happens, Gruden is here for the long haul. Lindenwood's Thursday night game against #14 LSU will kick off the start of the college season.

Lindenwood Academy Coaching Staff

HEAD COACH - Jon Gruden
OFFENSE CORD/QB - Jay Gruden
DEFENSE CORD - Ron English
O-LINE - Orlando Pace
D-LINE - Mark Mangino
DB'S - Rodney Harrison
LB'S - Derrick Brooks
WR - Isaac Bruce
RB - Warrick Dunn
SPECIAL TEAMS/TE - Mark Bavaro


http://www.operationsports.com/Thumb...dule-revealed/

[rawkus76]

LAVA BEARS TRAINING CAMP
WEEK 1 IN REVIEW!



By Brisco Kipp
The Lindenwood Honeycomb
Archive

Orlando, FL - As training camp got under way this week you could tell that the summer workouts really helped out first year coach John Gruden. Coaches and players already have a feel for each other and everything looked very crisp and organized. The morning practices ran about 2 hours and there were about 24 periods for each part of practice. Everything was pretty consistent this week, with one special teams practice moved into the Bubble because of lightning strikes. Other then that, the afternoon session ran about an hour. But Monday, Wednesday and Friday afternoon practices were dedicated to special teams. Special teams coach Mark Bavaro said, "Special Teams is a 3rd of the game and we will thrive on special teams here. We will boast one of the best special team units in the country.”

The Defense looked very good not allowing the offense to catch any rhythm and the main cause of that was Kenyatta Dukes. To no one's surprise. Not one O-linemen could stop him in any one-on-one drills or in any team drills, for that matter. It got to the point where Offensive Coordinator, Jay Gruden, asked coach English to sub someone else in so the Offense could get work done. “I never seen anything like this kid! He is the definition of unblockable." Jay Gruden said.

Kenyatta could be one of the scariest 20 year olds I have ever come in contact with. He reminds me of young Julius Peppers. He stands at 6'7, just an inch shorter then Peppers, and weighs 262 pounds. He originally signed with the University of Miami out of high school but failed to meet NCAA requirements, which landed him at the #1 JUCO in the country, Blinn College. In only one season at Blinn, he amassed 88 tackles and led the country with 19.5 sacks, which aslo helped lead them to a NJCAA National Championship. Kenyatta chose Lindenwood after backing out on his commitment to USC. Kenyatta, a native Miami boy, will be a Sophomore next year. Dukes said he planed on winning a national championship before his time is done at Lindenwood. "When I came on an unofficial visit here, I just felt like this was the place I wanted to come to. I felt a winning vibe here. With the coaches that were hired and the backing of Mr. Knight, I couldn't turn that down. Ya know, you start the tradition here, you're the first ones. You set how high the mark is. Everybody is going to want to come here...you'll see. We got real good people coming in this year who switched their decision on signing day when they found out who was backing Lindenwood. What better booster then Nike?"

Kenyatta will be wearing #2 this season at Defensive End. When i asked why he wears #2, he replied "My number wasn't always 2. I rocked 45 but 2 is how many sacks I want a game. Of course more is better, but that's the minimum I want a game and that is reality." Its just a personal goal, but the ultimate is to win every game. If he can keep up with the pace he had this past week in training camp, I see no argument there. The Lava Bears will have their first Offense vs Defense scrimmage next Friday and it will be open to the public. We should get a better feel how the depth chart will start to come together for the opener against LSU.

Come out an meet Kenyatta and the rest of your 2010 Lava Bears On August 24th for Media Day and last day of camp festivities. There will be free autographs and food. Also, Hummer of Orlando will be holding a raffle for a 2011 hummer.



http://www.operationsports.com/Thumb...ining-camp-hc/

[hockeyplaya2724]

I'm not going to lie, when I heard a team called the Lava Bears I thought it was going to be ********. This is really good though dude, the jerseys (from what I saw) look really cool as well. Good luck with this, I can't wait to see how you do this season.