Tag: Gary Smith

Caleb Porter guarantees last-place Revs will beat Charlotte FC

This one could really backfire on the Revs coach

The pressure is already growing on Caleb Porter just a couple months into his tenure as New England Revolution head coach.

Now, Porter has taken a step that will undoubtedly ratchet that pressure up even more.

In an appearance on a Boston radio station, Porter guaranteed the Revs would defeat Charlotte FC at Gillette Stadium on Saturday.

The promise was notable, given the Revs are currently the worst team in MLS on a points-per-game basis. Porter’s side has one draw and four defeats in five games thus far, with a league-worst goal differential of -7.

New England is also coming off a dismal 4-0 home loss against Club América on Tuesday, essentially ending their Concacaf Champions Cup quarterfinal tie after just one leg.

Porter appeared on 98.5 The Sports Hub on Thursday, and closed out his interview by saying: “We’re going to get a win Saturday. I promise that.”

Word of Porter’s guarantee quickly reached Dean Smith, whose Charlotte  side currently sits six places and seven points above the Revs in the table.

“He shouldn’t make promises he might not be able to keep,” the coach fired back.

Whether Porter’s guarantee ends up being suicidal or a brilliant bit of motivation, we have to give the coach credit for turning a nondescript early-season matchup into a game MLS fans will now be closely monitoring.

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Top available college football transfer portal defensive tackles

Top available college football transfer portal defensive tackles #GoBucks

The Ohio State Buckeyes were rough on defense last season despite being a recruiting juggernaut. However, it is entirely possible that newly hired defensive coordinator Jim Knowles is going to want more help on the defensive line. With Haskell Garrett departing, adding some beef to the interior of the defensive front is not the worst idea.

The inception of the transfer portal has created a bit of a free agency period in college football. It has created a brand new world — some good, some bad — that we won’t get into right now.

Instead, here are the top five defensive tackles left in the portal during the 2021 offseason of college football.

Former Jets college scout Gary Smith dead at 72

Former New York Jets college scout Gary Smith has died at 72.

Longtime Jets college scout Gary Smith has died at the age of 72.

From 1998-2011, Smith served as the Jets’ representative to the National Football Scouting (NFS) service. He also played an integral role in New York’s NFL draft preparation, hitting the road in the spring before the upcoming draft to collect information on players who would be eligible the following year.

“Gary was a hard-working scout who loved his job and loved the Jets,” former Jets general manager Terry Bradway told Jets senior reporter Eric Allen. “He had a really good background, a former player and coach who carried his Midwestern values and was very fun to be around.

“Typically, the NFS/Combine scout was a young scout who did it for a couple of years and then would move on to become an area scout as another young person would step into that role. Gary loved that position, he loved being the NFS scout of the Jets. He took great pride in his work and his work would go to the other 18 or 19 teams who participated in the National Football Scouting system.”

A native of Springfield, Ill., Smith, who is a member of Ourlads.com‘s “NFL Scout Hall of Fame,” got his start in the NFL working for the Chicago Bears as their BLESTO scout from 1991-98. Prior to that, he worked as the defensive line coach, director of football operations and on-campus recruiting coordinator at Indiana University. Smith joined Indiana’s coaching staff following a stint as the head coach and athletic director of Crete-Monee High School in Illinois. He also coached at Virden High School, Lyons Township High School and Reavis High School in Illinois, where he played a major role in three straight state titles working as a defensive assistant from 1980-82.

Smith played his college football at and graduated from Southern Illinois in 1969. Before coaching at the College of DuPage and working as a graduate assistant at Southern Illinois, Smith was a member of the St. Louis Cardinals’ taxi squad from 1970-71 as a cornerback and special teams player.