Coach says Edwards to transfer from LSU
By CARL DUBOIS
[email protected]
Advocate sportswriter
Fifth-string tailback Barrington Edwards, one of LSU's top recruits in 2003, received his release last week from coach Nick Saban and hopes to transfer to a school closer to home, his high school coach said Saturday.
Scott Chadwick, who coached Edwards and Bowie High School to the Maryland Class 4A state championship in 2001, said the parting of ways between Edwards and LSU appears to be a mutual decision.
Edwards, who would have been a sophomore this season, did not return telephone calls to his family's home in Bowie, about 10 miles northeast of Washington, D.C.
Saban, with his family at his summer retreat in Georgia, could not be reached for comment.
LSU spokesman Michael Bonnette would neither confirm nor deny the news.
"I don't have any information," Bonnette said.
Chadwick, who called Edwards the best player he's coached in a 10-year career, said Edwards' decision to leave LSU was in part because of a lack of foreseeable playing time and in part because of disciplinary problems.
"He hasn't made some of the greatest decisions in the world while he was down there," Chadwick said. "The coaches there at LSU tried to be patient with him from a discipline standpoint.
"Also, he sees a pretty good logjam at tailback."
LSU returns a senior, a junior and two sophomores -- including Justin Vincent, the MVP of the SEC Championship Game and the BCS national championship game -- all of whom have more experience than Edwards.
He ranked fifth among LSU running backs with 169 yards last season and didn't score a touchdown. He played more on special teams, making five tackles in 11 games.
"With LSU's tailback situation, he was looking at a lot of competition this year and next," Chadwick said. "This gives him a chance to go where he could play a lot next year if he can handle sitting out for a year."
Edwards rushed for 2,289 yards and 30 touchdowns as a junior during Bowie's state championship run. Two major recruiting networks ranked him among the nation's top 10 running backs as a senior.
Chadwick said Edwards will visit North Carolina State with him Monday and is looking for a school that wants him, can get him in school by the start of the fall semester and has a scholarship available.
"At this time of year, a lot of schools don't have any left," he said.
Chadwick said he doesn't blame LSU for Edwards' decision to leave.
"It's not LSU's fault they have a lot of good running backs," he said. "They've recruited a bunch of good football players. That's why they're the defending national champions."
Earlier this summer, Saban lashed out at a local television station for reporting Edwards was no longer on the team -- and at writers for other media outlets who picked up on the story. Saban said Edwards and his family were upset by the reports.
At SEC Media Days last week, Saban didn't mention Edwards during a breakdown of LSU's depth at running backs.
