TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Talking Football With Paul Maguire

ADVERTISEMENT

The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 3, 2007

Broadcaster Paul Maguire, who spent a decade calling 'Sunday Night Football' on ESPN with Mike Patrick and Joe Theismann, is in his second season partnered with Brad Nessler and Bob Griese on ABC's college football coverage.

The former Citadel receiver and NFL punter - his specialty was the coffin corner kick - spoke Tuesday at the Outback Bowl Kickoff Luncheon. But first, the 69-year-old Buffalo (N.Y.) Sports Hall of Famer spent some time talking football with The Tampa Tribune:

The big college football story around here, obviously, is USF. What's your take on the No. 6 Bulls?

I saw them play the other night against West Virginia, and they are really well-coached. But having said that, I don't give a darn who you are as a coach, if you don't have any players, you can't play. And they've got players.

We've watched them grow from infancy, through I-AA, Conference USA, Big East, bowl games and now they're ranked in the top 10. Are they where they belong, talent-wise, or are they a little bit overrated now?

They're there where they belong, because they're undefeated.

Maybe we're a little bit close to it and it's hard for us to appreciate, really, what's going on. But from your perspective, what does it mean that that program has done so well at such an accelerated rate?

Well, Coach Jim Leavitt has gone out and got himself some players, really. ... The thing that really bothered the heck out of me, I live in Charleston, S.C., and a lot of the guys I play golf with are from West Virginia. And they said, 'Oh, we had a bad day.' No. You got beat. Come on. You got beat. And you got beat by a better team that day.

How far can the Bulls take it?

Is South Florida going to go undefeated? No. Could they? Yeah. ... What if USF goes undefeated and nobody else does? They're the best team in the nation, as far as I'm concerned. As long as they stay healthy, they can beat anybody. They can beat anybody.

Let me throw a few either-or questions at you, and you answer any way you like. We'll start with one from Florida State. Xavier Lee or Drew Weatherford?

Either-or. I don't know. I only saw them in the game when Bobby Bowden played his son Tommy Bowden and Clemson. ... If I were a coach - and that's probably why I was never a coach and never would be - I would play the guy that's got the hottest hand. I don't care. You're not entitled to it.

College football or pro football?

I played pro football for 11 years and did it as an analyst for, I don't know, 25, 30? I like college football more now because of the enthusiasm and the excitement that's there. And the bands.
Coffin corner or kick away?

Coffin corner. I did it all my life when I played. I probably did it more than anyone ever did it in all of football. I don't like pooch kicking, and I don't like this junk where you give them an opportunity to return the ball. It's the only reason I ended up playing pro football, because I didn't make it as a receiver out of The Citadel. I made it as a punter and a linebacker. The problem with the guys that they don't understand, if you're a right-footed kicker, I don't care what hash mark you're on, you kick it to the left-hand corner because if you shank it, it still goes down the middle of the field. ... I used to kick it out of bounds, if I had to, into the stands. I don't care. They weren't going to bring it back.

Griese or Theismann?

Griese. Griese. I worked with both of them. They're both quarterbacks. And I think the most important thing is they both work so hard, because quarterbacks are supposed to know everything. And when they don't, it really hurts. But I really enjoyed both of them.

Carter Gaddis

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT