导出博客文章Clemsons Dabo Swinney and Virginia Techs Justin Fuente will be on opposite sidelines in Saturdays ACC Championship game, but they were almost much closer than that.
Discount Air Max Australia .Then the offensive coordinator at TCU, Fuente was a finalist in 2011 when Swinney was looking for a young and innovative coach to direct the Tigers offense.I really had kind of done my homework and research kind of independently, and then confirmed it with some people that I trusted, and I kind of got it down to three guys, and Chad Morris and Justin were the top two that I wanted to actually bring in and meet with and then kind of go from there, Swinney recalled this week.I just had a lot of respect for the job he had done and watched him closely.Swinney eventually hired Morris, and Fuente earned his first head coaching job at Memphis, turning around a program that had gone 5-31 in the previous years. The Tigers were 7-17 in his first two seasons, but then 10-3 in 2014, including a double-overtime victory against BYU in the Miami Beach Bowl, and 9-3 in the 2015 season.That team also went to a bowl game, but Fuente was already on his way to replacing Frank Beamer, the winningest active coach in the game, with the Hokies.The interview process at No. 3 Clemson (11-1; No. 3 CFP) created the foundation for a friendship.We just got along well, Fuente said of his day-and-a-half in Clemson. I mean, we certainly didnt spend two days talking about how he runs his program. I mean, we talked a little bit about offensive football, but I just enjoyed being around him, enjoyed having conversations about different ways to do things.The coaches now exchange occasional text messages and spend time together at ACC coaches meetings.I would shoot him just an encouragement text from time to time or he might send me one and then we talked a little bit about some recruiting, Swinney said. I had a couple players that had an opportunity that we had recruited here and for whatever reason was looking for another place to go, so I reached out to him a couple different times on a couple different players that had opportunities to go and play for him.On Saturday night, Swinneys Tigers will be looking to not only claim their second consecutive ACC championship, but preserve their spot in the College Football Playoff against a four-time ACC champion back on the rise.The Hokies (9-3; No. 23 CFP) had to win their final game three times in Beamers last four seasons to achieve the six victories needed to ensure an bowl opportunity, but they had no such concerns with Fuente taking over this season, installing his up-tempo offense and retaining longtime defensive coordinator Bud Foster to guide the defense.For them to be back in the championship game, I think, is just an incredible accomplishment, Swinney said, and I knew when they hired him that it wouldnt take long for him to get them back to this point.---More AP college football:
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http://www.shopairmaxaustralia.com/ . But what about the officials? Every sport has officials and they also have stories about hard work and sacrifice but their accomplishments are seldom recognized by anyone outside their inner circle. NEW YORK --?Early in what would become a tight test of a U.S. Open final, Angelique Kerber sprinted forward to somehow reach a drop shot and scoop a down-the-line winner to a corner.The Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd roared, and Kerber celebrated by raising her right hand and wagging her index finger in the air, as if to remind opponent Karolina Pliskova _ and everyone else _ Im No. 1!Yes, she is. And a two-time Grand Slam champion, too.Kerber won her first U.S. Open title and the second major trophy of her out-of-nowhere breakthrough season, taking five of the last six games to beat a fading Pliskova 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 on Saturday.It means a lot to me. When I was a kid, I was always dreaming to one day be the No. 1 player in the world, to win Grand Slams, said Kerber, a 28-year-old German who will move up one spot from No. 2 and replace Serena Williams atop the WTA rankings on Monday. I mean, all the dreams came true this year, and Im just trying to enjoy every moment on court and also off court.Never a Grand Slam finalist before 2016, Kerber beat Williams for the Australian Open title in January, then lost to her in the Wimbledon final in July.On Saturday, the No. 2-seeded Kerber trailed by a break at 3-1 in the third set before coming back against Pliskova, a 24-year-old Czech who was seeded 10th and hadnt been past the third round at a major until this tournament.For sure, Kerber told Pliskova during the trophy ceremony, you have a great future.The present could not be brighter for the left-handed Kerber, the first woman from Germany to win the U.S. Open _ and to get to No. 1 _ since her idol and mentor, Steffi Graf.It was Pliskova who guaranteed Kerbers ascension in the rankings by beating Williams in the semifinals, ending her record-tying 186-week stay at the top, which began in February 2013.Kerber, who collected $3.5 million in prize money Saturday, lost to Pliskova the last time they met, just three weeks ago in the final of a hard-court tournament in Cincinnati.But at the outset of this final, it was Kerber who was in charge. Her defense is exemplary, scrambling along the baseline to put her racket on seemingly evvery ball, crouching so low that her knees would come close to scraping the ground.
Womens Air Max Australia. .As she does against most opponents, Kerber would make Pliskova swing two, three, four extra times to try to end a point. And Pliskova was troubled by that in the early going, making 17 unforced errors in the first set alone, 14 more than Kerber. By the conclusion of the 2-hour, 7-minute final, Pliskova totaled 47 unforced errors, 30 more than Kerber.I was really trying to (stay) in the moment, Kerber said, trying to play my game, being aggressive.Kerber won the toss and elected to receive, perhaps for two reasons: Her serve is the biggest question mark in her otherwise solid game, and it made sense to force Pliskova to deal with an early test of nerves. Either way, the decision worked: Pliskova double-faulted on the matchs first point and got broken right from the get-go.There were plenty of lengthy exchanges in that first set, and Kerber tended to get the better of them, winning 9 of 14 points that lasted at least 10 strokes.But Pliskova hung in there. And after frittering away her first four break points of the match, she converted her fifth with a lob-volley winner that curled over Kerber and alit right by the baseline. Suddenly up 4-3 in the set, Pliskova turned to her coach up in the stands and yelled, pumping her fists.Now it was a match, filled with terrific points, tense moments and plenty of emotion. Pliskova served out the second set _ the only one dropped by Kerber all tournament _ and spiked a ball. Kerber got broken early in the third and bounced her racket off the court. Moments later, she trailed 3-1.But this was Kerbers turn to show some mettle, breaking back to 3-all and again to end it. She dropped on her back after the last point, then climbed into the stands to begin the celebration with her coach and others.She really proved shes the world No. 1, Pliskova told the fans. Then she addressed Kerber directly, saying: It was a great match, and Im very honored to play with you. ' ' '