When West Virginia coach Dana Holgorsen said a lack of leadership was a big problem on his team last year, it was widely viewed as a knock on Geno Smith, the former West Virginia quarterback who was drafted by the Jets this year. But Holgorsen now says that’s not what he meant.
According to Bruce Feldman of CBS, Holgorsen was incredulous to hear media reports that said Smith’s leadership had been knocked.
“Geno was one of the only real leaders we had on the team in 2012,” Holgorsen said.
Holgorsen added that the media misconstrued his comments, in which he never mentioned Smith by name.
“People in media are trying to read between the lines or add two plus two and they’re wrong,” Holgorsen said.
Of course, it wasn’t just people in the media who read things into Holgorsen’s comments: Jets coach Rex Ryan found Holgorsen’s comments far enough out of line that he said he wouldn’t want his son to play for West Virginia. But perhaps Ryan will reconsider now that Holgorsen has reconsidered.