Nice little follow up article on Kinder.
http://www.newsday.com/sports/colle...st-as-he-learns-stony-brook-offense-1.9167053
Some highlights:
The door was open for John Kinder to transfer from Syracuse to Stony Brook a year ago, but as disappointed as the former Lawrence High star was with his lack of playing time, it never was just about football for him.
"I always knew I wanted to graduate from Syracuse and get my degree and finish out strong," Kinder said Wednesday. "I've never been a quitter. I didn't want to let my lack of playing time determine my experience and my education there."
Spending his first three seasons at Syracuse as an understudy to quarterback Ryan Nassib, who now is backing up Eli Manning on the Giants, helped prepare Kinder. "I had a great relationship with Ryan," Kinder said. "At times, he got frustrated and would get on me about how 'Quarterbacks can't be clowns, can't be the goofballs.' I'm a fun-loving guy, but he'd remind me that quarterbacks have to set themselves apart from everyone else. That was one of the more valuable lessons I learned from him and also how he went about preparing for a game."
My takeaway: The talent level now, compared to when Kinder was recruited, is not even close. At the time I didn't think much of Kinder as a recruit but saw it as a nice way to get back in the good graces of down state coaches who produce the occasional impact player. With no inside information, one of the RB's signed in the '15 class is from Kinder's high school and I have to think had John had a miserable experience at 'Cuse, we wouldn't have signed the new RB.
