In Middle School, Steffy had Interviewing 101

In less than 11 full days, this marks the 100th entry of Terrapins Insider. I want to hit 1,000 entries by season’s end. I read every comment and want to thank everyone who has chimed in with comments, e-mails, feedback and suggestions. I take everything into account. Keep them coming, and we can make this what you want it to be.

For example, one reader pointed out that MTSU might use my headline on the Da’Rel Scott post as bulletin board material and that it could be unfair because Scott never said he was salivating. Fair point, so I changed the headline.

One more thing, Matt Rennie brought up Jordan Steffy’s interview skills, and I wanted to add something. Steffy’s mentor, Darryl Daniel, is a former Syracuse wide receiver who jumped around the NFL a little bit. They are very close. Daniel accompanied Steffy on some official recruiting visits. They talk several times a week, and often text message. Daniel told me he used to make Steffy practice interviews when he was in 8th grade because he knew the skill would be important once he got to college. Daniel said Steffy was a little shy at first, but he got better and better with it. From the first time I talked to Steffy, early in his freshman year, I noticed how strong his interview skills were.

Daniel also prepped Steffy a lot before Steffy’s meeting about six months ago with Ralph Friedgen. Steffy wanted to know his future in the program. Daniel told Steffy to “take the conversation from the outside in,” meaning to talk first about goals to attend graduate school, then talk about commitment to practice and then spell out how you can specifically help the football team in the fall. By all accounts, the meeting went very well. And obviously Friedgen feels strongly about Steffy as a person and a football player.

To answer one commenter in an earlier entry, I have mixed thoughts as to whether Friedgen is concerned about what the fans think. When he named Steffy the starter, he did say repeatedly that he hoped the fans gave the kid a chance and that it could be a work in progress. And on Tuesday, when I asked what he would say to the fans who boo, he had a chance to tear into the fans but obviously did not. So he cares to some degree what the pulse is out there.