More Titan Travel Tales: Nine Players Miss Team Bus

AKRON, Ohio —  Last weekend, it took the Titans 17 hours to reach Mississippi State. Everything went smoothly Friday for Cal State Fullerton en route to Akron--for those who made the flight, that is.

The Titans made their connecting flight in Minneapolis and arrived in their Akron hotel right on schedule.

There was one problem, though. Nine players, including four starters, were left behind.

Starting linebackers Clarence Siler and Stan Breland, offensive tackle Mike Simmons, kicker/punter Phil Nevin and reserves Robert Reid, Jamal Jones, Rory Ewing, Rod Smith and Keary Johns caught a later flight and arrived in Akron at about 10 p.m. (EDT). All will be available for today’s game.

But that did little to minimize an embarrassing situation for Titan Coach Gene Murphy.

The team stayed in a Fullerton hotel Thursday night hoping to prevent this from happening. Last week, the Titans didn’t stay in a local hotel, and kick returner Dwayne McAfee missed the bus that took the team from school to the airport. He was unable to get to the Mississippi State game.

The Titans boarded two buses Friday for LAX and were scheduled to leave at 5 a.m. Murphy thought all 55 players were accounted for, and the bus departed at 5:15. But Nevin’s mother called him at the airport to inform him of the nine who didn’t make it.

“We’ve got a mathematical problem,” Murphy said. “We have a head coach who can’t count and nine players who can’t tell time.”

Murphy accepted part of the blame for the mixup, but the players were at fault, too, he said. Murphy said his son, Tim, a team equipment manager, and assistant coach Rich Sheriff counted heads in the buses.

“Rich counted 23 and Tim counted 22, but I thought Tim said 32,” Murphy said. “So it’s not my math, it’s my hearing. I would have waited had I known they were missing, but they still weren’t there on time.”

Apparently, one player boarded a bus after the head count.

Murphy said none of the starters would be benched today, but he didn’t rule out any disciplinary action.

Asked how he might punish the players, he said, “It depends on what kind of mood I’m in.”