Lehigh football team reinstates three of the four suspended players

http://blogs.mcall.com/groller/

FROM KEITH GROLLER

Lehigh football coach Andy Coen announced at Wednesday's weekly media session that three of the players who were suspended last week have been reinstated to the team.

Coen confirmed a previously published report that those players are sophomore defensive backs LaQuan Lambert, Olivier Rigaud and Randall Lawson.

The fourth player, Russhon Phillips, was placed on interim suspension as per institutional policy. The sophomore defensive back from Plymouth Meeting was charged in an off-campus incident last Tuesday night.

"Anybody involved with a case similar to his would be in the same boat," Coen said.

Coen said the other three players were suspended because "they were out, and they're not supposed to be out during the week. But I brought them back because I think it's important for them to be back within the structure of our team and be around their teammates. That's the most positive influence they can have as opposed to just sitting in a room somewhere while we're practicing. So they are back with us."

None of those players are listed on the two-depth chart for the team's game on Saturday at Goodman Stadium against New Hampshire, a battle of top-25 FCS teams.

Coen said he believes the message has been received by the team that improper behavior will not be tolerated.

"I don't have any future concerns," Coen said. "It has been a pretty public thing, so I hope that everyone can kind of get a message from it.

"It wasn't a pleasant week for me last week, but it's what you need to do from the standpoint of being a head coach. My coaches still did a great job of preparing the team. Me, dealing with other things, I wasn't as focused as I would have liked to be on football. That's the difference between being a head coach or a coordinator or an offensive line coach."