When Zach Maynard bolted the University at Buffalo, ostensibly because he was disrespected

by the new coaching regime, the rapid-fire reaction was that the Bulls would be hurting at

quarterback next season and new coach Jeff Quinn had failed miserably in maintaining

continuity within the program. None of it is true.

Maynard didn't leave UB because Quinn failed to meet with him soon after taking the job. He

beat it out of town because once Turner Gill moved on to Kansas, Maynard's allegiance was to

associate coach and offensive coordinator Danny Barrett. And once Barrett was bypassed for

Quinn, no longer could Maynard be certain of two more seasons as the Bulls' starting

quarterback. So he hitched his wagon to his brother, five-star recruit Keenan Allen, with the

two settling at Cal after Allen reneged on his verbal to Alabama.

For Otis Yelverton, the family coach-adviser, to tie Maynard's departure to Quinn's alleged

nonchalance was self-serving and a cheap shot at the new coach. After accepting the UB job,

Quinn had to coach Cincinnati in the Sugar Bowl and assemble his UB staff. Soothing the

psyches of players anticipating preferential treatment wasn't high on his list, nor should it

have been.

What did Maynard expect, that Quinn would promise him the job based on whatever game tape

the coach jammed into his chaotic schedule? Did he think one good but hardly great season

meant an end to all competition? I have no quibble with players transferring out once the

coach that recruited them heads for a new program. Just don't blame the coach you never played

for as your reason for leaving.

The strange thing is that Maynard would have been the favorite to start in a spread system

that fits his talents. Next in line is Jerry Davis, a 6-foot-1, 200-pound redshirt

sophomore-to-be who completed 8 of 15 throws as Maynard's backup last season. The knock on

Davis is that he struggled to get a handle on the offense. Now there will be a new one.

The most intriguing candidate is incoming freshman Alex Zordich.

Zordich owns a glimmering pedigree that would have seemed to attract college recruiters in

droves. His father, Michael, was an All-American safety at Penn State, played 12 years in the

NFL, and serves as defensive quality control coach for the Philadelphia Eagles. Two years ago

Alex's brother, also Michael, became part of the most heralded group of incoming linebackers

in Penn State history — which is saying something for a place labeled Linebacker U.

This past season, Alex quarterbacked Cardinal Mooney of Youngstown, Ohio, to its seventh

state Division III championship. He's 6-foot-3, 215 pounds, plucked right out of the drop-back

prototype. Count mobility among his assets.

Trouble was, Zordich didn't do a lot of dropping back at Cardinal Mooney. Most times he

handed the ball to running back Braylon Heard, who averaged more than 9 yards a carry in a

15-0 season and is his heading for Nebraska.

Despite Zordich's limited exposure — he threw fewer than 60 passes last season

— Cincinnati locked on to his potential. Zordich was ready to commit to the Bearcats

until coach Brian Kelly took the head job at Notre Dame and Quinn headed for UB and convinced

Zordich to join him.

The Mid-American Conference is renowned for churning out NFL quarterbacks, with Ben

Roethlisberger, Chad Pennington, Byron Leftwich and Bruce Gradkowski Gradowski among the many.

None of them was a five-star recruit who turned his back on the majors for the chance to play

in the MAC. All arrived with a perceived shortcoming. In Zordich's case, it might be nothing

more than the need to be unleashed, an opportunity that could come all the sooner with Maynard

no longer in the picture.