Colleges

Glad he didn't throw in the towel

By ELISABETH DYER, Times Staff Writer
Published October 6, 2007

He's the defensive line coach at No. 1-ranked LSU. Under his watch, the Tigers have given up 32 points all season.

But Earl Lane was once a sophomore at Plant High, planning to quit football for good.

The encouragement of a coach kept him in the game and took him into a career coaching at eight high schools in the Tampa area, then on to USF for 10 years.

Lane sent tickets for tonight's game against the Florida Gators to Dan Riveiro, his former Plant High coach. Riveiro remembers Lane's passion for football and how hard he worked, coming to Plant at the start of desegregation.

We caught up with Lane for his take on the Bulls, LSU defensive tackle Glenn Dorsey and what brings him back to Tampa.

What did you learn from Riveiro?

Basically he taught me to stay in the game. I was a young player coming out of West Tampa Junior High School, which had pretty good success. I was a good player and a lot of times when you're good on one level, you think you're going to be good on the next.

And you weren't?

I thought I was going to be able to play. And as a sophomore with bigger players, I didn't get a chance. You know, as young people do, I got a little angry about that. I ended up making up my mind that I was going to quit playing football. Coach Riveiro talked me out of quitting. If it had not been for him, I probably wouldn't be where I am right now.

How good were you at Plant?

I wasn't all-state, but I was a good player. I played nose tackle and middle linebacker.

Is tackle Glenn Dorsey the best defensive player ever?

If you ask me, yes. Some folks might think I'm prejudiced. Glenn is an outstanding young man, first of all, and I think that leads to him being an outstanding player as well. He's a blue-collar guy. Great attitude. Great leader. He works hard to get better every day. Whether he's the best out there is really not for him or I to say. But he's a pretty special player.

How 'bout those (USF) Bulls?

I'm extremely proud of them. I coached there 10 years and I'm not surprised that they're where they are now. It's just a tremendous work ethic of the staff and the players. The history, since the program began, has always built toward this. You look at the games they played over the years and the games that they won and the type of teams they played. Now they're having success because they've built the confidence and the longevity. It doesn't surprise me at all.

Who was your college team growing up?

Notre Dame and Florida. I was a big SEC fan and Florida was the closest thing to Tampa.

You've coached all over Hillsborough County.

I think it helped me. I wanted to try to move every two years and move in an upward direction. (Lane coached at Plant, Bloomingdale, Brandon, Tampa Catholic, Chamberlain, Gaither, Tampa Bay Tech and Jefferson high schools.)

What do you like to do when you come back to Tampa?

Recruit, that's my area. And in the offseason I get to see family (his father still lives here) and friends. We get together at (Lee Roy) Selmon's or Maggiano's.

Any last words for Tampa?

I'm in a great place here in Baton Rouge. But you know, Tampa's always home to me and my family. I'm very proud of being from there, very proud of what goes on there.

[Last modified October 6, 2007, 02:47:42]