Olsen has the respect of the entire offense.
Junior quarterback Jimmy Clausen and senior center Eric Olsen will be offensive captains while fifth-year senior Kyle McCarthy will captain the defense and fifth-year senior Scott Smith the special teams.
It is not surprising that Clausen and McCarthy were selected, but it is clear that Olsen has the respect of, not only the offensive linemen, but the entire offense. Smith is not as much of a surprise as the special teams captain, but some fans were probably hoping to see Mike Anello leading the special teams.
Charlie Weis made it clear that he wanted his quarterback to be a captain, but he also said that he would not force that decision upon the team. Weis said that he wanted to have one captain for offense, defense and special teams, but that he would consider having more if there was a close vote, which was obviously the case on offense.
The leadership committee includes the four captains as well as representatives from each of the other position units. Senior running back James Aldridge, sophomore receiver Michael Floyd, sophomore tight end Kyle Rudolph, senior tackle Sam Young, senior cornerback Anello, senior safety Sergio Brown, junior defensive end Kerry Neal, senior defensive end John Ryan and junior linebacker Brian Smith make up the leadership committee.
Since the spring, Weis and the players have talked about all of the different guys who were providing leadership, but the selections of Floyd, Rudolph, Neal and Brian Smith says a lot about the leadership beyond the senior class.
Brian Smith has to be a bit disappointed about not being named captain, but do not expect it to deter him in the least. Smith understands his role as a leader on the team even if he will not be walking out for the coin toss before every game.
The same goes for a host of other players like Ethan Johnson, Golden Tate, Armando Allen and Ian Williams.
