COLUMN: Coach Mike Toop moves on to UConn

From Brian Hindo's, Guilty as Charge -- Quakers defensive end Kevin Martin, a fan of coach Mike Toop Toop never once paid attention to me as a writer when I mentioned his defense's statistics after games, but every one of his players couldn't wait to toot -- no, blast from the rooftops -- his horn. After seven success-laden seasons masterminding the Quakers punishing defense, Toop -- Penn's defensive coordinator -- accepted the same post at the University of Connecticut. For Toop, it's a step up. After stints at Albany State, Union College and Colgate before coming to West Philadelphia, Toop now gets a shot at a Division I-A school. For the Quakers, it's an uneasy time. How do you replace the man that built a defense that ranked tops in Division I-AA in 1994 and has remained a hallmark of Quakers football in the 1990s? How do you replace the man who is responsible for bringing numerous recruits to Penn? More importantly to the players, though, is how do you replace a guy like Toop? In addition to the obvious defensive mind the Quakers lose, they also lose a tremendous recruiter. "Meeting him on the recruiting trip, I got a good feeling about him versus all the rest of the coaches that recruited me," Martin said. "[Toop and Penn head coach Al Bagnoli] didn't promise you anything, they didn't have to brag about their past accomplishments or anything like that. "If you would just do your own homework you would see that they are a very accomplished duo." Guard Jesse Simonin also appreciated Toop's forthrightness. Hailing from the same Long Island area as Toop, Simonin felt he could relate well with the sometimes-abrasive coach. "When you're being recruited, that's a breath of fresh air," said Simonin of meeting Toop. "You tend to respect people who do stuff like that." But once he got you here, well, that was a different story. A graduate of the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, Toop knew something about discipline. "He has an intimidating demeanor," said defensive lineman Brent Stiles, who admitted he was taken aback by Toop when he joined the team as a walk-on freshman. "He demands excellence and full effort, and if you're not prepared to give that or if you're not prepared for the atmosphere he creates around practice, then it's extremely intimidating." Even co-captain and All-Ivy defensive back Joe Piela said Toop's first few practices inspired fear in the players. "The first day of camp he was a lot different than what he had come across as during recruiting," Piela said. But Toop knew how to lighten things up, too. On birthdays, Toop would have players hold footballs over their heads and spin around as many times as their age. After that, he'd make the player try and punt the ball. Just ask Jason McGee. After McGee took a vicious hit against Columbia that wound up on SportsCenter, Toop serenaded McGee with ESPN's trademark "da-da-da" theme the next week in practice. Toop is a coach characterized by fierce intensity -- something his players at Penn greatly appreciated. "Toop was real intense, but the best thing I liked about him was that he was like another player," Martin said. "Practice was canceled on Mondays, [but] you'd see him watching tape all day, getting ready for practice just for us." Perfection is the only option with him -- anything else wasn't good enough for Toop or the Quakers. Stiles remembered a story defensive line coach Jim Schaefer is fond of recounting in practice. "A couple of years ago, coach Toop brought his son Marcus in to the football office," Stiles said. "Schaef was talking with Toop and Marcus was over on the board drawing a picture. He spent 15 minutes working on this picture of a dinosaur, making sure all the details were right -- the horns, the scales. "Toop glanced at it for two or three seconds and said, 'Average at best. Do it again'." Last Friday, the football team held its annual banquet. Mike Toop was not in attendance. Typically, he was out doing his job -- already on the road recruiting for UConn.