Robbie Caldwell will be making his debut as a head football coach at any level in ten days and, as he’s doing it at Vanderbilt, needs any and all talent currently on the roster to be healthy and available.
Unfortunately, arguably the most talented Commodores player could be on the sideline when Caldwell’s head-coaching career kicks off against Northwestern Sept. 4.
According to The Tennessean, running back Warren Norman (why does that just feel like the quintessential name for a Vandy football player?) underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right knee earlier today and is questionable for the opener.
It’s unknown exactly when or how Norman suffered the injury, but swelling in the knee in recent days prompted doctors to perform an MRI and led to their scoping the knee this morning.
“He had little pieces (of cartilage) floating around in there and they cleaned it up,” Caldwell said. “Hopefully, he’s going to be ready to go. We don’t know if he’ll make it for the first game, but he’s got a shot.
"(Team physician Kurt Spindler also) cleaned up his meniscus. There were some rough edges there. A piece of cartilage floating around in there - that’s what was causing it to swell up. He didn’t have pain, but it was causing it to puff up. Hopefully, he’s going to be good as new.”
Last season, Norman rushed for 783 yards and returned three kickoffs for touchdown -- the latter total tying an SEC record -- on his way to laying claim to SEC Freshman of the Year honors. Additionally, and something either I didn’t know or had forgotten, Norman became the first SEC freshman to lead the conference since the greatest college football player of all-time, Herschel Walker, did it in 1980.
So, yeah, his return is of the utmost importance to Caldwell and the Commodores.