One and done. That was Joe Tonga's career at FSU. The California JC product arrived in Tallahassee just in time for fall practice and played sparingly in '08.
Now you'll find Joe at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, a Division II school not far from Pittsburgh.
A casualty of Trickett's school of hard knocks? Nope. To clear up any confusion, Tonga had only one year of eligibility when he came to FSU. But for D-II, the NCAA counts semesters instead of years (D-1 players have five years to play four seasons).
Mike Campolo, the O-Line Coach who recruited Joe for IUP, told us Tonga was actually headed to the Pennsylvania school last summer. But a few days before reporting, he got a call from Rick Trickett that changed his mind.
And for the record, Campolo tells us that Tonga "loved Rick Trickett." In fact, Trickett may have guided Tonga to IUP, as Campolo reminded us that Trickett coached there earlier in his career.
Campolo says Tonga "hopes for a pro career (IUP has had 11 players in NFL camps in the past decade), but he's also adamant about graduating. He got here in January and he's really an unbelievable person who's doing well in the classroom and is just a good kid."
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