With Mercer going scholarship football next year, Do you think that John Russ will still be the quarterback next year. Mercer just pick up a quarterback commit named Tanner Brumby, he looks like he could be a great quarterback.

http://soconrecruiting.com/qb-tanner-bru...to-mercer/

I would assume it will be a fair tryout in the offseason. Russ did a lot for us last year and we can't forget that. I would think if they appear like equals we go with Russ. Just because a new guy doesn't start next year won't mean he isn't being groomed for the year after.

Looking at the link you posted, the kid looks like a great player for sure!

Also, our punting game last year was one of our biggest weaknesses. It's funny they mention this kid can also punt. I don't think I've ever heard of a QB/P combo.

(01-14-2014 02:31 PM)MercerFan Wrote:  I would assume it will be a fair tryout in the offseason. Russ did a lot for us last year and we can't forget that. I would think if they appear like equals we go with Russ. Just because a new guy doesn't start next year won't mean he isn't being groomed for the year after.

Looking at the link you posted, the kid looks like a great player for sure!

Also, our punting game last year was one of our biggest weaknesses. It's funny they mention this kid can also punt. I don't think I've ever heard of a QB/P combo.

MercerFan - you must be a 'youngster' - Danny White, Dan Pastorini, and Johnny Evans were all exceptional College and/or Pro QB's and Punters. Ingle Martin might be a name you know from the more modern era of football and with SEC, SoCon...and, by (multiple) extension(s), Mercer connections. A starting QB who is also the starting Punter causes D-Coordinators a lot of headaches on every 4th down...and can be a real weapon if deployed properly.

John Russ is THE MAN. Michael Haynes is pretty darn good too. I wouldn't think because the new 'kids' are 'scholarship kids' that they are going to come in and 'automatically' be better than the kids on campus right now. Some will be. Most won't....until they mature. Remember, Mercer has 17 FBS/FCS transfers on campus right now who 'were' scholarship-level kids and are now 20-21 years old...and they have about 35 more 19 & 20 year old players who have now been in a college program for 2 years and who were major contributors in 10 wins and 12 hard-fought college contests. This year's signees WILL have more of a chance to play early at Mercer than they would at any other SoCon school, but there are about 50 proven FCS-level players & a total of about 85 experienced college football men in Macon right now, who are busy working their butts off to keep those 'newbies' from seeing the field in 2014. It's going to be fun to see how it all plays out!

Finally - agreed that punting was seldom 'pretty' last year, but for the most part, it really was highly efficient and effective (with a few exceptions). Mercer has a big-time punter coming for an Official Visit this weekend. Has multiple offers, but I think Mercer has a shot at landing him.

FUBear-- Yes, I suppose I am a bit of a 'youngster'! Thanks for the info, it was a good post. I agree about Russ as well...the more I think about it, it would take a LOT to dethrone him as the starter. He outperformed every expectation last year. There's no reason he can't improve on that and get even better. A great decision maker, and rarely had a turnover. A big reason for our success was that positive turnover margin.

Keep us updated of any recruiting info you hear about!

Fubear- which socon school do you think has had the best recruiting class so far?

(01-16-2014 06:34 PM)Mercer478 Wrote:  Fubear- which socon school do you think has had the best recruiting class so far?

478 - I'm an old hard-butt - I place ZERO VALUE in 'stars,' etc. I think that question can really only be answered following the 2016 season. Lots of ugly ducklings become swans and vice-versa. Remember UGa's "Dream Team" Class of 2011...27 signees...
1 never qualified academically
6 dismissed
7 non contributors
4 injured this season
8 starters
1 NFL player

33% Hit Rate...

In the FCS world, Coaches have to take more chances and 'project' kids a lot more, which means, IMHO, they should be basing a lot more of those projections on a kid's intangibles...so a good 'hit rate' is even harder to attain.

Further, FCS 'Commits' are shakier than FBS commits because if, for example, an MTSU DB Commit gets a late offer from, let's say, Kentucky, they are gone to play SEC Football...so MTSU now offers, let's say, UTC's top DB Commit...who is gone...cuz he has always dreamed of playing in the Famous Gorton's Fish Bowl (or similar).

I just hope (and trust) that Mercer's Coaches are placing a huge part of their recruiting evaluations into the kids' intangibles and less in their 'measurables.' To me...that's how you WIN at the FCS level. Recruit the best FOOTBALL PLAYERS with amazing work ethics, high character, and an absolute BURNING passion to WIN. Kids who want to succeed as bad as they want to breathe. We just won't know who those kids are until they have been on their respective campuses for about 3 years.

Great post FU Bear. I can't wait to see this class finalized and see the breakdown by position, to at least get an idea of where they focused.

So...for some kinda/sorta 'inside' recruiting 'scoop'....I have reason to believe, though I do not know for certain, that this young man (see video link below) is enrolled at Mercer for the Spring Term (UPDATE - NOT ENROLLED YET). He signed with another school out of Some HS in 2013 and played at Some Other School last year. CONTENT DELETED. I suspect the young man in this video will be eligible for 2014.

LINK DELETED

(01-17-2014 12:14 AM)MercerFan Wrote:  Great post FU Bear. I can't wait to see this class finalized and see the breakdown by position, to at least get an idea of where they focused.

Here's the way I see it...at this point...sorted by Offense/Defense & Position. I'm just guessing on some of the positions....it looks a lot better on a spreadsheet. You can actually copy this onto a spreadsheet and most of the columns will line back up and make it a lot more 'read-able.'

COMMITS / ENROLLED
# Fname Lname YR IN CL O/D/S Pos1 Pos2 HT WT Hometown ST High School Previous College
1 LeMarkus Bailey 2014 FR D DB S 72 185 Powder Springs GA Hillgrove HS
2 Zach Jackson 2013.5 R-SO D DB S 72 200 Snellville GA Brookwood HS Texas Christian
3 Austin Wysor 2014 FR D DL DE 77 240 Trussville AL Hewitt-Trussville HS
4 Austin Barrett 2014 FR D DL NG 74 286 Murfreesboro TN Oakland HS
5 Jalen Penn 2014 FR D DL NG 74 265 Kennesaw GA Harrison HS
6 Travonte Easley 2014 FR D LB OLB 73 191 Nashville TN Montgomery Bell Academy
7 Zac Rice 2013.5 FR O OL C 76 270 Newberry FL Newberry HS
8 Thomas Marchman 2014 FR O OL OG 76 260 Gainesville GA East Hall HS
9 Caleb Yates 2014 FR O OL OT 76 285 Murfreesboro TN Oakland HS
10 Alan Posey 2013.5 R-JR O OL OT 77 307 Athens GA Clark Central HS Tennessee
11 Tanner Brumby 2014 FR O QB P 74 188 Jasper GA Pickens
12 Fname LName 2014 FR O QB 74 190 Sometown GA Some HS
13 FName LName 2014 FR O RB 72 190 Sometown FL Some HS Some other school
14 Derek Owings 2013.5 SO O TE 75 235 Saline MI Saline HS Eastern Michigan
15 Chandler Curtis 2014 FR O WR 72 180 Calhoun GA Calhoun HS
16 Avery Ward 2014 FR O WR 74 170 Alpharetta GA Chattahoochee HS
17 Justin Johnson 2014 FR O WR 76 190 Ponte Vedra FL Nease HS

Awesome, thanks for the list. I wonder if they'll release who they give scholarships to from last years roster?

Mercer lost a 'Commit' today. LeMarkus Bailey from Hillgrove decommitted from Mercer & committed to Furman. He is a Safety. I wonder if the news of Mercer getting TCU Safety transfer, Zach Jackson and the solid 2013 play of Safeties, Lendell Arnold (AF transfer) & Mike Gray (very talented 'true' Freshman last year) had anything to do with his decision. A bit ironic if a start-up program lost a recruit to the defending SoCon champ so he could get MORE playing time. Bailey is good. I was thinking he might be able to move to Corner in college as he is a little small for a safety. Oh well...on to the next one. I bet Coach Lamb is HOT about this though.

(01-19-2014 05:15 PM)FUBeAR Wrote:  Mercer lost a 'Commit' today. LeMarkus Bailey from Hillgrove decommitted from Mercer & committed to Furman. He is a Safety. I wonder if the news of Mercer getting TCU Safety transfer, Zach Jackson and the solid 2013 play of Safeties, Lendell Arnold (AF transfer) & Mike Gray (very talented 'true' Freshman last year) had anything to do with his decision. A bit ironic if a start-up program lost a recruit to the defending SoCon champ so he could get MORE playing time. Bailey is good. I was thinking he might be able to move to Corner in college as he is a little small for a safety. Oh well...on to the next one. I bet Coach Lamb is HOT about this though.

That really suck but i'm sure we can find other great players to feel the void. Also how many more football scholarships will mercer give out

(01-19-2014 09:41 PM)Mercer478 Wrote:  

(01-19-2014 05:15 PM)FUBeAR Wrote:  Mercer lost a 'Commit' today. LeMarkus Bailey from Hillgrove decommitted from Mercer & committed to Furman. He is a Safety. I wonder if the news of Mercer getting TCU Safety transfer, Zach Jackson and the solid 2013 play of Safeties, Lendell Arnold (AF transfer) & Mike Gray (very talented 'true' Freshman last year) had anything to do with his decision. A bit ironic if a start-up program lost a recruit to the defending SoCon champ so he could get MORE playing time. Bailey is good. I was thinking he might be able to move to Corner in college as he is a little small for a safety. Oh well...on to the next one. I bet Coach Lamb is HOT about this though.

That really suck but i'm sure we can find other great players to feel the void. Also how many more football scholarships will mercer give out

Well, that's too bad for the kid. I can't believe he would trade in the Mercer experience. Sounds like he might have made a snap decision that will shape the rest of his life. Mercer Football is bigger than any 1 player.

(01-20-2014 03:59 AM)MercerFan Wrote:  

(01-19-2014 09:41 PM)Mercer478 Wrote:  

(01-19-2014 05:15 PM)FUBeAR Wrote:  Mercer lost a 'Commit' today. LeMarkus Bailey from Hillgrove decommitted from Mercer & committed to Furman. He is a Safety. I wonder if the news of Mercer getting TCU Safety transfer, Zach Jackson and the solid 2013 play of Safeties, Lendell Arnold (AF transfer) & Mike Gray (very talented 'true' Freshman last year) had anything to do with his decision. A bit ironic if a start-up program lost a recruit to the defending SoCon champ so he could get MORE playing time. Bailey is good. I was thinking he might be able to move to Corner in college as he is a little small for a safety. Oh well...on to the next one. I bet Coach Lamb is HOT about this though.

That really suck but i'm sure we can find other great players to feel the void. Also how many more football scholarships will mercer give out

Well, that's too bad for the kid. I can't believe he would trade in the Mercer experience. Sounds like he might have made a snap decision that will shape the rest of his life. Mercer Football is bigger than any 1 player.

You win a few, lose a few. No real rhyme or reason as to why sometimes. Sometimes it's playing time, sometimes its' close to home, or daddy went there, or a coach that recruited them is the position coach. Who knows.

As a Furman fan, I'm always glad when a talented player takes his game to Greenville. Some of this is just the ups and downs of college football recruiting. Some big FBS program may come in tomorrow and offer the kid, and he might leave Furman for something else.

I agree with what you're saying. The recruiting game is a tough game. I'm sure every coach is always happy to finish recruiting and finalize the new class of players.

This Furman @ Mercer game in the early season is shaping up to be even more heated though...

(01-23-2014 05:21 AM)MercerFan Wrote:  I agree with what you're saying. The recruiting game is a tough game. I'm sure every coach is always happy to finish recruiting and finalize the new class of players.

This Furman @ Mercer game in the early season is shaping up to be even more heated though...

Certainly won't miss that one. With degrees from both schools I do feel my attendance is compelled. Not only a lot of ties between the programs, but it will be the first SoCon game and first scholarship team Mercer will see in its short history. I anticipate that the natives will be whipped up for that one.

Lamb is a good recruiter. Furman had nine Lamb recruits in NFL camps last pre-season (and another will likely be selected in the draft this April). He will bring some talented players to Macon.

Just read this on twitter looks like LeMarkus Bailey has recommitted back mercer.

(01-23-2014 04:49 PM)Mercer478 Wrote:  Just read this on twitter looks like LeMarkus Bailey has recommitted back mercer.

Nice! Great move by him, and an incredible team being built at Mercer.

Uh oh, I see The Jackal has made his way over here from TheUFFP. No more 'inside scoop' from me then. He's an FU man 1st. My DNA now dictates that I have to be an 'enemy' of FU after bleeding purple for over 35 seasons...but I'm an ALL-IN guy. Now, what's bad for FU is good for MU & vice-versa; so the veins are pumping orange only. We may go 0'fer in the SoCon for the next 2 years, but I'll be BearingDown the whole way. Go Bears ...and it does appear that Bailey has reversed his field again. Wonder if he can swing those other 2 kids from Hillgrove with him. Ain't recruitin' fun(ny)!

(01-23-2014 07:07 PM)FUBeAR Wrote:  Uh oh, I see The Jackal has made his way over here from TheUFFP. No more 'inside scoop' from me then. He's an FU man 1st. My DNA now dictates that I have to be an 'enemy' of FU after bleeding purple for over 35 seasons...but I'm an ALL-IN guy. Now, what's bad for FU is good for MU & vice-versa; so the veins are pumping orange only. We may go 0'fer in the SoCon for the next 2 years, but I'll be BearingDown the whole way. Go Bears ...and it does appear that Bailey has reversed his field again. Wonder if he can swing those other 2 kids from Hillgrove with him. Ain't recruitin' fun(ny)!

Mercer is the only team the follow...

I don't really follow all of your post, but I get the end result that you're only going to cheer for the Bears?