The class looks good!
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Flipper Wrote:The class looks good!
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Don't they always?
Anyway, I'd say a couple of those guys look pretty weak. Maybe they were saddled w/ poor teams or systems, but their credentials in print look weak. (Before you ask, Browning and Cole don't "wow" me, and Carson better be damn fast b/c he's smaller than Rey Mysterio)
I'm surprised by all the players from IL and MI in this class. I hope that means BG will get some solid OH walk-ons and that they got some top players, period. While the grade on these players won't come in for 2-4 years, I'd say this is a sign that BG got some recognition througout the mid-west and even south (TN, GA players!). Good stuff.
Congrats to BG on picking up the scraps that the Huskies left at the table in Illinois! You can have the leftovers every year if you'd like.
:wave:
Without question, a few of our players lack size and a few others lack resumes (stuff like all-state awards).
I think what we've seen is an emphasis on speed that we haven't seen before. The list Bowling Green issued did not include 40 times (nor did it include a list of schools our kids turned down). But, as the list of verbals came together, recruiting nuts have been posting those times to Ay-Ziggy-Zoomba.com, and they are impressive. And some of our kids did turn down BCS schools.
You mention Carson, for instance. I believe coaches acknowledge he'll have to gain weight and strength. But he's a burner. Someone has posted his time on Ay-Ziggy-Zoomba.com. It's certainly no more than 4.5, and I think it's actually more like 4.4. or 4.3. He turned down South Florida, Southern Mississippi and Mississippi State to play with us. He's a good one.
A lot of these kids are good students, too.
I don't think we lost ground this year, and that's as best as we could expect given the coaching change. We've got some good players here.
Incidentally, you mention recognition helping our recruiting. That's how we got Cole (who, incidentally, also lettered in track). Back in Memphis, he was watching our progress in the Top 25. He sent in a video and the staff took it from there.
Speed. That's what we got -- and it doesn't necessarily show in the lists the university issued yesterday.
In all seriousness, we had a kid down here at my wife's HS that BG offered a scholarship to last year. He was a real "diamond in the rough" -- he was kind of like Darius Watts (without the criminal element). He is a really fast kid, but a little undersized. Because of his size (or lack, thereof), nobody from the ACC or SEC went after him. Those are the kind of kids the MAC needs to pick up. With a good strength program, these kind of kids can be superstars. The problem is, many MAC schools don't have the money or resources to find these kids.
My wife tried to push him to go to BG (against my wishes), but his family didn't want him to go far from home. He ended up at Jacksonville State (I-AA), which is a crummy school.
Anyway, my point is, just because a kid doesn't have all the "pub," doesn't mean he won't be a quality college football player. I mean, how many "blue chip" prospects never work out?
<!--EDIT|Dodo|Feb 6 2003, 02:58 PM-->
Big Dog Wrote:Congrats to BG on picking up the scraps that the Huskies left at the table in Illinois! You can have the leftovers every year if you'd like.
:wave:
Big Dog,
Always happy to pick up talent in your back yard!
BTW, did you score any scraps from the Great state of Ohio?
Time will tell how we did but knowing Coach Brandon and Coach Beckman, we got players we can use to the fullest capability...Offense and Defense.
With the coaching change, I'd say we did very well.
Mar 19th starts spring practice, spring game is Apr 12th!! GO BG!!
RochesterFalcon Wrote:A lot of these kids are good students, too.
Incidentally, you mention recognition helping our recruiting. That's how we got Cole
Speed. That's what we got -- and it doesn't necessarily show in the lists the university issued yesterday.
You bring up a good point, alot of these guys have very solid academic credentials. That's encouraging, and also pays benefits. No doubt that had a huge influence on the IL players who ignored NIU.
Cole's numbers are worse than Chad Schulte when he came out of Delphos St Johns 4 years ago. (Div VI POTY, relay team placed at state meet) Of course I don't know if BG recruited Schulte, but he ended up at a Div II school.
In short, I'm glad that BG is making in-roads into other states, that too can pay dividends in many areas; but I'm not going to 'mark out' quite yet.
Speaking of the coaching change...have any players jumped ship beacuse of the change?
Dodo Wrote:My wife tried to push him to go to BG (against my wishes), but his family didn't want him to go far from home.
Dodo,
Tell your wife thanks for her efforts.
And you're so right...some of these "can't miss total packages" never pan out. Others that don't get the coverage become awesome players. Josh Harris was your average recruit that OSU and Penn St wanted as a D back. He wanted to play qb...came to BG to play QB and I'd say he is pretty darn good at it!
We also had a walk on a few years ago named Kevin O'Neill from Twinsburg...ended up becoming the 2nd leading tackler in BG history and was one of the best LB's BG has seen in the last 20 years.
My point? You just never know until the kid's on the field how good he might be.
Quote:Speaking of the coaching change...have any players jumped ship beacuse of the change?
We obviously lost out on a couple of kids recruiting -- Brandon put it at one or two yesterday. It may have been more.
It's hard to know for sure, when you think about it. We didn't actually have anybody withdraw their verbal, as far as I know. But we may have missed out on kids who we were really on.
But I don't think we lost ground against the rest of the league because of the coaching change.
Rumor is we have one redshirted freshman already with us, a pretty good one given his size -- Dexter Wallace, 6-3 285 DL -- who is no longer on the roster. But we really don't know what's going on. It could be an academic issue. It could be that he wants to play for someone else. Hell, it could be an omission. I don't think anyone at Ay-Ziggy-Zoomba.com knows right now.
But that's all we've heard about.
Which players that BG signed from Illinois ignored NIU? Not a single one. In fact, I believe the only Illinois player that NIU offered that went to another MAC school is Steve Douglas who went to WMU. BG picked up the scraps. Sad but true. It must have been that National TV spanking we gave your over-rated squad.
:snore:
That's not the take at Rivals.com:
<a href='http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20030206/1028224.asp' target='_blank'>http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20030...206/1028224.asp</a>
Since clicking that link and reading all that copy might be complicated for a NIU man, I'll give you an excerpt:
Mike Farrell, a recruiting expert for Rivals.com, lists UB's class fourth in the MAC behind Central Florida, Bowling Green and Marshall, and ahead of Miami (Ohio) and Toledo. Last season, the Web site also ranked the Bulls' class fourth in the conference.
What's your point. Before insulting someone, you should make sure that your logic is sound. First, my question was, "Which players that BG signed from Illinois ignored NIU?" The link to some Buffalo article provided no information at all in regards to the question. Second, if you'd like to tie the prestige of your recruiting class to rivals.com, the same web recruiting service that admits to never really seeing most of the young men they rate, be my guest. You are just pissed that BG went from front page news to the toilet bowl in 4 short weeks!
Don't worry, we'll have plenty of opportunities to see who's better on the field for years to come.
Brother, why the anger?
I didn't start this.
But I would submit that who NIU got out of Ohio and who BGSU got out of Illinois decends into irrelevancy until one considers the whole picture.
We have a good class. That's the big picture.
End of story.
And, believe me, I'm not bitter about last year. It was a close game at your place. It happens. Life goes on.
Good luck at our place this fall. The Huskies will need it.
Anger? If you could see the grin on my face when I write these things.
You folks were calling on Benjy Kennedy after UM left BG and you were after Devon Parks as well.
I'll grant you that I would have liked to have gotten Steve Douglas and Chris Bartula. W'll see if Watson and Nystrom develop. I'm not too broken up over your getting Tribble since we got Deaudre perry and Virgil Robinson form MI and OH. Both of them spurned offers from Big 10 schools.
It looks like you guys got some quality kids. I REALLY like our class because it addressed our biggest needs, namely depth on both sides of the line and overall team speed. Cole, Kennedy, Robinson and Carson have all been clocked at sub 4.4 in the 40 at one time or another.
A number of our kids turned down offers from BCS programs to sign with the orange and brown. Given our abrupt coaching change, I'd say things turned out pretty damn well.
See you boys at the Doyt...I'm pretty sure we owe you one