Friday, December 28, 2007

Do what we do

Part 1:

Chuck Noll once said, "Champions are champions not because they do anything extraordinary but because they do the ordinary things better than anyone else." This quote is the Tony Dungy's book, Quiet Strength, and it starts chapter 9. The title of this blog is a line that Tony Dungy uses all the time, and it's one that I heard Coach Lynch use right after his hiring to Head Coach was made official. It's pretty simple, but what does it mean for IU now, and in the future.

Coach Lynch isn't a "sexy" hire in terms of big names. He will be paid well, but not in the 7 figure range that coaches demand when going to Michigan, Alabama, Florida State, LSU, etc. However, as we all know Coach Lynch has still been around the block, probably more times than any of the coaches at the above mentioned schools and he knows what it takes to win ball games and bowl games. So when Coach Lynch addressed the team after the first bowl practice, and then again to the media, he used the line "we'll just do what we do".

To expect anything unusual from IU during the Insight Bowl on Monday night will probably leave you disappointed. The Hoosiers will throw, they will run, they will look to make big plays with Hardy, they will rotate in RBs in an attempt to have fresher legs in the 4th quarter, and they will blitz the heck out of the Cowboy OL and QB. Oklahoma State's offense will look pretty familiar to IU, because they run pretty much the same kind of offense, with the same type of players. Their main running threath, Dantrell Savage has run for over 1100 yards this year. He's a 5'9" scat back type, just like IU's Thigpen and McCray. The Cowboys also have a real big weapon at WR in Adarius Bowman. He's a 6'4" big time, play making WR that is rated right behind Hardy and Malcolm Kelly (Oklahoma) as the top WRs in college football. The Cowboys also have pretty good depth at WR as well in Dez Bryant a True Frosh that is just a budding star in the making. To make matters even more similiar is Oklahoma State's QB, Zac Robinson. A true running/passing QB, he's also the teams second leading rusher.

One of the reasons that IU got chosen for this game, according to insiders with Insight was the fact that our offense will score against anybody, but our defense isn't as advanced and will allow this game to go into the 40s for both teams. Oklahoma State has a lot of Offensive talent, but their defense wasn't much to shout about this season. The Cowboys averaged 33 pts/game on offense, but gave up an average of 30 pts/game also. This game has the makings for a real western shootout in the desert on Monday Night.

Now, with all the hype, the fan excitement, the anticipated high scoring affair staring Coach Lynch in the face, he calmly walks to podium and says "we'll do what we do". It such a small line, that probably no one caught but yet to me, it means a whole lot. It shows me that Coach Lynch is keeping this team grounded, that though the kids will have fun, there's business to attend too. Sure, Play 13 was the season motto, but there are a group of Seniors that want to win their last game that still want to prove that IU is just starting to grab a hold of a winning/bowl game tradition. Most "experts" expect a lot of scoring, but in favor of the Cowboys. In fact some sports writers in Big 12 country have went overboard in their predictions and think nothing of the bball school that also plays fball in Big Ten land and that's okay. That's the way Coach Lynch wants it. Overlook us, brag about the other team playing in football saturated Big 12, downplay the ability of the Big Ten conference to win bowl games, please keep it up. And while you are flapping your jaws and patting the backsides of the Cowboys, we'll just be working hard, getting better, and do what we do, better than you can do what you do.

I honestly believe, after speaking with several of the players, a couple coaches, and a couple of administrators, that this team will go out on Monday and prove a very large point. You cannot overlook IU football any longer. Sure, it's just the Insight Bowl, but the foundation has been laid, the recruits are beginning to come, the fans are believing, and IU is winning more football games than they are losing.

Part 2:

Thanks to 98IUGrad, I've finally been able to line up a correct scholarship roster. Before I list it, we are currently sitting at 86 players committed to 85 with at least 1 or 2 more kids expected to come. So what does that mean? Well 1 of 2 things is going to happen to get IU down to that magicial 85 number. First, someone could very well transfer, or second a few of our signings will be greyshirted.

Let's address the transfer stuff first: We know Matt Moses and Sean Edmundson are not returning. They went through Senior Day against Purdue and will graduate and move on in life. I somehow had missed all this, but 98 set me straight. I've heard a couple of names as rumors, but I'm going to wait until after the bowl game to mention anymore names. They are not any starters or projected starters, but kids that are upperclassman that are buried on the depth chart.

As for the greyshirt, only one name I've even heard that could be considered is Chad Sherer, however, this is a fairly new development because he recently reinjured one of his knees and will need surgery, in fact, he may have already had it by now. However, the last report I had on him was he probably wouldn't be ready for Fall Practice anyway, so a greyshirt was a possibility.

One things for sure, even if we don't get anymore verbals, we will have to have at least 1 transfer or greyshirt. There's no way around it.

This will be the roster come the Spring:
QB
Adam Follett-True FR
Teddy Schell-RS FR
Ben Chappell-RS Soph
Kellen Lewis-RS Junior

RB
Shane Covington, Alex Hunt, Darius Willis-True Frosh
Zach Walker-Davis-RS FR
J.T. Owens-Junior
Bryan Payton, Demetrius McCray-RS Juniors
Marcus Thigpen-Senior

WR
Tyler Adetona, Tandon Doss, Charles Love III, Marquelo Suel-True Frosh
Matt Ernest-RS FR
Terrance Turner, Aaron Burks-RS Sophmores
Ray Fisher-Junior
Andrew Means, Chris Banks-RS Juniors
Brandon Walker-Roby, James Bailey-Seniors

TE
Max Dedmond-RS RF
Brad Martin-RS Soph
Troy Wagner-RS Junior

OT
Marc Damisch-True FR
Josh Hager, Andrew McDonald-RS Freshmen
James Brewer, Mike Stark-RS Sophmores
Roger Saffold-Junior
Kenny Love-Senior

OG
A.J. Thompson, Justin Pagan-True FR
Dennis Ziegler-RS Soph
Cody Faulkner, Jarrod Smith-RS Juniors
Pete Saxon-Junior
Kyle Thomas-Senior

C
Will Matte-TR FR
Alex Perry, Jeff Sanders-RS Sophmores

K
Andrew Starr-Senior

P
Chris Hagerup-RS FR

DT
Nick Sliger, Mick Mentzer, Larry Black-True Freshmen
Jeff Boyd-RS FR
Deonte Mack-RS Soph
Kevin Burrus, Keith Burrus, Emile Bass-RS Juniors
Greg Brown-Senior

DE
Kyle Kozak-TR FR
Eric Thomas, Fred Jones-RS FR
Greg Middleton-Junior
Brian Zematis, Jammie Kirlew-RS Juniors
Ryan Marando-Senior

LB
Chad Sherer-TR FR
Ian Reeves, Darius Johnson, Dane Conwell-RS FR
Tyler Replogle-Soph
Will Patterson, Matt Mayberry-Juniors
Justin Carrington-RS Junior
Isaac Price, Geno Johnson-Seniors

CB
Donnell Jones, Chris Adkins-RS FR
Richard Council, Adrian Burks-RS Sophmores
Bruce Hampton-RS Junior
Chris Phillips, Rayshun Calhoun-Seniors

S
Peter St. Fort, Cortez Smith-TR Freshmen
Jarrell Drane-RS FR
Mitchell Evans-Soph
Austin Thomas, Nick Polk-RS Juniors
Brandon Mosely, Joe Kleinsmith-Seniors

Current Total:
Offense: 44
Defense: 42

Senior: 13
Junior: 22
Sophmore: 15
RS Freshmen: 17
TR Freshmen: 19

Finally Part 4:

Predictions for the end of recruiting:

If Johnson commits: IU will take an athlete that projects as a CB
If Johnson doesn't commit: IU will take an athlete that projects as a CB and sign either Mossbrucker or Freeland

Either way, I see us take at least one more and probably 2.

Go IU!! Do What We Do!

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Gray and over-signing

This blog is dedicated to some information on MarQuies Gray a QB from Ben Davis HS in Indianapolis and what over-signing is and why IU is looking to do that this season.

First, a question, how does a 6'3" 210 QB with 4.7 speed that made the Elite 11 camp over the summer (didn't participate because of dumb IHSAA rule) go from a highly coveted prospect to someone that is only being lightly recruited? This is the million dollar question that many are asking. Well, I'm going to attempt to answer that a little bit. Over the course of the last several weeks, many people have asked me and many offers have asked on Peegs and Scout, what is up with Marquies Gray. Here's a kid that started the year as Rivals #2 ranked dual threat QB in the country. During the summer camp circuit, he put on shows with his passing ability. Even though he's listed as a dual threat QB, he's really a polished passer, who is a pass first QB and seemed pretty comfortable in the pocket from the games I've witnessed. He has also been surrounded by talented receivers and backs at Ben Davis, so his decline was not because he lacked weapons. During his junior year, he put up 600 rushing yards and 1113 yards passing with 12 TDs in only 150 pass attempts.

Once his senior season started, everything just kind of fell apart really. First was a pretty lackluster effort and poor stat performance to start the season against Perry Meridian that also saw him benched for the opening series of the game. Nothing has really come out as to why Gray was benched but in the Indy Star, coach was quoted as saying this "Either you do what we tell you, or you don't play," said Kirschner, who said the matter was closed." Doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that Mr. Gray wasn't doing what he was suppose to be doing. What that ended up being was a last minute official visit to Indiana State, a Division 2 school. To further aggrevate matters, he never really scheduled it with ISU, just showed up and hung out with former teammates. He missed class and the beginning of practice that day. Not a real bright move really. Next came the disaster at Penn with more lackluster stats and Gray breaking his wrist, which meant he was pretty much done for the next couple of months. Gray did return for the 9th game of the season against Carmel and led the Giants to victory on Carmel's Senior Night. He looked like his old self in this game and even played WR and made a couple of big gains that way. He followed that performance up with another good game against Brownsburg before the showdown with Pike in the sectional semi-final. I've talked to several who went to that game, and they believe Gray was the best player on the field that night. His stats proved over the last 3 games that he was back in form.

So a player gets hurt? That happens all the time to many kids and they still get the big school scholarship. What is so different about Gray? Well that answer to that lies with Gray himself. MarQuies is handling his recruiting. MarQuies doesn't live with either of his parents. His dad lives out of state, and I only know he doesn't have the greatest relationship with mom, so he's kind of on his own. His HS coach has offered to help, but to no avail, so MarQuies is doing this on his own. At this point and time, MarQuies has made 2 official visits: Minnesota on September 27th and Indiana State in early August. He was quoted recently on the Oregan site as saying that he would chose between Oregan, because of their cool uniforms and Minnesota, because they have a cool mall. He also mentioned his desire to leave the state of Indiana and start over.

That is about the only comments that we have head directly from him. The rest is merely hearsay or rumors. MarQuies came to one of IU's camps over the summer and put on a show and earned an offer. Iu was sitting pretty good, along with purdue, some other Big Ten programs until statements were made to the IU staff that he was not interested in playing instate so don't both to recruit him. Similiar statements were made to the Purdue staff as well as other nearby Big Ten schools. At one point, Notre Dame set pretty well with him as well due to his cousin, Jonas Gray from Michigan considering them. Again, MarQuies made statements to several programs to not both recruiting him. Why he did this, no one knows and all this occurred around Labor Day. So that's what programs did, they backed off and pursuied other prospects and began to invest their interest elsewhere.

Now, at Oregan and/or Minny, he would be getting himself into situations and offenses that would fit his syle, and at Minny at least, he would have the chance to come in a possibly play next seaon. But he's one of the most lightly recruited 4-star QBs that I've ever seen, and the reason appears to be that he's driven pretty much everyone else away, or saying it another way, he's painted himself into a corner so to speak. Oregan and Minny have both gotten QB commits recently. The boards on the Oregan Scout site have posters saying that MarQuies is still an option. No word yet on Minny, but it appears they lead for him, at least in Gray's mind.

From all the information that I have received including some things I won't post here due to privacy issues, I'm going to state my opinion for IU and what I hope the staff does. Even if MarQuies would come calling, I hope we look in another direction. It's obvious that the staff feel Johnson is the better prospect, and will likely go him or bust. Also, Follet is really a good, but raw QB as well. He reminds the staff of Blake Powers, though he's not the scrambler that Johnson(also he's the #12 dual threat QB in the US) is, but he has a better arm at this point.

I don't know where Gray will end up, but I don't think it's going to be IU and I really don't think it's going to be anywhere close to the state of Indiana. He blew up over the summer and was actually considered a back up plan for some schools if they didn't get Myron Pryor, but Gray's stock has fallen, and fallen fast. At this point, I expect him to land at Minnesota and sit a couple years behind their JUCO stud they just signed and then go from there.

Now, for the over-signing issue: At this point, I have IU full with their verbals and a roster of 85 full scholarships to be used, so anything else would be "over-signing" the class. IU will take at least one more CB prospect, and could conceivable take Johnson, a CB prospect, Mossbrucker, and Wiggins, so that would be 4 oversigns. However, I think it's safe to say that at the max there will be 3 at the very most.

Over-signing means you simply sign more kids that you have scholarships available for. The NCAA rules states that a school can have no more than 85 scholarships per team and no more than 25 kids can sign per class. However, schools go over that 25 all the time. Kentucky had a class a couple of years ago with 30 kids in it, but 6 of them didn't qualify and thus the end result was a 24 man class, which is within the rules.

There are many reasons why it is done, but mostly it is due to someone in the class being either an academic risk/casualty or a greyshirt canidate. At this point, I don't know of any of the verbals be academic risks, but I've heard that at least one recruit is a greyshirt canidate due to surgery that is needed to repair an injury. This kid would basically not start classes until the 2nd semester next season and his 5 year clock would start ticking then, not unlike a true frosh enrolling early. Terrance Turner did this at IU, and recently Tyler Haston from Avon did it at Purdue, so it's not uncommon. However, since IU is full, something has to happen if anymore kids are signed. Hardy going pro would free up one opening. Also, some kids that are 5th year seniors and have graduated, transfer to a D1 AA school so they can play their senior year. If you noticed, Kyle Kozak is starting in January and will count towards this year's ship total. Where did that extra grant come from? Chauncey Incarnato that transferred to UMASS. So you can play with your roster a little bit. It's been rumored before that start of the season that some of the older OL guys that are buried on the depth chart will be asked to move on. Moses was one of those rumored, but I doubt he moves on now. However, kids like Edmundson and Love are prime canidates. Again, something will have to happen, either academically, a greyshirt, transferring, or early graduating to open up those spots.

Althon Sports.com did a piece last year asking if oversigning was "ethical". It's a great piece to read to try and understand how some schools really use this to pick and choose kids and "beat the system" so to speak. If you remember Steve Spurrier almost quit South Carolina early this season because some of the verbals did not get in. What didn't come out though was SC oversigned and most point to that being the real reason the kids didn't get into SC. The University chose the best 25 academically, and the others were out. It just so happened that the ones that didn't get in were very good players.

Personally, I don't care if IU oversigns every once in awhile and knowing the type of coach Lynch is, I don't expect this to be an every year thing. One ship is bound to open up with Hardy almost assuredly going pro. He filed his papers today for them to research his potential draft position, which most believe will be early 2nd/low 1st round at this point, with the combine and pro days potentially moving him to the middle of the first round. Also, I'm expecting at least 1 5th year transfer to a lower level, so that's why I expect the staff to finish with 2 more verbals.

And in a final note: John Decker reported today that JT Owens has made a permenant switch from Safety to Running Back. He will be at that position for the spring as well.

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Recapping and looking ahead

Well the past 24 hours have certainly been excited for Hoosier fans. I made a post on Peegs about last weekend being just as important as Austin Starr's FG in the Purdue game. 7 uncommitted kids and 7 verballed kids game in for a red carpet recruiting weekend. All 7 of the verballed kids made sure the staff knew they were solid, and already, we've seen 3 of the uncommitted kids verbal to us. So let's recap a little bit with our 3 new kids.

First, is Tyler Adetona a 6'1" 195 WR from Gainesville, GA. According to Rivals, he ran a 4.49 in one of their combines. He committed to Troy University before the season started, which is pretty close to his hometown. In 2006, he ran 13 times for 290 yards and 2 TDs mostly on reverses, which should indicate his shiftiness and speed. He also caught 53 passes for 788 yards and 8 TDs. This year, his numbers really sky-rocketed to over 1,300 receving yards and around 85 catches.

Tyler is fast, having run a 10.6 100 meters, which indicates that he can sustain his speed, along with his quick burst off the line. His coach says he's strong and fast enough to go over the middle, just as easily as he is to burn you deep. IU had recruited Tyler for sometime, and coach Johnson and Lynch Jr. kept in contact with him through this season, just to let him know IU was still very interested. It should be noted that IU didn't force anything with him, we just were a presence. When it became apparant to the staff that Woods would probably end up elsewhere, Hardy would go pro, and the uncertainty of Andrew Means, WR became a huge position of need to finish up this class. Tyler is rated as a 3-star and with his amazing numbers, that could translate to 4-star material, but what is most important is he is qualified and ready to come in and try and contribute.

Next is Charles Love III from Trezevant HS in Memphis, TN. He's 6'3" 190 and will come to IU as a WR with 4.5 speed. Charles may be unkown to IU fans, but as a junior, he became a pretty hot commodity around SEC schools like Tenn, KY, Louisville, Vanderbuit, etc all were present at games and sent him letters. His rare combination of speed, quickness, and height is a desired attribute for WRs in recruiting and this kid has all of it. So what happened? Well, according to Mark Milton, a Peegs poster, his numbers decreased, his HS team was terrible, and they couldn't settle on a QB all season. He still caught 31 passes for 427 yards, but that wasn't enough production to keep the big SEC schools interested. However, Gerald Brown, who is quickly gaining a large reputation in and around Memphis stayed after this kid and got him in for a visit. I'm told the staff drooled over his senior tape, so it's obvious they think he's a player. From what I've heard, he reminds a lot of Terrance Turner. Will red shirt but be a contributor from there on.

IU's WR class has Doss at 6'3", Love at 6'3", Suel at 6'3", and Adetona at 6'1". That's 4 big/fast receivers that can really play at any position in the spread, and that may not be the last name we add to them, but more on that later.

Finally, for the big name, our #1 target from word go, Darius Willis. I've typed a lot of stuff on this kid, but the one word I'd use to describe him is "complete". He truly can do it all: run, catch, and block. He's a special talent that is familiar with IU's system, because his HS runs the spread. He won't need a full back to open up the hole, he'll be used to running in a one back set, which is a huge advantage coming in, and I think that's lost on a lot of people sometimes. One coach called him Maurice Clarett with speed, and maybe Willis's greatest attribute is his personality and his attention to detail. Read his HS coach's comments before the announcement was made the other day. This kid is the total package and will continue to help rebuild this program. With Hardy expected to go pro, defenses will key more on the run next season, and IU needs to improve that area of the offense more than anything. Willis will play next season. He may not start initially, but he'll play, and he'll play a lot.

So, by my account, we have 18 commits now. We have 19 ships available, but don't expect the staff to stop at just one more signing. The staff is expecting Kyle Kozak in here this weekend. Kyle is kind of a freak of nature really. He's 6'5 1/2" and weights around 230 at this time. Oh and he also runs a 4.5. He graduated from Pickering Central HS in Ohio last year and had a lot of interest from Pittsburgh and Cincinnati. Penn State sniffed, but Kyle didn't have the grades, so they backed off. He wound up at Hargrave Military Academy and got stronger and faster if that's possible. Right now, from everything I've heard, the staff expects him to commit either during the visit, or right after. However, if you talk to Cincinnati folks, they say the exact same thing. His best friend in HS is a redshirt frosh with the Bearcats (Chazz Anderson), so we'll see. Kyle has also visited UCONN and Toledo, but it's reportedly down to IU and the Bearcats for this kid. What seems to set IU apart from the rest is IU is a BCS school, and Cincinnati isn't and sometimes that makes a huge difference. Also, after the season IU's DEs had, it's hard not to want to put yourself into that same position. Anyhow, this is scoop on this kid.

An update on Mossbrucker: I'm still hearing he wants to decommit and be a Hoosier, but he has yet to call the Iowa coaches and say that, so nothing has moved along here. While I'm not changing my tune here, I've seen this before with kids saying this and they end up doing nothing. We'll see what happens, but the staff will take him if he wants to committ. If he doesn't, look for them to greyshirt Freeland from Lawrence North in Indy.

Orhian Johnson, like the rest of the visitors last weekend had a great visit, but nothing concrete has come out about what he wants to do or what other visits he might take. I posted on Peegs today that it will depend on what position he wants to play really. He says he has no preference and if that's true, he can stay instate and be a heck of WR. However, IU is the biggest school recruiting him at QB and they have made it plainly obvious that he is their #1 target and he knows it. I've been told that the staff compares to Follet to Powers without the speed. In fact, he could switch positions if Johnson comes on board, which I've told he's willing to do. I think the coaches see that in the spread, a true running/passing QB is the way to go. Johnson brings both attributes to the table. I really think in my heart that he'll be a Hoosier, but I think we are going to have to wait on him for awhile.

Brynden Trawick, like Johnson and everyone else loved his weekend. He was the first one here, but had to cut out early to retake his ACT. My understanding is he has the grades, but not the test scores at this point. I don't think we will hear one way or the other on him until he knows his tests scores. I've been told it's a Spartan/Hoosier battle for him and it could go either way at this point. We'll have to stay tuned on this one.

Willy Lowe: There isn't much out there on him other than he's going to take more visits, which indicates that IU won't end up with him. While he's proven to be pretty productive at CB, his height is a definite concern at 5'9". My guess is that he'll end up in the MAC somewhere, but we'll see.

And finally, Doug Wiggins. The U of Miami freshman that wants out of there to play WR instead of CB really enjoyed his visit, but I am not sure what to think about him. Love his speed, love his shiftiness, and he's got great potential, but I don't know about his attitude. I've shared emails with a few Miami people and I've gotten a mixed bag of reviews on him. The one consistant thing about him is that he's very talented, but most fans down there aren't cryin' buckets to see him leave. He pretty much stayed to himself over the weekend and one player said he almost acted bored, so we'll see. However, there seems to be a question about whether he will even take anymore visits, and since we are his only visit to date, I would think that puts the writing on the wall. I'm going to leave it at this: If he commits great, but if not, that's okay too. He'd have to sit out a year anyway, but he would bring more talent to an already deep position, unless he changes his mind and plays both ways or sticks with defense.

The only other name that has been floated out there as a potential visitor is Isaiah Pead from Columbus, Ohio. He's actually rated higher by Rivals at RB than Willis (26 to 40), but IU would switch him to CB, where he's just as dynamic. On 11/11, Rivals interviewed him and he said he was wide open and wouldn't be in a hurry to set visits. The staff is trying to get him in here before they go to Tempe, but I haven't heard too much more on that.

I think John Decker is right, I think IU will sign at least 4 to 5 more kids and most of our recruiting could be finished up by the bowl game. We'll obviously leave a ship for Johnson, but if Kozak commits as expected, that will leave the rest of these names battling over 2 or 3 grants. I think it's pretty obvious the staff wants to add a DE and a CB in these final verbals. Other than that, it's the best available/will to come on board at this point and time.

God Bless!

Monday, December 10, 2007

Willis to be a Hoosier!

Tomorrow at 3PM, Darius Willis will announce something that Hoosier fans have longed to hear since we began recruiting this guy. I'm a Hoosier!

Lots of rumors came out during his visit that he told Will Patterson, his host for the weekend, that he would commit to Indiana. Since then, I can confirm that he did tell the coaching staff the same thing and tomorrow he will announce for IU.

Coming into the weekend he was pretty much down to IU and Purdue, but the IU visit sealed the deal with him. He really has liked IU for sometime, but held out committing due to the status of Coach Lynch. Bill Lynch started recruiting Darius first and built that relationship with him. During his many unoffiicial visits to IU, Darius really fell in love with the whole environment surrounding the resergence of this program. This past weekend, just sealed the deal, as his parents had just as good a time as he did on campus. While he said all the "PC" things to the media, it was obvious where his heart was longing to be.

For the record, Darius is ranked as the #6 Tailback in the country according to SuperPreps. He's a 4-star type of kid that can come in and play next season, if not start. He's a game chaning back with speed (4.4) and power (210 lbs). He gets stronger as the game goes along, which makes him even more special.

Hopefully, we will also be learning the fate of Tyler Altedona in the next 24 hours too. As for now, he's still committed to Troy, but he's made some suggestions to the staff that he'll be denouncing to Troy and committing to IU. We'll see what happens, but the next 24 hours should bring a lot of excitement to the "shooting rocket".

Friday, December 7, 2007

This weekends visitors

Wanted to put the list on here of players that here this weekend. The first player to arrive was Brynden Trawick, 6'2" 210 Safety from Marietta, GA with 4.55 speed. Would be a real get for us to get this guy. He's projected as a strong safety with a chance he could bulk into a OLB. Staff loves his size/speed ratio, and the fact that he was here first and was here for the whole practice today, speaks that IU is clearly in the running for this kid. He got to see IU on an official visit to Michigan State earlier this year, and at this point, there are no clear cut favorites, but I've heard tell that IU is right there and has an excellent shot. The other 13 visitors are as follows:

Committed Players:
1. Marc Damisch-OT
2. Mick Mentzer-DL
3. Tandon Doss-WR
4. Adam Follet-QB
5. Justin Pagan-OG
6. Chad Sherer-OLB
7. Cortez Smith-Safety

Uncommitted guys besides Trawick:
1. Darius Willis-RB
2. William Lowe-CB
3. Orhian Johnson-QB
4. Charles Love III-6'3" 200 WR from Memphis, TN

Possible Transfer:
1. Doug Wiggins-WR/CB

Committed to Troy, but still doing an official here:
1. Tyler Adetona-6' 185 WR/DB

Monday, December 3, 2007

Last 8 spots

First off, congrats to the Hoosiers on their bowl bid. Other than the Rose Bowl, this has got to be one of the biggest, and most surprising, bowls for IU in the history of the program. The most well known bowls for the Hoosiers have been the Rose Bowl in 1967 and the Peach Bowl in 1990. To get a New Year's Eve Bowl is outstanding. Play 13 has now been replaced with Win the 13th game!

It appears that IU will try and secure at least 8 more verbals with this class, with the outside chance of their being 10 more, but I'm mostly hearing 8, so we'll stick with that number for now. I thought it would be fun to see who the staff really likes and what positions we would like to add more talent. So here are 8 names that the staff would love to finalize this class with along with some statistics on each player.

1. Darius Wills-TB-I've talked about him before, and broke down his season a little bit in my last blog. Obviously he's the #1 guy for us. My prediction is that he'll be a Hoosier when all is said and done!! Also, he's ranked as the #6 TB in America, ahead of many high profiled recruits.

2. JD Woods-6'2" 180 WR from Naples, FL with 4.5 speed, good hands and leaping ability. JD caught 54 passes for 850 yards and 8 TD and he was also a return specialist. He also attends the same HS as another verbal, Peter St. Fort. Our main competition here is probably West Virginia and he'll be up there next weekend. He did an official visit at IU on September 21st, and his main concern at that point was stability of the coaching situation. From all reports, he's a heavy IU lean at this point and time, and again my prediction is that he will indeed be a Hoosier.

3. Trent Mossbrucker-kicker-See my last blog for information on this kid. Again, he'll be a Hoosier

4. Chad Hounshell-6'5" 300 OT from Mentor, OH. A strong OT prospect that could move inside, but we are probably looking at the LT of the future here. He has good feet and balance and according to his Rival combine numbers, he's got a very good bench and squat already. Many have offered, but IU is in his top 4 with Kansas, UCF, and Colorado. His HS team just finished up their season, so he's pretty wide open with the 4 schools at this point, but in a recent Rivals article, he mentioned IU and Central Florida. I know OL coach Bobby Johnson really likes him. He'll be in for an offical in January, but I'm going out on a limb and predict he'll be a Hoosier as well.

5. Orhian Johnson-see my last blog on information about him. However, the staff likes him as a KL clone. I predict he'll be a Hoosier as well. Rivals lists him as the 12th best dual threat QB in the country. The thing that is really working in IU's favor here is that IU is recruiting him at QB, where almost everyone else is at WR or DB. I've been told, he wants to be a QB, so thus I'm predicting us here.

6. Robbie Anzuini-6'1" 180 WR from Hilliard (Darby), Ohio. Here's a newer name from a Peegs poster last week. Robbie is a burner with solid hands and he put up some good numbers this fall at Darby HS. I've heard talk that we are in very good with a WR from Ohio, but I always thought it was the Staffold kid from Columbus, OH. Now, I'm beginning to think it's this kid may be the one. Robbie caught 54 passes for 930 yards and 9 TDs this season. His QB, Jeremy Erbert is a verbal to Northwestern, but will most likely switch to Safety. Under the radar kid, but I think he'll be a Hoosier as well.

7. Robert Martin-6'2" 230 LB from Pike HS in Indianapolis and he's 4.6 guy. Honestly, I could see this kid adding weight and going to DE, but for now, he's a LB for sure. His cousin is Greg Middleton and he told Andy Romey from Peegs that he would love to join his cousin Greg at IU. So are, he's not been offered, but the only reason is grades. I've heard he has a ways to go, but it's not impossible for him to qualify. My guess is he verbals, and we sign a back up plan just in case.

8. William Lowe-I've talked about his kid before in previous blogs. He's beginning to turn a lot of heads on defensive side of the ball, and at IU he'd be asked to switch to Corner back. He's got good leaping ability and hands, so that could make up for his shorter stature. IU leads, and he says he'll visit in January. Probably ours to lose at this point.

9. Doug Wiggins-5'11" 190 CB that is current at Miami Fla, so he'd have to sit a year before he becomes eligible. He's strong, fast, and just a very good athlete. He was a QB in HS, but switched over to CB at the "U". Has had run-ins with teammates and he struggled with the adjustments of college fball this season. Many speculate he's a Western Michigan lean, since his cousin, EJ Biggers plays there, but I'm not convinced at all this is the case. First off, EJ is a junior, so Doug would have to sit next season, so they would never actually get to play together. Also, he loves our situation to be able to come in and start in a couple of years for a BCS team. Finally, he's also friends with Jarrell Drane and a couple of other Floridians. I'm thinking we sit pretty good here, but I have no idea how good until after this weekend.


Well, there is 9 names of some pretty good, athletic kids. We should know a lot more this time next week about some of these kids. Go IU beat Kentucky!

Sunday, December 2, 2007

Weekend visitors this weekend and next and predictions

This weekend, the following were to be at IU:
Shane Covington
Will Matte
Nick Sliger
Marc Damisch
A.J. Thompson

Next weekend visitors are suppose to be:

Doug Wiggins a transfer from Miami Fla; 5'11" 190 CB with 4.4 speed

Orhian Johnson a 6'3" 180 QB/Athlete prospect from Gulfport, FL with 4.5 speed. A Kellen Lewis clone

Cortez Smith a 5'10" 195 DB prospect from Detroit Michigan with 4.55 speed. Played RB and DB this season but projects much better at DB in college.

Darius Willis a 6' 210 RB prospect from Franklin Central with 4.4 speed. Ran for 1,728 yards and 28 TDs this year and also had 2 receiving TDs as well. The complete package that could come in and start next season.

Also, I've been told that Trent Mossbrucker is trying to get a visit scheduled so that he can decommitt and join the Hoosiers. Don't know if this will take place next weekend, but expect it sometime soon. Mossbrucker is a committ to Iowa as a Kicker and he lives close to Bloomington in Mooresville. Since Lynch is staying at IU, Trent loves the stability and the situation, plus Starr has exploded onto the national sceneand Iowa's coach is being strongly considered at Michigan. All this seems to add up to a decommit and a committment for the Hoosiers. Trent has a strong leg with range to 50 yards and is good on kickoffs. Also, he played QB this season and did very well and could probably go D1 AA and be a QB somewhere but his future is kicking the ball.

So we know 4 big names are coming in and at this point, IU is in a very strong position with all of them. Smith is still very committed to IU and he mainly looked around until Coach Lynch's situation was finalized.

Sometime next week, I'm going to put together a list of kids I expect will fill our remaining 8 to 10 spots. Of course it's early, but it's fun to do a little predicting once in a while.

God Bless all!!

Monday, November 26, 2007

How Bill Lynch earned the job at IU

As Peegs, Decker, the Star, et al have revealed, Bill Lynch will have the intern label removed from his name and he will be the "official" head coach of the Indiana University football program. Now, let the fans cheer, foam at the mouth, boo, hiss, and argue until the bowl game, and then continue all that to fall practice. Each fan has an opinion on Lynch, as they have a right too. His past coaching gigs haven't really produced the greatest results, save his one year stint at DePauw University. So I thought I would give some the main criteria of why he was retained, what good he brings to the table, and what some of the goals are for this program.

First, Lynch was thrust into an extremely difficult situation, and I don't think anyone could muster a big arguement against that. First off, he had to right the sinking ship emotionally with the kids. When dealing with emotions, both long and short term, with 18, 19, 20, and 21 year old kids, you are in for a roller coaster ride on some of the simple things, let alone death. After dealing with the kids, he had to bring them together. Sure, some leaders on the team stepped up, but ultimately, you rise and fall with the coach, intern or not. Then the coaches had to come together and recruit. Losing a coach is bad enough, but in the off season, you have to keep the kids coming and still recruit for the future. Finally, Coach Lynch has to continue to somehow get the new "energy" to stay there, in other words, stoke the fire that Hep and built and continue to burn.

After Coach Hep pasted, Rick Greenspan, and then President, Adam Herbert met with Coach Hep and put together a strategic plan for this season and what it would take for Bill Lynch to be retained as the permenant head coach. Greenspan didn't want Coach Lynch wondering toward the end the season, so they set specific goals for the program to obtain. It was pretty simple, if all the goals were met, Lynch would be retained, but if one or all were not met, then a nation wide search would begin. So here where the Top 4 goals:

1. Continue to maintain the Grade Point Average that was set up as a team goal (don't know what that was exactly).

2. The program needed to stay clean, as in no kids getting in trouble and especially no NCAA violations. Obviously when we are talking about kids getting in trouble, we mean with the law. speeding and parking tickets are one thing, but alcohol violations, fighting, etc was not exceptable.

3. The program must obtain a winning record for the season.

4. The program was to reach bowl eligibility and go to a bowl game.

Those were the 4 main goals for Lynch. There were a couple of other minor goals, but they were personel so I won't share them. Obviously, Greenspan and Hep wanted to build the program by going the "Student-Athlete" route. That means you are students and citizens of bloomington first, and football players second. You must be a good student and citizen before you can be a winning football player. Coach Hep believed that you could achieve great things on the field, but if you failed as a student and a citizen, then it really didn't mean that much. I'm not sure to many coaches have that philosphy. They may "say" they do, but reality is most don't really. Coach Lynch is a lot like Hep in his regard to believing in the student athlete approach.

Now, what good things will come from Lynch being named HC. Well, the biggest thing is recruiting. Coach Lynch really has a rappaport with the coaches in the state of Indiana. I talked to one coach at the Class A state championship and his quote was pretty simple. To paraphrase his remarks, he said that with Coach Lynch heading the football program, IU will clean up in the state of Indiana year in, year out. We'll see if that holds true. While some will say IU isn't a "football state", it's quickly becoming a state that produces on average of 15 DI kids each year and that number is climbing. With the success of the Colts, and the downturn of the Pacers, I truly expect the football in this state to rise and rise. More athletes will want to pursue the gridiron over the hardwood due to the attention that the Colts have brought to this state.

Also, there are several kids on the fence so to speak with IU in terms of committing or decommitting from other programs to IU. They have waited for this to play out and it is believed that we will see new committments from a couple of big names in a couple of weeks. December 8th is looming as a pretty big weekend from what I've been told by a couple of sources. Regardless, I don't expect us to lose any of our 15 verbals and I fully expect us to get as many as 10 more kids on board by the signing period. Obviously, this means we will oversign a bit, but that shouldn't be that surprising.

Coach Lynch also brings stability to the program. Of course, some will feel he's not a big name, or his past record is a problem and those are valid points. However, I remember the message boards when Coach Hep was hired. Some liked it, some didn't, some said we'll see, and well, that's really all we can do here. There's no guarentee Coach Lynch will work out, just like there was no guarentee Coach Hep would work out. Heck, IU could have hired Coach Spurrier, and really no body could guarentee anything with him either. The difference in my mind between a "proven" coach and the ones like Coach Lynch or Coach Hep is HOPE! If IU was to go out and pay a ton of money to a proven or unproven guy, some would just have more HOPE than a guy that's willing to come in for a smaller deal. Hope is what drives message boards, it's what drives a lot of things, but after a year or two, hope dimishes and results take over. I'm not sure you can find a coach that has dealt with as much adversity as Coach Lynch has this season. He deserves coach of the year, but of course he won't get it. No coach in the country had a to endure the emotion roller coaster he did and still somehow, someway, produced a winning product and a group of kids that are on pace to shatter their GPA goal.

Also, Coach Lynch brings perserverence to this program. I don't think we will have to worry about him bailing out when times get tough. Coach Lynch and staff wasn't perfect this season, they made mistakes, the made the wrong calls, but in the end, they were 7 and 5 and have us firmly in the bowl game picture.

Finally, as far as goals go, I think what is set forth in the interm will be expected to continue throughout the contract. Off the field, the players need to stay relatively clean, graduate, and NCAA violations cannont rear their ugly heads. On the field, bowl eligibility must remain consistant as well as winning records.

To close, I personally want to say that I believe this will turn out for the best at IU. This university needs consistancy and stability. As I blogged a few weeks ago, changing coaches every 3 to 5 years doesn't work. Look at Nebraska, Ole Miss, et al, they are a joke of their pasts. I'm not saying the coaches they fired, should not have been, but you can't build a tradition in 3 years. A tradition takes time, patience, and yes, even a little bit of luck. Regardless, IU has built a foundation, they've committed to new facilities, to a "spread" offense and attacking defense. Now, let the floors of the institution be built upon that foundation!

Friday, November 23, 2007

The offer is on the table

Well, as several have reported Bill Lynch has been offered a 5 year deal to continue coaching the Football team. According to those I've talked to, this offer was talked about early this week, with the official offer extended Wednesday afternoon. Coach Lynch was then given the holiday weekend to make the decision with an official announcement from the Coach expected to be made Monday.

By all indications, he will except, but he will consult with his family before proceeding further. If for some reason he would decline the offer, then a national search will begin immediately. However, I think it's a pretty safe bet that he'll except. At the beginning of the season, Coach Lynch didn't want to talk about the future and instead wanted to concentrate on the season at hand. He made some comments that made some people think that he might not be interested in taking over the program full time, but in the end, it appears, he's ready to do so.

Coach Lynch will also be looking for one more assistant coach to fill in on the offensive side of the ball. The hope is the staff wants someone that is young, but a good recruiter in, and around, the southern part of the country. No names have surfaced at this point though.

Speaking of recruiting, it appears IU has 6 or 7 ships to fill and the rumors I've heard lately is that IU is looking to oversign as well. I expect Robert Martin to get an offer, but he's a ways away from qualifying from what I've been told. The same may hold true for Jamal Hampton, but he's also lacking the necessary test scores to qualify.

Of course the big guy that is still out there is Darius Willis. He of Franklin Central and IU's top target for sometime. He would have a chance to come in and start from Day one, or at least share the load with a healthy Demetris McCray. Bryan Payton will also be in the mix next season, but it appears that Thigpen will go back to WR, especially if Hardy goes pro, as is expected. It appears that IU is sitting in pretty good shape with Willis, but officials will start in the middle of December, so we probably won't know much until the middle of January at the earliest.

IU will concentrate on finding another QB, LBs, a DE, a WR, and DBs with the remaining ships. It appears IU wants to sign another athletic QB, with BJ Daniels of Tallahassee Florida being their top target. Also, IU is looking for an athletic DE and a big (6'2"+) WR, along with speed and size at DB and LB.

As for the Bowl Game, it appears as of today, IU will be going to the Champs Sports Bowl at Pro Player Stadium in Miami. The opponet would be an ACC team with what I've been told the most likely opponent being the University of Miami or Florida State. If I were choosing, I'd take Miami, but we'll see. Should be an excellent opportunity to recruit going down to southern Florida. This game will be played on December 28th and shown nation wide on ESPN. Last year, Purdue lost to Maryland in this bowl.

Hope everyone had a wonderful and restful Thanksgiving!

Friday, November 9, 2007

Avoiding Quicksand

Quicksand is defined as a shifting mass of very deep, soft, wet sand that yields easily to pressure and will not hold up a heavy object but slowly engulfs it.

Have you ever been stuck in the mud or in the snow. No matter what you did and the harder you tried, the deeper or more stuck you got. Basically in the end, you had to have help to get out but unless there was a good samaritian there, it cost you something to get out.

Over the past few games, not including the Ball State, the football team has found themselves one win away from being "bowl eligible". They just couldn't seem to get over the hump until last Saturday afternoon. The next day, I had a conversation with a couple of players and we talked about quicksand. You might wonder how on earth you could talk about this subject and football, but let me tell you, this is the demon that has chased this football, especially on the road, in Big Ten games for years.

Quicksand in football terms isn't anyting different than the real stuff that you can get yourself into. In football, you are playing, and everything is good. You could be tied or even way ahead and have all the "momentum" all the "mojo" on your side, but then something happens. Mentally you begin to worry, to press harder to block out the bad play, but the harder you try the more that goes wrong and before you know it, you are in over your head, like quicksand.

Now obviously announcers don't say that a team has fallen into quicksand. What you will usually hear is someone say that there has been a big swing in momentum. Well what has happened is mentally, the other team that was ahead and had things going for them has fallen into that mental quicksand, and though it seems that you have to work twice as hard to get back out, the real answer is just to relax and concentrate on the things you can control.

I've said all week that IU can win this game Saturday if we don't beat ourselves. Too often this season this team has went into a bad stretch or fallen into the beginning stages of quicksand. Before you know, someone starts to press or try and do more than they are capable and there's a fumble or an interception or an off sides or defensive hold. Instead of just concentrating on what they can control, they have given the other team more momentum, more positive energy to use against you. Other than the Wisconsin loss, all the losses that this team has suffered through this season has not been because they were "outmanned" or didn't have the talent to win. Every loss has been pretty close and has come at the hands of mental mistakes of some trying to do too much. It's hard as a 19, 20, or 21 year old kid to have the mental maturity to work through that stuff. Heck, it's hard for NFL players to do it. It took Peyton Manning until last season before I felt comfortable in him not trying to force things all the time and just let it all come to him.

This week in Evanston, we are going to see a relaxed team. They want to win, and they are going to put forth the effort to win. They will try as hard as they can. Russ Richardson posted on the free board a few weeks ago about preparing yourself to win each week. It's really a mental process and it starts with understanding that on the road, there will be pitfalls and quicksand to work through. Together, you can overcome the crowd, the noise, the students, maybe even the weather conditions. However, when you as an individual begin to try to hard to make things happen, the wheels usually begin to fall apart and before you know it, you are in quicksand.

Did you know that if you merely relax and be still you won't sink in quicksand. That's a proven fact. The goal this week for this team is to relax and have fun and do what they do as a team. Let the other team beat you, not beat yourself. Tony Dungy preaches this philosphy all the time. Before the Super Bowl he said we will do what we usually do. If we do what we do, then everything will be ok. Tomorrow, if the Hoosiers can work together as a whole team and do what they do and not try to do too much on their own, victory #7 will be a reality for this team!

Sunday, November 4, 2007

Let's just play football

There were tears in the locker room again Saturday. Not because the Senior's had played their last game, or because their Coach had passed away, nope, these tears were not sad tears, they were happy tears. Moments after defeating Ball State and becoming bowl eligible, a tearful Coach Lynch addressed the team and praised them for their efforts. Together they had overcome all types of doubters, they had overcome the demons of the past, yes, for the first time since most of these kids were in grade school, IU was bowl eligible. Coach Lynch's message was simple and concise, next week, let's just go play football and win!

None of the preseason magazines thought this would be possible, I would even be willing to bet that at 75% of the fan base really didn't believe either that this team could overcome the loss of their leader and become bowl eligible. No one, except the players and coaches will ever understand the kind of pressure this team has had on them. They are not just playing for their past leader, they are also playing for the Coach Lynch's future, the rest of the staff's future, the family of Coach Hep, and alumni and fans that had all but given up on them. Together, they did it and the Saturday afternoon, the tears fell.

Of course, you'd never hear this publically, not now, and maybe not ever. These kids have felt the pressure before. Last year they had 3 games to become bowl eligible and couldn't do it. This season, they lost the past 3 games mainly because they tried way too hard and made bad mental errors instead of just letting the game come to them. With the exception of Wisconsin, IU could have honestly won every game the played in. Of course, the fan base was frustrated, the players were frustrated, but what could they do.

The big problem with IU football is this, there's NOT been the consistancy to put the program where it needed to be in the administrations eyes and every 4 or 5 years the staff and coaches change. Now I'm going to say something that will be controvercial, but I think it needs to be said. There's a lot of "fans" that are calling for Coach Lynch's head, bowl or no bowl, but what this program needs more than ANYTHING ELSE is STABILITY! The administration has put rebuilding the fball program as it's number 1 priority, and they have invested their money and time into making this a reality. Now the big question: Why can't the fans realize stability is the biggest need and ride with who we have for awhile?

I think the answer to the above is 2 fold, and of course these are just my answers, my opinions, but IU is known as a basketball school, but most of the fans don't remember a time that IU basketball wasn't competitive. Sure, they might have had a bad season here or there, but if things went wrong 2 years in row, then the coach got the boot. And thus the main problem with IU football fans today. Not many have the patience to stick with someone through the losing to get to the winning. After a couple bad seasons, they want change. Well, for IU football to ever become anything, they have to build stability. Without stability, there will never be consistency!
Believe me, the adminstration and players have bought into it.

Secondly, no one has patience anymore. It's win now or bye-bye. Fair or not, that's the way most programs are, not just IU. However if you look at what Frank Beamer did at Virginia Tech or Mark Mangilo at Kansas or others just like them, their universities were justified to get rid of these guys after a year or two or more, yet they stuck with them, and now look at the rewards. Why can't IU fall into this category? The answer is they can, but as I referenced above, most Indiana University fans don't comprehend stability equals consistancy because of the success of IU basketball. They believe that change will automatically bring success. They believe that if we pay 3 million/year to some "big name guy" that IU fball will automatically be something. Yet, even the big names have to build stability to bring consistancy.

Which brings me to Coach Lynch. Is he our "best option"? If you believe that stability brings consistency, then yes, he is. Change might not be the best thing for this program. Also, I'm not sure too many coaches could have done what he's done with this team. The roller coaster ride of emotions would have defeated most teams, but not Coach Lynch and not these kids. They are already winners, whether they finish above .500 or not. They have performed and succeeded when very few thought they could or would. This arguement about who is the best coach for IU will continue long after this blog is written until Greenspan makes the final decision.

Until that time, IU can just go out and play football this weekend and next. Both Northwestern and Purdue are good teams, but are very beatable. The real question will be can these kids settle down and just play football, instead of trying to make something happen?

Congrats to the kids for yet another goal achieved of becoming bowl eligible! This fan is extremely proud of you.

Monday, October 8, 2007

Kick Coverage and Tyler Replogle

I've been really, really impressed the past few weeks with IU's kick coverage units, especially kick off coverage. Several kids really been speed and hustle and also lay the wood to guys when making the tackle.

The unit is led by Justin Carrington and up until this week, Tyler Replogle (more on this in a bit). Others that contribute on a regular basis include Adrian Burks, Matt Mayberry, Mitch Evans, Jerry Williams, James Bailey, and Joe Kleinsmith. Of course it helps that Austin Starr has been really consistant in getting ball inside the 10 just about every single time.

I hated to hear that Tyler Replogle was lost for the season with an ACL tear. He was really having a great season, and though these things are fairly routine anymore, he's still gonna be a year or so coming back, which will cut into next year a little. The good news is that he just tore the ACL and it's early October. He'll probably have to sit the spring, but he should be about 85 to 90 percent by the beginning of fall practice and near 100 percent by Game 1 next season. He'll be counted on heavily next season, but missing spring practice will open the door for another of the RS freshman.

A couple people have asked about Nick Broome of Columbus, IN and where IN is at with him. Rivals lists him as having 4.5 speed and at 6'4 250 that's pretty darn impressive really. He's been to IU at least 3 times over the past few months, but we haven't offered and only low end MAC and D 1 AA Illinois State and Indiana State have, so something doesn't add up here. He certainly put up good numbers last year with 65 tackles, 6 sacks, and 9 batted balls. He's also blocked 5 kicks in his career and he has a pretty impressive vertical of over 30". So far this season, Nick's team is 7 and 1 and he's got a total of 50 tackles (only stats I could find). According to one of my friends at Columbus FD, in his opinion, he's not good enough to play Big Ten Football. He's pretty athletic, but not very mobile and he really questions the 4.5 speed. Says he's probably low end MAC to D 1AA material. Doubt we'll see IU offer here, unless he's an invited walk on and we won't know about that for awhile yet.

Tuesday, October 2, 2007

Where we are in recruiting

IU is still at 15 committments, so with at least 5 more ships to give, let's take a look at where IU is leading and who is talking about IU. A 4 and 1 start has brought IU into the for front again and more and more talk shows and of course, ESPN are talking IU up, which is a very good thing.

The prime target right now is Darius Willis the RB from Franklin Central. Michigan, Tennessee, and Notre Dame are getting involved using the same startegy they always have. Basically "bullying" their way into the picture because they are who they are. However, Willis has stated for sometime that he likes the State of Indiana and would love to be close to home. His HC graduated from Purdue and went with Darius last weekend up to West Lafayette. However, I expect him to do the same at IU when they come down as well, so don't read too much into that. Right now, it's a pretty close race it appears and ultimately I expect him to choose between IU, Purdue, and Notre Dame (assuming they offer).

IU leads for William Lowe a 5'10" 170 RB from Cleveland, OH Glenville (Fisher's and Thomas's school). This kid can scoot and he's a DB as well. Probably would be a CB at IU, but we'll see. Lowe visited IU as a part of Ted Ginn's bus tour. He's appears at least at this point to be a MAC RB, but a Big Ten CB. We'll see what happens.

IU also leads for Santuan McGee a 5'8" 160 WR/RB/CB from Tallahassee, FL. Not much competition for him, but he's a 4.4 guy, so you never know. As with any Florida kid, we'll not hear much from him until late December/early January at the soonest.

I've had several people ask about Jewel Hampton and whether IU is recruiting him. IU has picked up there interest here and is trying to get Jewel down to campus as soon as this weekend. Right now, the 2 schools mentioned most are Iowa (already visited earlier this season), Cincinnati and Western Kentucky.

Gerald Brown asked to be reassigned to the Tennessee area to recruit instead of Texas earlier this season. While some questioned, it's obvious that Gerald has some amazing contacts in and around the entire state. He has come into Memphis and Nashville and began to get kids extremely interested in IU. Throughout this blog, you'll see that Gerald has been very busy, especially in Memphis, but Jackie Seward a 5'10" 180 RB from Nashville, TN has IU at the top of his list after IU has just recently gotten involved. A true scatback in the mold of RBs that IU likes to recruit, this kid is one of, if not the best, offensive threat in the entire state of Tennessee. He's a little small for Fulmer's standards, but he's athletic enough and fast enough to be a Big Ten RB or DB.

Contrary to an article in a Fort Wayne, IN publication, IU hasn't offered Ray Byers a 5'10" 180 athlete. While his 4.43 speed is intriguing, look for Ray to end up at Ball State.

2 St Louis high school teammates that both play DE apparantly are looking to Missouri, instead of IU. James Moore and Hulas King, both good sized DEs have the Tigers leading the pack right now. IU would still like to add one more athletic DE to this class, but it doesn't appear to be either one of these 2. Though it's conceivable that Marcus Harmon could end up here, though he's currently listed by Rivals as a TE prospect, but after watching him against Terre Haute North last week, he's a kid that can play DE at the next level. He's listed at 6'2" and 210, so he'll need weight, but he's quick played pretty much the entire game on Defense and rarely saw the field on offense.

Another kid from Lawrence North that IU is after for Football is Anthony Oden. As you know, Greg has been down to IU several times already this season to check out Will Patterson and some other kids that he knows from Lawrence North and Anthony has also came down a couple of times. Anothy is huge at 6'8" 300+ and he's a TE, but could really be a great OT/OG/DT as he develops. He's extremely raw at this point, but IU is actively sending him stuff.

Another kid that IU is stepping up it's interest in is Berchard Hines a 6' 190 CB/DB prospect from Cleveland, OH Glenville. A true 4.5 guy, he's receiving a lot of IU interest. He also participated in the Ted Ginn bus tour and performed well during his stop at IU. Like his teammate Lowe, IU is pretty good shape here, but both will wait until the season is over to decide their futures.

Here are the names of some other Tennesse kids that Gerald Brown is recruiting. All these kids have IU in their top 3 or 4. Marcus Hightower a 6' 180 CB, Deante Mason a 6'4 180 WR, William Martin a 6'2" 220 LB, DeAndre Jones a 6' 225 LB, Aaron Trent a 6'3" 230 LB/DE, Matt Arent a 6'3" 220 QB/TE, Marcus Rucker a 6'3" 190 WR, Tray Law a 6'4" 260 DE, and Jabarie Trent a 6'1" 240 LB/DE

And finally Nick Freeland a kicker from Lawrence North. He's listed at 6' 200 pounds and I got to see him kick last Friday. Good hang time on kickoffs and got a touchback and all the kicks were inside the 10 on kickoffs. Good leg. Really likes IU and was down for the Illinois game. As of now, I don't think we have offered, but we are engaged in recruiting him heavily. I think the offer will come, but other than sending letters, this staff is concentrating mostly on one thing: Play 13!

Also, besides Darius Willis, there appears to be some Indiana kids that IU is still keeping close tabs on. I've mentioned Harmon and Freeland from Lawrence North and Byers from Fort Wayne Wayne. Also, IU is actively after David Alexander from Griffith, Bob James from Hobart, Adrian Spencer from Fort Wayne, and Jeff Baker from Lowell.

Monday, October 1, 2007

Mental Toughness, progression, and this year's team

I doubted. I didn't think this team had showed enough mental toughness to go into a hostile envioronment at Kinnick Stadium and win. All season, IU had played well in stretches, but hadn't put 4 quarters of good football together for me, and probably 90% of the fanbase to believe that they could win. BUT WIN THEY DID! 70,585 fans eye witnessed a dominate performance from start to finish. In my opinion, this was the best game they played all season, and they played all 4 quarters like their season depended on it.

Last season, IU was up and down. Coach Hep brought high points and the Iowa game was one of them. A very unlikely win in most fans minds because of 3 big losses against Wisconsin and 2 at home that most thought we could win. Then they go on the road and win at Illinois. Last year was very tough mentally, and it was one that most fans judge Coach Lynch's ability to coach this year by. Coach Lynch took over for Coach Hep for a 2 game stretch against Division 1-AA Southern Illinois and UCONN and lost both games. Of course those 2 games were without James Hardy and Kellen Lewis wasn't yet the starting QB.

So back to Saturday. Here is IU having lost to a winnable game at home to Illinois, and they are walking into Kinnick Stadium for Homecoming. Couple that with a very hungry, and embarrassed Iowa team, and well it was a recipe for disaster. However, James Hardy, Kellen Lewis, and the IU defense had other ideas. Just about everyone on the entire roster played their best game of the season. Jaime Kirlew who had been a non-factor much of the season went on a rampage and Greg Middleton was his usual self. IU leads the nation in sacks after 5 games, which is absolutely incredible for IU to be leading the nation in anything.

The coaches have really simplified things this season. They run basic packages, with pretty basic blitzes, but swarm the ball. They mimic the Colts style of defense in that they are aggressive and go all out to the ball. This defense will not be out hustled, and on Saturday it wasn't just about blitzes and pressure, it was all about coverage. Most of the sacks were indeed coverage sacks. Leslie Majors, Nick Polk, Geno Johnson, and Tracy Porter had extremely solid coverage days. Even special teams was off the hook.

This game was about as complete a game as IU has played in a long time. It put this team to 4 wins, 2 more, and IU is bowl eligible. IU has 2 very winnable games left in Minny next week and Ball State. They also can beat Penn State and Purdue at home, and Northwestern at their place. I'm still not sure about Michigan State and Wisconsin, but I haven't seen either of those 2 teams enough to comment. However, if this team plays like it did on Saturday, they can win out, and I'm serious about that.

This team has endured more together than most people deal with in a 10 year period of their lives. They watched their head coach deteriorate and die right before their eyes. They watched him rally from not 1, but 2 major brain surgeries. They saw him fight until the second he took his last breath. While devestating emotionally, it brought these kids together, and it brought the coaches together, and it made them better as a team. What it also did was make them mentally tough. I talked with several of the players after the Illinois game and they were crushed. Most of them brought up Coach Hep and how they felt like they quit fighting. This team drew upon what they saw Coach Hep do, they drew upon his last days, how the doctors marvelled has his endurance and strength to overcome pneumonia, not once, but twice. The team got together and decided that no matter what, they wouldn't give up again, that they would fight until the end, and they would prove again to the IU faithful that this is a team to believe in that Play 13 really does mean something to them and that we as fans will never question their heart or desire again the rest of the season.

After the Illinois loss the seniors and captains drew a line in the sand and said we will not return to mediocrity like the fan base thinks we will again. Instead, we will learn from our mistakes, draw upon the lessons we learned in the offseason, and fight and play together and believe in each other.

Saturday is a big weekend for IU and it will be a big recruiting weekend as well. Several kids coming in, including more junior prospects and committed players. Very winnable game and look for a little bit more option from KL in red zone opportunities. You won't see it much, but IU wants to keep you guessing down there, so they are throwing out all kinds of formations just keep everyone guessing and off balance.

Also, a shout out to Josiah Sears and his Brian Leonard leap impression. Great impression and great play!

Sunday, September 16, 2007

So why Thigpen up the middle so much?

Thought I would address our running back situation a little bit and some of the play calling on goal line situations. I've spoken with some folks over the last week or so, and here's what I've been able to piece together.

First, let's look at the numbers a little bit. First off, we've ran for 776 yards in 3 games for an average of 258.67 yards/game. Pretty good, but our opponets, save Akron, probably haven't given our Line too many problems yet. However, still a very good average/game considering we've passed for 657 yards at 219 yards/game. Lynch said he wanted to run the ball more, and so far, we have, and we've done very well.

After a huge game on Saturday, Lewis leads the rushing attack with 317 yards on 42 carries. Thigpen is next at 222 yards on 43 carries, McCray has played in only 2 games, yet has amassed 135 yards on 21 carries. Payton gives us 56 yards, Burgess 50, and Sears has25 yards on 18 carries. To further give some numbers, Lewis gives us7.5 yards/carry, McCray is next at 6.4, Payton at 5.1, Burgess at 5.0, Thigpen at 4.5, and Sears at 1.4/carry.

Now, what has been the biggest questions about the IU running attack especially during the first couple of games did they try and run Thigpen up the middle for 1 over and over. Well, the answer was 2 fold from what I can gather. First, IU was very vanilla against ISU and WMU. Lewis didn't run that much, unlike the Akron game. Secondly, and probably most importantly, is the staff is trying to get the ball to Thigpen as much as possible and trying to use his 4.25 speed to make a play. Now, it's hard for a guy like Marcus to do much going straight up the middle, but nonetheless, they tried to do that. Also, I think they did this to set up the play action later on.

Now it's my opinion that Marcus is more of a 3rd down type of back because of his size and speed. In the NFL he'll be a returner and probably a WR, but with "Wrong Way" Ray or "Big Play" Ray (whichever you call him) occupying that spot, you can't really put Marcus over there either. So the staff used him a little more on the outside against Akron, and I think as the season progresses, you'll see him more on the outside. As, McCray isn't 100 percent healthy either, so as he continues to get healthy, I think you'll see him more and more do the inside running.

As for goaline situations, Sears isn't necessarily the problem, it's really the OL. They are not getting the push that's needed and I think that's pretty obvious to everyone. This week against Akron, we saw a lot of Troy Wagner and 2 TE sets down there, but it still didn't help. Robinson and Lively had haydays against Wyss and Sandberg pretty much all day long. Those 2 OL really struggled down inside the goaline. I think we are going to see more KL sneaks from now on. Also, I'd like to see them use Sears as the blocking full back and use Payton or Burgess down there. I think the staff is kind of searching for answers as well, as they try and find the right formulas. Yet, even with the struggles, IU has continued to rack up 133 points in 3 games at 44 points/game, so we can't complain too much, but it's still something that is concerning.

One thing I did notice that they also tried was bringing Hardy into motion and using him as a blocker, but that didn't work either. That merely brought another defender into the box. I think for these goaline situations to work, Wyss and the Guards have got to do a better job at getting a push. Wyss has the heart of a lion, but he's small, so he needs to use technique and get low. Sandberg is strong as an ox, but he has to get low too. He doesn't bend all that well. Saxon also had his issues Saturday and at 315 pounds, needs to do a better job. If these 3 guys take care of the inside, this is a non-issue. Right now, there is no push forward, and until there is, it's gonna be an issue with short-yardage. Hopefully, this will work itself out sooner, rather than later! Believe me when I say this, the coaches are trying all kinds of formations to try and work this issue out. However, I think because of the lack of a push and the time it takes to do a handoff, IU would be much better off to just sneak KL or use the play action pass to a TE or Sears, like they did on the 4th and 1 play on Saturday.

Now for my Non conference Awards:
1. Offensive MVP- It goes to James Hardy. He's dominated so far, as he should really, and he's improved more than any player on offense for IU so far this season. 10 catches for 245 yards and 5 TDs already. Great performances game in, game out for him the first 3 games.

2. Defensive MVP-I gotta go with Greg Middleton and I want to personally thank Tiller and company for letting this guy get away. Greg has just been a monster so far this season. We all were concerned about the DEs coming in and who would start opposite Kirlew, but Greg is turning into an All Big Ten type of DE, and he's only gonna get better! So far Greg has 11 tackles and 5 sacks and 5 more Tackles for loss leading the team in the 2 latter categories.

3. Special Teams MVP-I'm going with Austin Starr. Last year, this was a HUGE question mark, but not this year. Austin has done a great job on FGs, PATs, and is improving on Kickoffs. He's got a big leg and his confidence is soaring. He's 7 of 8 on FGs with a long of 48 yards, has had 4 touchbacks in 25 opportunities, and he's perfect on extra points. Couldn't really ask for much more from him.

4. Most improved MVP-I'm gonna go with the entire front 7 of the IU defense, including the non-starters. There are a lot of improved players across the board, but these guys have really done a fabulous job in helping IU lead the nation in sacks and they are in the top 5 for tackles for loss. Just a great job so far in an area where we had question marks. Also, very good and productive depth along the front 7 as well. Many, many guys have contributed and/or played very well here.

Finally, I've seen an awful lot to be optimistic about so far and hopefully we can start the conference season off right next week with Illinois. Also, I want to mention Mike Stark and his performance Saturday. Here's a guy that's been 3rd and 4th team OL all spring and fall and because of injuries played the whole game Saturday, and I thought played a very good game. Made some mistakes, but he held his own, and toward the end of the game, IU was running on his side, which was great to see. He also eases my mind a little for next season and who would replace Emerson over there. Great job Mike!

Sunday, September 2, 2007

Analysis of Indiana State Game

Man, what a great night. The kids did a great job under extreme emotions in the first half. They came out and did pretty well, then the coaches did very well to settle them down at the half. I think just about everyone on the active roster that wasn't hurt or going to redshirt played. I know the 4th string OL got in at the end, which hasn't happened in decades at IU. It was great to see IU come out and just thump a team, and do it by being very vanilla. Not sure they ran more than 5 different run plays, and they ran the same pass routes over and over with much success. While there is not alot to take from games like this, there are some encouraging signs.

First off the things I liked.

1. The fans and the students were great. I was told that 38K was there. The 34K being given out doesn't include the 4,000 free tickets given out to students. The students really got into the game, and man, what a difference that has been from years past. A 55 to 7 thumpin will bring them back for the next game as well!

2. Hardy is special, we all knew that, but I really paid close attention to him when he was in there, and I saw a lot of changes in him. Much more dedicated at carrying out blocks and fakes. He ran very good routes. Screwed up getting the celebration penalty that led to poor tackling that cost IU a shut out, but the No Fun NCAA takes this WAY to far, so James did well. IU could have just lobbed the ball to Hardy every stinkin time and scored, but it was good that they tried to do other thngs and establish the run some.

3. James Bailey and Ray Fisher did very well as 2nd and 3rd options. Also Terrance Turner got a couple of balls.

4. Thought the DL, DEs, and LBs showed their aggressive style and depth by rotating in a lot. IU will get burnt some, but you will never be able to accuse IU of not hawking the ball. Lots of bodies in the 2nd half, and better push up front. Lots and lots of people saw action and contributed. Good to see Isaac Price get a TFL, Marando and Zementis with sacks. Marando is an animal. He just never stops.

5. Tyler Replogle and Mitch Evans. The only 2 freshman to play, and each showed some pretty encouraging signs of being very good for IU in the future. Tyler is a beast. Man he's an animal, just never stops. Mitch was in on 2 or 3 solo tackles. Good form and lays the lumber when he hits you. He could be starting by the end of the season, seriously.

6. Thought the DBs did pretty well, especially Polk. He came all the way across the field and one play and just blew it up. Nice to have that ball hawking FS that we've lacked for a long time. He's only going to get better as well.

7. Both Austin Starr and Mike Hines did very well tonight. Neither position is going to be a problem for IU this season.

Now, some things that IU needs to work on:

1. IMO, Marcus Thigpen isn't the answer for IU at RB. He's a kick returner, 3rd down back only. Can't expect him to run up the middle. IF IU is going to run up the middle then bring in someone else to do that. I know we were vanilla tonight in the run game, but I thought the first team OL struggled big time with ISU's run D. ISU stacked the box 8 deep and they are faster, but OL has to give a little better effort here. Thought they came out in the 2nd half and did a lot better with Sears and Payton back there. I love Thigpen in his explosiveness, but asking him to run draws isn't the things to do.

2. Thought Kellen played decent, but he'll need to do a better job the next game against a better opponet. His passing was a little off tonight, and I just didn't see the creativeness that I saw last season.

3. The BTN. Now I didn't see the broadcast, but let me tell you , the BTN did no favors to IU by staring the game a 0h dark thirty, then the TV timeouts were excruisatingly too long. I'm glad more people got to see the game than normally would, but this network won't last long in my opinion. I did get to hear Beno Cook on ESPN radio before the game, and let me tell you, what he was said about what the Big Ten is trying to do is dead on accurate. Until the Conference refuses to give ABC and ESPN the big games, the BTN will NEVER be anything to write home about, and he said Delany doesn't have the balls to do that, because then the Big Ten would be left out in the cold altogether.

4. Fumbles are always an issue your first game, so we have to limit those more.

Overall, a very good game for IU. For once they came out and thumped someone they should thump. A lot tougher opponet next week, but a very winnable game. I will be looking for a much improved run game (hopefully McCray will be back). No major injuries came from the game, except that Kleinsmith either had a hammy issue. Not sure if he pulled it or it cramped up on that INT return.

Also, my condolences to Indiana State fans. You are in for another LONG season. This will be Mr. West's last season no doubt about it.

Also, Tony West will play at the next level, probably at Kick Returner/3rd down back. While not as fast as Thigpen, he's just as elusive.

And finally, another coach that will be gone at the end of the season will be Lloyd Carr. Your fate is sealed Lloyd, no matter what you do from here on out this season.

Tuesday, August 21, 2007

Up to date Depth chart

Here's the best I could get tonight. I will try and designate whether the player is injured or expected to Redshirt this season, so you can kind of see who will be moving up, down, and around.


QB:
1. Kellen Lewis
2. Ben Chappell
3. Blake Powers
4. Teddy Schell (RS)
5. Dustin Haas

RB:
1. Marcus Thigpen
2. Demetrius McCray
3. Bryan Payton
4. Josiah Sears
5. Trea Burgess (walk-on)
6. Zach Davis-Walker
7. Shawn Winston (RS; walk-on)

FB:
1. Josiah Sears (probably more of FB this year than a RB)

WR first team:
1. James Hardy
2. James Bailey
3. Andrew Means

WR second team:
1. Terrance Turner
2. Ray Fisher
3. Christ Banks

WR third team:
1. Brandon Walker-Roby
2. Jordan Canada
3. Matt Ernest (RS)

WR fourth team:
1. Eddie Miller (RS)
2. Jake Kocal

TE:
1. Nick Sexton
2. Troy Wagner
3. Max Dedmond (RS)
4. Taylor Donnell (walk-on)
5. Brad Martin


OL first team:
LT-Roger Saffold
LG-Pete Saxon
C-Ben Wyss
RG-John Sandberg
RT-Charlie Emerson

OL second team:
LT-Kyle Thomas
LG-Kenny Love (injured I think still)
C-Alex Perry
RG-Cody Faulkner
RT-James Brewer (out 3 weeks with an ankle issue)

OL third team:
LT-Andrew McDonald
LG-Matt Stark
C-Jarrod Smith
RG-Matt Moses
RT-Josh Hager

OL fourth team:
LT-Sean Edmundson
LG-Mike Reiter
C-Jeff Sanders
RG-Milton Owens (RS)
RT-Dan Rutigiliano (RS)

Ziegler is hurt, maybe for the year, so he's not included

DL first team:
DE-Jammie Kirlew
DT-Greg Brown (injured)
DT-Joe Kremer
DE-Greg Middleton

DL second team:
DE-Brian Faires
DT-Emile Bass
DT-Kevin Burrus
DE-Ryan Marando

DL third team:
DE-Fabien Boone
DT-Keith Burrus
DT-Jeff Boyd (RS)
DE-Terrance Thomas

DL fourth team:
DE-Fred Jones (RS)
DT-Deonte Mack
DT-Arik Wolf
DE-Eric Thomas (RS)
DE-Brian Zematis sees time here

LB first team:
Sam-Geno Johnson
Mike-Adam McClurg
Will-William Patterson

LB second team:
Sam-Tyler Replogle
Mike-Matt Mayberry
Will-Justin Carrington

LB third team:
Sam-Dane Conwell
Mike-Darius Johnson
Will-Ian Reeves

LB fourth team:
Sam-Leon Beckum
Mike-Isaac Price
Will-Jamie Lukaszewski

CB:
1. Tracy Porter and Leslie Majors
2. Chris Phillips and Richard Council
3. Chris Adkins (RS) and Adrian Burks
4. Aaron Burks and Bruce Hampton
5. Rayshon Calhoun and Donnell Jones
6. Jerry Williams and Major Ramsey

Safety first team:
Strong-Austin Thomas
Free-Nick Polk

Safety second team:
Strong-Mitch Evans
Free-Joe Kleinsmith

Safety third team:
Strong-JT Owens (hurt)
Free-Jarrell Drane (I don't think he'll RS)

Safety fourth team:
Strong-Brandon Mosely
Free-Collin Taylor

Safety fifth team:
Strong-Brandon McGee (RS and walk-on)
Free-Matt Kurz

Kicker:
1. Austin Starr
2. Kevin Trulock
3. Nick Ford

Punter:
1. Mike Hines
2. Chris Hagerup

Long snapper:
1. Tim Bugg
2. Brandon Bugg

I thinks that is it!

Tuesday, August 14, 2007

How are the true freshman looking so far

Thought everyone would like an update on where all the true frosh are at, now that we've completed a few days of camp. We've heard a little about Atkins and Replogle, but you may be curious as to where everyone else stands.

1. Chris Atkins has come and played extremely well from the start. The staff loved what he brings to the table in height, speed, and physical play. He has not disappointed with any of that and he's moved to 3rd team on the depth chart with Donnell Jones. The staff would still like to RS him this season, but he's shown signs of being a very good cover corner. He reported in a 185 or so and hopefully with a RS year, he can get another 10 pounds on that frame.

2. Jeff Boyd has come into camp and did just what the coaches believed he would do and that's move right into the DT rotation and bid for extended PT this fall. With the injury to Greg Brown, Jeff is gonna see time with the 2nd team DTs. He'd been rotating in with the 2nd teamers already, so we can expect this kid to def contribute this season. Boyd can really get to the passer as he's good at shooting gaps to make plays. He reported in a 285, so he's ready to play some this fall.

3. Kevin Burrus has come into camp and also solidified himself even more than he did during the spring. Though Rivals listed him at 6' 2" 260, Kevin is actually 310 pounds. He's a squatty, fire plug, type of run stuffer and he's been teaming with Joe Kremer on the 2nd team defense all of camp. Where Boyd is more of pass rusher at DT, Burrus is the run guy. These 2 will be starting together soon for IU and the staff is excited to see them both on the field in the DT rotation.

4. Dane Conwell has come in and solified the 3rd team defense for the Hoosiers. While the staff hopes to RS him, he came in around 222 and has impressed the staff from the start of camp. He's moved inside some and shown some real versatility to play outside and inside. Hopefully, he can put on about 10 pounds this RS year and be ready to compete for pt come next spring.

5. Max Dedmond may play this season. He's been pretty impressive, IMO so far this fall and has shown me that he's got the tools to be an all big ten TE down the road. What he needs most is strenght and experience. Right now, he's a 3rd team guy, but other than Sexton and Powers, he's the best receiving TE IU has at this point. Max came in at 240 or so, but he needs another 10 pounds to really be effective. He's also a pretty good blocker for his size and bends those knees well and drives his opponets. He's been taught well in the fundamentals. He's probably boardline in all honesty as to whether he'll play or RS, but he's got ability to contribute a little this fall if needed.

6. Jarrell Drane has come in and done a good job. He's appears to have recovered from his injury last fall, and he's currently on the 3rd team defense at FS. The staff hopes to RS him and bulk him up to about 200 pounds plus. Right now he's at 180 or so.

7. Matt Earnest has turned heads, but I don't know if that's been all that surprising, at least to me. Matt is a possession receiver and has increditably soft hands. He's also got a decent vertical to go up and get passes, and so far, he's been fearless about going over the middle, but they ain't hitting yet, so we'll see on that one. If IU wasn't so deep at this positon, Matt would play, and play a lot this fall. The staff wants to RS him and get another 15 pounds or so on him, then he'd be around 6'3" and 195 and be ready for the riggers of the big ten. This kid has the tools to be an all big ten WR down the road.

8. Mitch Evans has come in and played QB exclusively from the word go, and he's looked pretty good too. Mitch has a decent arm and can scramble around and make plays. The staff is going to keep him at QB for now and try and get through the season until at least Follett gets to campus, then Mitch "may" move. Mitch is athletic enough that he could concievable be a Safety or even a WR after spring ball. Nevertheless, the staff wants to RS him, bulk him up and go from there.

9. Josh Hager has come and played pretty well. He's established himself as the 3rd string RT, and the staff wants to RS him and really bulk him up. He came in at 265, so he really needs at least 20 to 25 pounds to really be effective, though IMO, his body could handle another 40+ and he'd look skinny. The kid has really quick feet and bends his knees pretty well.

10. Chris Hagerup came to IU last fall and went through spring practice, and he's battling Mike Hines for the starting punters job. At this point, Chris has struggled a lot, but he's had a lot thrown at him in the past few months. While some have been critical of Chris, I won't be. The kid has major skills and right now, it's really just a mental thing. A RS year will help him tremendously, and I really like what he'll brings to table for IU in the future. Chris has had to change his set up from HS and that takes time to unlearn and relearn the correct way, but man, when he get ahold of one, it's something to see.

11. Darius Johnson has come in and done a very solid job for not playing LB all that much in HS. He was an all state RB and though he played LB some, he wasn't a full time defensive player until this season. Darius has climbed to the 3rd team already and has seen time at Middle and OLB. He and Conwell have kind of switched back and forth as the staff evaluates them and sees where they best fit. Darius came in at 220, and the staff hopes to RS and put at least another 5 to 10 pounds on him.

12. Donnell Jones has come in and really impressed some people. Jones qualified late, and if he'd have been straight ready to go at the signing period, I think he would have been West Virginia bound. Jones sprained an ankle in practice, so he'll be at less than 100% for awhile, but he's a regular, with Atkins on the 3rd team defense and has saw a few snaps with the 2's. Jones reminds me alot of Tracy Porter, and I hope he has the same impact. The staff wants to RS and bulk him up a little, but if they need him, he can play.

13. Fred Jones has come in and put himself into a position to play this fall. He's fast and can rush the passer. He's not got a lot of "moves" yet, but his speed helps him out. He needs moves and bulk, but IU really needs consistant pressure from the DEs to help the D, and Jones is a guy that can do that in a rotation basis. It would be nice if he could RS and get another 15 to 20 pounds on, but we'll see. As of now, he's splitting time between the 2nd and 3rd team defense.

14. Andrew McDonald has come in and quickly established himself has the 3rd team LT. With Love going down, he's also seen a bit of time with 2nd team. The staff wants to RS and bulk him up another 20+ pounds. Andrew has kind of surprised some folks because he was so overlooked in HS with Evans and Finch and Boyd around, however, Andrew is being groomed as IU's LT of the future, so they really think highly of him.

15. Ian Reeves is another guy that kind of came out of nowhere and signed with IU. This kid has also impressed and has solified an OLB spot on the 3rd team D with Conwell and Johnson. The staff hopes to RS and put another 20 pounds or so on him. This kid is gonna be a real player in a year or two.

16. Tyler Replogle has come in and been the MOST impressive true frosh from the word go. He's already 2nd team OLB and he's gonna push for extended time this fall. Tyler has a motor, and he reminds me a lot of my friend Jake Powers in terms of heart and hustle. He's alot more athletic than Jake, but got the same kind of heart. This guy has future captain written all over him. I remember watching tape of this kid in HS and thought he was really underrated, so I'm not real surprised that he's come in and done what he has done. Expect to see Tyler on special teams and rotating in at OLB this fall. He's currently sharing the 2nd team with Mayberry at MLB and Carrington at the other OLB.

17. Teddy Schell came to IU over the summer and played pretty well in 7 on 7s. I think this kid has a really good arm and can develope into a solid big ten QB. What he doesn't do all that well is move around. He's pretty much a pure pocket QB. At this point, IU is set up with athletic QBs that can move around a little and scramble, so Teddy is gonna have to improve here. He'll RS this year and put on some weight and be ready to compete for the heirarchy of the depth chart next spring. I still think Teddy will stay at QB, and Evans will move because Mitch is athletic enough to be able to move. Time will tell, but Schell has the tools to be a very good QB in time for the HOosiers.

18. Eric Thomas has come in and played pretty well and established himself on the 3rd team DE. The staff hopes to RS him and bulk him up about 15 to 20 pounds. To me, he's a clone of Greg Middleton and though he's not as "quick" as Fred Jones, he can still move and use his strength and bulk to get to the QB, as well as stop the run.

19. Zach Walker has come in and impressed the staff and the team really with his speed and ability. He's a solid low end 4.5 to high end 4.4 guy and though he needs about 10 to 15 pounds, I can see why the staff really likes him. He'll RS and then be ready to compete next season, but in time, he's gonna be a good one. What impresses me is that he's not afraid to stick his nose in between the tackles.

20. Dennis Zigler is HUGE! The man has come to camp at least 350+. He'll be RS and hopefully he can get that weight under control. He's actually pretty impressive, and nimble, for a big kid. I think he'll play well at 320, and while other Hoosier lineman may be around the 300 range, I don't think Dennis will have any issues playing a little heavier. Dennis is at 3rd team guard right now and will take the RS year and go from there.

Next, we'll take a look at the rest of the roster and see who's moving up, and who's moving down the depth chart in anticipation for th opener in a couple of weeks!

Friday, August 3, 2007

Adam Follett

Adam became lucky number 13 for the Hoosiers this week, so let's see just what the Hoosiers are getting in their lastest QB recruit.

Adam is 6'4" and hovers around the 210 pound mark. He ran a 4.78 at the West Lafayette NIKE Camp and did a shuttle of 4.3 and a vertical of 31 inches. Pretty good measurables for a HS QB. Indiana really took notice of Adam after that camp and got some video on him. They then invited him down to one of their camps in July and offered him after that.

Adam shows great consistency and accuracy in all his throws, he also has plus arm strength, and very good size. However, at this point, his one big problem is his release point and the fact that he's VERY raw in running an offense that evolves around the pass. Both of these weaknesses are very correctable though, so fans shouldn't be too worried about that. The release issue has to do with him not stepping into his throws to get that plus velocity that QB need to have to fit the ball into tight spaces.

What is really interesting about Adam is that he's VERY raw. Michigan Elite football is calling him perhaps the best QB in the state of Michigan this season. What's amazing about that is Adam played his last 3 seasons at Caledonia HS. Caledonia is a run first, run second, run third, then throw school. Adam was taught to drop back and hand off most of the time. Last season, Adam compiled 69 yards rushing on 24 carries and 670 yards passing. He completed 36 of 69 attempts (.522%) for 3 TDs and 1 pick (first pick his entire HS career).

Adam has transfered over to Alma HS, which has an offense that passes first, passes second, passes third, then runs. Adam will probably throw it 69 times by the 3rd game of the season. Almas is located right in the middle of the state of Michigan and about 50 miles North of Lansing, which is about an hour or so drive from Caledonia.

Many scouts believe that Adam would "blow up" in the minds of recruiters during the season due to more exposure in a passing offense. Michigan State was really all over this kid, but only Western Michigan had offered at the time IU did. Matt Canada was the lead recruiter and I have no doubt that he'll turn Adam into a solid QB.

This is a very good recruit for IU, because they really don't need a QB right away. Lewis is only a Sophmore and waiting in his shadown is Chappell. Schell has really impressed in 7 on 7 drills this summer in Bloomington, so Adam will be given that time to really develop his game and be ready to compete with Teddy for the starting job when he's a Sophmore.

While most wanted MarQuies Gray, it has become very apparant that Gray will be a Beaver when all is said and done. According to those that know him, MarQuies wants "out from under his mother" and wants to be out on his own. Not sure what his relationship is there, but it doesn't sound all that great. The final 2 for Gray is Oregan and Minnesota. Tim Brewer was Vince Young's QB coach at Texas, so we'll see if that brings the Gophers over the top or not. In the end, Gray's presence would have been a great problem to have at IU, but if family was going to be an issue, then maybe him going out of state is the best for all involved.

In the meantime, IU has secured another sleeper QB prospect that in time will compete for the job. Now, IU should have about 6 or 7 ships left to go. The only person that has a ship waiting for him is Darius Willis. Other than that, I expect the remaining grants to go to kids from the South.