09 Real Deal College Football Discussion/No Homers - Lets geh geh GET IT!

[gunna get it]

recruiting class ranking isnt what Im talking about, Im talking about bringing in recruits who can play and play well

Notre Dame stays with high classes and they have maybe 2 or three kids who can actually play at a high level.


Do me a favor, Run down the list and Name me the last few A&M High NFL draft picks and what yr ...

*edit and Im not saying NFL is be all end all but it provides a quick snap shot of the top tier/elite talent on a team

 

[N41D]

When out of state'ers out recruit you in your own state then you know you have issues.
The only OOS program that continually outrecruits A&M in Texas is Oklahoma... And that only really got bad after Slocum left...

Texas A&M never had problems like this until they fired Slocum and brought in Franchione...

Recruiting under Fran was TERRIBLE. Like epically bad, recruiting rankings be damned.. And they're still paying for it today. But at the same time, you don't continually recruit Top 20 classes and just miss on entire classes EVERY YEAR... The biggest problem with A&M since Slocum has been development once kids are on campus... The number of kids who have been good freshmen and gotten worse of their careers since Fran was hired is ridiculous... They couldn't recruit skill players or quarterbacks to play in that offense... And they couldn't recruit linebackers or defensive linemen to play in a passive, unaggressive 4-2-5... That's a big reason why they stopped getting and still aren't getting looks from all these kids that are flocking to Texas... Fran's tenure was a disaster from Day One, and it's unbelievable they hired him off what he did at Alabama...

There is absolutely no reason for A&M to be what it has become... I don't think anybody expects them to be Texas or Oklahoma... But they should at least be Oklahoma State or Texas Tech...

It amazes me that their Athletic administration, for whatever reason, cannot look themselves in the mirror and realize what the problem is... The basketball program was a god damn cesspool for DECADES and look what it is now.. They go out and hire Billy Gillispie, the polar opposite of everything that is "Aggie", and then go hire Mark Turgeon... Neither of which had A&M ties, but had skins on the wall at mid-majors and were widely viewed as legitimate candidates for high-major jobs...

They figured it out with the basketball program, but they can't figure it out with football... They go from old white guy Jackie Sherrill to old white guy RC Slocum to old white guy Fran to Sherman...

Sherman's staff, bad as the last two years have been, have at least turned Jerrod Johnson and Von Miller into NFL prospects and recruited talented receivers (Fuller, Uzoma, Tannehill) and running backs (Gray, Michael, the 3 guys coming in) into the fold... I think Sherman can recruit, I just don't think he knows college football and what to do on Saturdays...

When this thing inevitably boils over, they need to do something DIFFERENT.. You want an A&M guy? OK... But Tuberville was an A&M guy and went as far as to have his agent show up in College Station the day after Fran resigned... What happened there? Why not make it Kevin Sumlin (though I think he'll be the next guy)? Why didn't Charlie Strong, who coached at A&M, get even a sniff? Why not hire a stud coordinator away from Texas or Oklahoma and give it a shot? It's just mind boggling...

This Athletic administration and their biggest boosters genuinely seem more concerned with keeping the Aggie GOB network in tact than winning games on Saturday...

 

[tmay407]

Originally Posted by GUNNA GET IT

recruiting class ranking isnt what Im talking about, Im talking about bringing in recruits who can play and play well

Notre Dame stays with high classes and they have maybe 2 or three kids who can actually play at a high level.

Do me a favor, Run down the list and Name me the last few A&M High NFL draft picks and what yr ...

*edit and Im not saying NFL is be all end all but it provides a quick snap shot of the top tier/elite talent on a team

Will bringing in players that can play not show up in the recruiting rankings? (For the most part...I know quite a bit of those rankings goes more into potential than production...) I think this is where we're starting to have differing views. A&M brings in kids that, according to scouting websites, could play at a high level in high school and have the potential to play well in college. Once they get on campus, the coaches haven't gotten anything out of them. We've had some really talented kids that didn't pan out because they weren't pushed to work hard enough or given the attention and help they needed. I've already been able to see changes in this with Sherman, and I think it's started mostly with Dave Kennedy, the S&C coach, getting kids stronger and more ready to contribute immediately.



Once you get these kids on campus, it's up to the coaches to get them to play up to their potential. That goes into the development part in my opinion. I guess we're just viewing and seeing things differently.

As for the NFL thing...I really think that ultimately is the end all, be all. That's why these kids are going to college. I'll go back to 2000, since the 1998 season was the last time we were relevant (1998 team = 1999 draft).
2000: Jason Webster, DB (2nd round, 4
2001: Robert Furgeson, WR (2nd round, 41)
2003: Ty Warren, DT (1st round, 13)
2003: Sammy Davis, CB (1st round, 30)
2003: Bethel Johnson, WR (2nd round, 45)
2003: Terrence Kiel, S (2nd round, 62)
2005: Terrence Murphy, WR (2nd round, 5
2008: Martellus Bennett, TE (2nd round, 61)

Looking at that, Fran only had one guy drafted in the first 2 rounds of the draft (Terrence Murphy was RC's guy, and absolutely hates Fran to this day). That guy wasn't even drafted because of anything that Fran did to develop him, but was drafted based off of his combine performance and potential.

Originally Posted by GUNNA GET IT

and the Horns are now up to 10 public commits and in a a cple hours will be 11

It's12 now. They've picked up 3 of the top defensive players in the statesince lunch (Desmond Jackson, Leroy Scott, Sheroid Evans).

 

[fear the ibis]

Benji ran a 6.85 yesterday and Lamar Miller 6.88.

For comparison Rainey ran a 6.81

 

[N41D]

The state of Texas is really kinda down this year at the top... Jackson is probably the best player in the state and he's not really a Top 25 guy nationally..

Texas is half full already and the only guy that really should bother A&M is Sheroid Evans... They wouldn't have had a shot at Jackson regardless...

Looking at that 12, there are quite a few that I really don't seem like usual Texas early-offer types... It's just a lot more underwhelming than their usual Junior Day groups...

 

[tmay407]

That's probably because the Texas talent this year is mediocre at best. This looks like it's gonna turn out to be one of those "plug the holes" type classes for Texas this year.

I'm really surprised to see that they've taken 3 WRs already, despite taking 5 in the last class.

I really need them to stay away from Steve Edmond, Trevon Randle, Kolby Griffin, Cedric Reed, Quincy Aldridge and Marquis Anderson...I'd really like A&M to get a shot at those guys.

EDIT:

Saturday update: As we posted was likely to happen, these two have filled out the defensive staff.


Dat Nguyen is one of those guys

The other is some dude named Nick Toth from The Citadel. Anybody know anything about him? The early thought seems to be that he only got the job because he's worked with DeRuyter before, and DeRuyter is comfortable with him.

 

[bigmike23]

hawaii has placed a phone call trying to get into the pac-10

they have ZERO SHOT

 

[N41D]

Originally Posted by Bigmike23

hawaii has placed a phone call trying to get into the pac-10

they have ZERO SHOT

Colorado, Boise State, Utah, BYU... Hell, even TCU... No chance.

Dat Nguyen is one of those guys
Finally an "Aggie" guy that makes sense.

Left the Cowboys because he wanted to be more hands on and do more teaching than the NFL level really allowed.. Good fit, I think. Interested to see how he handles recruiting though...

But who the #+!$ is Nick Toth?

At least he's young and not an Aggie retread...

 

[tmay407]

Originally Posted by Nowitness41Dirk

But who the #+!$ is Nick Toth?

At least he's young and not an Aggie retread...

He actually played for DeRuyter when DeRuyter was coaching at Ohio University. I guess this could be a good thing, since Toth probably knows DeRuyter's system really well.

Not really sure where he fits in though, experience-wise. He's a defensive backs coach, but he's coached tight ends and defensive line before as well. I thought the plan was to make Charles McMillan the DBs coach. One possibility is to have him coach safeties while Chuck stays with the CBs, as has been the case the last two years. The other, which I'm a little worried about, is to have him coach outside linebackers, with Dat coaching inside linebackers. That's too much inexperience at a crucial position in the 3-4...We need someone to coach TEs too (unless Kragthorpe is gonna do that?), so maybe he'll find a way to work that in there with his other position.

 

[gunna get it]

That guy wasn't even drafted because of anything that Fran did to develop him, but was drafted based off of his combine performance and potential.



thats the point, if yall pickin up elite talent, someone would pounce on em regardless of poor production. NFL front offices always think they can get more out of pure talent then College coaches

 

[tmay407]

Originally Posted by GUNNA GET IT

That guy wasn't even drafted because of anything that Fran did to develop him, but was drafted based off of his combine performance and potential.

thats the point, if yall pickin up elite talent, someone would pounce on em regardless of poor production. NFL front offices always think they can get more out of pure talent then College coaches
I might have gotten lost somewhere, but how does that win us games at the college level? We're gonna have to develop the guys we have and get production out of them if we want to win. There's no way in +*+#%$$ hell Martellus should have had less than 2,000 yards and 20 TDs over his college career, and he finished with less than 1,250 yards and 10 TDs. That's not getting the most out of your players, and that's not gonna win you football games. And that's been my point all along...it's possible to win without having top talent if you develop your players a la Boise State, TCU, Utah, etc. (something we haven't been doing). But when we do get that top talent, we need to milk it for all its worth, like we have so far been able to do with Jeff Fuller and Christine Michael.

 

[gunna get it]

Martellus was a complete Bonehead and lazy.  U dont see how he didnt do numbers? he's probably one of a handful of top talent A&M has had.

 

[ThaxbyChamblis]

Originally Posted by tmay407

Jeff Fuller

 

[N41D]

Fuller is a stud. So is Michael. So are four of the OL they signed this year.

Guys on that side of the ball aren't the problem anymore though... They HAVE to start nailing down better athletes on defense.

 

[tmay407]

Originally Posted by GUNNA GET IT

Martellus was a complete Bonehead and lazy.  U dont see how he didnt do numbers? he's probably one of a handful of top talent A&M has had.

Martellus was in a couple of my classes while he was here, so I saw how lazy he was at least twice a week. But he was extremely underutilized in that offense and should have been able to produce a whole lot more than did, no matter how lazy he was. He finished his career with only 105 catches. He's one of the few players that's gone through A&M recently that actually progressed each year of his career.

 

[gunna get it]

[h2]Stephenson's measure of success[/h2]

Comment http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/recruiting/football/news/story?id=4905575#/sendtofriend.espn.go.com/sendtofriend/SendToFriend?URL=http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/recr...story?id=4905575&title=Winklejohn: Stephenson">http://sendtofriend.espn....Winklej...le,noscrollbars,width=400,height=500');return false;">Email Print http:///a.espncdn.com/icons/share-icon-12x12.png)">http://a.espncdn.com/icons/share-icon-12x12.png) no-repeat scroll left top; -moz-background-clip: border; -moz-background-origin: padding; -moz-background-inline-policy: continuous;" rel="nofollow">Share
By Matt Winkeljohn
Special to ESPN.com
Archive

STONE MOUNTAIN, Ga. -- In a world ofmisplaced priorities and snap judgments, it's easy to dismissStephenson High School as the program that can't win a statechampionship.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/recruiting/football/news/story?id=4905575#/sports.espn.go.com/espn/gallery/enlargePhoto?id=4905627&story=4905575">http://sports.espn.go.com...905627&...idth=640,height=750,scrollbars=no,noresize'); return false;">[+] Enlarge

Bruce James/Unforgettable MomentsMyles Ashmon, headed to Fort Valley State, is one of 29 Stephenson players to sign letters of intent.

But coach Ron Gartrell and his staff prefer to see a bigger picture,one that includes bringing focus, purpose and meaning to the lives ofmany young men.

You don't have 29 seniors signing letters of intent toplay college football, as the Jaguars did last week, because you'redoing it all wrong, nor because those young men are all world-classathletes. Clearly, there is a promotional machine and a well-oiledacademic support system in place.

Stephenson, located in apredominantly African-American community 18 miles east of Atlanta, hasroutinely churned out college players since opening 14 years ago,including 60 or so in the past three years. But the Jaguars ramped upthis year, as volunteer assistants Corey Johnson and Rodrick Clark tookover most recruiting duties and went into hyperdrive promoting playersto college coaches.

Johnson, a private businessman, andClark played for Gartrell years ago and refuse to focus on statechampionships. "We haven't won a state championship, but at the end ofthe day … you can't pay tuition with state championship rings."

Perhapsmore important than the quantity of student-athletes Stephenson issending to college are the testimonies of the players whose lives havebeen set on a different, more positive, course.

Take MylesAshmon, who signed with Fort Valley State, a Division II school inmiddle Georgia. The defensive end earned a full scholarship at thehistorically black university, which is quite a feat for somebody who afew years ago seemed all but doomed.

"I was robbing,smoking weed, selling weed, all kinds of stuff that I really wasn'tsupposed to do," he said. "Ninth grade, they told me I couldn't try outbecause I ended up coming out too late. Tenth grade, I tried out but Iwas ineligible because my grades were messed up from 9th grade. Thatreally hurt my self-esteem. I thought it was over for me."

Ashmon's life had turned down the wrong road when a couple of things helped turn him back.

First, a very rude awakening that had nothing to do with Gartrell, Johnson or Clark.

"Andafter a while, I'd seen how a lot of my friends and my brothers'friends were going, and one of my brothers [Wimberly Baker] had passedaway. It was a robbery that went wrong," said Ashmon, the youngest ofthree boys in his family. "He was selling drugs, and the dude that wasrobbing him thought he had a gun when he was pulling the drugs out ofhis pocket, and he got shot three times in the chest."

That was in 2007, the pivotal year in Ashmon's listing young life.

"Thatright there was pretty much enough for me to open my eyes and see thatthis life is … either going to take me to jail or the grave," he said."That's not nowhere I want to be, especially when I found out I had adaughter on the way."

About this time Clark, who works as a deputy in the nearby Gwinnett County Sheriff's Department, entered the picture.

Heand Johnson played in the late 1980s and early '90s under Gartrell,when Gartrell coached at another DeKalb County high school, Shamrock.

"Iwas driving down the road, and I always saw him walking," said Clark,who was a walk-on running back at Tennessee-Chattanooga. "One day … Itold him to hop in and asked if his parents were home. I broke it downfor them. I said, 'I don't know what your son is doing, but the word onthe street is that he's going the wrong way, so we need to get thistogether. '

"I explained that I'm in law enforcement, andI see this all the time, and we don't want to see people on TV saying,'If somebody could have saved my son … ' And I didn't want to one daybe saying, 'Hey, I saw the kid walking down the street, and I couldhave helped.' It's better to be told early than to be told whensomebody comes knocking on your door with bad news."

[h4]Stephenson prospects[/h4]
Stephenson (Stone Mountain, Ga.) had 29 players sign letters of intenton national signing day. The players signed with schools ranging fromSEC and ACC powers to NAIA schools.
[table][tr][th=""]Player[/th][th=""]School[/th][/tr][tr][td]Michael Thornton [/td][td]University of Georgia [/td][/tr][tr][td]Tyrone Cornelius [/td][td]University of Miami [/td][/tr][tr][td]Kenneth Ladler [/td][td]Vanderbilt University [/td][/tr][tr][td]Raymond Sanders [/td][td]University of Kentucky [/td][/tr][tr][td]Jabari Johnson [/td][td]University of Kentucky [/td][/tr][tr][td]Ronnie Shields [/td][td]University of Kentucky [/td][/tr][tr][td]Malcolm Strong [/td][td]Marshall University [/td][/tr][tr][td]Chris Sharpe [/td][td]Middle Tennessee State [/td][/tr][tr][td]Doral White [/td][td]Valdosta State [/td][/tr][tr][td]Denzell Hartley [/td][td]Johnson C. Smith [/td][/tr][tr][td]Quintin Spencer [/td][td]Johnson C. Smith [/td][/tr][tr][td]Kevin Billups [/td][td]Johnson C. Smith [/td][/tr][tr][td]Franchot West [/td][td]Southern University [/td][/tr][tr][td]Joshua Polk [/td][td]Presbyterian College [/td][/tr][tr][td]Martin Adebowale [/td][td]Presbyterian College [/td][/tr][tr][td]Blake Rennals [/td][td]Belhaven University [/td][/tr][tr][td]Armond Mitchell [/td][td]Belhaven University [/td][/tr][tr][td]Brandon Smith [/td][td]Miles College [/td][/tr][tr][td]Myles Ashmon [/td][td]Fort Valley St.[/td][/tr][tr][td]Thomas Hubbard [/td][td]St. Francis University [/td][/tr][tr][td]Jordan Rhinehart [/td][td]Tusculum[/td][/tr][tr][td]Jacob Johnson [/td][td]Tusculum[/td][/tr][tr][td]Steven Thomas [/td][td]Tusculum[/td][/tr][tr][td]James Farmer [/td][td]Tusculum[/td][/tr][tr][td]Gary McIndoe [/td][td]Lagrange College [/td][/tr][tr][td]Idris French [/td][td]Lagrange College [/td][/tr][tr][td]Jeremiah Mahoney [/td][td]Concordia [/td][/tr][tr][td]Edward Passmore [/td][td]Concordia [/td][/tr][tr][td]Ephesian Tisdale [/td][td]Concordia [/td][/tr][/table]

In the spring of Ashmon's sophomore year, in 2008, he went out forfootball again, and made the junior varsity, where he would spend hisjunior season in a probationary period.

He had made itin, part of a program that has been ranked in the top 10 in Georgia atone point or another in each of the past 10 seasons, and in the finaltop 10 seven times in that span. Seven times in the past decadeStephenson has won region titles, and the Jaguars have produced dozensof college players, though never at a rate like this senior class.

Staying in the program, which has created its own gravity, would be another matter.

"Ourprogram has been so successful that everybody wants to be a part of itbecause you're taking a chance of being part of a huge victory over[Martin Luther King High] or another big school, playing on nationalTV, getting all the ink in the paper, maybe getting your picture on thefront page … they don't want to miss out on that," Gartrell said.

Gartrell also reminds his students of the responsibility that comes with being a part of the program.

"Thismorning [in a 6:30 a.m. workout] I spoke about academics and seniorleadership. I told them: 'You're the ones who are going to make surethey're not walking around with their pants hanging down, you're theones who've got to make sure that your teammates are not in the hallwaywhen they're supposed to be in class, you're the ones who at partieshave to make sure your teammates are acting like you're supposed toact, because we take the idea that you're Stephenson football whereveryou go.'"
[h2]The man with the plan[/h2]Once you're in, and often even if you're not, Stephenson coaches,teachers and administrators are very much there. This structure hasbeen good for Ashmon; good for hundreds of young men.
Gartrellis a 50-year-old barrel of a man with a little salt in his hair andbeard. He's been at Stephenson since it opened 14 years ago and has arecord of 117-45 at the school (152-91 in 22 seasons overall). His mixof urgency and patience seems a perfect fit in the community.

Thelittle slice of Stone Mountain that sends its children to Stephenson ismiddle to lower-middle class. These are working-class people. Gartrellis all about a blue-collar approach.

He's quick to creditthose in his background, and will for hours -- if you let him -- singthe praises of his hometown and alma mater, old Washington-Wilkes High.Washington is a small-town school about 90 miles east of Atlanta, wherecoach Butch Brooks gave Gartrell and his longtime defensivecoordinator, Donald Sellers Sr., their first shot at coaching.

"That'swhere I played, and coached, and learned a lot about what I do," hesaid. "The plan [Brooks] put in place, when I got this job, we put inthe same type of plan. Where did Butch Brooks get his plan? From thelate Nick Hyder at Valdosta."

Brooks, who is retired,coached at Valdosta under the legendary Hyder, who won seven statetitles and three mythical national titles with a record of 249-36-2from 1974-95 at Valdosta -- the nation's winningest high school program.

The Jaguars sent five players to SEC schools last week, including safety Kenneth Ladler, who enrolled early at Vanderbilt, as did linebacker Tyrone Cornelius at Miami in the ACC.

ThreeStephenson players signed with Kentucky; four with Division IITusculum, in Tennessee; and three with Concordia, an NAIA school.

They come well-prepared, physically and otherwise.

"Theone thing that Stephenson has going for them that most of the greatprograms have, whether you're talking about St. Aquinas in Florida orByrnes in South Carolina or Mater Dei in California -- aside from agreat coaching staff -- is a track record," said Middle Tennessee Stateassistant Willie Simmons, who recruited cornerback Chris Sharpe to playfor MTSU.

"When you have alumni that come back, and yousee guys from Stephenson in starting lineups across the country,there's a foundation for those guys to follow."

TheJaguars have sent many players to major colleges, including Reggie BallJr., the starting quarterback at Georgia Tech from 2003-06; formerGeorgia defensive back DeMario Minter, who was drafted by the Browns;former Tulane linebacker Anthony Cannon, who was drafted by the Lions;and Florida senior defensive end Jermaine Cunningham, who was a memberof two national championship teams.

Perry Riley and Kelvin Sheppard went from Stephenson to LSU, where they won a national title in 2007.

Simmonsgave special credit to Ball's father, Reggie Sr., another volunteerassistant who is the Jaguars' strength and conditioning coach and arespected trainer in Atlanta.

The Stephenson coaches place great value in taking stock of players, or, "breaking them down," as Clark likes to say.

"Youassess every kid, break it down and tell them where they need to be,not saying that they can't get better through working out over thesummer and doing this camp. You're not going to tell a kid what hecan't do," he said. "We have to break them down with grades, andeverything off the field, and once you tell a kid what you see … thereality is, they tend to accept that.

"Kenny Ladler, forexample, always had the academics, but we told him he needed to reallyhit the weights because one day he was going to have to pass the 'eyetest' with D-I coaches."

Coaches give players and parents their view on what types of schools to target, from Division I to NAIA.

Withhelp from the booster club and fundraisers, the Jaguars raise money tosend players to summer camps that generally match their projected rangeof ability and academic prowess. Some kids last summer went to camp atAlabama, Georgia, Louisville and Troy, while others went to camps atGeorgia Southern, Elon, Furman and even Division III Shorter College.

"Atthe end of the day, these kids have to be able to start their life, goto college, get an education, work in the real world," Clark said.

That involves attention to details, like class work. Often, players go to extended study hall after school.

"Ithink we've had a group of kids that we use to influence each otheracademically," Gartrell said. "We have a nice study table … we cut intoour practice time by making a commitment to academics. They also usethat time to go to their teachers … which in the long run really hashelped our kids.

"We use the old cliché that a lot ofparents use: finish your homework and then you can go out and play.Finish your work … before you go to practice."

All this forms a sense of camaraderie that creates kinetic motion, an energy that pushes itself.

"Nobodywants to be set apart," Johnson said of the tendency for marginalstudents to be incentivized by their peers to pick up their academicpace. "If you've got a heavy group of kids doing their work and gettinggood grades and test scores, other kids are not going to want to beseparated."
[h2]The scholarship machine[/h2]Finally, there is promotion.
Johnsonand Clark spearhead that effort, investing thousands of hours in thepast year not only contacting college coaches, but staying in touchwith players and parents about academics.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/recruiting/football/news/story?id=4905575#/sports.espn.go.com/espn/gallery/enlargePhoto?id=4905593&story=4905575">http://sports.espn.go.com...905593&...idth=440,height=750,scrollbars=no,noresize'); return false;">[+] Enlarge

Bruce James/Unforgettable MomentsLinebacker Tyrone Cornelius signed with the University of Miami.

"The most convincing thing was probably Coach Johnson," said FortValley assistant Glen Holmes, who offered scholarships to fourStephenson players before landing Ashmon. "That guy was instrumental.He was extremely persistent in making sure he got his kids' names andtapes and transcripts out … more than any coach I've ever seen. He wasthe motor that moved that thing."

MTSU's Simmons echoed the thought.

"Therewasn't a day that went by where myself and hundreds of coaches acrossthe country didn't get an e-mail or text or a call about theaccomplishments of those players," he said.

The endresult is an easier life for Gartrell, many more opportunities foryoung men, and a program whose success feeds itself by attractingothers to it.

"They've [Johnson and Clark] changed mylife," Gartrell said. "My stress level during January and earlyFebruary was so high [in years past] that it was hard. Now, I justpoint [college coaches] to these guys and say, 'Whatever you want toknow, those guys got it.' "

All of this fits nicely withthe vision of Stephenson principal Brian Bolden, an unabashedly proudeducator who hung a banner in the lobby of the 1,800-student schoolthat reads, "Welcome to the No. 1 high school in America."

"RickPitino once said he had the hardest-working team in America. Whetherthat was true or not wasn't the point; they believed it. We believewe're No. 1," Bolden said. "I want to lead the nation in scholarshipopportunities, academic, athletic and in the arts. I'm proud of thesecoaches. You talk about seeing a vision, and believing …"

Here,Bolden pointed to a framed poster in a hallway between the schoolcafeteria and auditorium. In it was a barren field, a man in a suit inthe middle and a hazy photo of the Magic Kingdom overlaid on it.

"That'smy idol," Bolden said. "Walt Disney. Where others saw dirt, he saw acastle. Where others saw dirt, these coaches see castles."

MylesAshmon and the Jaguars are building their own castles, withfoundational help from not just the coaches and staff, but also fromeach other.

"My parents knew I was going down the wrongroad… my mom [Machell Ashmon], especially, she had been through so muchwith my two older brothers," he said. "She couldn't really disciplineme the way she needed to because she was tired. It was like shecouldn't take it no more. When Coach Clark came to my house, it reallyhelped.

"I hated to see my mom hurt. None of her othersons graduated from high school, and now look at her baby, graduatingfrom high school with a scholarship. And I'm going to graduate fromcollege, too."

Matt Winkeljohn left the Atlanta Journal-Constitution after spending21 years there. He can be reached at [email protected].

 

[eneyekayee]

FWIW, Latwan ain't coming to Michigan.  He's never made a visit here other than a 7 on 7 camp and doesn't seem to be coming up anytime soon.

It seems like it will come down to WVU and USC.

 

[fear the ibis]

Arthur Brown Sr. said it was his decision, not his son's, for Arthur Jr. to leave UM and enroll at Butler Community College in Kansas, two miles from the parents' home, where Arthur Jr. is now living. ``I thought it was time for him to come home. He needed the support,'' Arthur Sr. said. ``He has spent a tremendous amount of time away from people who love him.''

 

[rook]

Originally Posted by Fear The Ibis

Arthur Brown Sr. said it was his decision, not his son's, for Arthur Jr. to leave UM and enroll at Butler Community College in Kansas, two miles from the parents' home, where Arthur Jr. is now living. ``I thought it was time for him to come home. He needed the support,'' Arthur Sr. said. ``He has spent a tremendous amount of time away from people who love him.''

Wasn't he considered the best H.S. prospect a couple years ago?

 

[dlo13]

Apparently the NCAA slipped through a new rule last month that places recruiting restrictions similar to those of a HC on anybody designated Head Coach in Waiting...

RIP to that position if this holds...

Apparently Texas is quite pissed and trying to get it overturned. Muschamp is basically neutered as a recruiter right now...

 

[N41D]

Or Texas could just pull the HCIW tag from Muschamp and stop complaining about it...

 

[gunna get it]

Originally Posted by DLo13

Apparently the NCAA slipped through a new rule last month that places recruiting restrictions similar to those of a HC on anybody designated Head Coach in Waiting...

RIP to that position if this holds...

Apparently Texas is quite pissed and trying to get it overturned. Muschamp is basically neutered as a recruiter right now...

that NCAA Rule is worth the piece of trash its written on. 

that aint gonna stop +*+%

  

 

[dlo13]

At least maybe Richt learned something from getting his !%@ handed to him on Rogers...

In one of the few Signing Day surprises at Georgia earlier this month, the Bulldogsquickly offered a scholarship and signed an under-recruited widereceiver named Lonnie Outlaw, knowing he was shy on credits and wouldrequire two years at Georgia Military College before he could beadmitted in Athens.


That would not be an unusual tale, if it were not for his bloodline.Outlaw is a relative of Wilcox County's Nick Marshall, the state'stop-rated quarterback for next season, who admitted UGA caught hisattention when it signed his cousin and best friend in such short orderlast Wednesday. Marshall, a staple on national 2011 recruiting lists,is drawing comparisons to former Heisman Trophy winner Charlie Ward, who was coached by then-Florida State assistant Mark Richt.

“It was great to see. Lonnie deserved it,

 

[ThaxbyChamblis]

So I just saw a vid of that kid Braxton Miller....


And ummmmm........













I'ma need OSU/Michigan/Whoever to keep this boy out of Gainesville

 

[newbs24]

Braxton is a Browneye. Has been since his frosh year. They will push and get him.