Canespace

'Twas The Night Before Signing Day

Tomorrow is the day that all college football fans have waited for: National Signing Day. The annual event that for some fans is a make or break season for the actual season to follow.

Duke Johnson and his talented friends will bring their skills and expectations to the University of Miami in an attempt to return "The U" to glory.

OK, OK...I know you just want the news and the facts and no poetry and rhyme so that is what we will bring you on National Signing Day 2012.

We have our Canespace plans coordinated and all our assignments laid out:

OhioCane will cover the official UM web site for the latest signings, interviews and videos.

UMike will cover Twitter for breaking news around college football.

Hassan will cover the Internet pay sites at ITU and Canestime.

86Cane will eliminate the trolls and spammers and also cover the media sites of the Miami Herald, the Sun-Sentinel and The Palm Beach Post.

And trust me Hurricane fans on Canespace U will NOT miss a thing on NSD!

I will leave the Canespace Central Command around 11 AM and head South from Central Florida at a high rate of speed to post comments and photos LIVE from the UM campus at 6 PM when I will be at the official Hurricane Signing Day Party at the BankUnited Center.

Then we will walk up the steps to see UM play the Maryland Terrapins in an ACC basketball contest.  We suggest that you take the opportunity to join Hurricane hoopster Shane Larkin and me there if U can?

It will definitely be an orange and green day all around. 

We certainly hope U enjoy it!

National Signing Day: Let's Get This Party Started!

Already projected by many of the national recruiting services to have one of the best recruiting classes in the Country, the Miami Hurricanes football program will celebrate this achievement by hosting a National Signing Day party on Wednesday, February 1, from 6-8 p.m.

The event will be held at the lovely BankUnited Center on the stunningly beautiful campus of the University of Miami in Coral Gables.

The event is free to Hurricane Club members and admission is $1 for non-members.  There will also be  several UM fan activities and food and beverages available for purchase throughout the event beginning at 6 PM.

Three years ago Canespace had the opportunity to attend a similar event on the UM campus at the Hecht Athletic Center and we can tell you that these events are an excellent opportunity for Hurricane fans to meet, greet and get up close and personal with the new recruits.

There were several current players and new recruits that were made available for photos and autographs and we expect more of the same at this year's event.

The 2012 Class will be introduced by Coach Golden and his staff, complete with a highlight reel of the newest Hurricanes from 6:30-7:30 PM.  At 7:30 p.m. Coach Golden will join the Voice of the Hurricanes, Joe Zagacki, live on WQAM to talk about the class.

Any fan attending the National Signing Day party is eligible to purchase a ticket to the Canes Men's Basketball game vs. Maryland for only $5.

Tip-off for the Atlantic Coast Conference game is slated for 8 p.m. at the BankUnited Center.

For up-to-the-minute news and updates throughout Signing Day www.hurricanesports.com is the place to be for all Miami Hurricane fans.

The site will provide interactive live coverage from the first signed National Letter of Intent through the fax machine to the last one with live interviews and commentary from Golden, his coaching staff, and Don Bailey Jr.

We look forward to seeing U all there and GO CANES!

The Waiting Is the Hardest Part

Sometimes it just becomes so very obvious that some people really know what they are talking about.

When Florida born and raised rock icon Tom Petty wrote the words to this classic song he clearly knew what he was talking about:

"The waiting is the hardest part,

Every day you get one more yard,

You take take it on faith, you take it to the heart,

Yeah the w-a-i-t-i-n-g is the hardest part.

And never did those words ring any truer than today, as college football fans all across these great United States sit and wait for some news, any news, on this Sunday just two days before the annual ritual known as National Signing Day.

This coming Wednesday morning fans will be glued to their televisions and their computers as they scour every ESPN channel and the entire Internet for the latest up-to-date information about which highly sought after high school football players have signed official letters of intent with their teams.

University of Miami fans will be no different than those from Florida State, USC, Alabama, Stanford, Virginia Tech, Texas, Florida, Michigan, Notre Dame, LSU, Oregon or Ohio State as they wait, patiently, no make that anxiously, to hear about the boat-load of new talent that is supposed to arrive soon at their respective schools.

This year Miami Hurricanes head coach Al Golden is desperately seeking a huge infusion of new talent in Coral Gables after his first season with the former coach's players did not produce the results on the field that he or UM fans might have hoped for.

Golden is expected to sign as many at 34 players at UM in this recruiting class: nine early entries that are already on campus and will count against last year's total and the maximum of 25 recruits for the 2012 class.

When you calculate the possible influx of 34 new players on an 85 man roster that is a whopping 40% turnover of players on the UM team in just one year! Golden must hope that this group takes a huge step forward for the Hurricanes football team that has seriously struggled in recent years.

Based on their current verbal commitments the Hurricanes have already been projected to have a top 10 ranked recruiting class - because of both the quantity and quality of players expected to sign - by ESPN, Scout and Rivals.

Still nobody can predict what might happen on National Signing Day, when it all becomes official when the formal Letters of Intent begin to arrive at the Hecht Athletic Center in Coral Gables.

Until then we wait.

And Tom Petty knew what he was talking about when he wrote these lyrics:

Yeah, the waiting is the hardest part...

Five Star Follies: Part IV

This is the fourth part in our continuing series evaluating the last five years of five star high school football recruits according to Rivals.com...

The 2009 recruiting class had the highest number of five star players of any of the last five years but surprisingly it only had the third highest number of major impact players. 

Even more surprising to many college football fans is the fact that RB Bryce Brown (seen below with 86Cane and OcalaCane at Canes Fest 2009) the #1 rated overall player in the Country in 2009 (who flirted with and then dumped the University of Miami before choosing Tennessee) was NOT one of them.

Here is a detailed summary of the 2009 Rivals.com five star recruits for 2009 including some of the individual player's rank, school and performance:

Rivals Class of 2009 Five Star Player Quick Facts:

• Total Players: 33
• Number of impact players: 7
• Percentage of impact players: 21%
• Number of players who transferred: 5
• Number of Players who suffered major Injuries: 4

The 7 impact players and their rankings from the 2009 class were:

• (2) WR Ruben Randle, LSU
• (5) QB Matt Barkley, USC
• (6) RB Trent Richardson, Alabama
• (9) LB Vontaze Burfict, Arizona State
• (11) CB Dre Kirpatrick, Alabama
• (12) LB Manti Te'o, Notre Dame
• (27) CB Greg Reid, FSU

The 5 players who transferred from their original LOI to another school:

• (1) RB Bryce Brown (from Tennessee to Kansas State)
• (17) S Janzen Jackson (from Tennessee to FCS school McNeese State)
• (18) QB Garrett Gilbert (From Texas to SMU)
• (23) DT Gary Brown (from Florida to East Mississippi CC)
• (33) LB Dorian Bell (Ohio State to Dequesne)

The 4 players who were impacted by major injuries:

• (15) DT Jacobbi McDaniel, FSU
• (19) ATH Patrick Hall, USC
• (22) Christine Michael, Texas A&M
• (31) CB Corey Brown, Ohio State

In summary, the 2009 class was above average in terms of the number of five star players (33) and about average when it came to the number of impact players (7). The class was also average in the number of transfers (5) and players who were impacted by major injury (4).

Canespace LIVE Chat Starts Now!

Miami Hurricane fans please jump right in and post your questions NOW for the LIVE chat.

Tonight from 8 PM and 11 PM Canespace is hosting a LIVE chat that will include several reporters who cover University of Miami athletics to answer your questions LIVE in real time.

Some will show up early and hit in the lead off position and some will show up later and bat clean-up. In the end, hopefully it will all work out.

Leading off tonight's chat at 8 PM will be two new featured guests on Canespace: Brandon Odoi from www.caneinsider.com.

If you haven't checked out their web site yet then you should and you should do it NOW!

Their site lives up to it's name as they provide some really exclusive and insightful "insider" coverage of UM sports with a strong emphasis on football.

They provide an incredible amount of awesome daily content and do an outstanding job of covering everyone's favorite topic: recruiting.

In addition, others who may participate tonight are:

• Susan Miller-Degnan, Miami Herald
• Manny Navarro, Miami Herald (will join late)
• SaveUMFootball, Twitter Guru
• FloridaHSFootball.com

Also joining us for the first time will be representatives from the UM Athletic Department including SID Chris Freet and UM Hurricane Club Major Gifts Director Jesse Marks.

So Hurricane fans please jump right in and post your questions NOW for the LIVE chat.

Hey, What's All The Chatter In Here?

Tonight between 8 PM and 11 PM Canespace will host several reporters who cover Miami Hurricane athletics to answer your questions LIVE in real time.

Also joining us for the first time will be representatives from the UM Athletic Department including SID Chris Freet and UM Hurricane Club Major Gifts Director Jesse Marks.

Leading off tonight's chat at 8 PM will be two new featured guests on Canespace: Brandon Odoi and Jon Bastian from www.caneinsider.com.

If you haven't checked out their web site yet then you should and you should do it NOW!

Their site lives up to it's name as they provide some really exclsuive and insightful "insider" coverage of UM sports with a strong emphasis on football. They provide an incredible amount of awesome daily content and do an outstanding job of covering everyone's favorite topic: recruiting.

In addition others who have confirmed their participation are:

• Susan Miller-Degnan, Miami Herald
• Manny Navarro, Miami Herald (will join late)
• Chris Whittyngham, WVUM Sports Director
• SaveUMFootball, Twitter Guru
• FloridaHighSchoolSports.com

So Hurricane fans please jump right in and post your questions on the NEW BLOG that will be posted here tonight at 7:45 PM for the LIVE chat.

Just The Facts: NFL Average Salaries

So you are a high school athlete and you say that you want to be an NFL football player? Then you better sit down and take a hard look at these facts:

• According to the NFL Players Association, about 100,000 high school students play football.
• Of those high school players, 215 will go on to play for an NFL team.
• Therefore, only 0.2 percent of all high school football players will make it to the NFL.
• About 9,000 players make it to the college level.
• If a player makes it to college about 310 of them will actually make it to the NFL draft.
• The NFL roster cap is 53 players and there are 32 teams, so there are 1,696 players in the NFL each season.

The NFL Players Association indicates that the average football player's career is only three seasons long. Most players do not have guaranteed contracts, and may find themselves suddenly out of work because they were cut or because of injury. Around 400 NFL players end their NFL careers each year.

While the NFL's big-name stars may earn millions each year, average NFL players do not. In 2010, the minimum wage was $325,000 a season for rookies, going up to $395,000 in a player's second year and $470,000 in their third year.

Some first and second round draft picks may make more than this, but most players entering the NFL out of college do not. The average player salary, with both stars and rookies taken into consideration, was $1.1 million in 2010.

Most rookies starting their first year in the NFL earn a relatively small salary compared with stars of the draft and established veterans. Rookies selected in the later rounds of the draft or those who enter the NFL as undrafted free agents typically make the league minimum.

It is difficult to gauge the average starting football salary in the NFL because the monster contracts of the top rookie draft selections skew the overall numbers. In 2008, the average guaranteed salary for first-round picks was nearly $12 million, while for second-round picks that number dropped to around
$2 million and for third-rounders the average was just $650,000 in guaranteed compensation.

According to the NFL Players Association, the average NFL player makes $1.1 million annually. The NFL Players Association is the union that represents all NFL players.

The NFL has a salary cap that limits the total amount teams can spend on all of their players in a given year. The reason for the cap is to prevent one team from gaining an unfair playing advantage by spending the most on the more prized players.

Each rookie in the NFL earned at least a base salary of $325,000 in 2010, according to USA Today. The base salary does not include any bonuses or money earned from endorsements or other sources. Bonuses, including signing bonuses and performance bonuses, are paid separately.

A first-year player's salary is comprised of three things: base salary, prorated signing bonus and "likely to be earned" bonuses. Other incentives written into a player's contract do not go toward a team's rookie salary pool figure. Each team's rookie salary pool figure changes yearly and in 2010 the
St. Louis Rams had the highest total rookie salary pool at $7,596,000.

In the past two NFL drafts the top players chosen have set new records for the highest paid rookie players in the league. In 2010, the Rams signed quarterback Sam Bradford to a contract worth a total of $78 million over six seasons, including $50 million in guaranteed money. The previous year, the Detroit Lions signed quarterback Matthew Stafford to what was then the highest rookie contract --- a six-year deal worth $72 million.

By contrast QB Cam Newton, the first pick of the 2012 NFL draft, signed a four year contract for a measly $22 million under the new NFL Collective Bargaining Agreement that went into effect this past year.

Top rookie salaries are not the norm in the league; many players only make the base salary. In a final tally of 2009 salaries, USA Today reported that rookies at each position in the league only earned the minimum salary and did not get bonuses. These players are usually low-round draft choices --- rounds four through seven --- and play for teams with low rookie salary pool figures.

Five Star Follies: Part III

This is the third article in the on-going series of features evaluating the Rivals.com five-star recruits over the last five years...

The college football recruiting recruiting class of 2008 may go down as one of the best in recent time.

Unless of course you are a Miami Hurricanes fan.

Many of the National experts determined that in 2008 the University of Miami was to have landed the #1 recruiting class. But in the end it was simply not to be for various reasons and issues.

That was due to players like five-star DL Marcus Forston (seen above with OcalaCane and his wife) who's career was plagued by injury and five-star LB Aurthur Brown (seen below with Cat5 Cane) who could never break into the starting lineup and would later transfer to Kansas State.

What had looked so promising and good coming in to Coral Gables on National Signing Day in 2008 did not appear as successful or productive coming out on 2011. So goes the the game of love and war known as college football recruiting.

According to Rivals.com there were 30 five star players in the class of 2008. At least 10 of them would go on to be major impact players. Two of them were Hurricanes (DT Forston, LB Brown).

Yet both five star recruits for UM in 2008 were soon to be surpassed by another lesser-known and lower ranked player named Sean Spence (seen below with Aldarius Johnson, Brandon Harris and Blake Ayles).

Here are the 2008 five star impact players by rank, school and performance:

Rivals Class of 2008 Five Star Player Quick Facts:

• Total Players: 30
• Number of Impact players: 10
• Percentage of Impact Players: 30%
• Number of Players Who Transferred: 5
• Number of Injured Players: 5

The 10 impact players and their rankings from the 2008 class were:

• (1) QB; Terrelle Pryor, Ohio State
• (2) DE DeQuan Bowers, Clemson
• (4) WR Julio Jones, Alabama
• (5) CB Patrick Peterson, LSU
• (9) WR A.J Green, Georgia
• (11) OL Matt Kalil, USC
• (14) QB Blaine Gabbert, Missouri
• (15) OL Tyron Smith, USC
• (26) WR Jonathan Baldwin, Pitt
• (27) WR Michael Floyd, ND

The 5 players who transferred from their original LOI to another school:

• (6) RB Darrell Scott (from Colorado to USF)
• (19) RB Jermie Calhoun (from Oklahoma to FCS school Angelo State)
• (23) LB Authur Brown (From Miami to Kansas State)
• (25) QB Dayne Christ (Notre Dame to Kansas)
• (28) ATH Burton Scott (Alabama to South Alabama)

The 5 players who were impacted by major injuries:

• DT Marcus Forston, Miami
• OL Matt Patchan, Florida
• WR Deandre Brown, Southern Miss
• ATH Richard Samuel, Georgia
• OL Tyler Love, Alabama

In summary the 2008 class was above average in terms of impact players (10). The class was also average in the number of transfers (5) and in players who were impacted by major injury (5).

UM Baseball Ready To Rumble In 2012

The anticipation is building towards another exciting season of college baseball in Coral Gables that now seems just around the corner as the Mid-February opening day quickly approaches.

With the new year comes a new season of hope, change and opportunity for your Miami Hurricane baseball team.

Hope is found in the 'Canes outstanding pitching staff; change can be found in the coaching staff; and opportunity comes in the form of the many new players joining the team this season.

Apparently, several people who should know college baseball on a National level agree. The University of Miami hardballers landed at the No. 14 spot on the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper preseason Top 40.

The Hurricanes return 18 players from a season ago in which the Hurricanes finished 38-23 overall (19-10 ACC). Miami advanced to their NCAA-record 39th consecutive NCAA Regional as they traveled to the Gainesville [Fla.] Regional.

Among the returning players for the Hurricanes is the entire starting pitching staff that includes Bryan "B-Rad" Radziewski, Eric "Bob Marley and The" Whaley and Steven "Dallas" Ewing. Former starting pitcher E.J. Echinosa will move to the bullpen as the closer.

Head coach Jim Morris will begin his 19th year as head coach at UM as the Hurricanes open the season at Mark Light Field at Alex Rodriguez Park (ARP) against Rutgers for a three-game series beginning on Friday, February 17.

Gino DiMare rejoins the University of Miami baseball team after three years away from the program. He will serve as an assistant coach in charge of hitting, as well as assisting with recruiting. Overall, this will be the 13th year for DiMare as a member of the Hurricanes baseball staff.

Prior to his exit in 2008, DiMare served as the Canes recruiting coordinator and hitting coach over his final nine seasons. He held the title of assistant head coach during the 2008 season - a year the Canes won the Atlantic Coast Conference championship before advancing to the College World Series.

DiMare will serve as the assistant coach in charge of hitters and share responsibilities with pitching coach J.D. Arteaga in recruiting efforts.

Previously, DiMare helped recruit and coach players such as Yonder Alonso, Ryan Braun, Jon Jay, Gaby Sanchez (seen below M), Danny Valencia and Jemile Weeks - all of whom have reached the big leagues in recent years.

The Canes will host 16 of their first 18 games inside ARP to open the year, including a series with the preseason top-ranked Florida Gators beginning Friday, March 2.

Miami will play a total of 54 games in 2012, including 41 of those contests in the Sunshine State.

And just this past week Morris and the Hurricanes got some really good news regarding a potential star player who will join Miami for the 2012 season.

Susan Miller Degnan from the Miami Herald reported on Friday that the NCAA approved former Bethune-Cookman star catcher Peter O'Brien's appeal to compete for the Hurricanes during the 2012 season.

O'Brien, 6-5 and 225 pounds, is a senior, so he needed the OK to be able to finish out his career with the Canes without having to sit out the customary season. He was drafted this past summer in the third round -- 107th overall -- by the Colorado Rockies, but did not come to terms with the Rockies on a contract offer by the Aug. 15 deadline.

O'Brien is a big-time Major League prospect. He was never recruited by UM, and flourished with the Wildcats. He grew up in Miami Gardens and played at Braddock High.

His numbers last season at Bethune: .304 batting average with 14 home runs and 69 RBI. He was named Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Player of the Year in 2010, and was a freshman All-American from Louisville Slugger in 2009.

Canespace will be at ARP for the opener on 2/17, at Florida Gulf Coast (Fort Myers) on 2/22, in Miami on 3/6 at Miami Marlins Ball Park (exhibition game), on 3/14 at UCF (Orlando) and on 4/22 at FSU in Tallahassee.

We hope U are able to join us for some Hurricane hardball this season.

GO CANES!

Five Star Follies: Part II

Rivals.com recently released an article detailing the careers of the high school football recruits they designated as five star players over the last five years. Here is our continuing analysis of that data...

In the first part of our series of articles that examined the last five years of highly-rated, five star high school football players we painted the big picture for you as to their rates of success and failure over that period of time.

In case you missed it here is a quick recap of what our initial analysis found:

• Between 2007 and 2011 a small and select group of only 144 players received the five star rating from Rivals.com.
• The 2009 class was the largest with 33 players making the five star list. The 2010 and 2011 classes were the smallest with only 26 players on the list. In 2008 there were 30 players that received the five star label while in 2007 there were 29.
• Out of the 100,000 or so high school football players in the U.S. in any given year only 28 players earned the five star designation on average per year over the five year period.
• Out of the 144 players designated as five star studs only 36 players or about about 25% went on to become what we consider to be stars or impact players at the college level.
• Approximately 108 players or about 75% of the five star recruits over the five year period were just solid, decent or average players who did not have a major impact on their teams success.
• As of last count at least 19 players (13%) transferred from the original school they signed a LOI with on National Signing Day (will likely increase with the 2011 class in future years).
• We determined that about 18 players (13%) suffered major injuries that had a significant negative impact on their careers.

Today we will begin our look at the individual classes with a closer inspection of the 2007 class. We will look at the specific players who went on to be stars, the players who transferred to other schools and players who suffered major injuries that directly impacted their performance on the field.

Rivals Class of 2007 Five Star Player Quick Facts:

• Total Players: 29
• Number of Impact players: 8
• Percentage of Impact Players: 28%
• Number of Players Who Transferred: 3
• Number of Injured Players: 4

The impact players and their rankings from the 2007 class were:

• (1) QB Jimmy Clausen, Notre Dame;
• (2) RB Joe McKnight, USC;
• (3) Safety Eric Berry, Tennessee;
• (4) QB Ryan Mallet, Michigan/Arkansas;
• (7) DT Marvin Austin, North Carolina;
• (24) WR Arrelious Benn, Illinois;
• (27) QB Tyrod Taylor, VT;
• (28) QB Cam Newton, UF/Auburn.

The players who transferred from their original LOI to another school:

• (4) QB Ryan Mallet (from Michigan to Arkansas)
• (9) Torrey Davis (from Florida to FCS school Jacksonville State)
• (28) QB Cam Newton (from Florida to Auburn)

The players who were impacted by major injuries:

• OT Josh Oglesby, Wisconsin
• OG James Wilson, Florida
• OL Trey Allen, Texas
• LB Chris Donald, Tennessee

In general the 2007 class was slightly above average in terms of impact players (8) which may have been a result of our being a bit generous (understatement?) with of some of our selections.

The class was actually below average in the number of transfers (3) and also below average in players who were impacted by injury (4) who were mostly offensive lineman.

Tomorrow we will look at the 30 player, star-studded 2008 class that had the most impact players of any of the five years between 2007 and 2011 according to our internal evaluations.