Canespace

Recruiting Is All The Rage

Undoubtedly, the single most important day of the year for most college football fans arrives next Wednesday, February 4, 2009. 

Consider this: For the truly hard core fan, it seems as though National Signing Day (NSD) has finally and officlally replaced the National Championship Game as the most watched, blogged and talked about event in college sports.

Luckily for UM. Canes' Head Coach Randy Shannon has proven to be a Zen Master of recruiting.  Shannon is to the recruiting game as Bobby Fischer was to the game of chess.  His moves are subtle, but effective and convincing. 

Shannon more often than not get's his man, as evidenced by his masterful recruiting of top ranked recruit Brandon Harris (seen above at the FHSAA Championship game) last year.

With the support of assistant coaches and recruiting gurus like Clint Hurtt, Michael Barrow, Jeff Stoutland and several others behind the scenes, Shannon nailed his first #1 class last year.  The Boss cleaned up in the talent rich 305 with a handful of players from Miami Northwestern High School including freshmen starters QB Jacory Harris, LB Sean Spence and DT Marcus Forston (seen here).

Those players along with several studs from Booker T. Washington High School and Kansas LB Arthur Brown, the top rated LB in the Country, propelled Miami to the #1 ranking from ESPN last year.

Sites like Rivals, Scout and others make a full time living off of chasing around and covering the decisions of 18 year old kids on NSD.  Every stat, every play, every highlight reel is disected over and over again by the "experts".  Five star or three star?  ESPN top 150 or Rivals 100? God I gotta know!

The "Hat Game" has elevated the recruiting decision making process to a all new level of suspense and drama.  Recruiting spin moves, the art of misdirection and last minute switches all generate extensive reporting, hot news and lead to tremendous upheavel for one team's fans and pure pleasure for another. 

Last year, CB Patrick Johnson (now Peterson), was considered a Canes "lock", and on NSD, picked LSU.  This year, Bryce Brown the top rated recruit in the Country, who verbally committed early on to Miami (the team his brother Arthur plays on), has been rumored to possibly wind up all the way across the Country in Oregon. 

While we think Bryce winds up being a Hurricane in the end, he has already told the nation that he has decided to wait until after NSD to make his choice just so his announcement gets even more attention than all others.  His "handler"  (everybody needs one don't they?), some guy named Butler, is giving Brown The Younger "advice" while trying to make money from the decision making process. 

NSD is known to have made grown men have stake out college campuses, player's homes and other locations in hope of getting a "sighting" or to get the insider info that everyone covets.  Everyone who is anyone and has access to the Internet HAS to be the first to know who is going where.  Some fans pay a fair amount of their good, hard earned money to multiple sites to get the news FIRST! 

And forget good quality, in-depth reporting.  Nothing sells memberships like good 'ol recruiting!  Several of the web site reporters and insiders have told me off the record that recruiting features get five times as many hits as any other article on a current or former player.  Go figure.

In other words, former UM super star, 2001 national champion and current NFL pro-bowler Andre Johnson stands absolutely no chance against high school senior Andre Dubose (seen here at the UA All American Game in Orlando), who hasn't even played a single down of college football, if the prep star decided to take a "surprise" visit to UM with teammates Dyron Dye and Ray Ray Armstrong and pull of the old "hat trick" on NSD.

You see, in this high-speed Internet age where news is only actually "news" for about five minutes, our sports heroes become Mr. Yesterday as soon as they spike the ball in the end zone to win the game. 

The questions everyone really wants to know the answers to are: "Who is the NEXT great one?" and "Who is he going to sign with?"  Funny thing is once he does, he too becomes Mr. Yesterday...

Super Bowls, Super Players and Super Heroes

Over in Tampa, it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas, uh, I mean Super Bowl week. 

Yesterday, in a small community park near the Ybor City exit off of I-4 in the 813 and far from the celebrities and fancy parties associated with the Super Bowl, several NFL players got together to improve the community.  There is no doubt that for several fortunate children and families, who like many of us will not be able to purchase the high priced tickets to get into Raymond James Stadium on Super Bowl Sunday, their Christmas, I mean Super Bowl, happened today in Tampa. 

While the Super Bowl is typically all about the bright lights and big plays on the world's biggest stage, I managed to find some super (NFL) players who will play absolutely no role in the outcome of Sunday's game but instead decided to play the role of super heroes to some under-privileged kids in an impoverished East Tampa neighborhood.

Just ask Mike Furrey of the Detroit Lions (seen here carrying logs) who, when interviewed by a local news reporter and asked this question: "Hey, your into it, getting all sweaty and dirty?"  responded by brushing off his shirt and saying:

"I LOVE this stuff.  I love getting involved and building things and contributing to kids who want to make something out of their lives.  We may come from different backgrounds, but we all need an opportunity to be successful.  If I can contibute to that then that's great.  To tell you the truth, there is no place else I would rather be!" 

During the regular season, The Home Depot built 17 playgrounds, one for each week of the regular season, in each MVP’s local market and made donations to the charities of their choice.

Each player worked alongside representatives from KaBOOM!, a national nonprofit, local community partners and volunteers from The Home Depot to complete the building projects in just one day.  Throughout this process, more than 2,600 The Home Depot associates donated more than 21,000 hours of service.

The players honored as part of The Home Depot NFL Neighborhood MVP program in 2008-2009 included Steve Smith* from the Carolina Panthers (seen here being the hammer, not the nail); Keith Brooking*, Atlanta Falcons; Vernon Carey, Miami Dolphins; Nate Clements, San Francisco 49ers; Brian Dawkins*, Philadelphia Eagles; Braylon Edwards, Cleveland Browns; Bobby Engram, Seattle Seahawks; Mike Furrey*, Detroit Lions; Chad Greenway, Minnesota Vikings; Andre Johnson*, Houston Texans; Kassim Osgood, San Diego Chargers; Samari Rolle, Baltimore Ravens; Charles Tillman, Chicago Bears; Amani Toomer*, New York Giants; Kurt Warner*, Arizona Cardinals; and Ty Warren, New England Patriots.

The Home Depot, whose slogan is "U can do it, We can help", is the sponsor of the NFL Neighborhood MVP Award.  This award recognizes NFL players who make major contributions to their communities through their own efforts and foundations and/or by supporting or contributing to local charitable organizations.  

Among the 16 players nominated for this presitgious honor this year were two former University of Miami players: OL Vernon Carey and WR Andre Johnson (seen above throwing up "The U" for Canespace).  

As a result of his significant contributions in both Miami and Houston, Johnson  was selected as one of the eight finalists along with the Cardinals' Kurt Warner,  Keith Brooking of the Falcons, Carolina's Steve Smith, the Eagles's Brian Dawkins, Cleveland's Braylon Edwards, the Giants' Amante Toomer and the Cowboys' Jason Witten who won the 2008 award and is pictured above with NFL and Home Depot officials holding a $25,000 check to his charitable foundation.  

Johnson, who along with Ken Dorsey and Clinton Portis led the Hurricanes to the 2001 national championship, was a very humble and gracious interview. 

He is a truly grounded, down to earth and pleasent person to be around.  His calm, sincere demeanor and direct eye contact let's U know that he means what he says and says what he means.  

Watching him operate a power drill and assemble playground benches for kids in Tampa may not be as exciting to some fans as watching him catch TD passes for the Houston Texans, but to me it was worth every bit as much.

In a few more days we will have the complete Andre Johnson interview.  Until then let it be known that AJ is a true Miami Hurricane and a fan of Canespace.  Trust me when we get to the interview U will learn to appreciate Andre Johnson as a Miami Hurricane, and maybe even more importantly as a person, in an all new way.  

There are a bunch of kids in East Tampa who already feel that way...

Miracle Whip?

It is finally official.  As reported here several days ago, your University of Miami Hurricanes have hired Mark Whipple as their next Offensive Coordinator. 

The choice has proven to be overwhelmingly popular among Canes fans who are already asking: "Can The Whip work a miracle into the Canes stale and ineffective offense?"

The answer here says YES!  The Whip is just the kind of experienced and creative offensive coach that UM needed to get their performance to the next level.  The kind of coach to work with and develop young players to their maximum potential. 

This is from Scout.com on "The Whip":

Whipple has been impressive everywhere he's been. His first major coaching job came in 1981 when he became the offensive coordinator at Union College for two seasons. He spent the 1983 season as receivers coach at Brown before spending the 84 season with the Arizona Wranglers of the USFL.

In 1986 Whipple took over as offensive coordinator at New Hampshire, where the team had averaged 241 points over the previous two seasons. In his two years there, that number increased to 279 points per year and the number dropped back off (265) in the two seasons after he left.

After serving as the head coach at New Haven from 88-93, Whipple spent four seasons as the head coach at his alma-mater. In the two years prior to Whipple's arrival at Brown, the offense averaged 173 points per season. That number increased to 256 points per season under Whipple's direction. The tremendous increase in the team's offensive successful coupled with a solid 24-16 record there gave Whipple the same job offer at UMass.

In 1997, the year before Whipple became head coach at UMass, the team scored just 149 points. In his first year there, they scored 524, an incredible 375-point (over 20 per game) increase. He was honored as the Division 1AA National Coach of the Year following that National Championship season. In Whipple's six seasons there, UMass averaged 354 points per season -- a 205-point increase over the total in the year before he arrived and a 75 points higher than the team scored the year after he left.

Bill Cowher and the Pittsburgh Steelers hired Whipple away from the college ranks to become his quarterbacks coach from 2004-2007. In those three seasons, Whipple helped develop Ben Roethlisberger. In those three seasons, including a Super Bowl title in 2005, Whipple's quarterbacks had an average passer rating of 87.6 -- one of the better ratings in the league for a quarterback. When Cowher left, so did Whipple.

And this from the UMASS website tells U all U need to know:

At every stop, the trademark of a Whipple-coached team is high-powered offensive play, and his UMass squads have rewritten the Minuteman recordbook, setting 38 team records over the last five years. In 1998, UMass set new school single season marks for points scored (524), touchdowns (73), total yards (7,074), highest average yards per play (5.9), passing yards (4,050), completions (306) and first downs (354).

The 1999 team finished with totals of 415 points, 55 touchdowns, 5,673 total yards, 5.6 yards per play, 3,230 passing yards, 271 completions and 289 first downs, all of which rank as the second-highest single season totals in school history, behind the marks set a year earlier. In addition, 14 different UMass players have earned All-America honors during Whipple’s five years as head coach.

Following his first season as UMass’ head coach, Whipple received a number of awards. He was honored by the American Football Coaches Association as the GTE Division I-AA National Coach of the Year, while also receiving National Coach of the Year honors from Don Hansen’s Football Gazette and finishing as the runner-up for the Eddie Robinson Award, presented by The Sports Network. In addition, Whipple was named the Scotty Whitelaw Division I-AA Coach of the Year by the New York Metropolitan Football Writers Association, earned AFCA / GTE Region I Coach of the Year honors, and was selected as the New England Division I Coach of the Year by both the New England Football Writers and the Gridiron Club of Greater Boston. 

This is gonna be fun.  As in F U N to watch.  As in no vanilla in the Spring game.  Just U wait and see...

Show Me The Money

This article was written by CanesGirlNC exclusively for Canespace...

Now that the 2008 football season is history and we wait for National Signing Day to see who might make it to our future Legends of the Fall lists, I was curious to see how the different conferences fared in their bowl appearances.  The Big 12 had two teams make the BCS so I used them as a comparison to the ACC.

But before we get to that here's a question: While bowl games used to be a symbol of success, with the only current requirement for “bowl eligibility” now being a season record of .500 or higher, the question is has it become a symbol of mediocrity? 

One of the newest bowls to enter this equation is the St. Petersburg Bowl.  The what?  The St. Petersburg Bowl.  This  bowl, with its payout of $1 Million per team was added for the 2008 - 2009 season along with the Eagle Bank Bowl.  Why?  Bowl games are lucrative and fans want to see post season play.  Just how badly fans want to see post season play was discovered when Miami played Penn State in that infamous game on January 2, 1987 when, for the first time, college football was extended beyond New Year’s Day. 

Speaking of lucrative, enter the Bowl Championship Series who proclaims that is the best way to crown a national champion by  hosting 5 bowls: The Orange, Rose, Fiesta, Sugar and the National Championship title game to be rotated between these venues every year.   It has a most sought after and lucrative payout - at least $17 million per team this past season going to the participating team’s conference to be divided as that conference deems appropriate. 

But don’t try and sell that to Utah. Their attorney general is investigating the bowl system for a possible antitrust violation. ACC commissioner and BCS coordinator John Swofford defended the BCS:  "We've attempted to make every effort to make certain that any structure of the BCS is within the antitrust laws. Our legal people are comfortable that the BCS structure is," Swofford said during a Football Writers Association of America meeting. "Obviously if there are any aspects of it that we should be doing differently, we would adjust that."  Swofford is opposed to a playoff system.  Cha Ching.

The BCS is now managed by the commissioners of the 11 of Division 1-A conferences and representatives of the bowl organizations.  Oh, and let’s not forget the athletic director of the aggressive leprechaun, who gets a say also.  The champions from these conferences go to the BCS automatically and so does Notre Dame as long as it is 8th or higher in BCS rankings. This season, the first team in each conference to qualify receives at least $17 million for participating - win or not - and that money is distributed in that team's conference as that conference decides.

If a second team from a conference qualifies like  Oklahoma and Texas from the Big 12, the payout for the second team is significantly less.  Notre Dame’s AD negotiated a great contract for the angry elf: no longer receiving a full BCS payout should it make it to a BCS bowl game  it is guaranteed $1.3 million in years it does NOT make a BCS bowl.  If and when they make it back to a BCS bowl, a $4.5 million payout is theirs and theirs alone.  Add that to the $398,000 it made playing Hawaii and it’s not a bad day’s work.

This past season the ACC had 10 of its 12 teams playing in the post-season, more than any other conference.  The Emerald  Bowl paid $750,000 to UM and  $850,000.00 to Cal according to its bowl structure.   For the ACC that is  $250,000.00 less than if the Canes had been invited to the newly ordained St. Petersburg Bowl. Not to mention closer and less expensive to go to.  However, Georgia Tech was paid 3.25 million for their appearance against LSU who received 2.4 million. 

Then there are the expenses: renting practice fields, hotel, food, flight, insurance for all players and coaches. Miami was allotted 1.2 million from the ACC to travel to San Francisco, an amount AD Kirby Hocutt vowed not to “exceed”.  Bowls also allot a certain number of tickets per school to sell.  If the tickets are not sold sometimes there is a  proviso the schools have to buy a certain percentage. 

This year the Emerald Bowl offered to buy back any tickets that UM didn’t sell as it was basically a home game for Cal. Not including Virginia Tech’s Bowl Appearance, the ACC’s estimated bowl payouts were $13.4 million.  Add in the Hokie’s BCS payout and it is somewhere between $30 and $31 million. Let’s say all ten teams that went to a Bowl game were given 1.2 million as an expense account like Miami.  The ACC would net approximately 18 million.

Compare that to the Big 12:  The Big 12 had both Texas and Oklahoma in BCS bowls.   So when Kansas (1.2 mil), Mizzou (2.25 mil), Oklahoma State (2.13 mil), Nebraska (2.5 mil), Texas Tech (3 mil) made their respective bowl appearances, it brought approximately 11 million to their conference in addition to Texas and Oklahoma’s contribution ($17 million and approximately $5 million).   This is slightly over what the ACC made bowl wise.

So you may be asking yourself: "What does this have to do with recruiting?" Well, everything.  While the allure of playing in high caliber prime time bowl games is appealing to recruits, the money associated with these games is just as alluring to the schools and coaches that recruit them.

Sources: BCSfootball.org, Los Angeles Times, New York Times, AP, Orlando Sentinel, Wikipedia, ESPN

Do The Hokie Pokey

Some content in this this article is courtesy of the University of Miami (see link).  Canespace encourages Canes fans to attend games and support your Hurricanes!  Contact David Sietsma at [email protected] and mention Canespace for group seating tickets.

The University of Miami men’s basketball team, winners of seven of their last eight games, returns to the hardwood at home on Sunday versus ACC rival Virginia Tech at 5:30 p.m.  The Hurricanes are fresh off Wednesday’s 75-69 home win over Florida State, while the Hokies return to the court following their upset of top-ranked Wake Forest on the same evening

Miami enters the game with a 14-4 record (3-2 in ACC) while VT comes into town sporting a 15-3 record (3-1 in ACC).  The Hurricanes lead the all-time series versus the Hokies, 8-6, but dropped their last meeting, 63-49, in the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament in Charlotte, N.C. on March 14, 2008.

 

Miami defeated Virginia Tech in their last regular-season meeting, beating the Hokies 74-71 in Blacksburg on Feb. 9, 2008. That road victory kick started a crucial four-game win streak, including the win over then-No. 4/5 Duke,  that helped propel the Hurricanes towards a 20-win season and an NCAA Tournament berth.

 

For the Canes Jack "McCutch" McClinton is averaging 24.5 points, 5.0 rebounds and 3.5 assists over his last two appearances, shooting .438 from long range and .833 from the line. Over the last five games, he has contributed 19.8 points, 4.0 boards and 2.6 assists per game, while scoring 20-plus points three times in that span.

 

Over the last two games, Dwayne Collins is averaging 11.5 points and 7.5 rebounds for the Hurricanes, while Adrian Thomas (seen here) is contributing 9.8 points (.556 FG%, .474 3FG%), 3.3 rebounds and 1.8 steals per game over the last four outings.

 

Miami will be playing back-to-back opponents whose head coaches used to work for the Hurricanes.

 

Florida State's Leonard Hamilton coached at UM while the Canes were stil in the Big East, ending a 10-year run with the Hurricanes with a 144-147 record.

 

Virginia Tech head coach Seth Greenberg served as an assistant coach under Bill Foster at Miami from 1984-87, bringing the Hurricanes basketball program back to fruition for the 1985-86 season after a 14-year hiatus.

 

Playing at the BankUnited Center has been berry, berry good to the Hurricanes.  Miami has gone 9-2 this season and 53-21 at home under fifth year coach Frank Haith.

Whipped Cream On Top

Based on several initial but reliable reports, Canespace is projecting that current Philadelphia Eagles offensive assistant coach Mark Whipple is likely to become the Hurricanes next Offensive Coordinator.

Whipple is an offensive assistant for the Philadelphia Eagles and a former quarterback coach for the Pittsburgh Steelers.  Before going to the NFL, Whipple served as head coach at the University of Massachusetts and New Haven. 

In 1998, Whipple won a Division 1-AA National Championship at UMass and was also named the Division 1-AA National Coach of the Year.  Whipple also won a Super Bowl with the Steelers in 2005 after helping in the development of quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. 

Here is more on Whipple:

With a Division I-AA championship and a Super Bowl championship ring in hand, Mark Whipple joined the Eagles on January 28, 2008, as an offensive assistant.

The 50-year-old Whipple spent 2004-06 as the quarterbacks coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers. In that capacity he was instrumental in the development of Ben Roethlisberger, who became the youngest starting quarterback to win a Super Bowl as the Steelers defeated Seattle in Super Bowl XL. In 2004, Roethlisberger became the first NFL quarterback to finish a season undefeated with a 13-0 record in his starts.

Whipple spent 16 seasons as a head coach at the collegiate level, where he compiled an overall record of 121-59 (.672). At the University of Massachusetts he posted a 49-25 (.662) record in six years (1998-2003), leading the Minutemen to a Division I-AA national championship in 1998 and two conference championships. Whipple also served as a head coach at his alma mater Brown from 1994-97, where he accumulated a 24-16 (.600) record without a losing season. He also was the head coach at New Haven from 1988-93. Whipple earned multiple awards during his head coaching career, including the American Football Coaches Association's Division I-AA National Coach of the Year award in 1998.

This hiring was first rumored to be true on the Canespace blog at 1:17 PM and then confirmed by a second source at 1:36 PM today. 

Three hours later the Miami Herald reported similar findings at 4:22 PM, and at 4:36 PM the Sun-Sentinel announced basically the same news. To be honest, Manny Navarro at the Herald has been on the Whipple story for days now.

We are told that Canes Head Coach Randy Shannon should announce this decision soon.  Stay tuned to Canespace for further details...

Hurdle Help

On Wednesday night at The BankUnited Center your Miami Hurricanes beat the FSU Seminoles 75-69 in a close, hard fought ACC battle.  The Canes moved to 14-4 overall and 3-2 in the ACC on the season while the Noles dropped to 15-4 and 2-2 in conference play.

Many Canespacers were on hand among the capacity crowd to not only see the game but to celebrate before, during and after the game on "Canespace Day at The BUC".   Bloggers old and new were reunited at The Titanic Brewery before and after the game as Canespace held the first of several planned events of the 2009 season. 

Special thanks goes out to the UM cheerleaders and David Sietsma from the UM ticket office for making the event a very special and memorable evening.

As seems to be their MO, the Canes came out cold, missed several early shots and trailed by as many as twelve points before going on a major tear to end the first half to even the game.  The Canes used a 22-9 run over the last seven minutes of the first half to take a 30-29 lead going into the locker room. 

Miami has now won seven of their last eight games and snapped a five game losing streak to the Seminoles.  UM had four players score in double figures with UM scoring machine Jack "McClutch" McClinton leading the way with a season high 28 points. 

McClutch moved into 11th place on the Canes all-time scoring list with his performance but even more importantly he hit three crucial free throws over the last 30 seconds to seal the deal at the end of the game.  UM center Dwayne Collins also recorded his third double-double of the season and finished with 10 points and 11 rebounds.

But in the end, the Canes were able to win the game and get over this major hurdle towards an ACC title thanks to a little hurdle help from UM point guard Lance Hurdle. 

Hurdle, who scored a season high 16 points, was en fuego in the second half knocking down several shots from both corners to lead the Canes to victory over the dreaded Noles and former UM coach Leonard Hamilton.

Canespace blogger Canesince1982 (seen here at left with Canespacer Keoki in the middle) was at the game and also enjoyed the pre/post game activities at The Titanic.  He wanted to make sure that we gave an official Canespace "Shout Out" to Hurdle for his outstanding performance. 

So here's to U Lance Hurdle!  Go Canes, Go Canespace!!!

U Are So Uncoordinated

First it was UM Offensive Coordinator Patrick "The Fix" Nix that got nixed by Hurricane Head Coach Randy Shannon.

Now, it turns out that Canes Defensive Coordinator Bill "Forever" Young has decided to take the money and run all the way back to Oklahoma City where he played his college ball and originally came from.

Those two coaching moves leaves your University of Miami Hurricanes feeling completely uncoordinated. 

Shannon now has to find a way to fill both of the vacant Coordinator positions right in the heart of recruiting season with National Signing Day only a couple of weeks away.  Luckily for Randy, this should be a piece of cake.

With the coaching carousel rotating at warp speed all around the NFL and NCAA there are so many quality coaches currently unemployed that they make yesterday's record setting crowd at the inauguration of newly elected President Barack Obama look like a Tuesday night AA meeting somewhere in small town Iowa. 

Surely, Shannon can quickly find someone out there to coordinate his offense and defense since there are more unemployed and attractive assistant coaches out there than there are hotties on South Beach.  We believe he can, and he will, but please don't call us Shirley.

Instead, forget all about the ball with the pointy ends for a while and come join us for an ACC roundball showdown between the Canes and Noles as we display our Faith in Haith during "Canespace Day" at The BankUnited Center.

And if you don't already have a ticket for this sold out game then meet us at The Titanic Brewery before and after the game to discuss all things Canes. 

GO CANES, BEAT THE NOLES!

2009 ACC Recruiting Breakdown: Part II

This feature was written by guest blogger Anton Azucar...

 

Back again with the second half of the ACC, this time the Coastal Division. It’s looking to me like the only guy who will be able to compete with Randy Shannon on a recruiting level is his former boss, Butch Davis. I was hoping he would peace out and take the Tennessee job a month or so back, but it didn’t happen. Randy’s success, on and off the field, will always be directly compared with Butch at UNC, so no use hiding from it.

 

Coastal Division:

 

1) North Carolina (27 commits, # 6 nationally)

5 star: 1

4 star: 13

3 star: 9

2 star: 5

 

Butch Davis is proving to still have the same recruiting ability as his run with Miami in the mid to late ‘90s. He has one five star DE in Donte Moss, from Jacksonville, NC, and a slew of 4 star players, some of the highest rated. Jheranie Boyd is the #2 rated WR in the nation, and Bryn Renner is the #5 rated QB, who also has blazing 4.8 40 time speed. This class is no joke. However, as mentioned before, attrition will need to occur for all of these recruits to see the field. Most likely, that will happen with juniors and seniors already on the team, pretty much being told not to come back. Davis is essentially creating an NFL type atmosphere for student athletes, where if they don’t perform late in their careers, you’re getting “cut.” Absurd. 

 

2) Miami (18 commits, # 10 nationally)

5 star: 2

4 star: 9

3 star: 6

2 star: 1

 

Miami got a big boost after the All-American Game with Ray Ray Armstrong being upgraded to a five star recruit, to go along with the “is he coming or going” Bryce Brown. Randy Shannon has assembled another fantastic class, one that can only get better. With a mere 18 recruits signed, and already #10 in the nation, this class could end up possibly in the top 5.

 

Armstrong is a 6’4’’ 218 lbs. Athlete who wants to come in and play FS. With the secondary play of this past season, we Cane fans would welcome that addition tremendously. Bryce Brown, at 6’0’’ 215 lbs, could be the big, bruising tailback Shannon covets as he switches back to the pro-set offense of yesteryears.

 

Miami’s most dire immediate need, OL, has some great help arriving next fall. Two 4 star recruits, and one three star are already committed. Jermaine Johnson, a 6’6’’ 309 lbs from the well known Hargrave Military Academy in Virginia, is set to enroll early next week. Brandon Washington, another behemoth at 6’5’’ 330 lbs is also slated to come in early. Both those guys went to prep school for a year, so their maturity levels and ability to quickly grasp the blocking schemes should be pretty high. Jared Wheeler is only a 3 star prospect at OL, but he is tremendously intelligent, with a 4.0 GPA, and an offer from Vanderbilt. At 6’5’’ 310 lbs, Miami could have the huge O-Lines of 2000-2002 that so dominated the Big East to run all over the opposing teams.

 

Overall, Miami has the highest average star rating in the ACC, at 3.67. North Carolina comes in far below, with a 3.41 average. When all is said and done, come the first week of February, I believe Miami will be number one in the conference.

 

3) Virginia Tech (20 commits, # 26 nationally)

5 star: 0

4 star: 4

3 star: 13

2 star: 3

 

Frank Beamer seems to hide under the radar every year. We never really hear about their recruiting classes being top notch, and according to star rankings, this year is no different. Their number one recruit is TE Logan Thomas, a 6’6’’ 233 lbs., with a blistering (for a TE) 4.65 40 time. He is the # 1 TE in the nation. The only other top 10 position recruit they have is RB David Wilson, ranked # 4 nationally. Va Tech does not have a QB in this class, which is surprising as their QB play is never off the charts since Vick left. You would think they would always want at least one new guy coming in each year. Regardless, they will be underestimated again next year, and will no doubt be in the thick of the conference title race, just like they are every year.

 

4) Virginia (24 commits, # 34 nationally)

5 star: 0

4 star: 4

3 star: 11

2 star: 9

 

Somehow, someway, Al Groh keeps getting players who should never go to Virginia, to wind up there. This year, it’s Dominique Wallace, the number one rated RB in the nation. Yes, even higher than Bryce Brown, the # 2 RB, but a better overall recruit. So you have to give him credit for that. However, after Wallace, it drops off pretty fast. The next highest positional rank is the # 20 DE Jake Snyder, who sounds better suited for a snoozer CBS show headliner than a star college football player. And he is only a 3 star. Sure, ratings can be arbitrary, and you cannot put all your faith in them, but these people do this for a living. They are correct in evaluating the talent more often than not. What they can’t evaluate is how much coaching up a player will get, or their motivation levels to succeed and prove people wrong. On that vein, this Virginia class is heavy on 3 and 2 stars, and does not stand out to me at all.

 

5) Georgia Tech (19 commits, # 45 nationally)

5 star: 0

4 star: 1

3 star: 17

2 star: 1

 

This the team that will scare me the most, each and every year. Paul Johnson is building a triple option juggernaut, and Randy better not ever tell his team to tackle high and go for the strip. We saw how that turned out. That said, this class is not great at all. One 4 star (DT J.C. Lanier, # 31 nationally), but they do have the # 13 QB prospect in the nation, Jordan Luallen. Although only a 3 star, Luallen has 4.5 speed and has great size (6’3’’ 196 lbs). Look at what Johnson got out of his Qbs this season, guys who were not recruited to run his triple option attack. Luallen could be ready to play in the fall, depending on if he enrolls early, something still up in the air.

 

My opinion is Ga Tech will not annually haul in top 10, or even top 20 classses. High school position players, outside of maybe Rbs, will not want to go play in a triple option offense for 3-4 years. The FB position is dead in the NFL, a running QB will always be looked upon with skepticism, and WR numbers just won’t translate into high draft status. Johnson does however, have the location to work in his favor. Ga Tech and Miami are the only two schools in the ACC to boast close proximity to a vibrant downtown city location. Ga Tech, literally in downtown Atlanta, is closer even than Coral Gables to Miami or South Beach. But with Johnson turning players recruited to Navy (!!) into 9-win seasons, one can only assume, even with his lack of NFL ready talent (on paper at least) he will get this program humming along. We need the Canes defense to get back to it’s Nebraska crushing days, the demolishing reminiscent of 2001.

 

6) Duke (26 commits, # 47 nationally)

5 star: 0

4 star: 2

3 star: 12

2 star: 12

 

Duke is having a fantastic recruiting season, relative to their normal standards. They already have 26 commits, whereas last year their final total was a mere 17. Their two studs, both 4 stars, are RB Desmond Scott (# 5 nationally) and DT John Drew (# 20 nationally). More so than star power, what this class will do for Duke and HC David Cutcliffe is develop some depth within the program. And that is bad for the rest of us in the ACC, especially the Coastal division. Remember this year’s game, Jascory’s breakout, 4 touchdown masterpiece? That Duke team ran out of gas. Give Cutcliffe another year to create some good 2 deeps, even with 3 stars, and Duke will no longer be the guaranteed cupcake on everyone’s schedule.

2009 ACC Recruiting Breakdown: Part I

This feature was written by guest blogger Anton Azucar...

 

With master recruiter Butch Davis leading the way, North Carolina is on top of the ACC in the current Rivals recruiting rankings. However, this is due in part to the fact Butch is already over signed on his total class, and will need some atrophy within his current team to get back down to his allotted 25 slots. A despicable practice, taking scholarships from student-athletes, something Nick Saban is prone to do. Let’s jump right in to the current rankings, divided by ACC division, to be broken down in two parts.

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Atlantic Division:

 

1) Florida State (17 commits, #12 nationally)

5 star: 1

4 star: 9

3 star: 7

FSU is having a strong year, and with Bobby Bowden’s usual strong push leading up to signing day, this could end up a top 10 class nationally. Seems the minor uncertainty of a figure head, do-nothing CEO coach of a program is not hindering Jimbo Fisher’s recruiting abilities. Florida State has one 5-star prospect, Jacobbi McDaniel, the #2 rated DT in the nation, from Greenville, FL. With their usual assortment of 4-star players, including the #3 Athlete in Willie Downs, and the #2 RB (after Bryce Brown of course) in Chris Thompson, Jimbo certainly looks, on paper at least, to be returning to the speed burner days of FSU lore. Whether their QB and play selection are up to the task, is a whole different story.

 

2) Maryland (25 commits, #24 nationally)

5 star: 0

4 star: 5

3 star: 17

2 star: 3

The Terps are top 25 nationally in recruiting?! Did I miss something? I know Big Ralph has definitely turned the program around, but I thought it was in the vein of Wake Forest and Jim Grobe, coaching up lesser talent players. Guess not. Although, one problem with recruiting rankings before signing day is a class of twenty-five, albeit mainly full of 3-stars, will come in stronger than say, a class of fifteen 4-stars. Quantity rules the day. Maryland’s prize in this class is DeOnte Arnett, the #6 DE in the nation. In fact, Arnett is the only recruit rated in the top 10 at his position nationally, another point in my argument of quantity over quality. But hey, more power to the Terps. We Canes fans would always welcome a slow cold weather team down to Tampa or Jax for an ACC title game. Keep up the good work Big Ralph!

 

3) Clemson (12 commits, #29 nationally)

5 star: 0

4 star: 7

3 star: 5

Perfect counter example to Maryland: Clemson is a mere five spots behind the Terps with half the total number of recruits. Why? Clemson’s average star ranking is 3.58, while Maryland is 3.08. Clemson has lots of room for improvement, once they fill out this class. Clemson has a pair of top 10 national recruits: Bryce McNeal, the # 10 WR from Minnesota, and Malliciah Goodman, the #2 DE from South Carolina. Clemson historically hasn’t gone down to South Florida looking for talent, so I am not concerned with this class or with the team in general. Luckily little Tommy was finally let go this year, so we can all be spared from the incessant, needless talk of Clemson ACC title chances, only to see them lose their customary 4 games each year. Wooo for pre-season forecast brevity!

 

4) North Carolina State (26 commits, #48 nationally)

5 star: 0

4 star: 1

3 star: 18

2 star: 7

NC State embarrassed the Canes in their supposed gimme game to end the year, so I definitely have some bitterness left over from that one. But with only one 4-star (Jarvis Byrd), who is only ranked #31 at his position, I don’t get too worried about them. However, Byrd is from Pahokee. He should be coming to the U just to create depth in our secondary. Man has no in-state loyalty! I keed, I keed. One silver lining could be if a bunch of those 3-stars have chips on their shoulders and develop into better players. Coach Tom O’Brien routinely took lesser talent teams at BC into serviceable conference records; perhaps he can start doing the same in Raleigh.

 

5) Wake Forest (20 commits, #60 nationally)

5 star: 0

4 star: 0

3 star: 11

2 star: 9

Wake Forest and Jim Grobe have never been known as a recruiting extraordinaire, and this year is no exception. He finds the exact players he needs to fit his system, plugs them in, and runs the exact scheme he wants to run. And it’s been working for the past few years, with an ACC title to boot. The prize this year, if you want to call him that, is 6’2’’ 195 lbs Kicker Jimmy Newman from Alabama. Hey, at least he has a 3.9 GPA! Let’s just hope that is weighted on some 4.6 scale! Of course, expect Wake Forest to ground everyone into 16-14 slugfests, and to compete until the final week for the divisional title. Damn Demon Deacons and their overachieving mindsets.

 

6) Boston College (13 commits, # 69 nationally)

5 star: 0

4 star: 1

3 star: 4

2 star: 8

BC is in a bit of a tailspin, in case you haven’t heard. Head Coach Jeff Jagodzinski is out, with long time DC Frank Spaziani to replace him, towel and all. Of course, they just also let go of their current OC, Steve Logan, which means they currently do not have a coordinator. And it is showing in their recruiting. If they are not careful, the Matt Ryan years could be the peak of their program, and it’s all downhill from here. Current stud, head and shoulders above all others, is 4-star DT Dillon Quinn, from NY State. Ranked tenth nationally at DE, he is about the only thing to look forward to in a most likely very disappointing class, due to an abysmal coaching turnover situation. And who knows what kind of negative recruiting surrounding teams are putting in recruits ears about the loco higher ups in the BC administration.