Buckzip

This will be no different than most of the bigger name recruits JD got. He will never play for the Zips.

Would that happen to be the same amount as Jarvis Givens and 1 less than Ryan Bain?

Was that the recruits or the coaching though?Many of those highly rated players are still here. Let's see what the new staff can or can't do.

Was that article based on this year alone, or recent years too?

Are you saying you don't want kids in this area to ba able to do that?

A source I know at another board sent me a PM saying he was coming to UA...Take it for what's it's worth.

5'10" 147lbs and runs a 4.75 40.I hope every part of that is wrong....

National Title..Hands down.

Brookhart era makes it sound like 15 years ago...

I wonder if Matt could become the cliche "Wesley Welker" type slot back, assuming another backup QB can be found. He might not be the deep threat GP1 is looking for in Arizona, but he could do some damage in the capacity (more than Jeremy Bruce IMHO).I don't know if the coaches would want to risk that. We only have 2 QB's. Do you really want your backup QB playing another position? That means not only is he getting less practice reps, but also has a higher risk of injury.It would make coach look bad if Rogers got hurt playing another position and then Nicely went down. Rogers is a good runner for a QB. I think we can have better options in the wildcat.

You are a veritable ray of sunshine, meister.

I'll keep repeating what I have been saying for a couple of months....I'm hoping for another situation like we had when JD got hired, and brought a good QB with him. I still think that we'd have never won a MAC title without that move.With Nicely here, it is going to be tough to get a quality QB to to commit for this class. Patrick's not going anywhere for 3 years.And to be fair - I am not sold on D'Orazio being a DB. I think he will get a good look at QB. FYI - Walt Harris loved Potts as a QB. It is scary what could happen if Nicely gets injured. Maybe there is an "athletic" QB we can get...a la Jeff Sweitzer...who would be content biding his time at another position like WR or punt returner...until Patrick graduates.Rogers will be back. Yeah, he isn't great, but he will have some experience and spring ball to get better.

When I saw the thread title of Highly Regarded Recruits, I assumed we were talking about BCS level recruits. The list you are showing are commits to other MAC schools. If we only recruit MAC level recruits, we will only be a MAC level team.I understand that coach got a late start and all, but I wouldn't call these guys high level by any means.

These positions will be fine. What we will need are WRs that can get open and catch the ball down field. Does anyone know who that will be?I'd like to see the TE in the offense more. For example, they need to block well if the Zips can get the ball down by the endzone.the same concern about rb was posed before last year..the same response was given by a number of folks...it wasn't fine last year...until we see who these guys put on the field we won't know if it will be fine..The lack of ability had nothing to do with the players last year and everything to do with a coach who couldn't get everyone moving in the right direction. If the new coaching staff can do any on field coaching at all, the talent is there at RB.Again, nobody has answered the question. Who are the big play WRs going to be next year? We have a QB with a cannon for an arm and we need to find a way to use it to throw the ball down field and not hand off the majority of the time.MAC schools are horrible at playing from behind. The Zips need to focus on big plays early in games that get leads and then if they want to try to run out the clock in the fourth quarter with seven or less minutes to go, I have no problem with that.Who are the big play WRs going to be?Jeremy LaFrance will be the #1 WR. He's a real player. Merriwether and Nadir Brown...one of the two should emerge as a solid #2. Probably Merriwether. Schrock has a chance to come in and compete immediately. I think Randy Greenwood is a logical choice to fill Jeremy Bruce's shoes.If we could somehow pull in a solid JUCO WR, it would be nice. JD did well in California with the JUCO WR's...but I'm guessing those contacts are all lost.Is Greenwood still a WR? I thought he was moved to DB. Even if the new staff moves him back to WR, that is still an entire year wasted for him.

Glad to see Coach Okruch staying on. He did a great job with the linebackers from what I saw, and now he has the chance to do the same with the safeties. And the special teams could certainly use some shaping up.Not too sure about Frisman Jackson. He had a great collegiate career, but he didn't do much in the NFL. A wait-and-see hire.Quite a few coaches never even played in the NFL...That means very little

Allow me to add some intelligence to this thread.Style of play is absolutely the key right now. If you can get your QB to make some plays with his feet and complete some passes down field, you can win. Like I have said before, football has become about QBs, WRs and coaches.Case in point. The Rose Bowl. I hate to use tOSU as the example because everyone here goes crazy, but it was the best example of bowl season. I'm not ready to say that Pryor is a great QB, but he did play extremely well for once. tOSU did not win because they lined up in the I-formation and ran the ball down the throat of a smaller Oregon defense. The opposite actually took place. When tOSU lined up in the I-formation, they were stuffed by a smaller defense. The I-formation for almost every team is a pending disaster. You need Alabama type talent to make it work and neither team in the Rose Bowl has Alabama type talent. We also can't say that the overrated tOSU defense outclassed a smaller Oregon defense. The opposite actually took place. Late in the third quarter, Oregon was running the ball down the throat of tOSU's defense. If the Oregon QB doesn't hand the ball off into the throat of Blount and Blount kicks the ball into the endzone in a freak accident, Oregon has the lead in the fourth quarter and I don't see Pryor bringing tOSU back. Oregon's starting running back got hurt and prior to that he was running circles around a slow tOSU defense by getting to the edge at will.tOSU won because Pryor had the ability to make plays out of the SPREAD FORMATION with his feet and the tOSU coaches also found some mismatches to exploit in the passing game. tOSU ran the ball well out of the spread and not the I-formation. Smashmouth football did not win the day for tOSU. Defense did not win the day either. A combination of good playcalling and an Oregon give-a-way won it for tOSU.Let's bring this around to the Zips since this is a Zips board. I think the Zips could have the best passing QB in Ohio college football next year. He has the arm, he just needs to improve accuracy. He has some mobility.....or at least enough mobility to be successful. Do we now have a coaching staff that can recognize and exploit mismatches? Do we have anyone to throw the ball downfield to? We'll find out those answers next year.

Thanks Mrs Shuford. I hope your son does well and we all pretty much agree about the staff.However, when given the chance your son showed nothing. Sounds like excuses. If he was that good, the new staff would be a reason for him to stay. They will be starting with a clean slate and the past means nothing. It would make more sense if he tranfered if JD was still here. Also, what does future recruiting areas have to do with current players on the team?3.5 wow. He should run track, he will set world records. he is faster that Usain Bolt.Good luck to him and I hope he does well.

Southern speed is a myth and it is stupid. Look at the NFL and see where players are from.

Alexander will be a SophTorrence will be a SophMartin will be a juniorI think he saw the writing on the wall.

Agreed very nice article. Let's hope he can keep all of the current players and commits, while adding some more good palyers.

I would. I think our relationship with the local schools is good enough. In the past, all we get from local high school coaches in NE Ohio is pissing and moaning when we will not give a scholarship to one of their DII players. We don't need to pay someone sixty thousand a year for that.Yep. They bitch and moan if Akron doesn't offer, then if their guy gets a bigger offer, they turn on Akron as the little school.

Currently need, a D-line coach (Bryant Young, but until he's on there I don't count it), Defensive Backs, Receivers, D-Coordinator and an O-line coach.Maybe a waterboy :cheers:edit* can't help but notice that we are getting more press in Chicago than we are in Akron.I agree we could use a waterboy. I wonder if this guy is available.

Absolutely true.

And the coach that just showed true commitment to this team.