A review of the Class of 99'

[zff]

A look back at the Recruiting Class of 99’

These are my own thoughts about each player after they have finished their careers.

Brake, Mike LB 6'5" 220 Signed Ohio

Never was thrown the ball enough, great blocker. Should be playing on Sundays.

Cherry, Matt WR 6'2" 175 Signed Illinois

Really bulked up by his SR season. Very fast and has great hands. Should be playing on Sundays.

Cummins, Jud DT 6'5" 295 Signed Ohio

A real warrior. Steady and solid performer. A fixture at RT. If not playing on Sundays next year he is an excellent student will be successful in the business world.

Danielson, Jeremiah OL 6'2" 280 Signed California

Played to good years for the Zips. Big and strong. Nice JUCO pickup for the Zips.

Faler, Micah QB 6'1" 190 Signed Ohio

Never got a real chance at QB. Solid Backup.

Fromholtz, Kyle S 6'1" 175 Signed Ohio

Got into some off the field trouble and transferred. I think he could have been a special player.

Hamill, Todd LB 6'4" 240 Signed Ohio

I guess he signed with the Zips and then decided to walk on to OSU. Does anybody know if this is true or not???

Harville, Amin OL 6'4" 240 Signed Ohio

I never saw him hit the field. I think he was around one maybe two years. Anybody know????

Hayes, Marques LB 6'2" 210 Signed Ohio

Good player, worked hard and was liked and respected by his peers. Never really found a true position but a solid performer. Would have been a load at FB. May get invited to a training camp.

Hendry, Bob RB 5'10" 190 Signed Ohio

Tough running back with deceptive speed. Hit the line running full speed. Killer blocker. I see him as the star of this class. He could get a look for the next level.

Hill, Dalvin RB 6'1" 180 Signed Ohio akoh

I never saw his name on the roster. Prop48???? Anybody know????

Holmes, C.J. S 5'8" 183 Signed Ohio

I never saw him on the field. Anybody know????

Johnson, Willie OL 6'2" 315 Signed Ohio

I never saw his name on the roster. Prop48???? Anybody know????

Lee, Damien WR 6'3" 210 Signed Ohio

I never saw his name on the roster. Prop48???? Anybody know????

Lilly, E.J. RB 5'10" 209 Signed Ohio akoh

He was a prop48. Ended up at Cincinnati for a year or two and now is a SR at Mt Union.

Miller, Jason S 6'2" 175 Signed Ohio

I heard he had some differences with Coach Owens and he transferred to Findlay.

Russell, Morgan DB 5'10" 180 Signed California

Decent JUCO player. He never really started but was a nickel back.

Shaw, Bryan OL 6'5" 295 Signed Ohio

Big kid and a solid OT. I expected bigger things from him but it never really developed.

Maybe he would have been more of a force at guard.

Smith, Jesse DB 6'1" 175 Signed Ohio

Fast kid with good football skills. An injury-plagued career never developed into the star I thought he could be. But a very solid player.

Smith, William DB 6'0" 170 Signed Ohio

I never saw his name on the roster. Prop48???? Anybody know????

Szakos, Bates WR 6'3" 180 Signed Pennsylvania

Injuries Injuries and more injuries. Tough luck player who was highly rated coming out of high school.

Williams, Alex DB 6'2" 180 Signed Pennsylvania

I never saw his name on the roster. Prop48???? Anybody know????

[Z-P]

Couple observations after a nice bit of posting.........

Kyle Fromholtz........could have started 4 years at either corner or wideout. He was headed for certain All-Mac Standing. Great, great athlete with the top speed in the class. Great size and strength. Superior field sense......a little like Jay Rohr with a nose for the plany. Surely had professional potential, but cursed with a lack of focus on what was really important. I credit him as being the big big hole defensively which could have wiped out enough opponents points over those 4 years to have taken us to several additional wins. Tooooooo bad, what a shame.

"Butter" Smith.........highly popular young man among his classmates. Should have developed into a leader for the class. Great speed, superior hands, could have gone at either WR or Corner, like Fromholtz. Evidently his brother was murdered mid first semester, and he tried living at home with his single mom? (this is from memory) started missing school and that was it.

EJ Lily..........best pure HS RB I have ever seen, including Mo C. As a freshman (HS) literally ran over opponents. In the same class as Larry Kenard, who went to OSU but ended up at Mount and is now on his way to the League. You should have seen those two as youngens. Wow. Lily was a real dummy. He was so gifted athletically he was given everything at Alliance. When it came time to take the SAT, he probably couldn't even read the instructions. This guy totally turned my opinion around about requiring guys to come thru college to get into the professional game. I now think there should be a "minor league" where kids like him can go. Why not? Topic for another day. Take me on if you think you have a case.

Jason Miller........."shot himself between his ears"...........for some crazy reason, this gifted player thought he should be playing as a TF, and even starting! Got into an argument with the staff, and quit in a huff at the end of summer workouts his soph year. Too bad, here's another defensive loss which came back to haunt us.....but it wasn't the coaches fault..............kid messed up.

CJ Holmes........real nice player out of Marion Harding...........football blood lines, but couldn't handle the academics. Could have been a two way player, corner and wideout.

Bates...........you said it all (athletically)..............but guess what? He's a winner in life. 4.0 engineering grad with all kinds of ups for his future. Handled his health difficulties with dignity and class..............signifcant role model if the other guys just take the time to think about it.

These guys all shirted, so in combination with Superman's class which also has some good guys, it should have produced a 9-3 season in 03 at the worst. I credit the coaches for all the good recruits. I credit the coaches for failing to include any kind of ground game into their 03 plans, costing them a shot at a championship. The Boss handed down their reward.

[zipboy]

Two great posts. I saw Dalvin Hill play a lot in high school. Mayfield had 2 1000 yard rushers, Dalvin and and a 5 ft 6 inch guy who played at Harvard. I think Dalvin was prop 48 and never made grades.

My mind is not the best, but I seem to remember Hartville being from Euclid. I don't remember if he ever made it down. Lee was from the same school as Butchie and was a great basketball player. I don't know if he made it down either. Johnson was from Buchtel, but I think grades got him too. I remember seeing Williams on the sideline his FR year. He was redshirted, from the same school as either Jake or Brandon.

From what I remember, Akron wanted Hendry to walk on instead of going to Mt Union. At the last minute, they gave him a scholarship. That may have been the coup d'etat for Lee.

Brake, Cherry, Hendry, Cummins, and Hayes, those were the stars of that class. I agree, looking back, there seems more talent there than the records they had.