boog23 Posted May 10, 2009 Share Posted May 10, 2009 <p>Seriously, I never thought that moving out to California would be such a big step. You see, I was a assistant coach for the Indiana Hoosiers just a year ago. We didn't have the best season around, but I was tipped off about this job by my good friend, Joey Brown. </p><p> </p><p> You see, Joey is the A.D. at San Diego State. I've known him since high school, where we trolled the AAU circuit together. He knew though that basketball was always second fiddle with me. Football is where my heart was. We always kept in touch through high school, and knew that I had gotten into the coaching game. When the head coaching job became open, Joey gave me a jingle and asked if I would be interested. Of coarse. I mean, who wouldn't want a D-1 head coaching job? I knew that I would be down for the challenge. </p><p> </p><p> I get to the office and there's absolutely no time to waste. Joey has left us with with a little over 1.8 million to use this year. I've always believed that if you win the recruiting wars, you can win on the field. Naturally, I first look to hire a recruiting service. Gridiron.com seems like a good fit for us, so we sign on up. More importantly, they're in our price range. Gotta love that.</p><p> </p><p> I then call up my asistants and call a meeting. I need to know about the players we have coming in. Where's our strengths and weaknesses? </p><p> </p><p> On offense, we're gonna have to rely on a pair of runnig backs to get the job done. Alex Crowe and Gary Spanno will have to be huge for us to be good this year. Our tight end, Jimmy Jones, is easily the best recieving threat that we have. Chris Witcher will hold down the fort for us at quarterback. </p><p> </p><p> Our offensive line is horrid at best. Our guards, Ron Nilland and Shawn Levens are gonna have to be the backbone for us. I can already see we're gonna have to upgrade the line as a whole once recruiting season comes along.</p><p> </p><p> Our defense is gonna have to carry us this year, particularly our secondary. Hanford Robinskie (CB) and Randy Robbins (SS) are our senior leaders. They'll have to play big for us to have a good year. Chad Perkins (ILB) and Tavian Huffman (DE) are also seniors that we'll lean on heavily this year for production. </p><p> </p><p> We've talked it over and have decided that we're gonna play it safe this year and run a <strong>smash mouth</strong> style of offense. We feel that we'll be able to limit our offensive limitations that way.</p><p> </p><p> On defense, we're gonna go with a <strong>3-4</strong> defense. We'll let our backers roam around and try and make some plays for us. We feel that we've got a good enough secondary to hold up against the majority of our opponents. I hope we're right.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> <strong>Schedule</strong></p><p> </p><p> Week 1: Bufallo</p><p> Week 2: Ball State</p><p> Week 3: Memphis</p><p> Week 4: @ Colorado State</p><p> Week 5: Open</p><p> Week 6: TCU</p><p> Week 7: BYU</p><p> Week 8: Open</p><p> Week 9: Utah</p><p> Week 10: UNLV</p><p> Week 11: @ Air Force</p><p> Week 12: @ Wyoming</p><p> Week 13: @ New Mexico</p><p> Week 14: Western Michigan</p><p> Week 15: Open</p><p> </p><p> We decided to go easy on the guys for this first year. We picked up all home and away games against Buffalo, Ball State, Memphis and Western Michigan. Hopefully, they're all easy wins for us, but if not, oh well. </p><p> </p><p> Utah, TCU and BYU are always good, so realistically, I'm hoping for a fourth place finish (at best). We're picked at the moment to finish eighth. We need to prove the so called "experts" wrong. I think we have it in us to do just that.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> <strong>First Month of Season</strong></p><p> </p><p> Well, we finished off my first month of head coaching going 2-2. Not great, but it could have been much worse. What I don't like is we dropped our first conference game. I was hoping we could squeak one out, but alas, it was not to be.</p><p> </p><p> Week 1: Buffalo (Win 12-10) </p><p> Week 2: Ball State (Loss 26-16)</p><p> Week 3: Memphis (Win 27-25)</p><p> Week 4: @ Colorado State (Loss 24-3)</p><p> </p><p> In week 1, Alex Crowe had a huge rushing day, gaining 192 yards on 36 carries. I can say pretty confidently that if it weren't for Crowe, we wouldn't have won our opener. To date, Crowe has rushed for 443 yards and a touchdown on 111 carries. He's playing big for us.</p><p> </p><p> In week 3, tight end Jimmy Jones had a huge game for us. He caught a meager four balls, but he went for 148 yards and two scores. Memphis just couldn't contain the big man. Jones currently has 275 yards on 12 catches and three touchdowns. We need Jimmy to keep up the pace.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> <strong>Second Month of Season</strong></p><p> </p><p> We got our first conference win. That's feels awesome. I love it. We only had two games this month, but going 1-1 against the two teams we played is awesome for us. I know the guys gained some confidence this month.</p><p> </p><p> Week 5: Open</p><p> Week 6: TCU (Loss 18-3)</p><p> Week 7: BYU (Win 34-24)</p><p> Week 8: Open</p><p> </p><p> In our win against BYU, quarterback Chris Witcher had a huge game, completing 16-29 for 370 yards and four touchdowns. I must say, I would have never dreamed that Witcher were capable of doing anything like that. To date, Witcher has completed 27 of 70 pases for 564 yards with five touchdowns and eight interceptions. See what I mean?</p><p> </p><p> There isn't really much else to talk about right now. Our defense is definately keeping us in games. It's that simple. When your offense is ranked #106 in the nation, there's not much you can do but hope that your defense doesn't have an off day. </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> <strong>Third Month of Season</strong></p><p> </p><p> Another month comes, another even so-so batch of games. We gave the gem of the conference, Utah, all they could handle. But we lost. We did manage to pick up a few more conference wins though, so it wasn't all bad. I know we have to start out slow, so we'll take what we can get.</p><p> </p><p> Week 9: Utah (Loss 20-17)</p><p> Week 10: UNLV (Win 29-17)</p><p> Week 11: Air Force (Loss 41-3)</p><p> Week 12: Wyoming (Win 28-26)</p><p> </p><p> Alex Crowe had another huge game in Week 12 against Wymong. Crowe rushed for 172 yards on 35 carries with two touchdowns. On the season so far, Crowe has rushed for 1103 yards on 295 yards (3.74 average) and four touchdowns. As Alex goes, we go. No doubt about that one.</p><p> </p><p> In the four week span, we've managed to stay about the same with our offense struggles. We've actually raised up a couple of places to #104 nationally. Seriously, if we are able to break through the top 100, I will jump for joy. Alas, I just don't see it happening.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> <strong>Final Month of Season</strong></p><p> </p><p> The regular season has come to an end, and boy am I releaved. We had a much better season then I was expecting. We set out a few goals and I think we achieved them. I'll give my season thoughts as a whole later.</p><p> </p><p> Week 13: @ New Mexico (Win 28-26)</p><p> Week 14: Western Michigan (Loss 27-26)</p><p> Week 15: Open</p><p> </p><p> In week 13, we had a few players step up for us. First, quarterback Chris Witcher had his second huge game of the season, leading the nation that week in passing. He completed 20 of 42 passes for 449 yards and two touchdowns. Once again, I just didn't see this one coming. Witcher finished the season completing 80 for 184 passes 1619 yards with 11 touchdowns and 16 interceptions. </p><p> </p><p> That same week, senior wide reciever James Cavil caught a good majority of those passes that Witcher threw. Cavil brought in seven passes for 151 yards and a score. Cavil has come along quite nicely this year, catching 41 passes for 749 yards and two touchdowns. </p><p> </p><p> I must tell you though, I'm a man of my word. We finished the regular season with the #95 ranked offense in the nation. I just jumped up with joy. I didn't think we had it in us, but the guys pulled through. Our defense was middle of the pack, ranked #65 in the nation. If it weren't for them, then we would have had nearly the season that we did. Overall, I'm pretty happy with the guys.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> <strong>Award Winners</strong></p><p> </p><p> 1st team</p><p> Alex Crowe (RB)</p><p> Jimmi Jones (TE)</p><p> Tavian Huffman (DE)</p><p> </p><p> 2nd team</p><p> Sylvester Miller (K)</p><p> </p><p> 3rd team</p><p> Alfred Smith (WR)</p><p> Shawn Levens (G)</p><p> Greg Perry (P)</p><p> </p><p> I couldn't be happier for the guys that got recognized. I figured Crowe would get a first team nod, but Jones and Huffman were surprises to me. Only Huffman and Perry will be gone next year, so we've got some solid talent returning.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> <strong>Final Season Thoughts</strong></p><p> </p><p> We finished the season on a down note, losing a game that I think would have put us in a bowl game. Oh well, our guys still managed to gain a 6-6 record, 4-4 in conference. I said at the beginning of the year that I thought we were good enough to finish fourth in the conference when all the experts had us pegged for eighth. I hate to tell them "experts" I told you so, but hey, I told ya so. I just couldn't help myself. Still, we didn't manage a bowl game, which would have just been icing on the cake. Hopefully, next year, we'll get there.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boog23 Posted May 10, 2009 Author Share Posted May 10, 2009 Our seaon has just ended and I've already got a missed call. I open it up and see that Southern Miss is interested in me joining them as their head coach. I'm flattered. Southern Miss has a reputation as putting a hard working football team out on the field. I give it some thought but then realize that I can't leave my guys. I'm here to make SDSU into something that people can be proud of. I've gone ahead and fired our offensive coordinator. I mean, come on. We all knew that this one was coming. We hired Gary Richardson, who is a 33 year old looking to make a name for himself. What I find kinda interesting is that he went to BYU when he was a student. Hopefully, he'll be up for the task of taking down his alma matter. We've got a couple of options for transfers. We've got a total of 15 scholarships to fill, so I give some serious thought into offering a scholly to a couple of players. But with a tight budget of just over 47 thousand dollars to recruit with, I think it wiser if we just save our money and bring in some players that we can groom ourselves. Recruiting Season I know that I'm new around here, so I'm gonna stick mainly to Caifornia and the surrounding states. Ideally, I would like to build up a good repoire with the coaches in our own backyard. At the moment though, I can't be to picky with what we get. We've touched base with a number of players. First, we've targeted areas where we need depth. Cornerback, defensive tackle, center and fullback. It's plain and simple. We needed players there. Then I targeted the offensive line. That was a big eye sore for us last year. I know that whoever we get will take some time to develope, but still, we've got to get better up front. The defense isn't going unnoticed though. We know we have some holes there. We need to fill the void left by first team defensive end Tavian Huffman. We've got a solid linebacker that we need to replace as well. We know we need to get better. Hell, at the moment, our most pressing need is just in the overall talent department. Hopefully, with a solid class, we'll be able to turn things around. I've got a list of players that I've offered and players that I've also contacted after week one: Targeted Recruits QB Scott Grimsley FB Kevin Spencer WR KaRon Richter OT Jim McAdoo OG Butch Howard OG Jim Surtain C Jerry Rolle DT Jessie Burbage ILB Kurt Flanagan OLB Quinn Gold CB Jeff Marshall CB Ron Tripucka FS Kent Snyder SS Anthony Payne SS Nate Tillman Other Recruits QB Zeron Schmidt FB Mike Rubin WR David Brown Quinn Gold is the catch out of the bunch. He's a do it all linebacker that is always around the ball. KaRon Richter also has some skills. Out of the bunch, the only players that I've offered that aren't from the state of California are]Gold and Jeff Marshall. Gold is from Texas while Marshall is from Idaho. I'm sticking to the plan of making headway in California, where no doubt it's in the top three of most prolific states in terms of talent coming out of high school. A few weeks have gone by and we still don't have any movement. Everyone is still around that we're after, so that's good for us. Targeted Recruits QB Scott Grimsley FB Kevin Spencer WR KaRon Richter OT Jim McAdoo OG Butch Howard OG Jim Surtain C Jerry Rolle DT Jessie Burbage ILB Kurt Flanagan OLB Quinn Gold CB Jeff Marshall CB Ron Tripucka FS Kent Snyder SS Anthony Payne SS Nate Tillman Other Recruits QB Zeron Schmidt FB Mike Rubin FB Randy Arnold WR David Brown WR Rod Maynard OT Carnell Howard ILB Lester Taylor We've got a couple of guys with multiple offers that we're after. Gold is the most highly sought, with Texas Tech, Oklahoma State and Texas A&M all offering the outside backer. Richter is being offered by Boise State. Rolle is also being offered by Hawaii. Outside of those three, we're not sweating any of the players we're after. Players that we've pitched so far: Quinn Gold Kurt Flanagan KaRon Richter Anthony Payne Scott Grimsley Butch Howard Jessie Burbage Kevin Spencer Jeff Marshall Jim Surtain Jerry Rolle Nate Tillman A couple weeks later, we got some bad news. Quinn Gold, who we were after hot and heavy, decided to take his services to Oklahoma State. That really sucks for us. Especially considering he called and said he was interested in us. Oh well, we can't get them all. The very next week that we lost out on Quinn Gold, we struck Gold! We had eight players commit to us. That's awesome. Here's who wanted to become an Aztec: Players committing to San Diego State ILB Kurt Flanagan QB Scott Grimsley OT Jim McAdoo WR KaRon Richter FS Kent Snyder OG Butch Howard OG Jim Surtain SS Nate Tillman We didn't lose anyone that we were offering, so this is a good week by far. Here's who is still left: Targeted Recruits FB Kevin Spencer C Jerry Rolle DE James Garmon DE John Little DT Jessie Burbage CB Jeff Marshall SS Anthony Payne Other Recruits QB Zeron Schmidt FB Mike Rubin FB Randy Arnold WR David Brown WR Rod Maynard ILB Lester Taylor ILB James Bouman OLB Jevon Reid John Little is the guy that we offered in place of Quinn. I felt we needed more depth on the defensive line, so the offer went to him. The very next week of recruiting, we sure look to have hit our stride. The guys on the staff have done nothing but haul in the players that we wanted. Here's who has signed with us: Players committing to San Diego State SS Anthony Payne CB Jeff Marshall FB Kevin Spencer C Jerry Rolle Ironically, the three remaining scholarships are all to players on the defensive line. We need to get those guys signed for us to have a good year this year. Our d-line is weak, to say the least, so we need all the help on the front as we can get. Another week, another two commitments. Here's who's here now: Players committing to San Diego State DT Jessie Burbage DE John Little We've still got one scholarship out there, so hopefully James Garmon decides to sign soon. I like the way our class is shaping up, but with Garmon, I think it would be complete. The following week, we got our guy. Just to make it official, here's what went down: Players committing to San Diego State DE James Garmon And that's our class. Here's what the entire thing looks like: The following recruits ended up coming to San Diego State: OT Jim McAdoo, 3-stars Galileo Academy (San Francisco, CA) National Rank: 760, Regional: 150, Position: 70 OG Jim Surtain, 3-stars Valley Christian Academy (Roseville, CA) National Rank: 1000, Regional: 191, Position: 66 OG Butch Howard, 3-stars Vincent Memorial (Calexico, CA) National Rank: 832, Regional: 162, Position: 55 C Jerry Rolle, 3-stars Las Lomas (Walnut Creek, CA) National Rank: 1037, Regional: 194, Position: 33 DT Jessie Burbage, 3-stars Valley View (Ontario, CA) National Rank: 862, Regional: 169, Position: 36 ILB Kurt Flanagan, 3-stars Armijo (Fairfield, CA) National Rank: 679, Regional: 128, Position: 46 CB Jeff Marshall, 3-stars Weiser (Weiser, ID) National Rank: 920, Regional: 180, Position: 102 FS Kent Snyder, 3-stars Santa Fe Christian (Solana Beach, CA) National Rank: 723, Regional: 138, Position: 31 SS Anthony Payne, 3-stars Sweetwater (National City, CA) National Rank: 725, Regional: 139, Position: 28 SS Nate Tillman, 3-stars Vacaville (Vacaville, CA) National Rank: 1102, Regional: 212, Position: 36 QB Scott Grimsley, 3-stars Orestimba (Newman, CA) National Rank: 732, Regional: 141, Position: 45 FB Kevin Spencer, 3-stars St. Patrick/St. Vincent (Vallejo, CA) National Rank: 868, Regional: 172, Position: 27 WR KaRon Richter, 3-stars East Nicolaus (Nicolaus, CA) National Rank: 697, Regional: 134, Position: 91 DE James Garmon, 3-stars Culver City (Culver City, CA) National Rank: 646, Regional: 120, Position: 47 DE John Little, 3-stars Niobara County (Lusk, WY) National Rank: 907, Regional: 176, Position: 65 We got a little bit of everything in this one. We got a quarterback that I think could come in and compete for playing time right away. We got some much needed help on the offensive line. We got a reciever that should come in and compete right away. The three defensive lineman should be able to come in and contribute. All in all, I think that this is as good a class as we could have hoped for in our first year here. I'm happy to report, that after everything that went down, we managed to get the #44 ranked recruiting class in the nation. That's a good turn around if you ask me. I feel like we're moving in the right direction. We need to continue this trend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boog23 Posted May 13, 2009 Author Share Posted May 13, 2009 It's time for another season! Boy, this is a big one for us. We're gonna have to play a lot of the freshman that are coming in. I mean, seriously, there wasn't much talent coming back for us. Sure, we have all conference running back, Alex Crowe. All Conference tight end, Jimmi Jones, is back as well. 3rd team reciever, Alfred Smith, should have another strong year. Outside of that though, our freshman are gonna have to play a huge role for us. If they don't grow up quickly, we could be in some serious trouble. We liked what Gridiron.com. I really liked the service that they gave us last year. They tipped us on a lot of players that I think will do really well for us. Like my daddy always said, if it aint broke, don't fix it. Our philosophies have stayed exactly the same as last year. We need to feature Crowe, which we will, and let our linebackers roam the field and make plays. Schedule Week 1: @ Ball State Week 2: @ Memphis Week 3: @ Western Michigan Week 4: @ Utah Week 5: Open Week 6: Air Force Week 7: @ TCU Week 8: Wyoming Week 9: @ BYU Week 10: Colorado State Week 11: UNLV Week 12: Open Week 13: @ New Mexico Week 14: @ Buffalo Week 15: Open Oh my god, do we have a challenging schedule. We have a total of four home games. I guess that's what you get when you have four home and home games. Oh well. I guess our freshman are gonna be thrown into the fire right away (had to happen some time). Should be an interesting season, that's for sure. First Month of Season We had a rough go of it. I was hoping for at least a 3-1 record, but alas, that just didn't happen. We just aren't very consistant. We win one, we lose one. If we were a bit more experienced, I think we could handle our schedule a little But we're young, so we have to live with what we have. Week 1: @ Ball State (W 27-17) Week 2: @ Memphis (L 24-13) Week 3: @ Western Michigan (W 22-10) Week 4: @ Utah (L 25-10) In week 1, Alex Crowe had a great start to the season. Crowe, the stud running back for us, rushed for 204 yards on 33 carries. We need him to continue that play this year for us to be successful. True freshman, Scott Grimsley, had a solid start to the season. Grimsley completed 19-32 passes for 210 yards and three touchdowns. Fellow freshman, KaRon Richter caught quite a bit of those passes, seven in total. Richter finished the game with 7 catches for 89 yards and a score. On defense, Kent Snyder lead the way for us. The freshman free safety had six tackles and a pick. Sophmore Donnie Armstead chipped in with seven tackles and two sacks. Redshirt freshman Le'Shai Heller had four tackles and two interceptions. Week 3 against Western Michigan, Alex Crowe struck again. On 27 rushing attempts, he gained 138 yards. That's a average of 5.11 yards per catch. I couldn't be happier with the effort. On defense, Kent Snyder picked off his second pass of the year. Fellow freshman, Jessie Burbage, recorded his first tackle, which was his first sack. Congrats kid. We need to pick up the pace some. We can't keep winning one, then give it right back. We need to be more consistant. I know we can, but with the schedule we have, I think we're doing our best. That's all I can ask these guys. Second Month of Season We had a better month then last. That's what we need right now. We're beating the teams that we're suppose to, which is what I really like. This month was especially difficult cosidering we didn't have Alex Crowe, out with a injury. Week 5: Open Week 6: #25 Air Force (L 30-17) Week 7: @ TCU (W 26-14) Week 8: Wyoming (W 26-24) There really wasn't anyone that stood out in the TCU game. Freshman Kurt Flanigan lead us with 7 tackles, three run stuffs and two pass deflections. Fellow freshman, Anthony Payne, recorded nine tackles in this one as well. Kent Snyder chipped in with six tackles. That's about the excitement of this one. We only passed for 165 yards and rushed for 118 yards. Thank god for our defense. In week 8, Scott Grimsley had his second huge game of the year, completing 21-26 passes for 234 yards and a touchdown. Although not catching a ball, Richter did have his first rush of the year, a 40 yard touchdown run! With Crowe out, we have to be able to manufacture points some way. Defensive Tackle Jessie Burbage had a good game, recording two big sacks and a forced fumble for us. Heller also had one. A pair of freshman contributed in the turnover department. Kent Snyder picked off two more picks while Kurt Flanigan contributed with one. Our freshman are stepping up and contributing for us. At the halfway point, we've got a 4-3 record, which is all I could have hoped for. Midseason Stats Passing Scott Grimsley: 60-100 passing / 60% passing / 683 yards / 5 TD / 3 INT Ty Krieder: 44-92 passing / 47.8% passing / 526 yards / 3 TD / 7 INT Rushing Alex Crowe: 90 carries / 505 yards / 126.2 yards per game / 1 touchdown Recieving Kevin Spencer: 26 catches / 322 yards / 3 touchdowns KaRon Richter: 16 cathces / 216 yards / 3 touchdowns Alfred Smith: 9 catches / 135 yards / 0 touchdowns Jimmi Jones: 8 catches / 101 yards / 2 touchdowns Defense Kent Snyder: 50 tackles / 5 run stuffs / 5 pass deflections Kurt Flanigan: 40 tackles / 1 sack / 7 run stuffs / 1 forced fumble / 2 pass deflections Nate Tillman: 37 tackles / 1 run stuff / 1 pass deflection Donnie Armstead: 33 tackles / 2 sacks / 2 run stuffs / 3 forced fumbles / 2 pass deflections Jessie Burbage: 5 tackles / 4 sacks / 1 forced fumble Defensive Turnovers Kent Snyder: 4 interceptions Tyronne Izzo: 3 interceptions Le'Shai Heller: 2 interceptions Kurt Flanigan: 1 interception Zach Crawford: 4 fumble recoveries Jessie Burbage: 2 fumble recoveries Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boog23 Posted May 14, 2009 Author Share Posted May 14, 2009 Third Month of Season Boy, this was a big month for us. I can't ask more then a perfect month. We beat one of our rivals and beat the defending conference champs. I can't ask for much more then that. Week 9: @ BYU (W 34-23) Week 10: Colorado State (W 13-9) Week 11: UNLV (W 34-14) Week 12: Open Against BYU, Scott Grimsley had a solid game. He completed 22 of 33 passes for 222 yards and two touchdown passes. A couple of freshman were on the majority of the receiving end of most of the passes. Kevin Spencer caught six passes for 98 yards and a touchdown while KaRon Richter caught seven passes for 76 yards and a score. The passing game is coming along pretty well for being a running team. Alex Crowe had another solid game. 130 yards on 30 attempts plus a touchdown is a good days work. It's good to have the big guy back. On defense, Kent Snyder has turned into our defensive leader, recording 12 tackles and a forced fumble. Donnie Armstead was solid, recording nine tackles and two run stuffs. Zack Crawford didn't have a huge game tackle wise, but he sure made up for that with his two forced fumbles. Overall, pretty solid win. In week 10, against Colorado State, our defense is the reason why we won that game. Our offensive didn't show up, period. It's that simple. Kent Snyder played his butt off, recording 12 tackles for the second straight game, while forcing two fumbles. Kurt Flanigan was solid again, recording seven tackles and two run stuffs. Le'Shai Heller added a sack in this one as well. But the game was one by little used redshirt sophmore, Bart Erickson. Erickson, an outside linebacker, has played in all seven games, but he isn't a starter. In this one though, he made the single most important play of the game, returning a interception for 38 long yards. It's players like Erickson that make us the team that we are. Against UNLV, it was the Alex Crowe show on offense. The guy is amazing, rushing for 150 yards on 35 carries with a score. He's our rock. As he goes, we go. KaRon Richter is usually a big player for us on offense, but in this one, he was huge in the return game, taking a punt 50 yards to the house. This guy is amazing. This year, he's caught a few touchdown passes, rushed for one and now has a return for a score. He is probably the best impact freshman of the year on offense for us. Donnie Armstead decided it was his turn to lead us on defense, recording nine tackles, a run stuff and a interception. Our other inside backer, Kurt Flanigan, had a nice game as well, recording 6 tackles and a run stuff. Zach Crawford added a sack as well. Overall, I couldn't be happier with the way this month went. We're now guaranteed a winning season. We've got a couple of winable games coming up, so we need to get in gear and continue the winning trend. Final Month of Season Man, that's what I like to see. That's how you finish off the regular season. I couldn't be happier for the guys then what they did. We finished in a tie for first in the conference, but because Air Force beat us during the year, they get the crown. Oh well, we did well. Week 13: @ New Mexico (W 31-24) Week 14: @ Buffalo (W 41-3) Week 15: Open Alex Crowe was the man against New Mexico. Crowe rushed for 102 yards on 24 attempts. We needed that kind of production, and he produced. Crowe has been huge for us all year long. Ty Kreider was the man for us at quarterback, completing 8 of 21 passes for 162 yards with two touchdowns and a pick. Both touchdown passes went to the same player, sensational freshman KaRon Richter. Richter finished the game with four catches for 78 yards to go along with those two scores. Kent Snyder took home player of the game honors. Snyder finished the game with 12 tackles, one pass deflection and one interception, which he returned 59 yards for a touchdown. Dude had a great day. Donnie Armstead had almost as good a day with seven tackles, two run stuffs, one interception and a forced fumble. Kurt Flanigan also got in the action with seven tackles and a forced fumble. Zach Crawford contributed with a forced fumble as well. In our regular season finale, we really put a hurtin' on Buffalo. Of coarse, leading the way for us was Alex Crowe. Crowe finished the day carrying the ball 24 times for 141 yards and a touchdown. Little used freshman fullback also had a good day rushing, carrying the ball four times for 67 yards. For the second straight game, Ty Kreider lead us to victory, completing 4 of 9 passes for 147 yards with two touchdowns and a pick. KaRon Richter was the recipient of one of the touchdown passes, finishing the day with three catches for 64 yards. Little used redshirt tight end, Jimmy Ray, caught the other touchdown pass, going for 66 yards. On defense, Kurt Flanigan was the man for us, recording nine tackles and one sack. Donnie Armstead contributed with seven tackles and a forced fumble. Kent Snyder was his usual steady self, recording eight tackles. Cornerback Tyronne Izzo had a huge game, picking off two passes. But the play of the game on the defensive end was made by one of the biggest players on d. Jessie Burbage recorded only one sack, which turned into a forced fumble, which turned into a fumble recovery, which then turned into a 30 yard touchdown return. The big man was busy on that play. Season Awards 1st Team Jim McAdoo (G) Jessie Burbage (DT) Tyronne Izzo (CB) Kent Snyder (FS) : Also was named freshman of the year in conference 2nd Team Sylvester Miller (K) 3rd Team Kevin Spender (FB) KaRon Richter (WR) Ron Nilland (G) Jerry Rolle © We had a lot of freshman on the squad this year, but I'm a little disappointed that Crowe didn't get any recognition. Seriously, the dude rushed for over 1100 yards, second most in the conference. Oh well, it would have been nice for him to go out with another award, but still, he had a solid career here. Out of the bunch, we're gonna lose only Nilland. Six of the players we put on the teams were freshman, a testament to the type of recruiting we do here in San Diego. I'm probably most proud of this group, considering the majority of them are players that we brought in. Bowl Game I just got some great news from Joey. He told me that we have been contracted by the San Francisco bowl. I thought, hell yeah! That's great news. It's virtually a home game for us. I was so pumped. "Do you know who we're gonna play?", I asked. "UCLA". Damn. Well, there went our homefield advantage. UCLA had a fine season, finishing with a 7-4 record, 4-4 in the Pac 10. I know we'll be in for a big test. Hopefully, we'll be up to it. UCLA 37 , San Diego State 13 We just got beat in every facet of the game. Our defense couldn't stop their offense and our offense couldn't generate enough of a passing game. But hey, we're not at the level now where we can compete with the elite of the Pac-10. We're still a mid major program. Alex Crowe had his usual game, gaining 156 yards on 22 carries. Outside of him, nobody else did anything worth mentioning on offense. Our defense did their best to keep us in the game, but they had way to much firepower for us to overcome. Kent Snyder lead us again, recording 11 tackles while Donnie Armstead finished with eight tackles. Both Tyronne Izzo and Nate Tillman forced fumbles while my two freshman defensive ends, James Garmon and John Little recorded a sack. We tried but it just wasn't to be. Final Season Record: 9-4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Six Posted May 14, 2009 Share Posted May 14, 2009 I'm enjoying your dynasty, boog. It sounds like you're bringing in the kinds of recruits you want and developing them into solid college players. Keep up the good work! I'll be following along. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boog23 Posted May 14, 2009 Author Share Posted May 14, 2009 I'm bummed that we lost to UCLA in my first bowl game as a head coach, but I know there's no time to dwell on the past. I need to get a head start on the next phase of the season, recruiting the players that wil help make us better. Before I can get started though, I realize that I've got a couple of missed calls. I catch my voice mail and to my surprise, it's A.D.s from other universities offering me a chance to jump ship. The first is from Marshall, who I quickly delete because in all honesty, I don't have any desire to coach there. The next two, East Carolina and Houston, get the same treatment from me. Then comes the big one. Indiana. My alma matter. They're coming off a 2-10 season, so things haven't been going well since I left. I think about the pros and cons that going to IU would bring. I could move my family back home. I mean, Indiana is my home. In the end though, I just can't leave my guys. I'm in this for the long haul. I want to make SDSU a major force in the Mountain West Conference. Hopefully, I can make that come true. Once again, I seriously think about bringing in a big time transfer. We have a couple of possibilities, but like last year, I think we'll just keep our money and take our chances with the in-roads that we made last year in recruiting. Recruiting Season We're two weeks into the process and have a pretty good idea of the type of players that we could be looking at. Here's a list of players that we've contracted and offered: Targeted Recruits RB Kevin Stewart RB Tommy Harris WR Corey Cogdill WR David Hauss WR Glenn Glosson TE Timmy Dolbin TE Mike Bates TE Max Wilson OT Bob Hamilton C Lawrence Green ILB Duane Brooks OLB Hunter Dyer CB Mike Dunn CB Andre' Haygood CB Leon Wyrick Other Recruits RB Kenyon Panfil RB James Brumm WR Steve Miller WR Shawn Norris CB Ovie Dyson Hunter Dyer and Leon Wyrick are the only players in the bunch outside of California that we've offered. Dyer, an outside linebacker, is a terror on opposing players in the backfield. Running back Kevin Stewart could also be a huge get for us. The freshman to be just finished his senior year rushing for 1437 yards and 13 touchdowns. We go all the way into week five before we get any sort of movement. Boy, was the wait worth it! We signed 11 out of our 15 available scholarships that week, something that is unheard of for us. For who is coming to San Diego, it went down as follows: Players committing to San Diego State OLB Hunter Dyer RB Tommy Harris RB Kevin Stewart C Lawrence Green TE Mike Bates TE Timmy Dolbin TE Max Wilson CB Andre' Haygood WR Corey Cogdill OT Bob Hamilton CB Leon Wyrick Players recruited that committed to other schools WR David Hauss - San Jose State WR David Stoudt - Wyoming RB James Brumm - New Mexico C Leeland Irons - Oregon TE Adger Manning - Oregon DT Michael Elwell - San Jose State CB Ovie Dyson - San Jose State Out of the group that didn't sign with us, only Hauss was offered by us. We loaded up on skill players so that Scott Grimsley would have plenty of weapons around him, now that Crowe isn't on campus. Green looks like someone that could come in and play right away. Dyer should come in and compete for a starting spot right out of the gate. I'm expecting big things out of Stewart as well. So now, we have four scholarships still out there. Three of which have been offered, but I'll take my time in offering the last. All players offered have been pitches to, so now I'm just waiting on an answer. Here's a list of players offered: Targeted Recruits WR Glenn Glosson ILB Duane Brooks CB Mike Dunn The following week, we offered a four star defensive tackle. He's a longshot, but at this point in the game, why not give it a shot? He's got some interest in us, so it's not like we're going into this blindly. Two of the players that we offered accepted that same week. Here's what went down: Players committing to San Diego State ILB Duane Brooks CB Mike Dunn Players recruited that committed to other schools FB Michael Holt - Boise State We needed more defensive players, so getting both Brooks and Dunn (haha) were good gets for us. Brooks specifically looks good. He could be a real player for us. The very next week, that d-tackle decided he didn't like us and went to Pac-10 school, Arizona. I can't blame the guy. He's got major conference talent. Still though, we have a scholarship we need to use and am starting to run out of time. The following week, we get our fourth, yes that's fourth, commitment from a tight end. That's a position that I like to have filled, something I think we did rather well this recruiting year. Players committing to San Diego State TE Sam Collins Players recruited that committed to other schools K Bob Hebert - Texas A&M ILB Jeff Adamle - California-LA DE Jonathan Brees - Stanford FS Greg Collins - Arizona State C Charlie Walker - Arizona State FB Art Redd - Wash State That leaves one scholarship remaining, offered to wide reciever Greg Glosson. Hopefully, the young man decides that San Diego is the place for him. The recruiting season ends without our final scholarship being filled. Even then, I'm happy with the class that we've brought in. The following is a list of players that we signed: OLB Hunter Dyer, 3-stars Sandusky (Sandusky, MI) National Rank: 410, Regional: 75, Position: 31 RB Kevin Stewart, 3-stars El Molino (Forestville, CA) National Rank: 585, Regional: 117, Position: 44 TE Timmy Dolbin, 3-stars Hillsdale (San Mateo, CA) National Rank: 744, Regional: 144, Position: 42 WR Corey Cogdill, 3-stars Downey (Modesto, CA) National Rank: 981, Regional: 187, Position: 139 CB Mike Dunn, 3-stars Highland (Palmdale, CA) National Rank: 1058, Regional: 196, Position: 109 RB Tommy Harris, 3-stars Westlake (Westlake Village, CA) National Rank: 785, Regional: 155, Position: 61 ILB Duane Brooks, 3-stars Patrick Henry (San Diego, CA) National Rank: 930, Regional: 177, Position: 50 C Lawrence Green, 3-stars Harker Academy (San Jose, CA) National Rank: 823, Regional: 161, Position: 26 TE Mike Bates, 3-stars Los Molinos (Los Molinos, CA) National Rank: 896, Regional: 173, Position: 47 CB Andre' Haygood, 3-stars Oceanside (Oceanside, CA) National Rank: 911, Regional: 175, Position: 87 TE Max Wilson, 3-stars Hawthorne (Hawthorne, CA) National Rank: 771, Regional: 151, Position: 43 OT Bob Hamilton, 2-stars Clayton Valley (Concord, CA) National Rank: 1173, Regional: 215, Position: 76 CB Leon Wyrick, 2-stars Gainesville (Gainesville, GA) National Rank: 905, Regional: 248, Position: 86 TE Sam Collins, 2-stars North (Bakersfield, CA) National Rank: 1111, Regional: 202, Position: 60 With the class that we are bringing in, I feel like we have a chance to compete for the conference yet again. We brought in a couple of running backs to replace the great Alex Crowe. Tight end was a area of concern for us. We brought in four, the best being Timmy Dolbin. We addressed our offensive line a bit. We managed to pick up a couple of cornerbacks. The two linebackers we brought in maybe the best two players in the whole class. I think we did one hell of a job. Final Class Ranking: #48 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boog23 Posted May 16, 2009 Author Share Posted May 16, 2009 We go into this season with the mindset of, if it's not broke, why fix it? We're using the same recruiting service. We're sticking with our bread and butter on defense, the 3-4. The one thing that we are gonna do is run a balanced offense. We are gonna have a freshman at running back, so we need to alieveate some of the pressure off of him. Hopefully, Scott Grimsley is up for it. Schedule Week 1: UAB Week 2: Open Week 3: Central Florida Week 4: UNLV Week 5: @ New Mexico Week 6: @ Wyoming Week 7: Open Week 8: TCU Week 9: Colorado State Week 10: @ Utah Week 11: BYU Week 12: @ Air Force Week 13: Central Texas Week 14: Cincinatti Week 15: Open First Month of Season This years schedule is considerably more difficult then previous years. We've picked up a game against Big East competitor Cincinatti. UAB is also going to be a good test for us. We had a rough go of it to start the season. UAB is a good team. They'll do things this year. But what I like is that after that, we bounced back and were on our winning ways. Here's what happened: Week 1: UAB (L 20-7) Week 2: Open Week 3: Central Florida (W 29-21) Week 4: UNLV (W 29-15) There wasn't much to be happy about following the BYU loss, but one player left it all on the field. Donnie Armstead made the national leader board with 12 tackles and a sack. That's the best game of his career. To bad it was in a loss. Against Central Florida, our freshman tandom at running back combined for almost 100 yards. Tommy Harris had 56 yards while Kevin Stewart chipped in with 42. Later on in the game, Stewart recorded his first collegiate touchdown, although it was of the recieving kind. Scott Grimsley had a so-so game. 17-26 for 110 yards with a touchdown and a pick is all the sophmore could muster up. Ty Krieder was good in relief, completing 7 of 13 for 142 with a touchdown and a interception. KaRon Richter was on the recieving end of Grimsley pass. Richter finished the game with six catches for 62 yards. Freshman Hunter Dyer had his best game of his young career as well. Dyer finished the game with five tackles, two sacks, one run stuff, one forced fumble and two pass deflections. Nate Tillman had a interception in this one while Jessie Burbage and James Garmon both had sacks. This was a solid win for us. The win against UNLV was all Tommy Harris. The super freshman had a superb game, rushing for 99 yards on 23 attempts. This was easily his best game of the year. Fullback Kevin Spencer had a rushing touchdown Both Scott Grimsley and Ty Krieder played well in this one. Grimsley finished the game going 8-15 for 122 yards while Krieder was 11-14 for 116 yards with a touchdown and a interception. For the second straight game, Kevin Stewart was the recipient fo the touchdown pass. Linebackers Armstead and Hiller lead the defense. Armstead finished the game with 10 tackles and a fumble while Hiller chipped in with seven tackles. Freshman Lyon Wyrick had his first interception of his career. Kurt Flanigan and John Little both had sacks in this one. Flanigan also forced a fumble. We didn't get off to the best start in the world, but going 2-1 is something that I can live with, especially with the young bunch we have. Once again, our defense is gonna have to carry us. We don't have the running game that we've been spoiled with over the years, but I feel that if we give the young guys some time, we'll get real production out of them. Second Month of Season This is like deja vue all over again. Just like last year, we had a repeat of the first two months of the year. We lose one, then rail off a couple of wins in a row. We're playing solid, it's just that in our loses, we keep shooting ourselves in the foot. Week 5: @ New Mexico (L 27-9) Week 6: Wyoming (W 24-21) Week 7: Open Week 8: TCU (W 32-10) I talked about shooting ourselves in the foot against teams. Well, the New Mexico game is a perfect example. Statistically, we should have won that game. We had more passing yards, more rushing yards, we got to the quarterback more. The diference was we kept turning the ball over. Everytime we would get something going, we would throw an interception or fumble the ball. Ty Krieder went alone in this one, completing 16 of 37 passes for 241 yards but had three costly interceptions. KaRon Richter had a huge game recieving, catching six passes for 126 yards. Freshman Corey Cogdill had a solid game as well, catching three passes for 53 yards. Tommy Harris had the best game of his young career, rushing 23 times for 117 yards. Outside of him, our rushing game was non existant. Hunter Dyer once again lead us on defense, recording seven tackles, two sacks, a run stuff, a pick and a pass deflection. Donnie Armstead was solid as well, recording eight tackles and a pick. Le'Shaie Hunter and Nate Tillman both chipped in with five tackles. Really, a good game statistically, but results were just not there. In week six against Wyoming, we had a solid, all around performance. Scott Grimsley returned to lead us in a big way. Grimsley passed for 158 yards and a touchdown on 14 of 29 completions. Tight end Jimmy Ray was the guy that got that pass, finishing the day with six catches for 87 yards. Corey Cogdill had his second straight good game, finishing with seven catches for 83 yards. Tommy Harris topped the 100 yard mark for the second straight game, finishing with 102 yards on 22 attempts. Once again though, he was our only bright spot in the rushing game. Donnie Armstead was the man on defense, finishing the game with 11 tackles, two run stuffs and a sack. Kent Snyder has been relatively quite this season, but finally broke out with a eight tackle performance. Kurt Flanigan had a pick while John Little had a sack in this one. I gotta be honest. I thought that the TCU game would give us real trouble. It wasn't as easy as it looked, but still, they didn't put up much of a fight, especially in the second half, where we outscored them 19-0. Scott Grimsley had a HORRIBLE game, but did enough for us to get the win. Grimsley completed 12 of 25 passes for 229 yards and two touchdowns, but he threw an abismal five interceptions. That's gotta change. Jimmy Ray caught a touchdown pass for the second straight game while Corey Cogdill was solid yet again, catching three passes for 91 yards and a touchdown. Kent Snyder took home the player of the game honors, recording eight tackles, one sack, one run stuff and two pass deflections. Donnie Armstead had an equally good game, finishing with 11 tackles, two sacks and a run stuff. Both Heller and Flanigan had seven tackles a piece. Jessie Burbage had a huge game, recording a sack and two interceptions, one of which he took back for a score (his second of the year I believe). Anthony Payne also had two picks. John Little contributed with a sack while Hunter Dyer forced a fumble. At the midway point of the season, we're sitting in second for the division crown with a record of 3-1 (behind Colorado State). Our offense isn't a jauggernaut by any means, ranking 81st in the nation, but our defense is where our bread and butter is, ranked #15 in the whole country. We're young and have talent on that side of the ball. Teams have to game plan for us now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boog23 Posted May 17, 2009 Author Share Posted May 17, 2009 Third Month of Season This was a tough month for sure. We just played a stretch with four of the top five teams in the league. I'm happy that we could get the split, but still, I wanted more. Here's what happened: Week 9: #23 Colorado State (W 22-19) Week 10: @ Utah (L 6-3) Week 11: BYU (W 39-3) Week 12: @ Air Force (L 26-17) Colorado State was easily our biggest win, ever. Our offense was spot on, for the most part, and our defense played to their most capable abilities. Seriously, this was a game that we can build apon for the next four years. Scott Grimsley had a solid game, throwing for 243 yards on 12 of 33 passing but he did have one interception. That was really the only blemish of the day for us, so if that's all it is, I can live with it. The duo of Corey Cogdill and KaRon Richter were spectacular once again. Cogdill lead us with five catches for 107 yards while Richter caught two passes for 62 yards. Kevin Stewart was a big reason why we won this one. Stewart, starting in place of fellow freshman Tommy Harris, rushed for a career high 121 yards on 31 carries to go along with a touchdown. I thought that Stewart had the stuff to start for us at the beginning of the year, but I'm happy he showed it in this one. Donnie Armstead lead us once again on defense. The inside linebacker recorded 10 tackles, one sack, one run stuff, two pass deflections and a interception. Anthony Payne and Kent Snyder both had solid games. Payne had nine tackles and a pass deflection while Snyder chipped in with eight tackles. Tyronne Izzo and Mike Dunn both had interceptions while Jessie Burbage and John Little had a sack. Both Burbage and Izzo also forced fumbles. This was a total team win! And then, we go into Utah on a unbelievable high and then come crashing to do earth. Three points is all we could muster? I mean, come on, that's a baseball score. Our offense was non existant. Seriously. It was bad. No joke. Our defense on the other hand came to play. Armstead had 12 tackles. Payne and Kurt Flanigan both had seven tackles. Payne had a interception while Flanigan recorded two sacks. James Garmon had two sacks while Hunter Dyer had one. Dyer also had a interception in this one. Our defense did all they could do to keep us close. It just wasn't to be. After that serious dive in confidence, we once again go on a high that very few experience. We needed a change at quarterback, so we went with Ty Krieder to get us started. Krieder did "alright" for us, completing 13 of 29 for 182 with two touchdowns and two picks. The usual suspects were making the big receptions for us. KaRon Richter had three catches for 82 yards and a score while Corey Cogdill also had three catches for 73 yards. Little used senior running back Haywood McMahon had the other recieving touchdown. The running game finally broke out. Kevin Stewart was the man, rushing 18 times for 93 yards and a touchdown while McMahon rushed the ball 20 times for 96 yards. We were so close to getting two 100 yard rushers in the same game. That would have been awesome. Kent Snyder was player of the game, after seven tackles and two interceptions. Le'Shai Heller had two sacks while Hunter Dyer and Kurt Flanigan both had one. Outside of those four players, nobody really did much on defense stat wise. And then, just when things were going good again, Air Force brought us back to the ground. They took us out of our gameplan. We couldn't get the running game going. I don't think we've ever had as bad a running attack as we had in this one. Scott Grimsley had to try to win this one on his own, but it just wasn't to be. He completed 8 of 21 passes for 206 yards with two picks and three interceptions. Corey Cogdill caught one of those passes, completing the day with two catches for 83 yards. Jimmy Ray had the other touchdown catch, a 53 yarder. That was his only catch of the day. Donnie Armstead was solid yet again, recording 11 tackles and a sack. Anthony Payne recorded nine tackles, Kent Snyder had ten, Hunter Dyer had eight and two sacks, and Le'Shai Heller had seven tackles and a sack. Kurt Flanigan also had a pick in this one. We're going down the home stretch now. We've got two more games left, so we need to finish strong. As is right now, we sit at 6-4, so winning both these games coming up is vital if we want to get back to a bowl game. Last Month of Season That's how you finish a season. We needed to close out the month on a high, and we did just that. Here's what happened: Week 13: Central Texas (W 28-0) Week 14: Cincinatti (W 16-11) Week 15: Open We were hot against Central Texas. Scott Grimsley went at it alone in this one, completing 23 of 32 for 233 yards with two touchdowns and one pick. KaRon Richter, who after a couple of lackluster games, came through with five catches for 70 yards and a score. Freshman tight end Timmy Dolbin caught is his touchdown of his career, finishing the day with six catches for 55 yards. I have no idea what got into Haywood McMahon. Seriously, where has this guy been? He exploded for 122 yards on just 14 carries. That's crazy. Tommy Harris, the starting freshman, rushed 23 times for 92 yards. For the second time this season, we were so close, yet so far from having two 100 yard rushers in the same game. As usual, Donnie Armstead lead us on defense, recording eight tackles, two run stuffs and a forced fumble. Both Anthony Payne and redshirt Jeff Marshall both had interceptions in this one. Jessie Burbage, Le'Shai Heller and James Garmon all had sacks in this one. Burbage and Dyer both had a forced fumble as well. Payne also had a run stuff, which resulted in a safety. The last game of the year was huge for us. To go against a Big East team like Cincinatti and get a win is big for us. Ty Krieder went at it alone in this one, completig 15 of 29 for 213 yards with a touchdown and a pick. Corey Cogdill had the lone touchdown catch, finishing his day with six catches for 61 yards. Sophmore fullback had a good game recieving with 63 yards on two catches. Our running game was non existant. Little used reshirt sophmore Jack Hill rushed for 55 yards on 21 catches. To date, he now had 57 rushing yards for the year. That's how little used Hill was utalized. Donnie Armstead was player of the game with seven tackles, two sacks, one run stuff and one forced fumble. Anthony Payne had eight tackles and two run stuffs. Kent Snyder also had eight tackles and a run stuff. James Garmon had a sack while senior Keenan Kragan forced a fumble. We had a good year, finishing the regular season with an outstanding 8-4 record. With the schedule that we had, I'm happy with what we accomplished this year. We only managed a fourth place finish, but we did a lot of good things. We beat a top 25 team, a first for us. We beat a major conference team, a first for us. We accomplished a lot this year. Season Awards 1st Team Butch Howard (G) Sylvester Miller (K) Donnie Armstead (ILB): Also named as the conference defensive player of the year Cliff Blant (P) 2nd Team Jimmy Ray (TE) Jessie Burbage (DT) Anthony Payne (SS) 3rd Team Hunter Dyer (OLB) Kent Snyder (FS) This is a good group for us. I'm surprised that Ray did get a second team nod. He wasn't a big part of our offensive this year. It's nice that he got a little recognition. I'm excited about one thing though. Not one senior is on this list. That's good news for us. Unfortunately, we didn't get the call that we wanted. We're not going to a bowl game. That sucks. I thought we had a chance with the wins we had, but it just wasn't to be. Oh well, this just gives us motivation for next year. Final Season Record: 8-4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boog23 Posted May 20, 2009 Author Share Posted May 20, 2009 So the season is over, but there's no time to rest. A couple of teams are trying to lure me away from SDSU, namely Oregon and Baylor. I'm not interested in Baylor what so ever, but Oregon has some intrigue. I mean, come on. Nike sponsors the guys. I give it serious thought, until I get an e-mail saying that Oregon has been dropped from the Pac-10 for Fresno State. I gotta be honest. I didn't see that one coming. I decline the offers, respectfully. The transfer period was quite interesting for us. For the first time since I've been here, we've got a couple of players that are considering leaving. Duanne Brooks and Lawrence Green, both of who were redshirted last year have decided to test the waters. I looked over the transfer list. There were actually quite a bit of players interested in us, but much like the previous three seasons, we're gonna take our chances in recruiting. The second week of transfer season comes and we got some real bad news. Both Green and Brooks are taking their services elsewhere. Green is taking his talent to South Carolina of the SEC while Brooks is staying close to home, going to San Jose State. I wish both players long, successful careers. Recruiting Season We go into recruiting with a total of 11 scholarships available for us to use. Like every year we've been here, I'm gonna recruit mainly in California. Yet, there are a couple of prospects that I like that I think could help us out immensly. Here's the list that I've offered: Targeted Recruits QB Markese Harder RB Napoleon Asomugha OT Dick LaFleur DE Greg Morris DE Orlando Hawkins ILB Joshua Jankowski OLB Scott Francis OLB Barry Sanderson OLB Henry Jones CB Willie Mialik SS John Modzelewski As you can see, we're going defense, defense, defense. Asomugha and Mialik are the only players not from the Sunshine State. Asomugha is from Illinois while Mialik is from Michigan. Oddly enough, if Mialik were to commit to us, he would be the second player from Michigan in as many years to commit to us. Looking over the list of players that we've offered, the following players have other schools after them: RB Napoleon Asomugha: Northern Illinois, Northwestern OLB Scott Francis: UNLV SS John Modzelewski: Wake Forest Those three aren't really high priority guys, in terms of position, but still, we want them. Each player has their own kind of value to us. We really don't want to lose Francis to UNLV, a conference foe. Getting John and Napoleon would be huge feats for us, considering major power schools are after them. Either way, we've got to find a way to get them on campus. Four weeks into recruiting, we got some bad news. Defensive end Orlando Hawkins didn't make the grades he needed to become eligable. That sucks. We had big plans for Orlando. We can't dwell on it though. I've got to fill his scholarship offer, and soon. Just a week later, we had some movement among the recruits. Here's who committed and to where: Players committing to San Diego State CB Willie Mialik QB Markese Harder OLB Scott Francis OLB Barry Sanderson DE Greg Morris OLB Henry Jones Players recruited that committed to other schools RB Mark Carlyle - San Jose State WR Mark Wallace - New Mexico We got the defensive players that we're after and got a quarterback, which we sorely needed. We had offered Mark Wallace, but as you can see, he decided to head to New Mexico. Plucking Francis away from UNLV was huge for us as well. With Wallace gone, we've still got a scholarship left. We're probably gonna go offense with it, considering we just had five out of our six committs be defensive players. The following week, we got some good news mixed with a little bad. Here's what went on: Players committing to San Diego State ILB Joshua Jankowski RB Napoleon Asomugha Players recruited that committed to other schools SS John Modzelewski - Wake Forest Getting Napoleon was good for us, as he was being recruited by a couple of schools in his home state. Losing Modzelewski isn't a huge loss for us, considering we have depth there. We've once again got a scholarship open, so I've got to look to fill it with only a couple of weeks left for recruiting. With two weeks to go, we finally got someone else to commit to us. Here's who: Players committing to San Diego State RB Brent Reed Players recruited that committed to other schools OLB Bobby Jones - Arizona State RB Jim Huard - Hawaii I think Reed could be good for us. We didn't need another running back, but his talent was just to good for us to pass up. We've still got two scholarship offers out there, so we just have to wait and see what happens. The final recruiting cycle has come and gone. I've got to admit, I was awfully nervous. Here's what happened: Players committing to San Diego State OG Rod Horn WR Ryan Johnson We finally got a little talent on the offensive side of the ball. We've built one hell of a defense, but our offense is holding us back. Right now, we need depth, which I think we accomplished. For a final check of what went down, here it is: CB Willie Mialik, 3-stars Meridian (Sanford, MI) National Rank: 418, Regional: 67, Position: 32 OLB Barry Sanderson, 3-stars Los Alamitos (Los Alamitos, CA) National Rank: 789, Regional: 164, Position: 68 OLB Scott Francis, 3-stars McFarland (McFarland, CA) National Rank: 812, Regional: 169, Position: 71 QB Markese Harder, 3-stars Granite Bay (Granite Bay, CA) National Rank: 595, Regional: 123, Position: 39 OLB Henry Jones, 3-stars Valley View (Ontario, CA) National Rank: 815, Regional: 170, Position: 72 DE Greg Morris, 3-stars Colton (Colton, CA) National Rank: 950, Regional: 199, Position: 59 ILB Joshua Jankowski, 3-stars Chaparral (El Cajon, CA) National Rank: 890, Regional: 186, Position: 49 RB Brent Reed, 3-stars Hughson (Hughson, CA) National Rank: 647, Regional: 134, Position: 65 OG Rod Horn, 3-stars Mountain Empire (Pine Valley, CA) National Rank: 933, Regional: 193, Position: 51 WR Ryan Johnson, 2-stars Fairfield (Fairfield, CA) National Rank: 1049, Regional: 214, Position: 136 RB Napoleon Asomugha, 2-stars John Hope Prep (Chicago, IL) National Rank: 750, Regional: 124, Position: 73 It's not a huge class in terms of numbers, but it's a good class. We got a quarterback, which we desperately needed. We got a couple of running backs and a slew of good linebackers. I think we'll be pretty good this year, once again. Final Recruiting Class: #59 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vatechfan24 Posted June 2, 2009 Share Posted June 2, 2009 Love reading these things man, keep it up......Nice to see someone that still plays the "Bowl Bound" (I'm sure others do too but still) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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