Sunday, April 02, 2006

The Lost Recruiting Classes of BG Football (not about hoops)

We've already chronicled that this team is young, with an unusually low number of juniors and seniors on the depth chart. This, of course, is not how football is supposed to work. If you recruit well, then you should have juniors and seniors rising at most positions most years.

Add to this allusions Coach Brandon made last year to some lost classes during Meyer II and the Meyer transition, and you have a certified question. Where did all the juniors and seniors go.

FTR, here's the Brandon quotes:


"In the grand scheme of things we had some recruiting holes. We had some depth issues that I thought were going to manifest themselves last year but Omar shows up and goes off that charts. We were able to mask some of those because we out scored everybody. Eventually the lack of depth, caught us. I think it showed up in special teams. Not to say those kids aren't good players but some of them were not ready. We finished the season the way we started the season, struggling to stop people but still outscoring people."


Let's go back and look at the recruiting class for each year, starting with the class that would be 5-Seniors this year, if they progressed as normal through their career. This was Urban's second and final recruiting class.

Players in Green did not redshirt/were JUCO and have completed their eligibility.
Players in Red are no longer with the program.
Players in Blue are with the program, but not on the two-deep.
Players in Black are with the program and on the two-deep.

(That should simplify things.)

So, we brought in 26 players. One reason we don't have fifth year seniors is that 7 of them never redshirted, and three of them were JUCOS. So, you're down to 16.

9 of the 26 simply never made it this far. I don't know if that's a lot or not, but it seems like it is. Now, Omar (pro) was one, and Steve Navarro (medical) was another, so you have plausible explanations on two. Still, if you want to know why you don't have more fifth year seniors, you can start with the 7 you didn't redshirt, the three JUCOS and the 9 who didn't complete their eligibility. You're down to 7 right there.

(By the by, Reggie Corner intercepted a pass against us in the Akron game, and has won one more MAC title than his recruiting class here has to date).

Then you have one player (Will Myles) who is still on the roster, but not on the depth chart.

Which leaves you with six players on the two deep. Now, this really isn't the place to go into the fact that Brantley and Jones have been passed on the depth chart a few times, and aren't really contributing like seniors you would expect. So, with this class, that's the story. I thought you'd find more players surviving but not making the two-deep, but alas, there was only one.


Tim ArnoldDB5-9196Clinton, MD/Friendly HS
Kenneth Brantley IIWR5-11180Shreveport, LA/Evangel Christian
Jay CochranOL6-3300Dayton, OH/Belmont HS
Monty CooleyDL6-2260Carter, GA/Cass HS
Reggie CornerWR5-10165Canton, OH/McKinley HS
Jason HollingsworthLB6-3190Marietta, GA/South Cobb HS
Omar JacobsQB6-4215Delray Beach, FL/Atlantic Community HS
Jamien JohnsonLB 6-1223Ft. Washington, MD/Friendly HS
Van JohnsonQB6-1180Union City, GA/Creekside HS
Brandon JonesWR6-0170Gahanna, OH/Lincoln HS
Jelani JordanDB5-10175Atlanta, GA/Riverwood HS
Jason KaminskiLB6-3220Woodbridge, VA/Hargrave Academy/C.D. Hylton
John LanningOL6-3275Alpharetta, GA/Milton HS
Matt LeiningerDL6-3260Napoleon, OH/Liberty Center HS
Derrick MarkrayOL6-5334Detroit, MI/Cody HS
Terrill MayberryDB5-11170Farmington Hills, MI/Harrison HS
Vardan MkhitarianOL6-3285Burbank, CA/Burbank HS/Pasadena CC
Will MylesQB5-11185Chicago, IL/St. Rita HS
Steve NavarroTE6-2230Orland Park, IL/Carl Sandburg HS
Ted PiepkowLB6-0205Clark Lake, MI/Lumen Christi HS
P.J. PopeRB5-9210Fairfield, OH/Wyoming HS
Jeff RunnellsLB6-3210San Dimas, CA/San Dimas HS/Pasadena CC
Raishaun StoverRB5-10190Cleveland, OH/St. Edward HS
Dexter WallaceDL6-3285Williston, FL/Williston HS
Brad WilliamsDL6-3215Middletown, OH/Lakota East HS
Jesus YanezOL6-3320Los Angeles, CA/Keppel HS/Pasadena CC

(Note, at one point this was accidentially posted while still a draft and a commenter corrected two errors. Thanks).

Now, for the next class. These are players who would be seniors or redshirt juniors this season. This, more than anyone else, is the class that has been referred to as having problems. Its the class that Coach Brandon signed when Urban left in the middle of December, and where there may not have been enough attention as the previous coach had other things on his mind.

23 players. Two JUCO players have finished their careers. Among the remaining 21, 11 of them left school without finishing their eligibility. In my opinion, that's a lot. The ten we did get were solid players--there's a couple All-MAC performers there--but when you want to know why we're so young, this helps to answer the question. There was quality, but not necessarily a ton of quantity.

Also, note that among the 11 who left, 3 were WR--intended to be the next generation after the Sharon/Sanders class left, and part of why we look thin at WR.

Jack BattleDefensive Line6-2 1/2, 255Lovejoy, GA/Lovejoy HS
Robert BrowningDefensive Back6-0, 175Springfield, OH/South HS
Jimmy CarsonWide Receiver5-10, 155Ft. Pierce, FL/John Carroll HS
Melvin ColeRunning Back5-10, 200Memphis, TN/Briarcrest HS
Cameron DurhamDefensive Tackle6-4, 270Richmond Heights, OH/Richmond Heights HS
Loren HargroveDefensive Back5-11, 193Berea, OH/Berea HS
Kevin HuelsmanOffensive Line6-5, 275St. Henry, OH/St. Henry HS
Gregory HutchersonWide Receiver6-3, 185Vandergrift, PA/Vandergrift HS
Benjy KennedyQuarterback6-1, 185Morris, IL/Morris HS
Korey LichtensteigerOffensive Line6-3, 295Van Wert, OH/Crestview HS
Dan MaconRunning Back/Linebacker6-1, 205Sagamore Hills, OH/Nordonia HS
Edmond MasseyOffensive Line6-3, 300Lorain, OH/Amherst Steele HS
Ryan NewbleDefensive End6-4, 256Brownsville, TN/Haywood HS/Ft. Scott CC
Kevin NorrisWide Receiver/Quarterback6-2, 188Detroit, MI/Martin Luther King HS
Drew NystromOffensive Line6-5, 285Crystal Lake, IL/Prairie Ridge HS
Sean O'DrobinakTight End6-4, 245Crown Point, IN/Crown Point HS
Devon ParksDefensive End6-3, 248Libertyville, IL/Libertyville HS
Deaudre PerryDefensive Back6-1, 195River Rouge, MI/River Rouge HS
Jenkins ReeseLinebacker6-3, 215Indianapolis, IN/Warren Central HS
Virgil Robinson IVDefensive Back/Wide Receiver5-10, 185Akron, OH/Buchtel HS
Josef TimchenkoPunter6-4, 212Glendora, CA/Arroyo HS/Pasadena City College
Nick ThurmanQuarterback6-4, 232Warren, MI/Warren Mott HS
Patrick WatsonOffensive Line6-5, 265Naperville, IL/Central HS

1 comment :

Anonymous said...

Monty Cooley and Jamien Johnson completed their eligibility, I believe.
- Falcon fan