Falcon UDFAs

Early returns (scroll to the bottom), there may be more...

Charles Sharon=Jacksonville.
Steve Sanders=Cleveland Browns
PJ Pope=Bears

Subject: ESPN-NFL Draft
* EDIT * Rd.5(32) Steelers select Omar Jacobs (QB-BGU)

Finally!

Omar #164, taken by the Steelers. Obviously, not an ideal place to go---they seem to have a long-term solution at that position (smile), but it is a good organization where he will get a chance to develop. He will be under no pressure to deliver right away, and can learn.

I think this is farther than Omar thought he was going to fall when the whole thing started, but its all in the past. On the field, do what you do between the lines, and let the rest take care of itself.

I think there was some growing schadenfreude in the Falcon Nation over the lack of movement on Omar, especially when the kid from Furman got taken. That, of course, is what happens when you try to set yourself apart.

Mel Kiper has been banging on the Josh Harris drum for two days--if Harris wasn't much, than how do they think Omar can? The ESPN heads just got done talking about how he should have stayed another year, and how he has physical skills but a scary delivery, blah, blah.

Final note of irony. Many Falcon fans are also Browns fans....Josh Harris was drafted by the Ravens...and Omar was drafted by the Steelers. Ouch.

Omar falls to Day 2

He is now the highest QB left on Kiper's board, though one was picked behind him. AZ and Minnesota both picked QBs, so now we're down to Miami from the original predictions, and someone else who might be lurking out there. Exposing a part of me that I am not especially proud of, I do hope he gets picked ahead of Bruce Gradkowski. That would be hard to take.

Maureen Fulton on Jacobs

As the hour approaches, Maureen Fulton of The Blade is on board with the Jacobs story. As always, its a good one, noting wide variation in evaluations of Omar. Has ESPN.com guy saying late first day pick--there's enough upside in his view to take the shot there, and we know how much draft guys love upside.

"I think Jacobs has enough upside to take a chance on him late on the first
day," said Todd McShay, a Scouts, Inc. analyst who provides draft info for
ESPN.com. "He has the size, mobility and accuracy, short-to-intermediate, to
develop into a contributor at the next level, but he's just too raw right
now."

The article notes a lot of concern about his sidearm throwing motion--let's admit that in the draft culture, unorthodox things are not viewed as good, because if he doesn't work out, people will just say "What kind of idiot are you? He throws sidearm."

We'll wait and see. My prediction stands, but no one can really tell. Witness, in fact, the uncertainty on the first ten picks.

Draft Predictions

Did pretty well last year, so let's fire up the wagon again.

Little hint: Its a lot easier this year.

No Falcon will get drafted except Omar Jacobs. He took a heavy dissing in the USA Today this week, including from has been Cowboy Douchebag Gil Brandt. I do think his stock has fallen and I do think the momentum is bad. I also don't think he would have helped himself by staying. You have to be dominant in the MAC to make the next level, and I don't think he would have had a dominant year, and then the upside obsessed draftniks would have lost even more confidence, and then he might have fallen further.

So, with that in mind, I think he's in the fourth round. And I think its the Dolphins, Vikings or Cardinals.

Having said that, this more than a draft update. Its a draft AND a UDFA update. For no extra charge, here are the players I see getting UDFA contracts:

• PJ Pope
• Charles Sharon
• Rob Warren

Great Bowl News for MAC

Third bowl has been secured, #3 MAC v. #5 in the Big East, from Toronto in the International Bowl.

Starts in 2006. This is great news for the MAC, and a credit to Conference management. Its also good because MAC fans could actually travel to Toronto to see the game, and I guarantee you this...if BG makes the International Bowl, we'll be there.

Update:

BGSU press release on the game. Its going to be played January 6, in the run up to the big BCS game--a huge advantage in my view.

More Spring Game FU

From the Blade today, Maureen Fulton reports that Coach Brandon has some plays where Turner and Barnes are both in the backfield, which could be wicked fun.

One option that wasn't shown in the game but BGSU has worked on in practice is Turner and Barnes handing off …
To each other.
"They're both going to play at the same time," Brandon said. "I'm not going to have one of them standing next to me, I just can't stomach that. They're too good."

Also, for wonks only, note this:

Junior Kory Lichtensteiger and senior John Lanning have switched places on the offensive line. Lichtensteiger is now at center and Lanning at left guard.

(Center appears to be really important in the spread, and Kory is probably our top lineman.

Spring Game Over, Falcons Win/Lose

To the left you see the scene from the Doyt today, with a decent turnout from the Falcon faithful.

Scrimmages are hard to judge. If the offense lights it up (as they did last year), then you wonder if its the offense or the defense. And vice versa and the other way around, too. Ying and yang.

The offense won using the goofy scoring system coach came up with (no points for sacks), but I thought the D was really the story. Some random uninformed thoughts.

First, Turner was pretty good, and Barnes wasn't too bad, either. Neither, however, blew the doors off the place. They both had 50% completions but a lot of short balls. We only scored two TDs the entire time. In last year's scrimmage, we had something like 6 TDs in the first quarter.

We ran the ball a lot more, and obviously will in the runspread. Dan Macon was very reassuring at RB. I think he will do well.

I thought the receivers were OK. Corey played well, though I think he had a drop, and we just don't seem to have any jets. I am as worried about WR as I am about QB.

I thought the defense was good. Dozier laid a hit on Marques Parks that was epic. Parks was knocked into adolescence. We seemed to tackle well, and we played really hard. For a young D, that was great. I hope Lovett is beginning to have some influence. The corners were great again, that's a team strength. The D got tons of pressure on the QB, though some of it was AT and Barnes holding onto the ball FOREVER or maybe some coverage sacks when guys couldn't get open. Even having said that, we need the defense to hold teams in the low 20's, and I was impressed today.

Our freshmen kickers better make it to campus next Fall, because without them we might well have the worst kickers in DIA.

The Oline was banged up, so hard to judge, but they seemed to block the run pretty well, and the pass not so well. Healthy, I think it is a team strength.

Overall, I guess I left happy to have been there, and worried about the offense. My opinion continues to be that this team is a year away, and I would love to have that opinion look ridiculous upon leaving Ford Field next November with a MAC Championship.

But, hey, enough of what I thought. What about Coach (snide comments from me are in italics).

Things you were encouraged by and things you were discouraged by today?

GB: "I really liked the effort on both sides of the ball. We went 110 plays today. It was a practice most definitely. I'd like to have 16, 17, 18 next week but I don't. Next time we get together is August and we're going to pick up right where we left off. It was encouraging with the effort. (AHHHH! That's got to make you worry). Some of the things defensively... We did a pretty good job at keeping the offense out of the end zone, I think there were two scores. We still gave up too many big plays. We needed to get some more three and outs, so we've still got some things to work out in that regard. Offensively, I feel confident that our offense can run the ball. (And, by implication, less than confident we can pass it?) Our backs ran hard, our line blocked well and our quarterbacks did some nice things, Turner and Barnes. Very encouraged by both sides of the ball with the effort and the enthusiasm of this team is what really gotten exciting. (Were they trying last year? He seems surprised to see it)"

How nice is it to get the spring game over with?

"I asked them if they wanted to play another quarter. I think they would play another quarter. Like I said, we still need to practice a lot. We're still young, particularly in the secondary and the linebacker and we need to practice and play."

There were a couple of big hits on defense there. Just talk about that, obviously that's quite impressive this early?

GB: "Erique Dozier had a big pop there towards the end and there were some more big sticks by our defensive end. I really like the effort and our intensity both sides of the ball. (Hmm, sensing a talking point). There was some good football, some good, clean, hard hits. It's fun to turn these kids loose and let them play."

OK, bring on the Badgers.

Spring Game Today!

Oh boy, Oh boy, Oh boy, Oh boy, Oh boy, Oh boy, Oh boy, Oh boy.

Can't wait! See you @ The Doyt.

Falcons Sign Three More Recruits

Maureen Fulton of the Blade has this on Coach Dakich's three new hoops recruits.

You've already seen news here on Otis Polk of Detroit and Ryne Hamblet of Chicago, via a Florida Community College.

Today, welcome to Chris Knight, of Cincinnati Withrow, via a Prep School in NC.

The Upside:

Knight, a 6-7, 210-pound forward, averaged 25 points a game at Cincinnati Withrow his senior year. Last season he played at The Patterson School, a prep school in Lenoir, N.C. At least six of his teammates at Patterson have also committed to play in Division I programs. He chose BGSU over Ole Miss, Cincinnati, Akron, Dayton and Seton Hall.

"He's one of those kids who can score in a variety of ways," Dakich said. "He's very athletic. Coming out of high school I thought he was one of the five best players in the state of Ohio."

Said Knight: "I really liked the coaches, and the location of the school is good, it's close to home."

So, that's good. Now, the downside. He is not expected to qualify to play next year. Now, that's not all bad, if it works out. He'll be two years older than other players in his class once he starts playing, and it gets us around having a bunch of freshmen all in the same class (assuming they stay around). On the other hand, we don't have great luck with non-qualifiers during their sitting out year. That worries me a little. And it worries me that he went to prep school and STILL didn't qualify, and how that my bode for his overall academic career.

Having said that, he can apparently play.

Caught Coach Dakich on Radio

He was pretty fired up. He's really high on this kid from Florida we reported yesterday. The fax came in with his LOI during the show, which meant Coach could talk about him. He says he was the best all-around player on a really good team. He sounds genuinely enthusiastic about the team next year, and that's important for a couple reasons.

First, because I want to see our program turn around, and I want to see Coach Dakich do it.

Second, because not having a rocking Anderson Arena to go to on a cold winter afternoon is a void.

He compared this year to the year after Netter left--losing a senior who was a toxic presence. By implication, he is comparing John Floyd and Samarco to Reimold and Almanson. Finally, by implication, I guess Mawel Soler and Stephen Wright are playing the role of Netter in this little play.

Either way, he seems really happy with the leadership he is getting from his upperclassmen, and he said he wishes he could get this team on the floor right now.

Me, too. I think there appears to be talent, and they appear to be staying with the program. Love to see us back in the hunt.

Falcons bring on new hoops recruit

Chicago Hoops. com is reporting that Ryan Hamblet, a 6-5 wing forward attending junior college (Chipola) in Florida is transferring to BG to play hoops.

Here's a google search...

Based on his stats at Fla, you have to wonder about this. He was the fourth leading scorer on his team, and didn't average in double figures, though it was a good team. He will start here as a junior. He only played 20 minutes a game, so maybe there was a deep rotation that effected his stats. Its hard to think he's more than a role player (which is OK), but time will tell.

Falcons Hire Headhunter to find Krebs replacement

A plum assignment if ever there was one.

I like it. We need someone with Krebs ability--and someone who can raise funds--and we should look the nation for the guy who is ready to do that...but probably hasn't yet.

Good MAC Bowl News

Vandelay sports weighs is with good news on the bowl front. The MAC is in the running for a third game this year. Could be the International Bowl (Toronto, because that's in another country), or the Birmingham Bowl.

It would be a real coup for the MAC to get a third bowl. MAC fans are not used to being able to lose in the regular season and still make a bowl game like teams in other conferences are, so this would be exciting. A trip to Toronto this December would be great.

Spring Depth Chart Review--Special Teams

I almost forgot to do this part of the review. Special teams are very important, and ours were very poor last year. Punting was bad, kicking was bad--made it much harder to win. Having said that, the Spring game will be better....

because there's a good chance we won't kick at all. Next Fall, we expect both our kicker and our punter to be true freshmen, so they won't be in the Spring game. We may not kick at all!

Seriously, some coaching moves were made here over the Winter, and its important. Failure to execute on punting and FGs (not to mention extra points), make it difficult to execute. This will be especially true in a season where we do not expect to be able to just hang 50 points up whenever we feel like it.

Closing the Loop

We started to review the Falcon hoops season a couple of weeks ago, and got distracted. But today, we close the job and, hopefully, look to a brighter future.

We've looked at the national rankings and what I had predicted to happen, game by game. Let's take what might be the most important measure---how do we stack up against the MAC. Because when it gets down to it, that's the measure that matters for us. Winning the MAC, and making the Big Dance, is the highest attainable goal this program really has.

First, let's not forget. There were two worse teams than us in the MAC--EMU and CMU. CMU was really bad, and kept their coach, and EMU was just bad, but could be rebuilding.

The picture here is much as we saw on the NCAA stats...we were poor shooting team that people shot well against, and we rebounded very poorly and gave up an absolute ton of free throws, and that's how you have your worse season in 20 years.

Our best ranking in the MAC was FT% and 3s made/game (3rd) and 6h in 3FG-D. In no other category did we rank in the top half of the MAC. Digest that for a minute. We were 7th in scoring offense and turnover margin (a mild surprise based on observation).

On the other hand, we were last in rebounding margin, and 11th in scoring defense, and three other rebouding categories. We were tenth in scoring margin, and and ninth in Fg%, FG% defense.

At one point, we were known as a team that defended. Coach preached tough, man to man defense, and we would sacrifice offensive firepower to get that done. We've seen that position steadily erode over time, and this year's 11th best performance is probably a new low.

There's not much more to be said, other than this team this year really struggled. I am mildly encouraged at some recent things, but I am not going to get my hopes up until we see it on the court. If Coach can develop all our young guys to their potential and the program remains intact, I do believe we have the building blocks to climb back into contention.

What is that other dude doing in the backfield?

full·back

Abbr.

Football

An offensive backfield player whose position is behind the quarterback and halfbacks and who primarily performs offensive blocking and line plunges.

The position of this player.

Oh! That's who he is. I thought one of the WRs lined up in the wrong place. I mean, I know we've used the "pony" formation, and put two runners back there, but he was supposed to misdirect...not a guy whose job it is to block. And yet Coach Brandon said....

The guy that has stepped-up for us is Pete Winovich. He has become kind of a pseudo-fullback for us and he is playing some running back. He will knock your head off as a blocker. He is really doing a nice job and we are giving him the ball a little bit to test his inside running. He is a load. He is 250 lbs. He brings a different dimension. Now we have involved our quarterback, similar to what we did with Josh Harris in the running game. We are able to utilize the entire offense where Omar was such a good passer that we did not necessarily need to run him. He would get the 50-60 yards passing that Josh would get running. Now I think we are back to that mode with AT [Anthony Turner] and Freddie [Barnes]. Those kids can run and they can do some things with their legs that Omar could do with his arm."

So, he's just a pseudo fullback. A head knocker, offer a slobber knocker. You get the idea.

We're written here before about transitioning back to the runspread from the throwspread, and that pretty much spells it out. A fullback! I never thought I would live to see the day.

Football Schedule Released

The Football schedule has been released. Its nothing we didn't expect, which is not good. We expected four games at the Doyt, one neutral site game @ Cleveland, and seven road games, including a game at Temple to replace our Boise State home game. And that is what we had.

Last year, the big complaint was no home games until late. This year, we are home 3 of the first five games, then play home only once more, in the middle of November against Miami. In fact, looked at one way, six of our last eight are on the road. With a young team, that's a problem.

Much gnashing of teeth in the Falcon nation. Too many early games....too few home games.

Let me say this. We have a lackluster home schedule. It will be hard to get people to show up. It would be even harder in cool weather. If we have any chance of drawing for Buffalo and Kent, then its the possibility of a beautiful early Fall day.

Bowling Green State University
2006 Football Schedule

Sept. 2 Wisconsin (Cleveland Browns Stadium) 1 p.m.
Sept. 9 BUFFALO * (Hall of Fame/Varsity BG) 6 p.m.
Sept. 16 at Florida International TBA
Sept. 23 KENT STATE * (Family Weekend) 1 p.m.
Sept. 30 at Ohio * TBA

Oct. 7 at Ohio State TBA
Oct. 14 EASTERN MICHIGAN * (Homecoming) 4 p.m.
Oct. 19 at Central Michigan * (ESPNU/Thursday) 7:30 p.m.
Oct. 28 at Temple 1 p.m.

Nov. 4 at Akron * TBA
Nov. 15 MIAMI * (ESPN2/Wednesday) 7:30 p.m.
Nov. 21 at Toledo * (ESPN2/Tuesday) 7 p.m.

Ford Field (Detroit, Michigan)
Nov. 30 MAC Championship (ESPN/Thursday) 7:30 p.m.

Hoops Recruiting News is good.

From the Detroit News, Otis Polk, 6.9, 285 from Detroit has verballed to BG. He picked us over Detroit Mercy.

Polk was on The Detroit News' first team Class C All-State after averaging 17 points, 10 rebounds and 3.5 blocks.

I'm excited about this. We continue to recruit Detroit well, partly exploiting a hole left by CMU. LaMonta Stone probably is helpful in this area, but its really important for a MAC team in our area to be recruiting that area effectively, as there is a lot of talent. He had been sighted at the hoops banquet, which was probably a decent sign we had him on board.

According to this, he got eligible late, which ramped up the offers...finally, he's done with school, so he's going to be on board next season.

I just think that with him as a wide body inside taking pressure off Marschall, we open up the outside a lot. We also have 6'9" Marc Larson, also of Michigan, who is even higher ranked than Polk.

I'll tell you this. If everything can stay together, I like the idea of Eric Marschall as a senior and Otis Polk and Marc Larson as juniors bringing home the bacon for a MAC title.

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 Arnold	DB	5-9	196	Clinton, MD/Friendly HS
Kenneth Brantley II	WR	5-11	180	Shreveport, LA/Evangel Christian
Jay Cochran	OL	6-3	300	Dayton, OH/Belmont HS
Monty Cooley	DL	6-2	260	Carter, GA/Cass HS
Reggie Corner	WR	5-10	165	Canton, OH/McKinley HS
Jason Hollingsworth	LB	6-3	190	Marietta, GA/South Cobb HS
Omar Jacobs	QB	6-4	215	Delray Beach, FL/Atlantic Community HS
Jamien Johnson	LB	6-1	223	Ft. Washington, MD/Friendly HS
Van Johnson	QB	6-1	180	Union City, GA/Creekside HS
Brandon Jones	WR	6-0	170	Gahanna, OH/Lincoln HS
Jelani Jordan	DB	5-10	175	Atlanta, GA/Riverwood HS
Jason Kaminski	LB	6-3	220	Woodbridge, VA/Hargrave Academy/C.D. Hylton
John Lanning	OL	6-3	275	Alpharetta, GA/Milton HS
Matt Leininger	DL	6-3	260	Napoleon, OH/Liberty Center HS
Derrick Markray	OL	6-5	334	Detroit, MI/Cody HS
Terrill Mayberry	DB	5-11	170	Farmington Hills, MI/Harrison HS
Vardan Mkhitarian	OL	6-3	285	Burbank, CA/Burbank HS/Pasadena CC
Will Myles	QB	5-11	185	Chicago, IL/St. Rita HS
Steve Navarro	TE	6-2	230	Orland Park, IL/Carl Sandburg HS
Ted Piepkow	LB	6-0	205	Clark Lake, MI/Lumen Christi HS
P.J. Pope	RB	5-9	210	Fairfield, OH/Wyoming HS
Jeff Runnells	LB	6-3	210	San Dimas, CA/San Dimas HS/Pasadena CC
Raishaun Stover	RB	5-10	190	Cleveland, OH/St. Edward HS
Dexter Wallace	DL	6-3	285	Williston, FL/Williston HS
Brad Williams	DL	6-3	215	Middletown, OH/Lakota East HS
Jesus Yanez	OL	6-3	320	Los 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 Battle	Defensive Line	6-2 1/2, 255	Lovejoy, GA/Lovejoy HS
Robert Browning	Defensive Back	6-0, 175	Springfield, OH/South HS
Jimmy Carson	Wide Receiver	5-10, 155	Ft. Pierce, FL/John Carroll HS
Melvin Cole	Running Back	5-10, 200	Memphis, TN/Briarcrest HS
Cameron Durham	Defensive Tackle	6-4, 270	Richmond Heights, OH/Richmond Heights HS
Loren Hargrove	Defensive Back	5-11, 193	Berea, OH/Berea HS
Kevin Huelsman	Offensive Line	6-5, 275	St. Henry, OH/St. Henry HS
Gregory Hutcherson	Wide Receiver	6-3, 185	Vandergrift, PA/Vandergrift HS
Benjy Kennedy	Quarterback	6-1, 185	Morris, IL/Morris HS
Korey Lichtensteiger	Offensive Line	6-3, 295	Van Wert, OH/Crestview HS
Dan Macon	Running Back/Linebacker	6-1, 205	Sagamore Hills, OH/Nordonia HS
Edmond Massey	Offensive Line	6-3, 300	Lorain, OH/Amherst Steele HS
Ryan Newble	Defensive End	6-4, 256	Brownsville, TN/Haywood HS/Ft. Scott CC
Kevin Norris	Wide Receiver/Quarterback	6-2, 188	Detroit, MI/Martin Luther King HS
Drew Nystrom	Offensive Line	6-5, 285	Crystal Lake, IL/Prairie Ridge HS
Sean O'Drobinak	Tight End	6-4, 245	Crown Point, IN/Crown Point HS
Devon Parks	Defensive End	6-3, 248	Libertyville, IL/Libertyville HS
Deaudre Perry	Defensive Back	6-1, 195	River Rouge, MI/River Rouge HS
Jenkins Reese	Linebacker	6-3, 215	Indianapolis, IN/Warren Central HS
Virgil Robinson IV	Defensive Back/Wide Receiver	5-10, 185	Akron, OH/Buchtel HS
Josef Timchenko	Punter	6-4, 212	Glendora, CA/Arroyo HS/Pasadena City College
Nick Thurman	Quarterback	6-4, 232	Warren, MI/Warren Mott HS
Patrick Watson	Offensive Line	6-5, 265	Naperville, IL/Central HS

Saturday Report

Two pieces of news today. First, I got around to looking on Scouts about Omar. Kiper has Omar ranked behind Croyle and Whitehurst, but Scouts as him ahead of both of those two guys and in the 2nd/3rd round range. I think he is making progress, because early on I think people though he might slip to the second day.

It will be interesting to see where he goes. The write up includes a couple excerpts I thought were interesting:

Can be too emotional at times and must learn to deal with failure better.

-and-

Instead of returning for his senior season, Jacobs elected to take his chances in the 2006 draft -- a sizeable mistake in our opinion.

OK, then. The coaches here never let on that he dealt with failure poorly, but you could certainly see it on the field. He had a hard time turning things around when they started to go badly, and was unstoppable with positive momentum behind him. You can see that especially in the final drives against UT.

As for the second quote....well, time will tell.

The Sentinel writes today on the hoops team work in the off-season.

Coach says attitudes are great as the team tries to use weight lifting to improve its rebounding to improve on the abysmal rebounding. He feels experience and "more bodies" will improve the turnover situation. Fouls were due to inexperience and a lack of discipline.

I noticed (as did Similarly Uninformed Observers--SUOs) that we seemed to just not get in the air as quickly as our opponents did, in addition to being out muscled.

The article notes that at the end of the season, we were without five scholarship players we had counted on (Holland, Sullivan, Wilson, Wright and Dusan).

The article says that Clements, Moten, Dusan and Marschall are all "expected to return," which would be a great relief to a transfer weary program. The only other note on that front is that there is no mention of Patrick Phillips, who SUOs report will graduate in May and move on with his life.

Coach says Dusan has already gained 15 pounds. He's also looking forward to adding transfer Nate Miller (yes, an inbound transfer), along with two new recruits.

Finally, the quote:

"Dakich is entering the final year of his contract, but doesn't plan to change his approach.

'I'm going to work like a manic (sic) like we always have to make sure at this time next year we're in a better spot," he said at the end of the season. "I'm here and I'm going to work like crazy."

More power to him. As I have said before, I would love for him to succeed, yet you cannot hide from results. Let's hope we can win 20 next year, and rebuild this program.