FalconBlog--Triumphs and Trials in the BGSU Falcon Nation

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