Football Coaching Change

Never a quiet moment in the football program.  The portal quiets down and now we have a coach on the move.  DB Coach Beyah Rasool has moved on to Florida, where he will be an analyst.  (It's another symbol of the haves and have-nots.  Also, if you read down in the story, the NCAA is talking about removing the limits on on-field coaches, which would unleash legions of P4 analysts on the field to the tune of about one for every two players).

Rasool was at BG for one year.  BG had a great year while he was there--finished #12 in pass defense in the nation. He's the second defensive coach to leave in the off-season for a P4 destination--Julian Campeni on the DL went to Rutgers, but he is on-field.

BG moved immediately to replace Rasool, naming Robert Armand to replace him.  Armand went to Stetson (Hatters!) and then was a graduate assistant at BG in the early Loeffler years.  He went to an off-field role at Vanderbilt for a couple years (under former BG assistant Clark Lea) and then his position was eliminated (according to LinkedIn) and he was going to coach LBs at Maine, but the Falcons snapped him up before he could get started there.

Falcons Announce 7 new portal players, and two players leave

It would appear that the football transfer window has closed at BG.  The Falcons announced 7 transfers, in addition to the 8 they announced in the previous window.  We are told that all of them are in summer classes right now.

The players are tight end Elijah Boyd (UTEP), cornerback Todd Bumphis (Cincinnati), tight end Blane Cleaver (Army), cornerback Darius McClendon (FAU), RB Justin Pegues (Tennessee Tech), wide receiver Rahkeem Smith (Delaware St.) and inside linebacker Donovan Stephens (Oklahoma State).

Players with a link were known and have something written here on them.  The official BG write up is here.

So there were two new ones.

Elijah Boyd is a TE coming from UTEP.  He is 6'4" and 250 pounds.  He played in JUCO ball and had 6 catches.  He transferred to UTEP, where he played 9 games, 120 snaps or so, and caught no passes.  He was a decent to average run blocker, according to pff.  He could end up as a blocking TE for us, or possible in the backfield as a hybrid fullback.  He visited Middle Tennessee and had a PWO offer from Bama.  Also FCS offers--and practiced at OL this Spring.

The other is Rahkeem Smith, from Delaware State. Comes to BGSU with 34 career receptions for 560 yards and six touchdowns. Also finished 2023 No. 3 I the nation for FCS with two kick returns for touchdowns and No. 5 in the nation for FCS with 30.1 yards per kick return.

In High School, he competed in football, baseball and track & field … had 38 catches for 752 yards and 22 touchdowns, in addition to a kickoff return touchdown, during senior season … set school 100-meter track and field record and captured state 55-meter dash championship (6.42 sec.) as a senior … ranked No. 8 nationally in the 60-meter dash during junior year … member of state indoor and outdoor state championship team as a senior

He had a 74 grade as a FR and 67 as a SO.  Was very effective in the deep middle his first year.  He played mostly in the slot.

With the incoming players, there are also outgoing players.  

Maurice Brown, a WR in this year's FR class, announced that there were personal issues and it was not a good time to be away from home.  His tweet was apologetic to BG, but indicated this was the right thing for him.  I wish him well-being.

Bryce Boyer, a TE who has been on the roster for a couple of years, has disappeared from the roster and presumably has left the team.  A rare fourth-generation Falcon, he went to Anthony Wayne.  No idea what went into the decision, but you hope to move up the depth chart and when two TEs come in the portal, it has to change your perspective.

Welcome to the transfers and best wishes to Maurice and Bryce.

BG Adds DBack transfer

BG football has added another football transfer, this one also in the d-backfield.  His name is Todd Bumphis, who went to Toledo St. Francis and attended UC.  

He was a highly-decorated and highly-recruited player out of HS:

Consensus three-star prospect…Tabbed for 2019 All-Ohio First-Team honors and First-Team All Three Rivers Athletic Conference at defensive back…Helped 4x100m and 4x200m relays to the state meet (OHSAA DI) in 2019 where they placed 13th and 4th, respectively…2x conference sprint champion winning the 200m in 2018 and the 100m in 2019.

He never really caught on.  He played 35 games in 4 years (including the COVID year) and had 16 tackles over that time. He played 120 snaps last year, 75% of them on special teams.  It was 61 the year before and 119 before that, with a similar ratio of special teams.   He graded at 65 (PFF) on special teams and 70 in defensive sets, in low snap counts.

We are clearly building depth in the defensive backfield.  If he can help out wide in certain sets and on special teams, he's helping us fill out what we hope is a team that takes the next step in the conference.

MBB Roster as it stands today.....

G:  Green, Campbell, Exacte, Humphrey, Pardon, Thomas, Butler

F:  Johnson, Felt, Towns, Spurgin, Khayat

C:  Squire

MBB Rounds Out Roster with Derrick Butler

The roster is complete for the BG MBB team...as Derrick Butler has been signed.  Butler played at 2 JUCO schools before transferring to CMU and playing one season there before entering the portal and ending up at BG.  The word is he had significant P5 interest and offers...and then one by one those teams fell away and BG's coaches stayed with it and ended up with a guy who could be a key piece.

I believe we have a staff that can really recruit.

Butler started the last 26 games for CMU at off-guard.  He's 6'2". He handles the ball well (#8 in MAC in TO ratio) and made 41% of his 3FG, #6 in the MAC (both MAC games only).  He scored 10.7 PPG, 11.6 in MAC play. 

All remains to be seen.  But I think you will see BG play much more of the style we expected when Simon got here.  Fast and shooting 3FGs.  Big point totals. Cannot wait to see it on the court.  Would love to see the town get behind these guys.

Welcome to the Falcons, Derrick.

Two More Football Transfers

Football has two more transfers coming in.  Some of the bat signals from the coaches would indicate at least one or two more might be committed and out there....I will keep a watchful eye.

The first is Darius McClendon, a DB who played at Middle Tennessee and then at Florida Atlantic.  At 6'2" and 190, he's got nice size.  He played both ways in HS (QB) and was third-team 7A All-State in Florida as a defensive ATH.  The third-team offensive ATH--Camden Orth.

He played 500 snaps last year for the Owls, grading out in the 60s on PFF.  The interesting thing is that he was versatile...he played more than 100 snaps in the slot, box and at free safety.  With that ability, he has the potential to be a valuable piece in a backfield that suffered losses.  At worst, I think he's valuable depth...you need a ton of guys back there.

The other is Justin Pegues.  He's a RB, 5'9 and 169 pounds. 

In HS, Pegues helped lead his school in Alabama to its third-straight AHSAA Class 7A state championship, hauling in a 26-yard receiving touchdown in the contest. He was also named to the Alabama All-State team in his senior campaign after rushing for 625 yards and five touchdowns, catching passes for 629 yards and eight touchdowns and returning kicks for 424 yards and three touchdowns.

At Tennessee Tech, he played for two years.  He had 90 carries (4 per carry) and 23 receptions.  PFF graded him a 78 as a pass catcher.  It would seem like he is a candidate for the Keith role in the offense.

You can never tell, but it appears to me we are doing a good job filling holes with guys who meet a need.  Time will tell, because the program's expectations haven't been met yet.

Welcome to the Falcons Darius and Justin.

Football Nets Additional Transfer

 BG has another player transferring in....this one is Blane Cleaver....transferring from the US Military Academy.  He is expected to find a somewhat more laid back atmosphere than he did at the Point.  He is listed as a TE.

Blane didn't play much at West Point.  He played 75 snaps in the last two years, most of them on special teams.

It was a different story coming out of HS.  He attending Berwick HS in NE PA, a legendry HS football with multiple state titles, "national" titles and hundreds of D1 players, including Ron Powlus. 

According to this story, Cleaver had 20 offers out of HS. He was a TE/LB and seemed to project to a side-sideline LB.

We may have gotten a leg up on Blane with the arrival of Sheetz here in NWO.  Here was what he said his favorite pre-game meal was in HS.

Pre-game trip to Sheetz for a 3 piece chicken nugget, bucket of fries, and and an orange Body Armor

Welcome to the Falcons, Blane.

BG Adds LB in Portal

The portal was quiet for BG football.  A couple guys going out, and now one coming in.

This is Donnie Stephens from Oklahoma State.

He played 2 years at OK State and also red-shirted, playing 23 games over the two years.  He appeared to be mostly in a reserve and special teams role.  According to PFF, last season he played 60 snaps in the regular defense and 54 on special teams.  Of course, there are a lot fewer special teams snaps overall.  He played mostly kick coverage and punt return.  In small samples, he graded in the 70s.

He is from Oklahoma.  He was a top recruit and had significant FBS offers.  From his OK St. Bio...

Rated as a three-star prospect by 247Sports and Rivals … A four-star prospect and the No. 7 player in the state of Oklahoma according to ESPN … The No. 46 outside linebacker in the class of 2021 by 247Sports Composite … No. 14 on The Oklahoman’s 2021 Super 30 rankings ... Chose Oklahoma State over offers from Baylor, Texas Tech and Boise State.

LB is certainly a position of need and it would seem like he can play more than special teams at BG.

In HS, he also competed in track (running 400 and 200, like that) along with powerlifting.

Welcome to the Falcons, Donovan!

MBB Gets Latest Player

 This one is from the P4...Utah to be specific.

Wilguens Jr. Exacte is his name.  He grew up in Montreal, played at the NBA Latin American Academy in Mexico and then was recruited to Utah.

He's 6'6" and 236 pounds and was listed as a guard at Utah.  He played his FR year there and was in every game with 2 starts, played like 12 MPG.  Obviously, not much in the way of numbers. They were counting on him being in the rotation last year, but he had some injuries and missed the entire season.  There was surgery in there somewhere.

Here's the exciting part:

He is an elite defensive player who can guard just about anybody on the floor. He is tenacious. He is just one of those guys — I was talking to his coach recently — the dude will never stop. Every single drill in practice, every single rep, he goes a thousand miles an hour.” — Utah basketball coach Craig Smith on freshman guard Wilguens Exacte Jr.

Two things.  One, that thousand miles an hour is perfect for what Simon wants to do.  And, being able to guard anyone on the floor is key as you fit into the guys we have around him.  In today's position-less game, this is a key skill.  Also, in the MAC, when you can put a guy this long on a PG, it can be really disruptive.

By my count, we have one slot left.  I am getting very excited to see what happens next year.

Welcome to the Falcons, Wilguens. 

As the Portal Turns...MBB Incoming!

Well, this is interesting. 

Earlier Saturday, Coach Simon put the bat signal into the air that a new verbal had been acquired.  A couple hours later, it was revealed.  And it is a very interesting young man.

His name is Marcus Johnson, a 6'7", 265 forward who was playing DII ball for Wheeling.  So, that's a pretty big guy, especially when you see that he shot 44.7% from 3FG.  At that size and that ability to shoot the ball, he represents an immediate matchup challenge for an opposing defenses.  He averaged 21.7 PPG and 7.6 RPG.  That's #14 in the nation in scoring.  His 3FG would have been top 10, but he missed the minimum by .5 made 3FGs.   He also made 91% of his FTs, which is #6 in the nation.

He made 49.5% of his 2FGs.

You can check the photo gallery out here...he's a full-grown man.

Yes, that's in DII.  I would point you to JT Shumate from that other school as an example of a player making the jump and there have to be others.

He went to Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary, high school of MAC greats Romeo Travis and Dru Joyce. 

So, right now, this is what we have:

1. Trey Thomas, holdover
2. Sam Towns, holdover
3. Da'Jion Humphrey, holdover
4. Greg Spurgin, holdover
5. Jamai Felt, holdover, injured for 2 years
6. Marcus Johnson, F (Wheeling)
7. Youseff Khayat, F (UM)
8. Javontae Campbell, G (JUCO #67)
9. Braelon Green, G (AZ State)
10. Brandon Jaxon Pardon, HS
11. Preston Squire, C (JUCO #40 JUCO Player)

A couple of observations.  First, we are still out working the portal and JUCO ranks (and who knows what else) to bring in players.  If all the players listed above are on scholarship, than we have 2 more to give.  More if one of them is not.

Second, I think we are starting to see the outlines of a roster that is more in line with what we were expecting from the new regime.  Simon says we want to space the floor and attack the gaps.  Khayat, Squire, Johnson and Pardon look to up the 3FG game, while Campbell and Green are likely to get to the rim.  You have Thomas to help distribute...and FWIW, he made 40% from 3FG as a FR in the SEC, but 32% last year.  Towns supports the inside.  Felt has real ability if he is healthy.

And there could be two more players.

Stay tuned!