Graduate Transfer and New Assistant for Football

Thank you BC. Thank you to everyone who has supported me along the way!! Can’t wait to get to work pic.twitter.com/3OXwOIDwTz

— Davon Jones (@Statssay_24) May 6, 2019

So, a little Monday news from the football program.

First, Davon Jones is a graduate transfer on his way here from Boston College.  He was a combo RB/LB at BC, and you might think that he'd play LB here at BG, a position of need, but NickP at The Blade has indicated that BG plans to use him at RB, where he joins Andrew Clair, Rico Frye and Bryson Denley on the depth chart.

He's 5'10 and 235 pounds and from that you might infer that he's more of a power back than a speed back, like the other three young men we have returning.  He carried the ball 91 times for 4 yards per carry as a freshman, and then carried the ball 16 times over the next two years as he also played on defense.  He has 5 TDs.

He will be eligible immediately.

The new coach is interesting as well.  One non-surprising thing is his Michigan pedigree.  His name is Steve Morrison, who will coach LB and be the Associate Head Coach.

Morrison was an all-Big Ten LB at UM and played for the Colts and the Lions, making 31 NFL starts.

He was a graduate assistant at UM after leaving the NFL, and then coached at WMU, EMU and Syracuse.

Up until then, it is a pretty typical resume.  Then, he put out this statement.

And then he left football and spent several years on a couple sales jobs.

And now he's back in football after quite a lot of time out of the game in medical device sales.  I suspect we'll get some more info on him as we move along, but it certainly raises some questions...as in, why get out and why get back in?  You don't see that very often.  I will say that this is the first of the assistant coach choices that has made me wonder...and I'm not sure why he's the Associate Coach.

Anyway, welcome to the Falcons, Davon and Steve.

New Football Verbal, May 5

I am very proud to be able to say that I will be continuing my academic and football career at Bowling Green State University! Thank you @CoachLoefflerBG @Coach_TMalone @CoachSchoonie and @BG_Football #AyZiggy #TALONSUP20 pic.twitter.com/WMjXxy45IZ

— Alex Wollschlaeger (@alexwoll90) May 5, 2019

So, BG has notched another football verbal.  His name is Alex Wollschlaeger, and he is a rising senior at Oswego East High School, which is a suburb of Chicago.

He plays OL and DE in HS.  His twitter profile says offensive lineman.  He's got the right height, which is 6'6" and he weights 252, which would obviously need some work (and may be outdated, too).

He broke his collarbone and did not play his junior season.  BG offered a while ago and he was down for the spring game. He visited EMU and said he had been talking with Harvard, Western Michigan and South Dakota State.

He's the second OL out of 3 so far.  Coach has talked quite a bit about the need for depth and numbers at most positions.  Of the 13 OL on the BG roster, six of them are in their last two seasons.  There were 3 in this signing class...and the 7 who are returning haven't really been game tested yet.  Could also be some PWOs.  Point is, I think I have heard you need 10 playable OL and when BG takes the field in 2021 that's going to be a project.

Welcome to the Falcons, Alex.

New Football Verbal

Excited to announce that I will be continuing my academic and athletic career at Bowling Green State University! Thanks to everyone who has helped me to this point. #TALONSUP20 #COMMITTED🦅🦅 pic.twitter.com/hiTttqkiuR

— Matt Fortner (@fortnermatthew) May 3, 2019

So, BG has its second verbal (to my knowledge) for the 20 football class.  This young man is Matt Fortner of Sylvania Northview High School.  He's a lineman who has played both ways and been recognized all-district and special mention all-state as a d-lineman.  However, his profile pic on twitter says "offensive line."

He's listed as 6'3" and 280 pounds.  He doesn't have a 247 profile. so there's no information on stars or any other offers.  Here's an evaluation from the McCallister Report on him.

Matt's brother plays for Kentucky.

That's BG's second verbal, and good to Coach's word, they are both local boys.  ln fact, they are both in Lucas County.

Welcome to the Falcons, Matt.

Hargrove Portals

God’s Plan!! 🤞🏾 pic.twitter.com/YYRPXFXdXE

— Ra’veion Hargrove (@3k_0ne) April 29, 2019

So Hargrove enters the transfer portal.  Best of luck to him, he should be able to attend college and play football where he wants, and I wish him nothing but the best.  It happens when things are transitioning...and BG is very deep at RB and Hargrove might have been more of an Air Raid guy than a pro-style guy.

He was active as a true FR.  He had 33 rushes, caught 10 passes along with returning kicks.  He scored twice and was third on the team in all-purpose yards.  He was a highly-productive HS player, runner-up for Mr. Football, etc.

Scotty Miller Drafted!

So, the good news out of yesterday's final day of the NFL draft is that Scotty Miller was drafted in the sixth round by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

It's excellent news and we are very happy for him.  Warm your heart here.

Unreal. One FBS offer coming out of high school... only 2nd team when he led the conference in nearly every receiving category... never given any credit.. Had to earn everything. Congrats @ScottyMillz1 pic.twitter.com/RD1JX6UvIV

— James Morgan (@Jmoneyyy12) April 27, 2019

By the way, that video was posted by James Morgan, who QB'd here, just to see what kind of guy he is.

Miller is an all-time great at BG.  He finished 3rd in all-time receptions and receiving yards.  He was all-MAC twice...one on the first team and should have been twice...his senior year he was 7th nationally in receiving yards and 18th in receptions and yet did not make first team.  He also holds a MAC Championship ring.

The Miller narrative is one of being under-appreciated.  He had one FBS offer.  And he wasn't invited to the combine or to any of the all-star games.  What I suspect moved him into the draftable range was that he ran a 4.3 on pro day at BGSU and when you combine that kind of speed with the production you saw at BGSU, and people started to take notice.

Again, incredibly happy for him.  As I said, he's an all-time great.  He's a Falcon forever and a champion forever...regardless of whether he plays a down in the NFL.  We're rooting for him like crazy, but he could quit now and never be forgotten here.

One reason why is because he stuck with this team through some of the worst years in the program's history.  He could have transferred or quit, but he kept battling and fighting even when there were precious few victories to savor.

A few notes as it relates to the draft and the NFL...

• I saw somewhere that if Miller plays in the NFL, he will be one of three WRs on the 2015 championship team to play in the NFL, and Teo Redding is on the Packers practice squad.  (Thanks to the commenter who pointed this out to me).
• It is BG's first draft pick since 2012 when Chris Jones was picked.
• Since 1994, BG has had six players picked in the draft.
• BG has had players make the NFL as UDFA coming out of the Clawson years...Adjei Barimah and Gabe Martin both played in the NFL, along with Gehrig Dieter and Ryan Hunter.
• As far as I know, BG didn't have any UDFAs or camp invites this year.   Update Montre Gregory has a camp invite to KC.

The MAC had 9 players drafted into the NFL.

2nd round, 39th overall    DB Sean Bunting (Central Michigan) by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers
2nd round, 55th overall    OT Max Scharping (Northern Illinois) by the Houston Texans
3rd round, 66th overall    WR Diontae Johnson (Toledo) by the Pittsburgh Steelers
4th round, 106th overall   DE Maxx Crosby (Eastern Michigan) by the Oakland Raiders
6th round, 175th overall   DE Sutton Smith (Northern Illinois) by the Pittsburgh Steelers
6th round, 185th overall   DB Ka'dar Hollman (Toledo) by the Green Bay Packers
6th round, 195th overall   DB Xavier Crawford (Central Michigan) by the Houston Texans
6th round, 207th overall   LB Ulysees Gilbert (Akron) by the Pittsburgh Steelers
6th round, 208th overall   WR Scott Miller (Bowling Green) by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The surprise here is Tyree Jackson, who left Buffalo early and was projected to be a day 2 pick and fell completely out of the draft.  He was the conference offensive player of the year and I feel sort of fell in the Omar Jacobs trap.  He did sign with Buffalo.  The knock I heard on him was accuracy, which people are fond of saying know can't be taught to someone his age.

Also, Anthony Johnson wasn't picked, a bigger surprise for my money.  He's going to join Miller in Tampa Bay.

MAC Prospectus is tracking the UDFA/invite scene, which you can find here.

You look at the list, and you just see how you can be a really good player in the MAC and not be drafted.  It's just not easy.

I was glad to see Sutton Smith drafted.  I think he can play for the Steelers.

MBB Verbal is a very big person

Committed!! Excited to start a new chapter #AyZiggy pic.twitter.com/2ZzeMxNsxE

— Dylan Swingle (@dswingle15) April 26, 2019

So, this is interesting.  Dylan Swingle is a transfer from Duquesne....6'11 and 300 pounds.  He redshirted at Duquesne in his only year there, so there's no news about him related to his collegiate play.  He was, however, a highly-decorated player in HS.

He's from Chillicothe, so an Ohioan.  That is in D-III of OHSAA.  There are 4 divisions overall so this one would be the second-smallest.

Dropping some knowledge:

• Ranked 35th nationally among centers and in the Top 11 in the state of Ohio by 247 Sports.
• Two-time First Team Division III All-Ohio.
• Rated as a 3-star recruit, and 10th-best overall player (No. 3 center) in Ohio, by ESPN.com
• Averaged 23.1 points, 13.4 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 3.7 blocks per game as a senior in leading Paint Valley (17-8) to the Division III district semifinal.
• Finished his career with a Paint Valley High School, Scioto Valley Conference and Ross County record 1,796 points. The Paint Valley scoring record stood for 43 years.
• His 1,160 rebounds were the most in school history and second-most in conference and county history. Also had 267 career blocks.
• Two-time District and Scioto Valley Conference Player of the Year.
• Averaged 21.3 points and 13.0 rebounds per game as a junior.
• 2016-17 Associated Press All-Southeast District Division III co-Player of the Year.
• According to 247, offers from Akron, WVU, GW and Dayton.

I have no idea if there is some kind of hardship involved here.  If not, Dylan will have to sit next year per NCAA rules and then would have three eligible seasons moving forward.

So, you wanted a big man and you wanted to use all the scholarships, there you go.  Not expected to see him impact next season, but if he develops he has the looks of somebody who could be a very effective MAC player.  At his size, you'd expect big HS numbers--and they are there.  If he can play against guys his size, everything points to a formidable post presence.

Welcome to the Falcons, Dylan.

Happy Easter to the Falcon Nation

Happy Easter to the Falcon Nation.  Regardless of our religious faith, we can unite around the idea of committing ourselves to a new beginning built on love and forgiveness.