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Post by jackal on Dec 14, 2015 16:12:03 GMT -5
Just wanting to let the Bears' Faithful know that your Mercer Football Coaches are out there on the Recruiting Trail working hard to find some Cubs ready to become BIG BEARS. Saw 4 of them gettin' after it at the GHSA Championship Games at the GA Dome on Saturday. Of course...I saw Coach Hatcher and his posse of Sammy Coaches along with Coach Fowler and his crew from FU, as well as 2 Bellhop Coaches. Spoke to all 3 staffs and told them to get the heck out of GA and go back to AL & SC and find their players in their home states! (not really - did talk to all of them though - nice guys). Doesn't mean they weren't there, but I did not see any Coaches from UTC, Woffy, WCU, VMI, or ETSU. Also saw Savannah State, Coastal Carolina, Charleston Southern, LaGrange, Marshall...and a few others I'm forgetting. Marshall was the only FBS school I saw - I guess those FBS guys don't have to work as hard as the FCS Coaches to find their future Student Athletes...or they were all preparing to take their 6-6 / 5-7 teams to their 'reward' Bowl Games.  Beyond all that - I saw a BUNCH of GREAT HS FOOTBALL (watched the 2A, 4A, and 6A games) and HS Football Players - If you haven't been to the event, you should come next year. It's FAN-tastic!!! No Class A? Biased?  Amazing how much competition there is for the same players. Maybe some of those coaches were there recruiting. Maybe some were there making sure the other coaches kept their grabbies to themselves! |
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Post by BearDownMU on Dec 14, 2015 17:14:19 GMT -5
In FUBeAR's defense, 1A, 3A, and 5A played on Friday night. I was there as well as my high school played in the 4A Championship, and FUBeAR's team was in the 6A Title Game.
As far as the 1A game, it was on TV Friday afternoon and it was the single wing vs the WANG T and it was like watching paint dry. lol
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Post by FUBeAR on Dec 14, 2015 17:56:10 GMT -5
In FUBeAR's defense, 1A, 3A, and 5A played on Friday night. I was there as well as my high school played in the 4A Championship, and FUBeAR's team was in the 6A Title Game. As far as the 1A game, it was on TV Friday afternoon and it was the single wing vs the WANG T and it was like watching paint dry. lol Actually, BDMU, there was a 1A game on Sat. also - Private School was Sat. @ 10 AM - that SingleWang vs. WangT game was the 1A Public Schools on Friday - both from down in SoGa - Clinch County & Irwin County - I watched some of that one on TV. At 10 AM on Sat., I was at the Pep Rally @ Roswell HS and then headed down to the Dome. I did listen to the Eagles Landing Christian Academy (ELCA) vs. Aquinas (1A Private) game on the radio on the way down though...if that helps overcome my perceived bias. |
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Post by jackal on Dec 14, 2015 20:52:10 GMT -5
In FUBeAR's defense, 1A, 3A, and 5A played on Friday night. I was there as well as my high school played in the 4A Championship, and FUBeAR's team was in the 6A Title Game. As far as the 1A game, it was on TV Friday afternoon and it was the single wing vs the WANG T and it was like watching paint dry. lol Many Class A schools are still in run heavy formations. Many schools are from very rural areas where sophisticated passing games simply do not exist. We would typically play one Atlanta private school a year (Wesleyan, Landmark Christian, etc.) and would marvel at these things they called "audibles." We were used to defending maybe three passes a game, two of which would end up in the cheerleaders. The players are there, though. The #3 recruit in Georgia plays at Savannah Christian. Clinch County has a UGA signee at DE. I could go on. It gets lost a bit in the offensive systems, but like in 2009, Wilcox County was led by a kid named Nick Marshall. He went on to lead Auburn to a national title a few years later. Pretty good player. |
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Post by jackal on Dec 14, 2015 20:55:21 GMT -5
In FUBeAR's defense, 1A, 3A, and 5A played on Friday night. I was there as well as my high school played in the 4A Championship, and FUBeAR's team was in the 6A Title Game. As far as the 1A game, it was on TV Friday afternoon and it was the single wing vs the WANG T and it was like watching paint dry. lol Actually, BDMU, there was a 1A game on Sat. also - Private School was Sat. @ 10 AM - that SingleWang vs. WangT game was the 1A Public Schools on Friday - both from down in SoGa - Clinch County & Irwin County - I watched some of that one on TV. At 10 AM on Sat., I was at the Pep Rally @ Roswell HS and then headed down to the Dome. I did listen to the Eagles Landing Christian Academy (ELCA) vs. Aquinas (1A Private) game on the radio on the way down though...if that helps overcome my perceived bias. Had a playoff baseball series in Clinch County years ago. One of those places you Atlanta folks have only heard rumors of (I often joke with my Atlanta freens that they know as much about Georgia geography as they do about nuclear physics. If it is outside the perimeter, it might as well be on Mars). They grow em big down in Homerville. Mosquitos will carry you off it you aren't careful. |
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Post by FUBeAR on Dec 14, 2015 22:13:33 GMT -5
In FUBeAR's defense, 1A, 3A, and 5A played on Friday night. I was there as well as my high school played in the 4A Championship, and FUBeAR's team was in the 6A Title Game. As far as the 1A game, it was on TV Friday afternoon and it was the single wing vs the WANG T and it was like watching paint dry. lol Clinch County has a UGA signee at DE. Watched that UGA commit quite a bit. Nice frame, but, IMHO, he's a LONG way from ready to play college football at any level; much less in the SEC. May be a superstar someday, but there's gonna be A LOT of quality Coaching invested to get him there. But ALL those highly paid big-time college time Coaches are A LOT smarter than FUBeAR! |
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Post by jackal on Dec 15, 2015 6:29:13 GMT -5
Clinch County has a UGA signee at DE. Watched that UGA commit quite a bit. Nice frame, but, IMHO, he's a LONG way from ready to play college football at any level; much less in the SEC. May be a superstar someday, but there's gonna be A LOT of quality Coaching invested to get him there. But ALL those highly paid big-time college time Coaches are A LOT smarter than FUBeAR! A lot of those kids are raw, but have a ton of athleticism. I don't disagree there is a lot of polishing needed. I recall a kid out of Miller County who would go on to be a starting OLB at UGA who spent much of his high school time as a WR. I mean, he was 6'4 230 and ran like a greyhound. Not a lot of polish needed in high school - he was too big to keep from catching the ball, too fast to catch, and too big to tackle. Those college programs can coach up good athletes. My tiny high school had two starting TEs at Division 1 schools last season (Brian Vogler at Alabama, Duncan Fletcher at Furman). They run the wing t, but have guys that are good athletes with projectable frames. That's where the coaches have to earn their paychecks. |
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Post by FUBeAR on Dec 15, 2015 9:26:08 GMT -5
Watched that UGA commit quite a bit. Nice frame, but, IMHO, he's a LONG way from ready to play college football at any level; much less in the SEC. May be a superstar someday, but there's gonna be A LOT of quality Coaching invested to get him there. But ALL those highly paid big-time college time Coaches are A LOT smarter than FUBeAR! A lot of those kids are raw, but have a ton of athleticism. I don't disagree there is a lot of polishing needed. I recall a kid out of Miller County who would go on to be a starting OLB at UGA who spent much of his high school time as a WR. I mean, he was 6'4 230 and ran like a greyhound. Not a lot of polish needed in high school - he was too big to keep from catching the ball, too fast to catch, and too big to tackle. Those college programs can coach up good athletes. My tiny high school had two starting TEs at Division 1 schools last season (Brian Vogler at Alabama, Duncan Fletcher at Furman). They run the wing t, but have guys that are good athletes with projectable frames. That's where the coaches have to earn their paychecks. I believe I recall seeing some video of Vogler in HS and I believe he was college-ready already. Didn't see any vid of Fletcher and I believe he was playing QB in HS, so it would have been difficult to assess him as a TE anyway. The kid from Clinch had good 'ball get-off' when he wanted to, but didn't see anything beyond that even resembling basic D-Line techniques. |
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Post by jackal on Dec 15, 2015 11:21:00 GMT -5
A lot of those kids are raw, but have a ton of athleticism. I don't disagree there is a lot of polishing needed. I recall a kid out of Miller County who would go on to be a starting OLB at UGA who spent much of his high school time as a WR. I mean, he was 6'4 230 and ran like a greyhound. Not a lot of polish needed in high school - he was too big to keep from catching the ball, too fast to catch, and too big to tackle. Those college programs can coach up good athletes. My tiny high school had two starting TEs at Division 1 schools last season (Brian Vogler at Alabama, Duncan Fletcher at Furman). They run the wing t, but have guys that are good athletes with projectable frames. That's where the coaches have to earn their paychecks. I believe I recall seeing some video of Vogler in HS and I believe he was college-ready already. Didn't see any vid of Fletcher and I believe he was playing QB in HS, so it would have been difficult to assess him as a TE anyway. The kid from Clinch had good 'ball get-off' when he wanted to, but didn't see anything beyond that even resembling basic D-Line techniques. Vogler was a giant. (actually found his senior year highlights here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=OauZOPQa8J0). Brookstone would run the ball 80% of the time and then play action off the run to a streaking 6'7 TE. Felt sorry for defenses. You can see old Brookstone High doesn't have a whole lot of size. We played iron man football and ran wind sprints three times a practice. Amazing how many games you can win with technique and by being in better shape. Not sure I ever knew Fletcher was getting recruited. He came to Furman as a walkon QB. Big kid in high school and athletic, but as noted, nothing close to a sophisticated passing scheme. I think he was 6'4 200 as a freshman and played this season at 230. Furman had done that a few times, with Colin Anderson (a former all american TE) being another guy that converted from walkon QB. I just thought it was pretty interesting that my high school with about 240 kids had two starting TEs at Division 1 schools simultaneously. Our most well known football alum was Mack Strong (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dzg_OgfgiRU) who was a RB at UGA and then an all pro fullback with the Seattle Seahawks. We used to watch his highlight video before every game. Sidenote: Found a grainy video of Brandon Miller (Miller County). He's not hard to find www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofesdTbDHvwSee, there I go reminiscing. |
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Post by FUBeAR on Dec 21, 2015 8:14:04 GMT -5
Mercer Football Adds Early Enrollee, Charlie DavidsonDec 20, 2015 MACON, Ga. - Mercer University football coach Bobby Lamb announced the addition of mid-year signee Charlie Davidson to the Bears' football program for the 2016 spring semester. "I'm excited to add a talented big back like Charlie to our stable of running backs," said Lamb. "We recruited him out of high school before he signed with Navy and are thrilled that he will be on campus this spring." Davidson, a 5-foot-11, 216-pound running back, will head to Macon for the start of spring classes by way of the Naval Academy Preparatory School, where he spent the 2014 season after an impressive career at Blackman High School in Murfreesboro, Tenn. A three-star recruit, Davidson helped the Blackman to a 22-5 over his final two seasons, which included the program's first 6A state semifinal appearance in 2013 and a district title in 2014. He finished second in program history with 2,815 career rushing yards, while adding 36 touchdowns over the course of his career. The District 7-AAA Offensive Player of the Year, Davidson ran for 1,651 yards as a senior.
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Post by chez23 on Dec 21, 2015 10:54:21 GMT -5
All I know is 3 star....so lets hope he lives up to that at MU. It is great to land 3 stars and have them show up on the rivlas site under Mercer....others will follow. Ok well I just look him up and rivals has him as a 2 star......>  ? So now all the excitment isnt all that exciting. Also not sure how he ends at MU...MU wasnt even on his list of offers>? |
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Post by BearDownMU on Dec 21, 2015 13:14:46 GMT -5
There are many different recruiting services who grade differently. I think you are putting a little too much stock in the "star" thing. It's nice, but I think it impacts recruiting in the eyes of the recruit very little if at all.
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Post by BearDownMU on Dec 21, 2015 13:21:10 GMT -5
JJ Watt - 2 stars
Tony Romo - 0 stars (and won the Walter Payton Award, the FCS "Heisman")
Demarcus Ware - 0 stars
Ed Reed - 0 stars
Aquib Talib - 2 stars
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Post by FUBeAR on Dec 21, 2015 14:35:59 GMT -5
All I know is 3 star....so lets hope he lives up to that at MU. It is great to land 3 stars and have them show up on the rivlas site under Mercer....others will follow. Ok well I just look him up and rivals has him as a 2 star......> ? So now all the excitment isnt all that exciting. Also not sure how he ends at MU...MU wasnt even on his list of offers>? 1) What BearDownMU said 2) Accuracy in reporting in ALL recruiting is terrible, at best. Accuracy in reporting FCS Football recruiting is best compared to Steve Harvey announcing pageant winners 3) The info you see for Mr. Davidson, assuming any of it is accurate, is from his initial recruiting - Class of 2015 4) Mr. Davidson signed with Navy (although Navy, nor any of the US Service Academies, actually use Letters of Intent nor give Athletic Scholarships) out of high school. He attended the United States Naval Academy Preparatory School (AKA NAPS) in Newport, RI for the Fall Semester of 2015. Whatever 'recruiting' occurred to land him at Mercer for the Spring Semester of 2016, took place outside of the highly limited purview of any 'Recruiting Service.' 5) Alex Lakes & Tee Mitchell, current All SoCon RB's for Mercer both attended the United States Air Force Academy Preparatory School prior to enrolling at Mercer. So, I would say, empirically speaking, Service Academy Prep Schools' Running Backs seem to do well at Mercer and in the SoCon.
a. Here are Alex Lakes' RIVALS Profile RIVALS - Alex Lakes (0 Stars/No Rating/Only reported 'offer' from Air Force), his ESPN Profile - ESPNRecruiting - Alex Lakes (1 Star/67 Rating/I will bet $'s to doughnuts, he didn't have any stars or rating until AFTER he showed up on Air Force's signee list), & his SCOUT Profile - SCOUT - Alex Lakes (2 Stars (which I bet he didn't have prior to the Air Force offer/only offer from Air Force). No 247 Profile for Mr. Lakes. b. Here are Tee Mitchell's RIVALS, SCOUT, ESPN, and 247 Profiles - - That's right - not 1 profile on ANY of the 'Recruiting Services' 6) I'll rely on the guys that found Running Backs that can rack up these types of accolades vs. what any 'Recruiting Service' spews out #27 - ALEX LAKES - R-SO2015 Preseason All-SoCon First Team 2014 All-SoCon First Team (Media) 2014 All-SoCon Second Team (Coaches) 2014 All-SoCon Freshman Team 2014 Freshman of the Year Watch List (CFPA) 2014 Jerry Rice Award Watch List (The Sports Network) 2014 SoCon #FanChoice Athlete of the Month (September) 2014 SoCon Offensive Player of the Month (September) 2014 SoCon Freshman of the Week (Sept. 13) #28 - TEE MITCHELL - R-SO2015 All-SoCon Second Team (Coaches & Media) 2015 Capital One Academic All-District First Team 2014 Southern Conference Academic Honor Roll #25 - PEYTON USHER - R-JR2014 Southern Conference Academic Honor Roll 2014 FCS Running Back Watch List (CFPA) 2013 PFL Academic Honor Roll |
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Post by jackal on Dec 21, 2015 15:08:52 GMT -5
JJ Watt - 2 stars Tony Romo - 0 stars (and won the Walter Payton Award, the FCS "Heisman") Demarcus Ware - 0 stars Ed Reed - 0 stars Aquib Talib - 2 stars After years of careful study, I have concluded that the "stars" rankings are typically pretty random. You could fill one cruise liner with guys that were five star players in two star bodies. You could fill another ocean liner with two star players in five star bodies. Guys are either good football players or they aren't. Some guys may go under the radar with great athleticism but play in some unsophisticated schemes/small schools/or off the beaten path. I think some times the great question in recruiting is how many of the latter guys a coach can find, lock onto, and develop into a good player. |
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? So now all the excitment isnt all that exciting. Also not sure how he ends at MU...MU wasnt even on his list of offers>?