Recruiting 2015---Ronnie James

Lori M. James image

NJ.com says UMass has offered to Ronnie James a 5-11 175 pound RB/DB from Glassboro, NJ.

NJ.com recruiting article here.

247 Sports three-star recruit.

Hudl.com has video.

Besides UMass, James has offers from Army, Rutgers, Pitt and Syracuse.

Tuesday--July 22nd, 2014

Former UMass star Peter McCarty has been hired as defensive line coach for UNH.

McCarty was a four-year letter (1974, 75, 76, 77). He was captain in 1977. He was All-Yankee Conference in his senior year.

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Penn State has five players on the preseason All-Big 10 list.

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News from the MAC

Akron has the look of a contender says Cleveland.com

Kent State looks to return to winning ways.

Syracuse has a lot of assistant coaches with MAC roots.

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Victor Cruz win "Party like a Sports Star" award.

Victor's also officially engaged.

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I was watching a replay of the Rose Bowl last evening on ESPNU. Stanford plays the 3-4 defense. The Cardinal was very successful last year in rushing defense; they ended up 3rd in the nation at 89.4 yards/game. Stanford missed going 12-0 in regular season by nine points.

Stanford sometimes added two stand-up defensive ends (or linebackers) to the three down linemen to play a five-man front. Sometimes they'd move a linebacker into the gaps. In passing situations they would only rush the three down linemen (and usually got a pretty good push against Michigan State) and drop everyone else back. The camera always stays close to the ball, so it was hard to see what else they were doing, but Stanford was able to use the 3-4 to play great rush defense all season.

In the Rose Bowl the Cardinal held Michigan State to 35-65 1.9 AVE rushing...

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Recruiting 2015--George Wilson

Wilson #8/ Joshua Sudock image

George Wilson, a 6-3 180 pound WR from Tustin HS in CA has previously verbaled to Utah.

This article says his commitment may not be solid.

Hudl.com has highlights.

This article covers his recruitment.

Utah has had six offensive coordinators since 2009. Wilson would probably shine in Whipple's Pro-set offense.

Besides Utah, Wilson has offers from San Jose State and UMass.

Monday--July 21st, 2014

An Oregon writer looks at the PAC-10's non-BCS opponents including UMass.

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The Hartford Courant looks at UConn's FCS opponent Stony Brook. The Courant thinks UMass transfer Stacey Bedell will be backing up RB Marcus Coker.

Bedell's Sea Wolves bio.

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Boston College's ACC Media Day transcript. Mentions UMass.

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The non-Power Five conferences were not enamored with June Jones suggestion they move football to a Spring sport.

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Hustel Belt previews Kent State's OOC opponents.

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Fan Sided reviews every teams ESPN football logo.

Quote about Boston College's logo : "Like everything Boston College, this logo is wicked mediocre at best"

Speaking of mediocre, the Times says the ACC has mediocrity in the middle.

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Attention UMass football team! The Moscow Times reports no sex, no success, World Cup study finds. Print a copy for your girlfriend.

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Recruiting 2016-- Ted Field III

I've blogged about Ted Field, a 6-6 325 pound OL from Springfield, PA several times before.

Yesterday he verbaled to Rutgers .

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Recruiting 2015-- Griffin Clancy

247Sports image

This article by Saratogian.com reports UMass is recruiting Griffin Clancy, a 6-6 315 pound OL from Saratoga Springs, NY.

Hudl.com has highlight video.

247Sports page here.

Drawing interest from Albany, New Hampshire, JMU, Syracuse and UMass among others.

Saturday--July 19th, 2014

Matthew Dixon of Vavel.com previews the 2014 Minutemen.

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UMass CB Trey Dudley-Giles has been named to the College Football Performance Center Punt Returner Trophy List.

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This article about the 25th Maine Shrine Lobster Bowl mentions UMass recruit Andrew Libby.

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Cleveland.com says the MAC West needs quarterbacks.

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SMU coach June Jones says the non-power five conferences should move football to Spring.

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A SB Nation writer looks at the Philadelphia Eagles TE's as training camp opens.

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Friday--July 18th, 2014

Dan Malone looks at the Minutemen's defensive ends for 2014.

Peter Angeh's UMass bio.

Sha-Ki Holnes UMass bio.

Enock Asante's Minutemen bio.

Peter Angeh gets a sack in the Spring game

Enock Anante rushes A.J. Doyle

The UMass defensive line did well during the Spring game. They mostly controlled the line of scrimmage against a bigger offensive line. The Minutemen are going to be small by FBS standards this year. I was flipping through Lindy's looking for other teams that run the 3-4. UMass' starting three will probably be NT Daniel Maynes 6-285 and two of the three Asante 6-2 260, Holines 6-2 260 or Angeh 6-245. West Virginia plays the 3-4 and their starting three are 6-4 295, 6-4 293 and 6-3 303. Navy's three down are 6-2 251, 6-1 303 and 6-1 246.

UMass will have to play with a high intensity and get some rotation with the second string guys. Michael Dowe, Jr 6-2 240 and Joe Tyo 6-5 250 played DE in the Spring game.

Back a year or so ago when Holines verbaled to UMass, I received an e-mail from a Springfield fan who said Holines was a good pickup for UMass. The writer said Holines was an excellent athlete and had a big upside.

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ESPN looks at Colorado's OOC schedule including UMass.

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Jesse Allen of Hustle Belt previews UMass-Vanderbilt and predicts a big Commodores victory.

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Cleveland.com says veteran quarterbacks abound in the MAC East.

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Speaking of quarterbacks, Penn State's Christian Hackenberg has been named to the O'Brien watch list.

Penn State is also in college football's top-25 in ticket prices.

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The MAC will receive a much higher payout from the new college football playoff structure.

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USA Today previews #53 Toledo. UMass plays @ Toledo on 10/25.

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Steelers Depot thinks Rob Blanchflower will make the team.

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A Bleacher Report writer thinks Michael Cox will make the Giants 53-man roster.

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Thursday--July 17th, 2014

Penn State transfer Alex Kenny is the subject of Dan Malone's latest installment of his UMass Top-25 players for 2014.

Kenney's UMass bio.

As Dan points out, last year the Minutemen had Tajae Sharpe as a WR threat, but not much else. It will be interesting to see if Whipple can integrate all that speed Kenney possesses into the passing offense. If UMass has a deep threat that opposing defenses have to respect, it would open up the shorter stuff.

I hope Blake Fronapfel will be able to call when in a "21" personnel-- two RB's and a TE: "I Weak Right 639"!

Harris is in the I, the fullback sets up on the Weak Side, Tajae runs a curl, the TE runs an out and Alex (the "Z" receiver) runs a "9" route (Fly)....

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A sports writer looks at making the jump from FCS to FBS. Mentions UMass.

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The kickoff time between UMass and Penn State won't be decided until September.

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Bryon Vance of Hustle Belt looks at the MAC's 2014 TV schedule. UMass will make four TV appearances. The previous link about Penn State says every Nittany Lion game for the last ten seasons has been televised, so UMass should make an appearance on the Big Ten Network in addition to the four games listed by Hustle Belt.

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SEC Media Days reports on Vanderbilt.

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Mike Roy image

The NY Giants running back coach Craig Johnson says don't count out Michael Cox.

G-Men HQ has more on Cox including a video highlight.

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Igwenagu #82/ Stephanie Maksin image

Several writers think Emil Igwenagu will have a tough battle to make the Eagles roster: here and here.

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Recruiting 2015-- Ryan Adzima II

Todderick Hunt image

I've blogged about Ryan Adzima, a 6-2 215 pound pro-style QB from Wallington, NJ before.

This article from NJ.com updates his status.

Quote from the above article:

"As a junior in 2013, Adzima threw for 3,229 yards (2nd most in the state) and 32 TDs (tied for third most), connecting on 221-of-375 passes (59 %). He has been most heavily recruited by Maryland, UMass, Cincinnati and the service academies."

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Wednesday--July 16th, 2014

Joe Phelan image

This story from the Portland Press features UMass recruit Andrew Libby.

I've blogged about the 6-0 195 pound Libby before.

Whipple is one of the few modern coaches who utilizes fullbacks in his offense. His fullbacks rarely carry the ball, but do get to catch the ball out of the backfield.

ASFAIK, the only listed fullback on the roster is RSFR Daquan Mack 6-1 255. If Drew Harris ends up being the #1 running back, I'd speculate Shadrach Abrokwah SO 5-9 200 gets a chance as a FB. He's got the strength and build for it; he's played too well to to be buried in the depth chart.

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The MAC is allowing fans and students to be part of the conference Media Day.

Eight MAC Conference players have been chosen to the college football "Good Works" team.

Hustle Belt ranks the MAC conference 2015 recruiting totals as of yesterday.

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UMass is not in the bottom five of this betting sheet's power rankings.

They do have UMass as 100-1 odds to win the MAC championship (scroll).

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Tuesday--July 15th, 2014

New UMass Turf

The above is from the UMass Athletic Dept feed.

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The Boston College Blog "BC Interruption" does a UMass preview. It's a fair and non-snarky look at the Minutemen from their perspective. I think the game will be closer and I'll detail that when I do a BC preview.

BC Interruption also comments on the new UMass football facilities.

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The Giants Blog "Big Blue View" looks at Julian Talley's chances to make the G-Men's roster.

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Fox Sports says new Vanderbilt HC Derek Mason is putting his stamp on the Commodores program.

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WR Kevin White is having a good career for West Virginia after choosing the Mountaineers over an offer by UMass among others.

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USA Today ranks the MAC ahead of Conference USA and the Sun Belt conferences.

Saturday Blitz.come ranks the MAC #6 in conference QB play.

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The University of Colorado is offering a "Football 101" clinic for women tomorrow and campus feminists are outraged.

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Monday--July 14th, 2014

Dan Malone has another chapter of his Top-25 UMass players for 2014

This time he covers JUCO TE's Jean Sifrin 6-7 250 and Jon Denton 6-6 260. As Dan says, Whipple has moved aggressively to fill holes in the UMass roster, especially on offense.

Sifrin's UMass bio.
Denton's UMass bio.

The Spring depth chart listed three returning TE's

• Brandon Howard RSJR 6-5 240 4-55 career catches 0 career starts
• Shawn Campbell RSSR 6-2 205 Not on current roster
• Rodney Mills JR 601 205 5-47 career catches 4 career starts

TE's have always been a large part of Whipple's offense. In our championship year of 1998, Kerry Taylor had 74-854 11.5 AVE 5 TD's 40 LONG 56.9 AVE/game

The next year Sean Higgins had 51-615 12.1 AVE 2 TD's 31 LONG 47.3 AVE/game (second on the team).

Sifrin appears to be the better pass catcher. His size should make him a mismatch against most teams UMass plays. Denton seems to be more of a blocker, but Whipple's vertical offense means the QB has to stay upright while the WR's go long. If Denton can block at an FBS level he would contribute a lot.

The UMass roster also lists FR TE's

• Jordan Fiske 6-3 225
• Jon Lucier 6-6 215

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MAC Conference Media Days will be July 22nd and 23rd.

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A Vanderbilt blog reacts to ESPN's prediction the Commodores will finish on the bottom of the SEC.

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Steelers.com gets to know Rob Blanchflower.

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The Indy Star previews Ball State who will visit McGuirk on Black Friday.

USA Today ranks Ball State #57

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Penn State makes big gains in the weight room.

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Saturday--July 12th, 2014

Dan Malone continues his Top-25 UMass players for 2014 with a post on Marken Michel.

Michel's UMass bio.

Michel went 6-6 GP-GS 28-229 8.2 AVE 0 TD 35 LONG 18.7 AVE/G in 2012.

As Dan says, the Minutemen offensive needs all the playmakers it can get. 229 yards would have placed him third in total receiving in 2013 if he had been playing. UMass was 12th in the MAC in pass offense last year and 111th out of 123 teams.

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Mayala #1/Dave Sidaway image

Charles Doss over at Hustle Belt reports on UMass recruiting Hergy Mayala, a 6-2 190 athlete from Trinty-Pawling school in NY.

Rivals page here.

This article from March in NJ.com co-features Mayala.

Mayala has offers from UConn, Rutgers and Old Dominion.

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Hustle Belt also has a story on UMass WR Tajae Sharpe.

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CBS Sports talks about the new college sports safety guidelines.

The Hampshire Gazette has an editorial on the subject. Remember, football ranks lower than several other college sports in concussions.

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Brandon London led all the Larks receivers in Montreal's 34-33 loss to Winnipeg.

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Recruiting 2015---Adrian Green

Green #27

Several recruiting services report UMass has offered to Adrian Green, a 5-11 170 pound safety from Cedar Grove HS in Georgia.

Green's 247 page here.

Hudl.com has video and says Green ran a 4.39 forty.

Ran a 11.43 100 meters in 2014.

Green also has an offer from Georgia State.

Thursday--July 11th, 2014

From the UMass Nation feed

Dan Malone has holdover coaches from the Molnar era help provide continuity for Whipple's staff.

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A short video of Coach Whipple introducing the new UMass locker room to the team.

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UMass O-line

Dan continues his Top-25 UMass players with an article on Tyshon Henderson.

Henderson's UMass bio.

During his previous stint with the Minutemen, Whipple fielded one of the largest offensive lines in FCS. Henderson, at 6-7 340 has the size Whipple favors.

In pro football, the highest paid player is usually not the media-favorite quarterback; it's the LT guarding his blind side. Henderson's size makes him an obvious pro prospect. A couple of All-MAC years would build Henderson's resume.

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Speaking of offensive tackles, Penn State's Donovan Smith (good name) is a good one.

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Boston College gets new video boards--- better than the one's at Gillette.

The BC Blog "Soaring to Glory" has the top-five impact players for the Eagles in 2014.

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Never let Monty Python design your game uniforms.

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Thursday--July 10th, 2014

Offensive line Spring Game

Matt Sparks is the subject of Dan Malone's latest preview of 25 UMass players.

Sparks UMass bio.

During the Spring game the starting OL was:

• LT Tyrell Smith RSFR 6-5 295 12 career starts
• LG Elijah Wilkinson FR 6-4 330 0 career starts
• C Matt Sparks SO 6-4 290 14 career starts
• RG Josh Burns JR 6-5 285 0 career starts
• RT Tyshon Henderson JR 6-7 339 1 career start

Your LT, playing the quarterback's blind side is generally usually assigned to the OL's best player. Teams generally run right most of the time, so the RT is the best run blocker.

I think everyone expects Liam Porter 6-6 293 JR transfer from Dean College to make a strong bid to start. The same argument can be made for Ryan Johnson JR 6-5 320 transfer from Garden City Kansas.

Johnson played mostly guard at Garden City. I believe Porter was an OT at BC before being moved to TE. If he plays that position at UMass, Smith or Henderson could be moved to OG.

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The BC Lions gave up during their loss to Montreal said Brandon London.

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A Pacific Takes.com author thinks UMass could be a trap game for Colorado.

Jesse Allen of Hustle Belt previews the UMass-Buffs game.

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Idaho officially announces Charlie Molnar has joined to Vandal's staff.

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ESPN's SEC blog projects Vanderbilt to win about five games in 2014 (one of them being UMass).

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The Orlando Sentinel ranks Penn State as #48 and says NCAA sanctions will continue to be a problem for the Nittany Lions.

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Wednesday--July 9th, 2014

From the UMass feed

Loads of new Performance Center images from the Minutemen feed section of the main Athletic Dept page.

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Dan Malone continues his UMass Top-25 players series, this time with Jalen Williams.

Williams UMass bio.

I attended Whipple's first meeting with the UMass community (I think it was upstairs in the Student Union). Someone asked Whipple about his offense. He replied "All UMass passing records will last two years." Whip was wrong. It took only one year to most UMass passing records to fall.

Todd Bankhead went 303-525 20 TD's and 3919 yards in 1998. Compare that with 2013's 177-339 1877 yards.

In addition to Bankhead Whipple had Jimmy Moore, Adrian Zullo and Kerry Taylor.

Williams looks as if he could be a big cog in this year's offense. At 6-3 205, he's got FBS size. After this year, I would hope UMass fans will be talking about the 2014 Minutemen battery of Tajae Sharpe, Jalen Williams, Shakur Nesmith and Alex Kenney.

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Matty Vautour looks at the new NCAA restrictions on contact during practices.

The Indianapolis Star says the new rules won't change much.

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Meanwhile, the Boston City Council looks to mandate college player rights.

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At Penn State two players, Christian Hackenburg and Jordan Lucas are on watch lists. Lucas chose the Nittany Lions over an offer from UMass.

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ESPN Boston looks at the upcoming local HS football season. Mentions UMass commit Joe Parsons.

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Steve Buckley of Comcast Sports New England says UMass is going to rain on Boston College's hopes for a good season on August 30th.

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ESPN thinks Rob Blanchflower has a good chance to make the Steelers' roster.

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Recruiting 2015---Jared Southers

Rivals image

NJ.com reports UMass has offered to Jared Southers, a 6-4 290 pound OL from Seton Hall Prep in NJ.

NJ.com article from yesterday here.

Rivals three-star player.

Southers was OL MVP at the Rivals New Jersey camp.

Besides UMass, Southers holds FBS offers from Rutgers, Buffalo, UConn and Temple.

Tuesday--July 8th, 2014

Dan Malone continues his Top-25 UMass players for 2014 season with Daniel Maynes, a 6-2 285 senior DL.

Maynes' UMass bio here.

As the article says, Maynes is the Minutemen's only senior defensive lineman. In UMass' first three FBS recruiting seasons, offense received the larger number of recruits. This year class finally had a crop of defensive linemen.

Seniors

• Daniel Maynes

Juniors

• Al Leneus 6-2 295
• Robert Kitching 6-1 300

RSSO

• Michael Dowe,  6-2 240
• Leo Krizanovic  6-2 260
• Adam Richard 6-3 220

SO

• Peter Angeh 6-2 245
• Elijah Wilkinson 6-4 330

RSFR

• Joe Tyo 6-5 250
• Sha-Ki Holines 6-3 260

FR

• Da'Sean Downey 6-5 240 (listed as a DL on the roster)
• Jack Wynne 6-5 243
• Joe Previte 6-2 285 (listed OL/DL)
• Basit Dennis 6-2 280 (listed OL/DL)
• Jake Largay 6-6 280
• Chris Carter 6-4 260
• Josh Smiley 6-6 235
• Lucas Kolter 6-3 310

You can see the trend in recruits getting bigger. Maynes reported to UMass at 6-1 230. 

The 3-4 defense is not a "glory" defense for defensive linemen. The NT has to play the "A" gaps on both sides of the center. He gets blocked from three sides. The three DL's need to occupy the offensive linemen so the LB's are free to make the play. The ideal NT makes the OL double team him so that one of the four LB's is free. One other fact to note in the 3-4 is that all three defensive linemen are usually line up over an opposing player, i.e. the NT lines up over the center and the two DT's line up over the offensive tackles.

How it's supposed to work,  three OL are blocking Maynes while Downey gets the sack

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Jamall Stephenson, a former player of Whipple's at Brown has been appointed Scouting Director for the Vikings. Lots of mentions of Whipple and one of Don Brown.

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Rant Sports previews #49 Bowling Green. The potential MAC champions will play at McGuirk on 09/27.

Rant also previews #50 Ball State, who play in the Black Friday game at McGuirk on 11/12.

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