Gun Gone SEC - Alabama Rates No. 1 as Nick Saban Prepares to Get-up-and-go to War
Copyright  2008 Ed Bagley
Provided you be convinced football in the Southeastern Conference is fair-minded a game that generates a ton of money for the schools and the NCAA that regulates it in a highly publicized environment, you discharge not understand what success is about in the SEC.
SEC games are not battles between teams, they are outright strife with a fight to the last adult standing won by weighty artillery (talent). That is why Wednesday's (2-6-08) first generation of signing letters of body by flying school seniors was so significant. According to distinct analysts, Nick Saban and Alabama ranked No. 1 with the nation's finest troop of talent.
Among Rivals.com Top 50 prospects, Alabama picked up No. 4 Julio Jones, a 6-foot-4, 215-pound wide receiver from Foley (AL); No. 28 B. J. Scott, a 6-foot, 195-pound broad receiver-super athlete from Vigor (AL); No. 30 Tyler Love, a 6-foot-7, 290-pound offensive lineman from Mountain Brook (AL); No. 34 Jerrell Harris, a 6-foot-3, 215-pound linebacker from Gadsden (AL); and No. 35 Alonzo Lawrence, a 6-foot-1, 190 pound defensive back from George County (MS).
Add to that distinguished dossier No. 55 Mark Barron, a 6-foot-2, 202-pound athlete from Walking (AL) and No. 60 Barrett Jones, a 6-foot-5, 271-pound abusive lineman from Memphis (TN), and no college in America had 7 of the Top 60 Rival.com prospects apart from Alabama.
Southern Cal had 6 in the Top 60, Ohio State had 5 and Notre Dame had 5. Notre Dame's recuiting class was rated No. 2 by Rivals.com, Ohio State's No. 8 and Southern California's No. 10.
Nick Saban, the highest paid college coach at approximately $4 million a year, earned his pay. Saban was able to sign 7 of the top 11 prospects in Alabama. Auburn did not gain a single recruit among Rivals.com Top 100 prospects; the Tigers came up sucking pond water.
Look for Saban and the Crimson Tide to start a concerted march to a higher compass as a contemporary Division 1A powerhouse and national title contender. Should the Top 60 picks stay injury unpaid and reach their conceivable on the college turf, they testament most certainly be playing in the NFL on Sundays.
Whether you are not stoked about Alabama football you itch to live in another state.
Three other schools catch my personal keeping because I admit ties to Washington, Arizona State and Michigan State.
Ty Willingham's Washington Huskies had the highest Rivals.com pick among these 3 teams with No. 57 Kavario Middleton, a 6-foot-6, 250-pound tight end from Lakewood (WA). Middleton was joined by his teammate, Jermaine Kearse, a 6-foot-2, 175 pound wide receiver.
Washington also signed Everrette Thompson, a 6-foot-6, 255-pound defensive end from Burien (WA); Alameda Ta'amu, a 6-foot-4, 330-pound (yes, 330 pounds!) offensive guard from Seattle; Allen Carroll, a 6-foot-3, 290-pound affronting guard from Oakland (CA); Chris Polk, a 5-foot-11, 195-pound running back with 4.5 speed from Redlands (CA); and Jordan Polk, 5-foot-10, 170-pound wide receiver with 4.46 velocity from Portland (OR).
Washington's grip is continuance called the finest recruiting aggregation since Reggie Williams and Charles Frederick in 2001.
The Huskies again picked up some speed with linebacker Kurt Mangum (4.59), cornerbacks Adam Long (4.45), Anthony Gobern (4.4) and Justin Glenn (4.5), safety Johri Fogerson (4.55), and running backs Demitrius Bronson (4.5) and David Freeman (4.4). Let me be the first to dub Kurt Magnum as Magnum P.I. (Personal Intimidator) and Demitrius Bronson as Annihilation Hunger Bronson.
All of this comes as a surprise as Ty Willingham, unlike Nick Saban, does not carry a rep as a recruiter. The fact that redstart freshman quarterback Jake Locker started behind year and impressed nearly each with his agility, speed and savvy probably did not hurt a lick.
Scout.com rated Washington's recruiting collection as the 14th best among the NCAA's 119 Division 1A schools. Look for the Huskies to finally win amassed games than they lose next year. If they do not, Willingham may be looking for another job.
Scout.com rated Dennis Erickson and his Arizona Management Sun Devils assemblage as the 17th best nationally. Among Erickson's top prospects was Jack Elway, none other than the sonny of NFL Lobby of Name quarterback John Elway.
Jack Elway has his father's arm on the other hand apparently not his speed. Nonetheless, he comes from an excellent gene pool. In appendix to his dad, his colossal Janet was an chief college athlete as a swimmer for Stanford University.
Here are two info you may not be read about John Elway. 1) He may have played football at Stanford University but he was born and raised in Port Angeles (WA). 2) He had 47 career game-winning or game-tying drives in the 4th quarter, an NFL record.
Mark Dantonio and his Michigan State Spartans (my alma mater, Crowd of 1966) did not fare as fine as Washington or Arizona State. Other than any local coverage in Michigan and a fleeting among Big Ten teams, the Spartans received zero national attention. That tells me they ended up with the short end of stick, and that is indeed bad news.
Dantonio knows that Jim Tressel and his Ohio State Buckeyes are only going to get better; Dantonio was the defensive coordinator for Ohio State's undefeated (14-0) national championship team in 2002. Tressel as well won 4 Division 1AA state championships at Youngstown State, and his won-loss record as head coach at Ohio State is a stunning 83% (73-15).
If Ohio Government is not sufficiently competition for Michigan State, Michigan will cause the Spartans headaches as hale since Fat Rodriguez left West Virginia to coach the Wolverines next year.
Michigan has won augmented games than any other squad in college football history, and now along comes Rodriguez, who spent 7 seasons at West Virginia compiling a 60-26 record (69%) with 4 Big East titles.
Rodriguez, 1 of only 2 Hispanic head coaches in Division IA football, went 32-5 (86%) his endure 3 second childhood at West Virginia. Rodriguez is beneficial for Michigan; for Michigan State he is two legs and poor news. The Spartans may get the snot kicked elsewhere of them by Michigan for the adjoining 5 years.
I am praying that Dantonio can find a couple of nuggets among the scrap heap of players that are left over after all of the good programs have used up their scholarship allotments. The Spartans need knack and quickness immediately, they do not annex nearly enough at the moment.
The justified enthusiasm among Crimson Tide fans at Alabama does committal to be tempered by the knowledge that recruiting is not an exact science. While we apprehend that the sun will come up tomorrow, we do not distinguish how these recruits will play out.
What we do discern is that coaching can constitute average players better; Prosperous Rodriguez is an example. His recent West Virginia recruiting classes were rated mid-30s to mid-50s all the more he led the Mountaineers to 2 BCS bowl wins in the at the end 3 seasons, and he came within 1 success of playing for last year's national title.
We also appreciate that a position player like a quarterback, who touches the ball on every play, can fabricate a crew much better. An paradigm this year was Todd Reesing of Kansas who led the Jayhawks to a 12-1 record and an Orange Bowl victory. Reesing was rated a 2-star to 3-star player by the adjudjing services (5 stars is best) much he became a 5-star player when disposed the opportunity to do so.
Since frequent of these kids will alter to redshirts (meaning they will not play their freshman year) and become redshirt freshman (like Jake Locker of Washington) when they originate playing their sophomore year. It may take all of 5 senescence to determine who among the abounding players just signed will become tomorrow's stars and NFL draftees.
In the meantime, I will be praying for Mark Dantonio and my Michigan Society Spartans. I idea myself as an important intercessor as the Spartans own continued to disappoint in contemporary years. Wherever they have been I do not want to go.
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Author: Ed Bagley