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Coach Clawson and staff picked up another commitment over the weekend bringing the total to 9.

Here's the full list:

1) Jude Adeji-Barimah CB 5-10/177 Columbus Northland
2) Marcus Bearum ATH 5-11/170 Sterling Hts, MI (Stevenson)
3) Isaiah Byler OL 6-5/285 Elyria
4) Justin Ford LB/S 6-2/196
5) Trent Hurley QB 6-5/210 three-stars on Rivals
6) Gabe Martin LB 6-2/210 Grand Blanc
7) Devon McKoy CB 5-10/171 Reynoldsburgh
8) Willie Tatum LB 6-3/205 Pickerington Central
9) Caleb Watkins QB 6-3/205 Middletown

I could be mistaken, but it really seems like Coach Clawson is putting to rest the doubts over his ability to recruit in this area.

Maybe my memory is slipping in my old age, but I can't remember having this many verbals (this early on) in a while....if ever.

Here's hoping this is trend.

Go Falcons!

The list didn't include Clay Rolf from nearby Eastwood HS.

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I didnt come to bg until 2002, for those of you who were around, what was the hype around Urbrans first recruiting class? Obviously it turned out amazing with people like magner, sharon, carswell, newson, sayles, burkes, murkowski(sp), Crumpler. But what I'm asking is was there that much hype around it? Were people saying, "man this guy is bringing in some talent with his first class"?

moneymaker02 wrote:I didnt come to bg until 2002, for those of you who were around, what was the hype around Urbrans first recruiting class? Obviously it turned out amazing with people like magner, sharon, carswell, newson, sayles, burkes, murkowski(sp), Crumpler. But what I'm asking is was there that much hype around it? Were people saying, "man this guy is bringing in some talent with his first class"?

Burkes and Mruzkowski were Blackney recruits. My impression was that Urban's recruiting was hit or miss. There were stars and washouts alike with very little middle ground.

Brandon's first class had something like four guys with ***stars on Rivals....none of them did diddly here, but they sure were highly rated. I think Meyer's second class was pretty well thought of and if he had stuck around for the 2003 class, that one would have been huge. That WR from Toledo that wound up at Miami was set to go here until Urbie left...and IIRC, there were a few other pretty highly rated guys that went elsewhere after Urbie bolted.

So far as numbers go...I think Brandon had more than 10 guys lined up by September a time or two...the trend over the past couple of years has been towards kids committing early. I think the NCAA needs to look at setting up an early signing period in July or early August like they have in basketball. It would simplify the process a good bit.

It's a function of time. Brandon talked about early commits in summer 2008 and how commits keep coming in earlier and earlier for programs. He talked about how Texas already had verbals for the entire next recruiting class and a handful of verbals for the next couple after that. I'm NOT saying that we should not be excited about this many verbals for us - we should, but I'm saying its a nationwide trend. That being said, I can't think of a MAC team ever having this many verbals this early in the recruiting process, or this many verbals publicized this early.

Coach Clawson and staff seem to be doing a VERY good job on the recruiting trail. Keep it up, fellas!

GO FALCONS BEAT TROY

can we please land a Mike thats at least 230 Coach? Pretty please?

You mean like Cody Basler?

Flipper wrote:You mean like Cody Basler?

I mean depth. I mean the ability to control the middle of the field. We typically have 1, maybe 2 guys if we are lucky in the middle that have any meaningful size. And Cody isnt a Clawson recruit.

Remember weights of incoming recruits mean almost nothing as it's not at all uncommon for players to add (or lose) 15-20 pounds in their first couple years in a college training program. It's tough to recruit defensive players that have ideal size/athleticism combos directly out of HS at the MAC level. The kids that have the size you want are usually going to be a step slow. The kids that have the athleticism you want are usually going to need to add some weight to get to ideal size. There just aren't that many kids that have that perfect build directly out of HS, and those rare athletes aren't coming to the MAC.

I would definitely like to see our front 7 be overall bigger & stronger than what we've fielded in year's past. The small, quick stuff continuously got us pushed around. I just think the best way to go about doing this is adding weight through training, rather than expecting to bring in kids with the ideal size right out of HS.

hammb wrote: There just aren't that many kids that have that perfect build directly out of HS, and those rare athletes aren't coming to the MAC.

Iowa State and Baylor get most of them I believe. Troy gets the leftovers. The MAC sux.

h2oville rocket wrote:

hammb wrote: There just aren't that many kids that have that perfect build directly out of HS, and those rare athletes aren't coming to the MAC.

Iowa State and Baylor get most of them I believe. Troy gets the leftovers. The MAC sux.

Well played, sir, well played...

MarkL wrote: That being said, I can't think of a MAC team ever having this many verbals this early in the recruiting process, or this many verbals publicized this early.

Check out either Rivals or Scout.... they show CMU with 10 and Ball St. with 12, so the theory that kids are committing earlier may be true... the scary part is that Ball St. has hit OHIO for something like 8 or more of their 12 total. Stan Parrish's former Ohio coaching experience and related connections seems to be playing dividends.