Fatinikun plans to be a Rocket

etipton12 · Post by **etipton12** » Sat Dec 27, 2008 9:16 am

http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/ar ... /-1/SPORTS

Article published Saturday, December 27, 2008
Fatinikun plans to be a Rocket
Perrysburg grad jilts Bowling Green
By RYAN AUTULLO
BLADE SPORTS WRITER

T.J. Fatinikun still intends to play football for a Mid-American Conference program located in northwest Ohio.

But it won't be Bowling Green State University.

Fatinikun, a senior defensive end at Perrysburg, has rescinded his verbal commitment to BG and will instead play for its rival, the University of Toledo. Fatinikun came to his decision on Christmas Day and is either a great gift giver or a grinch depending which side of the I-75 rivalry one supports.

"It was not an easy decision," Fatinikun said. "It was not easy to tell BG. It just came down to what was best for me and my family and my future."

Fatinikun began exploring his options after BG fired coach Gregg Brandon a day after the Falcons ended the season with a 38-10 thumping of the Rockets. UT emerged on Fatinikun's radar when former BG defensive coordinator Mike Ward took the same position at UT. Ward recruited Fatinikun (6-foot-3, 230 pounds) at both schools. Ex-BG offensive coordinator Matt Campbell also accepted a position under new UT coach Tim Beckman earlier this month.

"Toledo felt right," said Fatinikun, who committed to BG last summer after attending its camp. "I was real comfortable al-ready with coach Ward. When he became a coach at UT I met the other coaches and everything felt right."

Fatinikun, a first-team Northern Lakes League pick, said BG commits Ricky Steele (defensive back from Cincinnati) and Zac Kerin (offensive lineman from Olentangy, Ohio) also expect to sign with the Rockets on the Feb. 4 National Signing Day.

Fatinikun said BG recruiting coordinator Doug Phillips was "disappointed" with his decision. Phillips and running backs coach John Hunter were the only members of Brandon's staff to be retained by new coach Dave Clawson.

Steele, who hails from the same high school as BG quarterback Tyler Sheehan, said he was concerned when Clawson did not get in touch with him until several days after he was announced as coach. Clawson eventually visited Steele in Cincinnati, but it wasn't enough to sway his decision.

"The things he said really weren't impressive and that was when I decided to go to Toledo," Steele said. "If coach Clawson was anything like coach Brandon I probably would have thought about it a little harder."

Contact Ryan Autullo at:
[email protected].

Redwingtom · Post by **Redwingtom** » Sat Dec 27, 2008 9:57 am

I think we found one of the problems with the former BG coaching staff. They recruited far too many self-centered babies and wusses!

Warthog · Post by **Warthog** » Sat Dec 27, 2008 10:03 am

It also mentions that two other recruits have switched commitments from BG to UT. DB Ricky Steele and OL Zac Kerin.

Steele made some rather interesting comments at the end of the story: "Steele, who hails from the same high school as BG quarterback Tyler Sheehan, said he was concerned when Clawson did not get in touch with him until several days after he was announced as coach. Clawson eventually visited Steele in Cincinnati, but it wasn't enough to sway his decision.

"The things he said really weren't impressive and that was when I decided to go to Toledo," Steele said. "If coach Clawson was anything like coach Brandon I probably would have thought about it a little harder."

Personally, it's probably a good thing that Coach Clawson ISN'T anything like Brandon. That was the whole point of firing him.

Class of 61 · Post by **Class of 61** » Sat Dec 27, 2008 10:29 am

Did you notice that Steele too, was a bit "miffed" that Clawson didn't contact him until "several days" after his hiring? So he and Nicely shared an opinion. Not sure this is a valid excuse, but when a kid has multiple offers, I'd guess he'd assume that a "new" coach would want to follow through ASAP, even if he does come out looking like a spoiled brat.

Falconfreak90 · Post by **Falconfreak90** » Sat Dec 27, 2008 11:05 am

Best of luck to the players that accepted UT's offer. We'll get to see them next year in November.

This opens more options for Coach Clawson as well.

JoeFalcon · Post by **JoeFalcon** » Sat Dec 27, 2008 12:11 pm

The comments are really disgusting. The only thing worse than an ego-manical 5 star recruit is an ego-manical 2 star recruit.

factman · Post by **factman** » Sat Dec 27, 2008 12:26 pm

factman · Post by **factman** » Sat Dec 27, 2008 12:29 pm

.....or worse yet, a ONE star recruit! Maybe we should get Coaches Beckman and Ward a set of orange "knee pads"!

Flipper · Post by **Flipper** » Sat Dec 27, 2008 1:53 pm

zete · Post by **zete** » Sat Dec 27, 2008 9:05 pm

The kid likes Mike Ward and Ward is now a Rocket. I don't blame him. The Falcons will be hard pressed to go .500 next year...and the year after.

NY-BG-FAN · Post by **NY-BG-FAN** » Sat Dec 27, 2008 9:54 pm

zete wrote:The kid likes Mike Ward and Ward is now a Rocket. I don't blame him. The Falcons will be hard pressed to go .500 next year...and the year after.

How do you figure? Clawson is inheriting a good deal of talent. We could take just the returning roster we have right now with no newcomers, and put together another 8-4 season next year, maybe better, who knows.

If we take our lumps on the recruiting trail this season because of the head coaching change so be it, but that will show in later years, and the program will have to overcome it then. It's not like a huge amount of these whining, middle-of-the-road recruits were going to come in and set the world on fire next season as true freshman. Personally I'll take Sheehan, Barnes, Geter, Sanderson et. al next year to be highly competitive in the MAC, as long as they can avoid the home losses to teams that finish 2-10, which they couldn't do last year.

Falconfreak90 · Post by **Falconfreak90** » Sat Dec 27, 2008 10:01 pm

zete wrote:The kid likes Mike Ward and Ward is now a Rocket. I don't blame him. The Falcons will be hard pressed to go .500 next year...and the year after.

Your reasons for this? I agree with NY BG FAN...there is a LOT of talent on this team. Why is BG gonna be hard pressed to go .500? Do you think UT will vault back to the top of the West in one season? I don't. BG is a better program and team than UT, presently. 75-20 over the last two years proves that. I see no reason why Coach Clawson can't come in and take the present talent and win right away.

We lost some great seniors this year but are far from a bare cupboard. The recruiting could take a hit, no question.

cowboyjoe · Post by **cowboyjoe** » Sat Dec 27, 2008 10:26 pm

The comments are really disgusting. The only thing worse than an ego-manical 5 star recruit is an ego-manical 2 star recruit

.....or worse yet, a ONE star recruit! Maybe we should get Coaches Beckman and Ward a set of orange "knee pads"!

I know one thing. We could sure put up the points with those ONE star recruits. I hope that Clawson can do the same with below average talent. 31-17 with ONE star recruits...think about it!!!

birddog · Post by **birddog** » Sun Dec 28, 2008 7:47 am

A call should have been the first thing a new coach should do after walking off the podium.

hammb · Post by **hammb** » Sun Dec 28, 2008 10:14 am

birddog wrote:A call should have been the first thing a new coach should do after walking off the podium.

Bullshit.

You ever think maybe he doesn't value these recruits as highly as the previous regime did? Maybe THAT is why they are so anxious to verbal elsewhere and why they don't like what they hear from him as much as they liked what they were being told by Brandon & Co?

Look anytime you make a coaching change recruiting that year suffers. Whether it be a firing or a head coach moving on the recruiting is behind the eightball for that year. This year's class will likely not be a full complement of what we could sign, because we're on a short recruiting calendar.

That is not, however, always a bad thing. Our new coach (and his new staff whenever they get hired) will have their own opinions on what they look for in a player. Those might not coincide with what Gregg Brandon's staff looked for in a player. It's quite likely that coach Clawson would rather scout and recruit players that meet his own expectations than bow to whatever Brandon's recruits wanted to hear.

Personally, I'm quite fine losing these Gregg Brandon recruits rather than use up our scholarships on kids that may or may not meet Clawson's ideals. To say that his first duty should be to call our current commitments is just ludicrous. His first duty should be to call his CURRENT players, not some HS kids that just want to hear how great they are.