| Copyright © 2008 Ed Bagley | | | | do not, Willingham may be looking for another |
| | | | job. |
| If you think football in the Southeastern | | | | |
| Conference is just a game that generates a | | | | rated Dennis Erickson and his Arizona State |
| ton of money for the schools and the NCAA | | | | Sun Devils class as the 17th best nationally. |
| that regulates it in a highly publicized | | | | Among Erickson's top prospects was Jack |
| environment, you do not understand what | | | | Elway, none other than the son of NFL Hall of |
| success is about in the SEC. | | | | Fame quarterback John Elway. |
| | | | |
| SEC games are not battles between teams, they | | | | Jack Elway has his father's arm but |
| are outright warfare with a fight to the last | | | | apparently not his speed. Nonetheless, he |
| man standing won by heavy artillery (talent). | | | | comes from an excellent gene pool. In |
| That is why Wednesday's (2-6-08) first day of | | | | addition to his dad, his mother Janet was an |
| signing letters of intent by high school | | | | outstanding college athlete as a swimmer for |
| seniors was so significant. According to | | | | Stanford University. |
| several analysts, Nick Saban and Alabama | | | | |
| ranked No. 1 with the nation's best class of | | | | Here are two facts you may not know about |
| talent. | | | | John Elway. 1) He may have played football at |
| | | | Stanford University but he was born and |
| Among Top 50 prospects, Alabama picked up No. | | | | raised in Port Angeles (WA). 2) He had 47 |
| 4 Julio Jones, a 6-foot-4, 215-pound wide | | | | career game-winning or game-tying drives in |
| receiver from Foley (AL); No. 28 B. J. Scott, | | | | the 4th quarter, an NFL record. |
| a 6-foot, 195-pound wide receiver-super | | | | |
| athlete from Vigor (AL); No. 30 Tyler Love, a | | | | Mark Dantonio and his Michigan State Spartans |
| 6-foot-7, 290-pound offensive lineman from | | | | (my alma mater, Class of 1966) did not fare |
| Mountain Brook (AL); No. 34 Jerrell Harris, a | | | | as well as Washington or Arizona State. Other |
| 6-foot-3, 215-pound linebacker from Gadsden | | | | than any local coverage in Michigan and a |
| (AL); and No. 35 Alonzo Lawrence, a 6-foot-1, | | | | little among Big Ten teams, the Spartans |
| 190 pound defensive back from George County | | | | received zero national attention. That tells |
| (MS). | | | | me they ended up with the short end of stick, |
| | | | and that is indeed bad news. |
| Add to that distinguished list No. 55 Mark | | | | |
| Barron, a 6-foot-2, 202-pound athlete from | | | | Dantonio knows that Jim Tressel and his Ohio |
| Mobile (AL) and No. 60 Barrett Jones, a | | | | State Buckeyes are only going to get better; |
| 6-foot-5, 271-pound offensive lineman from | | | | Dantonio was the defensive coordinator for |
| Memphis (TN), and no school in America had 7 | | | | Ohio State's undefeated (14-0) national |
| of the Top 60 prospects except Alabama. | | | | championship team in 2002. Tressel also won 4 |
| | | | Division 1AA national championships at |
| Southern Cal had 6 in the Top 60, Ohio State | | | | Youngstown State, and his won-loss record as |
| had 5 and Notre Dame had 5. Notre Dame's | | | | head coach at Ohio State is a stunning 83% |
| recuiting class was rated No. 2 by | | | | (73-15). |
| Rivals.com, Ohio State's No. 8 and Southern | | | | |
| California's No. 10. | | | | If Ohio State is not enough competition for |
| | | | Michigan State, Michigan will cause the |
| Nick Saban, the highest paid college coach at | | | | Spartans headaches as well since Rich |
| about $4 million a year, earned his pay. | | | | Rodriguez left West Virginia to coach the |
| Saban was able to sign 7 of the top 11 | | | | Wolverines next year. |
| prospects in Alabama. Auburn did not have a | | | | |
| single recruit among Top 100 prospects; the | | | | Michigan has won more games than any other |
| Tigers came up sucking pond water. | | | | team in college football history, and now |
| | | | along comes Rodriguez, who spent 7 seasons at |
| Look for Saban and the Crimson Tide to start | | | | West Virginia compiling a 60-26 record (69%) |
| a concerted march to a higher place as a | | | | with 4 Big East titles. |
| current Division 1A powerhouse and national | | | | |
| title contender. Should the Top 60 picks stay | | | | Rodriguez, 1 of only 2 Hispanic head coaches |
| injury free and reach their potential on the | | | | in Division IA football, went 32-5 (86%) his |
| college turf, they will most certainly be | | | | last 3 years at West Virginia. Rodriguez is |
| playing in the NFL on Sundays. | | | | great for Michigan; for Michigan State he is |
| | | | two legs and bad news. The Spartans may get |
| If you are not stoked about Alabama football | | | | the snot kicked out of them by Michigan for |
| you need to live in another state. | | | | the next 5 years. |
| | | | |
| Three other schools catch my personal | | | | I am praying that Dantonio can find a couple |
| attention because I have ties to Washington, | | | | of nuggets among the scrap heap of players |
| Arizona State and Michigan State. | | | | that are left over after all of the good |
| | | | programs have used up their scholarship |
| Ty Willingham's Washington Huskies had the | | | | allotments. The Spartans need talent and |
| highest pick among these 3 teams with No. 57 | | | | speed immediately, they do not have nearly |
| Kavario Middleton, a 6-foot-6, 250-pound | | | | enough at the moment. |
| tight end from Lakewood (WA). Middleton was | | | | |
| joined by his teammate, Jermaine Kearse, a | | | | The justified enthusiasm among Crimson Tide |
| 6-foot-2, 175 pound wide receiver. | | | | fans at Alabama does need to be tempered by |
| | | | the knowledge that recruiting is not an exact |
| Washington also signed Everrette Thompson, a | | | | science. While we know that the sun will come |
| 6-foot-6, 255-pound defensive end from Burien | | | | up tomorrow, we do not know how these |
| (WA); Alameda Ta'amu, a 6-foot-4, 330-pound | | | | recruits will play out. |
| (yes, 330 pounds!) offensive guard from | | | | |
| Seattle; Allen Carroll, a 6-foot-3, 290-pound | | | | What we do know is that coaching can make |
| offensive guard from Oakland (CA); Chris | | | | average players better; Rich Rodriguez is an |
| Polk, a 5-foot-11, 195-pound running back | | | | example. His recent West Virginia recruiting |
| with 4.5 speed from Redlands (CA); and Jordan | | | | classes were rated mid-30s to mid-50s yet he |
| Polk, 5-foot-10, 170-pound wide receiver with | | | | led the Mountaineers to 2 BCS bowl wins in |
| 4.46 speed from Portland (OR). | | | | the last 3 seasons, and he came within 1 win |
| | | | of playing for last year's national title. |
| Washington's catch is being called the best | | | | |
| recruiting class since Reggie Williams and | | | | We also know that a position player like a |
| Charles Frederick in 2001. | | | | quarterback, who touches the ball on every |
| | | | play, can make a team much better. An example |
| The Huskies also picked up some speed with | | | | this year was Todd Reesing of Kansas who led |
| linebacker Kurt Mangum (4.59), cornerbacks | | | | the Jayhawks to a 12-1 record and an Orange |
| Adam Long (4.45), Anthony Gobern (4.4) and | | | | Bowl victory. Reesing was rated a 2-star to |
| Justin Glenn (4.5), safety Johri Fogerson | | | | 3-star player by the rating services (5 stars |
| (4.55), and running backs Demitrius Bronson | | | | is best) yet he became a 5-star player when |
| (4.5) and David Freeman (4.4). Let me be the | | | | given the opportunity to do so. |
| first to dub Kurt Magnum as Magnum P.I. | | | | |
| (Personal Intimidator) and Demitrius Bronson | | | | Since many of these kids will become |
| as Death Wish Bronson. | | | | redshirts (meaning they will not play their |
| | | | freshman year) and become redshirt freshman |
| All of this comes as a surprise as Ty | | | | (like Jake Locker of Washington) when they |
| Willingham, unlike Nick Saban, does not have | | | | start playing their sophomore year. It may |
| a rep as a recruiter. The fact that redstart | | | | take all of 5 years to determine who among |
| freshman quarterback Jake Locker started last | | | | the many players just signed will become |
| year and impressed almost everyone with his | | | | tomorrow's stars and NFL draftees. |
| agility, speed and savvy probably did not | | | | |
| hurt a lick. | | | | In the meantime, I will be praying for Mark |
| | | | Dantonio and my Michigan State Spartans. I |
| rated Washington's recruiting class as the | | | | view myself as an important intercessor as |
| 14th best among the NCAA's 119 Division 1A | | | | the Spartans have continued to disappoint in |
| schools. Look for the Huskies to finally win | | | | recent years. Wherever they have been I do |
| more games than they lose next year. If they | | | | not want to go. |