War Room October 21st
From the desk of Jim Snyder
Rivals.com continues to grow at a very rapid pace. According the Nielsen ratings the number of unique visitors to the network in September is up 86% over the same month last year.
If you are thinking of converting to an annual subscription this might be a good time. The annual recruiting Yearbook’s will go to the printer late this month and will be mailed on November 10th. You will save money plus get the Yearbook and AMP access. I believe they plan on selling the Yearbook for $9.95 but it is free to annual subscribers. The cost of the annual subscription is $8.83 per month versus $9.95 per month. Call Customer Service at 1-866-274-8257 (1-866-2Rivals) and they will take care of you. This past week we had a large number convert to an annual subscription. It was probably due in part to the AMP piece on Pitt recruiting.
Now that Jamie Dixon and Barry Rohrssen have landed Austin Wallace (6’9”) it will be interesting to see if they use the one scholarship they have still available for the Class of 2006. I would think that landing a big man now frees them to recruiting the best athlete available.
Hopefully you had a chance to read the article on linebacker Vernon “Pig” Smith written by Jeremy Crabtree this week. Jeremy attended his game on Saturday and spoke to him face to face to try and sort out the fog of recruiting. Smith has a four-star ranking but tells Jeremy he has not heard from Pitt much now that they have a new coaching staff. We have felt that Pitt would take another linebacker but recruiting is always a fluid thing so you never say never. It is also curious that other schools are not all over him. Four-star linebackers do not grow on trees. I am being to wonder just where he stands in the classroom. We will give it some time and then we will follow up with Vernon.
The story on Bryan Williams has also been very confusing. I spoke to Akron Buchtel coach Claude Brown several weeks ago who told me Bryan was at Valley Forge. Harry then interviewed coach Jim Burner who said that Williams was in their junior college program. Rivals.com then classified him as a prep player and sent me an e-mail saying he committed to Pitt. We spoke to one of our sources on the Southside who said he was in prep school. We called coach Burner on Wednesday who confirmed he was playing for the JUCO team. He is the athletic director at Valley but he also coaches that team so he should know. We will reclassify Bryan to the Class of 2008 later this fall. On the assumption he does the work in the classroom we expect him to play for Pitt some day. It is very hard to talk directly to players at boarding schools. We will interview him when he is home on a holiday break. Valley Forge is one of the few programs in the country that fields both a JUCO and a prep school team. It is simply too expensive to go the route. It is the reason for the confusion.
Pitt has a couple of big linemen in for visits this weekend. Jason Diehl (6-4 317) and [/B]Jeff Otah (6’ 7” 340). These two would certainly help give Pitt some size up front. They could be the answer to what ails the Pitt offense. The great thing about Diehl is that he is planning on starting college in January. This means he would be available for spring practice. Otah is a junior college player. Both would be looked at to help you immediately. You can bet the Pitt staff is hoping they both have great visits.
The Pitt staff is also kicking tires in a number of directions. Harry has reported on Clarence Bailey (6’ 6” 308) from Lackawanna Junior College. It looks like this big guy is going to explode of the recruiting scene. Many Big 12 schools have found him. Let’s see if Pitt can get a visit. He has one scheduled to Oklahoma.
We had heard the Pitt staff saw a big defensive end, Louis Holmes (6’ 7” 270), on tape from Scottsdale City College and had offered. Harry called the coach of the Fighting Artichokes (we didn’t make this up). The coach told him he was the best defensive end in the country and 40+ schools had offered before Pitt. He said Pitt is simply too late. A day or two later Rivals.com gave him a 5-star ranking.
Pitt has also offered lineman Lee Tilley (6’ 5” 317). He is a big four-star lineman out of Columbus. He also has 40+ offers. He has already taken four official visits. He might be done visiting. We will see if Pitt has any chance of getting his fifth and final visit. He has already visited LSU, South Carolina, Oklahoma and Arizona State.
We were talking to Coach Paul Dick this past week from Churchville-Chili High School in the Rochester area. He has Pitt recruit Kevin Collier and his younger brother Averin. The younger brother has been injured but is back. The Saints are playing unbeaten Pittsford (7-0) this weekend but he liked his team’s chances with both Colliers healthy. Kevin missed parts of games with cramps. I asked him about Averin. He said he is simply a great athlete. He could be a wide receiver, running back, defensive back or linebacker in college. He started to spout off touch to touchdown ratios. Quite frankly I lost my notes from this conversation but Averin scores on about every fourth touch. He plans on throwing him short passes and seeing if they can defend it. Coach Dick said that he has three sophomores including Averin and a lineman that are legitimate Division 1 prospects. Pitt is already following all three of them. Sometimes you get one player from a high school and it leads to more. Kevin Collier was the Rochester Play of the Week this past week for is efforts in gaining 277 yards rushing in the last game. He also had a 65-yard touchdown run that did not go for a score. This school is not a traditional power but the Collier brothers are putting it in the map.
Does coaching really matter? There is not doubt about it. Players play the game but coaches do matter. Coach Frank Hepler had built a powerhouse program at Plantation High School in Florida. His teams routinely won 10 or 11 games every year. The school got a new principal who began slowly reducing the coach’s power through a series of small actions, eventually leading Hepler to step down. Plantation brought in Steve Davis to coach the Colonels. He once coached at Clint Session’s old school and helped take them to a state championship. This year Plantation has not won a single game. The Colonels are 0-7.
This post was edited on 10/21 10:24 PM by Jim Pantherlairif(GetAdminCookie() != 0) {document.write(' (Revisions[/URL])');}
From the desk of Jim Snyder
Rivals.com continues to grow at a very rapid pace. According the Nielsen ratings the number of unique visitors to the network in September is up 86% over the same month last year.
If you are thinking of converting to an annual subscription this might be a good time. The annual recruiting Yearbook’s will go to the printer late this month and will be mailed on November 10th. You will save money plus get the Yearbook and AMP access. I believe they plan on selling the Yearbook for $9.95 but it is free to annual subscribers. The cost of the annual subscription is $8.83 per month versus $9.95 per month. Call Customer Service at 1-866-274-8257 (1-866-2Rivals) and they will take care of you. This past week we had a large number convert to an annual subscription. It was probably due in part to the AMP piece on Pitt recruiting.
Now that Jamie Dixon and Barry Rohrssen have landed Austin Wallace (6’9”) it will be interesting to see if they use the one scholarship they have still available for the Class of 2006. I would think that landing a big man now frees them to recruiting the best athlete available.
Hopefully you had a chance to read the article on linebacker Vernon “Pig” Smith written by Jeremy Crabtree this week. Jeremy attended his game on Saturday and spoke to him face to face to try and sort out the fog of recruiting. Smith has a four-star ranking but tells Jeremy he has not heard from Pitt much now that they have a new coaching staff. We have felt that Pitt would take another linebacker but recruiting is always a fluid thing so you never say never. It is also curious that other schools are not all over him. Four-star linebackers do not grow on trees. I am being to wonder just where he stands in the classroom. We will give it some time and then we will follow up with Vernon.
The story on Bryan Williams has also been very confusing. I spoke to Akron Buchtel coach Claude Brown several weeks ago who told me Bryan was at Valley Forge. Harry then interviewed coach Jim Burner who said that Williams was in their junior college program. Rivals.com then classified him as a prep player and sent me an e-mail saying he committed to Pitt. We spoke to one of our sources on the Southside who said he was in prep school. We called coach Burner on Wednesday who confirmed he was playing for the JUCO team. He is the athletic director at Valley but he also coaches that team so he should know. We will reclassify Bryan to the Class of 2008 later this fall. On the assumption he does the work in the classroom we expect him to play for Pitt some day. It is very hard to talk directly to players at boarding schools. We will interview him when he is home on a holiday break. Valley Forge is one of the few programs in the country that fields both a JUCO and a prep school team. It is simply too expensive to go the route. It is the reason for the confusion.
Pitt has a couple of big linemen in for visits this weekend. Jason Diehl (6-4 317) and [/B]Jeff Otah (6’ 7” 340). These two would certainly help give Pitt some size up front. They could be the answer to what ails the Pitt offense. The great thing about Diehl is that he is planning on starting college in January. This means he would be available for spring practice. Otah is a junior college player. Both would be looked at to help you immediately. You can bet the Pitt staff is hoping they both have great visits.
The Pitt staff is also kicking tires in a number of directions. Harry has reported on Clarence Bailey (6’ 6” 308) from Lackawanna Junior College. It looks like this big guy is going to explode of the recruiting scene. Many Big 12 schools have found him. Let’s see if Pitt can get a visit. He has one scheduled to Oklahoma.
We had heard the Pitt staff saw a big defensive end, Louis Holmes (6’ 7” 270), on tape from Scottsdale City College and had offered. Harry called the coach of the Fighting Artichokes (we didn’t make this up). The coach told him he was the best defensive end in the country and 40+ schools had offered before Pitt. He said Pitt is simply too late. A day or two later Rivals.com gave him a 5-star ranking.
Pitt has also offered lineman Lee Tilley (6’ 5” 317). He is a big four-star lineman out of Columbus. He also has 40+ offers. He has already taken four official visits. He might be done visiting. We will see if Pitt has any chance of getting his fifth and final visit. He has already visited LSU, South Carolina, Oklahoma and Arizona State.
We were talking to Coach Paul Dick this past week from Churchville-Chili High School in the Rochester area. He has Pitt recruit Kevin Collier and his younger brother Averin. The younger brother has been injured but is back. The Saints are playing unbeaten Pittsford (7-0) this weekend but he liked his team’s chances with both Colliers healthy. Kevin missed parts of games with cramps. I asked him about Averin. He said he is simply a great athlete. He could be a wide receiver, running back, defensive back or linebacker in college. He started to spout off touch to touchdown ratios. Quite frankly I lost my notes from this conversation but Averin scores on about every fourth touch. He plans on throwing him short passes and seeing if they can defend it. Coach Dick said that he has three sophomores including Averin and a lineman that are legitimate Division 1 prospects. Pitt is already following all three of them. Sometimes you get one player from a high school and it leads to more. Kevin Collier was the Rochester Play of the Week this past week for is efforts in gaining 277 yards rushing in the last game. He also had a 65-yard touchdown run that did not go for a score. This school is not a traditional power but the Collier brothers are putting it in the map.
Does coaching really matter? There is not doubt about it. Players play the game but coaches do matter. Coach Frank Hepler had built a powerhouse program at Plantation High School in Florida. His teams routinely won 10 or 11 games every year. The school got a new principal who began slowly reducing the coach’s power through a series of small actions, eventually leading Hepler to step down. Plantation brought in Steve Davis to coach the Colonels. He once coached at Clint Session’s old school and helped take them to a state championship. This year Plantation has not won a single game. The Colonels are 0-7.
This post was edited on 10/21 10:24 PM by Jim Pantherlairif(GetAdminCookie() != 0) {document.write(' (Revisions[/URL])');}
