Thursday, June 24, 2010

Wednesday Grab Bag.....

I'm in a patriotic fervor after yesterday's World Cup win.....

A mish-mash of thoughts as I am finally caught up on my reading & able to process information at a reasonable speed. At this rate, there may even be some original content up on the Barrel this week......
  • The #8 ranked player in the country, LB Curtis Grant of Richmond, Virginia spent yesterday on campus with the coaching staff & his cousin, recent commit Darren Waller. Hopefully we'll get an official visit in the Fall. RB James Wilder will also visit in the near future. First time I can ever remember having two top ten national recruits on campus.
  • There's a certain amount of attrition expected after a coaching change & Mike London & Virginia are experiencing this right now. Five Cavaliers have recently left the program & depth may be an issue this season. I like London's bravado when he says, "I got enough to get through...they're a group of guys right there that you can win with". What can he win with that group, a horseshoe tournament? Sure as hell not the ACC. At least not yet. London has hit the recruiting trail hard and the Cavs have 14 commits for next year.
  • Wake Forest comes in at #71 in Pre-Snap Read's college football countdown. I too expect a tougher year than normal for the Deacons. I wonder if Wake fans really appreciate the job Jim Grobe is doing, leading them to their first winning decade since the 1940's. The coach at Wake then? One "Peahead" Walker. Don't make 'em like ol' Peahead anymore....As long as we're talking names, how about Wake DE Gelo Orange (that's pronounced "jello"). A tip of the hat for to Momma & Daddy Orange for the locutionary stylings. But to sum everything up, it might be a long year for Wake as they lose a four-year starting QB, three offensive linemen, & both defensive tackles off a pretty average defense. Those losses combined with the fact that they will be starting a QB named Skylar spell a long season in my book. Skylar? Really? Shouldn't he be at UVA on the sailing team?
  • Barrel favorite Heather Dinich sits down with Tech director of player development (aka strength & conditioning coach) Neal Peduzzi for an insightful chat. I didn't really need confirmation that Josh Nesbitt is stupid strong but it's nice to know. The Julian Burnett thing is astounding. 435# THREE TIMES!!! He's 220 pounds. Beast mode. Burnett is a guy searching for an identity in our new 3-4 defense but with his strength & nose for the ball I can't help but think he'll find the field somewhere this year. He's one of my favorites & I can't help rooting for "the Buzzsaw".
  • A nice write-up on recent commit OL Shaq Mason. At 16 the young man has a bright future ahead of him. It's great to see our staff is able to recognize talent regardless of the number of stars by their name. FYI, after camping at Tech, Mason went to Tennessee with his team & blew up the Vol's camp. The only reason he didn't have any offers was there wasn't any film on him out there. Mason reminds me a lot of current guard Omoregie Uzzi who I expect to have an All-ACC type season this year.
  • A couple posts from Chris Brown on the spread offense over at Smart Football. Our offense certainly evolved from the single wing & the video is pretty interesting. Plus it's option football set to the 1812 Overture. If that doesn't move you then Viagra is in order. Baylor coach Art Briles also brings up some good points as to our recent offensive success and the spread: "I definitely think it will continue to change, but I also think it’s here to stay. I think the game has become a lot faster from the standpoint of putting people in space and letting them make plays. I don’t think that we’ll consistently see people lining up with a full house backfield, handing the ball to a guy who’s running downfield. I think that part of the game is definitely valuable. You can have some advantages doing that today, because people don’t recruit defensively to stop teams that pound the ball at you. (my highlight) But I don’t think the spread offenses are going anywhere for a while." Good stuff from a great blog.....

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