 TOLEDOROCKETS.NETYour source for information on Rocket Football! |
TOLEDOROCKETS.NETYour source for information on Rocket Football! |
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By Brian Nowicki Earlier today the University of Toledo and head football coach Tom Amstutz announced the signing of 20 student-athletes for the 2007 recruiting class. They come from seven states: Ohio (10), Florida (2), Pennsylvania (2), Michigan (2), New Jersey (2), Illinois (1), and Tennessee (1). "It takes a lot of travelling to recruit a class like this," said Amstutz. "We did a good job of searching the state of Ohio first, looking in every nook and cranny in the state of Ohio to sign some really strong players. We got some young men from Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Florida, Illinois, and Michigan. We looked for the best players available and I think we signed some really outstanding young men." On paper this looks to be one of the most heralded and talented classes Toledo has ever signed. Seven different student-athletes were rated three stars by either the Rivals recruiting service, Scout recruiting service, or both services. "I think it's an outstanding class and I'm really excited about them," said Amstutz. "These young men are really excited to come to the University of Toledo and show their football skills. They are all coming here with the idea that they are going to compete at a position." Some fans might complain about the Tuesday or Wednesday night games just to be on ESPN, but it appears to be helping Toledo find some great student-athletes from all over the country. Amstutz agreed. "I think our time on ESPN over the last few years, the number of times we've been on national television, has really helped these young men feel comfortable with our program and want to be part of our outstanding football program." Below are some comments from Coach Amstutz on some of the student-athletes that make up the 2007 recruiting class: QB Travaris Cadet - "Travaris Cadet is an outstanding athlete. He's rated one of the top athletes in the entire state of Florida. He's #9 in the Top 10 players in Southern Florida. Those top 10 players signed with Florida, Florida State, Miami (Fla.), Notre Dame, and Toledo. He can run, he can throw, and he can do a lot of things. We are real excited to have him. He did have a visit to Minnesota and at one time really liked Minnesota, but just as short as a few hours ago switched to Toledo. We're definitely giving him the opportunity to play quarterback. That's where we are going to line him up first. He's very talented and he can do a lot of things for our football team. Obviously Travaris Cadet is an elite athlete. He runs a 4.4 forty and has a 35 inch vertical jump." RB Adonis Thomas - "Adonis Thomas is a great name and he's a flashy running back that can really pick it up and lay it down. He had been recruited and offered by Kansas State at one time and was gonna go there. We visited Adonis and he came here and really fell in love with our players and he's coming to Toledo." RB Morgan Williams - "Morgan Williams is one of the leading rushers ever in the state of Ohio. Ohio offensive player of the year, first team all-state, and he's in the Big 33 all-star game. He's got a lot of talent and I'm excited about watching him play. As far as academics, all players are going through academic procedures. They all have to graduate from high school before they can qualify. That's a process that everyone in the country is going through." WR Tim Cortazzo and WR Kaunda Hancock - "More than the number of wide receivers, I wanted the quality. Tim Cortazzo and Kaunda Hancock are two outstanding wide receivers. They have good size, speed, and excellent hands. Tim Cortazzo's father is a football coach. He's going to be in the Big 33 game. He's an outstanding player with great speed and can also return punts and kickoffs. Kaunda Hancock is outstanding. He won an award in one of the major camps for the best hands in catching the ball. He's got great hands. Both of those guys are quality players. We really looked for the best quality football player we could find rather than try to get a whole bunch at one position." QB DJ Lenehan - "A quarterback like DJ Lenehan just wants to come in and compete. He looks at this as an opportunity to come in and compete for a quarterback job. He just got done doing some outstanding things for his high school. He had an outstanding high school career. He threw for over 7,000 yards. They were 16-0 state champions this year in Pennsylvania. he's a quarterback that's coming here with the idea that he's gonna compete for the job. He does it all. He can throw the ball well. He's got a very strong arm. They run a sort of spread style offense and this past season he threw 340 passes in high school just his senior year alone. He also can run the ball. He can run a 4.6 forty and can tuck the ball and run." K/P Brett Brodbeck - "The kicker we signed is a special kicker. He has a really strong leg. He's the kind of guy that can kick the ball into the endzone. He has that kind of power leg. He can be a field goal kicker, a kickoff man, and also he can punt the ball. He can run (4.6 speed in the forty). You have to be versatile to be in our kicking game." On the number of running backs signed - "There's a talented group of running backs and some of these guys have the talent to play more than one position. Toledo is known as a team that always has a guy that can carry the ball and make big plays. There's some guys here that really had outstanding careers (high school) and are guys that you want to get the ball in their hands one way or another. Some of these running backs it is possible for them to be slot receivers for example. We went out and found the best quality athlete and will then put them in the positions that will fit the need of our football team. The best skilled athlete on a football team is put at tailback 9 out of 10 times in high school. He might be a great inside slot receiver that's used to carrying the football and has all the moves. We can project them into a guy that can be a slot (receiver). There's several guys that have great ball carrying skills and great speed that may play other positions for us." On some of the late pickups - "They are really special players. They are highly rated, national players. You take a look at Morgan Williams, Gordon Warner, Adonis Thomas, Sean Berry. Some of these players that came in the last group were players that were being recruited nationally. They had multiple offers from a lot of schools, a lot of schools that are bigger for example than Toledo, and chose Toledo. That was a really good way to finish the recruiting class." On recruiting the Toledo area - "We always want to find some players from this area. We always start fishing by the dock and we always want to find good players in Toledo. We already started recruiting some local players for next year that we have been in contact with their coaches already." On playing versus redshirting - "I tell all the freshman they should come in and compete. There will be a handful of guys that could possible help us out. Looking at them I see seven players that I expect to come in and really battle for a starting job. Plus there's a guy or two that you don't expect that can come up and compete for it. There's some talented players here, they have some special skills. We're gonna needs some of them next year to have a great football team." "I think that when you look at last year's class and combine it with this one you see there are some special football players coming into our program." On some of the players being able to play more than one position - "We get a lot of the best players that play both ways. We talk to them before they get to campus on where they want to start on our football team and allow them to make a decision and choose between offense and defense. We let them make the first choice and then if they want a change of positions they come to the coaching staff and we take it from there." On the lack of defensive lineman in this class - "The recruiting process never ends. We are always bringing guys in. You will see some of the biggest and fastest athletes in high school at inside linebacker and some of them might convert to a defensive lineman later on." On the phenomenon of graduating high school in January to play early - "I'm under the feeling that a guy should really enjoy his high school career and finish out his high school days and then join the team on a normal schedule. Some guys like to excelerate things to get out of town and get to college, but that's not really part of our philosophy. We want our guys to really enjoy their lives their senior year (high school) and then come here and join us in the fall." Have a question or comment for Brian? Email |