Former Osseo TE Will Johnson to transfer from WVU

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He felt self conscious walking around town with a full set of teeth.
I remember thinking that was a strange choice of a school for him. Jerry likes big TE's.
 

I just talked to Will. He told me that he is unsure where he is going to transfer, but he wants to stay at the Division I level. West Virginia starts classes Monday and he said that he has up to two weeks to find a new school. Obviously, if he transfers to a D1 school, he would have to sit out, which means he would have not played in 2012 and 2013.

Will told me that he would keep me updated.

Chris Monter
 

This is a cautionary tale to all instate recruits. Oh sure the promises, the facilities, the Campus, The Coach, the chance to get away. And then what. It doesn't work out just the way they said it would and you are left in Morgan Town, or Miami with no prospects at all. Transferring and losing a year is a lifetime, its a culture shift. And you are on your own. Maybe you wanted that way but this is reality. Playing Division 1 football is hard work. You need as much support as you can get. Coaches, training staff, educational tutors, but the one thing they don't have in South Bend, Los Angeles, Columbus, Norman, or Tuscaloosa is MOM. I don't care if you are 6'8 and 290. Playing for the Home Town Team solves all lot of problems and affords you the opportunity to take your celebrity and degree directly to one of the local Fortune 500 companies.

That being said, come on home Will
 


Meh, Husker has a point, but I think it is all about the kid. Some kids are more advanced or more independent. My family moved away before I finished high school so I was on my own regardless of where I went to school. I also went to school with some kids that didn't know how to wash their clothes or make toast (what the fu_ck kind of parents are these people that don't prepare their kids? I digress).

The real issue is playing D-1 sports is a full time job, on top of school. You had better be in a system that provides you the support you need to be successful. This is the #1 reason I love Kill & Co. They just seem to get the need for discipline, education, support and mentorship to keep kids in school, on the field and working towards their goals. This will pay off more and more each year as parents and coaches start to see kids graduating from the U with life skills, jobs and a foundation for future success. Remember, even the top programs like Alabama only send a few kids on to NFL success each year...the vast majority need a degree and education to get their next good job.
 

I don't judge him for picking WVU and I feel bad it didn't work out for him there, but it didn't and it would be nice if he ended up here (provided Kill wants him).
 

We are pretty damn stacked at TE. Will may be out of luck, too bad, I really wanted him to sign here originally.
 

I'm a bit amused at the kid should stay home arguement. If all kids adhered to that philosophy, we'd be totally screwed.
 



I'm a little over taking kids back after they sign elsewhere (admittedly from hoops more than football). We have a lot of TEs. I dunno about automatically taking him here - if that's what he even wants.
 

Ryan Burns quoted Johnson as saying he has been recruited by some schools already and Minnesota is not one of those schools, he is interested in the Gophers though.
 

husker70 said:
This is a cautionary tale to all instate recruits. Oh sure the promises, the facilities, the Campus, The Coach, the chance to get away. And then what. It doesn't work out just the way they said it would and you are left in Morgan Town, or Miami with no prospects at all. Transferring and losing a year is a lifetime, its a culture shift. And you are on your own. Maybe you wanted that way but this is reality. Playing Division 1 football is hard work. You need as much support as you can get. Coaches, training staff, educational tutors, but the one thing they don't have in South Bend, Los Angeles, Columbus, Norman, or Tuscaloosa is MOM. I don't care if you are 6'8 and 290. Playing for the Home Town Team solves all lot of problems and affords you the opportunity to take your celebrity and degree directly to one of the local Fortune 500 companies.

That being said, come on home Will
Click to expand...

The real problem here is that WVU's offense doesn't feature a tight end at all. Those who follow recruiting were somewhat confused at his choice because of this and when he arrived on campus they moved him to WR. I think WVU's plan was to eventually move him to the o-line and if I remember his recruitment correctly, Will said that he absolutely wanted to play tight end in college.

I wouldn't mind having him on the team but with our depth at TE and his size, I personally would prefer for him to move to the o-line.
 

MNGoldenGophers1 said:
I'm a bit amused at the kid should stay home arguement. If all kids adhered to that philosophy, we'd be totally screwed.
Click to expand...

Take that to the Gopher Hockey Board. The loyalists were outraged when they began to recruite outside of Minnesota.
 



It's a Pig Man! said:
Ryan Burns quoted Johnson as saying he has been recruited by some schools already and Minnesota is not one of those schools, he is interested in the Gophers though.
Click to expand...

We are set at TE....don't need you anymore kid.
 

husker70 said:
This is a cautionary tale to all instate recruits. Oh sure the promises, the facilities, the Campus, The Coach, the chance to get away. And then what. It doesn't work out just the way they said it would and you are left in Morgan Town, or Miami with no prospects at all. Transferring and losing a year is a lifetime, its a culture shift. And you are on your own. Maybe you wanted that way but this is reality. Playing Division 1 football is hard work. You need as much support as you can get. Coaches, training staff, educational tutors, but the one thing they don't have in South Bend, Los Angeles, Columbus, Norman, or Tuscaloosa is MOM. I don't care if you are 6'8 and 290. Playing for the Home Town Team solves all lot of problems and affords you the opportunity to take your celebrity and degree directly to one of the local Fortune 500 companies.

That being said, come on home Will
Click to expand...
The West Virginia choice was a particular head scratcher, though. He didn't fit the offense at all, and kept insisting that he was going to play TE, even though he was projected by most to be an OT, and most particularly in a system like West Virginia. While I agree that there are certain advantages of staying home, I think the primary cautionary tale is to do your research and don't buy what most coaches are telling you, but rather what their actual results are.

Edit: Kuato beat me to it.
 

Got buried in the depth chart at "Inside WR" then switched positions and got passed by a freshman. Decided to transfer.

As MadtownGopher said, we don't really need Will and already have a lot of young talent at tight end.
 



MNGoldenGophers1 said:
I'm a bit amused at the kid should stay home arguement. If all kids adhered to that philosophy, we'd be totally screwed.
Click to expand...

I am not a fan of Husker's argument, but I don't think we'd be screwed at all (from a B1G perspective) if all kids adhered to that philosophy...especially compared to recent history.

All of a sudden, Minnesota is better than Nebraska, Iowa, Indiana, Purdue, and Northwestern pretty much every year. Indiana and Purdue are hurt by having to split the talent in Indiana 3 ways with Notre Dame. Northwestern is hurt by having to find kids that meet their academic requirements just in Illinois and then still have to share the states talent with the Illini.

Minnesota/Wisconsin becomes a hotly contested rivalry.

Illinois takes a huge step forward.

Ohio State arguably becomes even more dominant.

Where does Michigan State fall in the standings considering that Michigan likely gets most of the best talent in Michigan?

1. Ohio State
2. Penn State- post sanctions
3. Michigan
4. Illinois
5. Minnesota/Wisconsin
7. Michigan State
8. Purdue
9. Indiana
10. Nebraska
11. Iowa
12. Northwestern

I'd guess that the typical standings would look something like that if every recruit adhered to the "Husker philosophy". From a national standpoint, only Ohio State would have any chance of competing with the Florida/Texas/California based schools.

Edit: Forgot about ISU, and had Iowa 8th originally.
 


This is strange. Two days ago I saw a headline about the Pittsburgh Steelers' Will Johnson from West Virginia, so I tried to read up on the Osseo Will Johnson. I remembered Bob Loblaw (I think) being mystified by his decision because the chances that he would play TE in that offense were nil but he insisted he would. Now, this!

I personally would take him if the coaches thought they could use him on the O-Line or as an H-back type. I don't know enough about him/our schemes to predict if he would fit with our team or not.

Also, I wish people would stop clucking their tongues about players not staying home. We need to stop getting so flustered over "losing" an instate player and get more excited about getting a player from another state that wants to be here. I would prefer MN kids if I had my druthers but it just isn't realistic to expect all or maybe even a majority of them to want to go to school 20 minutes from home. Some people just want a different experience/to get away for college. I don't blame them.
 

I'm curious. Does anyone know what happened with Will?
 


husker70 said:
Take that to the Gopher Hockey Board. The loyalists were outraged when they began to recruite outside of Minnesota.
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Umm, Hockey can field a pretty good team with all Minnesota kids. Although, truth be told, they need a few guys from outside the state as well to make it all go. Football has no chance to be competitive with all MN kids. NONE.
 

Going to WVU is a horrible decision. Just horrible. At least for anybody with better options.

We have a commit from a kid who could go to Princeton or Harvard. If I were his Dad, guess what I would be saying?
 

I too am curious to where he went. A quick search revealed nothing for me.
 

Studwell55 said:
Going to WVU is a horrible decision. Just horrible. At least for anybody with better options.

We have a commit from a kid who could go to Princeton or Harvard. If I were his Dad, guess what I would be saying?
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Depends on the family's financial situation. A free ride at Minnesota may be more realistic than trying to pay Ivy League tuition. I know personally I could have attended a number of expensive private colleges, but I was awarded a full-ride (academics) to go to a state school. I chose the scholarship for financial reasons and graduated with no debt, while I have friends who went to St. Thomas and Macalaster who are still paying off college loans nearly 20 years later.
 

We maybe were not good enough for him then. He is not good enough for us now. Let's get some WRs!
 

I'm not suggesting we recruit the kid, I'm just curious if anyone has an idea what's going on. Apparently not.
 


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