minnesota high school athletes

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loki

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I tried to get this discussion started in another thread but it did not go anywhere so I thought since this is a slow day I would start a new thread. I have been thinking about this ever since I watched Eric Decker catch that touchdown against California. You know the one where he jumped in the air, got hammered and came down bloodied but with the ball. He amazes me with his hands and toughness. He is not that fast but he is a great player. Also, I love watching UMD play tough division II football for National Championships. In any case, according to the national recruiting gurus, every year it seems as though there are, give or take a few, about ten MN high school football players that are ranked high enough to play division one college football. The Gophers usually get about four or five of these players, the rest go somewhere else. MN has a lot of Scandinavian-German people and these are known for being big, tall and somewhat slow, perfect for offensive linemen. We also have a few skills players, both black and white guys, that come from the suburbs or rural areas (seldom from the cities) that are recruited each year but not many. My belief is that we have more raw untapped talent here, including skill players (guys like Decker), that end up at smaller colleges like NDSU, UMD and other places, than is commonly acknowledged. My thought is why don't we search the Upper Midwest for more of these untapped raw "diamonds in the rough" type players, coach them up and maybe they could contribute in a big way by the time they are seniors. Bottom line, I think there are more division one players here than people suspect and they would generally be more passionate about playing for the U of M because they would be from here. My question for you guys is twofold. First, is there more untapped raw talent here than the national recruiting gurus think we have? Or am I just full of poop. Second, if so, should the U of M be taking more chances on are own home grown raw talent than it currently is? I state this because we ended up 3-9 last year and if I was a betting man we probably could have done better with mostly Minnesotans in the lineup than guys from other places. Now before you jump down my throat I do realize that we also need players from other regions, namely the south. What do you think?
 

A lineup of mostly minnesotan's would struggle to defend the pass.
How NFL draftpick D-backs has MN produced the last 15 years? like 1?
 

Decker is an exception. Let's say he's 1 in 100. Do you want to use 100 scholarships to get 1 Decker and 99 I-AA level guys? I'm not saying that the type of player you're talking about can't play Big Ten football, but they are typically walk-ons. It's tough to turn down a free education, so they go to a smaller school, and if they pan out you use them as an example.
 

It would be ideal to build a winning team with native Minnesotans at many key starting spots.
We'd all love it, the state would take more pride in the program, we could beat our chests about our untapped and unappreciated HS football.
It's not reality.

What the state does have to offer is linemen both O and D, big run stopping linebackers, TE's, fullbacks, and run stopping safeties. Basically if we played football like it was played in the 30's we'd be pretty good. (and we were)

What needs to occur is I think what Kill is trying to do. Identify local talent that can play a role or fill a need, or fit his system. Fill in the skill positions that require speed and top athleticism with outstate guys from the coasts or south.

BTW The no brainer blue chips that have popped into the recruiting radar recently are going to be tough gets, with time we can compete for their services, but now we're battling uphill against a mediocre recent history and a vibe of using the U as a fallback. Still must try with full gusto, but it's just not happening more than once in awhile right now.

Look at our current recruits from MN:
Levine-Run stopping saftey, nice athlete, can develop in the Kill scheme and be a solid contributor
Olson-Big, Tough O-lineman
Josh Campion- see above
Westerhaus-Nice athlete, TE or LB
Crawford-Tufts- An enigma, and a good get. Legit elite speed that is a rarity up here, will be the fastest HS Minnesotan in history when all is said and done. Is raw and will take time to develop.
'10
Gjere-Big Tough Olineman
Pride-Undersized QB with ok arm, will probably end up at DB, offer was one of legacy, HS program, and freindship of best ranked MN prospect in modern era
Edwards-Great, big, and strong athlete, good not elite speed, might be best suited for LB or FB, raw as a runningback and will take time to develop.
Missed:
Henderson-OT
Allen-DT
Tarpley-LB
Okeyumi-DE

'09
Alipate-Big Strong armed QB, raw.
Garin-Nice athlete, DE or LB
Hageman-Elite sized athlete, very raw and underdeveloped techniquewise, may be DE/DT/TE/OT
Olson-Big Tough Olineman
Rengel-Nice athlete, TE/LB
Missed:
Mcneal-WR-Good, rare local skill position prospect
Rock-WR/S

So basically we can fill a run stopping front 7 and 6 run blocking up front guys on O with local kids, add in a fullback and an occasional safety. This is great, but I don't see local kids walking on at RB/WR/CB for other programs and lighting the NCAA up.

Finally, what NDSU, SDSU, SD, ND, UMD and the local successful D3 schools have done is become successful by running smart, disciplined smashmouth football against their opponents and at that level of play, it can work. Bottom line though is elite speed is rare up here, and once it is matched up with our toughnosed local boys it can be a nice combo, but alone our state simply cannot compete with the speed that for ex:an all florida team can bring to the table.
 

To answer your question, yes there are more D1 type football players/athletes in the state but the majority of them go on to play D1 in another sport. Obviously this happens in other states as well but there are more talented players in this state then are given credit for.
 


I just think we're behind the curve on training our HS athletes for football because there are so many other sporting options available in this state. Hockey obviously comes to mind. We're not a "football" state like Texas, Ohio and Pennsylvania. In those areas football is king and the best athletes in those areas focus on football. Across the board the kids are getting bigger, faster, and stronger - including in Minnesota. If you were to take Minnesota kids as there are now 20 years back in time they would be some of the best HS football prospects around. Our guys are just recently getting into the "Velocity Treadmill" training and such, whereas they have been doing that kind of advanced training in other areas for years now. The bar keeps moving up, and we're not doing anything to advance ourselves up the curve for football - It's all we can do to hold our own. I don't think the gene pool is really different across the board here. Its just the structure of our environment is focussed a little differently.
 

Loki, I agree that MN produces a fair share of "diamonds in the rough" type players that could eventually compete at the Big10 level. However, a lot of coaches would prefer these players walk-on and earn a scholarship when they start contributing.

Players like Vraa, Jirik, etc. could likely of walked-on at the U but they chose to go FCS. Those types of players are more likely to choose to walk on when the U becomes more successful and local interest grows. Until then, I see the exodus of those players continuing.
 


I think there are perhaps several more Minnesota kids that could play D1, especially with a redshirt year as a buffer zone. If we as a state truly want to develop better football players I believe our Minnesota State High School League board needs to examine how other states that DO develop more players than we do are actually doing it. I'm talking especially about other states of roughly our size/makeup. When it comes to contact sports it seems that the folks in charge are a bit more restrictive than other states in terms of number of games/off-season training etc. A few little tweaks could go a long way.
 



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