Things have slowed down a little bit for me so I thought I would add my impressions of the spring signing social.
I was one of those who took the facilities tour that was led by MarQueis Gray and Moses Alipate. Moses is extroverted and quite articulate. MarQueis is articulate but is either shy or perhaps he was uncertain of himself. In any event, as we gathered for the tour, Moses stuck out his hand and introduced himself to each person as they joined the group. Sometimes MarQueis would follow Moses lead but other times seemed to hang back. Moses has a VERY firm hand shake. Moses did 90% of the talking during the tour.
A few things that other people have not commented on:
I asked how the coaches determined who the starting quarterback would be. For example, did they chart pass completions and base their selection on that? Both Gray and Moses agreed that it was the "total package" that mattered. The coaches would look at mastery of the playbook, ability to read defenses, leadership and other mental attributes as well as physical ability.
Second, while we were in a film room, someone asked about a very, very thick three ring binder. It was Jedd Fisch's playbook. Someone asked if coach Horton would use the same playbook. Moses said yes but quarterback calls have been greatly simplified. He gave an example of how a play was called last year and how the same play would be called this year. The play call this year was roughly half as long as last year. I believe that coach Horton has said they would trim down the playbook.
I asked Moses if it helped having a father who had played professional football. He said not really, except it helped him realize how fleeting football would be. It has led him to concentrate on getting his education and prepare for a life after football.
There is a gym adjoining the weight room where the players, and I believe others, can play basketball. Someone asked who the best basketball player was and both Gray and Moses agreed it was Da'Jon McKnight.
I was very impressed with Moses. He is as tall as Gray, I would put them both at about 6' 4", but much broader. He did not look fat at all ! I went back and looked at some of his high school video expecting to see someone very inaccurate as others have posted. I am not a recruiting guru, but his accuracy looked just fine to me plus he seems to be as strong as a mule. He didn't look as fast as either Gray or Weber but perhaps in the new offense that won't be as important. I definitely would not count him out either for the starting position in the fall or as number two. It seems to me he is a natural leader.
After the tour we watched some video of the new recruits. After reading all of the negatives about this class I was expecting to see some very average to below average recruits. I was really surprised. All of the recruits seem fast and very athletic in the short clips that were shown. I don't disagree with the rankings because many seemed slim to me, too thin to play right away. Nevertheless if they put on weight, and some certainly will, and keep their speed and athleticism we will definitely have some terrific players out of this class. It may be, however, that they are a year or two away.
I was one of those who took the facilities tour that was led by MarQueis Gray and Moses Alipate. Moses is extroverted and quite articulate. MarQueis is articulate but is either shy or perhaps he was uncertain of himself. In any event, as we gathered for the tour, Moses stuck out his hand and introduced himself to each person as they joined the group. Sometimes MarQueis would follow Moses lead but other times seemed to hang back. Moses has a VERY firm hand shake. Moses did 90% of the talking during the tour.
A few things that other people have not commented on:
I asked how the coaches determined who the starting quarterback would be. For example, did they chart pass completions and base their selection on that? Both Gray and Moses agreed that it was the "total package" that mattered. The coaches would look at mastery of the playbook, ability to read defenses, leadership and other mental attributes as well as physical ability.
Second, while we were in a film room, someone asked about a very, very thick three ring binder. It was Jedd Fisch's playbook. Someone asked if coach Horton would use the same playbook. Moses said yes but quarterback calls have been greatly simplified. He gave an example of how a play was called last year and how the same play would be called this year. The play call this year was roughly half as long as last year. I believe that coach Horton has said they would trim down the playbook.
I asked Moses if it helped having a father who had played professional football. He said not really, except it helped him realize how fleeting football would be. It has led him to concentrate on getting his education and prepare for a life after football.
There is a gym adjoining the weight room where the players, and I believe others, can play basketball. Someone asked who the best basketball player was and both Gray and Moses agreed it was Da'Jon McKnight.
I was very impressed with Moses. He is as tall as Gray, I would put them both at about 6' 4", but much broader. He did not look fat at all ! I went back and looked at some of his high school video expecting to see someone very inaccurate as others have posted. I am not a recruiting guru, but his accuracy looked just fine to me plus he seems to be as strong as a mule. He didn't look as fast as either Gray or Weber but perhaps in the new offense that won't be as important. I definitely would not count him out either for the starting position in the fall or as number two. It seems to me he is a natural leader.
After the tour we watched some video of the new recruits. After reading all of the negatives about this class I was expecting to see some very average to below average recruits. I was really surprised. All of the recruits seem fast and very athletic in the short clips that were shown. I don't disagree with the rankings because many seemed slim to me, too thin to play right away. Nevertheless if they put on weight, and some certainly will, and keep their speed and athleticism we will definitely have some terrific players out of this class. It may be, however, that they are a year or two away.
