[TDDance234]

And of course, for you Medic.. a couple of big TE prospects.

[PAmedic]

sooooooper

[givemethemic]

Medic, which weekends will you and Mrs.Medic be coming down to the burg? The first weekend I hope is April 20-22nd.....

[PAmedic]

keeping


fingers


crossed


(and on my best behavior)

really want to make the spring game, but we'll see...

[givemethemic]

Well, I hope you make it...

[Ed Dantes]

Not really thrilled w/ the recruiting class, truth be told.

[SuperJon]

Care to explain why?

[Stevev]

I think that our recruiting class this year compairs favorably with JMU, Richmond, and William and Mary, perhaps maybe a tad better. I realize that 1AA teams do not get 4 and 5 star recruits like the major colleges get although they usually filter down in via the transfer route. I understand the small class is do to scholarship availablility and the potential for more 1A transfers coming in. We need room for them to come. This class is definately better than what Rutigliano and Karcher brought in.

[Ed Dantes]

Well, if you look at the honors that each has gotten, it's not really that impressive. I mean, oooh, someone was 2nd team all district, whoopee.

That being said, I'd the most excited about the QB McCracken and the OL who got 13 pancakes in a game...

If I had to rank them based on what I read in the report:

1) OL Hodges
2) QB McCracken
3) DB Clairborne
4) TE Jenkins
5) LB Bannon
6) OL White
7) DB Lee
8) RB Nicholson
9) TE Shaver
10) QB Brown
11) OLB Connolley (wild card, only because of the torn ACL)

But whatever, Rocco's supposedly the man for recruiting.

[Stevev]

I disagree somewhat with your rankings. I would go with Connolly, Hodges, Jenkins, and Bannon since they are the ones with stars by their names in a website I visited and they were recruited by other major 1A programs like Connolly was recruited by VA Tech and others. Also they might have played at a higher level high school than McCraken, Shaver, and White played at.

[Sly Fox]

Connolly's not a wild card because he has already came back an excelled on the field after the injury. I know once you've had an ACL injury your chances of another are increased. But this kid is healthy now. I have a feeling he'll be on the field this fall ... this kid is the real deal. Frank Beamer doesn't fly to Florida for an in-home visit for guys that don't have skills.

Its a small class, but we seem to finally be getting some of the quality Virginia kids that the previous staff allegedly wasn't targeting. With us working with limited scholies, I like this class. Both of these QBs we signed are great athletes and I'm anxious to see where they work into our future.

In general, with a few exceptions we were competing with major programs and top FCS schools like JMU, W&M and Richmond for most of these kids. We've had many years without any kids with I-A offers and this year we have a couple despite only signing 11. And then we you see how the signees spread out to nearly every position on the field its even more impressive.

Maybe I'm just still jonesing on the Signing Day experience, but I really like what Rocco and Skalaski have put together.

[Libertine]

I don't know if it's been mentioned on here yet or not but the 2007 recruits highlight video is up on the football page at Libertyflames.com.

http://www.libertyflames.com/index.cfm? ... 4&TeamID=9

[flameshaw]

Well, if you look at the honors that each has gotten, it's not really that impressive. I mean, oooh, someone was 2nd team all district, whoopee.

That being said, I'd the most excited about the QB McCracken and the OL who got 13 pancakes in a game...

If I had to rank them based on what I read in the report:

1) OL Hodges
2) QB McCracken
3) DB Clairborne
4) TE Jenkins
5) LB Bannon
6) OL White
7) DB Lee
RB Nicholson
9) TE Shaver
10) QB Brown
11) OLB Connolley (wild card, only because of the torn ACL)

But whatever, Rocco's supposedly the man for recruiting.

NO ONE knows how this class is going to pan out. Just like the NFL draft, look how many fisrt round draft picks bust and how many players that are not even drafted do well, ie. Kurt Warner NFL/SB MVP. Same goes for college recruits. What I will say, is that based on what has happened in the last many years, I like how things seem to be progressing. I will take the excitement/committment/class and wins of this current staff over any in the last decade plus.

[SumItUp]

Chris Lang has a follow-up in his blog to the 2007 Signing Day.

And for a fun exercise, let’s look back four years to the Liberty signing class in 2007 and see just how all of those guys panned out:

* Patrick Bannon (LB, 6-4, 235, Lexington, Va./Rockbridge County)
Bannon moved to defensive end and was an effective starter as a senior, anchoring the left side of the line in a 3-4 defense.

* Mike Brown (QB, 6-0, 185, Charlottesville, Va./Monticello)
Will probably leave as the greatest quarterback in school history. Legitimate shot at the Payton Award as a senior. Two-time Big South offensive player of the year. I’d say he’s worked out.

* Larry Claiborne (DB, 6-1, 175, Ringgold, Va./George Washington)
Claiborne has settled in as a steady contributor at safety and has started since his sophomore season.

* Michael Connolly (LB, 6-3, 242, Sarasota, Fla./Cardinal Mooney)
Was having an outstanding junior season until tearing the ACL in his knee. Will likely be a starter at outside linebacker as a senior.

* Spencer Hodges (OL, 6-6, 292, Bradenton, Fla./Manatee)
Hodges left school after two seasons, if I remember correctly, go move back to Florida.

* Ricky Jenkins (TE, 6-3, 230, Fort Washington, Md./Friendly)
Left Liberty after one season.

* Larandale Lee (DB/WR, 6-0, 175, Newport News, Va./Heritage)
Now known as KaJuan Lee. He’ll enter his senior season as a starter at cornerback. Had five interceptions as a sophomore.

* Justin McCracken (QB, 6-3, 195, Cedar Bluff, Va./Richlands)
Never made it to campus, as far as I can tell. Wasn’t even listed on the 2007 roster. Can’t remember exactly what happened with him.

* Shay Nicholson (RB, 5-11, 210, Staunton, Va./Robert E. Lee)
Tragically killed in a shooting in Harrisonburg.

* Tommy Shaver (TE, 6-6, 240, Hot Springs, Va./Bath County)
Will likely be the starter at tight end as a senior this season.

* Toney White (OL, 6-5, 280, Manassas Park, Va./Manassas Park)
Has been a solid backup lineman for Liberty and may get a chance at a starting role this season.

—As a corollary to that post, interesting to see what one poster at FlameFans.com had to say about the class at the time. It shows just how inexact of a science recruiting can be. That poster’s (name withheld) ranking of the class:

1. Hodges
2. McCracken
3. Claiborne
4. Jenkins
5. Bannon
6. White
7. Lee
8. Nicholson
9. Shaver
10. Brown
11. Connolly

And the guy who received the least chatter on the thread was Mike Brown. I’m not picking on the posters. It’s just interesting to go back four years later and see what people thought about the classes at the time.

[PAmedic]

that would be what I was referring to here >>>>>> http://www.flamefans.com/forums/viewtop ... 88#p338588

[BJWilliams]

Its funny how the guy who probably was one of the least heralded in the 07 class could go down as the greatest offensive player in school history...

[SumItUp]

Its funny how the guy who probably was one of the least heralded in the 07 class could go down as the greatest offensive player in school history...

Least heralded by Ed Dantes?

[bigsmooth]

i miss Ed....

[BJWilliams]

Its funny how the guy who probably was one of the least heralded in the 07 class could go down as the greatest offensive player in school history...

Least heralded by Ed Dantes?

Well yeah but if we went back and looked up MB's thread on here (if there was one) how many people figured he would have done the things he did back then?

[jenkins]

man that ended up being a pretty darn solid class. It was amazing to go back and read that thread and just see how little MB and and Pat bannon were talked about and they ended up being the 2 biggest players out of that list. What ever happened with the Mccracken kid, i wasn't into the flames recruiting too much until 08 and i dont ever remember hearing that kids name. Yes someone will post a link to a topic. It also reminds you that some of these guys just never pan out or even make it to campus. We seem to get reminded of that every year.

[soccer7]

I would like to know what happened to Mccracken as well. I saw him play in the state finals at the Bill against Bannon. It was a very good game. I remember Rocco being there talking to McCracken after the game thinking what a great prospect. I am happy with the way things worked out at that posittion