2015 Football Recruiting

[VULB#62]

From the picture, Franz will do lots of filling out once in the VU weight room.  -> -> ->   6'2" and 195 going into his sophomore season.

[VU2624]

One of the WRs was very highly regarded coming out of Bloomington South in Indiana.  Keenan Franz, 6'2" 180#, was voted Mr. Football (not THE Mr. Football) at Wide Receiver. Apparently in Indiana they give the award out by position as well as overall.  To be voted the top receiver in the state says a lot.

I know who he is and hopefully he works out well.  The kids from FL and TX in particular appear to be better. Recruiters have a completely different view of the WR situation in the state. Think about the entirety of the situation and you'll understand my point.

[historyman]

I know who he is and hopefully he works out well.  The kids from FL and TX in particular appear to be better. Recruiters have a completely different view of the WR situation in the state. Think about the entirety of the situation and you'll understand my point.

I totally agree with you. Winning awards in Indiana can be equivalent to playing second string to players in Florida, Texas, Georgia, Alabama, etc.

I will say that IHSAA football has come a long way, especially in the Indianapolis area, in just the last 10 years. In the past you would have seen all the best athletes only playing basketball.

[vu72]

Moving in the right direction.  Just added a 6'2" 285 # OL!!

[VULB#62]

Chatted with Coach Cecchini at the UWM game and found out that the 2015 class will be around 35 players. Toughest target area is the OL. OL is in high demand at the FCS level and there jUst are not that many to go around. They are still looking for/at OL recruits.

[LaPorteAveApostle]

That's why I had to smile at all the people wanting 6'4" 280 kids. 

Out of HS.

The FBS all want them, though, and they each take, say 4 a class on average.  That's 500 of the biggest and best off the top.

The FCS look for the next 500.  In the non-schollie group, we just have to take who we can.

[FWalum]

Concordia Lutheran High School has twin brothers that are 6'5" 300-325 who will be seniors next year.  One of them has been starting OL since his freshman year.  Might be worth a look.

[VULB#62]

Email Cecchini about these boys!

[VULB#62]

Another release of recruits is coming on Friday -- maybe 8 to 10 more players. According to Twitter, this class might have as as many as 10+ kids from Florida. 

[talksalot]

Liking the Facebook Postings for the Football Recruits signed, for example:  Terrance Roberts  6"5' - 320 OL from St. Rita's Chicago.

Congrats Coach!   

[VULB#62]

Some big OL guys -- just what they were going after.

[IndyValpo]

We are now at 42 recruits!  Last year we ended up with 20 from an original of 30. I would assume we will lose some this year along the way.

To me our #1 need was WR and we added nine new receivers.  We needed depth on both lines and added nine OL and four DL. We needed some additional QB competition so we added two new guys. On top that the class includes seven LB's. four DB's, three TE's, 2 RB's, and  two K's.

This has the makings of an incredible class.

[covufan]

We are now at 42 recruits!  Last year we ended up with 20 from an original of 30. I would assume we will lose some this year along the way.

To me our #1 need was WR and we added nine new receivers.  We needed depth on both lines and added nine OL and four DL. We needed some additional QB competition so we added two new guys. On top that the class includes seven LB's. four DB's, three TE's, 2 RB's, and  two K's.

This has the makings of an incredible class.

I'm liking the direction this program is headed!

[VULB#62]

Biggest difference between FCS scholarship OL/DL recruits (our demographic) and Pioneer recruits is in the strength and quickness areas -- we have the size.  I watched the huddle tapes on these guys and, while dominant on the HS level, our recruits do reflect some of that delta.  I'm not worried, however, because the new weight room will take these new recruits and close the gap.  I am sooooo grateful for that new facility.  BTW, Footwork and balance are also issues but these are totally coachable -- and our staff coaches them up pretty good.

[covufan]

Now we need a legit 2-deep each week, so that we can actually see the depth of the team.

[VULB#62]

Now we need a legit 2-deep each week, so that we can actually see the depth of the team.

We could use one coming out of Spring ball for a baseline and then one before the the EKU game.  And then have it reliably updated weekly.   

[Sportsguy449844]

I have heard info that 2013 team members DB Hannibal Mathis and DL Nick Scoville are back on the roster, also a tight end transfer Tyrie Fuller from Sienna Heights

[VUOR63]

VULB--
As a defensive lineman, I always found the shorter, smaller quicker players tougher to play against than the big oafs who couldn't move.  I'd be happy with an O-Line that averages 260-270 that scraps and claws for everything.

[VULB#62]

Scraps and claws! Yeah, that's where it needs to begin. Given a 6' 265 OG who S&Cs vs.  6'4" who relies on height and weight alone I'd go with the shorter guy every time.  But I'd take a 6'4" S&Cer over a shorter one because of range and leverage.  One of the things I noticed about our '14 team was that at about the half way point of the season our bulls turned into the S&Cers we are talking about. My biggest issue in the Carlson years (besides the concept of "who needs to play defense when you just out score the other guy") is that total reliance on the pass turned the S&Cs passive.  I love the way Coach C has turned that around. Cool too that he was a record setting WR when he played. Would da thought the opposite.

[IndyValpo]

Two more recruits:

Valpo Football ‏@valpoufootball  · 18h18 hours ago 
We are pleased to add this extremely versatile LB to our defense! @drewsnouffer
#attitude
http://www.hudl.com/athlete/o/1579278/highlights/184300386 ...

Valpo Football ‏@valpoufootball  · 18h18 hours ago 
Please welcome the newest Crusader OL Alex Helander! #attitude @thebeefy_heman http://www.hudl.com/athlete/o/1765881/highlights/217224384 ...

[VULB#62]

Yep.  Quite a "sizeable" class now.

[valpochgo]

I believe only 95 players can get an invite to summer football camp in the PFL.  With 44 freshman being invited the coaching staff is going to have to make some tough decisions on what upperclassman they invite and which ones they don't.  Hopefully, the freshman are as good as advertised because the bigger the class the more upperclassman that you have to pass on.  As Valpo gets better in future years the coaches will have to scale down the freshman recruiting class some....seems 30"ish" is a good number in the next few years.  I'm sure that the 40+ this year balances out the smaller class of 20 from last year yet I'm sure the coaches have a strategy moving forward.

[valporun]

Don't forget, this is Coach Cecchini's first major recruiting class. I'm not upset with 44 freshmen, as we may see some guys from last year's roster deciding they don't want to play football any longer or for Valpo, and having a class large enough to fill the holes is not bad. We may even see some of these commits get to campus, find out the grind of college sports is a lot different than high school, and they mentally can't handle it, and quit. Why would the PFL want to limit the number of kids in "training camp"? It's not like the schools are using scholarship dollars on these guys, most likely a good portion of football donations from alums are going to house these kids during  camp, so why need to limit how many are in camp? Let the kid decide if he has the stomach to handle camp, not some guy at the PFL office deciding who should  be cut from training camp...

[VU2624]

The size of the class could be reduced by a couple of issues. One are kids deciding they don't wish to play football or go away to school. This happened with a few kids from last year's class. The other is the cost. Financial Aid packages haven't been sent out yet....or usually haven't by this point....and there are usually kids who realize they really can't afford the commitment over what is provided by the school.

As to upper classman dropping....they had a lot of kids drop off the roster during the season last year. So I'm not sure how much further attrition occurs. I think the roster is in the mid 50's currently. In addition, for the program to move forward, the coaching staff can't be throwing a bunch of freshman and sophomore eligible players (redshirt or otherwise) onto the field. That's a recipe for a 2 win season. Even without the incoming freshman, the roster was likely going to be young anyway between the freshman and redshirt freshman who contributed last season.

Hopefully there won't be too much personnel loss but let's see who shows up for camp.

[IndyValpo]

Has anyone seen a roster for spring practices?