Finally getting around to doing this. Sorry, fellas, the billable hour reigns supreme.
The crowd this year was noticeably smaller. I actually didn't mind it. I saw a few faces from last year. Sadly no @MurrayHarris
-- he was out chasin' some cougars with Zach Wilson in PCB.
They changed the format up on us a bit this year. Last year the camp was first and then we had dinner after. This year, dinner was first and the camp was afterwards. I had the distinct honor of telling everyone that every staff member I had dinner with last year was no longer on the staff, so be careful if you want to have dinner with me.
Leas was the first to speak, which he did at dinner. He thanked everyone for coming out and made a joke of himself by talking about his media days appearance. He explained what he meant by his comments. It was pretty much what might have imagined. It was coach speak heavy, talking about makiing the place better than how he found it for the next guy. He did not shy away that he wants to win an SEC title at vandy as well as a national title, but he also said he knows they are so far away from that it can't be seen in the horizon. He knows theres work to be done. Basically he was saying ya gotta crawl before you can walk. He wasn't mad about the response his comments got.
During dinner I met a lot of GAs and other assistants. Frankly, there were too many to really keep up with. During dinner, I spoke at length with Barton and new DBs coach Dan Jackson. Dan came from Northern Illinois. I wanted to ask him about DeKalb, Ill. because that is a game I want to go to.
There, I was told Pimpton is a silent commit. I did not get to ask much about NIL. Both Barton and Dan Jackson said their favorite commit in the 2022 class was Jameson Wharton. Barton talked about AJ Swann's recruitment. When he committed to Maryland, he told Lynch (I think) to keep recruiting him. Basically, it seemed Maryland pressured Swann to commit early by stating his spot would be given to someone else. The staff kept on pushing with Swann and the hardwork and persistence paid off.
Barton listed the following recruits as ones that really stood out to them based on their metrics: Darren Agu, Jayden McGowan, Jameson Wharton, Cole Spence, and AJ Swann. I may be misremembering some here. I didnt take notes.
Barton told the story of recruiting Jayden McGowan. He said when they found him, they already had another small, slot WR in the works. I think this was KD Hutchinson, but I did not ask the name. The initial plan was to grey shirt McGowan. They explained this to Jayden's mom, and Jayden's mom said something to the effect of "it's ok. I know yall will make it work" as if she knew he was destined to be in this class. They kept coming back to Jayden and just thought they had to find a way to make it work. So they did find a way, took his commitment, and we all know later the other small slot WR went elsewhere. (WKU I think.) It was a cool story that you could tell Barton was proud of.
We were told Hawaii has more season ticket holders than available seats in the stadium. So that is gonna be fun.
Barton and Dan asked who our favorite commits were. I told him Swann, Maurice Edward, Agu, and Diakite.
Asked Barton if he thought other programs were noticing kids who get Vandy offers more. He said yes. Said he wasnt mad but more flattered by it.
We then got to tour the locker room. The lockers are very nice in person. They have a silhouette of each state/country each player is from, though Agu's is not accurate because it included Ireland in the UK, which is not the case.
After dinner, the first meeting was with Lynch and the offense. My take away from the offense is that it is filled with simple reads and will be RPO heavy. One of the RPOs involved a pass over the middle (s/o @NashNative615). Lynch's presentation was kinda heavy on coach speak. He talked alot about taking what the defense gives you. I will say Mike Wright is better suited for the offense Lynch runs than Seals. It requires a mobile QB who can pull it and run if free LB crashes on the tailback. Lynch classified a "successful play" as taking whatever the defense gives them. He talked a lot about getting the ball to playmakers hands in space. He is relying heavily on Mike Wright to make the right read.
Next was new DC, Nick Howell. He is a no nonsense kinda guy. I can see it going really well or really poorly. He made the comment about no laughing in defensive meetings. I cant read if he was being serious or if he was joking. Honestly, he didnt really talk scheme. He said he was 11 dudes out there on the field who want to rip someone's head off. I mean, that's great and all, but who cares about the dude wanting to rip off someone's head if he is out of position. Frankly, I feel better about the offense than I do the defense. Sure, we all love a guy who is gonna hit hard, but I care more about playing smarter not harder. He did preach stamina and conditioning, and he gave the old coach speak of "we are gonna be the best conditioned team in the country". I am pretty sure every DC has said that before.
Then we went into position meetings. First meeting was with Blaz and the OL/TE. Blaz said our best OL right now is Gunnar Hansen. Said he needed time to mature. Said he will be starting LT. Said this group is tighter than any group he has had before. Said they do everything together and every week, they invite one skill position player to go to dinner with them. I like coach Blaz. He remembered me from last year.
Next meeting was with Norv and the RB room. He mentioned the longest run from scrimmage in the last 3 years was 41 yards. He talked very highly of all the RBs in the room. This meeting was the shortest it felt like.
Next meeting was with Haye and Black in the DL room. Frankly, this meeting was the worst through no fault of Haye/Black. There was some guy there who was there last year who thought he should have been the one running the meeting. I really got nothing from it aside from Brayden Bapst has moved to DL. Both Haye/Black mentioned they need to get beefier along the DL. Discovered that Haye only really coaches one player, which is what they call the anchor position. It is kind of a hybrid DL/LB position, similar to the LB/S position (star). Black coaches the other 3 DL., but they also work together as a unit. The DL/LB hybrid can both rush the passer or drop back into coverage (probably covering backs/TEs out in the flat). I do not know who this player will be.
The final meeting was with DBs and Dan Jackson. I picked this room because I like Jackson's energy and openness, plus the annoying guy from the last meeting room went with the LBers, so I avoided him. If that guy is on the board, sorry, but I didn't spend 3 hours on a Thursday night to hear you speak.
Jackson loves him some BJ Anderson and Jameson Wharton. Don't be surprised if Wharton starts at CB this year as a true freshmen. He talked the most "technique" of the coaches. I understood what he was saying, but I wont attempt to restate it here because I am not a DB. He said he loves to play press technique, but it's not that press where you get directly in the WR's face. Jackson is a big boxing fan, and he likes to incorporate boxing technique into his DB technique mainly because both require good/quick technique regarding both feet and hand/jab placement.
All right. I spent an hour drafting this. Y'all now owe me an hour of billable time. If anyone has questions, shoot, and I will try to answer it.
The crowd this year was noticeably smaller. I actually didn't mind it. I saw a few faces from last year. Sadly no @MurrayHarris
-- he was out chasin' some cougars with Zach Wilson in PCB. They changed the format up on us a bit this year. Last year the camp was first and then we had dinner after. This year, dinner was first and the camp was afterwards. I had the distinct honor of telling everyone that every staff member I had dinner with last year was no longer on the staff, so be careful if you want to have dinner with me.
Leas was the first to speak, which he did at dinner. He thanked everyone for coming out and made a joke of himself by talking about his media days appearance. He explained what he meant by his comments. It was pretty much what might have imagined. It was coach speak heavy, talking about makiing the place better than how he found it for the next guy. He did not shy away that he wants to win an SEC title at vandy as well as a national title, but he also said he knows they are so far away from that it can't be seen in the horizon. He knows theres work to be done. Basically he was saying ya gotta crawl before you can walk. He wasn't mad about the response his comments got.
During dinner I met a lot of GAs and other assistants. Frankly, there were too many to really keep up with. During dinner, I spoke at length with Barton and new DBs coach Dan Jackson. Dan came from Northern Illinois. I wanted to ask him about DeKalb, Ill. because that is a game I want to go to.
There, I was told Pimpton is a silent commit. I did not get to ask much about NIL. Both Barton and Dan Jackson said their favorite commit in the 2022 class was Jameson Wharton. Barton talked about AJ Swann's recruitment. When he committed to Maryland, he told Lynch (I think) to keep recruiting him. Basically, it seemed Maryland pressured Swann to commit early by stating his spot would be given to someone else. The staff kept on pushing with Swann and the hardwork and persistence paid off.
Barton listed the following recruits as ones that really stood out to them based on their metrics: Darren Agu, Jayden McGowan, Jameson Wharton, Cole Spence, and AJ Swann. I may be misremembering some here. I didnt take notes.
Barton told the story of recruiting Jayden McGowan. He said when they found him, they already had another small, slot WR in the works. I think this was KD Hutchinson, but I did not ask the name. The initial plan was to grey shirt McGowan. They explained this to Jayden's mom, and Jayden's mom said something to the effect of "it's ok. I know yall will make it work" as if she knew he was destined to be in this class. They kept coming back to Jayden and just thought they had to find a way to make it work. So they did find a way, took his commitment, and we all know later the other small slot WR went elsewhere. (WKU I think.) It was a cool story that you could tell Barton was proud of.
We were told Hawaii has more season ticket holders than available seats in the stadium. So that is gonna be fun.
Barton and Dan asked who our favorite commits were. I told him Swann, Maurice Edward, Agu, and Diakite.
Asked Barton if he thought other programs were noticing kids who get Vandy offers more. He said yes. Said he wasnt mad but more flattered by it.
We then got to tour the locker room. The lockers are very nice in person. They have a silhouette of each state/country each player is from, though Agu's is not accurate because it included Ireland in the UK, which is not the case.
After dinner, the first meeting was with Lynch and the offense. My take away from the offense is that it is filled with simple reads and will be RPO heavy. One of the RPOs involved a pass over the middle (s/o @NashNative615). Lynch's presentation was kinda heavy on coach speak. He talked alot about taking what the defense gives you. I will say Mike Wright is better suited for the offense Lynch runs than Seals. It requires a mobile QB who can pull it and run if free LB crashes on the tailback. Lynch classified a "successful play" as taking whatever the defense gives them. He talked a lot about getting the ball to playmakers hands in space. He is relying heavily on Mike Wright to make the right read.
Next was new DC, Nick Howell. He is a no nonsense kinda guy. I can see it going really well or really poorly. He made the comment about no laughing in defensive meetings. I cant read if he was being serious or if he was joking. Honestly, he didnt really talk scheme. He said he was 11 dudes out there on the field who want to rip someone's head off. I mean, that's great and all, but who cares about the dude wanting to rip off someone's head if he is out of position. Frankly, I feel better about the offense than I do the defense. Sure, we all love a guy who is gonna hit hard, but I care more about playing smarter not harder. He did preach stamina and conditioning, and he gave the old coach speak of "we are gonna be the best conditioned team in the country". I am pretty sure every DC has said that before.
Then we went into position meetings. First meeting was with Blaz and the OL/TE. Blaz said our best OL right now is Gunnar Hansen. Said he needed time to mature. Said he will be starting LT. Said this group is tighter than any group he has had before. Said they do everything together and every week, they invite one skill position player to go to dinner with them. I like coach Blaz. He remembered me from last year.
Next meeting was with Norv and the RB room. He mentioned the longest run from scrimmage in the last 3 years was 41 yards. He talked very highly of all the RBs in the room. This meeting was the shortest it felt like.
Next meeting was with Haye and Black in the DL room. Frankly, this meeting was the worst through no fault of Haye/Black. There was some guy there who was there last year who thought he should have been the one running the meeting. I really got nothing from it aside from Brayden Bapst has moved to DL. Both Haye/Black mentioned they need to get beefier along the DL. Discovered that Haye only really coaches one player, which is what they call the anchor position. It is kind of a hybrid DL/LB position, similar to the LB/S position (star). Black coaches the other 3 DL., but they also work together as a unit. The DL/LB hybrid can both rush the passer or drop back into coverage (probably covering backs/TEs out in the flat). I do not know who this player will be.
The final meeting was with DBs and Dan Jackson. I picked this room because I like Jackson's energy and openness, plus the annoying guy from the last meeting room went with the LBers, so I avoided him. If that guy is on the board, sorry, but I didn't spend 3 hours on a Thursday night to hear you speak.
Jackson loves him some BJ Anderson and Jameson Wharton. Don't be surprised if Wharton starts at CB this year as a true freshmen. He talked the most "technique" of the coaches. I understood what he was saying, but I wont attempt to restate it here because I am not a DB. He said he loves to play press technique, but it's not that press where you get directly in the WR's face. Jackson is a big boxing fan, and he likes to incorporate boxing technique into his DB technique mainly because both require good/quick technique regarding both feet and hand/jab placement.
All right. I spent an hour drafting this. Y'all now owe me an hour of billable time. If anyone has questions, shoot, and I will try to answer it.
