I went to the TSU camp today. Obviously, the big headline was Jim Harbaugh's presence. It was... weird. He wore a sweater with a long-sleeve shirt underneath it, and khakis (but no, not "daddy pants.) They offered him a ride in a golf cart, which he accepted, to get down to the main field.
Most of the Vandy staff was there. I talked to Derek Mason for a bit and told him he needed to throw his weight around a bit and get the golf-cart treatment, too, to which he fired back, "We're blue collar around here!" I got a good laugh from that.
The camp itself was a disappointment. There were probably 300-400 players there, but I don't think some of the local kids that we hoped to see were there. Four times, I was promised a roster (after asking) and when I had to leave after about 3 1/2 hours, I still didn't have one in hand. The coaches didn't either, and that made it difficult on everybody.
One guy that I know caught Mason's eye was Indianapolis (Ben Davis HS) DB Jontae Dobson, who has been a lightly-recruited player. (I think Army is his best offer.) They really liked the way Dobson moved, and he did have two picks in drills, and there was a bit of a buzz around him among his fellow DBs. However, I also saw him get beat twice against better receivers, one of whom was Jayden Harrison, the Pearl-Cohn kid who has a Vandy offer.
Anyway, that's a storyline to follow. I would expect to see some follow-up because I saw Marc Mattioli watching him heavily, too.
I was hoping to stick around to get some video interviews, but unfortunately time constraints didn't allow that as I had to be home before camp was done.
Probably the most interesting part of my day was talking to offensive line coach Cameron Norcross for a while. I won't share all the details of the conversation out of respect for him, but a few things I gleaned from today:
1. He is super, super excited about the five they just landed and feels that they can all be very good players. The name that kept popping up is Jonathan Stewart, whom he told me is bigger (and pointed around the chest area) than Devin Cochran. I just about fell out of my shoes, because (as many of you have heard me say before) Cochran is the most physically-impressive freshman I have seen at VU since we started the site in 2003.
2. He said the light really clicked on with Cochran at the end of spring. Said he and Stewart both played just two years of HS football and nothing's guaranteed, but if it "clicked" with both, they would both be big stars. He said that technically speaking, Cochran is really raw but he's got so much physical ability that he makes up for it in ways that he almost can't conceive at times.
3. I can tell he's really pleased with Bailey Granier. We kind of figured that we'd see him back inside, but I didn't necessarily get that impression. He seemed comfortable with him at tackle.
4. Not a huge shock, but Bruno Reagan is their best lineman right now.
5. I asked them what's been the difference in their recruiting taking off this year. He gave a quick, one-word answer: "winning."
Anyway, that was a fun conversation and I could tell he was really excited about the bunch he has.
Not much else to offer, I was hoping to glean a lot more than I did today, but between the absences and the lack of knowing who kids that caught my eye at times actually were, it was a disappointment in that sense.
Most of the Vandy staff was there. I talked to Derek Mason for a bit and told him he needed to throw his weight around a bit and get the golf-cart treatment, too, to which he fired back, "We're blue collar around here!" I got a good laugh from that.
The camp itself was a disappointment. There were probably 300-400 players there, but I don't think some of the local kids that we hoped to see were there. Four times, I was promised a roster (after asking) and when I had to leave after about 3 1/2 hours, I still didn't have one in hand. The coaches didn't either, and that made it difficult on everybody.
One guy that I know caught Mason's eye was Indianapolis (Ben Davis HS) DB Jontae Dobson, who has been a lightly-recruited player. (I think Army is his best offer.) They really liked the way Dobson moved, and he did have two picks in drills, and there was a bit of a buzz around him among his fellow DBs. However, I also saw him get beat twice against better receivers, one of whom was Jayden Harrison, the Pearl-Cohn kid who has a Vandy offer.
Anyway, that's a storyline to follow. I would expect to see some follow-up because I saw Marc Mattioli watching him heavily, too.
I was hoping to stick around to get some video interviews, but unfortunately time constraints didn't allow that as I had to be home before camp was done.
Probably the most interesting part of my day was talking to offensive line coach Cameron Norcross for a while. I won't share all the details of the conversation out of respect for him, but a few things I gleaned from today:
1. He is super, super excited about the five they just landed and feels that they can all be very good players. The name that kept popping up is Jonathan Stewart, whom he told me is bigger (and pointed around the chest area) than Devin Cochran. I just about fell out of my shoes, because (as many of you have heard me say before) Cochran is the most physically-impressive freshman I have seen at VU since we started the site in 2003.
2. He said the light really clicked on with Cochran at the end of spring. Said he and Stewart both played just two years of HS football and nothing's guaranteed, but if it "clicked" with both, they would both be big stars. He said that technically speaking, Cochran is really raw but he's got so much physical ability that he makes up for it in ways that he almost can't conceive at times.
3. I can tell he's really pleased with Bailey Granier. We kind of figured that we'd see him back inside, but I didn't necessarily get that impression. He seemed comfortable with him at tackle.
4. Not a huge shock, but Bruno Reagan is their best lineman right now.
5. I asked them what's been the difference in their recruiting taking off this year. He gave a quick, one-word answer: "winning."
Anyway, that was a fun conversation and I could tell he was really excited about the bunch he has.
Not much else to offer, I was hoping to glean a lot more than I did today, but between the absences and the lack of knowing who kids that caught my eye at times actually were, it was a disappointment in that sense.
