Two More Verbals
On Tuesday, stateofrutgers.com posted that Mark Harrison, a wide receiver from Bunnell High School, in Stratford, Connecticut, had given a verbal commitment to Rutgers for 2009. You can view his specs and statistics at this location. The Connecticut Post has also posted an article about his verbal.
Today, Rutgers landed the No. 15 RB in the nation, according to Scout.com’s rankings. Aaron Hayward from New Jersey’s Penns Gove High School has given a verbal commitment to come to the banks. Some reports mention that he could see action as a wideout.
It seems as though the 2009 will be heavy on out-of-state recruits, but light on recruits from the State of Florida. The dip in Florida recruiting is understandable. For one thing, each year that Schiano is at Rutgers he becomes another year further removed from his tenure as defensive coordinator at the University of Miami. A case of out of site, out of mind. Coupled with that is the reality that the area high school coaches that Schiano knew well are now one step closer to retirement or are more likely to have changed jobs since he left the Sunshine State.
Another big reason is the rapid rise to power of more big-time college football schools in Florida. The big three: University of Florida, Florida State University, and the University of Miami have been joined by the University of Central Florida and the University of South Florida as major players in the Bowl Subdivision scene, and therefore on the recruiting trail.
The way I see it, Florida will always be a fertile recruiting ground, and it’s good to have an in there, but if we can get the same quality of players closer to home, that seems to be more efficient.
Today, Rutgers landed the No. 15 RB in the nation, according to Scout.com’s rankings. Aaron Hayward from New Jersey’s Penns Gove High School has given a verbal commitment to come to the banks. Some reports mention that he could see action as a wideout.
It seems as though the 2009 will be heavy on out-of-state recruits, but light on recruits from the State of Florida. The dip in Florida recruiting is understandable. For one thing, each year that Schiano is at Rutgers he becomes another year further removed from his tenure as defensive coordinator at the University of Miami. A case of out of site, out of mind. Coupled with that is the reality that the area high school coaches that Schiano knew well are now one step closer to retirement or are more likely to have changed jobs since he left the Sunshine State.
Another big reason is the rapid rise to power of more big-time college football schools in Florida. The big three: University of Florida, Florida State University, and the University of Miami have been joined by the University of Central Florida and the University of South Florida as major players in the Bowl Subdivision scene, and therefore on the recruiting trail.
The way I see it, Florida will always be a fertile recruiting ground, and it’s good to have an in there, but if we can get the same quality of players closer to home, that seems to be more efficient.
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