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New Safety offer

Posted:
Mon Sep 29, 2008 11:36 pm
by mustangbill67
According to Rivals, SMU has offered K.J. Vaifale a 5' 10" , 195 lb safety from Corona CA. A tad short with only a 4.7 40 , we are his only offer. A reputation for being a very hard hitter.

Posted:
Mon Sep 29, 2008 11:48 pm
by SMU 86
Kid looks a lot like Troy Polamalu. I hope we sign him. Sounds like he can really tackle.

Posted:
Tue Sep 30, 2008 1:12 am
by Pony4Life
Why do you hope we sign him? Have you seen him play?
I'd like to know more. I'm OK with smaller guys if they can really fly, and maybe this is one of those guys who clocked a slow 40 time on a bad wheel or something, but on paper ... let's just say I'm unconvinced.

Posted:
Tue Sep 30, 2008 2:06 am
by SMUfiji43
Pony4Life wrote:Why do you hope we sign him? Have you seen him play?
I'd like to know more. I'm OK with smaller guys if they can really fly, and maybe this is one of those guys who clocked a slow 40 time on a bad wheel or something, but on paper ... let's just say I'm unconvinced.
I'd like to see better than a 4.7 too, but you always have to remember that some players have that "game speed" that doesn't always show up on the stopwatch. 195 is not bad either for a highschool kid. Get him up to 210ish and he will tear heads off. If this guy has that extra gear than he sounds like he is worth it. It's always nice having a punisher in the secondary. We need good tacklers.

Posted:
Tue Sep 30, 2008 2:10 am
by SoCal_Pony
SMU 86 wrote:Kid looks a lot like Troy Polamalu. I hope we sign him.
You mean the Troy Polamalu who was offered by USC, went on to become an All-American, 1st round draft pick and then All-Pro in the NFL??? that Troy Polamalu???
If he was all that, how come no other school has offered him???


Posted:
Tue Sep 30, 2008 2:25 am
by SMUfiji43
The team he plays for, Corona Centennial, is a very good team and one of the best in California. I typed his name into google and a bunch of things showed up. Looks like he's a play maker

Posted:
Tue Sep 30, 2008 9:11 am
by Dooby
Pony4Life wrote:Why do you hope we sign him? Have you seen him play?
I'd like to know more. I'm OK with smaller guys if they can really fly, and maybe this is one of those guys who clocked a slow 40 time on a bad wheel or something, but on paper ... let's just say I'm unconvinced.
If SMU coaches offered, I want SMU to get him. It is highly unlikely that he is going to sign with Emporia State instead and then suddenly a 5 Star safety from Ohio is going to start showing interest.

Posted:
Tue Sep 30, 2008 9:46 am
by SMUtrojanFAN
SMUfiji43 wrote:The team he plays for, Corona Centennial, is a very good team and one of the best in California. I typed his name into google and a bunch of things showed up. Looks like he's a play maker
Yeah, Centennial is a high producer of Division 1 talent in the Inland Empire...especially for linemen, I believe. Might be another good recruiting outlet in CA.

Posted:
Tue Sep 30, 2008 10:22 am
by SMU 86
From what I understand this young man is a solid tackler. That's what we need on defense, some good tacklers.

Posted:
Tue Sep 30, 2008 10:43 am
by Alaric
SMUtrojanFAN wrote:SMUfiji43 wrote:The team he plays for, Corona Centennial, is a very good team and one of the best in California. I typed his name into google and a bunch of things showed up. Looks like he's a play maker
Yeah, Centennial is a high producer of Division 1 talent in the Inland Empire...especially for linemen, I believe. Might be another good recruiting outlet in CA.
I've been wondering if the staff is willing to take some risks on SoCal guys to try and establish a pipeline there...huge population base & some really good football and those kids haven't been bombarded with bad SMU headlines for years

Posted:
Tue Sep 30, 2008 12:22 pm
by SoCal_Pony
Dooby wrote:If SMU coaches offered, I want SMU to get him.
For the past 20+ years that strategy has been a complete failure.
The fact that our rooster has been littered with kids who had no other offers has made us the laughingstock of the NCAA.
Not saying he can’t be good…am saying the odds are against it...way against it.

Posted:
Tue Sep 30, 2008 12:27 pm
by Pony!Poni!Pone'!
I agree with So_Cal. Really, I think Jones probably does too. Obviously the guy can coach. The frustration and squirming in the press conferences make one believe that even if players are given all the tools to win, and are in the right position to make plays, they have to make the plays. Jones is slowly seeing that all this crappy recruiting and "well I'll trust coach Bennett to be the decider of whether this kid could should be playing at Angelo State" don't cut it.

Posted:
Tue Sep 30, 2008 12:57 pm
by kull
he projects as a hybrid safety/LB at D1 level.

Posted:
Tue Sep 30, 2008 1:01 pm
by Pony!Poni!Pone'!
kull wrote:he projects as a hybrid safety/LB at D1 level.
hopefully more on the LB than the safety. I don't know who he'd cover at a 4.7.

Posted:
Tue Sep 30, 2008 1:53 pm
by mrydel
Pony!Poni!Pone'! wrote:kull wrote:he projects as a hybrid safety/LB at D1 level.
hopefully more on the LB than the safety. I don't know who he'd cover at a 4.7.
Tackle eligible.