Time for Jerry Bennett to work his East Texas magic

[Roach]

I read about a guy who sounds unreal, and he lives deepinthehearta Bennett Country. Tay Bowser is a cornerback at Gilmer (Texas) High, who measures 6'4" (!), 185 and runs a 4.41. At the moment he's listing Mississippi State, Texas and Texas Tech. But a 6'4" CB with wheels? Every effort should be made to get in the door with this guy.

[DallasDiehard]

There might not be a legitimate 6'4" CB in the entire country. Why is this guy only considering three schools? If he really has that size and can run, you'd think Miami, LSU, OU, USC, etc., would be pounding down his door.

Not that I care - if that size is accurate, sign him up.

[dandyfan]

coach jerry might be a little hesitant to pull that string after what happened with dallas washington this last spring. i understand bowser has committed to MSU today. btw...bowser is NO dallas washington.

[Uncle Morty]

[quote="dandyfan"]coach jerry might be a little hesitant to pull that string after what happened with dallas washington this last spring. i understand bowser has committed to MSU today. btw...bowser is NO dallas washington.[/quote]

Who, what, where? I'm sorry dandy, but I just barely remember this kids name from this past spring. What happened? Help out an old coot whose memory is failing.

[Stallion]

there's reason you don't see 6-4 CBs regardless of pure speed. Most coaches look more to quickness, closing ability and especially Bennett is looking for guys with "quick hips" ie. turning ability. A 6-4 CB would likely be more of a liability than a cure.

[dandyfan]

good point stallion. morty, we had the opp. to pick up an outstanding DB from state champion atlanta this past spring. coach jerry had done his usual outstanding job on recruiting this east texas kid. higher authority would not let him pull the trigger on an offer that he told coach jerry he would take. two hours later arkansas strutted in and offered and washington nabbed the ship. washington is friends with harris and was convinced that smu is where he needed to be. check out his highlights on rivals and then tell me why he could not play for smu.

[Stallion]

What did you mean by "higher authority"? Phil Bennett or admissions? Actually though Arkansas was Dallas Washington's favorite from the very beginning and it was reported he committed when Arkansas finally offered on his visit to Arkansas. Not saying we couldn't have pulled it off but it would have been a fight because Arkansas was offering immediate playing time in the secondary where they were depleted by graduation, early NFL exits and other losses. As I remember Arkansas should have about 5-6 new recruits including JC transfers who should have an opportunity to make the 2 deep roster. Washington stated several times he wanted to go to the same school as his teammate, a Top 50 player whose name escapes me and who also committed to Arkansas on the same weekend. The second recruit was a heavy lean to Arkansas for several weeks before. Washington may have been looking at an SMU offer to hedge his bets because Arkansas had something like 10 DBs visiting that same week and the recruits knew there was a numbers game being played by the Arkansas coaching staff..

[Uncle Morty]

Thanks very much Dandy, but I have to echo Stallions question. Who was the higher authority of which you speak? Was the roadblock someone at SMU, or maybe from the kids own family or high school coach? I hate to nag, but your answer just raised another question.

[HFvictory]

Washington was an Ark all along despite the "rumors". Kid grew up an Ark fan and just needed an offer to commit.

[Higher Authority]

You're not really blaming me are you? Or Chuck Cooperstein?

I also had heard that we simply chose not to offer him, that guys like LaCori Johnson, Jonathan Lindley, David Haynes, etc., were viewed as better prospects.

[Roach]

there's reason you don't see 6-4 CBs regardless of pure speed. Most coaches look more to quickness, closing ability and especially Bennett is looking for guys with "quick hips" ie. turning ability. A 6-4 CB would likely be more of a liability than a cure.

Great point, Stallion. Most coaches believe that if a CB is super-quick and has a good vertical jump, they can cover even big WRs. The notion of "good hips" refers to a CB's ability to change direction while running and accelerate in another direction right away to stay with a breaking WR. Humphrey and Akinyemi are prime examples of guys with good hips - they're both tiny, but they're very fast and can jump a mile high. Every CB gives up some completions (hence the need for a short memory), and there will be times when a taller WR makes a catch over these guys. But if they play their technique correctly, it won't be too often, and the QB will have to make a damn-near perfect throw.

[dandyfan]

guys the only proof i have is having spoken to both parties involved. you can read what you want to read about this, but the kid was ours. he knew arkansas was going to offer the day they came to see him at school. all we had to do was pull the trigger. johnson and lindley are both great kids. both very fast..johnson was an outside linebacker in atlanta's defense this past year so his cover skills will be in question. dallas washington had a greater value also because of his return skills. they were the best i have seen at this level of high school ball in years. as far as the higher authority goes...i know who coach j talked to, but he may have defered to his coordinator to make the final decision.

[Sic_em]

This kinda brings up another question...a lot of people prefer kids from the larger 5-A and 4-A programs over the lower classifications because in general the competition level is better, the S&C programs are better and the athletes tend to specialize in 1 or 2 sports compared to smaller schools where a kid might tend to play several sports.

Yet here we are talking about the great athletes from 3-A Atlanta. Does SMU signing a kid from a smaller program raise a bit of doubt in some people's minds? Who are some of the smaller school kids SMU has signed and how are they doing? I'm not that familiar with the Mustang's roster but I do remember Bennett signing Kennard Burley from Scurry-Rosser, Haynes from McGregor, and Massey from Hillsboro. Thoughts?