More thoughts

Sorry for the late late post.

I was at CCSU-Robert Morris in New Britain on Thursday night. CCSU will win the league again soon (they are loaded with young players) but Robert Morris just was too good. Mind you Robert Morris beat Boston College on the road. Pretty good low DI team. They should win the league though Sacred HEart is going to have something to say about that. OK, enough about the Northeast Conference where me and about two or three others not affiliated with the schools are experts on.

On some of the big news of the day:

Scott Lutrus inside and Dahna Deletson to Husky. This make sense. Lutrus is a very good player and I think he is suited inside. He is a fast linebacker and to have that in the middle with his intellect and coverage abilities make him a good fit. Lawrence Wilson is going nowhere on the weakside. The options weren't great. C.J. Marx or Lutrus.

They have tried to move Deleston forever. If he didn't have academic issues he would have been the Husky this year. Dahna has great speed and likes to hit. But, Deleston has always struggled laterally. I just thought he was better going forward and not backward or side to side.

Deleston is going to love this. I talked with him several times about moving to the position and he always had a twinkle in his eye talking about it. He likes to hit people and make big plays. Now, only if he could learn not to over pursue on the blitz and not lose containment.

My prediction is he leads the team in tackles.

Now, on to Jarrell Miller. he is being moved from inside linebacker to tackle. The truth of the matter is I don't think this guy can keep the weight off all year round. I saw him last February when he enrolled and he was over 270 pounds. He is a big guy, if he was just a regular student he would probably carry on at about 270. If he could play linebacker at that size he would be a destructive force. But, he probably can't pursue fast enough laterally that heavy.

He could keep the weight down if he worked very hard at it, but letting him play at his natural weight is probably better. He is actually bigger than the defensive ends, so tackle makes sense. He could probably bulk up even more and still retain explosion as a DT. Dan Davis played the position a around 280 this past year. Miller can get near that now if he wants. Playing at around 265 is a good start. It will be interested in seeing him get out there this spring. The clock is ticking on him and he has already burned one year of eligibility (shame on you NCAA). There is opportunity to play here.

Mike Hicks switched at guard. This is another scenario which makes sense. At tackle Hicks really struggled with speed from the edge. He couldn't get out there fast enough. Hicks is a big guy and at guard he can lean forward and not be on an island worried about letting a clean break on poor Tyler Lorenzen. Hicks did well at guard. O-Line is loaded with Dan Ryan and Will Beatty the incumbents with Mike Ryan and Zach Hurd. In the background is recruits Jimmy Bennett and Adam Masters, whom have little shot at playing. I would say Ryan is going to have to show more this spring or Hurd and/or Ryan is really going to push him.

Other notes:

I know the super fans will be happy that spring practice is going to be open every day. Last year it was Fort Knox, now it's going to be like Cheers. That's a good start, though I am going to go into journalism complaint mode and immediately get on UConn football SID Leigh Torbin about how now that every practice is open it's going to require a much more creative effort (us darn writers are never happy. That's how you get crisp edgy copy. You think Herman Melville wrote Moby Dick in a good and fun loving mood? ).

For a practice buff like me, I plan on making as many as possible. It's a step in the right direction and more importantly, makes my job much easier. You don't have to get 10 interviews done in 10 minutes. It's also a chance to build relationships with the players and eventually probably end up writing more in depth and interesting stories as the year goes on.

I also asked Randy about in-state recruiting. It is no secret that the Huskies lost out on a handful of in-state recruits that went to other schools. Mike Cox to Michigan, Masengo Kabongo to Maryland, Torey Mack to Virginia, Marcus Cooper to Rutgers, Mike Golic to Notre Dame and a couple of others. Looks like Kevin Eagan is also out of the mix.

Edsall was careful what he said, but he did say that for some players they want to get as far away as possible. Others also don't meet the grade or character requirements that Edsall desires.

I think some of the recruits' thinking is narrow minded. Take a look at Zach Frazier for example. He went to ND and didn't consider anywhere else. was that really the best place for him to thrive as a player? He was careful when he transferred.

Now, for a guy like Golic, UConn really had no chance for practical reasons (father played at ND). Some of the other recruits however I don't get.

A lot of Connecticut players, and more importantly their high school coaches, have stars in the eyes. I have seen coaches who love sending players off to schools far away. There was always a sense of pride in these coaches when a player went Big 10 to Wisconsin or Iowa or up to Boston College or Syracuse. These guys get schmoozed too by the outside coaches. When a guy comes in on a helicopter, everyone loves it.

Now that UConn is in the mix competing, I don't think a lot of the high school coaches are willing to admit that the State U may be the best place for some of their players.

There have been a ton of players who have left Connecticut and done absolutely nothing on the football field. I would say UConn has had a pretty good track record with in-state players. Do we need to go through some of the busts?

Not saying this happens in every case, but I wish coaches would help direct their players to the best fit and opportunity, and not the most impressive sounding school or program.

It's about the fit, not the name.