Most notably, Narduzzi hired Cory Sanders as his safeties coach, filling his 10th assistant spot. Sanders brings 11 years of coaching experience to Pitt and most recently served as Western Michigan’s defensive backs coach in 2017. Prior to that, he spent four years as the head coach of St. Joseph’s and two as the defensive coordinator at West Florida, both Division II programs.

”Cory Sanders really impressed us during the interview process,” Narduzzi said in a statement. “We will be adding a young, up-and-coming coach who has outstanding football knowledge and really excels at teaching the fundamentals. Cory is also a relentless recruiter with a great eye for evaluation. He is a great addition to our staff and now gives us two coaches — along with Archie Collins — who will focus on the secondary.”

In addition to Sanders, Narduzzi hired Paris Johnson as Pitt’s assistant director of player personnel. Johnson previously served under Narduzzi as a graduate assistant at Michigan State, eventually going on to work in the Spartans recruiting department in 2015 and 2016 before joining FCS program Savannah State as a safeties coach last year.

Defensive line coach Charlie Partridge was also promoted to assistant head coach after he recently interviewed with Alabama. Partridge has been vital to Pitt’s recruiting efforts in his home state of Florida, and Narduzzi described his impact on the program as “tremendous,” despite his brief tenure in Pittsburgh, which began in 2017.

Defensive Linemen

Notes:

That’s a group you can get excited about.

Granted this is a group that didn’t exactly dominate last year - they were serviceable, but not much more - but returning experience and growth in the new system instills a bit of excitement in this Notre Dame fan. Especially with the potential on the edge in Daelin Hayes, Khalid Kareem, and Julian Okwara.

If these young men make strides during the spring, watch out. They have the natural ability to develop into disruptive forces that could, in tandem, decimate opposing offensive lines. Okwara is the most naturally-inclined pass rusher out of those three, while Daelin Hayes and Khalid Kareem act more as all-around run-stopper, pass-rusher combos. They won’t get after the quarterback like Okwara, but they’ll prove to be more stout against the run.

Also on the edge - for now - is Jay Hayes. Hayes had his best season to date in 2017, although it wasn’t anything to write home about. He was solid on the edge, but still has room for improvement. With his size physical traits, it wouldn’t be surprising if he cross-trained inside this spring, and eventually went full time on the interior.

Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports

On the inside, the three names to know are Jerry Tillery, Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa, and Jonathan Bonner. Bonner and Tillery were the starters last season, and Tagavailoa rotated in quite a bit as a true freshman. Bonner is a solid contributor, but unspectacular as a player. With that said, expect the Irish to lean on his experience and consistency. Tillery was a difference maker when his effort was there, although that effort was occasionally lacking. Tagavailoa flashed substantially this past season, and is definitely expected to develop into a bona fide leader for this defensive line down the road.

This “upper-7” (as I will refer to it) will likely rotate in and out with each other and receive the majority of the playing time. Behind the projected upper-7 on the depth chart are a plethora of names that are much more difficult to make projections for in 2018.

Darnell Ewell, Kurt Hinish, and Micah Dew-Treadway will likely be backups at defensive tackle. Ewell is a huge, athletic interior lineman overflowing with potential. If he can put everything together, he will be a force. Hinish had his moments as a freshman, but was clearly behind Tagavailoa. If he is to vie for playing time in 2018, he has to make moves this spring. Dew-Treadway will almost certainly - barring massive strides on his part - receiver limited playing time in relief of others. He is experienced, but has yet to truly push for significant playing time. I don’t expect that to change.

The backups on the edge will be Kofi Wardlow and Ade Ogundeji. Ade Ogundeji comes equipped with all the physical traits you could ask for in a defensive end, but the mental side of the game is the hurdle here. If he can get a better grasp on football and combine that with his natural ability, he will be a fantastic player for the Irish. Wardlow lacks Ogundeji’s size, but possesses the quick-twitch ability that you look for in defensive ends. Similarly to the Ogundeji, if he is to make an impact this season he has to develop the mental side of the game.

There’s plenty of raw talent along the defensive line for the Irish going into 2018. The short-term future looks as if it will be good. But as was mentioned earlier, this isn’t a group that dominated opposition in 2017. Progress will have to be made if they are to live up to that potential, and as always, that progress starts in spring.

The wonderful @phillykelly

Of the four linemen Notre Dame signed, Patterson impressed me the most. Not only in grading his film, but the potential he shows to translate his abilities to the college level. Lets take a closer look at Patterson and how he will factor in the future for the Fighting Irish.

STRENGTHS

Offensive line coaches begin their evaluations by looking at an athlete's feet and how he moves. This translates to both run and pass blocking ability. Good mobility is an asset for an offensive lineman that can't be coached — a kid either has it or he doesn’t. Patterson has it.

Patterson played in a more traditional offensive system in high school. He would line up in both two- and three-point stance, varying his overall foot placement depending on the play called, and would adjust his first step on the snap based on whether the QB was under center or in the gun. This is a small technique adjustment that people often miss when grading an offensive lineman. When the QB starts under center, a lineman’s first step has to be quick and mesh well with his power step to engage a defender at close range. Most defenses now adjust to a QB under center by aligning closer to the line of scrimmage.

Patterson comes out of his stance well, staying low when needed. He shows good balance in transitioning out of his stance to explode either down the line or up field to engage the defender. He exhibits appropriate knee bend, and uses this element to engage his body with the defender and complete his blocks effectively. A key component of his game is his “Pull” step, a gathering step 90 degrees toward the line of scrimmage. He shows tremendous ability to slide down the line in his pull to both kick out a defender and work to the second level and find the next defensive player in his lane.

Patterson's pass blocking is impressive as well. He does his drop step with authority. This sets him up well on the edge, stonewalling the defender and pushing him away from the interior of the pocket. His stance in pass protection is perfect; he doesn’t get too wide and moves his feet while blocking. This allows him to adjust to the defender's pass rush without compromising his position. He shifts well from a reach-punch technique to sell the pass and then angle to block down field on the release. This indicates the overall athleticism of an athlete. Patterson shows this athleticism over and over again in his film review.

WEAKNESSES

Patterson’s overall game is strong. Weaknesses are not as easy to spot as they are in some of the other evaluations I’ve done. For the most part, he is a complete offensive line prospect. The only two areas he will need to work on are the final aspect of his pass blocking and some leverage issues. In pass blocking, the only potential problem I can spot is that he has a tendency to give up ground toward the pocket when has to hold a block for a long time. The reason is that he tends to transfer his leverage from his base and lose strength as it works up his body. This issue tends to correct itself with proper strength training and coaching on setting his base more effectively.

FINALLY

Grading Patterson is fairly simple. What you see in his game is a very good, and at times dominating, offensive lineman.

Patterson is easily the best offensive line prospect in this class, and the one most likely to see playing time early in his career. He has just developed his overall game more than the other three linemen have.

The future could put him on either side of the line at the tackle position. The good bend in his lower body could possibly get him a look inside, but his strengths play to the outside. He plays with an aggressive streak, which is always a plus.

In Chip Long's offense, the linemen are required to have good movement and be able to adjust quickly off a combo block to work downfield. In Long’s RPO package, which we didn't get to see much of this past season for various reasons, the O-line has to get good, low leverage and hold their block or “bucket” step at a 45-degree angle, thus turning the defender away from the play-side read. Patterson exhibited an ability to do both.

I expect Patterson to be a starter for the Fighting Irish in one or two years. He is the headliner for Notre Dame's offensive line class in 2018.

Reports broke last week that Texas A&M has an interest in Fisher should the Aggies fire Kevin Sumlin after this season, which they reportedly are. This week, reports have emerged that Tennessee, which just fired Butch Jones, is also interested in Fisher. Auburn, which may be replacing head coach Gus Malzahn, would also very likely be interested in Fisher.

On Thursday, Fisher was asked about the possibility of these other jobs ahead of Saturday’s matchup with Delaware State.

On the matter, Fisher said, “I’m never going to speak about personnel. I’m never going to speak about jobs.”

When prompted again, his answer remained exactly the same.

Fisher’s non-answer is nothing new. He has been quick to dismiss the discussion of other jobs in the past.

Still, with a new coach-friendly buyout in hand, Fisher’s refusal to outright deny interest may not be instilling confidence in fans and the administration in Tallahassee.

But while Pitt fans might not have thought Watson has done a good job, head coach Pat Narduzzi feels differently. And according to him, Watson will be back next season.

From the Post-Gazette:

“He’s done a really good job, in my opinion. … And Shawn’s not going anywhere, so I don’t have to worry about losing him,” Narduzzi said. “In the offseason, in December, that’s something I know I don’t have to go find an offensive coordinator because he’s a loyal guy, and we’ve talked, so I think that’s gonna make it better for the future.”

I’ve basically had three main thoughts on Watson this year. In no particular order, here they are.

Personnel Matters

I know a lot of folks aren’t happy with Watson but the reality is that he’s working with a completely different offense than Canada had last season. Canada had an NFL quarterback, NFL running back, and two NFL linemen at his disposal. Pitt’s offense could eventually send some guys to the NFL but aside from Brian O’Neill on the offensive line, I don’t know how many more there are. Pitt’s offense is completely retooled this year.

It always comes down to the players. Look at a guy like Jim Chaney, for example. Chaney left here and bombed in Georgia last season. Fans were calling for his head, too, and it looked like he didn’t know what he was doing. They kept him and this year, the Bulldogs have had five 40-point games. In a four-game stretch, they hung an average of more than 45 points on Florida, Tennessee, Missouri, and Vanderbilt. Looks kind of silly now to want him gone, right?

Coaches don’t simply forget how to coach. Some guys, of course, aren’t good coaches. but coaches that have had some success don’t just usually stop being a good coach. I’ve always been convinced that 90% of it is all in the players you have and my guess is that if you give Watson Pitt’s roster last year (or even a healthy Max Browne), more points would be scored. Give any coach a backup quarterback to work with and trouble follows quite a bit.

Continuity Doesn’t Always Matter

One of the things Narduzzi mentioned in that article was that continuity would be a good thing for the team. While I agree that it’s helpful, I think it’s less important in Pitt’s case. Pitt could have a third different starting quarterback to begin the season for the third year in a row next season and I’m not sure the continuity is as important when you’re replacing the primary part in the offense that often.

I do think it always helps when you can have the continuity so I’m not downplaying its value entirely. But unless a coordinator and quarterback are working together for a few years, it’s hard to know how much it matters if those positions are constantly changing as they have been. I think there could be value in it if Ben DiNucci remains the starter at quarterback next season but we all know that’s a big ‘if’ right now. At this point, I definitely wouldn’t be holding onto Watson primarily for the sake of continuity because it’s less valuable if the quarterback continues to change.

Playcalling

The playcalling under Watson has been, at times, baffling. It’s not always that way but there have certainly been times when I simply didn’t get the play call - especially if it didn’t work, obviously.

Here’s the thing, though. Tell me the last time a coordinator hasn’t been questioned. Pitt fans all herald Matt Canada as some kind of genius but take a look back at past game threads and you can see that playcalling is almost always questioned. Even against Penn State where Pitt put 42 points on the board, there were still some calls that had fans upset.

It’s the nature of the beast. No matter who the coordinator is, there are always going to be complaints about some play calls.

Overall, I’m mixed on this. I generally only think you should replace a coach if you’re ending up with a better one so I’d need to know who would be available. But do I place all of the blame for the offense on Canada? Nah. And it looks like Narduzzi isn’t, either.

Be sure to join Cardiac Hill's Facebook page and follow us on Twitter @PittPantherBlog for our regular updates on Pitt athletics. Follow the author and founder/editor @AnsonWhaley.

That makes two Free Safeties that have been put out of action for the season. Lots of folks would argue that Terrell wasn’t really a Free Safety, he’s not fast enough to keep the speed receivers from getting behind him. That became evident in the Georgia Tech game. Edmunds is a better and more natural Rover/Strong Safety though he’d be a good Nickel Back in a pinch.

The Edmunds family are the absolute best, and we wish Terrell a speedy and complete recovery so that he’s healthy and ready to tear it up with Tremaine, next season.

Here’s the full release on this announcement from the ACC’s official website

GREENSBORO, N.C. (theACC.com) – The Atlantic Coast Conference and ESPN have announced that the 2017 Dr Pepper ACC Football Championship Game between second-ranked Miami (Coastal Division) and No. 4 Clemson (Atlantic Division) will kick off on ABC in prime time at 8 p.m. on Saturday, December 2, from Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina.

This marks the ninth consecutive year that the Dr Pepper ACC Football Championship Game has been held in prime time, and the fifth consecutive year the game has been televised by ABC in its coveted 8 p.m. time slot. The winner of the conference championship game has gone on to play in the National Championship Game or compete in the College Football Playoff each of the previous four seasons.

The game which will be played on December 2nd will mark the first appearance in the Conference’s Championship game for the Miami Hurricanes. They will face the Clemson Tigers, 3-time defending ACC Coastal Division champions and 2-time defending ACC Conference champions.

Before this game, however, Miami faces Virginia on Senior day (November 18) and Pittsburgh on Black Friday (November 24) to conclude the regular season. The Hurricanes, undefeated at 9-0, look to continue their nation-long 14 game win streak ahead of this clash of titans against the Clemson Tigers.

More on the ACC Championship game as it nears.

As much talk as there has been about Notre Dame’s running game coming out of the 41-8 loss to the Canes, it’s Notre Dame’s run defense that springs the most interesting question for me.

It was pointed out that over the past two weeks against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons and the Hurricanes, the Irish allowed 237 and 239 yards rushing - and now they take on the best rushing attack in the country in Navy. How can the Irish improve?

Just we have to have a better attention to detail. Our fits have got to be better. We've got to get off blocks. We've got to get back to that mentality of dominating those one-on-one matchups. You've got to win some matchups. We had guys in position to make plays. We've got to simply make the plays.

Look, they ran -- their first half running attack was one that we felt really comfortable that we should be more effective with. We've simply got to be better in our preparation and coach our guys better, go back and make sure that we're teaching him the fundamentals so we can make the plays necessary.

So there's no high science here. There's nothing that can't be prepared during practice for us to get back to playing the kind of run defense we need to play, simply stated.

High science. Last Saturday I felt like I was high and doing an odd science experiment with my emotions. *sigh*

The rest of the press conference is in the video below.

Now that we’ve had a couple of days to digest this ugly loss, here are five takeaways from Virginia Tech’s loss at Georgia Tech.

Jackson regressing

Freshman quarterback Josh Jackson has started slowly in most of Tech’s games this season. Saturday was no different. It doesn’t help Jackson that most of his receiving options are also young players, too. On Saturday, Jackson didn’t get a lot of help from his receivers, including Cam Phillips.

However, Jackson has struggled at times recently. Whether it’s accuracy or not trusting his protection, Jackson’s play has gotten worse. In his press conference after the game, head coach Justin Fuente hinted at Jackson’s shortcomings without saying as much. Fuente knows what Jackson is. And he’s solid. But what’s his ceiling? Moving forward, Jackson will have his hands full holding off both Herndon Hooker and Quincy Patterson.

Let’s not write Jackson off yet, but recent offensive shortcomings have certainly created cause for concern.

About the offense

The offensive struggles are certainly not all Jackson’s fault. Not even close. This team, outside of Wyatt Teller, struggles to hold their blocks. With left tackle Yosuah Nijman out, their shortcomings are even more glaring. The Hokies can’t consistently run the football which makes Jackson’s job even harder.

As far as the running backs go, there’s no consistency. Travon McMillian is up and down. Why not give more opportunities to Jalen Holston? He carried the ball 10 times on Saturday. Give him a game full of action. It’s time to see which players are ready for larger roles next season. Holston looks like the most complete back on the roster.

As a whole, Tech’s offense finished the game with just 258 total yards. Keep in mind, Georgia Tech’s defense won’t remind anyone of Clemson or Miami’s units. Still, the Hokies could get nothing going.

A lack of playmakers on offense is a major problem. Fuente knows the limitations of this group and on Saturday tried to coach around them and be even more aggressive.

Phillips invisible

After a red-hot start to the season, Phillips has hit a funk. Sure, he’s battled an injury and is always the focus of opposing defenses. Still, the Hokies need more from Phillips. He had just two catches for eight yards and had a critical—and ugly—drop.

If the Hokies are going to win their final games and extend their winning streak over Virginia, the offense must go through Phillips and he must produce, too.

Stop with the Fuente needs to go talk

Sadly, if you hopped on social media Saturday or visited any Tech message boards, you’d see numerous “fans” calling for Fuente’s head. How ludicrous is that? The second-year coach now has a record of 17-7, with two straight losses. Fans are mad about play-calling, and I get that.

But, as mentioned earlier, Fuente realizes what he has on offense. And he knows what this group is capable of, or more importantly, what they aren’t capable of.

Fans want the backup quarterback. Fans always think the backup quarterback is better. If AJ Bush played and made mistakes, fans would be begging for Jackson. And vice versa. That happens to any fanbase.

And Fuente took a lot of uncharacteristic chances on Saturday. Why not? If they work, Tech wins, if not, the Hokies aren’t winning the ACC anyway. So why not be aggressive and go for it all?

Some Virginia Tech fans have delusions that this program is Alabama. It’s not. Do you realize how many programs would love to have Fuente? So, can we officially stop spouting this nonsense?

Defense beaten for big plays

The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets finished the game with 401 total yards. However, the Jackets had three plays that totaled 209 yards, two of which were scores, while the other set up a score. Outside of three plays, the Hokies gave up just 192 total yards. GT had 65 total offensive plays, 62 of those plays went for just 192 yards, while three went for 209 yards. Again, let that sink in. It wasn’t a horrible defensive performance, but it’s the same things that continue to beat this team. The Hokies struggle to stop the big plays.

Georgia Tech quarterback TaQuon Marshall completed just two of eight passes for 140 yards. Both of his completions went for touchdowns. How does that happen?

Outside of one 69-yard run, VT’s defense held Georgia Tech’s running game to less than four yards per attempt. If you told me that before the game I would’ve said the Hokies win this one going away. However, it all goes back to the big plays.

As good as this defense is, a big play is seemingly always around the corner.

But first, a look at Miami’s own résumé:

Miami has had a turbulent season, but has handled all the challenges to improve to an 8-0 record, and Top 10 ranking.

In the eyes of many in the 305 the Top 10 is still too low for the Canes’, Miami is behind one-loss teams, and has been for weeks. The Canes’ have more FPI Top 50 wins than anyone not named Clemson, and UM also boasts the #2 SOR in the nation.

In addition, Miami ranks in the Top 15 in several defensive categories; #12 in Scoring Defense, #4 in Turnover Margin, #1 in Tackles For Loss per game, #5 in Sacks per game, #13 in Passing Yards per Completion, and #7 in Interceptions.

However, the Canes had struggled to pass the “eye test” until Saturday night, as for four consecutive weeks Miami had won by 8 points or less, including a near disaster against 1-8 UNC.

28-10 at The Rock was a statement, but it appears that Miami will have to make another one this weekend, despite their record.

The Fighting Irish are deservedly above the Hurricanes heading into this week’s primetime matchup, UND’s only loss is to #2 (#1 in the Playoff Poll) Georgia, and the Irish have convincing blowout wins over #15/14 USC, #13/16 Michigan State, and NR/#24 NC State. In addition the Irish have dispensed every other opponent they’ve faced with ease, with the exception of a slight stumble against Wake Forest.

Notre Dame has earned the right to be a Top 5 team, but they face a determined, angry, Miami team and fanbase this weekend. Miami is deservedly behind the Irish for now, but they can settle it on the field at 8pm this Saturday.

In my eyes, Miami has an argument to be ahead of Clemson. While Clemson boasts more FPI Top 50 wins than anyone else, they also posses a loss to Syracuse, a team Miami has since beaten.

Clemson also shared an opponent with Miami, Virginia Tech, whom they beat 31-17, Miami since beat the same opponent, 28-10, a larger margin of victory.

Miami also has a higher SOR than Clemson, and nearly the same amount of Top 50 wins (as previously stated), in my honest opinion Miami should be nearly even with Clemson in the eyes of poll voters.

Once again Miami will probably get a shot at this opponent later in the season. Clemson, barring a disaster against FSU, would be the ACC Atlantic Representative in the ACC Championship Game. Miami, needing only a win in Coastal play, or a UVA loss in coastal play, would be the Coastal Division representative in the ACC Championship Game. So it is likely that Miami will have a chance to line up against yet another team ahead of them in the polls.

Oklahoma is the hardest team to get a handle on here. Miami shares no opponents with Oklahoma, the two will almost certainly not play each other.

Oklahoma is also a bizarre team, Heisman frontrunner Baker Mayfield leads possibly the nation’s best offense, but is backed up by one of the worst, if not the worst Power 5 defense in the NCAA.

However, like Miami, the Sooners find ways to pull out wins, and posses one of the best out of conference wins of the season, a victory against Ohio State in Columbus.

As a result Oklahoma has remained ahead of the Canes throughout the last couple weeks, and the Sooners have a big opportunity to add another trademark win to their season this weekend, as they take on #8/9 TCU.

While Miami stayed behind Oklahoma in the AP Poll, they remain ahead of them in the Coaches Poll, and look for Miami to possibly pass Oklahoma in the College Football Playoff Poll tomorrow.

So what do you all think, is Miami too highly ranked, ranked too low? Are the Canes right where they should be? Tell us in the poll and comments below.

All of those players appear likely to return this week against Clemson, at least based on what Dave Doeren had to say on Wednesday. They all practiced; Hines and Bryant were kept out of contact drills, but both sound probable for the Clemson game, NC State’s current biggest game of the week of the year.

Hines’ injury was frightening at first look, since he had a leg and ankle dragged at an awkward angle from behind by a Notre Dame defender. Hines was immediately taken to the locker room for x-rays, which proved negative, but he did not return to the game, depriving State of one of its biggest weapons for the remaining 2+ quarters against Notre Dame.

The attrition up front was also significant, particularly with Jones and Big E unable to fill their typical roles in the middle of the defense.

State’s gonna need everybody ready to go this weekend against Clemson to pull off an upset, so let’s hope that’s what we’ve got, and this is not just Dave Doeren being optimistic for optimism’s sake. Below are Doeren’s full remarks from the ACC Wednesday teleconference.

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DAVE DOEREN: Looking forward to Homecoming Game, a chance to play a great Clemson football team, and two teams fighting for first place in the division. So a ton to play for and guys have really done a great job preparing and working hard in practice. Obviously got a few more days here to polish things up.

But they are a very good team, explosive offense, balanced offense. They are the No. 1 defense in the ACC in almost every category.

So a great challenge for us with our team, and as we look at the last game we played, we know we can play better. And losing some key players during the game didn't help, but we still had some opportune moments and some critical errors that cost us at key moments.

All big games come down to one or two or three plays, so it's going to be a game where those plays have got to go our way, and it's our job as coaches to get them there and their job to finish them, and looking forward to watching it happen.

Q. How would you compare the Lamar Jackson you faced this year to the one you faced a year ago?DAVE

DOEREN: Lamar Jackson?

Q. Yes.

DAVE DOEREN: Okay. We don't play Louisville this week.

Q. Okay. Do you care to look back at that game at all?

DAVE DOEREN: He's a great player.

Q. Obviously you had to deal with that formidable Notre Dame running game last week. What do you want to do better with the run defense as you get ready for a good Clemson running game?

DAVE DOEREN: First thing you've got to do is fit the run game the right way. We had a couple misfits, guys in the wrong gap and something we haven't done. We've been very good at that. You've got to play with low pads, inside hands, shed blocks and leverage the ball on tackle and that's what rushing defense is and that's at all positions, because they can make it a DB tackle with a correct block and guys got have to disciplined eyes so they can strike and play aggressive in the running game.

As far as the Notre Dame game, they did a great job. They have a great offensive line; and when we lost three defensive players on the defensive line during that game, our rotation hurt us as the game went on.

So hopefully we'll be healthier. We were able to get all three three of those guys in practice today, so that was a very positive thing for our rotation up front.

Q. Anything you're looking to do better when it comes to your running game as you get ready for that stout Clemson defense?

DAVE DOEREN: They make it hard. They have got a really good front. They have got big people and rotate and active linebackers and big safeties.

For us, it's about being on our tracks and being thick and our contact and running our feet and passing off movements well, because they do a good job defensively, you know, with their blitz packages and line movements. They are going to get heavy on you and try to flatten you out when they play their odd front. The O-Line has to communicate well together and tight ends and running backs and see the plays that are there to make and go get them.

Q. Kelly Bryant for them as a bigger role in the run game. How does that make it more challenging to defend this type of Clemson offense?

DAVE DOEREN: Yeah, he has, I think 30 more carries than their tailback, and maybe it's 50, than the other tailback. He's without a doubt a threat. Not just when they design it but when they drop back and he scrambles.

Similar to when we play Louisville and other quarterbacks; Syracuse. Our D-Line has to be disciplined. We can't just run past and open up an escape lane. We have to power the pocket and press it, and when we blitz we've got to be in our rush lanes and not create seams for him to escape through; and if it's inside pressure, we have to have guys that are containing it outside and understand how we work together in pass rush because that's really important against an athletic guy like Kelly.

Q. You mentioned getting everybody back in practice today. If everybody is able to play, even though they might still be a little bit banged up, do you feel like your rotation will be back to the way you want it to be in this game?

DAVE DOEREN: If they are all back, yes. We've been able to double-train some guys, too. So it's something that we can do if we have to.

But Justin Jones was 100 percent today. He looked great, during practice, the whole practice. Eurndraus Bryant was out and we didn't do as much with him because at nose tackle there's not a ton he has to do. He did his individual work and we'll rest him. I think we'll have them all and they will be feeling really good on game day. We'll be back to being able to play eight or nine guys in the front.

Q. Obviously Ryan has had a great year and maybe last week was maybe sub-par for him, he threw a pick-six and the completion percentage wasn't really there. Against a great team like Clemson, how important is it for him to get back to mistake-free football?

DAVE DOEREN: Well, I mean, any time you play in a big game, every rep matters, not just for the quarterback. But Ryan's done a great job throughout the season. It was a tough day to be a throwing quarterback out there. It was in the 30s temperature-wise and the wind was blowing. It's not an ideal place to throw.

So I think being home and having the weather will help him. You know, second part of it's just learning from his errors and continuing to improve, and I think that's something Ryan does well. He really studies himself. He'll use that as an opportunity to be a better player.

Q. What was his week of preparation like facing back-to-back maybe his two toughest defenses all year?

DAVE DOEREN: He's had a great week of prep, and he understands what Coach Drinkwitz wants, and he has played against this defense before, so he has an idea what to expect.

They do a great job in man coverage and they mix it a lot. There's a lot of different looks that they are going to give you and they disguise and they have got an active front. They have got 31 sacks. So our timing and our protection is going to be important.

Q. Trying to get an updates on Hines. How did he look in practice today?

DAVE DOEREN: He was running around, feeling really good. We didn't hit him. So that part, we'll still have to see. But he was full speed and he was flying around the field. So we're excited that his progression has been what we hoped it would be, and tomorrow we'll continue to do more. We're still three days out, so the recovery will continue.

Q. Do you feel like he can still be as explosive Saturday as he's been before the injury?

DAVE DOEREN: Yeah, I think by the time we get to Saturday, unless we have a setback, I feel real confident about it. I know he did coming off the field today. Just those things, you've got to continue to get through the hurdles you face on any injury, and you go block a sled or you hit a moving linebacker and you get put in a weird position, and then the next play you feel fine.

Some of that's mental for those guys. You get tackled and rolled up and you pop up and you're good. You've got to get through those things in the game. Progression-wise, he's doing really well so far in the recovery.

It doesn’t take a master handicapper to observe that things aren’t quite going as planned heading into this third leg of the race. Most of the lofty goals the Cards set in the offseason have long since been gone and the individual goal of seeing Lamar repeat as a Heisman winner is nearly off the table. Losing out to NC State in a somewhat unenthusiastic fashion at the ½ mile pole left fans frustrated to say the least, let’s see how the next segment unfolds….

After just getting passed by the Wolfpack the Cardinals appear somewhat demoralized, although still in the mix with the second group of horses it appears they realize the Wolfpack and Clemson may now be unreachable. The Golden Eagles, who have offered little challenge to the Cardinals in races prior are now in the same group and looking to take advantage of a horse that just hasn’t shown the kick many expected to see in the weeks leading up to the race. While Anthony Brown had been labeled as the jockey at the post draw a late scratch put newcomer AJ Dillon in the saddle and he has been grinding from the back of the pack the whole race. Still appearing somewhat stunned from being overpowered by the Wolfpack the Cards have not taken the opportunity to slide onto the rail and for some unfathomable reason seem content staying 6 wide heading into the turn, almost as if they have no interest in playing defense and want to make things harder than it should be. The Golden Eagles are uncharacteristically showing more fight than the Cards and it appears they are actually going to pass them on the inside. Yes, the Golden Eagles have now passed the Cardinals mid way through the turn. I wouldn’t believe it if I hadn’t witnessed it with my own two eyes.

The Cardinals now find themselves in the back of the pack with what appears to be an injured Seminole horse, a pre-race favorite that stumbled coming out of the gate. Lamar is asking for some kick but just hasn’t gotten the response from the thoroughbred he expected to see. Jockey James Blackman is looking to slide past the Cardinals on the inside, even with his injured horse, which may seem unprecedented but with the Cards showing thus far I would not be shocked to see them fall behind the Seminoles either. Lamar is looking to finally guide his horse to the rail and with much less traffic in the back of the pack he found an opening and slid in front of the Seminoles going on the defensive for what seems like the first time since early in the race. Mid way through the turn Blackmon has fumbled away his opportunity to gain position and has now pulled up on the reins, likely looking to just trot to the finish.

Getting a boost from holding off the Seminoles the Cards now look to make a push at the Demon Deacons directly in front of them, who are lagging slightly behind the second group. Never imaging themselves to be in this position Lamar is hoping to remain on the rail and make up some ground quickly before reaching the quarter pole. Deacon jockey John Wolford just peeked back at the Cardinals and is having nothing to do with allowing them space to operate. He is starting to show his horse the whip coming out of the turn and in what should no longer be considered a surprise the Cardinals simply do not have the horse to keep up with the group. The Demon Deacons and the rest of the second group are now actually pulling away from the Cardinals as they come out of the final turn. In what seemed to be a promising race for the Cardinals, they now have no chance of finishing in the money and the last quarter mile appears to be for optics alone.

Concerns from the third ¼ mile:

I understand that in situations like these hyperbole and drastic overstatements become commonplace, but I’m quite literally running out of words to say that haven’t already been said. Instead of flooding your brain with text I’ll simply utter three very simple and very straightforward words to sum up my thoughts thus far.

Shocking.

Frustrating.

Embarrasing.

I was on the train. I was buying into the “we got a real shot this year” hype heading into the season. Sure, we had plenty of questions, but I thought ‘Lamar’ would be a reasonable answer to the majority of them. After all, how could you possibly field the most electric player in college football, with plenty of talent surrounding him, and NOT finish with at least ten wins? It just didn’t make sense.

Reality bites.

For those who may consider themselves visually learners (myself included) lets open the very scary book of ‘stats’ to help piece together just what has happened to the Cardinal football this season and how things have trended since Bobby 2.0 began...

The 2014 team started strong and finished strong in this category, only allowing a tick over three touchdowns per game on average (good enough for 24th in the country). Even though they lost some folks the year prior some of Strong’s holdovers continued to dominate upfront in 2014 and beyond. As those players have slowly left the program via graduation or transfer, the scoring defense has jumped almost a full ten points in four seasons currently sitting at 30.8pts/g (92nd in the country).

So now we know teams are scoring, but maybe its long plays, gadget plays, ‘trickeration’ if you will that is hurting the Cards? Nope. Just like the scoring defense the opponent’s Red zone Conversion percent is going up and has reached a ten year plus high at 88.89%. If you want to round up to 90% for simplicity even my dumb brain can figure out that 9 times out of every ten a team is putting points on the board once they cross the 20 (Cards sit at 103^rd in the country). Craziness.

Similar to the scoring defense the overall defense statistics in terms of yards/game has never been as good as that first season (2014) and has skyrocketed this year to an astronomical number at 410.1yd/g (85th in the country). Unacceptable on any level, but even more so considering you have numerous upperclassmen playing large defensive roles. In fact, against Wake 13 of the 22 players on the two deep depth chart were Juniors or Seniors. ‘We’re young’ doesn’t play well with me, especially nine games into the season.

Yeah, that whole ‘3^rd and Grantham’ thing may have been a nice hashtag or a very simply excuse to blurt out when complaining to your friends about the defense, but on average the last three years (2014-2016) the Cards sat at 18th in the country in stopping opponents on 3^rd down. This year, the Cards are almost a full 10 percentage points higher than last season and are dangerously close to clipping the 45% mark on the season. In laymen’s terms, damn near half the time opponents snap the ball on 3^rd down, they are converting. Inexcusable. Cards sit at 92nd in the country as of today, with only 15 Power 5 teams performing at a worse clip. Who would thought we’d be begging for ‘3^rd and Grantham’ in 2017?

So why are all those numbers so high? Is it just lack of talent, drive, playcalling, etc? One big reason is that the Cards defense is not getting pressure or turning the ball over as often as they used too, which often results in a shorter field and easier points for the offense. (Buckle up because we are quite literally about to go down a slippery slope)

Pressuring the quarterback and getting sacks can almost single handedly kill drives. On the other hand, when you don’t do that, drives are sustained and usually result in more yardage and more points being scored (see charts above). The Cards have gotten worse each of the last four seasons in getting to the QB and if they keep pace the projected 2017 number will be the lowest sack total since 2008 (currently sitting at 58th in the country).

Just as sacks ‘likely’ kill drives, interceptions will undoubtedly kill them, putting the ball back in the hands of the offense. Following a disturbing trend, once again the Cards are on pace for their lowest interception total since 2010 (currently sitting at 57th in the country). Getting the ball back to a very prolific offense would certainly help put points on the board and likely translate to more wins. It is simply not happening.

So, what do we do now? I don’t know. Firing a guy nine games into the season in year one of his contract certainly doesn’t create the best atmosphere for future coaching searches, but at this point I could really give a damn about Louisville taking a PR hit. Sirmon, nine games into his Louisville career, has performed well below any reasonable expectation that may have been set for him coming into the season. The stats don’t lie, the consistent breakdowns don’t lie, the on field confusion doesn’t lie, and the record of 5-4 with an offense averaging 36.7 points per game certainly does not lie. I’m easily one of the more optimistic fans out there, but there is literally zero ‘past performances’ to point to for Sirmon to offer hope that things can be turned around. Mississippi State was a failure, and that failure has now been passed onto the Louisville football program. That can’t be an acceptable standard moving forward.

Why all hope is not lost:

The first post in this series referred to why hope wasn’t lost for the season, and that things could still be turned around. We’re beyond that point. The ‘hope’ for the rest of this season would be to win out, beat a mediocre bowl team, and try and build momentum heading into 2018. A notch down from that would be to simply beat your rival in the last game of the year. A six win season is a disappointment no matter how you wrap it up and stick it under the tree, but beating Kentucky in one of the six wins would at least let you put a ‘real’ ribbon on the box instead of one of those cheep peel and stick versions. It ain’t gonna be pretty either way, but it doesn’t leave you completely embarrassed come Christmas morning.

All things being fair, Petrino has delivered on his promise to bring offensive minded football back to Louisville. I’ll save you the charts but the Cards are putting up yardage and points the last couple years that rival any season in their history. While he certainly deserves a very large tip of the cap to one Lamar Jackson, he has brought in the talent to field one of the top offensive teams in the country. The issue of course is that he may be sacrificing defensive talent to pull in more and more offensive threats…thus resulting in more points, but not necessarily translating to more wins. The quarterback position seems set for a few years and the wide receivers have talent, but grabbing a few more defensive studs should be priority one, two, and three heading into the offseason.

Three games remain. The atmosphere around the Louisville program one year ago this time was palpable. A national story, college football playoff ranking, the best player in the game competing for a Heisman, it was almost surreal. One year later the agony of a 5-4 season almost makes thing feel that much worse after having experienced the high of 2016. If you want to fold up shop, move on to next year, focus on basketball, etc you certainly have that right. Me, I’ve decided to enjoy the last three games for what they are…three more opportunities to watch the team I support, play a game I love, and cheer on the best player to ever wear a Louisville jersey. We clamor for football from April to September every year, your interest in counting down the days until the season kicks off is proof of that, let’s not let a couple poor performances distract us from missing the final ‘quarter mile’ of another Louisville football season. You never know what you might miss.

See you all back here in four weeks.

Go Cards.

Here are the links to the Previous articles:

DE (Wow that didn’t age well)

DT

This article will focus on Tech’s 2 commitments at the LB position, as the class is likely full there. As before the prospects will be evaluated in 5 categories, which will be different than the ones used to evaluate DL prospects. For a LB these are:

Size

Size is a bit more than height and weight. How long are the player’s arms? Do they have a good, healthy weight distribution? How big is the frame? Is there room to add more good mass? How much?

Range

Does the player have the length, lateral agility, burst, and pursuit speed to get sideline to sideline to support runs outside the tackles?

Defeating Blocks and Tackling

This is a bit a of a 2 lumped in one situation, but they are both related to physicality. All LB prospects will have highlight tackles on their profiles, but are they defeating blocks from bigger OL? Do they use good tackling form? Do they reliably prevent YAC from the ball carrier?

Play Diagnostics

This is a bit hard to decipher from a hudl video, but there are some things to look for. How quickly do they react to the flow of the play? Do they take false steps and rely on athleticism to make the play? Do they make a lot of plays by filling the correct gap?

Coverage

One of the biggest things for any player in coverage is flexibility in the hips. Additionally, the player will never be able to react to a route runner’s breaks or be able to react quickly enough to the pass in zone. Additionally, how well does the player attack the catch point in coverage? Do they have good instincts? How are the player’s hands?

• 5: Power-5 Elite
• 4: Power-5 Above Average
• 3: Power-5 Average
• 2: G5
• 1: FCS

• Size: 3
• Range: 4
• Defeating Blocks/Tackling: 4
• Play Diagnostics: 2
• Coverage: 4

Hudl

When Jackson committed, he struck me as a raw, athletic prospect who needed to work on the finer points of being a linebacker at the next level. Watching his senior tape, he’s made tremendous strides in that regard, and has one of the best looking LB tapes of any Tech commit I’ve watched in a while. At 6-0 215-220 lbs, Jackson has average size for the position, and has good length for his height.

Jackson’s main strength is his range. A true sideline-to-sideline player, Jackson has run down ball carriers from all over Middle Georgia, including Tech’s own Tobias Oliver. Jackson’s first step and closing speed are first-rate, which should help with bubble screens.

The area where I felt Jackson could improve the most from his Junior film was block shedding. As a Junior, Jackson mostly stuck to the outside and didn’t have much of any film in the box, and hardly a single play where he engaged an offensive lineman. As a senior, he still does a lot of gap shooting and sideline to sideline play, but the block shedding has finally arrived. He has a number of plays in his senior film where he fills a gap well by stacking a shedding the blocker before making the tackle. His tackling is a bit better too, he’s allowing less YAC on tackles than the year prior, especially in the box.

The big area for improvement for Jackson is play diagnostics, specifically on run plays. He often takes a couple false steps before getting a handle of the play, then uses his superior athleticism to make up for it. He will occasionally sniff out a screen, but this is an area where coaching and experience will do Jackson wonders.

There isn’t a ton of coverage film out there for Jackson, but he has all the physical tools to excel there, from quick hips to great closing speed. He also displays good hands on offense and had a nifty interception in his Junior tape.

• Size: 4
• Range: 2
• Defeating Blocks/Tackling: 5
• Play Diagnostics: 2
• Coverage: 2

Hudl

[embedded content]

One of Tech’s most highly rated commits, Justice Dingle is an interesting case study. A player with great strengths and some tough weaknesses, where is his best spot at the next level?

Most recruiting outlets have Dingle rated as a Mike LB based on his HS position. Dingle plays all over the field, even putting his hand in the dirt as a down lineman, but mostly plays as an Inside LB. He has tremendous size as an ILB, with a thick frame that looks heavier than his listed 230 lbs. He’s easy to find on his high school tape, as he’s just bigger than everyone else. If he had a little more length, his size rating would easily be a 5.

Range is where Dingle really struggles. He’s huge, but doesn’t excel at getting outside or playing in space. He always looks more comfortable in the box or with his hand in the dirt. He has a good first step, but his top end speed is a bit lacking, as is his lateral agility once he gets going. It’s a big area for improvement.

The dude can absolutely bring the boom, though. Dingle hits like a truck and knows how to separate the ball from the ball carrier. He’s impossible to block, too. His junior tape alone shows him defeating blocks by blowing up linemen head on, knifing into the backfield by putting his shoulder into the blocker, and bending the corner on the pass rush by utilizing a nasty rip-and-dip move.

Dingle also takes a lot of bad angles in the run game and is late reacting to run plays. Unlike Jackson, he doesn’t have the speed to make up for these mistakes. Additionally, there isn’t any substantial film of him in coverage outside of the embedded video above.

Now, reading all that, it seems like I don’t think very highly of Dingle as a recruit, but that’s not the case. I think he’s being evaluated at the wrong position. There have been whisperings that Dingle may play more of an Edge defender role at Georgia Tech, meaning he’ll be utilized as a pass rusher and general havoc creator. Looking at Dingle’s strengths, this role makes a lot of sense. He has a good first step, has a thick, strong frame that could add even more weight, and is difficult to block. On top of that, he has exceptional flexibility, a highly coveted trait for edge rushers. When playing off the edge in high school, he scrapes down the line well to chase plays away from him, and racks up the TFLs. Let’s look at how I’d rate him in an Edge defender role using the DE attributes:

• Size: 3
• Explosiveness: 4
• Bend: 5
• Run Defense: 3
• Pass Rush: 4

Looks a lot better. If used correctly, Dingle has the opportunity to be an exceptional addition to the Tech defense.

Welcome to the eighth edition of the column I like to call “The Freshman 15”. If you’re a first time reader, this will be a focus on the rankings and the order of the top 15 recruits the coaching staff are pursuing. At this time, players without offers will not be considered for the board. How do we rank the players, you ask?

Well, the order will be based mainly on:

• How likely a recruit is to commit to Miami at the time
• Skill level
• Miami's need at their position

This column will be updated throughout the cycle each month and will show movement up or down for each recruit as the list is updated, ie. who is starting to become more/less important and prioritized by the staff.

Delving into the board, you can start to see the coaching staff honing in on a few key position groups: defensive end, defensive tackle, cornerback, and fullback. The Canes will look to add one player from each group, and maybe more when it comes to the D-Line.

Let’s get into the board for the month of November.

1. Tyson Campbell, CB, Fort Lauderdale, FL (American Heritage) (Last Month: 1)

Ht 6-2 | Wt 180 | 247 Composite: 4-Star, #23 Overall

Behind The Ranking: Campbell is a corner that plays just down the road at American Heritage, where his former head coach was current Canes CB coach Mike Rumph. He sports outstanding speed and length, along with incredible ball skills. Miami has been loading up on DB’s in this class, but is still making Campbell a priority. His status as a national top 25 player, high interest in Miami, and relationship with coach Rumph land him as the #1 player on this board.

In The Mix: Campbell lists his favorites as Miami, Ohio State, Alabama, and Georgia. One of Clemson, LSU, Florida, and Florida State are on the outside looking to break into Campbell’s top 5.

Latest: Campbell was on campus back in October with a few other recruits taking in a Miami practice, while Rumph and coach Kool stopped in at Heritage to see Campbell a few weeks ago and keep the pressure on. Campbell is chopping down his list to a top 5 sometime soon and has already said the Hurricanes will make that cut, along with Alabama, Ohio State, and Georgia. Campbell’s top 5 will all get official visits, which will be taken after the season to focus on his senior year. He says his decision will come down to whether he wants to play at home in front of his family, or if he feels it will be better to get away from South Florida for college. So, really, it seems to be between Miami and his preferred out of state school. That decision would likely be made at the Army All-American game in January.

2. Dennis Briggs, DT, Kissimmee, FL (Gateway) (Last Month: 2)

Ht 6-4 | Wt 255 | 247 Composite: 3-Star, #448 Overall

Behind The Ranking: Briggs is another talented prospect who has seen his recruiting stock soar as of late and it is still on the rise. He offers a great motor and his speed and athleticism will likely be amplified when he is inevitably moved inside to play tackle in college. After missing out on Rick Sandidge and Keondre Coburn, Briggs becomes much more important to the class.

In The Mix: Briggs’ has a top 6 of Miami, FSU, UF, Tennessee, Oregon, and Georgia.

Latest: Briggs says he will official to Miami, FSU, Tennessee, Oregon, and Georgia. Despite that, Florida remains still involved as he’s taken multiple unofficial visits to Gainesville and the Gators cannot be counted out. It will be interesting to see how the firing of Jim McElwain effects his recruitment. Being from the area, Briggs came out to watch Miami’s practices in Orlando when they were displaced from Hurricane Irma, a very good sign for the Canes. Heading into his visits, Briggs says UM is in his top 2, but does not name the other program tied with Miami. Briggs took an unofficial visit to FSU for their loss against NC State in September, while he set his first official to Tennessee for the weekend of December 8th.

3. Trevor Trout, DT, Saint Louis, MO (Chaminade) (Last Month: 3)

Ht 6-3 | Wt 315 | 247 Composite: 4-Star, #186 Overall

Behind The Ranking: Trout is a stalwart in the middle of the defense who is at his best when he is taking on double teams and funneling runs to the linebackers. With a pretty quick first step for a big man, once Trout establishes a gap, he can be almost impossible to move. He is proficient at collapsing a pocket from the inside and opening up pass rushing lanes for his teammates.

In The Mix: Trout has a top 4 of Miami, Alabama, USC, and UCLA.

Latest: Trout is officially leaving home for college, as he surprisingly eliminated hometown favorite Missouri, as well as Georgia, from his list this past weekend. Trout now has a top 4 that includes UM, Bama, USC, and UCLA. Trout took his first official visit to UCLA in September, taking in the Bruins’ win over Colorado, and loved it. His second official will be to USC for the UCLA game on November 18th weekend. Trout’s final 2 official visits to Miami and Bama are still being planned and he anticipates making a decision on Signing Day. Coach Kool has done great work here to keep Miami around this long for an out-of-state kid who everyone in the country wants. If the official visit goes well and Miami keeps winning on the field, this could end up being one of the best pulls of the class.

4. Marcus “Tank” Jenkins, OG, Montgomery, AL (Park Crossing) (Last Month: 6)

Ht 6-4 | Wt 325 | 247 Composite: 4-Star, #287 Overall

Behind The Ranking: Jenkins is a classic power guard sporting a large, compact frame. His strength comes from a low center of gravity with adequate hip bend. Jenkins shows a little bit of get-up for his size and pulls across a formation with authority. Jenkins has set an official with Miami and looks to be the new priority on the O-Line with William Barnes out of the picture.

In The Mix: Auburn, Louisville, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Miami make up Jenkins’ top 5.

Latest: Jenkins could really end up anywhere in his top 5 and it wouldn’t be a shock. He just went to Louisville on an unofficial last month and loved the campus. Jenkins has visited Auburn unofficially about 10 times by his own estimation and the Tigers are the local favorite. He’s also unofficially visited Missouri, back in the summer, and one of his teammates recently committed there. That leaves Miami and Oklahoma as the two favorites that Jenkins has never seen. He’ll change that this weekend, when he plans to be on campus in Coral Gables for an official to watch the Canes take on Virginia Tech. Obviously, this visit will make or break his UM recruitment, so stay tuned to see how that goes.

5. Patrick Joyner, LB, Homestead, FL (South Dade) (Last Month: 4)

Ht 6-2 | Wt 205 | 247 Composite: 3-Star, #894 Overall

Behind The Ranking: Joyner takes sharp, direct angles to the ball-carrier, and he throws his body around against bigger opponents with little fear. Joyner is comfortable with his hand on the ground at the line or standing up and blitzing from a linebacker spot. He has the timing, quick feet and tight hips to make the turn and get into the backfield coming off the edge. While some schools are looking at Joyner as a DE, the defensive staff at Miami sees him as a linebacker, and he’s probably now the only LB on their board.

In The Mix: Joyner is committed to FSU, but still has Miami, Florida, Auburn, and FIU in his picture.

Latest: Joyner took his official to FSU a few weeks ago for the Noles’ loss against Louisville and claimed it helped to solidify him, yet still continues to flirt with the Canes. He said in an interview that Miami’s win over the Noles moved UM up a bit in his mind and showed they were ready to make the next step. He’s been pretty impressed with the Canes’ undefeated season so far and plans to take his Hurricanes’ official visit in mid-December. The Canes really need to get him to flip, otherwise they’ll need to evaluate and send out an offer to a late bloomer at LB. I think it’d be a mistake to completely pass on the position this cycle.

6. Davoan Hawkins, DT, Hollywood, FL (Chaminade-Madonna Prep) (Last Month: 5)

Ht 6-4 | Wt 270 | 247 Composite: 3-Star, #783 Overall

Behind The Ranking: Hawkins can overwhelm blockers with pure strength and explosiveness when his feet are right. He is strong enough in his lower half to play through contact and cause stress in the pocket. Hawkins shows quick, strong hands in pass rush situations and is able to attack the edge with technique. Like Briggs, Hawkins is a jumbo defensive end prospect that Miami would likely move inside to tackle.

In The Mix: The Kentucky commit is only considering one other program: Miami.

Latest: Like Joyner, Hawkins is a prospect committed to another school that has taken notice of Miami’s undefeated season this year, and especially their win over FSU. The Wildcats aren’t going to give up Hawkins without a fight though, and sent offensive coordinator Eddie Gran to visit Hawkins’ high school last month. Hawkins says UM is slightly behind Kentucky as of now and his official visits will decide where he ends up. Miami’s official is unscheduled at this point, but he will be at UK for an official during the weekend of December 15th.

7. Jayson Oweh, DE, Blairstown, NJ (Blair Academy) (Last Month: NR)

Ht 6-5 | Wt 236 | 247 Composite: 4-Star, 160 Overall

Behind The Ranking: Oweh has only been playing organized football for a season, and college coaches love someone that is a blank slate and doesn’t have learned bad habits. Oweh displays great length and quickness to frequently disrupt the flow of plays. He’s still growing and gaining muscle, but has tools to blossom into an end that can set the edge in the run game. Oweh has quality bend when rushing into the backfield. With Ronnie Perkins off the board to Oklahoma, Oweh looks to be the new top target at DE.

In The Mix: Oweh has a top 6 of Ohio State, Penn State, Michigan, Miami, UF, and Notre Dame.

Latest: Oweh has been a bit of a late bloomer since he is so new to football, but Miami coaches have loved his senior film so far and sent him an offer 2 weeks ago. Oweh’s gotten a lot of late interest (Michigan offered around the same time as the Canes), so his list has been constantly changing, but two big schools that have been with him for awhile now are OSU and PSU, and he considers them his leaders. Still, Miami has a chance to make up ground when Oweh visits Coral Gables on an official visit in mid-December. He officially visited OSU back in September, and will officially visit PSU and Michigan in November. UF and Notre Dame are battling for his last official visit. Oweh plans to commit at the Under Armour game in January.

8. Chris Collins, DE, Richmond, VA (Benedictine) (Last Month: NR)

Ht 6-5 | Wt 215 | 247 Composite: 3-Star, 499 Overall

Behind The Ranking: At first glance, Collins looks extremely athletic; he may actually remind you of UM DE commit Gregory Rousseau, with the two sporting similar length and wiry frames. Collins has range as tackler and can run sideline-to-sideline well, while also being fluid when asked to drop into space. He shows the appropriate foot quickness to shoot gaps and demonstrates exceptional flexibility in his hips to help him get around the edge.

In The Mix: Collins is committed to UNC and is only considering a flip to Miami.

Latest: UM actually was in on Collins early in the cycle, but contact had dropped off since the spring. Coach Kool decided to ramp up his interest in the Virginia defensive end, however, and Collins has been accepting of the overtures; he plans on setting up a UM official visit sometime in December. He’ll also officially visit UNC in December and is planning to be an early signee, so we’ll get a final decision from Collins either way next month.

9. Jared Goldwire, DT, Fort Scott, KS (Fort Scott C.C.) (Last Month: 7)

Ht 6-5 | Wt 295 | 247 Composite: 3-Star, N/A Overall

Behind The Ranking: Goldwire is a Washington native that signed with UTEP out of high school and has developed his game in JUCO to the point where he is thought of as an instant impact player in the middle of a defense. He has a powerful, college-ready frame with thick lower half and evenly displaced weight throughout. Goldwire pops opponents with a good initial punch that can push back linemen, and also shows surprising quickness at times for his size.

In The Mix: Goldwire is a Louisville commit but is still considering Miami.

Latest: Goldwire committed to Louisville back in June, but has still kept in contact with Canes coaches and there is mutual interest abound. He is planning an official visit to Coral Gables for a game weekend in the near future and is looking for a great business school and coaching that can get him to the NFL. Fortunately for UM, they have one of the top business schools in the country and coach Kool is one of the best in the game at developing his defensive linemen for the NFL. Obviously, as JUCO player with limited eligibility, Goldwire wants to go somewhere he can play right away. That might hurt the Canes due to their D-Line depth, but if RJ McIntosh leaves early for the pros, this recruitment will get more interesting.

10. Nigel Bethel, CB, Miami, FL (Northwestern) (Last Month: 8)

Ht 6-0 | Wt 165 | 247 Composite: 3-Star, #1353 Overall

Behind The Ranking: Originally a track standout, Bethel’s 4.3 speed has translated nicely to the football field. He shows necessary hip flip and foot quickness to recover from mistakes in press coverage. Bethel features closing burst and takes playmaking angles to the throw. While he’s still learning the finer points of the corner position, it’s clear Bethel has incredible upside if coached up right.

In The Mix: Bethel previously named a final 3 of Miami, Georgia, and UF, but it seems Louisville is now involved.

Latest: Bethel hasn’t given an interview since the summer and has been mum on when and where he’s going to be taking his officials. This is another Miami target that will be significantly effected by Jim McElwain’s firing, but what it actually means for the future of Bethel’s recruitment is unclear. However, Bethel has been tweeting out pro-Louisville posts recently, and the Cardinals look to be involved here now. It’s unknown if Bethel is a true take for the staff with Campbell still on the board at CB, and being a “Plan B” could cause the Canes to lose this talent from their backyard.

11. Jordan Davis, DT, Charlotte, NC (Mallard Creek) (Last Month: 9)

Ht 6-6 | Wt 320 | 247 Composite: 4-Star, #312 Overall

Behind The Ranking: Davis has massive size with long arms. He initiates well at the point of attack and drives offensive lineman back consistently. Davis has shown the ability to beat double teams, while still playing with disciplined gap integrity.

In The Mix: Davis has an open list at this point, naming North Carolina, N.C. State, Michigan, Georgia, Miami, South Carolina, and Florida State as those pursuing him the hardest.

Latest: Davis has kept a pretty low profile and is another that hasn’t been interviewed since the summer. However, he is close to narrowing down his options to 5 official visits. And, of those potential visits, Davis claims to want to see Miami and Michigan the most. So, as of now, we feel pretty comfortable saying Miami will get an official, but there is still a long way to go to get Davis’ signature.

12. Devonta Jason, WR, New Orleans, LA (Landry-Walker) (Last Month: 12)

Ht 6-3 | Wt 190 | 247 Composite: 4-Star, #111 Overall

Behind The Ranking: Jason has great body control in mid-air to be able contort for difficult catches. He has the prototypical frame of a #1 receiver with great hands that don’t drop much. Elite straight-line speed allows Jason to blow the top off a defense.

In The Mix: While still being committed to Kansas, Jason has a named top 7 including Kansas, Miami, LSU, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Tennessee, and WVU.

Latest: Jason has been committed to Kansas since February, but is still being pushed to flip by everyone in his top 7. Of those, he says LSU is the school gunning for him the hardest. Jason hasn’t bothered to shut down the rumors of his eventual flip to LSU, instead wearing Tigers gloves during his most recent game. It sure seems like he’s stirring the pot just for attention, which is not a good sign for him ending up at Miami knowing coach Mark Richt. Jason is one of two players on this board (Davis being the other) that hasn’t explicitly tried to nail down plans for an official visit with this staff, and if that talk doesn’t happen soon, it’ll implicitly tell us he’s not really interested in UM.

13. Kayode Oladele, DE, Hialeah, FL (Champagnat Catholic) (Last Month: NR)

Ht 6-4 | Wt 235 | 247 Composite: 3-Star, #382 Overall

Behind The Ranking: Oladele plays hard, he is violent, his hands stay active, and he has speed to the ball. He can improve his pad level, and work leverage more, but you always see his hands flying around, you always see him working to get to the ball, and when he gets that window, he closes in a blur. As a Nigerian native that is new to football, Oladele is the type of raw athlete that Coach Kul has had success with many times in the past.

In The Mix: UM, Auburn, FSU, and Florida are the main programs involved with Oladele.

Latest: After originally being told the Canes did not have room for another defensive end in the class, Oladele was surprised to hear from Miami 2 months later asking if he was still interested. As it turns out, his love for Miami hasn’t died, and Oladele attended the Georgia Tech game as an invited recruit. As the once-leaders in this recruitment, the Canes have some making up to do here after the slight, and are now playing catch-up to Auburn and FSU. Also, his official visits have yet to be ironed out. If Miami truly makes an all-out push here, there’s a very good chance he ends up in the orange and green.

14. Abraham Alce, FB, Immokalee, FL (Immokalee) (Last Month: 15)

Ht 6-0 | Wt 230 | 247 Composite: 3-Star, #1232 Overall

Behind The Ranking: Alce is a physical, downhill runner that also doubles at inside linebacker for Heritage. Alce shows aggression on tape and has experience as a jack-of-all-trades ball carrier, pass catcher, pass protector, and lead blocker.

In The Mix: Alce is high on Miami, USF, Kentucky, Boston College, and Wisconsin at this stage.

Latest: After previously listing Wisconsin as his frontrunner, the Canes have made up ground here and are now co-leaders with the Badgers for Alce. He really enjoyed his experience in the UM recruiting section for the Toledo game and the staff made him feel wanted. While Alce hasn’t formally set any official visit dates, UM will get one at some point. He’ll have to speed up his process, though; Alce is graduating early and will have to make his decision by December, and the Canes are now pursuing another fullback target as well.

15. Realus George, FB, Atlanta, GA (Pace Academy) (Last Month: NR)

Ht 6-2 | Wt 245 | 247 Composite: 3-Star, #1368 Overall

Behind The Ranking: George accelerates and explodes into contact as a blocker. He does what all great fullbacks do: takes a crease and makes it a lane. George is adept at reading a defense and chooses his targets carefully. Once George locks onto a defender, they don’t have much hope of re-entering the play.

In The Mix: Colorado State, Navy, and Memphis are others besides Miami that are involved with George.

Latest: The Canes offered George last week, and have immediately shot to the top of his list. He’ll be visiting UM unofficially for the Notre Dame game in 2 weeks, and indicates he’ll return for an official in December or January. In terms of other official visits, George has been to Colorado State, and will visit Navy this weekend. However, as long as he commits before Alce, we see no reason that George is not a part of this class.

Falling Off

10. DT Tyler Friday: Things could pick back up with him later, but Friday feels to be staying up north as of now.

11. DE Ronnie Perkins: Committed to Oklahoma on his official visit to Norman last weekend.

13. OT Nicholas Petit-Frere: While Miami sets up more and more official visits with other prospects, Petit-Frere has been quiet. Too quiet. He’s got the talent, but there’s just too much unknown with his recruitment and, regardless, he’s a longshot.

14. OT Daniel Faalele: Behind the scenes sources are indicating Miami is no longer pursuing Faalele.

But first, we discuss ramifications of the Boston College game and Jimbo Fisher’s latest press conference.

Listener questions

Due to time constraints, we do not edit listener questions.

Thinking for the next 2-4 years would you rather keep Jimbo as coach or go after someone like willie Taggart? I like Jimbo but I don’t see him getting the program back on track to compete for a title.

-Was there a fight between the coaches after the Boston College game?

-Did a coach really have to take a commercial flight back the next day?

-Have coaches already told Jimbo they are resigning?

-Which coaches aren’t speaking to each other?

-Did coaches actually walk out during practice?

-How does the Florida situation impact FSU? Timetable? Battling for coaches? Poaching coaches?

-What is the importance of having a football only facility? Is there some quantifiable benefit to having a football only facility or is this just a situation where coaches just want a shiny new toy? What is the possibility we end up losing two of our dynamo assistant coaches (Tino and Addison)? Any possibility we hire them to be full time coaches? Thanks guys keep up the good work.

-Here is a question for your next mailbag. Hypothetically, if Jimbo does jump to another job (Texas A&M), do you really have confidence that the AD can make a good hire? I don’t with how he handled the contract for Jimbo.

-Did Jimbo consciously hire average coaches after big 2012 turnover to ensure continuity?

-With Jimbo Fisher always talking about the college football arms race, do you think it's wise of him to consider hiring an analytics person to his support staff this offseason? Think this may help him in areas such as better understanding 4th down math. If so, Bud you'd be a perfect fit for the job. Looking forward to your response and Go Noles!

-Bud and Ingram - great podcast product. Love it - hope you won’t quite on us. Got this q for the next mailbag - obvious question but begs to be asked - why can’t JF not get his freshman QB ready to play? Week in and out we see teams with True Fr. (i.e. VT) and showing out. Why the hell is JF trying to boil the damn ocean? Bigger question- Why do we even have a kid whose been on campus less than 5 mos playing? When will JJ “where’s the beer at” going to free up roster spot? And At this point is JF just really playing not to get blown out in every game remaining? As opposed to actually trying to game plan to win?

-A little podcast overlap here. A question for y'all inspired partly by something they discussed recently on PAPN. Anyway. Godfrey recently noted (and I've heard it before) that every AD -- every single one -- has a short list for HC if it came to that. So who do you think would be on Wilcox's? I know things change. I know Jimbo is not likely to leave, all things being equal. I know there could be candidates who wouldn't be foreseeable. But just, right now, who would you think would be on that list he has in his back pocket? Neal Brown? Scott Frost? Fedora (I know, but before this year it wouldn't have seemed ridiculous)? Kiffin?

-I’ve followed FSU closely since ~ 07 and have been a listener of your podcast since 2014 and look forward to each one every week. I have a few questions after watching the BC game. Will Jimbo ever adopt an up-tempo offense? It seems that his offense operates better at a faster, no-huddle pace. I know it’s a small sample size but his 2 minute offense (no-huddle) before the half has gotten points up for them quite a bit. How does he not see that his slow offense isn't working? Will he ever run the QB more? This is embarrassing to watch. Especially when he takes all this pride in calling his own plays. He needs to take a look at some spread offenses like Clemson or even an OK State type of offense and incorporate that into his scheme. It would show the talent gap against most opponents and wouldn’t be as complex as his current system so we could get 4 & 5 star receivers on the field before their junior year. Do you think he’ll bring in a better “co-coordinator” that would incorporate these changes or do you think he FSU won’t have a spread offense under Jimbo? Love your podcast and gave it 5 stars on iTunes. Keep up the good work guys.

-Went to our first game of the season this weekend in Tally. Just wanted to say thank you to our sponsors at MadSo/Township for helping my friends and I forget the sorry excuse of a coaching staff we have in Tallahassee for one night. -- Via Stephen Cline

-Hi guys- Great job on everything you do in covering FSU. You always give it to us straight, which is appreciated. My question (several questions) is….do you think that Jimbo will potentially hire a DC who is LB oriented, or will he be more likely to stay with what he has historically done and pursue a DC who is a secondary coach? Also do you think the extra coaching slot will be used for the offensive side of the ball, or defensive side? Would it be prudent to hire a DC who is just a DC and have actual position coaches specific for each level of the defense?

-If FSU does not make a bowl game, would Fisher be able to begin the fire/hire process sooner? And if so, is that an advantage?

-Just watching the mindset that Georgia's defense plays and how every player on defense wants to destroy anything that moves. When FSU hires a new DC is that something that a new defensive coordinator could bring? Or is Jimbos message and system/process is what yields the teams mindset?

-Love the show - I listen to every episode. Also, I’ve made everyone I know buy Louisiana Hot Sauce. My question is for Bud. Bud - On November 26, 2012, you wrote the following article. Jimbo planned to hand off play calling duties as part of a 5-year plan. Jimbo went on to say he had a 10-year plan. Any thoughts on how this is going? Has anyone mentioned anything about handing off play calling duties in the future? 2017-2012 = 5 years. Thanks again and keep up the great work guys!

-Having 9 assistants in college football, and Jimbo being a hands on offensive guy, it's never made sense to me that he's structured the coaching staff with 5 offensive assistants, and 4 defensive assistants. With changing multiple coaches seeming likely, wouldn't it make more sense to go with 4 offensive assistants and 5 defensive?

-Also assuming Patrick returns for his Sr. year and Cam Ackers more than likely being the feature back moving forward how confident do you all feel about Laborn/and White both sticking around when touches will be minimal going off the history of Jimbo and how he distributes carries?

-I'm growing addicted to the podcasts, in spite of the terrible team results. If SharkMac gets canned, and Jimbo could replace any of our staff with any of the current UF staff, would any Gator coach be an automatic upgrade? If so, how likely would it be for Jimbo to actually pursue these folks?