El-Jefe said:

What did he do that was worse than some of the stuff Carter has done?

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Exactly. Sometimes the pearl clutching gets a little silly.

ryoder1 said:

How mobile is Sayin? As mobile as Howard?

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He is reasonably mobile but not nearly as strong.

Ok, I'll volunteer my services to be a Stagehand. Recently worked on Pat McAfee for the FX crew and Kelsea Ballerini working Electrics Department.

I just don't want the Carps Department. McAfee was on the stage until 12:05 am and used the WWE Roadies so it went smooth but with so much stuff we didn't finish until 4:15 am. That is way past some of these Rockers bed time.

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Nbergbuck said:

Today was OSU's spring game. Sayin played very well. Surprised if Sayin does not start.

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How mobile is Sayin? As mobile as Howard?

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El-Jefe said:

2027 looks paper thin at HWT. The best candidates are probably borderline top 50 in the class. There is no Ross, Bechtold, Mocco, or Merrill in 2027.

The names that stick out to me at all:
- Lukas Zalota (Malvern Prep/Aston) -- NP-6 in 2024, had a good 2025 but missed the postseason with injury. 4th at Ironman after losing in Round 2, 5th at Beast, 2nd at Powerade. If he wrestled PIAA, he would've been S2 behind Bechtold.
- Cael Mielnik (Blair/Maryland) -- he's on Dice's spreadsheet, but did not have a good 2025 (maybe injured?). (Also, maybe he's a college 197?)
- Danny Zmorowski (Ohio) -- state champ, Fargo Greco finalist.
- Roman Thompson (Pittsburgh Central Catholic) -- PA AAA 215 S3. Hopefully Franklin gets him. No wrestling coach will.

FWIW I like Zalota, but he seems to be at the level of someone too good to not start somewhere else.

My guess is that Cael sniffs around 2027 a little, but saves his ammo for 2028 with Kendahl Hoare and Decker Bechtold both in that class, plus whoever emerges nationally.

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Great info, thank you.

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JOESTROSSER said:

Any insights on 2027 285s? Its early, but as Cael indicated he's years ahead of what going on now.

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2027 looks paper thin at HWT. The best candidates are probably borderline top 50 in the class. There is no Ross, Bechtold, Mocco, or Merrill in 2027.

The names that stick out to me at all:
- Lukas Zalota (Malvern Prep/Aston) -- NP-6 in 2024, had a good 2025 but missed the postseason with injury. 4th at Ironman after losing in Round 2, 5th at Beast, 2nd at Powerade. If he wrestled PIAA, he would've been S2 behind Bechtold.
- Cael Mielnik (Blair/Maryland) -- he's on Dice's spreadsheet, but did not have a good 2025 (maybe injured?). (Also, maybe he's a college 197?)
- Danny Zmorowski (Ohio) -- state champ, Fargo Greco finalist.
- Roman Thompson (Pittsburgh Central Catholic) -- PA AAA 215 S3. Hopefully Franklin gets him. No wrestling coach will.

FWIW I like Zalota, but he seems to be at the level of someone too good to not start somewhere else.

My guess is that Cael sniffs around 2027 a little, but saves his ammo for 2028 with Kendahl Hoare and Decker Bechtold both in that class, plus whoever emerges nationally.

EDIT: talent-wise there's one more guy who is a higher-end talent, not sure if he'll grow to college HWT ... but he has a major flag. Jimmy Mastny, Illinois state champ as a freshman. BUT: Illinois banned both Mastny and head coach Jordan Blanton for a year, and banned Mastny from ever competing for Marian Central Catholic, because Mastny was caught living with a relative of Blanton.

GregInPitt said:

Didn't this young man sign a contract? We may not know the details of the contract, but I doubt there are buy outs like there are for college coaches so I don't see how player NIL contracts can be compared to college coaching contracts. Colleges put buy outs in college coach contracts and the buy our is weighed against the contract value and the leverage of the coach. Universities know that if they want a big buyout that helps with the retention of the coach they have to pay the coach more money. Maybe this is where the NIL contracts will get to.

I'm not wishing "bad things" for this young man. But I'm not giving him the benefit of the doubt either due to some perceived bad advisce he many have or man not have been given. He's a grown man and had every opportunity to get the advice he wanted, and from the reports his father had a big part in his choosing to leave. His father is also a grown man and they both should realize that to some extent they are playing a game of musical chairs and that there is no guarantee that there will be a better option for them than the one they chose to leave. It sound like his father was trying to tell the UT coaches how to run their team which I also have no respect for. His father seems to have picked an agent that also made some poor choices on behalf of the player and his family. Yes, I am happy that UT wouldn't renegotiate the contract and that UT told the player and his family to move on.

I didn't say anything against the fact that today's players are being compensated, only that for a long time players were actually happy they got to play football and that many were satisfied with the education they received and the shot at the NFL if the were in deed good enough to make it in the NFL.

I don't feel sorry for a player that has already been highly compensated. Was it $2.4 million or something like that? From what he did last season it sounds like he was over compensated already, especially since he seems to have quit on his team. If he doesn't find a better position it may make other players have a little more loyalty to the teams that chose to take a chance on them. But my hope is that via a collective bargaining agreement or some other outcome that the current money grabs settles down to where high school players aren't signing for millions of dollars and that the money is more so going to the players that have proven their level of performance at the college level. Or maybe the NIL collectives will start to put big buyouts clauses in their contracts so that players would really have to have a better option that would be willing to pay the buy out, although that would take multi-year contracts.

He won't be at Slippery Rock, but he might not have it as good as he had it at UT. We'll see.

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I do think Nico has made a very bad decision but not for the reasons you mentioned. The QB is a position of leadership and as a leader the QB has an implied obligation to put the team needs ahead of personal needs. In this respect, I believe Nico has failed a key leadership test.

Head coaches also have an implied obligation to put the team needs ahead of their personal needs. Manny Diaz failed this test when he was head coach at Temple. Diaz disappointed a lot of his Temple players and their parents by focusing on himself ahead of the team. In this respect, Diaz’s action was identical to Nico’s action. Diaz looked out for himself first. It’s not acceptable to defend Diaz’s lame action by using the excuse “it’s different for a coach”. Diaz let his guys down.

If you watched Tennessee this past season, you would have noticed the strength of the team was their defense (due to D-Coordinator and former Penn State assistant coach Tim Banks). Nico was very average at Tennessee with a 70.5 QB rating. So, I believe his alleged contract demand is out of line based on his performance. The free market will be the true test though.

Lastly, do you remember when you were 20 years old? Were you strong enough to tell your Dad to go pound sand and stay out of your life? I don’t know too many 20 years old college students who are strong enough to confront their Father. Apparently, in Nico’s case his Father Nic has a very strong presence and has been the decision maker. So, I think it’s not too much of a stretch to envision a young impressionable young man being submissive to a domineering Father. It happens more often than you may admit.

west2east said:

Penn st went after Ross really hard and hard after Mocco once they lost Ross

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tough to get them all. Cael has a very high hit rate, but the 30 limit will make it slightly more complicated. Sucks for walkons wanting to make the roster.

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CentexLion said:

Got to add Todd Rundgren as well

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chubby checker and Patti labelle

PSUcup1 said:

For the real old crowd we could have Frankie Avalon and Fabian …. 😉

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Got to add Todd Rundgren as well

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LMTLION said:

I likewise do not wish any harm on this young man, and hope he finds what he’s looking for at his next destination, but I am glad that Tennessee did not capitulate to this nonsense. He simply was not deserving of more money from them. Maybe based on his high school star rating he gets those dollars from a desperate West Coast team, and God bless him if he does. But I checked out his individual games statistics and his signature games were against Chattanooga and Vandy. He withered against any type of competition. I find it appalling that he engaged in a holdout. It seems like “Dad” is running the show there based on emotion and/or greed.

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This article talks about the kids handlers making demands on the UT staff regarding bringing in better olinemen from the transfer portal, actually telling UT to spend money that the handlers believe necessary for the success of the kid. Almost sounds like extorsion. Then after UT did make upgrades to the OL the handlers weren't satisfied with what they did. After reading this, if it is true, wouldn't that scare off about any legit top 30 team? And other, lesser teams don't have the money to spend on the kid. He really may be out to lunch and it seems that his dad and attorney/agent are responsible. Maybe the kid could sue them for incompetence. I joke, as the kid is an adult and is responsible for his own signature....

El-Jefe said:

Actually we should have 4 shows:

1. Taylor Swift
2. Wiz Khalifa and Meek Mill
3. Mega show for the middle-aged demographic: Hall & Oates or just Daryl Hall if they're still not talking, Brett Michaels/Poison, Joan Jett, Live, Hooters, Trent Reznor, etc.
4. Comedy show: Shane Gillis (gotta convert him from the leprechauns), Kevin Hart, Anthony Jeselnik, etc. Call it The Roast of James From State College and sell out Beaver Stadium.

Just about everybody can find something to like out of at least 1 of those.

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For the real old crowd we could have Frankie Avalon and Fabian …. 😉