I have a few notes on Sean Clifford, Ohio State, and Devin Leary.
I don’t post often, but I’ve mentioned before that I’m a high school basketball coach in Cincinnati. Last year two of my players, one is a Nebraska signee and the other is an Iowa State signee happen to be best friends with Sean. They tell me his shoulder is doing great and he is throwing just fine now. He posted a video a few weeks ago where he was throwing and his throw was right on target. I would imagine he will still be eased into things and given a lot of rest, but it should be a great year to redshirt for him to get completely healthy and build strength. One thing I did want to mention is for those that have not watched him play or have the impression that he is slow and only a pro-style passer like he is labeled on Rivals, that is incorrect. Sean is a great athlete. He missed 5 games during his senior year and missed a few series in others. St. X lost Bockhorst, a Clemson signee before they year and had a mediocre line at best. Sean took a lot of hits this season. However, he still rushed for 560 yards and 12 TD’s and led his team to a D1 State Championship. He can definitely pull the ball down and run and is every bit as fast as Trace. He missed the first game of the playoffs and then rushed for 87 yards against Colerain and a TD, rushed for 171 yards and 2 TD’s against Sycamore and then 102 yards and 2 TD’s against Pickerington Central. We don’t need to be concerned that he’s just a pro-style QB; he fits the RPO offense just fine.
All the talk in Cincinnati right now regarding Aeneas Hawkins is that he is heading to UC. I know Ryan may have more details and actual conversations with him. However, the talk is he can’t commit to OSU, but would love to. This is also information relayed from what my guys tell me.
A few tidbits on OSU and a few of the targets that we are also pursuing. My father-in law is very close with a few of the Ohio State Recruiting gurus. I happened to spend the weekend with him and left with a few interesting tidbits. With the commitment of Master Teague tonight to the Bucks, they only have 12 remaining scholarships. Ohio State is still in the mix with several top guys and targets. Now obviously recruiting can change quickly and guys commit and de-commit all the time, and we know how quickly the domino effect can happen. However, he mentioned that Juice Scruggs would not be a take for OSU unless they miss on 2-3 offensive line targets. He also said that Jayson Oweh fell in love with OSU and Larry Johnson. Now this could be because he just left his visit, however they are a major player. However, he doesn’t see any way that they will take Tyreke Smith, Oweh, Tyler Friday and Parsons if he commits to OSU. There are a lot of moving parts right now with the last 12 scholarships and OSU initially was only planning on taking 2 WR’s and now they are considering 3 and possibly 4. All of these numbers continue to effect and possibly help Penn State get a few of the guys that we really want and ultimately can’t commit to Ohio State. The OSU guys also are not penciling in Parsons just yet, they thought initially he was all OSU, but they now believe it could go either way with OSU just a slight lead, whereas they felt when he decommited it was a given to OSU.
My last tidbit on Devin Leary, this is pure speculation and what I noticed last year with the recruiting of my guys. I know yesterday we found out that Jace Ruder was given a scholarship to fill our void after Fields de-committed. I would not be surprised at all if Leary now has a committable offer. Obviously, Ryan would be the one that knows for fact and some of the other PSU guys, but last year even after both of my guys were committed, coaches were constantly coming through and offering scholarships. Some coaches wanted them to put the offers out on social media and some did not. Knowing Franklin did not give Leary an offer last year in his office when he did to Fields and Patterson. I could see him telling Leary that he has an offer but he wants him to visit to mend the wounds of him not getting his offer in his office last year and then giving him that committable offer in his office. Several committed guys, players and basically the entire staff are following him on twitter. Just from my experience last year, this only happens when guys are trying hard to flip someone quietly, but anyone can see if you just look. I know it’s just social media but if you look at Ruder’s Twitter and look at Leary’s and see who is following them I would say we have offered Leary and he is our top guy after Fields, to me that shows something, but I could be wrong.
Coach Brown
I don’t post often, but I’ve mentioned before that I’m a high school basketball coach in Cincinnati. Last year two of my players, one is a Nebraska signee and the other is an Iowa State signee happen to be best friends with Sean. They tell me his shoulder is doing great and he is throwing just fine now. He posted a video a few weeks ago where he was throwing and his throw was right on target. I would imagine he will still be eased into things and given a lot of rest, but it should be a great year to redshirt for him to get completely healthy and build strength. One thing I did want to mention is for those that have not watched him play or have the impression that he is slow and only a pro-style passer like he is labeled on Rivals, that is incorrect. Sean is a great athlete. He missed 5 games during his senior year and missed a few series in others. St. X lost Bockhorst, a Clemson signee before they year and had a mediocre line at best. Sean took a lot of hits this season. However, he still rushed for 560 yards and 12 TD’s and led his team to a D1 State Championship. He can definitely pull the ball down and run and is every bit as fast as Trace. He missed the first game of the playoffs and then rushed for 87 yards against Colerain and a TD, rushed for 171 yards and 2 TD’s against Sycamore and then 102 yards and 2 TD’s against Pickerington Central. We don’t need to be concerned that he’s just a pro-style QB; he fits the RPO offense just fine.
All the talk in Cincinnati right now regarding Aeneas Hawkins is that he is heading to UC. I know Ryan may have more details and actual conversations with him. However, the talk is he can’t commit to OSU, but would love to. This is also information relayed from what my guys tell me.
A few tidbits on OSU and a few of the targets that we are also pursuing. My father-in law is very close with a few of the Ohio State Recruiting gurus. I happened to spend the weekend with him and left with a few interesting tidbits. With the commitment of Master Teague tonight to the Bucks, they only have 12 remaining scholarships. Ohio State is still in the mix with several top guys and targets. Now obviously recruiting can change quickly and guys commit and de-commit all the time, and we know how quickly the domino effect can happen. However, he mentioned that Juice Scruggs would not be a take for OSU unless they miss on 2-3 offensive line targets. He also said that Jayson Oweh fell in love with OSU and Larry Johnson. Now this could be because he just left his visit, however they are a major player. However, he doesn’t see any way that they will take Tyreke Smith, Oweh, Tyler Friday and Parsons if he commits to OSU. There are a lot of moving parts right now with the last 12 scholarships and OSU initially was only planning on taking 2 WR’s and now they are considering 3 and possibly 4. All of these numbers continue to effect and possibly help Penn State get a few of the guys that we really want and ultimately can’t commit to Ohio State. The OSU guys also are not penciling in Parsons just yet, they thought initially he was all OSU, but they now believe it could go either way with OSU just a slight lead, whereas they felt when he decommited it was a given to OSU.
My last tidbit on Devin Leary, this is pure speculation and what I noticed last year with the recruiting of my guys. I know yesterday we found out that Jace Ruder was given a scholarship to fill our void after Fields de-committed. I would not be surprised at all if Leary now has a committable offer. Obviously, Ryan would be the one that knows for fact and some of the other PSU guys, but last year even after both of my guys were committed, coaches were constantly coming through and offering scholarships. Some coaches wanted them to put the offers out on social media and some did not. Knowing Franklin did not give Leary an offer last year in his office when he did to Fields and Patterson. I could see him telling Leary that he has an offer but he wants him to visit to mend the wounds of him not getting his offer in his office last year and then giving him that committable offer in his office. Several committed guys, players and basically the entire staff are following him on twitter. Just from my experience last year, this only happens when guys are trying hard to flip someone quietly, but anyone can see if you just look. I know it’s just social media but if you look at Ruder’s Twitter and look at Leary’s and see who is following them I would say we have offered Leary and he is our top guy after Fields, to me that shows something, but I could be wrong.
Coach Brown
