Black Shoe Diaries

Will Fuller

be made into a linebacker?

PSU Mudder - January 13, 2012 reply

Question.

I am under the impression that Ted Rood has not been officially hired by the University yet. I am wondering if it is possibly a violation of some sort to have him texting recruits, or recruits’ coaches, about wanting to discuss a spot for him at PSU?

Also,

has Fuller been scheduled for this visit the whole time? Or is that a BOB addition?

I think they're all official now.

The official list from the University did not

have Roof on it. And the release said the rest would be published by the University when they were officially hired (they used some qualifier like “through our technical and official employment measures”).

Hes sending recruits texts... So I would assume he is hired.

My only point is,

I certainly hope so, but the University release indicated that he is not “official”.

Probably just a small oversight on their part

they have a reputation for being open and honest.

FB6244 - January 13, 2012 reply

They do.

I know because they told me so.

While not in the original press release, Roof being hired is official per this PSU release.

Laaaaazzz - January 15, 2012 reply

It would be very encouraging to at least get a serious look from some recruits from other parts of the country

Given the situation, that alone might portend good things for future classes, so lets hope th interest from Moore is legit. One of the most exciting things about the new staff is their ties to different areas of the country. I don’t expect us to start getting 5 star recruits from Texas and the South, but casting a wide net certainly can’t hurt (as long as we don’t loose focus on our traditional north-east stomping grounds).

Nittany_Ryan - January 13, 2012 reply

He's an Auburn commit...

But getting some offers and contact in the south is a great initial step for the staff.

Jeff Junstrom - January 13, 2012 via mobile reply

FWIW, Jeff wrote most of this and I added the paragraph at the end.

I also added Lynch and Fuller to the “targets” list.

Jeff’s in New Orleans and likely either drunk, hungover, or incarcerated, but I’m sure he can answer specific stuff when he gets a chance.

He's presently handcuffed

to the bumper of a NOPD cruiser at the corner of Chartres and Ursuline.

No place I'd rather be

OctaShields - January 13, 2012 reply

Those options dont have to be mutually exclusive, you know

he could easily get 2 out of 3.

skarocksoi - January 13, 2012 reply

If he isn't he can count this

trip as a colassal FAILure.

add pregnant to the list as well

skarocksoi - January 13, 2012 reply

Casino hit me hard.

Bourbon Street is a whole different world…

Jeff Junstrom - January 13, 2012 via mobile reply

Bourbon Street is worth one depraved night, maybe two

after that you have to go out on Frenchman, or to some other place that is having an event (Vaughan’s or the Maple Leaf or whatever) because Bourbon will kill you and give you very little of the true cultural experience in doing so.

OctaShields - January 13, 2012 reply

I'm not sure how much wandering we'll do.

But it is a whole new experience down here.

Jeff Junstrom - January 13, 2012 via mobile reply

Cue "Aladdin" soundtrack in 3... 2...

psuwxman - January 13, 2012 reply

Late night sliders

at that place at the end of Bourbon – Checkers, I think – are a great way to prime your body for the next day’s debauchery.

SarcasmJam - January 13, 2012 reply

Krystal's.

We hit that hard last night.

Jeff Junstrom - January 13, 2012 via mobile reply

NOLA Recommendations

from a penn stater living in NOLA.

if you find yourself on Bourbon again tonight, check out Erin Rose. it’s a little bar about a half block north of Bourbon on Conti (on right side of street0. always a good time and usually a mix of locals and visitors imbibing.

or, checkout Frenchmen Street (in Marigny at other end of the Quarter from Canal). Should be decent show at d.b.a. or Spotted Cat.

fixnola - January 13, 2012 reply

Another Penn stater living in NOLA

just moved down here 6 mo ago. Really like the bars near Tipitina’s uptown. Frenchmen is great too- was there the friday before Halloween…wow

WPIALkid22 - January 13, 2012 reply

Tip's is a lot of fun before parades.

Several krewes stage on Tchopitoulas with the parade beginning as you make the turn on to Napoleon. I used to ride Orpheus (last year’s parade was it for me) and hanging around up there waiting to roll was as much fun as the parade itself. There are also some cool pockets of activity on Magazine St. between Napoleon and Jackson Ave..

SubLime - January 14, 2012 reply

1 year down in NOLA

SubLime, what time do you usually get to Tip’s before the parade. I know the parades are mostly in the evenings, but don’t know when they start

WPIALkid22 - January 21, 2012 reply

GROSS

Lucky Dogs from the street vendor are better.

\hates soggy little burgers

Go to Cooter Brown's during a football game

Saint’s play Saturday, should be a good environment. Get the $5 Purple haze pint and you wouldn’t be disappointed

WPIALkid22 - January 13, 2012 reply

Abita

Purple Haze, Amber, and Strawberry Harvest are three of my favorite brews. The IPA is also great for using as a base in cooking. Took me months to get anyone to carry that stuff up in the NE.

Abita is an excellent brewery. Have the Purple Haze on tap here in Pa all the time.

BMAN13 - January 14, 2012 reply

where is here...thats a bar i could get down with.

Wow . . .

Abita has made it all the way to PA? When I got here (1990) there were only four varieties of Abita: Amber, Golden, Wheat, and Turbo Dog (basically a malt liquor). They were all sold in crude cardboard boxes and only available in BR, NO, and the Florida Parishes — one was out of luck even in Lafayette.

SubLime - January 14, 2012 reply

Turbo Dog

I forgot all about Turbo Dog. Went to NO on a motorcycle trip two years ago and got all messed up drinking 4 dollar Ambers with the occasional Turbo Dog mixed in. Apparently, our decision making skills suffered, because we somehow decided that a visit to the absynthe bar was a good idea. Worst. Alcohol. Ever. I’ve had moonshine that tasted better.

http://www.good-ta-go.com/brews/on-tap/

check my link below, for what is on tap at my local place. Nice selection

BMAN13 - January 14, 2012 reply

Beergasm.

I get to the burg every now and again. Definitely going to have to check it out.

If you want to get a meal like the "everyday" New Orleaneans eat,

you’ll find Fiorella’s down in the lower Quarter at Governor Nicholls and Decatur.

Esteban d' Amur - January 13, 2012 reply

If he isn't 2 out of the 3...

he’s doing it wrong.

before we had JoePa name

Now we have a coach that will be going out and seeing players and meeting with them. Not sure what is better? Guess only time will tell over the next few years. It should be fun to watch and see what BO’B can do.

jetskijoe - January 13, 2012 reply

I know Cam has gotten an offer from OSU

has Armani gotten one yet? If you look at any of the OSU blogs, they are pretty sure those kids are done deal and I know they said Reeves and Williams aren’t necessarily a package deal, but I’ll believe it when I see it. How many recruits is OSU giving scholarships to this year? hate those guys.

Dr.TobiasFunke - January 13, 2012 reply

PSU fans may be delusional...

but OSU fans also suffer from the same problem.

If their arrogance about recruits was generally intolerable before, add a very sought after coach to the mix. They legitimately think Urban can use PSU’s recruit list as a shopping list and say, “Hey, you, come to Ohio State.”

I don’t think it’s going to be quite that easy.

Having a new coach trying to recruit his own talent probably makes it more likely some young guys will see the field over some current players. Now, I won’t say that’s necessarily nice/fair to the current kids, but for a recruit that probably means more playing time earlier… and PSU still pulls a huge TV audience.

BNittsDeMilo - January 13, 2012 reply

Some fans think that

But Meyer gives us more of a shot at those guys than Tressel. Meyer and Tressel recruit in wholly different manners, and we’re just getting used to Meyer. If a guy was not really interested in OSU, Tressel would wish him well and move on. If Meyer wants a kid, he won’t take no for an answer and until the kid has faxed his LOI to another school.

Are some fans arrogant about it? Sure, I’ll give you that. But for most of us, I look at it as getting used to watching Meyer work. We remembered how he would close at Florida, and they would always get 5 or 6 guys that were 4 or 5 star guys, something Tressel had a hard time doing by comparison.

So we’re just excited to see how he closes.

Ted Glover - January 13, 2012 reply

But Ted,

you are a sane Buckeye.

SubLime - January 14, 2012 reply

You haven't seen me on Saturdays

I try and throttle it back when I’m out in public. And I very much try and not be ‘that guy’ when I’m a guest in someone else’s house…or posting on their blog.

Except Michigan and Notre Dame. Fuck them, amirite?

Ted Glover - January 14, 2012 reply

Armani got his OSU offer.

Some think that Cox cancelling his OSU visit to come to PSU is an indication that Meyer is targeting Reeves only. OSU will likely take one more DB, so it may be they’re putting the full court press on Reeves.

Jeff Junstrom - January 13, 2012 via mobile reply

Isn't there a UMD kid looking to transfer?

I thought I read that a kid who had PSU in his finals a few years ago wants to transfer out of UMD and is considering PSU.

Not sure if that’s happening or not.

Artiefufkin10 - January 13, 2012 reply

Forget the name

but if is same kid I am thinking of, he picked Florida originally

psupride - January 13, 2012 reply

Adrian Coxson

the traveling WR.

PSU_Buch - January 13, 2012 reply

Unite the dynamic WR duo of

Coxson/ Kuntz!!

And if Cox ends up at Penn State, he's a DB so...

…in practice Cox will be covering Kuntz

/Junior High kids everywhere snicker

danpsu97 - January 13, 2012 via iPhone app reply

Where does Cox go when Kuntz is spread wide and Tongue is in the slot?

BMAN13 - January 13, 2012 reply

I see a gigantic nuclear sized

hot flash melting Beaver Stadium into slag if this ever happens.

you forgot Tariq Tongue

I prefer to think of Tongue

as a “specialist”.

I heard he was in the doghouse and was constantly doing laps

BMAN13 - January 14, 2012 reply

Thats him.

Is he serious about coming back?
How much eligibility does he have?
Would the Bobsled even want him?

Artiefufkin10 - January 13, 2012 reply

Does Not Want.

He’ll be on his third (?) transfer after initially being a PSU commit. Word was that they parted ways when Coxson wavered on his commitment and started negatively recruiting against PSU. Pass.

Jeff Junstrom - January 13, 2012 via mobile reply

As much as I HATE the manner in which shit has gone down for the program,

this really is exciting.

Tebow vs. Bradyst

is going to generate enormous national interest, some think it may end up as the highest rated non-Super Bowl playoff game. Maybe getting all these kids together for a party to watch their (we hope) future head coach on the sidelines of such a nationally hyped contest will get them excited about an opportunity to play for a guy with that experience.

PSU_Buch - January 13, 2012 reply

The regular season

matchup, to my memory, was the highest rated of the season.

Very much this.

A great tactic from the staff

would be to get O’Brien on speaker phone right after the game, talking to recruits from the Pats’ locker room.

PSU_Buch - January 13, 2012 reply

How illegal would it be for Bill Belichick to meet with Williams after the game?

If Williams was at said game?

Haha, depends on a lot of factors right?

How did Williams get to the game? How did he get tickets? Where did he watch from? How to him and BB come across each other? What did they talk about when they “met”?

I'm sure it would be random.

That Belichick would happen to run upon Williams, who got the tickets off of stub hub of course, and then after giving Williams an autograph (HEY HES A FAN AND BELICHICK IS A NICE GU… NI.. NICE GUY!) and somehow mentioned that playing for BOB would be a great way to showcase to the New England Patriots that he was New England Patriots material.

So yeah uhh… nothing fishy or anything. ;D

Sounds mostly above board.

I will hope for one small tweak. Maybe instead saying that playing for coaches that were most recently on his staff would be the best way to showcase his talents to pro scouts. (hey, he could be talking about any coach and any team right?)

Yup. Call BOB.

And Williams can send Reeves a picture on his cel phone of him and BB shaking hands saying “Bet I’m having a better time than you are right now”.

God Its weird to cheer for Bill Belichick.

It feels… strange and wrong.

Should we now be cheering for Bill Belichick and the Patriots so that BOB gets a super bowl on his resume? Or should we root against them so BOB can fully focus on PSU? Which would be a bigger boon to recruiting?

P. Incaviglia - January 13, 2012 reply

Wait,

I just read the other thread. I thought Williams was headed to Michigan this weekend? Where did you read he’s going to the game? I’m totally going to look for him.

Esteban d' Amur - January 13, 2012 reply

Reeves is at Michigan this weekend.

It was a (hopeful) rumor that Williams might be at the New England game.

The Heel - January 14, 2012 reply

If his dad played for the Pats...

can’t he just be a guest of Robert Kraft who gives him access to the locker room and such?

isn

FAIL

I give up

Pete the Streak - January 13, 2012 reply

I like the way you think!

question

are the kids in the target column officially visiting? Or are they just targets

BillyGoats_DC - January 13, 2012 reply

Cox is. They're working on the others.

Are the guys who jumped ship

after the November debacle completely lost or has there been any splashes of re-interest?

Let's see.

Holtz is down to three schools, none of which are PSU. They might be trying to get in O’Connor’s ear, but I don’t know how effective it’ll be. I don’t believe Schutt has given any indication of going back on his Ohio State choice.

They're all out.

O’Connor is down to OSU and others, Holtz looking at Pitt, and Schutt obviously with OSU. Also don’t see Spence wavering at all.

Jeff Junstrom - January 13, 2012 via mobile reply

Holtz really disappoints me.

He was really gung-ho PSU when he committed. I don’t blame him for cooling once you know what happened and Joe was canned, but now that there’s a new staff he doesn’t even give PSU a shot? Just doesn’t sit well with me. If you were super pro-PSU at one time, why wouldn’t you give them more consideration now?

High school kids are fickle

It could be as little as kids at school making fun of PSU about the Sandusky thing.

PSUCharmas - January 13, 2012 reply

Yeah, I get that but...

This kid seemed to be different and really pro-Penn State. And he goes to the same school as Geno Thorpe, the hoops kid who commited to PSU over Pitt and others at the height of the scandal. So if the kids were rough on PSU it didn’t seem to bother Thorpe.

I don’t blame kids for bailing after what happened, but now that it’s stabilized you’d think an as of yet still uncommited kid would at least give PSU a chance, especially seeing as he’s considering Pitt and that’s probably where he’ll end up. Or could it be the new staff has no interest in him??

http://www.columbian.com/weblogs/highschoolsports/2012/jan/12/penn-state-makes-offer-camas-warner/

Oh, and there's this guy. You may have heard of his dad.

Yeah, I think his dad and uncle run studios in Hollywood, right??

Establishing a recruiting pipeline

into the Columbia River Gorge region, I see. :o)

Yeah, his dad is one of my all time favorites.

CvilleLion - January 13, 2012 reply

Love this

I hope father/son tradition lives on, even with Joe gone.

DEVIN FULLER PLZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Also, Akeel Lynch would be a huge pickup. I mean, him being a good Buffalo boy and all.

Another true freshman QB? Could it happen?

Although, it's not a foregone conclusion that Fuller would play QB

Considering our situation, however, I’d bet that if he ended up coming to PSU (A massive if at this point), he’d play QB.

Devin Fuller

Seriously the tape I have seen of this guy looks like the next Michael Vick

ReddWhitenBlue - January 13, 2012 reply

why was he at a puppy mill?

PSU Jen - January 14, 2012 via iPhone app reply

I loled

ReddWhitenBlue - January 14, 2012 reply

Off topic.... but just saw on Twitter that Godsey was NOT offered a coaching positions?

And the question was asked if Whipple or Friedgen are back in play? Anyone heard anything?

WHIPPLE NOOOOOOOOOOOO

how is he different than godsey?

I wasn't a real huge fan of his work at Miami.

Or with Cleveland

GMac14 - January 13, 2012 reply

And have you SEEN Godsey's haircut?

don't think so.... is the the rob courdrey look-alike?

---

What is wrong with Whipple?

psuwxman - January 13, 2012 reply

Doesn't he squeeze the Charmin?

He does indeed.

Huge hypocrit – tells others not to, then he does it. Thus he’s not PSU material.

Clearly an OSU guy.

Is there any chance that Noah Spence could waiver on his decision on OSU?

Or is he pretty much set and no longer looking?

GMac14 - January 13, 2012 reply

That train's probably left the station

But I mean, nothing’s official until he puts his name on the NLI.

And new regime aside...

When was the last time PSU actually stole a commit from another school? Seems the opposite happens much more frequently.

Swiggs - January 13, 2012 reply

We stole Kline from Pitt like 12 months ago

I don’t think the old coaching staff tried to poach other team’s commits. But if a player started to waiver and contacted them, they would roll with it if they liked the player. Other programs never back off, whether the kid has committed elsewhere or not, and others undergo regime changes and re-open all recruiting. It looks like us and Ohio State are in the same boat with that this offseason.

OctaShields - January 13, 2012 reply

I dont think we really stole Kline

He wasnt considering PSU until Wannstache was fired

jrock4 - January 13, 2012 reply

Yea, i wouldnt say we stole Kline or Belton.

At least no more than OSU “stole” Schutt. Kline and Belt on signed with PSU after Pitt imploded last year.

Jeff Junstrom - January 13, 2012 via mobile reply

Anthony Morelli and Pat Devlin

come to mind. They worked out well.

Pete the Streak - January 13, 2012 reply

Gaak!

Antonio Logan-El??

Never (publicly) committed to UMD. I don’t know the full story, but it always seemed like he told coaches at both PSU and UMD that he was verballed to them so when he announced for PSU, the Maryland folks were really pissed.

Laaaaazzz - January 15, 2012 reply

i keep hopin'

Off topic link if you need a break from recruiting worries and want to have a laugh about pre-season rankings

Ranked 6th

Dr.TobiasFunke - January 13, 2012 reply

Really?

Bow down to Urban.

Swiggs - January 13, 2012 reply

The "Urban Meyer Effect"?

I definitely see an improvement coming, but does anyone expect them to be back to elite status in just a season? Feels more like someone buying into Meyer as miracle worker.

smh244 - January 13, 2012 reply

PSU wasn't ranked

In Pre-Snap Reads way-too-early 2012 top 50 rankings. Not sure I disagree with Paul at this point, but hopefully he (and I) is wrong.

Jeff Junstrom - January 13, 2012 via mobile reply

I can't decide if I would rather have

OSU go 6-7 again, watch the fans flip shit or have them go 10-2 and not be able to play in the B1G title game or any bowl games.

Dr.TobiasFunke - January 13, 2012 reply

10-2 with a one of the two losses being a routing by PSU

Hell, 11-1

It’s a huge win for PSU and they can’t play in any important games. Total and complete win.

kijana's acl - January 13, 2012 reply

Gonna be interesting.........

to see what recruiting looks like with a staff that has contacts outside fo the NE. Especially if Roof comes/is on board.

ech2os - January 13, 2012 reply

Sure will be.... Georgia, Texas, and Florida are in play now

Dont forget London

He has ties to the Carolinas… And other staffers have ties to Eastern PA, Central, OH, all of NJ now… Should do a lot better with classes now, starting with 2013

rmj147 - January 13, 2012 reply

so we can get faster players from the essseeeeecceeeee?

Here is my theory......

Our fast guys didn’t grow up playing football against teams with loads of speed. We haven’t had a Percy Harvin, Julio Jones, Etc. Etc on the team in my adult lifetime. We have some guys that can run, but they don’t play fast or quick. I see this a lot in our secondary on tippped balls. You can see a db coming in to make a play and it’s almost like they are so concerned with making the tackle that they aren’t able to play the ball like a lot of the guys I see in the sec. It’s like the tipped ball surprises them or they don’t even see it as a play. To me that is simply a matter of not having the game slowed down for you. For example….in 2007 Lakeland Florida High School had 7 kids from that senior class ranked in the top 75 in the state and at least 10 kids sign big time D1 schollies from the same class!!! Not just the same team. That’s a lot of talent and speed to spend your life practicing against before you ever get to campus. I believe we have guys with speed, but we need guys that play fast because they have spent their entire high school career playing against kids that are just as fast on a regular basis.

ech2os - January 13, 2012 reply

Derrick Williams was that kind of player

BEFORE he broke his leg.

After he didnt have the same burst. He just was never the same again. Freshmen year Williams was EXACTLY a Percy Harvin type of player.

The Heel - January 14, 2012 reply

I could be wrong.......

but I don’t recall DW ever breaking a leg. I thought he broke a forearm.

We’ll have to agree to disagree on this one. I watched every televised game Harvin and Williams ever played and I don’t think anyone would mistake Derrick Williams for Percy Harvin. Percy Harvin was a man amongst boys. Harvin scored 17 TDs his Junior year, Williams never scored 17 his entire 4 year career.

ech2os - January 14, 2012 reply

Correction......

Williams score 17 in 4 years.

ech2os - January 14, 2012 reply

You're totally correct it was his arm.

For some reason I thought it was his leg.

It never seemed like he was the same player to me after the injury in his freshman year. That freshman year to me is summed up by his TD run against Ohio State that brought us back into the national picture.

Yeah so, sorry. Maybe because he never seemed the same after that, over time I thought it was a leg injury.

The Heel - January 15, 2012 reply

Oh I hear ya.......I agree......

I love Derrick Williams for a lot of reasons. Great sport, fun to watch, number one recruit in the country, great representative for PSU. All that good stuff.

ech2os - January 16, 2012 reply

Good thing I didnt have to remember a ten minute conversation ten years ago.

The Heel - January 16, 2012 reply

lmao.........

no shit either. Classic.

ech2os - January 16, 2012 reply

One more thing.....

I thought it was interesting to see a headline the other day about Purdue having 6 football players that were going to run track this spring. Turns out of the six, one kid was from Indiana, one from Georgia, and the other 4 are from Florida.

ech2os - January 13, 2012 reply

Feelings w/ regards to recruiting: cautiously optimistic

While I like casting a wide net and aggressively pursuing top talent from a stars perspective, I do hope that we continue to consider the character of a kid. While I would love having a top 5 recruiting class as much as the next fan, I don’t want to win the Fulmer Cup either. Getting intelligent, coachable kids is important, IMO.

06Lion - January 13, 2012 reply

Why does the weather always have to be at its worst during these "big visit" weekends??

its not so bad here right now.

Not to be creepy but...

Where are you that it’s not bad?

rmj147 - January 13, 2012 reply

State College.

Really?

I’m surprised. It’s awful here in W. Pa. – 19 with a wind chill about 6. Blustery…snow blowing all over. Then again I took two different walks today to run some errands instead of driving, each one about a mile.

I'll probably kill for 6 tomorrow

Low where I am is forecasted to be -22 F

Nittany_Ryan - January 13, 2012 reply

yeah I know...

out here its rumored to be going down to 58 tonight…. bone chilling…

jaytay13 - January 13, 2012 reply

You're in Edmonton?

I don't mind cold temperatures if there's no wind.

I’ll take 0 and calm over 35 and windy any day.

Just a week or so ago I was plowing and shoveling snow all over the neighborhood. Never noticed any cold the whole time. I was about 5 blocks away when I finished and on my ride home (on my atv) my ears got so cold they actually ached. I mentioned it to my wife when I got inside and that’s when she informed me that it was 9 degrees outside. No wonder my ears were so cold when you figure the wind chill from riding on the quad.

its 25 at PSU right now.

not good, but not too terribly bad.