Retro
June 6th, 2005, 11:00 AM
I ran across this from the ESPN insider page.....
Division of Assets
One of the questions I seem to get a lot, although nowhere near as often as "How come we can't have a playoff?" or "What's up with all the fat cracks, did Mangino cut you off in some media buffet line?" or "Are you related to Pete Carroll?" is, can we get a little more coverage of Division I-AA? The answer is yes, well kinda.
In following up on Friday's lede item about whether to drop down to the I-AA level or not in regards to former South Carolina RB Demetris Summers, we are focusing Monday's effort on Hofstra, a school that loads up on former 1-A guys.
Led by one-time Oregon State QB Anton Clarkson, the son of southern California QB guru Steve Clarkson, Hofstra has a high-octane run n' shoot-style passing game. However this offseason Hofstra has implemented a tight end into the offense. The reason? To accommodate transfer Brandon Sebald, a 6-6, 250-pound senior, who grew up about 90 minutes north of Hofstra in Ulster County, N.Y. (It's not exactly a football hotbed, although we do claim comic Jimmy Fallon as one of our own, and yes, I am from there as well.)
Sebald's decision to transfer to a I-AA school is the flip side of the Summers deal. A former all-everything tight end recruit, Sebald spent four years at Miami and won a national title ring, but he was primarily a blocking tight end. In fact, Sebald was such a force at the point of attack, UM turned him to last year when injuries ravaged its O-line and played him as a waaaay undersized OT. Sebald did his part, but really couldn't see himself trying to pack on 40 lbs, so instead he opted to transfer to 1-AA Hofstra, where his younger brother Chris is a starting linebacker.
"In the end it just came down to my future," Sebald said. "I want to play in the league and bouncing around between TE and tackle wasn't gonna cut it. I know I just need to get out there and play, and that's why I started playing this game anyway, for the fun, and I wasn't having too much sitting on the sideline playing some days and not others."
Sebald, who is rooming with former Penn State O-lineman Tom McHugh, says because he is having a lot of fun the move is already paying off. Plus being closer to his family helps also. Of course, it is an adjustment going from training in 80-degree weather to walking outside and seeing a foot-and-a-half of snow.
We found a good website that focuses on I-AA football (showingblitz.com)and had a list of many of the "drop downs." Among the names that got our attention here: former Wake/Arkansas WR Carlos Ousley (Alabama State); Florida QB Justin Midgett (E. Illinois); speedy Miami CB Tra Bain (Hampton); Michigan RB Pierre Rembert (Illinois St.); Nebraska RB David Horne (N. Iowa); Arizona QB Nic Costa (Portland State); and Miss. State LB Marvin Byrdsong (NW State).
Division of Assets
One of the questions I seem to get a lot, although nowhere near as often as "How come we can't have a playoff?" or "What's up with all the fat cracks, did Mangino cut you off in some media buffet line?" or "Are you related to Pete Carroll?" is, can we get a little more coverage of Division I-AA? The answer is yes, well kinda.
In following up on Friday's lede item about whether to drop down to the I-AA level or not in regards to former South Carolina RB Demetris Summers, we are focusing Monday's effort on Hofstra, a school that loads up on former 1-A guys.
Led by one-time Oregon State QB Anton Clarkson, the son of southern California QB guru Steve Clarkson, Hofstra has a high-octane run n' shoot-style passing game. However this offseason Hofstra has implemented a tight end into the offense. The reason? To accommodate transfer Brandon Sebald, a 6-6, 250-pound senior, who grew up about 90 minutes north of Hofstra in Ulster County, N.Y. (It's not exactly a football hotbed, although we do claim comic Jimmy Fallon as one of our own, and yes, I am from there as well.)
Sebald's decision to transfer to a I-AA school is the flip side of the Summers deal. A former all-everything tight end recruit, Sebald spent four years at Miami and won a national title ring, but he was primarily a blocking tight end. In fact, Sebald was such a force at the point of attack, UM turned him to last year when injuries ravaged its O-line and played him as a waaaay undersized OT. Sebald did his part, but really couldn't see himself trying to pack on 40 lbs, so instead he opted to transfer to 1-AA Hofstra, where his younger brother Chris is a starting linebacker.
"In the end it just came down to my future," Sebald said. "I want to play in the league and bouncing around between TE and tackle wasn't gonna cut it. I know I just need to get out there and play, and that's why I started playing this game anyway, for the fun, and I wasn't having too much sitting on the sideline playing some days and not others."
Sebald, who is rooming with former Penn State O-lineman Tom McHugh, says because he is having a lot of fun the move is already paying off. Plus being closer to his family helps also. Of course, it is an adjustment going from training in 80-degree weather to walking outside and seeing a foot-and-a-half of snow.
We found a good website that focuses on I-AA football (showingblitz.com)and had a list of many of the "drop downs." Among the names that got our attention here: former Wake/Arkansas WR Carlos Ousley (Alabama State); Florida QB Justin Midgett (E. Illinois); speedy Miami CB Tra Bain (Hampton); Michigan RB Pierre Rembert (Illinois St.); Nebraska RB David Horne (N. Iowa); Arizona QB Nic Costa (Portland State); and Miss. State LB Marvin Byrdsong (NW State).