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Clarifying the Football Recruiting Scholarships Situation

As requested by reader JC1, here's a quick breakdown of the football scholarship situation. I may put it up in a board form later today or tomorrow, but this will have to suffice for now.

Like every sport, there's a limit on the number of scholarship players for football. That number happens to be set at 85. At the moment, Maryland has 68 scholarship players returning and 20 commitments, counting the recent switch of Javarie Johnson. For those less than great at math, that's 88 total scholarships accounted for, which is 3 over the 85 limit.

Generally, it's acceptable to expect between three and five defections of some sort, be they decommitments, academics, or transfers. A few years ago, Maryland lost QB Tyler Bass at the deadline to Memphis. Last year, Dion Armstrong was ruled academically ineligible. Of course, Josh Portis transferred. Like I said, between three and five of these are common.

In 2008, actually, Maryland went into the spring with 91 scholarship players on the roster, and they ended up okay. The magical number of 85 doesn't need to be reached until August. While there's no real limit on how many they can give out, it's usually a bad idea to put yourself in the position of needing to force out players, and most coaches don't like to do it. Rarely do players need to actually be pushed out - instead, they'll see the writing on the wall and transfer out gracefully. Still, over-recruiting has a bad stigma.

I have no idea who'll leave, and this is purely speculation, but I wouldn't be surprised if Gary Douglas ended up at a DI-AA program (so he didn't have to sit out a year) because playing time seems rare right now at RB. I think at least one QB - perhaps Clay Belton or the loser of the C.J. Brown/Danny O'Brien battle - will leave, too; there's simply too many people at that position. Likewise, a WR departing wouldn't be shocking. Then you can always expect an academic loss or two. If they can't manage to reach 85, grayshirting (basically having the player wait on enrolling until the next semester) or prepping recruits is a popular method of paring the spots.

Regardless, it's possible for Maryland to take about 2 more players and still feel comfortable about getting down to size by August, and three wouldn't be impossible. It's not a great situation to be in, however, so this is where Maryland can get choosy. They can take people; they don't necessarily have to.

For this reason, I'm pretty sure they'll only target a few people. Arie Kouandjio would be one, but he's unlikely. Here's a quick rundown on the remainders:

Star-divide

Brandon Coleman, WR, Forestville, Bishop McNamara (4 stars on Rivals)

Big, strong, athletic. Big-time deep threat. Still kind of raw, but he would just be another elite WR in lengthening line of elite Maryland WRs. Down to Rutgers, Syracuse, and Maryland, he'll be deciding later this month or sometime in February.

Tony Grimes, CB, Hollywood Hills, FL (3 stars on Rivals, 4 stars on Scout and ESPN)

Highlights embedded below:

Fits in with the physical nature of Don Brown's scheme. Confident and ballhawking, good size too. Supposedly down to Maryland, Michigan, and Ole Miss, though it's conceivable that Miami could get involved now that they have an extra scholarship.

Michael Coley, RB/S, Hyattsville, DeMatha (3 stars across all the services)

Not sure if Maryland would take Coley at this point and deal with the roster trouble, though it's conceivable. Coley can do a lot at a lot of different positions, and the versatility would serve him well in college. Good downhill runner that could end up as an all-purpose back, or might find himself in the defensive backfield.

Bjoern Werner, DE, Salisbury, CT (3 stars across all the services)

Highlights below:

A raw, athletic German, Werner has a ton of potential but might take awhile to develop. Also iffy on whether or not the staff is still pursuing him given the two most recent commitments.

Honestly, if I had to guess, I'd say the class is probably done with the exception of Grimes and Coleman, unless there are any unexpected surprises along the lines of Johnson. Maybe Antonio Belt or Jeremiah Attaochu, but Attaochu's spot might've been taken by Johnson and Belt might be looking for another offer. Ending the class at Coleman and Grimes wouldn't be a bad thing, as the class is already not bad. Landing either would be great, and landing both would be nothing short of amazing considering Maryland was just 2-10 and Friedgen nearly got fired.

Within the next few weeks, I'll also take a look at a changing, evolving recruiting strategy in football, particularly as it relates to speed and geography.

0 recs  |  Comment 4 comments |

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Ben, outstanding work as usual. Thanks for taking my request for the rundown!

Do you think Morgan Green will transfer? He seems to be in even worse position than Douglas. Too bad, both seem like good RBs. Worse because Green never really got much chance to shake the Slaton stigma in live game situations.

I think at least two QBs will transfer (or maybe switch positions). Six is a ridiculous amount to have at QB, and in the past it seems like guys at #4 or lower want to try their luck elsewhere. By my count, we freed up 14 scholarships from last season:

Phil Costa
Tommy Galt
Deege Galt
Chris Turner
Cory Jackson
Jared Harrell
Travis Ivey
Anthony Wiseman
Terrell Skinner
Jamari McCollough
Richard Taylor
Nolan Carroll
Bruce Campbell (draft)
Tyler Bowen (medical)

Were we right at 85 or below that last year? If so, I am missing some people (maybe transfers?), because our numbers don’t agree for current scholarship players. My count: 85 – 14 = 76. Ben’s count: 68? I know Armstrong and Portis left before the fall, but can’t figure out how to get from 88 down to 68….

by JC1 on Jan 11, 2010 5:26 PM EST reply actions   0 recs

Believe we were below due to late defections

Though 8 does seem a rather high differential.

FWIW, Patrick Stevens’ # was one higher than mine, though I can’t figure out where.

I went one by one through the roster to see who did and didn’t have scholarships, and the number I ended up with it was 68. I’ll look through again, see if I missed anything/anyone.

by Ben Broman on Jan 11, 2010 7:12 PM EST up reply actions   0 recs

Okay, quick recalculation and I got almost the same thing

Put in Clay Belton (non-scholly), left out Stephen St. John and Michael Carter first go-round. Still adds one, so number bumps to 69.

Although, it did help me a great deal when I realized 85 – 14 = 71. That was confusing. (No offense, just kind of funny).

I don’t think we ever found a replacement for Armstrong, and Goree and Mackall account for two lost schollies. Faiella and Bearthur also might account for some. I might try to map it out sometime tomorrow, but the number seems roughly correct.

by Ben Broman on Jan 11, 2010 7:47 PM EST reply actions   0 recs

Uh, whoops...

85 – 14 does indeed equal 71… Maryland should probably revoke my BS.

by JC1 on Jan 12, 2010 3:34 PM EST reply actions   0 recs

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