The VIIIth
1/26/2006, 12:13 PM
I placed a call to Coffeyville, Kansas yesterday to an old friend. Oddly enough, Coach Foster told me that he had just gotten off the phone with another mutual friend, Merv Johnson. Dick Foster, besides being a good friend of mine over the years is the old Coffeyville Junior College Red Ravens head coach. Some of Coach Fosters players I was able to watch back in the old days were Mike Rozier and Ron Springs among many others. More importantly, Dick used to be the Recruiting Coordinator for OU in the 90's and he and Merv worked together for a number of years in OU's athletic department.
Dick was the real brains behind Boo Blakes recruiting prowess.
On to Walker. Coach tells me he is still amazed that the young man did not go to MSU. The Spartans picked up a WR from CCJC and have recruited the area pretty hard. I was told that over 40 Jayhawk Conference players have D1 offers this year. With Walker being a Michigan native...
The bottom line is he feels that Walker should be a Sooner. Without going into details here, he related to me that OU and Coach Stoops have bent over backwards to get Walker on board and that the CCJC coaches are firmly in the OU corner. There is no doubt that Walker also has an allure for FSU and Foster admits that Bowden is a wild card that can't be discounted and cannot eliminate the Noles from contention.
What he's having some difficulty with is Walkers overall talent. Right now he's 25 to 50 lbs overweight and Dick admits that he's athletically
talented but his take is that he'll give you two great plays and then he might take the next three off. Foster says coaching will overcome that and the real premium on Walker is that he has three years to compete, learn and get in shape. He is not comfortable with being able to report that Walker is ready to play at the D1 level at this time, he even mentioned a year of seasoning at OU is exactly what is needed. He told me that OU's offseason strength and conditioning program is the Nations best, hands down and that Walker could emerge as a force.
Coach Foster is also surprised that Walker is dragging this recruiting process out. One key bit of intel is that the primary Coffeyville coach that Walker relies on as a mentor is on the recruiting trail for the JUCO and is not available personally to assist Brandon in his decision until later in the week. JUCO coaches are on the same recruiting schedules that D1 coaches must adhere to.
While not privy to the conversation between Dick and Merv, nor did I ask, Dick volunteered that it was not a conversation about Walker so much as Dick was targeting OU with his specialized recruiting film service called Dick Fosters JUCO Recruiting Service. Apparently he has taken in a partner with the player film distribution service he runs and the service will be renamed or fly under the flag of the College Coaches Network. Their emphasis is on all JUCO players outside of the state of California and high school talent in KS and Mo. The service is available only to colleges and their athletic departments.
One last thing and this was a bit sad. He keeps in touch with his former players and told me about Ron Springs (CCJC, Ohio State, Dallas Cowboys)who played at CCJC. Apparently Ron has diabetes and recently lost a leg to the disease, blindness may be an issue as well. Too bad, he was a great guy during his tenure at Coffeyville.
If I hear anything else, I'll serve it up...
Dick was the real brains behind Boo Blakes recruiting prowess.
On to Walker. Coach tells me he is still amazed that the young man did not go to MSU. The Spartans picked up a WR from CCJC and have recruited the area pretty hard. I was told that over 40 Jayhawk Conference players have D1 offers this year. With Walker being a Michigan native...
The bottom line is he feels that Walker should be a Sooner. Without going into details here, he related to me that OU and Coach Stoops have bent over backwards to get Walker on board and that the CCJC coaches are firmly in the OU corner. There is no doubt that Walker also has an allure for FSU and Foster admits that Bowden is a wild card that can't be discounted and cannot eliminate the Noles from contention.
What he's having some difficulty with is Walkers overall talent. Right now he's 25 to 50 lbs overweight and Dick admits that he's athletically
talented but his take is that he'll give you two great plays and then he might take the next three off. Foster says coaching will overcome that and the real premium on Walker is that he has three years to compete, learn and get in shape. He is not comfortable with being able to report that Walker is ready to play at the D1 level at this time, he even mentioned a year of seasoning at OU is exactly what is needed. He told me that OU's offseason strength and conditioning program is the Nations best, hands down and that Walker could emerge as a force.
Coach Foster is also surprised that Walker is dragging this recruiting process out. One key bit of intel is that the primary Coffeyville coach that Walker relies on as a mentor is on the recruiting trail for the JUCO and is not available personally to assist Brandon in his decision until later in the week. JUCO coaches are on the same recruiting schedules that D1 coaches must adhere to.
While not privy to the conversation between Dick and Merv, nor did I ask, Dick volunteered that it was not a conversation about Walker so much as Dick was targeting OU with his specialized recruiting film service called Dick Fosters JUCO Recruiting Service. Apparently he has taken in a partner with the player film distribution service he runs and the service will be renamed or fly under the flag of the College Coaches Network. Their emphasis is on all JUCO players outside of the state of California and high school talent in KS and Mo. The service is available only to colleges and their athletic departments.
One last thing and this was a bit sad. He keeps in touch with his former players and told me about Ron Springs (CCJC, Ohio State, Dallas Cowboys)who played at CCJC. Apparently Ron has diabetes and recently lost a leg to the disease, blindness may be an issue as well. Too bad, he was a great guy during his tenure at Coffeyville.
If I hear anything else, I'll serve it up...