University of Massachusets Athletics
Don Brown On His 2006 Football Newcomers
February 01, 2006 | Football
Feb. 1, 2006
AMHERST, Mass. - Following the release of the 2006 football newcomers, UMass football coach Don Brown had the following comments on his class.
General comments on the newcomers:
"I would break down the class into two groups: our mid-year group, made up of I-A transfers and junior college transfers that are already on campus and already taking classes and then the group of high school recruits. On the players that already here, they are Minuteman right now.
Starting with a pair of transfers from Nassau Community College. Nick Diana, who will be in the mix for a spot on the offensive line. Our hope is that he can be our sixth of seventh guy on the O-Line and a guy we can count on coming off the bench. We are glad he's in school now for spring practice to learn our protections and blocking schemes.
Chris Koepplin is a kicker, who was down at the Meadowlands and won a kicking tournament. He will provide Armando Cuko with competition and competition breeds success and we think it will make the spring challenging for both of those players.
Mike Omar is a receiver from Grossmont in California, who were involved in the national championship scenario in junior college piece. He is a great route runner and great receiver with great numbers. He's a good fit for us and hopefully, he can be a No. 3 or No. 4 receiver in his first year with us.
We have two I-A transfers in Rob Getek a tight end from Pepperell, Mass., who comes to us from Connecticut and still has four years of eligibility remaining. We are certainly excited about Rob's potential with Mike Douglas graduating, he will jump right into the competition for playing time.
Anthony Rouzier and Josh Jennings are our two linebacker additions. Rouzier is a transfer from UConn and its great to have him here. His dad is our UMass team physician. He stands on his own and had a good true freshman year at UConn and will jump right in the mix and provide great depth not only on defense but on special teams and have a chance to compete.
Jennings was a conference defensive player of the year at Dean College was the leading tackler and leading sacker in the league. Two years ago, he was the Gatorade Connecticut State Player of the Year. He may be the best straight-line blitzer I have ever recruited.
Those are the six guys that are incoming right now that we are looking at to make an impact in the 2006 season.
For these player, being a part of spring ball and learning the system with their teammates, those guys have a chance to join the core of our football team and make an impact. We look for all six of those guys to be in position to help us and we are excited to have them all. They will have roles on the team. I am just anxious to see them perform.
On players who will come in the summer of 2006:
The next group is the fall group, made up mostly of true freshmen who will come in the summer for camp. Here's a look at those 10 players.
Michael Thomas is at Fork Union Military Academy and runs a 4.4 in the 40. He was a great tailback out of Columbus, Ohio and was recruited by Division I-A Ohio and Bowling Green but chose UMass over those schools. He has a chance to play the "Dog" which is the fifth defensive back, the nickel which is utilized in our system. We are excited about his potential.
Sloan Russett is a running back from New Hampshire. He is a good special teams player as well and was a great high school back. He went to New Hampton Prep last year and is a weightroom machine. He's a big strong kid. He will provide us depth at the running back position and add on special teams.
Vladimir Ducasse is from Stamford, Conn., and is a large offensive lineman and great athlete. He has a chance to impact our offensive line. He's a guy who worked out for us in one of our summer clinics which we run around the state of Massachusetts. I saw him first hand running around the field and working with our line coach Brian Picucci so we feel tremendous about his ability.
James Carven is a special guy to me. He was one of the Boston Globe's Dandy Dozen. He plays safety, quarterback and could play receiver. His brother Billy Carven is the head coach at Nichols College, which hits close to home for me. We are excited to have him from Hanover, Mass.
Shaun Allen is a defensive lineman that was a teammate with Josh Jennings at Dean College. He needs to finish up and get his degree there this spring and he will join us in the spring. He's a 6-3-lineman, who can run a 4.7. He is a tremendous pass rusher. He will get in a fill the void left by Keron Williams departure.
Marcus Snow is a safety from Miami, Florida. I saw him play personally in an All-Star game in which he had 12 tackles. He's a physical specimen. He has corner coverage skills so he is a unique player for us.
John Ihme is a tight end who is a First Team All-State performer in New Jersey, the state champions. He was in a similar offensive system to the one we have at UMass, so he knows a lot of the things we do from a blocking scheme standpoint. His coach Chris Olsen has a son Greg Olsen, who plays at Miami, so he knows what a good tight end is.
Torrey Esalomi is a wideout from Tampa, Florida. He is an excellent player with great speed. He will vertically stretch the field. He is a compliment to Mike Omar, who is a route runner. I had a chance to watch him play basketball and he is a jumping machine with a 40-inch vertical.
Ke'mon Bailey went to Hugenot High School in Virginia where Sean Smalls went to high school. He was recruited by Kansas and Kansas State and several schools in the A-10. He can impact us on both sides of the ball at wide receiver or defensive back. He had a lot of I-A interest.
Chris Pollard is a defensive back from Fort Scott Community College in Kansas, but played his high school ball in New Jersey. He is a real banger similar to James Ihedigbo. He will come up and smash you on the line.
That gets you through the class. I actually call this the beginning of I-AA recruiting. The signing date is a start for us. This gets us off on the right foot. We still have a little work to do as we get through the spring. We have a great nucleus of guys and many of them had I-A potential.
Overall feeling on the class:
The six mid-year guys certainly have a chance to get in to join the core of our football team. I think everyone one of these guys has a potential role on our football team and that really excites me. I think we have done a nice job identifying kids across the country who can help us as incoming freshmen.
We still have a little work to do in terms of rounding out the class. We will use every recruiting stream possible. That includes high school kids, junior college kids and I-A transfers. That's the life of I-AA football. We certainly will keep our options open as we move through spring practice to see strengths and weaknesses and try to deal with them and fit the pieces together.
