Wheaton North running back Mike Trumpy has been offered a scholarship by Northwestern and it appears likely that the 6-0, 197-pound running back, who was named to the Chicago Sun-Times All-Area team in November, will make an oral commitment in the spring.

I think it's a good decision. By the spring, Trumpy will have time to weigh all of his options. If Northwestern is the best choice, he should know by then. He should be able to make an educated decision and shouldn't be tempted to de-commit down the road.

Northwestern is a good fit for him, academically and athletically. The Wildcats need tailbacks and Trumpy fills the bill. I like him a lot. He has good vision and moves and more speed than people give him credit for.

In preparation for his appearance at the U.S. Army combine on Jan. 5-6 in San Antonio, he has been working out with Wheaton North track coach Don Helberg. He recently was timed in four consecutive 40-yard dashes on an indoor track while wearing running shoes (not spikes) in 4.41, 4.45, 4.47 and 4.55 seconds.

Trumpy will be one of several Chicago area juniors who are scheduled to participate in the Texas combine. Others include running back Dominique Bell and defensive end Craig Drummond of Morgan Park, defensive linemen Scott Covert of Lake Forest and Lendell Buckner of Leo, linebackers Jake Juriga of St. Charles North and Marty Hopkins of St. Rita, offensive linemen Cody O'Neill of Marian Central and Pat Ward of Providence, quarterbacks Jordan Roberts of Aurora Christian and Charlie Goro of Maine South, running back Robert Morgan of Leo and fullback Tyler Burns and linebacker Luke Anderson of Lemont.

Another invitee is sophomore offensive lineman Chris Lombard of Fremd.

It is a great opportunity for all of them to get big-time exposure to college scouts and to compare their skills to some of the best players in the nation.

Posted by Second Season at 9:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The wave of de-commitments--more than 100 last year, even more this year--is an embarrassment to high school football.

A player gives his word to a college coach. "I'm going to attend your school," he says. Then he changes his mind and opts for another school. Many reasons are offered. The kid committed too soon, before he was ready, the coach has been fired or gone somewhere else, the program has been revised, the offense has changed, the school is too far from home.

It all boils down to one thing: the kid isn't getting good direction from his high school coach and his parents. If he doesn't know what the recruiting process is all about, he should get an education.

Kids love the limelight. They love being treated like Heisman Trophy winners during their campus visits. They love making their college announcements on national television. They love seeing their game tapes on ESPN and CSTV. They love to get phone calls from recruiting analysts.

Once they commit, however, they see other prospects getting more attention than them. So they re-open their recruiting and schedule other campus visits to re-confirm their original choices. And when they put themselves back on the open market, the Internet sites begin to call again.

The only solution to all of this madness is for the NCAA to establish an early signing period before the season begins. At one time, I was opposed to such an idea. But now I believe it is the only way to prevent recruiting from becoming more of a national scandal than it already is.

The de-commitment craze strikes everyone. Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis was burned by three de-commitments on signing day last February. Afterward, Weis declared that he didn't want anyone to commit to his program unless he was 100 percent sure he was coming.

Weis has 22 commitments in what is universally being touted as the No. 1 recruiting class of 2008. But he may be on the brink of losing one of his prize recruits--Omar Hunter of Buford, Ga., one of the leading defensive linemen in the country.

Hunter would be a major loss for Notre Dame. But if the Irish only lose one, it's not so bad. Hunter committed to Notre Dame during the 2007 season. He picked the Irish over Michigan. Strangely, Georgia and Florida didn't recruit him at the time. Now, according to his high school coach, Hunter is reconsidering his decision--he cites the colder climate--and may entertain visits to Florida and USC.

USC lost wide receiver Chris Polk, a native Californian, to Washington. D.C. Jefferson, a quarterback from Florida, committed to Rutgers, then to LSU, then back to Rutgers. Defensive standout Russell Ellington of Homewood-Flossmoor, committed to Iowa State, then to Iowa, then to Illinois.

Ellington is the third de-commitment to join Illinois coach Ron Zook's program. The others are tight end London Davis of Cahokia, who originally had committed to Missouri, and running back Jason Ford of Belleville Althoff, who spurned Iowa.

Posted by Second Season at 8:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

What kind of effect will Rich Rodriguez, Michigan's new football coach, have on the Big Ten?

Very positive. Rodriguez will bring in a spread option offense that will be a change-of-pace for Michigan and will attract a different breed of athlete to Ann Arbor.

For example, he will bring in a different type of quarterback, perhaps a Terrelle Pryor instead of a Ryan Mallett, someone with great athleticism, like Pat White at West Virginia or Juice Williams at Illinois.

Pryor is a priority. Rodriguez recruited the senior from Jeannette, Pa., for West Virginia. But Pryor, who liked Rodriguez a lot, appeared to be more interested in Ohio State. Now Michigan is in the mix.

The spread offense is the latest glamour offense in college football, as the T-formation, split-T, wishbone and double wing before it. It has been effective wherever it has been introduced...Florida, West Virginia, even Northwestern.

One of Rodriguez' first steps was to rehire Fred Jackson, who was former coach Lloyd Carr's running backs coach and an excellent recruiter. Jackson will help to bring great athletes to Michigan to implement the new offense.

That's one of the reasons why Tuscola quarterback John Wienke decided to de-commit from Michigan and opt for Iowa. He is a Mallett-type, pro-style quarterback, tall and strong but immobile. He doesn't fit into Rodriguez' new offensive scheme.

Most of all, Rodriguez brings an injection of fresh blood to the stodgy and wrinkled Big Ten, which has fallen behind the SEC, Pac-10 and Big 12 among the dominant football conferences in the nation. His arrival, along with the emergence of Ron Zook at Illinois, could signal the beginning of a new era.

Posted by Second Season at 6:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

In this era of de-commitments--don't look now, but quarterback John Wienke of Tuscola just de-committed from Michigan and opted for Iowa--how has Notre Dame been able to circle the wagons and keep what every recruiting analyst agrees is the No. 1 class in the country in the wake of one of the most disappointing and embarrassing seasons in the proud history of Irish football?

Organization.

Notre Dame just keeps getting better and better because of its organization. Charlie Weis is on the recruiting trail more than most head coaches. Defensive coordinator Corwin Brown, a Julian product, recruiting coordinator Rob Ianello and Dave Peloquin, the director of football operations, form a very effective sales team. Peloquin, a Notre Dame graduate, is unheralded. He is the son of the mayor of Blue Island and figures to be a future athletic director at a major college.

Notre Dame is doing a great job of recruiting because of the people. The organization has been set up for them to do well. There were in on the best juniors a year ago, worked them all year, built up relationships with foundations that were strong and able to overcome a bad season. That's what all schools need to do to be effective, to withstand a bad season.

The Irish just landed a commitment from another blue-chipper, 6-5, 300-pound offensive tackle Trevor Robinson of Elkhorn, Neb., one of the five best offensive linemen in the nation. Robinson originally committed to Nebraska but de-committed after the Bill Callahan firing and chose Notre Dame over Michigan. One college coach said Robinson is the best pass blocker he has seen.

Notre Dame now has 22 commitments as it looks ahead to the February signing period, 16 of them are All-Americans. The class is headed by quarterback Dayne Crist of California, wide receiver Michael Floyd of Minnesota, noseman Omar Hunter of Georgia and three Chicago area products--linebacker Stever Filer of Mount Carmel, defensive end Darius Fleming of St. Rita and lineman Sean Cwynar of Marian Central.

Hunter, a 6-1, 300-pounder, is a prime example of how Weis and his staff made an early contact and wooed a player away from his home state and other suitors. Georgia offered Hunter too late. So did USC.

Posted by Second Season at 4:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Critics like to remind me of players I overlooked or didn't rate high enough as opposed to those I didn't or did. After 30 years of evaluating talent, I am proud of my track record. Nobody is 100 percent. And I long ago learned to live with the fact that, no matter how I rate a player or a recruiting class, somebody will disagree.

For example, when I tapped Tim Tebow as the No. 1 quarterback in the country before anyone else, critics said they knew about him all along. But they jumped on my evaluation of Palatine quarterback Jeff Hecklinski, who went to Illinois but didn't do well. The truth was he was told that the Illini would build their offense around him--but it didn't happen.

Look at the NFL. Former Notre Dame running back Ryan Grant, now with the Green Bay Packers, is one of the leading rushers in the league. But he was undrafted. Imagine, all of the teams in the NFL, with all of the millions of dollars they spend on scouting, passed on Grant. I guess it only proves that everybody makes mistakes.

Let's examine the case of Illinois guard Martin O'Donnell, recently named to the college All-America first team. As a senior at Downers Grove South, he was rated as one of the top five offensive linemen in the nation by one scouting service. I rated him as the No. 3 offensive lineman and the No. 5 player in Illinois.

That was 2002. The same scouting service that touted O'Donnell rated Kyle Williams of Bolingbrook as the No. 1 linebacker in the country and the No. 1 player in Illinois. Williams went to Iowa, then to Purdue. Now he is in jail. I wasn't impressed by Williams' performance on film or in person and didn't even rank him among the top 100 players in the nation. I took a lot of heat for that at the time.

The top five players in Illinois on my list were Buffalo Grove's Tom Zbikowski, Decatur MacArthur's Moe Dampeer, Richards' Mike Jones, Wheaton North's Akim Millington and O'Donnell. All of them were four-star players (out of five).

O'Donnell wasn't an impact player in his first four years at Illinois but he came on this season to be one of the key movers in coach Ron Zook's running attack. Good for him. The Chicago Bears' offensive line could use a young body like his.

Posted by Second Season at 7:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

Two years ago, in what was the Year of the Quarterback across the country, I ranked Tim Tebow as the No. 2 player, behind running back Chris Wells, who went to Ohio State. I gave Tebow an edge over Mitch Mustain, who committed to Arkansas, then transferred to USC.

All of the nation's top quarterbacks were invited to attend the U.S. Army combine in San Antonio as juniors--Tebow (Florida), Mustain (USC), Matt Stafford (Georgia), Josh Freeman (Kansas State), Juice Williams (Illinois), Jake Locker (Washington), Pat Devlin (Penn State), Demetrius Jones and Zach Frazer (Notre Dame) and Jevan Snead, who went from Florida (after Tebow committed) to Texas and now is at Ole Miss.

It was the best year for quarterbacks since John Elway and Dan Marino in 1979. All were great athletes. Tebow and Mustain headed the class. Critics wondered if Tebow had played against enough top-notch competition But he was physical, a linebacker playing quarterback.

Mustain played against tougher competition as a senior. But I opted for Tebow because he flat out looked better in San Antonio. Both were impressive but Tebow ran better and threw the ball better than Mustain. College coaches agreed.

Tebow got better in college. He got stronger. You always worry about the level of competition in high school but what separated Tebow from the others was his tremendous work ethic, not his talent. He watched so much film to learn the game and lifted weights to get stronger.

The year before was the Year of the Running Back. Arkansas' Darren McFadden was a 5-star performer, a first-time All-American. Just as he did this year in finishing second in the Heisman voting for the second year in a row, he led a field that included Jonathan Stewart (Oregon), Tony Baker (North Carolina State), Kevin Grady (Michigan), Marlon Lucky (Nebraska), Rashard Mendenhall (Illinois) and Jamaal Charles (Texas).

This year is the Year of the Wide Receiver...Michael Floyd, Julio Jones, A.J. Green, DeAndre Brown. There are at least 20 wide receivers from coast to coast who have the potential to be difference-makers in college.

Next year? Once again, it will be the Year of the Quarterback. And it will be even better than the Tebow/Mustain/Stafford/Williams crop. Matt Barkley of Santa Ana, Calif., already is being singled out as the No. 1 player in the class of 2009. He and other top QB prospects, including Jordan Roberts of Aurora Christian, have been invited to attend the U.S. Army combine in January.

Posted by Second Season at 4:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Craig Drummond, Morgan Park's 6-5, 245-pound defensive end, will be one of the 25 players on my first-team junior All-America team that will be announced on Tom Lemming's Generation Next at 6 p.m. Thursday on CSTV.

How good is Drummond?

He is a high school version of Richard Dent, the former Chicago Bears defensive star. He has long legs and long arms, the same type of body as Dent. He will weigh 270-280 pounds in college. And he has intangibles. He motors on every play. He is aggressive and athletic and has great football instincts.

Colleges are always looking for defensive ends, big guys with speed and athletic ability and an aggressive nature, which is difficult to find. Former Simeon star Martez Wilson, now at Illinois, had that ability but he wasn't as big as Drummond and didn't have his motor going all the time. Drummond also reminds of Mario Williams, who was the Houston Texans' No. 1 pick in the NFL draft.

In what figures to be the year of the quarterback, nationally and in Illinois, Matt Barkley of Santa Ana, Calif., is my early choice as the No. 1 player in the country. He is as good as Jimmy Clausen, last year's top prospect, coming out of high school and he has had a better year than senior Dayne Crist of Sherman Oaks, Calif., one of Notre Dame's prize recruits. Barkley already has 15 scholarship offers, including USC, Tennessee, Stanford and California.

Also on my junior list is John Simon of Youngstown, Ohio, a defensive lineman who already has been offered by Ohio State, Notre Dame and Penn State.

Chicago will have a good year. While Drummond is the only top 25 player, at least seven or eight could make the top 100 list. This year, there are only four or five.

The class of quarterbacks is outstanding. Marian Central's Jon Budmayr has been offered by Northwestern. I also like Glenbard North's Evan Watkins, Maine South's Charlie Goro and Aurora Christian's Jordan Roberts.

It also figures to be a good year for linemen. Glenbard West's Chris Watt has been offered by Northwestern. And I like lineman Patrick Ward of Providence, linebackers Darius Moffett of Hubbard and Jim Juriga of St. Charles North, defensive lineman Scott Covert of Lake Forest and running backs Mike Trumpy of Wheaton North and Dominique Bell of Morgan Park.

I like Trumpy a lot. He has a Division I swagger about him. He has good size and speed and he knows how to run. He has good running instincts.

Posted by Second Season at 4:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

I hear from a lot of Notre Dame bashers and other critics who think I have an honorary degree from Notre Dame. The latest is from the reader who claims wide receiver Michael Floyd of St. Paul, Minn., one of Notre Dame's prize recruits in the class of 2008, is "the most overhyped player in recent Minnesota high school history."

Well, I'm not going to defend Floyd. I don't have to. Just listen to what college coaches have to say about him, the ones who offered him scholarships. And listen to the media in Minnesota, which named Floyd as the state's Player of the Year as a junior and senior.

Last week, when Floyd's Cretin-Derham team lost to Eden Prairie 50-21 in the Class 5A championship game, Floyd caught three passes for 86 yards while being triple and double teamed. The winning coach, the son of former Minnesota Vikings coach Bud Grant, said afterward: "We knew if we shut down Floyd, we could win the game."

One of the pass defenders who helped to shut down Floyd was Ryan Grant, the coach's son and Bud Grant's grandson, who is committed to Minnesota.

For the year, Floyd caught 56 passes for 1,211 yards and 17 touchdowns. He also rushed for 433 yards and returned four punts for touchdowns.

Coaches in Minnesota say Floyd is the closest thing they have seen to Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald. I rated him as the No. 3 wide receiver in the country. He is 6-3 and weighs 210 pounds and probably will do for Notre Dame what Regus Benn is doing for Illinois, though he isn't as fast but is just as physical, similar to Fitzgerald.

This is a perfect example of why I choose not to respond to critics. They usually have their own agenda. They don't like Notre Dame or Michigan or Ohio State or Lemming.

I recall when I named Maurice Clarett as the Player of the Year. He gained only 35 yards in one game and the critics began to howl. Then he ran for 400 yards in his next game. Critics tend to pick out one game, one play,