http://ncaabbs.com/ Sat, 21 Nov 2009 01:26:07 -0600 MyBB http://ncaabbs.com/showthread.php?tid=264810 Wed, 21 Nov 2007 12:02:31 -0600 http://ncaabbs.com/showthread.php?tid=264810
Conference USA basketball]]>
Conference USA basketball]]> http://ncaabbs.com/showthread.php?tid=73637 Sun, 22 Apr 2007 19:51:58 -0500 http://ncaabbs.com/showthread.php?tid=73637 http://ncaabbs.com/showthread.php?tid=73520 Sun, 15 Apr 2007 20:07:46 -0500 http://ncaabbs.com/showthread.php?tid=73520 It was pretty much a defensive battle.
The two touchdowns happened in the 4th quarter. Mike Ford was the first to score. Ford only had 1 carry in the first half of the game. He waited his turn then finally got it in the 4th. And OH MAN did he deliver. He broke open a run (around 26 yards) and lowered a BOOM on Gatchette on the 3 yrd line. Let's just say Gatchette normally is the one laying people out, well he ended up going A$$ over tea kettle with Ford still standing. Ford showed not only does he have power, in that run he showed that he has another gear he can kick it into when he needs. If this is what he looks like now with still rust on him then watch out. He might turn out to be the best back we have ever seen at USF.

Matt Grothe scored a naked bootleg 3 yrds out. Matt was simply Matt. He really had a great touch on his passes and looked in mid-season form when he was scrambling around.

The Defense looked...well...Lights out.

The only negative was a injury to starting Left Guard Matt Huners. He tore the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in his knee.
_________________]]> It was pretty much a defensive battle.
The two touchdowns happened in the 4th quarter. Mike Ford was the first to score. Ford only had 1 carry in the first half of the game. He waited his turn then finally got it in the 4th. And OH MAN did he deliver. He broke open a run (around 26 yards) and lowered a BOOM on Gatchette on the 3 yrd line. Let's just say Gatchette normally is the one laying people out, well he ended up going A$$ over tea kettle with Ford still standing. Ford showed not only does he have power, in that run he showed that he has another gear he can kick it into when he needs. If this is what he looks like now with still rust on him then watch out. He might turn out to be the best back we have ever seen at USF.

Matt Grothe scored a naked bootleg 3 yrds out. Matt was simply Matt. He really had a great touch on his passes and looked in mid-season form when he was scrambling around.

The Defense looked...well...Lights out.

The only negative was a injury to starting Left Guard Matt Huners. He tore the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in his knee.
_________________]]> http://ncaabbs.com/showthread.php?tid=72513 Tue, 27 Feb 2007 09:43:39 -0600 http://ncaabbs.com/showthread.php?tid=72513 Dickson Breaks All-Time Scoring Record In 60-51 Victory Over Seton Hall

TAMPA, Fla. (Feb. 25, 2007) National Player of the Year and All-America candidate senior Jessica Dickson (Ocala, FL) scored 17 points to break the University of South Florida]]> Dickson Breaks All-Time Scoring Record In 60-51 Victory Over Seton Hall

TAMPA, Fla. (Feb. 25, 2007) National Player of the Year and All-America candidate senior Jessica Dickson (Ocala, FL) scored 17 points to break the University of South Florida]]> http://ncaabbs.com/showthread.php?tid=72512 Tue, 27 Feb 2007 09:11:29 -0600 http://ncaabbs.com/showthread.php?tid=72512 Otero Earns BIG EAST Pitcher Of The Week For Complete Game


TAMPA, Fla. (Feb. 26, 2007)]]> Otero Earns BIG EAST Pitcher Of The Week For Complete Game


TAMPA, Fla. (Feb. 26, 2007)]]> http://ncaabbs.com/showthread.php?tid=72510 Tue, 27 Feb 2007 08:53:09 -0600 http://ncaabbs.com/showthread.php?tid=72510 http://www.myfoxtampabay.com/myfox/pages...geId=1.1.1

Former USF player dies in indoor league game
Last Edited: Tuesday, 27 Feb 2007, 5:15 AM EST
Created: Tuesday, 27 Feb 2007, 4:54 AM EST
Javon Camon

DAYTONA BEACH - A former University of South Florida football player passed away Monday night from injuries sustained in a World Indoor Football League game played at the Ocean Center in Daytona Beach.

Javon Camon, a defensive back with the Daytona Beach Thunder, was pronounced dead at the Hallifax Medical Center in Daytona Beach. The 25-year-old former USF Bulls defensive captain was injured late in the fourth quarter of the Thunder's 44-42 loss to the Columbus Lions.

Camon, who led the Bulls in tackles during the 2004 season, went down after he was blocked by Lions wide receiver Juval Winston. The game was delayed for approximately 25 minutes while emergency medical service technicians attempted to resuscitate him.

An official cause of death has not been released. Camon was a four-year letterman at USF and a graduate of Charlotte High School in Port Charlotte. On September 11, 2004 he was involved in a play that left Tennessee Tech wide receiver Drew Hixon in a coma.

]]> http://www.myfoxtampabay.com/myfox/pages...geId=1.1.1

Former USF player dies in indoor league game
Last Edited: Tuesday, 27 Feb 2007, 5:15 AM EST
Created: Tuesday, 27 Feb 2007, 4:54 AM EST
Javon Camon

DAYTONA BEACH - A former University of South Florida football player passed away Monday night from injuries sustained in a World Indoor Football League game played at the Ocean Center in Daytona Beach.

Javon Camon, a defensive back with the Daytona Beach Thunder, was pronounced dead at the Hallifax Medical Center in Daytona Beach. The 25-year-old former USF Bulls defensive captain was injured late in the fourth quarter of the Thunder's 44-42 loss to the Columbus Lions.

Camon, who led the Bulls in tackles during the 2004 season, went down after he was blocked by Lions wide receiver Juval Winston. The game was delayed for approximately 25 minutes while emergency medical service technicians attempted to resuscitate him.

An official cause of death has not been released. Camon was a four-year letterman at USF and a graduate of Charlotte High School in Port Charlotte. On September 11, 2004 he was involved in a play that left Tennessee Tech wide receiver Drew Hixon in a coma.

]]> http://ncaabbs.com/showthread.php?tid=72450 Fri, 23 Feb 2007 15:02:54 -0600 http://ncaabbs.com/showthread.php?tid=72450 This is for unforgetaBULL victories in USF history.

This is the BULLS first ever play in the first ever game. The USF Bulls begin their historic climb with a victory over Kentucky Wesleyan.
Final score
KW-3
USF-80
]]> This is for unforgetaBULL victories in USF history.

This is the BULLS first ever play in the first ever game. The USF Bulls begin their historic climb with a victory over Kentucky Wesleyan.
Final score
KW-3
USF-80
]]> http://ncaabbs.com/showthread.php?tid=72447 Fri, 23 Feb 2007 12:44:02 -0600 http://ncaabbs.com/showthread.php?tid=72447
]]>
]]> http://ncaabbs.com/showthread.php?tid=72444 Fri, 23 Feb 2007 11:51:53 -0600 http://ncaabbs.com/showthread.php?tid=72444
OT Thomas Edenfield
(Bartram Trail HS)
Jacksonville, FL 6-6/295 02/07/2007
South Florida
TE Mike McGowan
(West Boca Raton HS)
Boca Raton, FL 6-4/230/4.80 02/07/2007
South Florida
DE Patrick Hampton
(King HS)
Lithonia, GA 6-3/215 02/05/2007
South Florida
DE Claude Davis
(Lake Gibson Senior HS)
Lakeland, FL 6-3/225/4.70 02/04/2007
South Florida
TE Kavenski McGee
(Pahokee HS)
Pahokee, FL 6-3/245/4.70 02/04/2007
South Florida
CB Tyson Butler
(Cypress Lake HS)
Fort Myers, FL 5-11/175/4.40 01/14/2007
South Florida
WR Dontavia Bogan
(Thomas County Central HS)
Thomasville, GA 6-1/187/4.49 01/14/2007
South Florida
MLB Calvin Sutton
(Deland HS)
Deland, FL 5-11/215/4.60 01/07/2007
South Florida
RB Mike Ford (future star)
(Copiah-Lincoln)
Wesson, MS 6-1/225 12/28/2006
South Florida
WR Carlton Hill
(Pearl River)
Poplarville, MS 6-2/215 12/18/2006
South Florida
DT Terrell McClain
(Pensacola HS)
Pensacola, FL 6-3/290 12/18/2006
South Florida
C Kevin McCaskill
(Amos P. Godby HS)
Tallahassee, FL 6-2.5/290 12/15/2006
South Florida
WR Kevin Williams
(Gibbs HS)
Saint Petersburg, FL 5-11/175 12/15/2006
South Florida
S Charlton Sinclair
(Mandarin HS)
Jacksonville, FL 6-0/190/4.50 12/14/2006
South Florida
OT Lawrence McCoy
(Valdosta HS)
Valdosta, GA 6-6/265 12/13/2006
South Florida
DT Kyle Dampier
(Merritt Island Senior HS)
Merritt Island, FL 6-3/275/5.00 12/06/2006
South Florida
FB Richard Kelly
(South Sumter HS)
Bushnell, FL 6-0/240/4.70 12/05/2006
South Florida
RB Josh Bellamy
(Boca Ciega HS)
Gulfport, FL 6-0/180 11/30/2006
South Florida
C Sampson Genus
(Columbia HS - North)
Lake City, FL 6-1/319 11/06/2006
South Florida
DE Darren Powe
(Lafayette HS)
Mayo, FL 6-2/230 11/04/2006
South Florida
WR Patrick Richardson
(W. J. Woodham HS)
Pensacola, FL 6-1/185/4.40 10/25/2006
South Florida
CB Quenton Washington
(North Fort Myers HS)
N Ft Myers, FL 5-11/165 08/17/2006
South Florida
QB Alton Voss
(Gulf HS)
New Port Richey, FL 6-2.5/218/4.61 08/11/2006
South Florida
MLB Donte Spires
(Pearl River)
Poplarville, MS 6-3/230 08/07/2006
South Florida
DT Jeremiah Warren
(Bay Senior HS)
Panama City, FL 6-3/290 08/01/2006
South Florida
DE David Fonua
(Southeast HS)
Bradenton, FL 6-2/255 08/01/2006
South Florida]]>
OT Thomas Edenfield
(Bartram Trail HS)
Jacksonville, FL 6-6/295 02/07/2007
South Florida
TE Mike McGowan
(West Boca Raton HS)
Boca Raton, FL 6-4/230/4.80 02/07/2007
South Florida
DE Patrick Hampton
(King HS)
Lithonia, GA 6-3/215 02/05/2007
South Florida
DE Claude Davis
(Lake Gibson Senior HS)
Lakeland, FL 6-3/225/4.70 02/04/2007
South Florida
TE Kavenski McGee
(Pahokee HS)
Pahokee, FL 6-3/245/4.70 02/04/2007
South Florida
CB Tyson Butler
(Cypress Lake HS)
Fort Myers, FL 5-11/175/4.40 01/14/2007
South Florida
WR Dontavia Bogan
(Thomas County Central HS)
Thomasville, GA 6-1/187/4.49 01/14/2007
South Florida
MLB Calvin Sutton
(Deland HS)
Deland, FL 5-11/215/4.60 01/07/2007
South Florida
RB Mike Ford (future star)
(Copiah-Lincoln)
Wesson, MS 6-1/225 12/28/2006
South Florida
WR Carlton Hill
(Pearl River)
Poplarville, MS 6-2/215 12/18/2006
South Florida
DT Terrell McClain
(Pensacola HS)
Pensacola, FL 6-3/290 12/18/2006
South Florida
C Kevin McCaskill
(Amos P. Godby HS)
Tallahassee, FL 6-2.5/290 12/15/2006
South Florida
WR Kevin Williams
(Gibbs HS)
Saint Petersburg, FL 5-11/175 12/15/2006
South Florida
S Charlton Sinclair
(Mandarin HS)
Jacksonville, FL 6-0/190/4.50 12/14/2006
South Florida
OT Lawrence McCoy
(Valdosta HS)
Valdosta, GA 6-6/265 12/13/2006
South Florida
DT Kyle Dampier
(Merritt Island Senior HS)
Merritt Island, FL 6-3/275/5.00 12/06/2006
South Florida
FB Richard Kelly
(South Sumter HS)
Bushnell, FL 6-0/240/4.70 12/05/2006
South Florida
RB Josh Bellamy
(Boca Ciega HS)
Gulfport, FL 6-0/180 11/30/2006
South Florida
C Sampson Genus
(Columbia HS - North)
Lake City, FL 6-1/319 11/06/2006
South Florida
DE Darren Powe
(Lafayette HS)
Mayo, FL 6-2/230 11/04/2006
South Florida
WR Patrick Richardson
(W. J. Woodham HS)
Pensacola, FL 6-1/185/4.40 10/25/2006
South Florida
CB Quenton Washington
(North Fort Myers HS)
N Ft Myers, FL 5-11/165 08/17/2006
South Florida
QB Alton Voss
(Gulf HS)
New Port Richey, FL 6-2.5/218/4.61 08/11/2006
South Florida
MLB Donte Spires
(Pearl River)
Poplarville, MS 6-3/230 08/07/2006
South Florida
DT Jeremiah Warren
(Bay Senior HS)
Panama City, FL 6-3/290 08/01/2006
South Florida
DE David Fonua
(Southeast HS)
Bradenton, FL 6-2/255 08/01/2006
South Florida]]> http://ncaabbs.com/showthread.php?tid=72442 Fri, 23 Feb 2007 11:02:05 -0600 http://ncaabbs.com/showthread.php?tid=72442 Sep 8 at Auburn 7 p.m. (ESPN or ESPN2)
Sep 15 Bye
Sep 22 NORTH CAROLINA
Sep 28 WEST VIRGINIA 8 p.m. (ESPN2)
Oct 6 at Florida Atlantic
Oct 13 UCF
Oct 18 at Rutgers 7:30 p.m. ESPN (THURSDAY NIGHT)
Oct 27 at Connecticut
Nov 3 CINCINNATI
Nov 10 at Syracuse
Nov 17 LOUISVILLE
Nov 24 at Pittsburgh]]> Sep 8 at Auburn 7 p.m. (ESPN or ESPN2)
Sep 15 Bye
Sep 22 NORTH CAROLINA
Sep 28 WEST VIRGINIA 8 p.m. (ESPN2)
Oct 6 at Florida Atlantic
Oct 13 UCF
Oct 18 at Rutgers 7:30 p.m. ESPN (THURSDAY NIGHT)
Oct 27 at Connecticut
Nov 3 CINCINNATI
Nov 10 at Syracuse
Nov 17 LOUISVILLE
Nov 24 at Pittsburgh]]> http://ncaabbs.com/showthread.php?tid=72441 Fri, 23 Feb 2007 10:57:36 -0600 http://ncaabbs.com/showthread.php?tid=72441
"it was a tiny tiny hairline the doc said it will heal faster than a bad sprain...so all is good so far!"

"it was not a kick it was one def. player pushed back just below the knee ( thank god it was not above the knee) and the other had his foot so gotta give somewhere!! thanks for you concern....c'mon spring!!"]]>
"it was a tiny tiny hairline the doc said it will heal faster than a bad sprain...so all is good so far!"

"it was not a kick it was one def. player pushed back just below the knee ( thank god it was not above the knee) and the other had his foot so gotta give somewhere!! thanks for you concern....c'mon spring!!"]]> http://ncaabbs.com/showthread.php?tid=72440 Fri, 23 Feb 2007 10:56:47 -0600 http://ncaabbs.com/showthread.php?tid=72440 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QbBTsNg_KGo]]> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QbBTsNg_KGo]]> http://ncaabbs.com/showthread.php?tid=72439 Fri, 23 Feb 2007 10:55:47 -0600 http://ncaabbs.com/showthread.php?tid=72439 USF-West Virginia Football Game to be Televised for National Audience
Courtesy: USF
Release: 02/15/2007
TAMPA, Fla. (Feb. 15, 2007) -- When USF and West Virginia open their Big East Conference football schedule in 2007, they will do so in front of an ESPN2 national television audience Friday, September 28 at 8 p.m. in Raymond James Stadium.

With the addition of the West Virginia game, USF now has at least three games on national television. The Bulls will play at Auburn September 8 on either ESPN or ESPN 2 and at Rutgers October 18 in their first-ever ESPN Thursday night appearance.

USF, who defeated East Carolina in the 2006 Papajohns.com Bowl, closed out its regular season last year with a 24-19 win at West Virginia in a game also aired on ESPN2. The Mountaineers went on to defeat Rutgers in their Big East finale en route to a win over Georgia Tech in the Gator Bowl.

]]> USF-West Virginia Football Game to be Televised for National Audience
Courtesy: USF
Release: 02/15/2007
TAMPA, Fla. (Feb. 15, 2007) -- When USF and West Virginia open their Big East Conference football schedule in 2007, they will do so in front of an ESPN2 national television audience Friday, September 28 at 8 p.m. in Raymond James Stadium.

With the addition of the West Virginia game, USF now has at least three games on national television. The Bulls will play at Auburn September 8 on either ESPN or ESPN 2 and at Rutgers October 18 in their first-ever ESPN Thursday night appearance.

USF, who defeated East Carolina in the 2006 Papajohns.com Bowl, closed out its regular season last year with a 24-19 win at West Virginia in a game also aired on ESPN2. The Mountaineers went on to defeat Rutgers in their Big East finale en route to a win over Georgia Tech in the Gator Bowl.

]]> http://ncaabbs.com/showthread.php?tid=72438 Fri, 23 Feb 2007 10:54:07 -0600 http://ncaabbs.com/showthread.php?tid=72438 Former NFL Executive Tutors Prospects Before Combine

By Les Carpenter
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, February 22, 2007; Page E01

DULUTH, Ga., Feb. 21 -- In a conference room of a La Quinta Inn not far from Interstate 85, there operates an NFL draft preparatory course so unique that no one has been able to duplicate it. The course runs just one session, for eight hours of one day, and unlike all other draft preparations there will be no sprints or weightlifting, nor will a football ever be thrown.

There won't even be a written test.

Rather, to those who attend it, the eight-hour session might best be described as a football charm school in which players learn the best salutations, are told how to wear their shirts and discover the art of writing thank-you notes to coaches for interviews at the NFL's annual draft combine, which begins in earnest today in Indianapolis. All of it is learned with a few gentle nudges from the instructor.

"Hello, Mr. Gruden, it's nice to meet you," former University of South Florida linebacker Stephen Nicholas said enthusiastically in a mock introduction to Tampa Bay Buccaneers Coach Jon Gruden.

" Coach Gruden!" thundered Ken Herock, a onetime NFL executive who is the course's inventor and lone instructor.

Nicholas flinched.

"Um, hello, Coach Gruden, it's nice to meet you," he said.

It may seem to be a small thing, but names and titles can be worth thousands of dollars in today's NFL. "Those coaches like to hear their names," Herock reminded the three players gathered in the conference room on this day. "Don't just call them 'Sir.' "

In a league climate where, more than ever, a player's time in handcuffs matters more than his time in a shuttle drill, character will have an impact on the draft, which this year will be held April 28-29. Teams can't afford to make mistakes at the combine, which runs through Tuesday and gives teams the chance to evaluate college players. With many first impressions being made at the combine as teams interview prospects in the evening after workouts, the right walk, answer or handshake could send a candidate zooming up the draft board in a coach's mind.

For the past six years, Herock has made the 50-mile drive from his home to the La Quinta to sit in this room two or three days a week from December through February, preparing giant men to dazzle grizzled old football coaches. Sometimes, at the request of an agent, he travels to do the same thing in a different motel in Phoenix or Newark or Fort Lauderdale, Fla. But the lesson plan almost always is the same: a couple hours of group preparation on what to expect from teams at the combine, and several more hours of personal instruction with a video camera and lists of nearly every conceivable question a player will be asked.

"The most surprising thing was how much I had to sell myself," Jemalle Cornelius, a wide receiver from the University of Florida, said after a recent session. "I came off with a little bit of a swagger. That was uncomfortable. I try to speak modestly about myself."

But the players in the room listen. They do this partly because Herock, a former tight end for Oakland, Cincinnati and New England, has a presence, even at 65 years old, with white hair and a black sports jacket over a black sweater. His voice booms. But he also was a player personnel director or executive for four NFL teams -- Oakland, Tampa Bay, Atlanta and Green Bay -- for close to 30 years before retiring in 2001. It also doesn't hurt that he ran the first combine, in 1982 in Tampa.

"Remember, you are being evaluated. Even I'm evaluating you," he tells the players. He tells them that lasting impressions with teams can be made the moment a player walks in the door. For instance, one executive he worked with was instantly turned off by a player who gave a cold fish of a handshake.

Herock, himself, remembers sitting several times as an executive in the makeshift offices that teams create in hotel rooms at the combine and watching with dread as a player he coveted buried himself in the 15-minute interview.

"As soon as the player left the room, the coach would go, 'I don't want that [guy] on my team,' " Herock said. "I think I can help that guy."

Agent Pat Dye Jr. raves about the work Herock did with one of his clients, New York Giants wide receiver Tim Carter, who in 2002 went from being shy and withdrawn to assertive in an afternoon.

"It was a personality transformation," Dye said. "The Giants brought him in for a visit before the draft and they were blown away. He wound up being the second senior wide receiver drafted that year [in the second round]. I think it absolutely helped in Timmy's case."

As word of Herock's class has gotten around, agents have brought him their troubled clients, hoping he can work magic on bad attitudes or long rap sheets. Last year, former Virginia Tech quarterback Marcus Vick walked into the La Quinta, already scarred by a number of college incidents that led to his dismissal from the team. Upon meeting Herock, he did little to change that impression by saying, "Ahhh man."

" 'First of all, I don't like you,' " Herock said he told Vick. " 'I'm emulating an NFL GM now and I don't like you. Now you have to change that.'

"I think that helped him right away," Herock said. Vick eventually got an invitation to try out for the Miami Dolphins and wound up making the team.

Herock does not hold back when talking about the players he hates. None bothers him more than Maurice Clarett, the former star running back from Ohio State who got into academic troubles and never played beyond his freshman year. Clarett, Herock said, sat through the class smiling, arguing that he didn't need the interview preparation because NFL teams were going to be so overwhelmed by his speed and workouts that he would rise through the draft on football alone.

Clarett was drafted by the Broncos in the third round in 2005 but was cut at the end of training camp after a summer of ineffective performances and run-ins with assistant coaches. A year later, he was sentenced to 7 1/2 years in prison after pleading guilty to robbery and concealed weapons charges.

To this day, Herock calls him "that little punk."

But the one player who sticks in Herock's mind is not one he trained but one he helped draft in the mid 1990s -- cornerback Ron Davis from Tennessee. Then with the Falcons, Herock loved Davis's ability to cover receivers but was troubled by his college suspensions for marijuana use. Still, Atlanta brought Davis into its hotel room at the combine for an interview.

Herock started by asking Davis to stand before the room and tell everyone from the team about the drugs. And for 15 minutes, Davis stunned them by eloquently apologizing for the problems at Tennessee and promising they would never happen again. When he was finished, the room was silent. Football men who had become accustomed to insincere expressions of regret were astonished. They decided to move him onto their draft board and eventually picked him in the second round.

But soon there were problems. A positive drug test, then another, and suddenly Davis was suspended for a season. He bounced around, trying to make comebacks, always giving heartfelt declarations of a new, clean lifestyle before finally walking away from the Packers in 2000, while Herock was working in Green Bay.

"He said, 'I can't do it anymore,' and I knew what he meant," Herock said in his class. "If I could dress up Ron Davis and put him in a coat and tie and send him up there and talk and have it work, what can I do for the good guys?"

In a way, it might have helped give Herock the idea to start this class after he left the Packers after the 2001 season. Left with nothing to do but wanting to do something in football, he called agents he had known over the years (including Dye), wondering if they would be interested in him training players on preparing for the combine. The response was overwhelming. No one had thought of such a thing.

A few sessions were put together, always with groups of no more than three players. And the business grew from there, with the only real addition being the fact that Herock tapes the mock interviews so players can see and correct imperfections. In Cornelius's case, the wide receiver moved a little too much as he spoke. Herock asks personal questions about drug and steroid use because he knows the players will be asked about it in their team interviews. The answers remain private, as do the individual sessions in which not even the players' agents who hired Herock are let in the room.

Herock won't say what he charges, though he hints that it pays like a full-time job for the three months that he does it. He has heard that league executives have been complaining about his course, concerned that it is leaving many players too polished for their interviews and not giving teams an unvarnished look at their personalities.

He laughed.

"You can't be a con man all of the time," he said. Eventually, the player's true personality -- if flawed -- would come out. "I'm just making the communication better."]]> Former NFL Executive Tutors Prospects Before Combine

By Les Carpenter
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, February 22, 2007; Page E01

DULUTH, Ga., Feb. 21 -- In a conference room of a La Quinta Inn not far from Interstate 85, there operates an NFL draft preparatory course so unique that no one has been able to duplicate it. The course runs just one session, for eight hours of one day, and unlike all other draft preparations there will be no sprints or weightlifting, nor will a football ever be thrown.

There won't even be a written test.

Rather, to those who attend it, the eight-hour session might best be described as a football charm school in which players learn the best salutations, are told how to wear their shirts and discover the art of writing thank-you notes to coaches for interviews at the NFL's annual draft combine, which begins in earnest today in Indianapolis. All of it is learned with a few gentle nudges from the instructor.

"Hello, Mr. Gruden, it's nice to meet you," former University of South Florida linebacker Stephen Nicholas said enthusiastically in a mock introduction to Tampa Bay Buccaneers Coach Jon Gruden.

" Coach Gruden!" thundered Ken Herock, a onetime NFL executive who is the course's inventor and lone instructor.

Nicholas flinched.

"Um, hello, Coach Gruden, it's nice to meet you," he said.

It may seem to be a small thing, but names and titles can be worth thousands of dollars in today's NFL. "Those coaches like to hear their names," Herock reminded the three players gathered in the conference room on this day. "Don't just call them 'Sir.' "

In a league climate where, more than ever, a player's time in handcuffs matters more than his time in a shuttle drill, character will have an impact on the draft, which this year will be held April 28-29. Teams can't afford to make mistakes at the combine, which runs through Tuesday and gives teams the chance to evaluate college players. With many first impressions being made at the combine as teams interview prospects in the evening after workouts, the right walk, answer or handshake could send a candidate zooming up the draft board in a coach's mind.

For the past six years, Herock has made the 50-mile drive from his home to the La Quinta to sit in this room two or three days a week from December through February, preparing giant men to dazzle grizzled old football coaches. Sometimes, at the request of an agent, he travels to do the same thing in a different motel in Phoenix or Newark or Fort Lauderdale, Fla. But the lesson plan almost always is the same: a couple hours of group preparation on what to expect from teams at the combine, and several more hours of personal instruction with a video camera and lists of nearly every conceivable question a player will be asked.

"The most surprising thing was how much I had to sell myself," Jemalle Cornelius, a wide receiver from the University of Florida, said after a recent session. "I came off with a little bit of a swagger. That was uncomfortable. I try to speak modestly about myself."

But the players in the room listen. They do this partly because Herock, a former tight end for Oakland, Cincinnati and New England, has a presence, even at 65 years old, with white hair and a black sports jacket over a black sweater. His voice booms. But he also was a player personnel director or executive for four NFL teams -- Oakland, Tampa Bay, Atlanta and Green Bay -- for close to 30 years before retiring in 2001. It also doesn't hurt that he ran the first combine, in 1982 in Tampa.

"Remember, you are being evaluated. Even I'm evaluating you," he tells the players. He tells them that lasting impressions with teams can be made the moment a player walks in the door. For instance, one executive he worked with was instantly turned off by a player who gave a cold fish of a handshake.

Herock, himself, remembers sitting several times as an executive in the makeshift offices that teams create in hotel rooms at the combine and watching with dread as a player he coveted buried himself in the 15-minute interview.

"As soon as the player left the room, the coach would go, 'I don't want that [guy] on my team,' " Herock said. "I think I can help that guy."

Agent Pat Dye Jr. raves about the work Herock did with one of his clients, New York Giants wide receiver Tim Carter, who in 2002 went from being shy and withdrawn to assertive in an afternoon.

"It was a personality transformation," Dye said. "The Giants brought him in for a visit before the draft and they were blown away. He wound up being the second senior wide receiver drafted that year [in the second round]. I think it absolutely helped in Timmy's case."

As word of Herock's class has gotten around, agents have brought him their troubled clients, hoping he can work magic on bad attitudes or long rap sheets. Last year, former Virginia Tech quarterback Marcus Vick walked into the La Quinta, already scarred by a number of college incidents that led to his dismissal from the team. Upon meeting Herock, he did little to change that impression by saying, "Ahhh man."

" 'First of all, I don't like you,' " Herock said he told Vick. " 'I'm emulating an NFL GM now and I don't like you. Now you have to change that.'

"I think that helped him right away," Herock said. Vick eventually got an invitation to try out for the Miami Dolphins and wound up making the team.

Herock does not hold back when talking about the players he hates. None bothers him more than Maurice Clarett, the former star running back from Ohio State who got into academic troubles and never played beyond his freshman year. Clarett, Herock said, sat through the class smiling, arguing that he didn't need the interview preparation because NFL teams were going to be so overwhelmed by his speed and workouts that he would rise through the draft on football alone.

Clarett was drafted by the Broncos in the third round in 2005 but was cut at the end of training camp after a summer of ineffective performances and run-ins with assistant coaches. A year later, he was sentenced to 7 1/2 years in prison after pleading guilty to robbery and concealed weapons charges.

To this day, Herock calls him "that little punk."

But the one player who sticks in Herock's mind is not one he trained but one he helped draft in the mid 1990s -- cornerback Ron Davis from Tennessee. Then with the Falcons, Herock loved Davis's ability to cover receivers but was troubled by his college suspensions for marijuana use. Still, Atlanta brought Davis into its hotel room at the combine for an interview.

Herock started by asking Davis to stand before the room and tell everyone from the team about the drugs. And for 15 minutes, Davis stunned them by eloquently apologizing for the problems at Tennessee and promising they would never happen again. When he was finished, the room was silent. Football men who had become accustomed to insincere expressions of regret were astonished. They decided to move him onto their draft board and eventually picked him in the second round.

But soon there were problems. A positive drug test, then another, and suddenly Davis was suspended for a season. He bounced around, trying to make comebacks, always giving heartfelt declarations of a new, clean lifestyle before finally walking away from the Packers in 2000, while Herock was working in Green Bay.

"He said, 'I can't do it anymore,' and I knew what he meant," Herock said in his class. "If I could dress up Ron Davis and put him in a coat and tie and send him up there and talk and have it work, what can I do for the good guys?"

In a way, it might have helped give Herock the idea to start this class after he left the Packers after the 2001 season. Left with nothing to do but wanting to do something in football, he called agents he had known over the years (including Dye), wondering if they would be interested in him training players on preparing for the combine. The response was overwhelming. No one had thought of such a thing.

A few sessions were put together, always with groups of no more than three players. And the business grew from there, with the only real addition being the fact that Herock tapes the mock interviews so players can see and correct imperfections. In Cornelius's case, the wide receiver moved a little too much as he spoke. Herock asks personal questions about drug and steroid use because he knows the players will be asked about it in their team interviews. The answers remain private, as do the individual sessions in which not even the players' agents who hired Herock are let in the room.

Herock won't say what he charges, though he hints that it pays like a full-time job for the three months that he does it. He has heard that league executives have been complaining about his course, concerned that it is leaving many players too polished for their interviews and not giving teams an unvarnished look at their personalities.

He laughed.

"You can't be a con man all of the time," he said. Eventually, the player's true personality -- if flawed -- would come out. "I'm just making the communication better."]]> http://ncaabbs.com/showthread.php?tid=72437 Fri, 23 Feb 2007 10:53:12 -0600 http://ncaabbs.com/showthread.php?tid=72437

http://www.gousfbulls.com/mediaPlayer/vi...E=ONDEMAND]]>

http://www.gousfbulls.com/mediaPlayer/vi...E=ONDEMAND]]> http://ncaabbs.com/showthread.php?tid=72436 Fri, 23 Feb 2007 10:51:47 -0600 http://ncaabbs.com/showthread.php?tid=72436 http://ncaabbs.com/showthread.php?tid=72435 Fri, 23 Feb 2007 10:48:10 -0600 http://ncaabbs.com/showthread.php?tid=72435 http://ncaabbs.com/showthread.php?tid=72434 Fri, 23 Feb 2007 10:47:05 -0600 http://ncaabbs.com/showthread.php?tid=72434
http://youtube.com/watch?v=QiwAtnLXxBw]]>
http://youtube.com/watch?v=QiwAtnLXxBw]]> http://ncaabbs.com/showthread.php?tid=72433 Fri, 23 Feb 2007 10:45:59 -0600 http://ncaabbs.com/showthread.php?tid=72433 http://ncaabbs.com/showthread.php?tid=72432 Fri, 23 Feb 2007 10:43:48 -0600 http://ncaabbs.com/showthread.php?tid=72432 Receiver Murdock says he's headed to USF
Nothing against Zach Hobby the other day, but here's a potentially big transfer in the works: former Middleton receiver O.J. Murdock, ranked among the nation's top 100 recruits by Rivals.com two years ago, said Monday he's transferring to USF after barely playing in two seasons at South Carolina.

Murdock, 5-11 and 187 pounds, has sprinter-class speed, enough that Rivals had him as the nation's No. 10 receiver prospect after his senior year at Middleton, where he caught 57 passes for 927 yards and 11 touchdowns. His numbers at South Carolina? Not so good: one redshirt season, then one catch for 8 yards last season.

USF has not gotten a release from South Carolina, so coaches technically can't have even talked to Murdock, but Steve Spurrier told a Greenville, S.C., paper last week that Murdock was probably headed to USF, something that was confirmed Monday by his coach at Middleton, Harry Hubbard, and his brother, Middleton senior Sherod Murdock, who signed with Pittsburgh last week. I finally got O.J. on the phone at about 8:30 on Monday night, and he said he's made up his mind to come to USF this summer.

"I want to be closer to home," he said. "My family needs me, and this is a better fit for me."

Murdock said Jim Leavitt told him two years ago there would always be a scholarship for him at USF if he ever changed his mind. So this is a little like depositing a two-year-old check at the bank, but Hubbard said Murdock's talented enough that he has no doubt USF would take him, given the chance. USF can't really talk about him, so there will be some uncertainty until he's actually on campus. He could be like Amp Hill and arrive as expected, or he could ultimately be like Pat Carter and show up somewhere else.


Murdock would have to sit out the 2007 season, then would have two years of eligibility with the Bulls. I think the Amp Hill comparison would be an appropriate one, except that Hill's struggles at LSU were largely injury-related, while some of Murdock's problems were more self-inflicted. His speed is a great skill, and he'll have a year to work with USF's receivers and hone the rest of his skills for next season.

Now if you're counting at home, this puts USF at 29 kids -- the 26 announced signees, plus Carlton Hill and Tyrone McKenzie, plus now Murdock. McKenzie is a walk-on right now, but my understanding is he goes on scholarship this fall if he gets his hardship waiver. We know that Mike McGowan is a greyshirt who won't arrive until January, so that puts USF three over the limit of 25 initial scholarships, meaning it's safe to say at least three won't qualify academically. I know Pearl River in Mississippi is holding a spot for one USF signee, but since the kid is still optimistic about getting the test scores he needs to go directly to the Bulls, I'm not going to stigmatize him by outing him here. Just making sure people understand that not everybody's going to be there in the fall ...]]> Receiver Murdock says he's headed to USF
Nothing against Zach Hobby the other day, but here's a potentially big transfer in the works: former Middleton receiver O.J. Murdock, ranked among the nation's top 100 recruits by Rivals.com two years ago, said Monday he's transferring to USF after barely playing in two seasons at South Carolina.

Murdock, 5-11 and 187 pounds, has sprinter-class speed, enough that Rivals had him as the nation's No. 10 receiver prospect after his senior year at Middleton, where he caught 57 passes for 927 yards and 11 touchdowns. His numbers at South Carolina? Not so good: one redshirt season, then one catch for 8 yards last season.

USF has not gotten a release from South Carolina, so coaches technically can't have even talked to Murdock, but Steve Spurrier told a Greenville, S.C., paper last week that Murdock was probably headed to USF, something that was confirmed Monday by his coach at Middleton, Harry Hubbard, and his brother, Middleton senior Sherod Murdock, who signed with Pittsburgh last week. I finally got O.J. on the phone at about 8:30 on Monday night, and he said he's made up his mind to come to USF this summer.

"I want to be closer to home," he said. "My family needs me, and this is a better fit for me."

Murdock said Jim Leavitt told him two years ago there would always be a scholarship for him at USF if he ever changed his mind. So this is a little like depositing a two-year-old check at the bank, but Hubbard said Murdock's talented enough that he has no doubt USF would take him, given the chance. USF can't really talk about him, so there will be some uncertainty until he's actually on campus. He could be like Amp Hill and arrive as expected, or he could ultimately be like Pat Carter and show up somewhere else.


Murdock would have to sit out the 2007 season, then would have two years of eligibility with the Bulls. I think the Amp Hill comparison would be an appropriate one, except that Hill's struggles at LSU were largely injury-related, while some of Murdock's problems were more self-inflicted. His speed is a great skill, and he'll have a year to work with USF's receivers and hone the rest of his skills for next season.

Now if you're counting at home, this puts USF at 29 kids -- the 26 announced signees, plus Carlton Hill and Tyrone McKenzie, plus now Murdock. McKenzie is a walk-on right now, but my understanding is he goes on scholarship this fall if he gets his hardship waiver. We know that Mike McGowan is a greyshirt who won't arrive until January, so that puts USF three over the limit of 25 initial scholarships, meaning it's safe to say at least three won't qualify academically. I know Pearl River in Mississippi is holding a spot for one USF signee, but since the kid is still optimistic about getting the test scores he needs to go directly to the Bulls, I'm not going to stigmatize him by outing him here. Just making sure people understand that not everybody's going to be there in the fall ...]]>