University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Southern Miss Signing Day News Conference
2/6/2002 12:00:00 AM | Football
Southern Miss Signing Day News Conference
Signing Day 2002
Coach Bower Quotes
Good day for us. I am really excited. I think we have a good class. We have a lot of ability in this class. We have pushed very hard for these players. I would like to give all of the credit to the assistant coaches. They do a tremendous job of recruiting for our university and selling our program in a positive way. There are many other people who deserve credit for this signing class as well. Our Golden Girls do a tremendous job. Also, many faculty members have given their time on weekends during official visits and I want to thank them for their time spent. Our academic staff, Tracy Robinson and Kristi Pierce, have done a good job.
We are very pleased with the class. We got a little bit of everything with this class. Our biggest need was in the defensive line positions. We were really thin on numbers in that area, and I feel like we recruited some good players for our defense. Nine of our signee?s participated in our football camp last summer. I think that shows the importance of getting prospective student athletes in our camp, so we are able to evaluate them, and they can get a closer look at our program. It?s always a plus when you have the ability to look at a player for three days and assess their ability and character. We had some guys who are mid-year guys who are on campus now and are a part of this signing class. Karlin Riley who is a wide out or defensive back, Seante Williams defensive end, DeMarcus Barner bandit, Ronald Jones defensive end, Akeem Lockett outside linebacker, we think are all good football players.
They will be able to have a spring prior to next season. We are excited about them. We feel very good about this class. It was a good signing year for us. We still have a couple of players that we are not sure about and are still waiting on. We currently have 27 players who we have signed. Were not sure about all of them academically, usually that takes care of itself.
On Focusing on Defensive Line ...
From a numbers standpoint, it was a priority. We were fortunate to have a lot of good lineman in our camp this summer. From a numbers standpoint we really needed some more players. We also needed some more athletic ability in that position. Casnave, Terrance Ford, Barnes are no doubt defensive linemen and possibly Akeem Lockett. Calvin Murray or Jonathon Palmer could go either way. They played some at the tight end position, although we like them on defense. Jared Parton could play defensive line or offensive line. We recruited him as a defensive line. Willie Page, from Jones Junior College, also is a defensive lineman. Shadler Manning is a defensive end from Benton, La. DeMarcus Barner is going to play offensive lineman right now. Anything can change. Some guys can go either way, it just depends on where they fit the best.
On Robbie D?Angelo Starting as a Freshman ...
It?s too early to say on that. I think for a offensive lineman it is difficult to come in and play right away. I am going on my 12th year here and we have only had one to play right away and that was Shederick Blackmon. I am not going to say that its not possible for him to start. He is the son of a football coach and has good football knowledge. He is 280 pounds and strong physically. I hope that he is good enough coming into the program that he would start.
On Wide Receivers ...
I feel like we got some size in that area. Antwon Courington and Pedi Causey are 6-3 guys. Adam Hurst is 5-10 but can really run. We will take a look at Karlin Riley for wideout, defensive back, and quarterback. He is an athlete who can do many things. He is doing well in our offseason program.
On Athletes Knowing School Tradition ...
I think it gets better every year. You want to develop a program that is consistently good. One of the things I am most proud of, is out of 117 Division IA teams, we are one of only 12 that has a winning season for eight-straight years. The bowl games and television exposure helps. The number of players who have gone on to the NFL also has helped our exposure.
On The Running Back Position ...
We wanted to sign one in that position. We have been happy with James Walley and Anthony Harris. We will also have Derrick Nix back along with Timmy Blackwell. We didn?t feel like we needed more than one. We wanted to find the best that we could find. We feel like we got the best. He was number one on our list at that position. He is a big back at 225. We felt like we needed a big back who could run and have good speed. We are excited about getting Wayne Hardy.
On Jasper Faulk ...
We talked to him about playing defensive back. He played running back, he is athletic and real fast. We have been real pleased with the speed that we got in this class. He is athletic enough that he could be on either side of the ball. He has corner speed and ability and that is where we have really talked to him about more than any where else.
On Losing Some Commitments...
There is always some shady deals out there. I am a little disappointed with the way its gone with some kids that we have tried to recruit. There is only one way to do it and that?s by the rules and in a positive way. Not everybody does it that way.
On Ben Culp ...
He is a three-for-three guy. He has already had an injury and a redshirt year. He is already available to us and I think he can go in in any spot at the offensive lineman position.
On Quarterback Position ...
Chris Crumpton was in our camp. Smart player who can really throw the ball. That is all we wanted at that position.
On Playing Players or Redshirting ...
We are honest with the kids. Some you know physically need a redshirt year. Some we may not need any immediate help at their position. It?s a different scenario with each player. There are some players who come in and compete and learn that might have a chance to start right away. With junior college players who you go after, you are looking for immediate help out of them.
On Areas of Recruiting ...
There were some good players from Louisiana this year. We didn?t really deviate from our normal areas this year. We got a little more into central Florida. We had a number of the players in our camp over the summer. Nine players from the list were in our camp. Chris Crumpton, Robbie D?Angelo, Wayne Hardy, Adam Hurst, Karlin Riley, Greg Casnave, Terrance Ford, Jonathon Palmer, Jared Parten.
On Areas We Didn?t Get ...
Maybe another offensive lineman. I think if we came up short anywhere that was the area we came up short in numbers. We are still working on one. We wanted to sign someone for every position except for the inside linebacker position. We felt that we had enough depth at that position.
