University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Signing Day News Conference
2/4/2004 12:00:00 AM | Football
Signing Day News Conference
Jeff Bower Quotes
Opening comments
This was a good day for Southern Miss football. I?m excited about our signing class. We?re done. We got 23 student-athletes that we signed today and feel really good about them.
I think we got a lot of quality, a lot of good character, and I think we?ve got some good students in this group. I really want to recognize our assistant coaches and our support staff for the job that they did throughout recruiting.
I think that this is another quality class that we?re bringing into our university. We got a lot of guys who are going to help us out. Obviously the mid-year guys, who are already here, will, without a doubt, have chance to help this football next year. I think that within this group there are some guys who are going help us immediately. We are really pleased, really excited about this class.
We got a little bit of everywhere. We had 11 from
Recruiting in
Well, Randy gets over there. His area goes all the way to the
On how does this signing class ranks in comparison with the past classes
Oh, I can?t do that right now. You have to wait and see; but you know we recruited these guys long and hard. We were impressed with them, watching them on tape and through the evaluation process of their character. You know, we?ll wait and see on that question but we?re real pleased with this class.
On being disappointed about not signing some area players
Oh, you?re always disappointed, but you don?t want guys who don?t want to come here. We worked hard, and it?s always going to be very important for us to do a great job with the local players. You try to keep as many of them at home as we can, but we got some good ones. We?re disappointed that we lost some, but that?s recruiting. You?re not going to get everybody.
On signing another quarterback
We were recruiting quarterbacks, and we wanted to sign one. That decision was really made after the bowl game. With Mickey not being able to play anymore, then, without a doubt, we had to go after and sign at least one.
On the need at running back and fullback positions
We got two quality running backs. We got what we wanted right there. We signed one fullback and two tailbacks.
On Britt Barefoot
Well, he?s an athlete. I was really impressed watching him on tape. He?s got a big leg. He kicks them out of the end zone. I know he kicks from the 40, but even from the college 35 they would be out of the end zone. He?s a good punter. He?s just got a strong leg. He?s a good athlete. I think he could be both a punter and a kicker, and possibly play some at wide receiver. It just depends. I think the most important thing is to emphasize the kicking and punting, kicking initially, but he gets the ball off, and we saw him kick off the ground. He has lots of leg strength, no doubt.
On Cedrick Jones
I don?t know if Cedrick?s going to qualify. If he doesn?t we want him to come to school next year and get his eligibility.
On the grades of other players
We?re waiting to see on a few of them, but most of them have qualified. And, there are some of them who have got a little work to do who we feel are going to qualify.
On signing Barefoot being a sign of displeasure with the kicking game.
No, just looking to the future. Here?s a guy who could be your kickoff guy next year. I don?t know if Darren?s got the leg strength to be our kickoff guy. We need another punter. Luke will be a junior next year, so we were looking to the future there.
On who would have a shot at providing immediate help
It?s just so hard to say. Typically the ones who come in and help you the quickest are the skilled athletes, the receivers and the defensive backs. Those guys. Maybe a running back. It?s a little bit more difficult to get the offensive linemen and the defensive linemen to step in there and play, although Tom Johnson, a mid-year guy, is going to have that chance. Again, we just have to wait and see. There is a good chance that some of those defensive backs that we signed will have a chance to get ready to play.
On Thomas Johnson
I think he he?s a real good player. He was high priority for us in recruiting because he?s an outstanding player. He?s also a mid-year graduate. That?s why he was so important to this recruiting class.
On the facility helping recruiting
Well, I know that it helps because this is the first year that I never heard lack of facilities. Kids talked about how nice the facility is, and obviously, it really helped sell our program. I think the stability this program that we accomplished over the eight years in Conference
On Ivory Bradshaw
He?s one who can be either wide receiver or defensive back. He can do either one. He can really run.
On Philip Tobias
We think he?s going to be an offensive lineman, and that?s what we?ve talked to him about. If he can come in here, we?ll probably do what we?ve always done. We?ll work players on both sides of the ball early on, and if he?s good enough to play defensive line ... and I hope he is, that?s where he?ll play.
On Eric Phillips
He?s going to be big. He?s got really great growth potential. He?s all of 6-6, and I think he?s going to be an inside or outside guy defensively.
On Eric Elijah
This was big for us, because he?s a really good player. Randy did a good job of recruiting him. It got heated with him. There were a lot of folks in there, but Randy was with him a long time, and developed a good relationship with him. He?s a defensive tackle, he?s a big guy who is athletic. He reminds us a lot of Daleroy Stewart in that he?s physical and powerful and a good athlete. And, I think he?s going to be big. He?s going to be probably a 225-pounder. I think he?s going to be a good size running back.
On C.J. Barrows
He has big, broad shoulders. He?s also got some potential to get a lot bigger. I can?t remember, but Derrick (Nix) was probably a little bit bigger at this point in time, but I think C.J.?s got a chance to get big.
On Dustin Danzie
He was in our camp last summer, and he caught our eye there. Some of these guys were in camp. Brandon Sumrall was in camp and did a great job. McRath was. I think Dustin Danzie. But there is another kid (McRath) who was a highly recruited player from up there in
On if Lance Moore is a true cornerback
I think so. He had 15 interceptions, and he was in our camp also. That?s the great thing about getting kids in camp. You get a chance to look at them and test them and do all those things. You don?t make many mistakes when you have an opportunity to get them in camp here. He led the state in interceptions last year, and we?ve projected him as corner.
On Webb and Willingham
Willingham?s a pure corner. He can really run, and he?s got great feet. Ladarius Webb could play on either side of the ball. He was one of these high school quarterbacks who also is a heck of a basketball player and runs track. He?s just an athlete. He could probably go on either side of the ball.
On Brandon Sumrall
We wanted him as a safety. That?s what we recruited him as.
On Cole Mason
He?s powerful. He?s probably about 240 right now, though he doesn?t look like it. He?s going to get bigger. He?s a real physical player. They won the state championship. He?s a good linebacker, but we recruited him as fullback. That?s probably the first fullback recruit since we made the change in offense last year and it was big for us. We needed a fullback. And as you would expect, he got a lot of attention.
On how many of the recruits were highly recruited
A lot of them. We battled everybody for most every one of these kids. There are some who are the typical Southern Miss recruits, who probably weren?t highly recruited. I hope there is a Mike Boley, Rod Davis, T. J. Slaughter or Adalius Thomas in the group. I could go on and on and on. We?ve had a lot of them like that, but we just go on pure evaluation.
On if it helps that Southern Miss is landing some big name recruits.
I think it always helps. When you?ve got a lot of competition for these guys and you win those battles, that always helps.
On Strauder and
No, we lost them. There were a few of them sitting on the fence, and we did not know which way they were going to fall ? probably more so than usual, I guess, compared to other years. I talked about Nelson. He was one that we thought we would get, but were not really sure. There was still some competition there, and we didn?t find out about
On how many more Southern Miss might sign
Probably none. You know there is always a chance that something could happen, and we always try to keep a scholarship available in case a need arises, injuries or whatever. Right now we?re done.
On losing anybody after the fall semester
I dismissed one player, Calvin Murray, for violating academic policies.
