College Football: January 2009 Archives

We live in a culture fascinated with rankings and lists, whether it's the best colleges (U.S. News & World Report), places to live (Money Magazine) or "Top Five Bands or Musicians Who Will Have To Be Shot Come the Musical Revolution" ("High Fidelity").

Between the Super Bowl and national signing day, we'll be flooded with both across the next few weeks. Still, that kind of volume doesn't mean rankings and lists aren't interesting.

MaxPreps.com recently sent along its Sophomore All-American teams. The players from the Land of Lincoln, as written up by Stephen Spiewak and Kevin Askeland, include:

WR Davaris Daniels, Vernon Hills (Ill.), 6-3, 170
Daniels earned All-State honorable mention after another impressive season for Vernon Hills. His speed and size combination provides matchup problems for opposing defenses.

OL Victor Nelson, Maine South (Park Ridge, Ill.), 6-7, 294
College coaches made their rounds at Maine South this season as the 8A champs featured star quarterback Charlie Goro, committed to Vanderbilt. The road to Park Ridge will continue to get heavy use by recruiters, as Victor Nelson is already on the radar of numerous major programs.

LB Rodney Coe, Edwardsville (Ill.) 6-3, 230
Coe starred at both running back and linebacker for Edwardsville. He was a second team All-State selection by the News-Democrat, prone to exploding for big games. In a two-game stretch, he went off for 451 yards and five touchdowns. Expect to see Coe on defense in college.

In choosing Cornell, Nick Mlady consulted with Zac Canty, a wide receiver from Naperville North who also ventured out to Ithaca, N.Y. After earning honorable mention all-Ivy League honors as a junior in 2007, Canty caught 51 passes for 496 yards in his senior season as the Big Red finished 4-6 overall and 2-5 in conference. Mlady and Canty didn't play together at North - and won't at Cornell - but the connection helped answer some questions and come to a final decision.

Waubonsie Valley quarterback Tyler Castro, who was looking at Cornell, probably will not join Nick Mlady in the Ivy League. Castro has visits scheduled for next week at Drake and Eastern Illinois, the two front-runners in his recruitment.

"I know the signing date's coming up and all that but I'm not exactly sure when I'm planning (to decide). Hopefully as soon as possible," Castro said. "I'd like to get it out of the way (but) I don't want to rush it. I don't want to make a mistake."

Naperville North senior running back Nick Mlady, who will leave the school as its all-time leading rusher, has committed to play at Cornell next season.

Naperville North senior Alex Helms has committed to play football at Concordia (Minn.) next season. Though Helms was a unanimous all-DuPage Valley Conference offensive lineman last season, the Division II St. Paul university recruited Helms as a linebacker, his part-time position for the 10-1 Huskies. As a pulling guard in North's double-wing offense, Helms helped pave the way for Nick Mlady to break the school's career rushing record and was voted the DVC's outstanding offensive lineman.

Northwestern offensive line coach Bret Ingalls will jump to the NFL and work for Naperville native Sean Payton in New Orleans. The Saints will get an assistant who apparently had some good connections in the Chicago suburbs.

ESPN.com Big Ten writer Adam Rittenberg reports in his blog:

(Ingalls) coached the Big Ten's youngest line this season and got decent results, as Northwestern tied for second in the league in fewest sacks allowed (22) and went 9-4. Ingalls' biggest contributions have come as a recruiter, as he helped land top line prospects like Brian Mulroe (Loyola), Nick Adamle (Wheaton North) and Jeff Radek (Neuqua Valley) last February.

Payton and Ingalls worked together at San Diego State in the late-1980s and early-1990s, helping develop a running back named Marshall Faulk.

We checked in with Waubonsie Valley senior kicker Mitch Ewald last week for the Sunday column, and after a busy offseason he thinks he'll have a good chance to win the job at Indiana.

"I'll be the kicker on scholarship," Ewald said. "It comes down to whoever performs in camp."

The Hoosiers will need to replace redshirt senior Austin Starr, who last season kicked all 17 of their field goals and handled 53 of 54 kickoffs. Indiana finished 3-9, with its only Big Ten victory coming against Northwestern.

"I definitely know that my coaches have high expectations (for) me and I have even higher expectations for myself," Ewald said. "But there's no doubt in my mind (that I'll) go down there and win the job. That's what my plan is."

One recent trend in college football has been the high school senior enrolling early for the spring semester. Quarterback Jimmy Clausen did it in his transition from Oaks Christian (Calif.) to Notre Dame in 2007. And some Naperville-area soccer players have made similar moves - Greg Jordan (Central/Creighton) and Brendan King (Benet/Florida's Edison Academic Center/Notre Dame) to name two. Apparently major college basketball has caught on to this trend, as Seattle Times columnist Bud Withers points out within this national notebook:

You've heard of high-school football seniors graduating early to get a jump on college academics and spring practice? Hollis Thompson, a 6-foot-6 forward from renowned De La Salle High in the Bay Area, was due to enroll Wednesday at Georgetown, where coach John Thompson III says he will practice but not play this season.

Two of Waubonsie Valley's most valuable players remain uncommitted, according to Warriors coach Paul Murphy. Three-year starting quarterback Tyler Castro - who threw for more than 2,000 yards as a senior - is being looked at by Cornell, Drake and Butler. Sherrod Stancil - a defensive lineman who drew constant double-teams and is considered by Murphy to be a Division I talent - is being recruited by Grand Valley State, among others.