I went to hear Coach Kramer give his recruiting presentation to an Idaho Falls gathering today. As usual, high energy, highly-entertaining and informative. Coach K says he's going to come to Idaho Falls and speak every Monday during the season, and promised the group "access like you've never had to a coach before." He said he's expecting to take 12 to 15 walk-ons, with as many as five from the I-F area, and he would have liked to have scholarshipped a few of them if not for the APR restrictions.
He was asked about the previously-reported "commitments" who did not sign yesterday and said ISU is still recruiting these players and waiting on better grades and/or test scores before accepting signed commitments. Kramer also dispensed several fun nuggets of info:
--ISU will not scholarship a punter as long as he's here. "We're never going to punt again," he said jokingly. Then he reminded the audience that Travis Lulay did the rugby punt thing when he was MSU's QB.
--He has not, and probably won't name a defensive coordinator. He'll be involved in developing the defensive game plan during the week, but will expect his assistants to call the defenses on game day.
--He does not believe in man-to-man coverage at this level, and his blitzes will be zone blitzes. His team will not be "blitz crazy," but will lean toward an aggressive approach, vs. bend but don't break. The Bengals will be multiple front on defense, but mostly 3-4.
--The new turf will be green ("Grass is green, not blue or red," Jeff Tingey told the audience).
--The defense will be under-manned and walk-ons will have a lot of opportunity on that side of the football because he is emphasizing scoring and offense this year.
--Aaron (?) Pew of Highland High School will walk on as a kicker and has already been admitted to school.
--Coach K gave a long, impassioned discussion of his commitment to academics, pointing out that players who do not make it to class must "tumble" in the snow on the practice field at 5 a.m. He emphasized the GPAs of most of the recruits he discussed and said there is absolutely no excuse for players missing class.
On the down side, he noted that Tavoy Moore is academically ineligible for spring football, and a few players have left the program, which will be another APR hit.
He was asked about the previously-reported "commitments" who did not sign yesterday and said ISU is still recruiting these players and waiting on better grades and/or test scores before accepting signed commitments. Kramer also dispensed several fun nuggets of info:
--ISU will not scholarship a punter as long as he's here. "We're never going to punt again," he said jokingly. Then he reminded the audience that Travis Lulay did the rugby punt thing when he was MSU's QB.
--He has not, and probably won't name a defensive coordinator. He'll be involved in developing the defensive game plan during the week, but will expect his assistants to call the defenses on game day.
--He does not believe in man-to-man coverage at this level, and his blitzes will be zone blitzes. His team will not be "blitz crazy," but will lean toward an aggressive approach, vs. bend but don't break. The Bengals will be multiple front on defense, but mostly 3-4.
--The new turf will be green ("Grass is green, not blue or red," Jeff Tingey told the audience).
--The defense will be under-manned and walk-ons will have a lot of opportunity on that side of the football because he is emphasizing scoring and offense this year.
--Aaron (?) Pew of Highland High School will walk on as a kicker and has already been admitted to school.
--Coach K gave a long, impassioned discussion of his commitment to academics, pointing out that players who do not make it to class must "tumble" in the snow on the practice field at 5 a.m. He emphasized the GPAs of most of the recruits he discussed and said there is absolutely no excuse for players missing class.
On the down side, he noted that Tavoy Moore is academically ineligible for spring football, and a few players have left the program, which will be another APR hit.
