I don't see what the big deal is. These guys were walk-ons, not scholarship players. They weren't going to get scholarships, so likely decided to leave. We don't really need 5'8" receivers at the D1 level. This is much ado about nothing if you really want a better football team at Sac State.
Look at the receiver line-up we have and the recruits coming in:
Current Wide Receivers & Tight Ends:
No. Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl. Exp. Hometown/Previous School
15 Ronald Richardson WR 5*11 200 Jr. 2V Pomona, Calif./Grant HS
43 Spencer Arns WR 5*11 165 Fr. HS Portland, Ore./Westview HS
80 John Blea WR 6*4 210 Jr. RS Oakhurst, Calif./Fresno City JC
81 Chase Deadder WR 6*4 210 So. 1V Modesto, Calif./Central Catholic HS
83 James Bobak TE 6*0 220 Fr. RS Antelope, Calif./Oakmont HS
84 Mark Lavey TE 6*1 230 Sr. 1V Pleasanton, Calif./CC of San Francisco
85 Jon Krebs TE 6*4 220 Jr. JC Galt, Calif./Sacramento City JC
87 Dylan Lane WR 6*2 190 Jr. 2V Rocklin, Calif./Rocklin HS
88 Brett Willis WR 6*3 205 Jr. 1V Bakersfield, Calif./Colorado State
89 Brian Heath TE 6*3 250 Sr. 3V Penryn, Calif./Del Oro HS
Fall arrivals:
Jonathan Krebs TE 6*4 220 Jr. TR Galt/Sac City JC
Morris Norrise WR 6*0 170 FR Berkeley HS
Brandyn Reed WR 6*4 200 Jr. TR Santa Rose JC
And if you haven't read about Brandyn Reed, do so and you will forget about the aforementioned two receivers in a nano-second (with respect to playing at Sac State...I wish them no ill will in whatever they pursue going forward):
Brandyn Reed
WR • 6-4 • 200 • Windsor, Calif./Santa Rosa JC
Comes to the Hornets from Santa Rosa JC…named first team All-America by JC Grid-Wire and first team all-Region 1 by the JC Athletic Bureau as a sophomore in 2008…was also listed as a top 50 JC recruit by Fab 50 Recruiting and a two-start recruit by Rivals.com…caught 61 passes for 1,195 yards and 16 touchdowns for the Bear Cubs as a senior…grabbed 33 passes for 540 yards and 10 scores as a freshman…was twice selected to the all-Northern California Football Association team…played with fellow recruit Jarred Pereira at SRJC…graduated from Windsor HS in 2007…was named all-Peninsula by the San Francisco Chronicle three times…was also a three-time all-Sonoma County League selection…caught 34 passes for 713 yards and 11 touchdowns as a senior…rushed for two scores and had 33 total tackles that same year…as a junior, he caught 50 passes for 781 yards and seven touchdowns…also intercepted five passes and made 24 tackles as a defensive back.
Finally to criticize Sperbeck is ridiculous. He's done more in two years than most expected and is continuing to make significant progress in recruiting, study habits, strength & conditioning, not to mention a more competitive team. yeah, he's old school. He doesn't allow prima donna's and he demands everyone respect each other and do their job on and off the field. Sounds like a good idea to me.
Spring practice was only a disaster from an injury perspective. It shows we need more depth, but as I mentioned earlier, we don't need undersized players at this stage of the game. Look at the new scholarship recruits. These guys are studs. Our recruiting efforts are getting better and better. We are competing with schools who said we never even showed up before for certain types of players.
One example, David Bold, from Bakersfield. This kid is a beast and many D1 schools were after him at the end, but we had been working on him for over three years and he loved the loyalty that the Hornets showed him over the long term.
Sperbeck's done a pretty good job with not the greatest talent, so watch him take us to the top of the Big Sky when he continues to get kids we need to win at that level like he did in this last recruiting class.
