Coach Sherman's Signing Day Press Conference Video
College Station, TX - Texas A&M football head coach Mike Sherman addressed the media today to talk about the 2011 Signing Day class.
Video from today's press conference is available above. Audio in mp3 format is available to the right. Select quotes are available below.
HEAD COACH Mike Sherman
"I'm very excited about this group of men we're bringing in. We did extensive research on our guys and from a talent and skill level, as well as character and academics, I think we really hit on some very good players that will impact our team. I think maybe nine freshmen contributed last year and I think we'll have nine freshmen contribute from this class in some capacity. I'm very excited about it. It's nice to get to this day because it ends one chapter, but we continue to recruit sophomores and juniors. It continues 365 days a year, it's never ending. It's constant communication with high school coaches, with parents, and with players. I think in the old days in recruiting, you go, `Whew, I'm glad that's over with'. But it's just beginning again. We've already had a couple of junior days and we have a couple commits we're already excited about."
"This class is one where we thought we addressed needs that we had to have addressed. Especially since we went to the 3-4 defense, we were a little light on linebackers, but I felt we were able to address some needs at linebacker. We have a few in this group that will play for us this year. When you go to a 3-4 and have that extra linebacker, it really stretches you. You saw in the bowl game, when Michael Hodges went down, we were stretched at that point. The other need was at defensive back, just to get more support on the back end. We had quite a few guys we played as freshmen their first year here and we needed to develop future defensive backs.
"We have five players currently enrolled in school that are doing quite well and will participate in spring ball. One thing I've learned in process is that we encourage juniors if at all possible to graduate early and hopefully get enrolled in midterm and get involved in spring ball. It does accelerate the process.
"I'm excited about our guys. I had an opportunity to be in just about everybody's home and visit with them and their families. That's an exciting part of the job, to sit down with a kid and his family--whatever that family or extended family may be--to find out what motivates that young man and what he's all about. When you're talking about family and faith and life you learn a lot about people. I've left numerous homes with our coaches, who've done a phenomenal job this yr, very excited about the type of kids we're bringing to Texas A&M this year."
This class seems to have a higher than usual number of out of state players. Can you comment on that...
"When we go out of state, there has to be a reason for it. We're looking for something we can't find or can't get in state. I consider Louisiana in-state, being next to Texas. As far as the out of state guys, one (Johntel Franklin) was a junior college player who hails from Wisconsin, Milwaukee as a matter of fact. He's presently on campus. We had two specialists in that group (Drew Kaser, Taylor Bertolet), and a few linebackers (Steven Jenkins, Shaun Ward) in that group. I wouldn't say it's an unusually large number of those kids but we went out and found guys who met our specific needs, and that brought us out of state."
Talk about getting Shaun Ward out of Florida, it's traditionally very difficult to get guys out of there...
"I always tell coaches that the grass isn't always greener. It takes a lot of time to go out of state, and there are a lot of people around them who aren't familiar with us. So it's a little bit of a risk. We were fortunate enough to hang on with some tough recruiting in the end, and we're excited to come away with him. The idea that he may be one of the few guys coming from out of state (to A&M) I think is a little bit attractive. He's hung with us right from the start, he's had some visits and had a lot of interest. Coach (Terrell) Williams did a phenomenal job recruiting him."
Talk about a lot of the kids in this class being considered as "under the radar" guys...
"You know, you go through the NFL draft, and I learned a long time ago that it's not an exact science. Some may look at a guy as a first-round pick, and others see him as a fourth-round pick. That's proven every year. There's a lot that goes into those evaluations, and it's the same thing here. A young man (on the team now) who hasn't even played for us is Jarvis Harrison from Navasota High School. He was the very last guy we signed last year, and I think he'll be a first-round draft pick someday. His strength, his speed, and his agility are phenomenal. And he's just one example. We do bring kids (like that) here and we have a plan to develop them athletically and academically. We have a plan to get guys a lot of reps and a lot of work and they get better. Just like the NFL Draft is not an exact science, neither is recruiting. When I sit down with a young man, I can tell him that we have a plan for you, I know what your strengths are, and these are the things you need to work on. I think they like that. I have a 4-part equation that I go to. I rate skill, I rate talent, I rate character, and then their academic prowess...can they graduate from Texas A&M? A lot of times recruiting services go strictly by the numbers and what they've done on the field. And I think they have to because there are so many kids. I believe in how we evaluate players and how we develop players. When I look at this group I really think this group is as good as any group we've recruited. And no disrespect to those services, but I really don't pay attention. I never know when I sign a kid if they are a 5-star, a 4-star or a 3-star. I just know the grade we gave him and that's what's important to me. These players have a chance to be very good players at Texas A&M."
Johnny Manziel racked up something like 78 touchdowns, and he's developed kind of a cult following. What can we expect from him?
"I don't want to put too much pressure on him before he's taken a snap. He's in school right now and taking care of his academics. He's a unique player. He's dynamic, and can do a lot of different things for you. We're hoping it's very much like the Ryan Tannehill plan, that's kind of important to me. That plan gets players involved in the process. You get to learn things and compete at an earlier time. He's a great quarterback and was a great leader in high school. He's very dynamic. I thought he did more with less, and he was coached very well by the way. He was able to beat Madison (High School) and Steele (High School), the state champion. I think that's a pretty impressive resume he brings into College Station. We have high expectations of Johnny, as he does of himself, which makes him a great player."
So to clarify, he will play some wide receiver like Ryan Tannehill did?
"At some point, yeah. He's going to play quarterback, but we may throw him in and have him catch some balls at some point. He was recruited as a quarterback and will be a quarterback, but with his athleticism he may do some of those things at different times. Make no mistake about it, he is a quarterback. That's proven true for Ryan. And it will prove true for Johnny."
Talk about Brandon Alexander, a late addition to the class, from Brenham High...
"It's a very unique story, having moved with his adopted family to Brenham and living in Brenham. We knew about him in Louisiana. We had an eyeball on him. We watched his first ballgame here, and after his first game we were pretty much sold that he was the type of linebacker that could fit in our system and excel. He's a tremendous pass rusher with great length and size. His family is a wonderful group of people. We have very high expectations of him as he does of himself.
"I tell the coaches that the two things we can't make mistakes on are speed and character. I think when you look at this group it's a fast group. The linebackers in particular will add to the group we have right now. I was very pleased with our linebackers this season, but we lose some pretty significant players. We need to add to that group and elevate that group, and I think the guys we signed will do that."
You went to a junior college to get LaMarc Strahan. What will a guy of his size (6-4, 365) bring to the 3-4...
"Those guys are just so hard to find. He's a huge man. He has great feet, stays off the ground and has excellent hands. If he does everything he is supposed to do, which I assume he will, he'll be an NFL player. He's a phenom. He gets great leverage with his hands and his feet are phenomenal for his size. He runs sideline to sideline. I think when you have someone at that position, who could play nose or tackle, it's significant. I'm looking forward to adding him to that mix."
You're off to a great start early in the 2012 race, but when you look at this list, how important is it to keep some of those spots open to get these guys that can blossom as seniors (in high school)...
"Without a doubt (it's important). Just like I said, Jarvis Harrison, he hasn't played a down for us, he has to do it on the field, but he's doing great in offseason program. He was totally under the radar and blossomed. A few mistakes you can make in early offers is not allowing, one, other players to develop that could be better than the ones you got, and two, having guys prove themselves and have a great senior year. I'll be honest with you, in this landscape and with the competition you have, you try to get them locked up early because you want to know what your team will look like and you want to get guys that will continue to develop. I think there's a group of young men out there that may not develop until their senior year. Missouri, for example, has done a great job recruiting in Texas. TCU has taken guys like that and done as good a job recruiting as anyone. I think it's important not to shut the door on guys that will show up their senior year."
Signing guys like Shayvion Hatten (Daingerfield) and Brandon Alexander (Brenham) have put you back into some pipeline areas in East Texas. Talk about picking up those guys and the ability for A&M to get back in those areas...
"I agree. (Associate AD) Tim Cassidy and I discussed that this morning. We said we wanted to go into Louisiana and we've done that. We wanted to make hay in the Metroplex and we've done that. We've done well in San Antonio and will continue to do so. I agree with you that East Texas, which has been a staple of athletes for A&M in the past, has eluded us a little bit. We're really working hard in that area to make inroads for kids to come to Texas A&M. Hopefully that'll be a step in that direction. I look in those areas and I notice we weren't getting players, and I think we are starting to do what we have to do to get kids from that area. I think it's a natural transition for kids from East Texas to come to this area."
You took a player from Blinn College (LaMarc Strahan) for the second straight year, talk about that program...
"I remember speaking when I got the job about how I have a little bit of an aversion to taking junior college kids. At A&M, to get a full feel for this school and what it's all about, it's a four to five-year process. I'm a little reluctant to do that. Blinn is certainly an exception. Number one, they do a very good job of educating kids. The transition academically is not as extreme. That's the biggest thing. We have a couple kids who prove that. Coach (Brad) Franchione had done a great job coaching these kids up as well as his staff. They also don't hold these kids back. Most (JCs) will hold and keep kids another year. Blinn will let them leave and go with three years of eligibility left to a major college. That unselfishness doesn't occur very often. They allow them opportunities to look at other schools. There are a lot of good things about Blinn, and there's a great relationship between us and Blinn."
You now have four specialists on scholarship. What will that do to enhance competition?
"I thought Randy (Bullock) really finished out the season strong, but competition will just make that even better. His kickoffs in the bowl game were extraordinary. He did a great job with that. Randy has one year left, and (Taylor) Bertolet has four years of eligibility left. So there's competition there. Our punting situation was not where it needs to be in the Big 12 and it needed to be addressed again. The onus is on these guys who will earn their jobs this spring. If you make the two-deep in spring, then I know where to place the freshmen. If not, the freshmen will go ahead of you and get the opportunity to see if they play the season in front of you or behind you. That makes spring very competitive. That will be the case with the punters, to see where they are and see if they can improve on last year, which was not good enough."
You're high on versatility, and you got a very versatile one in Howard Matthews. Where do you plan on putting him?
"He's an extremely talented young man, His high school coach has stated that he was the most talented player in the state, and that's a tough comparison, but Howard is very talented. They played him a lot on offense. He was also a return specialist. He played safety. He's big enough to be a linebacker for us. We need to find out where he is and where he fits in the best. We want to put him in a position where he can play this upcoming season. Physically and mentally he's a very mature kid. We'll try to see where he fits us best, probably on the defensive side of the ball."
You've said you can't ever have enough running backs. Can you address Bradley Stephens' departure and the addition of Will Randolph?
"I think that's an area we didn't add in recruiting enough, running back. We're a little bit thin at running back. We were last season and were again this season. Randolph adds to that group. He's a pretty stout young man and a physical young man. He runs a 10.5 100 meters. He's very fast. We're anxious to get him in the program and get him going. But I don't feel like we have enough depth at that position. Bradley had an opportunity to take a job in a company that his dad owns, and it's something he felt like he wanted to do. And as long as he's happy, I'm happy."