Richard Ash, Wolverine

Tag: Brandin Hawthorne

22Dec 2009
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Richard Ash, Wolverine

Michigan’s new defensive lineman.

Richard Ash, a defensive lineman from Pahokee High School (Pahokee, FL), has committed to Michigan. He had been committed to West Virginia University until he realized that he would have to live in West Virginia, where the women look like they came straight out of The Hills Have Eyes.

Ash is listed at 6’4″ and 263 lbs. At that size, one would think that he would bulk up a little bit to play the 3-tech defensive tackle position recently occupied by Ryan Van Bergen. However, he has a bit of chub on him that will be whittled away by Mike Barwis, and 263 lbs. isn’t a bad size for a strong-side defensive end. After all, that’s about the same size as Brandon Graham.

Watching Ash’s film, he’s a good athlete who’s going to require a lot of refinement. Although he’s a 4-star recruit to Rivals, he’s raw. He has good explosion off the ball, and he possesses good lateral quickness as well. There’s also one play where he sniffs out a middle screen, tips the ball to himself, and runs the other way with it. Like I said, he’s an athlete.

But when he finally earns playing time at Michigan, I’m sure we’ll see a very different player. He has kind of an awkward stance where his butt sits lower than his shoulders, which forces him to stand straight up as soon as the ball is snapped. As a high schooler who is physically dominant, he can get away with belly-bumping offensive linemen out of his way, but he will get absolutely mauled if he plays like that in college. When he learns to play lower, he’ll probably also learn to use his hands better to disengage from blockers. He tends to play “patty cake” with blockers and sometimes stops his feet on contact. In order to see the field at Michigan, he’ll need to learn to go hard on every single play.

Ash will give Michigan four players from the same high school; he’ll join sophomore running back Vincent Smith, sophomore linebacker Brandin Hawthorne, and junior slot receiver Martavious Odoms on the Michigan campus. The Wolverines have also offered Chris Dunkley, a 4-star slot receiver who transferred from Royal Palm Beach, FL, but Dunkley’s recruitment probably won’t be affected by Ash’s commitment.

I expect Ash to end up at 5-tech defensive end, Brandon Graham’s old position. I think he could easily transform his body into a 265 lb. strongside end, whereas I see Terry Talbott as a 3-tech DT. We could still see Michigan add a couple more defensive linemen in the 2010 class, particularly NT prospect Johnathan Hankins from Detroit and DE Clarence Murphy from Florida.

P.S. The picture appeared because it popped up when I did a Google image search for “Richard Ash.” I’m not sure what Richard Ash has to do with Kim Jong-Il, but I’m guessing the FBI is checking into that right this very moment.

30Aug 2009
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Michigan’s program in overdrive?

Detroit Free Press writer Michael Rosenberg has released allegations that Rich Rodriguez and his assistant coaches are overworking their players.

Rosenberg’s article states that players were required to work more than the NCAA-regulated 20 hours per week during the season and coaches and quality-control staffers watched 7-on-7s that are supposed to be player-run, among other things. The writer’s sources are supposedly current and former Michigan players, along with parents of others.
As could be expected, these allegations are causing an uproar in the blogosphere as well as in the college football world. Michigan’s football program has never been found guilty of major violations. If Lloyd Carr were still the coach, he and the program might be insulated a bit by the respect he had in the coaching world. But Rodriguez has already been inundated by attacks on his character for at least the last couple years, including the lawsuit by WVU, parting shots by Kurt Wermers and Justin Boren, and the questionable character of Justin Feagin.
The article includes quotes from incoming freshmen Je’Ron Stokes and Brandin Hawthorne, apparently recorded at Michigan’s Media Day. They mention having football-related work to do all day during the summer. Their comments can seem pretty damning on the surface, but those quotes aren’t evidence of NCAA violations. The quotes Rosenberg uses really make no mention that the coaches were mandating the workouts. If any player wants to work out and do 7-on-7s for 18 hours a day, he’s allowed.
But Rosenberg seemingly preyed on two incoming freshmen who likely had very little knowledge of the NCAA rules. It’s interesting that the two Michigan sources who didn’t request anonymity were 18-year-old kids who haven’t even finished their first summer practices. At best, Rosenberg’s journalistic efforts seem like poor journalism; at worst, they’re downright disingenuous and good reason for Rosenberg to be blackballed by Michigan sources from this point forward.
That being said, it’s not unbelievable that some violations occurred. During the season, coaches are allowed 20 hours of mandatory football work per week. Three hours of that come on Saturday, meaning there are 17 hours to spread amongst five other days (the players had Mondays off last year). That’s an average of 3.4 hours per day on those five days. Between practices and workouts (film study and visits to the training room don’t count), that’s not very much time per day. As a frame of reference, high school teams usually practice 2.5 to 3 hours per day in addition to 7 hours of school; college football players aren’t in class for nearly that amount of time per day.
One of the biggest variables in this story revolves around the definition of “mandatory.” If coaches are present at “voluntary” workouts, they are by definition mandatory. Nobody outside the program knows whether coaches were present at voluntary 7-on-7s, so it’s impossible and absurd for Michigan fans to dismiss this story out of hand. That being said, in the modern age of college football, very few workouts are truly “voluntary.” Kids need to be in great shape and have their techniques fine-tuned to be competitive. One motto that’s repeated in the story is “Workouts aren’t mandatory, but neither is playing time.” If Player A works extremely hard during voluntary workouts and learns all he can, when the season comes around, he’s going to get on the field ahead of Player B, who might only do the required minimum. If coaches were, in fact, present at 7-on-7s or voluntary workouts, that’s practically a guarantee that the practices went over the allotted 20-hour weekly limits.
If the NCAA investigates Rosenberg’s allegations, sanctions could include a loss of practice time or scholarship restrictions. Either could doom Michigan’s chances of regaining its stature as a powerhouse program in major college football in the near future. If Rodriguez’s program does incur sanctions such as these, this could be the death knell for Rodriguez as Michigan’s coach. Some fans and boosters have already been wary of Rodriguez, and major violations would probably sway another large chunk of fans and boosters.
And you can include me in that group. Whether Rodriguez and his staff are guilty of these allegations, I don’t know. If they aren’t – and I don’t trust Rosenberg as far as I could throw him – then the writer should be blackballed or perhaps even fired. If they are guilty, heads should roll. I don’t blame Rodriguez for last year’s 3-9 record, but you can’t field the worst Michigan team in forty years, commit major program violations, and keep your job.
25Aug 2009
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2009 Countdown: #37 J.B. Fitzgerald

Name: J.B. Fitzgerald
Height: 6’3″
Weight: 232 lbs.
High School: West Windsor Plainsboro High School in Princeton Junction, NJ
Position: Inside linebacker
Class: Sophomore
Jersey Number: #42
2008 statistics: 8 tackles
Prediction for 2009: Backup inside linebacker

Fitzgerald was a highly touted linebacker coming out of high school in 2008 and currently rests second on the depth chart at inside linebacker. If either Jonas Mouton or Obi Ezeh gets hurt, Fitzgerald would probably be the first guy on the field to replace them.

Unfortunately for Michigan, there’s very little competition at linebacker. All the freshmen (Mike Jones, Isaiah Bell, Brandin Hawthorne) seem destined for the SAM linebacker position, and even redshirt freshman Brandon Smith has reportedly been playing SAM at times. The backups at inside linebacker are Fitzgerald, Kenny Demens, and then walk-ons. This is why linebacker recruiting is so important in the class of 2010.

But I digress. Fitzgerald is a classic middle linebacker, a heavy hitter with a nose for the ball. He won’t beat out Ezeh while the latter is still playing on Saturdays, but once Ezeh departs, the MIKE position will be in good hands.

5Aug 2009
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2009 Countdown: #53 Brandin Hawthorne

Name: Brandin Hawthorne
Height: 6’0″
Weight: 198 lbs.
High School: Pahokee High School in Pahokee, FL
Position: Spinner
Class: Freshman
Jersey Number: #7
2008 high school senior statistics: 113 tackles, 48 TFL, 27 sacks, 6 FF, 5 FR
Prediction for 2009: Redshirt

Hawthorne was a defensive end, linebacker, and safety in high school. Reports out of camp suggest that he’s been playing the spinner position but he’s behind a couple other players. I also don’t think the spinner will be an every-down position, so Steve Brown won’t need much relief. One or more of the backup spinners should be redshirted, and I’m guessing Hawthorne will be watching from the sideline.

16Mar 2009
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It’s a free-for-all!

Spring practice started on Saturday, and reports from that practice indicate that all hell has broken loose on the defensive side of the ball. Players are moving all over the place in Greg Robinson’s defense. Some of these moves are immediately good. Some are head-scratchers.

One big rumor is that Steve Brown is moving to linebacker. He’s still listed as a safety on the roster, but he’s bulked up to 215 pounds (he’s been around 205 in previous years). He’s supposedly working out at SAM linebacker. Although he’s a bit undersized for a SAM, he’s good in run support, a good blitzer, and would probably be better in pass coverage than most linebackers. Since he hasn’t been a very good safety, I would put this move in the “good” category, if it’s true.

In position drills, freshman early enrollee Brandin Hawthorne was working out with the safeties. The spring roster listed him at 195, but eyewitnesses have said he looks like he’s well over 200 pounds now, perhaps in the 215 lb. range. From watching his high school film, I don’t think he’d make a good safety. And considering that our linebacker depth isn’t…well…deep, then this would seem curious. Of course, Mike Jones and Isaiah Bell might move from safety to linebacker, so the effect on the actual numbers might be negligible. Also…

Anthony Lalota was seen working with the linebackers. As pointed out a couple days ago, Lalota is apparently 6’4″ and 235 lbs. instead of 6’6″, 260, so his size doesn’t necessarily preclude him from being a linebacker. But considering the Wolverines’ serious lack of depth on the defensive line, my guess is that Lalota might be working out to play the “spinner” (Robinson’s hybrid DE/OLB position) or they might want him to continue working on his agility in open space, since that’s one of his weaknesses coming out of high school.

Also, Vince Helmuth is now a defensive tackle and there’s photographic evidence to support Rodriguez’s claim that he’s a little heavy.