2011 Countdown: #68 Greg Brown

Tag: Greg Brown


24Jun 2011
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2011 Countdown: #68 Greg Brown

Greg Brown (#35) looks on as Je’ron Stokes (#6) catches the TD pass
in the 2011 spring game.

Name: Greg Brown
Height: 5’10”
Weight: 180 lbs.
High school: Ross High School in Fremont, OH
Position: Cornerback
Class: Freshman
Jersey number: #35
Last year: Brown was a high school senior

For some reason I failed to write up a commitment post for Brown when he committed back in September of 2009.  That’s probably because I was super busy right at the beginning of football season, but now I have nothing to link to.  Crap.

Brown enrolled early back in January, and that ought to give him a leg up on some of his defensive back classmates.  Early reports from spring practice weren’t exactly glowing, but he started to gain some steam as the spring session continued.  Brown played a fair amount in the spring game, and reviews of his performance were mixed.  He had good coverage at times, bad coverage at times, and wasn’t particularly effective supporting the run.  Overall, though, he did about as well as one could expect of a freshman early enrollee.

With the return of three starting cornerbacks (Troy Woolfolk, J.T. Floyd, Courtney Avery) in the fall and some more talented classmates hitting the field in August, Brown’s chances of making a major impact this fall are slim.  He might play against the MAC teams on the schedule, but regular special teams duty might even be a stretch.

Prediction: Backup cornerback

17Dec 2010
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Blake Countess, Wolverine

Blake Countess (#1)

The cold, wet weather in Maryland had one advantage for Michigan and its fans.  Cornerback Blake Countess, from Our Lady of Good Counsel in Olney, Tweeted on Friday morning that he would be playing college ball at Michigan.  Countess is a 5’10”, 174 lb. cornerback and a 4-star recruit to all three major recruiting services; he’s also ranked anywhere between #13 and #18 in the country at the cornerback position.

Countess is a very solid corner.  I can’t honestly say that he’s “great” at any one thing.  But unlike several other cornerback recruits over the past few years (Justin Turner was too big, Demar Dorsey was too thuggish, Boubacar Cissoko was short and harbored too much ill will toward delivery boys), Countess doesn’t have any glaring deficiencies.  He has decent size, runs well, has good hips, is a solid tackler, and tracks the ball well in the air.  He ended his senior season with 47.5 tackles, 15 pass breakups, and 2 return touchdowns, in addition to 21 receptions for 302 yards and 2 touchdowns on offense. The way he moves reminds me a bit of former Michigan cornerback Ty Law, although Law filled out to be a thick, physical corner at Michigan and later in the NFL.

He also seems to be an intelligent kid with good character.  According to his senior highlights (below), he has a 3.1 GPA and a 22 on the ACT.  He’s well spoken in interviews and attends a respected private school.  Our Lady of Good Counsel consistently puts out a couple FBS prospects, including Jelani Jenkins (Florida) from the Class of 2009 and Vincent Croce (Virginia) from the Class of 2011, both of whom were offered by Michigan.  As for the pedigree of OLGC’s football team, it went 10-2 and beat renowned DeMatha in the WCAC championship game this season by a score of 42-3.  For some perspective, Michigan offered five DeMatha seniors in the Class of 2010, and no less than ten DeMatha kids have offers to play FBS football in the Class of 2011.  On a team that obliterated a squad like DeMatha, Countess was a captain.  That bodes well for his future.

This gives Michigan four cornerbacks in the Class of 2011 – Countess, Dallas Crawford, Delonte Hollowell, and Greg Brown. I do not expect Michigan to continue recruiting cornerbacks for this class, at least not to commit immediately.  The coaches will likely stay in contact with kids like Daren Kitchen, Valdez Showers, Raymon Taylor, and James Richardson, but only to keep lines of communication open in case one of the aforementioned players decommits.  It’s possible, even likely, that one of these four will move to free safety early in his career.  I also expect that Michigan will continue to recruit strong safeties like Wayne Lyons.

Overall, this is a solid development in Michigan’s recruiting, especially during a time when Rich Rodriguez’s future as coach is somewhat murky.  If Rodriguez can keep his job and hire a competent defensive coordinator, someone ought to be able to create a solid defense from the pieces being thrown together.

7Jun 2010
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Written Scholarship Offers Must Be Written Later

Sorry, Greg Brown. Your offer disappeared.*

A new NCAA rule has been instituted that might affect the football recruiting world a great deal.

Then again, it might not.

A recent rule change has pushed back the date that NCAA institutions can send out scholarship offers. Through the class of 2011, the date has been September 1 of the player’s junior year. That’s why Fremont, OH, cornerback Greg Brown was able to “officially” commit on September 2, 2009. He received a written offer in the mail at the beginning of his junior year and committed on the spot, even though he wouldn’t be able to sign his binding Letter of Intent until February 2011, midway through his senior year.

The new rule won’t take effect until the Class of 2012. That means that kids who graduate from high school in 2012 won’t receive written scholarship offers until at least August 1, 2011. So while Michigan fans might have been expecting Cass Tech linebacker Royce Jenkins-Stone and Orchard Lake St. Mary’s linebacker James Ross to receive written offers on September 1, 2010, they’ll have to wait almost another full year.

The intent of the rule change is to cut down on the time that recruits suffer through the recruiting process. It can be grueling, and kids have been known to commit earlier than they want, if only to slow down the number of calls, e-mails, and letters they receive. Rather than being pestered for 16+ months, the NCAA hopes that the grueling part of the process will be pared down to a maximum of six months or so. The NCAA is also attempting to prevent decommits, which often leave a football program (think Michigan circa February 2009) hanging out to dry.

However, the effect of the rule change will likely be minimal. Kids will still offer verbal commitments early. It’s a status symbol to say as a sophomore or junior, “Yeah, I’m going to play college ball at ___________.” The difference is that their verbal commitments will only be in response to verbal offers, which don’t always progress to the written kind. So once August or September of 2011 arrives, we might see some players making a mad scramble due to offers that never materialized. That probably won’t affect many kids, but there will surely be a few.

The new legislation won’t make a huge difference, but it’s a step in the right direction for kids who don’t want to deal with 16 months of bedlam.

*Greg Brown’s offer didn’t really disappear. The new rule won’t take effect until next year.