Tag: Richard Ash

Ex-Wolverine Updates

Josh Furman puts pressure on Jameis Winston in the Cowboy’s 37-31 loss (image via KansasCity)

Former DT Richard Ash: Ash started at defensive tackle and made 7 tackles and 3 tackles for loss in Western Michigan’s 43-34 loss to Purdue.

Former TE commit Pharaoh Brown: Brown caught 2 passes for 32 yards, including a 4-yard touchdown, in Oregon’s 62-13 win over South Dakota.

Former CB commit Gareon Conley: Conley played but did not record any statistics in Ohio State’s 34-17 win over Navy.

Former CB commit Dallas Crawford: Crawford – who played well as a running back last season – is now a starting safety for Miami. He made 7 tackles and 1 pass breakup in Miami’s 31-13 loss to Louisville.

Former S Joshua Furman: Furman started at linebacker for Oklahoma State and made 5 tackles. The Cowboys played well against defending national champion Florida State, but ultimately lost by a score of 37-31.

Former K commit Matt Goudis: Goudis was 2/2 on field goals and 1/1 on extra points, but Miami lost to Louisville by a score of 31-13.

Former RB commit Demetrius Hart: Hart had 22 carries for 139 yards and 2 touchdowns, plus 3 catches for 35 yards, in Colorado State’s 31-17 win over Colorado.

Former RB Thomas Rawls: Rawls carried the ball 25 times for 121 yards and 1 touchdown in Central Michigan’s 20-16 win over Chattanooga. He also caught 2 passes for 7 yards.

Former head coach Rich Rodriguez: Arizona beat UNLV by a score of 58-13. New quarterback Anu Solomon went 25/44 for 425 yards and 4 touchdowns, and two running backs – senior Terris Jones-Grigsby and freshman Nick Wilson – rushed for over 100 yards.

Former CB commit Anthony Standifer: Standifer had 1 tackle in Eastern Illinois’ 42-20 loss to Minnesota.

Former S Ray Vinopal: Vinopal made 2 tackles in Pitt’s 62-0 win over Delaware.

Ex-Wolverine Update: Another Pre-Season Edition

Demetrius Hart (#1) has moved on from Alabama to Colorado State (image via 247 Sports)

Former DT Richard Ash: I already reported that Ash will be playing for Western Michigan this fall. What I didn’t know until recently is that he will wear the #9 as a defensive tackle. You have to love single-digit numbers on defensive linemen, especially tackles.

Former S Josh Furman: Furman is listed as a 6’2″, 202 lb. linebacker for Oklahoma State. He’s #1 on the depth chart at “Star,” and you can see why they wanted him – his backup is a 6’2″, 190 lb. freshman, and the other four players on the linebacker two-deep are one junior, two sophomores, and another freshman. They open against Florida State on August 30th.

Former RB commit Demetrius Hart: Hart is a grad transfer from Alabama to Colorado State. He struggled to break through at Alabama and had some off-the-field troubles, but former Crimson Tide offensive coordinator Jim McElwain is now at CSU. Now Hart is trying to earn the starting gig for the Rams. They open against Colorado on August 29th.

Former LB Kaleb Ringer: Ringer – and his brother – are not listed on Ferris State’s football roster this fall.

Former CB commit Anthony Standifer: Standifer was booted from Ole Miss’s program after getting into some trouble, and he now appears on the roster of Eastern Illinois (his home state), which plays in the FCS’s Ohio Valley Conference.

Former OT commit Denzel Ward: Ward is listed as a 6’8″, 353 lb. freshman offensive tackle for Syracuse.

Former DE/DT Ken Wilkins: Wilkins appears on the California University of Pennsylvania football roster as a junior 6’3″, 250 lb. defensive lineman. It is a destination for some former big-time football players, including Jeff Knox (a former Pitt player who was booted for attacking a girl who told him she was pregnant) and Desimon Green (a former Texas Tech commit).

Ex-Wolverine Updates: Pre-Season 2014

This is Cullen Christian. He used to play for Michigan. Then he played for Pitt. Now he’s a Mountaineer.

DT Richard Ash: After spending his first four years of college at Michigan, Ash became a grad year transfer to Western Michigan, where he is listed as a 6’3″, 314 lb. defensive tackle. He had 3 tackles as a redshirt junior in 2013.

Defensive backs coach Vance Bedford: Bedford is the new defensive coordinator at Texas. He spent 2010-2013 as defensive coordinator at Louisville before moving with head coach Charlie Strong to Austin.

Safeties coach Adam Braithwaite: Braithwaite is in his second season as the defensive coordinator and safeties coach at Tennessee-Chattanooga.

TE Pharaoh Brown: Brown is listed as a 6’6″, 241 lb. junior tight end for Oregon. He had 10 receptions for 123 yards and 2 touchdowns as a sophomore in 2013.

Wide receivers coach Erik Campbell: Campbell spent last season as the wide receivers coach for the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League.

CB Cullen Christian: Christian is listed as a 6’0″, 195 lb. safety for West Virginia. He spent the 2010 season at Michigan before transferring to Pitt, where he was from 2011-2013. He played in just two games as a redshirt junior at Pitt due to injury.

CB Gareon Conley: Conley is listed as a 6’0″, 190 lb. redshirt freshman for Ohio State.

CB Dallas Crawford: Crawford is listed as a 5’10”, 195 lb. defensive back for Miami. That’s right – Crawford is going to play safety for Miami after he was the backup and injury fill-in for Duke Johnson in 2013, when Crawford ran 137 times for 558 yards and 12 touchdowns and caught 20 passes for 171 yards and 1 touchdown.

Hit the jump for updates on over 20 more former Wolverines.

Wide receivers coach Tony Dews: Dews is in his third season as wide receivers coach at Arizona with Rich Rodriguez.

Defensive coordinator Ron English: English was fired as the head coach of Eastern Michigan and has not found a new coaching job, as far as I know.

OT Jake Fisher: Fisher is listed as a 6’6′, 299 lb. senior offensive tackle for Oregon. He started eleven games at right tackle as a junior in 2013.

Offensive line coach Greg Frey: Frey is in his fourth season as Indiana’s offensive line coach ans is co-offensive coordinator.

S Josh Furman: After spending his first four years of college in Ann Arbor, Furman announced that he would be transferring to Oklahoma State as a grad year transfer. However, he does not appear on the Cowboy’s 2014 roster. He had 11 tackles and 1 pass breakup as a redshirt junior in 2013.

Defensive backs coach Tony Gibson: Gibson is the new defensive coordinator at West Virginia. He was the safeties coach at WVU in 2013.

K Matt Goudis: Goudis is listed as a 6’0″, 172 lb. redshirt junior for Miami. He was 13/17 on field goals and 57/57 on extra points as a redshirt sophomore in 2013.

Linebackers coach Jay Hopson: Hopson is in his third year as head coach at Alcorn State. He’s 13-10 in his first two seasons but went 9-3 in 2013.

Quarterbacks coach Scot Loeffler: Loeffler is in his second season as the offensive coordinator at Virginia Tech.

Offensive coordinator Calvin Magee: Magee is in his third season as offensive coordinator at Arizona with Rich Rodriguez.

Offensive line coach Andy Moeller: Moeller is in his first season as offensive line coach with the Cleveland Browns after spending the previous three seasons with the Baltimore Ravens.

RB Thomas Rawls: After spending three years at Michigan, Rawls announced that he would transfer to Central Michigan. He will be eligible for the upcoming season. He had 3 carries for 12 yards as a junior in 2013.

DT Chris Rock: Rock is listed as a 6’3″, 275 lb. redshirt junior for Ohio State. He played in one game as a redshirt sophomore in 2013.

Head coach Rich Rodriguez: Rodriguez is in his third season as head coach at Arizona. He’s coming off two consecutive 8-5 seasons as leader of the Wildcats.

Quarterbacks coach Rod Smith: Smith is in his third season as quarterbacks coach at Arizona with Rich Rodriguez.

QB Kevin Sousa: Sousa is listed as a 6’3″, 230 lb. redshirt junior for Wake Forest. He did not see any playing time as a redshirt sophomore in 2013.

Defensive line coach Steve Stripling: Stripling is the defensive line coach and associate head coach at Tennessee. This is his second year in Knoxville with Butch Jones.

Defensive line coach Bruce Tall: Tall is the defensive line coach for the Charlotte 49ers.

S Ray Vinopal: Pitt’s official roster has not been released for 2014, but Vinopal was Honorable Mention All-ACC as a redshirt junior in 2013. He finished the year with 83 tackles, 3 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks, 3 interceptions, 6 pass breakups, 2 forced fumbles, and 1 fumble recovery. He will presumably be the starter once again in 2014, but he does not appear on Phil Steele’s pre-season All-ACC squad.

OT Denzel Ward: Ward does not appear on Syracuse’s 2014 roster, although not all freshmen appear to be listed on their roster yet.

CB Adrian Witty: Witty is listed as a 5’10”, 187 lb. redshirt senior safety for Cincinnati. He will likely be counted on to start, and he was in on 46 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, 1 interception, and 4 pass breakups as a redshirt junior in 2013.

OG Cory Zirbel: Zirbel is in his third season as an offensive graduate assistant at Arizona with Rich Rodriguez. An injury while at Michigan ended Zirbel’s playing career, but he worked for Michigan’s football program before following Rodriguez to Tucson.

More information can be found on the Ex-Wolverine Encyclopedia.

Richard Ash, Ex-Wolverine

Richard Ash (#54)

Rising fifth year senior nose tackle Richard Ash was granted a transfer release and will not return to Michigan in 2014. His destination is unclear at this point, but I would expect him to end up at a MAC level school or at the FCS level.

Ash committed to Michigan in December 2009 after flipping his commitment from West Virginia. He was a 263 lb. player coming out of high school, and I assumed that he would chisel his body into becoming a 5-tech defensive end or perhaps a 3-tech tackle. However, he was 300 lbs. when he arrived on campus, which is obviously a ways away from his high school weight. Recruiting analysts mentioned that he was a better player when he was 240 or so as a junior, so his weight when he arrived in Ann Arbor was an immediate red flag to me. Ash settled in at nose tackle for the duration of his career, but he never made an impact on the field. After redshirting as a freshman, he appeared in 14 games from 2011-2013 and finally made his first (and only) career tackle in the regular season finale against Ohio State.

This departure leaves Michigan somewhat thin at nose tackle with last year’s starter Quinton Washington graduating and presumed new starter Ondre Pipkins coming off a torn ACL. Other options include redshirt sophomore Willie Henry, redshirt freshman Maurice Hurst, redshirt sophomore Ryan Glasgow, redshirt freshman Henry Poggi, and incoming freshmen Brady Pallante and Bryan Mone. Henry has shown the most promise, but he played 3-tech defensive tackle last season. Regardless of which players are on the two-deep at nose tackle, there will likely be some reshuffling on the defensive line. Ash may not have seen significant playing time in 2014, but he was an insurance policy in case of injury.

Along with safety Josh Furman (I’ll have a separate post for Furman), this is the nineteenth (19th!) player to depart from the 27-man class before exhausting his eligibility. Courtney Avery, Jibreel Black, Drew Dileo, and Jeremy Jackson played all four years, so the only remaining members are QB Devin Gardner, P Will Hagerup, TE Jordan Paskorz, and LB Jake Ryan.

Michigan vs. Minnesota Awards

Jake Butt, Chris Bryant, and Fitzgerald Toussaint

Let’s see more of this guy on offense . . . Chris Bryant. Bryant stepped in at left guard and mostly did an admirable job. He did allow a sack and some occasional penetration, but he got some movement on the offensive line, showed an ability to pull, and helped Fitzgerald Toussaint average 4.6 yards/carry. Supposedly, the biggest thing keeping Bryant off the field has been his health, but if he can stay in one piece, I think Bryant at left guard and Graham Glasgow at center is the best combination.

Let’s see less of this guy on offense . . . nobody. I think the lineup against Minnesota puts the best eleven players on the field. Bryant got his shot at guard. Derrick Green got a fair amount of run with 10 carries. Jehu Chesson started at wide receiver ahead of Jeremy Jackson and Joe Reynolds, and he responded with 3 catches for 33 yards. Devin Funchess was used as a receiver without wasting time trying to turn him into a blocker.

Let’s see more of this guy on defense . . Richard Ash. Rumor is that backup nose tackle Ondre Pipkins is out for the year with a knee injury. So far this year, Pipkins and Quinton Washington were the only two rotation guys at nose tackle (aside from Jibreel Black in obvious passing situations). Ash has barely played throughout his career, but I don’t think he’s been completely terrible when given opportunities. Michigan might need to be more creative, and they might need to bump backup 3-tech Willie Henry down to the nose. But I would like to see Ash get a shot to fill Pipkins’s shoes before any position changes occur.

Let’s see less of this guy on defense . . . nobody. The defense is playing well, and I think playing Raymon Taylor and Courtney Avery at cornerback is the right choice. The coaches have toyed with Channing Stribling and Jourdan Lewis at times, but the trio of Taylor, Avery, and especially Blake Countess gives Michigan the best chance to win. Countess was beaten deep once on Saturday (although the ball was underthrown and incomplete) and outmuscled by tight end Maxx Williams for a short touchdown pass, but he also picked off a pass for a 72-yard touchdown. The starters are pretty much entrenched at every other spot.

Play of the game . . . Devin Gardner’s 46-yard bomb to Devin Funchess down the right sideline. The downfield passing game has been questionable this year, aside from the Notre Dame game and Jeremy Gallon. While I thought and still think that Chesson can be a downfield threat, it was nice to see Gardner hook up with his fleet-footed tight end. If Gardner can hit one or two of those deep throws each game, that should force teams to take a man out of the box, which would open up more room for Toussaint.

MVP of the game . . . Devin Funchess. Funchess had 7 catches for 151 yards and 1 touchdown, and this was the first game where his mismatch capabilities really showed for a full game. He dove, jumped, broke tackles, and outran people to average over 21 yards/catch. That’s the best performance by a Michigan tight end in over 40 years.