ChantRant

Great Read: From shy kid to first round pick

Excellent article here from Christian Ponder's new home team newspaper. We learn things we never knew about the gutsy Nole QB, including how he overcame a painful shyness, confronted his fears and developed the skills and temprament to become a first round draft pick in the NFL. A great read, especially for Dads who'd like to see their sons shine brightly under the Friday night lights.

Opponent Watch: Spaziani sheds some light on what makes Boston College tick

As long as the ACC maintains its division alignment, Boston College is a fixture on the schedule. But the Beantown school is so far away, FSU fans get precious little news about the Eagles. So it was nice to hear B.C. Coach Frank Spaziani on Solid Verbal’s podcast. Here are highlights from the interview, giving an insight into the team from a small private school that always gives the Noles a bruising, four quarter slugfest.

Asked if they’re already game planning for 2011 opponents.
Spaziani: “We always have to game plan. We spend a lot of time looking forward and trying to give ourselves a little edge.”

On choosing new offensive coordinator Kevin Rogers.
Spaziani: “We settled on Kevin because we’re a pro offense, and this is how we recruit and this is how it’s always been at Boston College. Kevin’s been a college coach, a pro coach. He understands what kind of offense we want to run, and he’s a great teacher…”

On concerns with this year’s offensive line.
Spaziani: “We have some nice players, some nice depth there. But these guys have not really played, been through the war…So a lot of guys are gonna have to play a little bit before their time, but so be it.”

On his defensive line philosophy.
Spaziani: “In our scheme we always need a big guy -- a B.J. Raji or Ron Brace. We’ve always had that. So we’re always looking for a size guy, you just can’t teach that…We’re not a measurables type of team, we’re all about finding football players that are certainly big enough and fast enough to play. We’ve played against some very good football teams in the years I’ve been here and some of the best defensive players have been 265 - 270. Now that doesn’t mean they made it into the NFL, but they’re good college players.”

On this year’s DL.
Spaziani: “We were a pretty good front seven last year and we lost some of those guys. So we’ve gotta be physical and some of those guys have gotta help Kaleb (Ramsey, the top returning DL). And then we’re gonna have to do it with coaching. We’re gonna have to put our guys in the right spots to take advantage of what skills they have.”

On what separates All American LB Luke Kuechly from others? 
Spaziani: “Luke is a wonder boy. There aren’t too many football players in the country like him. He could play anywhere for anybody at any time. And he’s just grown into the position. He looks like a linebacker now. He has one of those things you can’t teach -- a tremendous knack of finding the football. And he gets to it with speed, he sheds blocks…I’ve always been told when you have a great linebacker, you just line him up and don’t screw him up. And that’s what we try to do with him.”

You can listen to the entire interview on the podcast.

You might be surprised at ULM Coach Todd Berry's philosophy on maintaining a balanced offense

In part three of our exlcusive interview with Louisiana-Monroe Coach Todd Berry, we probe deeper for clues about what his offense will look like when he brings the ULM Warhawks to Doak on Sept. 3 in the season kickoff for both teams.

What kind of run/pass balance do you expect to have this fall?

Berry: "To be honest with you, I don't care. I know that sounds strange for a coach. And I think balance and keeping your opponent off guard is a great thing. But ideally you want to look at what the defense is giving you, based on the formations and personnel. That dictates what you should do, rather than having a run/pass percentage. So we don't go into a game saying we're going to have this many runs or passes. But then you have to look at how your own defense is playing. If they're not playing well and you get into one of those scoring matches, that means you've got to create more explosion plays. And generally the passing game will create more of those."

Speaking of which, with QB Kolton Browning's arm and maturity, will you open up the playbook to a greater variety of patterns this year?

Berry: "Most everything last year was short to medium throws, allowing him to get the ball out of his hands. But a lot of it was because so many of our offensive linemen were young, as were many of the receivers. With the return of the whole offense, along with some very good speed at the receiver position -- we've got a guy who's one of the fastest in the country -- we do want to try and throw the ball down the field more this year. And I think we're more capable of doing that than last year."

Tell us about that receiver, who'll probably be the fastest guy on the field when you play FSU.

Berry: "Luther Ambrose is who you're talking about. Unless we play the University of Florida and Demps, there's not going to be a guy out there who's faster than he is. But Florida State is a very fast team. They'll probably be faster overall than we will all the way across the board. Although we will have some matchups, like with Luther Ambrose, where we feel good lining up against anybody in the country."

To be continued.

There's something you should know about Louisiana-Monroe and the huddle

They don't. Not ever, according to ULM Head Coach Todd Berry. Here's more of Berry talking about how he runs his offense in part two of our exclusive interview.

So, coach, is your offense really 100% no-huddle?

Berry: "That's correct. We don't even know how to get in a huddle."

And what would you call your offense? Spread? West Coast? A hybrid?

Berry: "Certainly ours emanated from the spread since the early 2000's. That's where it started, from my copying some other people -- there weren't a lot of others in the spread at the time -- and adding some of our own wrinkles here and there.

"If you were trying to label us, you'd look out there and say we're a spread team. But the spread has gone off in so many directions. So I don't know that you could look at our spread and say it's the same as Oregon's or Texas Tech's. Our has its own different things that are unique to it."

Is there anybody's that you would compare it to?

Berry: "Probably not. There's a little bit of a lot of teams in us. There's a little bit of Oregon and a bit of Oklahoma State. A little bit of the old Texas Tech with Mike Leach. And there's an option component to it, a la West Virginia with Rich Rodriguez."

Does your spread operate at a fast tempo like Auburn's?

Berry: "Yeah, ours is pretty fast tempo. But some of it has to do with how much we want our defense on the field. Certainly you can put your defense in a bind by going too fast and maybe coming off the field too soon. With teams like Auburn and Oregon, you're talking about very elite, mature defenses. Because we were a young football team all the way across the board last year, we were aware of how much our defense was out there. So there were some games where we were very fast paced, and there were others where we had a slower tempo."

UFL's Las Vegas team gambles on Xavier Lee

Another football season, another team for former Nole Xavier Lee. The quarterback turned tight end recently signed with the Las Vegas Locomotives of the UFL -- though Lee still needs to make the roster during pre-season camp in July.

While he dreams of returning to the NFL someday, Lee is hoping the league's player lockout continues. "I'm definitely excited about the opportunity, and if the NFL is locked out, maybe the UFL will get more attention," he told his hometown newspaper.

Lee's already had one opportunity to make it with an NFL team. The Baltimore Ravens tried grooming him to be a TE, but Lee apparently wasn't committed enough and was cut, explaining "I think I wasn't mentally ready for the position when I was with Baltimore."

It clicked for him this spring while with Pittsburgh of the Arena League (seen scoring a TD in the photo above). Lee had eight catches and 3 TDs through four games, but in mid-May was put on "recallable reassignment" so the team could activate a suspended player. That's when the UFL came calling.

If there's no NFL this fall and the UFL is the only game in town, we just might be seeing a lot of the former Florida State QB.

Jimbo lets his guard down about hopes for the 2011 season

There's something different about Jimbo Fisher this spring. Instead of the usual conservative "let's-wait-and-see" coach-speak, hints of optimism are creeping into his commentary about 2011. You can hear it in this video. Even better, some of the things he said during a booster's banquet the other night, as reported by the Lakeland Ledger.

• "We can win the game on any of the three facets of the game."

• I think we're right at the edge of it, I really do. I think we'll be able to compete with most of the people out there."

• "This year, I think we can take it to another level" (speaking about the defense).

• "A few key guys don't get hurt, I think we'll be able to compete with anybody. Whether we win will depend on our mentality and how we can deal with adversity."

In fact, the only negative thing Jimbo had to say was about the possibility of a college football playoff system. On that topic he was frank and surprisingly cynical: "The NCAA wants a championship game and they want playoffs, and you know why? Because they want the money."

Part 1 of our exclusive interview with Louisiana-Monroe coach Todd Berry

After 28 years in coaching, Todd Berry isn't yet a marquee name. But if he continues to make noise at Louisiana-Monroe, the job could be a springboard to greener pastures. Last year, in his first season at ULM, with a team full of freshman and sophs and a redshirt freshman QB, Berry motivated the Warhawks to play beyond what fans, media and opponents expected. Look for nothing less when he brings ULM to Doak on Sept. 3.

In part one of our interview, Berry -- who played QB at Tulsa and has been an offensive coordinator -- talks about his maturing signal caller, Kolton Browning, College Football News' 2010 freshman QB of the year.

Kolton Browning was an unknown coming into last season. But he's definitely on the radar for 2011.

Berry: "He kind of took us all by surprise last year. Last spring (2010) he was in a battle with two other quarterbacks, one in particular was the returning starter. And that young man, Trey Revell, was on the Johnny Unitas list going into the season. Then pre-season camp is when Browning emerged and we saw the things we needed to see him do. We started off slow with him. Probably about the Auburn game, even though his numbers weren't spectacular, I think that game was his coming out party -- the first time we put a significant amount of pressure on him, in terms of really, truly running the offense.

"He did play hurt some last year. About the sixth or seventh game of the season he had a fracture in his foot, and he kind of kept on fighting through it, playing throughout the year, except for the LSU game, where he missed the majority of it. But we're excited about him this year."

Did you see him make a lot of progress in the spring?

Berry: "I did. I think that was true for our whole football team. I think the game really slowed down for Kolton. Obviously the offense was brand new to him last year. And this spring you saw that poise and that calmness, and all those things you like to see your quarterback do. He demonstrated some of that last year in adverse situations, in terms of down and distance or time. So we knew he had it in him.

"And this spring with all the receivers back, you saw this real comfort level for both. The quarterback knew where the receiver was going to be, the receiver recognized the coverage and knew the timing when he was going to get the ball based on the coverage. So things kinda started clicking for us this spring."

You've probably watched plenty of film on FSU last season. How would you compare Browning to Christian Ponder?

Berry: "There are an awful lot of similarities. I think watching video of Christian -- and we've already watched a significant amount -- he was a great competitor. And when you have a great competitor at quarterback, there's a certain leadership that evolves from that. And this young man, Kolton Browning, is a great competitor and a leader. Last year our team elected him a team captain, and that was as a redshirt freshman. So he's got tremendous respect from teammates. Plus, he has a great work ethic, too."

Can O'Leary make tight end a productive position in the Nick of time?

From the rumor mill comes the rumble that TE Beau Reliford is still having problems with his grades. The possibility of Reliford not being eligible puts the coaching staff in a wait-and-see situation and weighing their options.

But if you were Jimbo and Coley, how much would you depend on Reliford returning? The 6'6" rising senior has already missed the bowl game and spring practice due to poor grades (to be fair, he is rumored to have a learning disability).

With Reliford iffy for the fall, Fisher and Coley's options include:

Ja’Baris Little - Also a rising senior, Little has lived up to his name as far as impact while a Nole. Subbing for Reliford in the Chick-fil-A Bowl, Little had one catch for five yards (his only catch of the year). During the spring he showed signs of playing like a potential starter, prompting Fisher to say at one point, "Jabaris is playing extremely well right now." However, he didn't record any catches in the spring game.

Will Tye - From the same Connecticut prep school as Bjoern Werner, redshirt freshman Tye caught Jimbo's eye during the spring ("Will Tye, I like the things I've seen out of him too."). And at least Tye made two catches in the G&G game.

Tank Sessions - Another redshirt freshman, Sessions has impressive size (6'6" and 252) but was slowed during the spring with an old knee injury.

Nick O'Leary - If the grandson of Jack Nicklaus is everything Nole fans hope for, he could eventually become FSU's all time great TE. Can he be a quick study and leapfrog over Little and Tye to be the starter at some point in 2011?

A place holder - Jimbo's offense is flexible enough to minimize the role of the TE. You saw it in the Chick-fil-A Bowl when Little was used mostly as a blocker -- that is, when he was even on the field. If need be, Fisher can adjust to not having a weapon or even dependable starter at TE, giving O'Leary time to learn the playbook.

The spam hits the fan Thursday morning for Wake and all the ACC

If the Demon Deacon looks mad, it's for good reason. A report Thursday morning on NBC's Today show will accuse two Wake Forest basketball players of rape (story here). The alleged assault took place in Miami in 2009 after an NCAA regional tournament game.

Wake's President has already gone into a crisis management mode, issuing a statement that emphasizes the school "is taking appropriate action to respond to this matter."

Not good news for college athletics in general, and the ACC in particular -- a conference that enjoys an image of being a cut above other leagues, like the SEC.

Counterpoint: Adam Tolliver says E.J. should have designed running plays

In response to our previous opinion that E.J. Manuel is too valuable to risk on frequent running plays, guest columnist Adam Tolliver of the Examiner takes a different view:

"I do not think that Coach Fisher should curb the amount of designed run plays he calls in 2011 for EJ Manuel. I'm still very reluctant to classify EJ as an injury prone QB. I think he's more durable than people realize, or at least I hope he is. Consider the nature of his injuries. He missed the Spring of 2009 due to a fluke accident, where he banged his throwing hand on the helmet of a lineman. QB's drop back for hundreds of passes per week without that ever happening, but once in a blue moon someone breaks a finger. It was definitely unfortunate, but not enough to warrant concern for his overall health issues. Fast forward to the Spring of 2010, where he would miss camp yet again due to resting his shoulder after surgery. Essentially, this would be EJ's only real injury (after classifying the broken thumb as a fluke). It should also be noted that in EJ Manuel's four starts in 2009, he played with full knowledge of this injury and fought through the pain admirably. During that time, Coach Fisher did not appear to be protecting his body from impact by calling less designed run plays, so I doubt he will and don't think he should in 2011."