Coach Brackett spoke at the Alumni Association meeting last night. Typically, Brackett uses Holtz-like poor mouthing when talking about his teams. Last night, though, he seemed rather upbeat about the Cadets chances this year. Here's a breakdown of what he said.
As a unit, he said this is the best group of RBs he's ever had. There's no superstar but they all understand their roles and are ferocious blockers. Kourtney Pollard (4.4 40) is the best of the group but had some attitude problems last year. Brackett promised that he is straightened out.
QB is still a tossup between Dotson and Cail. Both have shown significant improvement over the offseason, thanks in large part to the new QB coach. I imagine Dotson will get the nod against Marist because he is a senior and he is a Dotson.
OL started out as a question mark but the coaching staff has found a good set of starters. If any of the five starters goes down, though, we could be in trouble. The new OL coach is Ken Cooper (former OL coach at UGA and head coach at Ole Miss). Both tightends are good receivers and will be utilized in the passing game.
Coach Brackett was not so optimistic about the defense. They are small up front and will not be able to go toe-to-toe with a strong offensive line. After consulting with former Valdosta coach, Mike O'Brien, this summer, Brackett is putting his best athletes at DE. One is Craig Thomas, who will also start at fullback. The other, whom Brackett did not name, went down with a knee injury.
We all know who is back at linebacker. Although not quite as gifted as his older brother, Anthony Wallace will be the focal point of the defense. Brackett also seemed pleased with the other starter at LB, whose first name, if I heard him correctly, is Gay. If that is his real name, I hope he takes out all his frustration from being teased as a kid on the Marist backfield.
The secondary seemed to be the coaching staff's biggest concern. Lack of size, speed, and depth is a deadly combination.
The kicking tandem of William Boyd (PK) and Ashton Phillips (P) is one of the best in the area. Boyd has a strong leg but was very inconsistent last year, missing way too many extra point attempts. Scott Shelton worked with him a little over the summer and hopefully straightened out his technique.
Despite the losses of long-time coaches Wayne Munch, Donal Chumley, and Tommy Cannon in recent years, Brackett said this is his best staff yet. Ken Cooper certainly adds validity to his statement. Also, the new OC is former East Hall head coach, Buddy Sorrow. Before retiring, he led East Hall to many region championships. He called Brackett out of the blue and told him he wanted to get back into coaching, but only at the right place. Coach Hall (QB coach) played quarterback at a D3 school and also coached QBs at the collegiate level. Donal Joyce ('97) started on the DL on the infamous '96 team and returns this year to coach the DL.
And finally, Coach Brackett guarenteed victory Saturday night. He said the attitude and leadership on this squad is off the charts.
I stand by my prediction:
BC .......................20
Marist.................14
Class of 2001.....Drunk
On a side note, I met yet another cousin to the Leonard dynasty last night at Sky Bar. He was a Markwalter, but I'm not sure what his first name was. Vick, maybe. Anyways, that satisfies my yearly quota of meeting people related to the Leonards in Statesboro.
6 comments:
Yes Will, you met Aloysius Victor Markwalter IV. His father and grandfather go by "Wish", the former being "Little Wish", and the later being "Big Wish". Victor's namesake is that of our great grandfather who was a charter member of the Augusta National .
I remember several years back at Christmas when Vick was christened "the walking billboard" by all cousins because he was adorned from head to toe in Abercrombie gear.
Also, the offense of line is usually a question mark for most high school teams. It should really be named "wasteland of the fat asses." Albeit I was a skinny lineman, the reason I played Right Guard is because the OL was the only remaining option for a "no talent ass clown" like myself.
Once someone does shine on the Offense of Line, they are usually thrown on the other side of the ball so that more individual talent can be utilized where it is most needed. Thus, for a medium size football program, OL falls short of talent before the preseason and must find hidden rough necks during three-a-days.
There's my two cents.
I hope you're kidding about "offense of line."
well, thats another reason I played there.
I wanted to add that BC Mock Trial is gonna be STACKED this year.
We've got everybody comin' back.
We got this one badass we recruited from Arts Academy. 5'8, 130 lbs., Can brief a case in 4.40 minutes. Now that's talent.
You must not know that Austin Cail is also a Dotson (Cail's mom and Denny's Dad are brother and sister). Pat should know this since both are his cousins...family tree branches are not as long as the Leonards, but close!
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