http://www.miamihawktalk.com/home/news/index/ Miami RedHawks sports talk and more en Miami Hawk Talk | SFB Gnomic Industries 2008-11-17T14:53:00-05:00 http://www.miamihawktalk.com/home/news/story/john_pont_1927_2008/ Legendary Miami player and coach John Pont died this morning in Oxford.  He was eighty.  To younger Miamians, Pont was mostly the stuff of lore, whether for his groundbreaking play as a halfback at Miami from 1949-1951, for his stint as a Navy submariner, or for his work as a fine coach, who led Miami to a 43-22-2 mark, including a sterling 25-8-2 record on league play over seven seasons before departing for Yale.  Pont is one of only three Miami football players ever to have his jersey retired.  On the national scene, Pont is probably best known as the miracle worker who led Indiana University to its only Rose Bowl appearance.  That feat garnered him national coach of the year honors in 1967.  It was still foremost in Terry Hoeppner’s mind when he followed Pont’s footsteps from Oxford to Bloomington, seeing possibilities where others saw only problems.  Pont also coached at Northwestern in the early 1970s.In his later years, Pont, still unable to get football out of his blood, started a football program from scratch at the College of Mount Saint Joseph and even spent fifteen years teaching the game in Japan.  He was also a constant presence in and around Oxford and a living link between the Cradle of Coaches tradition and a new generation of Miamians.  They—and we—will mourn his loss today.  EDIT:  I’d encourage everyone to watch Bake’s excellent tribute to Coach Pont.  Miami’s sports information office and Pete Conrad also have well-written obits.  Men's Sports, Football, General News DevilGrad 2008-07-01T18:26:00-05:00 http://www.miamihawktalk.com/home/news/story/position_analysis_wr_tes/ Editor's Note: This is a repost of NickSkin's position previews oritinally posted in our discussion forums. Rather than lose these posts to the pruner, we felt it appropriate to repost them to the front page. Thanks to Nick for all his hard work in developing this series. The Redhawks lost a lot of bodies last season at the WR position because of graduation including current NFLer Ryne Robinson. However, the cupboard is not bare and with proper protection, whoever is leading the Miami offense should have many targets to throw to. The most experienced WR of the bunch is Redshirt Sophomore Dustin Woods (5'11" 188). Dustin had over 500 yards and 4 TD's last season and averaged over 20 yards per catch. Dustin missed the spring practices because of an injury but by all accounts appears to be ready to return to a starting spot this season. Slated to return as a starter in the interior WR slot is Redshirt Junior Sean McVay (5'10" 183). Expect Miami to use Sean as many ways as possible as he's one of the quickest members of the WR unit and has the potential to make things happen after the catch. Redshirt Freshman Armand Robinson (6'1" 197) should contend for one of the outside WR spots. After sitting out his first year, he emerged from spring drills as one of the team's top wide receivers excelling at making catches in traffic. A potential explosive WR who can also lay out an opposing defensive back. In H.S., Armand was the MVP of the Ohio North-South game. One player who might push for playing time at the interior WR spot is former QB and Redshirt Junior Jared Elliot (6'5" 232). Elliott's shoulder injury prevents him from playing QB but Jared's an athlete who can run and has a terrific understanding of the offense. Not only that, Elliott is a terrific leader and should provide guidance to this young receiving corps. Two other Redshirt Freshman contending for starting spots are Eugene Harris (5'10" 185) and Donovan Potter (6'2" 198). Harris has excellent hands and speed and has the highest vertical jump of anyone on the squad (38.5"). Donovan Potter was a late bloomer who worked hard during his redshirt season putting on 18lbs of muscle! Harris will push for time on the outside while Donovan plays at the inside or "H" spot. There are two true Freshman WR's that should also push for starting time. Chris Givens (6'2" 198) was one of Miami's prized 2007 recruits. Like Armand Robinson, Givens was named the Ohio North-South MVP this summer. Jamal Rogers (5'11" 159) could be one of the fastest players on the squad. He's elusive and may be the player that Miami employs to return punts. Reports from camp this summer indicate that both Givens and Rogers are playing very well. TIGHT ENDS Miami has a stable of quality TE's this season and perhaps is the best unit since Matt Brandt left after the 2004 season. There are 3 returning letterwinners along with two promising true freshman. Junior Tom Crabtree (6'5" 247) is the returning starter who had the most catches of any TE last season (14) and is also Miami's best blocking TE. Pushing Crabtree is converted WR Junior Jake O'Connell (6'4" 256). O'Connell added almost 30lbs since last season and has worked very hard to be a more complete player. He scored two redzone TD's last season. Junior Pat Shepard (6'4" 230) played mostly on special teams but may see more action this season at the TE spot as he showed a lot of progress this past spring. Miami landed the top-2 TE's in Ohio in 2007 and I'm sure that coming into this summer both were expected to redshirt. Howerver, Ken Bruton (6'4" 240) worked his tail off after his senior football season ended putting on 20lbs of muscle. Bruton has terrific hands and may be the fastest of all the TE's. It may be difficult to keep him off the field in '07. Rob Reiland (6'3" 228) had more accolades than Bruton in High School and like Kendrick has terrific hands. There is no doubt that the TE corps is as deep and as talented as its been in years! Men's Sports, Football NickSkin 2007-08-16T20:24:00-05:00 http://www.miamihawktalk.com/home/news/story/position_analysis_running_back/ Editor's Note: This is a repost of NickSkin's position previews oritinally posted in our discussion forums. Rather than lose these posts to the pruner, we felt it appropriate to repost them to the front page. Thanks to Nick for all his hard work in developing this series. Miami NEEDS to find a running game. Last year Miami rushed for only 87 yards per game and averaged only 2.7 yards per rush. Much of that statistic can be blamed on the patchwork offensive line but regardless the running back core needs to step up this season for Miami to be successful. Last season, Miami's most productive running back was true freshman Andre Bratton (5'11" 182) who led the RedHawks with 285 total yards and a team-best 4.5 yards per carry average. Bratton also led the team with four rushing touchdowns, including back-to-back two-TD games vs. Northern Illinois and Buffalo. Bratton's freshman campaign showed that he's effective as a receiver out of the backfield, hauling in 14 receptions to lead Miami's running backs. One reason Bratton was called upon was because Miami's most experienced RB Senior Brandon Murphy (5'8" 181) was banged up most of the season. Brandon was a 1,000-yard rusher and second-team all-MAC pick as a sophomore and is looking to bounce back from an injury-plagued junior campaign in which he missed four games and was restricted to 10 carries or less in four others. The Redhawks return only 1 other RB with game experience in Senior Austin Sykes (6' 241). Sykes had a ton of promise coming in 5 years ago but injuries have held him back. He has shown flashes where he blasts through defenders and should provide Miami with a bruising RB in short yardage situations. Coach Montgomery has a number of other options including RS Freshman Jamel Miller (5'11" 203). Miller was a scout team warrior last season and used his redshirt year to get bigger and stronger gaining 8 pounds during the year. Miami fans should be reminded that Miller came to Miami with a lot of accolades as he rushed for 5,165 yards and 54 touchdowns during his high school career, averaging an impressive 8.0 yards per carry. He rushed for 2,278 yards and 24 touchdowns as a junior and 2,128 yards and 27 touchdowns as a senior. He was a two-time Second-Team All-State pick and participated in the Ohio North-South All-Star Game. This past recruiting class should provide Miami with yet another weapon in true Freshman Thomas Merriweather (5'10" 200), an explosive runner who was considered one of the top RB's in Missouri. So far this summer Merriweather has had terrific reports and it might be very tough to keep him off the field this season. Finally, Miami brought in true Freshman TJ Lattimore (5'8" 171) as preferred walk-on. Lattimore was an All-State RB from Maple Heights, Ohio who participated in Ohio's North South game recently. Men's Sports, Football NickSkin 2007-08-14T15:49:00-05:00 http://www.miamihawktalk.com/home/news/story/position_analysis_quarterback/ Editor's Note: This is a repost of NickSkin's position previews oritinally posted in our discussion forums. Rather than lose these posts to the pruner, we felt it appropriate to repost them to the front page. Thanks to Nick for all his hard work in developing this series. Miami's Mike Kokal (6'2" 215 SR) is the returning starter but there should be more competition this season then in years past. Last season, Kokal started 10-of-11 games during his first season as a starter, passing for 219.9 ypg and completing 14 touchdown passes. However, Mike was sacked more than 40 times behind and injury-riddled and inexperienced offensive line. When he did have protection he showed he can shine and put up big numbers as he did at Purdue early in the season shredding the Boilermakers for 352 yards and four second-half touchdowns. The players hoping to take Kokal's place this year include Daniel Raudabaugh (6'4" 214 RS Sophomore) who saw action in four games (Purdue, Syracuse, Cincinnati and Buffalo) last season including a game-time starter at Cincinnati, completing 21 of 48 passes for 190 yards and Clay Belton (6'5" 231 Freshman). Belton comes to Miami as its most heralded QB since Ben Roethlisberger. In high school, Clay passed for over 4,400 yards and 44 touchdowns in 2005 and 2006 earning first-team conference accolades as a junior, throwing for 2,700 yards and 30 touchdowns. A broken hand limited him to 1,700 yards passing and 14 touchdowns in 2006. Men's Sports, Football NickSkin 2007-08-13T16:46:00-05:00 http://www.miamihawktalk.com/home/news/story/position_analysis_defensive_line/ Editor's Note: This is a repost of NickSkin's position previews oritinally posted in our discussion forums. Rather than lose these posts to the pruner, we felt it appropriate to repost them to the front page. Thanks to Nick for all his hard work in developing this series. Miami has some very talented LB’s and DB’s but it doesn’t matter if those players are all-conference if the defensive line doesn’t stop the run and get pressure on the quarterback. The main question for Miami’s defense is whether its addressed and corrected the glaring weaknesses from last season. In 2006, Miami allowed opposing teams to rush for 174 yards per game! It further allowed opposing teams to convert 42% of its 3rd down conversions! While the offensive line gave up a whopping 49 sacks the defense only recorded 20 sacks over 12 games. DEFENSIVE TACKLES A big change for Miami as it lost two interior lineman from the 2006 team in Seth Painter and Otto Linwood. However, Miami returns 6'4" 280lb JR Ben Huddle, 6'3" 280lb SO Mark Paun and 6' 320lb SO Martin Channels. Those three are the only experienced players for Miami at the interior defensive line spots. However, Miami also added 6'4" 280lb RS-FR Sean Redwine, 6'2" 275lb RS-FR Alex Stewart and incoming freshman 6' 300lb Jordan Brown. Huddle is a converted defensive end who was moved to tackle last season. He suffered an injury early in the season at Purdue and missed four games and didn’t return to full strength until later in the year. Paun and Channels were thrown into the mix as true freshman but it was Paun who saw most of the playing time appearing in 10 games. The key to the line may however be the emergence of Martin Channels. There is nobody in the interior that is as quick as Channels. The key with big Martin is if he can condition himself well enough to contribute on a regular basis. The two wildcards in the equation are Redwine and Brown. Redwine spent his redshirt season outgrowing his TE spot and unfortunately injury prevented him from contributing much in the spring. Brown is a true freshman who might not be as quick as Channels but has the similar ability of moving players around in the interior of the line. Miami has 6 interior lineman that will all be afforded the opportunity to compete and produce. The defense starts with these players and its success will depend on how well they perform. DEFENSIVE ENDS Miami is loaded with ends that need to step things up in 2007 as it only produced 13.5 sacks in 2006. 6'5" 255lb SR Craig Mester and 6'2" 250lb JR Joe Coniglio have the most experience but won’t be asked to carry the load. Expect Miami to rotate fresh ends who all have the talent to start. 6'4" 250lb 3rd year SO Travis Craven finally shook the injury bug and finished off the season as well as any lineman on the roster (8.5 tackles for loss and 3 sacks in the final 10 games to lead the unit). Redhawk fans will also finally get a look at 6'4" 250lb R-FR Jordan Stevens who was injured last August and was held out the 2006 season. However, Stevens comes to Miami as one of its most highly recruited defensive ends (ranked as the #34 DE in the nation coming out of H.S.) and he’ll have every opportunity to live up to that billing. The wild-card in this bunch is 6'6" 250lb R-FR DJ Svabik who has battled injury that also kept him out of the spring. Miami recruited this position last year and it brings in 6'4" 250lb Morris Council and 6'4" 230lb Matt Kajmowicz. Once again, if either of these players can step up and add value to the position in 2007 look for Coach Montgomery to play them. Men's Sports, Football NickSkin 2007-07-31T15:34:00-05:00 http://www.miamihawktalk.com/home/news/story/position_analysis_linebackers/ Editor's Note: This is a repost of NickSkin's position previews oritinally posted in our discussion forums. Rather than lose these posts to the pruner, we felt it appropriate to repost them to the front page. Thanks to Nick for all his hard work in developing this series. Miami's defense should be led by returning 6'2" 235lb 2nd Team All-MAC MLB Joey Hudson. Hudson was the team leader in tackles (97) and interceptions (5 - 2nd nationally for LB's) last season as a Sophomore. Perhaps it was because Miami only had 2 wins last season that Hudson was named 2nd team. However, it's clear that he's the heart and sole of the Miami defense. Hudson was held out of the spring practices because of injury but he should be fully recovered and ready to lead Miami's defense. After Hudson, there should be a lot of competition for the remaining 2 LB spots. 6'2" 225lb R-SO Brad Goatley missed his entire Sophomore season because of injury but should compete at one of the OLB spots while providing very capable back-up for Hudson at MLB. 6'2" 231lb JR Clayton Mullins was Miami's 2nd leading tackler last season with 91. He started slow but came on strong roaming the entire line of scrimmage accounting for at least 7 tackles per contest for the final 6 games of last season, including 2 10-tackle outings. 6'3" 235lb SO Caleb Bostic played quite a bit for Miami as a true freshman. He's spent the off-season working hard while adding bulk and speed. He was a physical freak when he came to campus and has worked hard in the off-season to improve on all aspects of his game. Look for Caleb to make a strong push to be Miami's starting open outside LB. 5'11" 220lb JR Chris Shula filled in quite a bit last season at MLB relying on his instincts and football knowledge to provide Miami with a very capable back-up to Hudson. He's got a tremendous motor and certainly will push others. Shula played in all 12 games last season and will once again to be called upon to be a key on special teams. 6'2" 250lb JR James Case has been a defensive lineman for his entire injury plagued career at Miami. However, in the spring he was moved to compete at MLB. The problem was that Case injured his leg and missed most of the spring action. Somewhat of a wild card this season as Case came to Miami with a ton of promise and talent. Will the LB corps be his place to finally shine? 6'2" 225lb RS-FR Dexter Korto and 6'1" 200lb RS-FR Donnie Hardy will push for time at OLB and will be requested to produce on special teams. Last February saw Miami load up on the future at the LB position. The question will be how soon that future arrives on the field. Incoming Players like 6' 205lb Michael Baker, 6'2" 225lb Alex Kaufman, 6'2" 200lb David Davis, 5'11" 215lb Jerrell Wedge and 6'2" 220lb Ryan Kennedy could all be called on to help this season. Coach Montgomery won't hesitate for a moment to use any of the true freshman if they're ready to contribute. One thing is for certain, there is a lot of talent ready to compete for the three LB spots! Men's Sports, Football NickSkin 2007-07-31T14:32:00-05:00 http://www.miamihawktalk.com/home/news/story/tears_at_the_cradle/ With great sadness, we pass along the news this morning that former Miami coach Terry Hoeppner has lost his battle with brain cancer.  Coach Hoepp was a Miami "lifer," serving for 13 years as an assistant coach to Tim Rose and Randy Walker before taking the reins as head coach in 1999.  In six seasons at the helm in Oxford, he posted a 48-25 mark, making him the second-winningest coach in Miami’s storied history.  His tenure, of course, was highlighted by Miami’s spectacular 2003 campaign, in which the RedHawks achieved a 13-1 mark and finished the season ranked in the AP Top Ten for only the second time in school history.After the 2004 season, Coach Hoeppner left Oxford for Indiana, where his energy and enthusiasm rejuvenenated a moribund program before he began to struggle with health issues.  An eternal optimist and all-time tough guy, Coach Hoeppner took only four days off work following his first surgery and missed only two games last season after his second surgery.  The last two years of his life have been a living example to his players of one of his favorite coaching mottos—DON’T QUIT.  Terry Hoeppner was one of our all time favorite Cradle-men.  His plain-spoken leadership and infectious enthusiasm led Miami football to new heights.  It was a pleasure and privilege to watch his teams play, and we can only imagine how enjoyable it would have been to play or coach on one of his teams.  Our hearts go out today to Coach Hoepp’s wife, Jane, and the entire family.  We hope they know that, here at the Cradle, we will always remember Terry Hoeppner and hold him in the highest regard.   Men's Sports, Football DevilGrad 2007-06-19T12:00:00-05:00 http://www.miamihawktalk.com/home/news/story/the_aprs_bobby_knight_was_right/ The NCAA released its third annual round of academic progress rate ("APR") reports yesterday and the upshot is simple:  While 40% of college football programs missed the alleged 925 "cut-off" standard, the NCAA waved its magic wand (called the "squad size" adjustment) and opted to sanction only one BCS-conference football program.  That was Arizona, if you were curious.  Without getting into all the gory details of the squad size adjustment, we simply note again this spring that the explanation that a sport with an 85-man roster needs slack for "small sample size" strikes us as complete bullshit.  (If you'd like to revisit last spring's rant on this topic, click here.) Closer to home, Toledo continues to struggle and has now lost a cumulative total of four scholarships to APR sanctions while Ohio State proved that they have under-appreciated skills in either (a) "tutoring," (b) statistical manipulation, or (c) playing the "Price is Right" (get as close as you can to 925 without going under!).  Overall, the enforcement trend remains one of hitting historically black colleges and non-BCS programs hard while letting the big boys skate.  The entire list of sanctioned programs can be found here. Meanwhile, Miami continues to post some of the best scores in all of Division I—an accomplishment of which Brad Bates and his coaches should be justly proud. EDITED to note:  Our own sharp-eyed Maz notes that while the inscrutable squad-size adjustment is slated to disappear next year, schools apparently will be able to avoid sanctions by "having a plan" in place to improve their APRs.  We don't doubt for a minute the capacity of the BCS schools to lawyer up and drive a truck through that loophole.   Were we as brilliantly funny as Orson Swindle or as earnestly indignant as Brian at MGoBlog, we could make a lot of fun of Myles Brand or call for his head to be paraded around on a pike.  Since, alas, we are a simple country tax lawyer with no particular talent for verbal evisceration, we merely report the facts and let you make your own jokes.  We will, however, remind you of the prescience of Bobby Knight, who once noted that "the NCAA is so mad at Kentucky that they're going to put Cleveland State on probation again."  Knight's old boss likes to style himself as a reformer, but the continuing slipshod enforcement of the APR sanctions shows that nothing much has changed.     Men's Sports, Football DevilGrad 2007-05-03T11:32:00-05:00 http://www.miamihawktalk.com/home/news/story/fire_rick_chryst/ Lest we forget, the embarrassing ending to the MAC championship game on Saturday night was merely emblematic of the MAC's chronic inability to count.  (When Rick Chryst went down to the floor to consult with the officials, some of us here at MHT were reminded of the FIBA officials giving the Soviet team another chance at the '72 Olympics; this gave the gnomes an excuse to start downing shots of  vodka while awaiting the verdict.) The larger and ongoing disaster remains the MAC football schedule.  According to OU athletic director Kirby Hocutt, the apparent resolution [sic] of the MAC's football scheduling disaster is that seven conference schools will play eight league games while the rest will play only seven games.  This imbalance means that only divisional games will count toward eligibility for the MAC title game, which, in our minds, means that there is no reason to play them at all.  Our sources indicate that Miami has "volunteered" to take only seven games from the league and scheduled Vandy (with a rumored return trip by the Commodores to Oxford in 2008).   As we have argued previously, as long as the MAC is under its current management, Miami should try to schedule as few league games as humanly possible.Sifting through the rumors and the rubble, Doug Zaleski of the Muncie Star-Press reports rumors that Kent State had SEVEN non-conference games contracted at one point this winter.Zaleski also reports that Chryst's handling of this situation may cost him his job.  We say it's about time.  While Chryst's achievements during the first few years of his tenure are undeniable, his last three years have been a continual litany of near-comic mismanagement, micromanagement of individual schools' seating arrangements and scheduling, dumping weekend games for all teams to facilitate some teams' Tuesdays with Craig James, and taking in the wretched of the earth (Temple football) rather than working to improve the league.  It's time for a change. Men's Sports, Football DevilGrad 2007-03-13T13:16:00-05:00 http://www.miamihawktalk.com/home/news/story/mac_merely_advisory_contracts/ As we first reported last month, the MAC football schedule remains a mess, with widespread rumors that at least some conference members will have to pick up an additional non-conference game on short notice and some smart alecks suggesting that Miami should volunteer to play even fewer MAC games.  Unfortunately, the MAC commissioner's incompetence continues unabated, and it is now gaining attention both from prominent blogs such as Deadspin and The Wizard of Odds and from mainstream newspapers.  As we concluded last month, Miami will survive this year's contremps and may even wind up with a better schedule than it would have otherwise.  But the MAC is quickly gaining a reputation as a league full of serial contract breachers with whom savvy athletic directors should avoid trying to do business.  That reputation is likely to harm the entire league—even the competently run athletic departments like ours.  And, again, we lay this at the feet of Rick Chryst, whose vaunted drive for flexible scheduling far too often leaves us simply bent over. So, if you see Rick Chryst at the MAC tourney this weekend, give him my best personal regards.  Men's Sports, Football DevilGrad 2007-03-07T15:29:00-05:00