The Official FNF Magazine Release

FLORIDA FOOTBALL MAGAZINE TO BE AVAILABE IN JULY

St. Petersburg, FL (June 10, 2009) – A.E. Engine, a St. Petersburg sports publishing company, today announced that the upcoming "Friday Night Football Florida" high school football magazine (FNF Magazine) will be available statewide in July.

The magazine is the only one of its kind to profile every high school football program in the state. This year’s magazine will be printed in a large format (10” x 12”), printed on a glossy paper stock and contain entertaining editorial features, photography and design. The magazine will have a considerable shelf life, providing advertisers with a durable vehicle that will reach readers throughout the football season.

"Football is a big deal in Florida, so it only seemed appropriate to unleash a large format magazine," said Craig Baroncelli, publisher and president of A.E. Engine. "We really went all out in producing a piece that will grab people’s attention plus provide them with hours of great reading."

FNF magazine will be available at traditional news outlets, various retailers and high school campuses statewide. It is also available to order online at www.floridafootballmag.com.
The magazine, which will be produced annually, includes coverage of the 525 FHSAA varsity high school football teams, player statistics, recruiting information, color photography and feature stories by professional sports reporters.

The publisher anticipates the inclusion of more than 3,000 student-athletes names in this issue.

"We are very excited to publish this magazine," Baroncelli said. "This has been such a rewarding project for the company. Despite the tough economic conditions Florida and national businesses are facing, our partners still see the benefit of reaching the high school marketplace. And because of the commitment of these advertisers, we are able to produce a high-quality magazine that pays tribute to Florida’s high school football players, coaches, administrators, parents and fans."

The front cover subject has been decided, but will be announced at a later date.

Inside features will include "Building the Perfect QB", a detailed look at the talented signal callers in the state this season and a look back at "The Catch" from the 2008 Class 6A title game between Miami Northwestern and Sanford Seminole.

"That play was probably the greatest single play in the history of the Florida High School football finals," said Managing Editor Corey Long. "Not only was it the greatest play, but it was a game-winning catch and capped off an historic comeback for Seminole."

"Building the Perfect QB" will feature several of the state’s top quarterbacks including Venice's Trey Burton, Miami Central's Jeffrey Godfrey, North Florida Christian's Clint Trickett and Jupiter Christian's Marshyl Rothman.

"This is a great year for quarterbacks in Florida," Long added. "We've got strong-armed pocket passers, athletic dual-threat players and accurate throwers. There is a ton of diversity at the position and this was the perfect time to spotlight these great players."

Another key portion of the magazine are the "Reebok All-Florida Teams", a three-team all-star list and Larry Blustein’s “Power” list of the top high school talents in the state, broken down by position. Larry Blustein is Florida’s premier evaluator of high school football talent.

In conjunction with the magazine, FNF will also produce "Friday Night Football Live", a three-market weekly road tour that will make an appearance at a different high school football game every Friday night in the Tampa, Orlando and Jacksonville markets. Details regarding the tour will be announced in late July.

REPOST: Playing the Percentages 2009

Since FloridaFB.com is no more I wanted to pluck some of the old posts from that site and add that you can pick up the new, FNF Magazine in July. You can preorder it at www.floridafootballmag.com

Anyway, I was going to do a Part II when the site got yanked from me. Should I do a Part 2? You tell me. Until then, enjoy Part I again.

*****

Before we get to the numbers from the 2009 recruiting season, here is a quick explanation of what "Playing the Percentages" is for those that didn't read last year's column. It is a numerical look into each Division 1-A recruiting class in Florida to see how many of the players in their respective classes come from Florida high schools.

There is no proven link of success on the field to having the most Florida-based players, although 10 national championships in the last 26 years could dispute that. But as programs such as LSU, USC, Texas, Georgia and Ohio State put an emphasis on recruiting "home-grown talent", so should schools in the state of Florida.

"Home-Grown" talent also includes junior college players who played high school in Florida before going off to JuCo, such as USF signee Jason-Pierre Paul (Deerfield Beach).

As always please feel free to send any emails and questions to cl@ae-engine.com.

In-State Schools

South Florida – 93.3 percent (28 of 30 commitments). In a competitive three-way race for the top spot it proved to be a numbers game for USF as they signed the most players and barely edged FIU and Florida Atlantic. The Bulls pulled what many experts believe is the sort of class that could change the balance of power in the state. Whether it does remains to be see but with the signings of Ryne Giddins (Armwood), Lamar Lindsey (Hillsborough) and Julius Forte (Boca Ciega) the Bulls are now officially players for the top talent in the Tampa Bay area.

Florida Atlantic – 92.3 percent (24 of 26 commitments). While the Fighting Owls’ two-year streak at the top was snapped there’s little doubt that Howard Schnellenberger and thoroughly inspect every inch of “FAU Territory” for in-state talent. For those wondering “FAU Territory” stretches from Broward county to Marion County and all directions across. But stiff FAU signed players from Northwest Florida and the Jacksonville area proving that territory to be ripe for expansion.

Florida International – 90.9 percent (20 of 22 commitments). If FIU can improve by a couple of wins this year it’s quite possible that all seven of the state’s Division 1-A teams will make bowl games in the 2009 season. Never one to stray far away from home, Mario Cristobal and staff signed 10 of their 22 players from Miami-Dade County but their biggest catch might have been Larvez “Pooh Bear” Mars, who was expected to sign out of state.

Miami – 68.4 percent (13 of 19 commitments). If Bryce Brown signs with the Hurricanes at the end of the month as expected this number would drop to 65 percent but still Miami stays over that 60% area where the major in-state schools should be. Unlike last year when over a 1/3 of the class came from Miami-Dade County, Randy Shannon and his staff had to spread out a little more and did a good job landing players in the central and north central part of the state.

Florida State – 61.9 percent (13 of 21 commitments). This year’s class sees a slight improvement from last season for the Seminoles as they continue to revamp their in-state recruiting efforts. Led by Jimbo Fisher and James Coley, the Seminoles staff did an excellent job of grabbing talent in the Big Bend area and adding players from Tampa Bay and the Space Coast along with several more in South Florida. There’s little doubt that this program is rededicating itself to in-state recruiting.

UCF – 61.9 percent (13 of 21 commitments). After last year’s dismal in-state numbers the Knights did a full 180 with its 2009 class. George O’Leary and Dave Kelly led the Knights staff past negative headlines and into a lot of areas around the state. The key to UCF’s in-state haul was convincing North Miami Beach quarterback Nico Flores to stay in state instead of commitment to Western Michigan.

Florida – 50 percent (8 of 16 commitments). Low percentage but it was a small class and if the Gators receive a commitment from Orson Charles this week the number will move up to 52.9. With two national titles in three seasons there’s little room to criticize anything the Gators do in recruiting. That being said it’s going to be interesting to see if Florida avoids the “national trap” that hampered FSU and Miami in the earlier part of the decade. Sometimes those Pennsylvania and California recruits don’t adjust to the style of play in the Southeast.


SEC Schools

Ole Miss signed an amazing 37 players (!!) and pulled a handful from the state in the process while Steve Spurrier and his staff at South Carolina continued utilizing their Sunshine state connections. Surprisingly Auburn didn’t pull as many Florida players as usual but that was probably due to an unexpected coaching change. Lane Kiffin made a late sweep into Florida and will be a factor in the state for years to come.

Ole Miss – 24.3 percent (9 of 37 commitments)
South Carolina – 24.1 percent (7 of 29)
Vanderbilt – 23.5 percent (4 of 17)
Alabama – 11.1 percent (3 of 27)
Georgia – 11.1 percent (2 of 18)
Arkansas – 10 percent (3 of 30)
Tennessee – 15 percent (3 of 20)
Auburn – 6.7 percent (2 of 30)
Mississippi State – 3.7 percent (1 of 27)
Kentucky – 3.6 percent (1 of 28)
LSU – 0 percent (0 of 29)


ACC Schools

If anyone needs proof at how the economy has effected recruiting here it is. The ACC schools are down 50% in their recruiting of Florida prep prospects. Wake Forest and Clemson had 17 Sunshine staters alone last season. Clemson probably would have had a few if not for such a small class and the decommitment of Ben Axon (Manatee) to South Carolina.

Wake Forest – 30 percent (6 of 20 commitments)
Duke – 14.9 percent (4 of 27)
N.C. State – 11.1 percent (3 of 27)
North Carolina – 6.9 percent (2 of 29)
Georgia Tech – 4.8 percent (1 of 21)
Virginia Tech – 4.5 percent (1 of 22)
Virginia – 4 percent (1 of 25)
Clemson – 0 percent (0 of 12)
Maryland – 0 percent (0 of 26)
Boston College – 0 percent (0 of 17)


Big East Schools

Steve Kragthorpe’s job security is obviously important to him. After pretty much shunning Florida in 2008 he came back to the state in 2009. West Virginia will always be a player in Florida and this year was no different. The Mountaineers almost got Henry Orelus (Glades Central) to switch from FSU on Signing Day to add to that number. Rutgers, also probably hampered by the economy, decided to recruit Pennsylvania more heavily this year.

Louisville – 26.1 percent (6 of 23 commitments)
West Virginia – 25 percent (6 of 24)
Syracuse – 21.4 percent (3 of 14)
Pittsburgh – 10 percent (2 of 20)
Connecticut – 9.5 percent (2 of 21)
Rutgers – 4.3 percent (1 of 23)
Cincinnati – 4 percent (1 of 25)


Big 10 Schools

Purdue is in capital letters for a reason. A whopping 73.7 percent makes that Boilermakers program the fourth-highest percentage program in the nation this year behind USF, FAU and FIU. And Purdue didn’t stick to one area either. They had a commitment from Rob Henry (Ocala Trinity Catholic), Gabe Holmes (St. Thomas Aquinas) and Al-Terek McBurse (Winter Springs) among others. Michigan also cleaned up in the state with other a 1/3 of its class from Florida. Ohio State did its usual job of cherry picking top players to go along with an impressive haul of Ohio prospects.

PURDUE – 73.7 percent (14 of 19)
Michigan – 36.3 percent (8 of 22)
Illinois – 20 percent (4 of 20)
Minnesota – 20 percent (4 of 20)*
Wisconsin – 14.3 percent (3 of 21)
Ohio State – 12 percent (3 of 25)
Michigan State – 8.7 percent (2 of 23)
Northwestern – 5.6 percent (1 of 18)
Iowa – 5.3 percent (1 of 19)
Indiana – 0 percent (0 of 18)
Penn State – 0 percent (0 of 27)

* Minnesota is expected to sign Trabis Ward (Fort Lauderdale Dillard) this week which would push its percentage to 23.8


BIG XII and Pac 10 Schools

Anything west of the Mississippi is considered a bonus for Florida prospects as the schools in the Big XII and Pac 10 generally fill the out-of-state portion of their classes with prospects from Texas and California. Kansas State and Iowa State worked the Florida prospects in the junior colleges quite well while USC grabbed top 50 players Frankie Telfort (Gulliver Prep) and Jawanza Starling (Tallahassee Lincoln) to keep Florida prospects from an 0-fer on the west coast.

Iowa State – 26.1 percent (6 of 23 commitments)
Kansas State – 18.6 percent (5 of 27)
Southern Cal – 10.5 percent (2 of 19)
Kansas – 8.3 percent (2 of 24)
Nebraska – 5 percent (1 of 20)
Missouri – 4 percent (1 of 25)

Baylor, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Colorado, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Arizona, Arizona State, California, Oregon, Oregon State, Stanford, UCLA, Washington and Washington State did not sign a player from Florida.

TOMORROW PART II (The non-BCS schools) (???)

Field Clinics...I'm Lovin' Em

Was at the Tampa Robinson/St. Pete Lakewood "field clinic" yesterday and dare I say it's a much better idea then any spring game.

-- Two 45 minute halves with running clocks is the equivalent of about 5+ quarters worth of action.

-- The offensive coaching staff stands behind the play and takes part in the huddles. Since the spring is about learning, this is the best way to have a smooth game.

-- And of course, live hitting against an opponent.

Robinson looked good throughout. Lakewood was pretty flat to start the game but in the final 25 minutes of the first half I thought they had a lot of positives.

My positive is field clinics. We need more, we need them to replace those silly spring jamborees.

The Rivals 100

Everyone knows what I think of Rivals.com. It is what it is and they are lucky to have good people like Michael Langston and Gene Williams working for them.

However, I always mention the state kids in the Rivals 100 (and 250) and this year in no different as its loaded with Floridians right and left.

So according to Rivals (and the Magazine's Top 25 ratings on them in 2008)

Five Stars:

No. 5) Matt Elam, ATH, Dwyer (Magazine Underclassman Rating: 1)
No. 7) Lamarcus Joyner, DB, St. Thomas Aquinas (Magazine Underclassman Rating: 4)
No. 10) Jeff Luc, LB, Treasure Coast (Magazine Underclassman Rating: N/A)

We did an evaluation on Luc back in October and I have to admit that I expected him to be in the top 50 but not the top 10. But it makes sense, he's a physical specimen and his highlight film is among the best you'll see.

Four Stars (Top 100):

No. 27) Jaylen Watkins, DB, Cape Coral (Rating: 13)
No. 37) Christian Green, QB, Tampa Catholic (Rating: N/A)
No. 40) Brent Benedict, OL, Bolles (Rating: N/A)
No. 61) Chris Dunkley, WR, Royal Palm Beach (Rating: N/A)
No. 67) Christian Jones, LB, Lake Howell (Rating: 18)
No. 73) Gerald Christian, DE, Dwyer, (Rating: 20)
No. 77) Delvin Jones, DE, Miami Palmetto (Rating: N/A)
No. 79) Terrance Mitchell, DB, Hillsborough (Rating: N/A)
No. 90) Michaelee Harris, WR, Miami Northwestern (Rating: N/A)
No. 96) Kadron Boone, WR, Trinity Catholic (Rating: N/A)

Nice group and 13 in the top 100 should be tops in the nation or very close with California and Texas. We had five ranked in our top 25 going into their junior year. Boone and Benedict were two of four juniors that were post season Florida Phenom first-teamers (joining St. Thomas Aquinas' Brandon Linder and Frostproof's Nickell Robey).

I'll do 101-250 tomorrow.

Orson Charles Is a Bulldog

http://blogs.tampabay.com/preps/2009/03/its-official-ch.html

Orson Charles, the lone holdover from Signing Day 2009 has finally made his selection and will join teammate Aaron Murray at the University of Georgia.

Charles chose Georgia over Tennessee and Southern Cal. He had dropped Miami, FSU and Florida over the past three months before making this decision.

NCAA Hammer Meet FSU's Nail...

...actually it's not that bad and only one additional element that FSU didn't suggest in the self report.

It also won't ban any of the school's athletic programs for participating in postseason events either. So it's the end of a bad moment of FSU's athletic program but certainly not the death penalty or anything close to it. Probably for four years will be rough, however.

Read FSU's response to NCAA ruling here.

There could (and probably will) be some forfeitures and if so the race between Bowden and Paterno will be effected. Will it be effected enough for Bowden to decide that he can't catch Joe and hang up the whistle. We'll see.

It's interesting that Spring practice was pushed back.

But what are your thought? Was FSU treated fairly, too harsh or too light? I'll ask you all to be fair and think about their own self-reporting and footwork before making this comment and try to leave your personal feelings for the school and the program aside, but I don't think that can happen. So have at it!

Couple of Interesting Links...

...and they are somewhat related to each other.

There's an older link about Rutgers starting to become more selective with recruiting in Florida. Just three years ago I was at a Rutgers day camp in Middleton High School before the NCAA put the kabosh on those sort of activities.

Last year Rutgers took a handful of Florida prospects from several spots around the state, this year just one, Antwan Lowery, who had a family connection lead him to New Jersey. I expect Rutgers' recruiting in Florida to be centralized on Miami-Dade County in the future and they have no secrets about who they are targeting.

Selective is the key word, according to Rutgers recruiting coordinator Joe Susan, who says if the program competes for a recruit in Florida it better be a player receiving attention from the big boys.

"The thing that is important to us is for us to offer a kid down there, he has to be a kid that has offers to Florida, to Miami, to Florida State. Those are the schools we have to compete with," Susan said. "We can't go down there and take a kid that might have MAC offers."

As the story mentions, another reason for the separation between Rutgers and Florida was the resignation of Chris Demarest, a highly popular coach and recruiter who was as visible in South Florida as the Rutgers billboard that sits on I-95.

Now it looks like Rutgers' loss could be South Florida's gain.

As someone who's come across Coach Demarest on more than a few occasions, he is a perfect match for USF. He's a young, aggressive workaholic that has the potential to be a monster recruiter for the program. If USF is going to compete with the "Big 3" on the field and in recruiting circles, "Demo" is a good guy to have on their side.

Odds and Ends

It's been a while, but it's going to be more frequent now (yeah, yeah....he always says that). Just wanted to hit on some of the off-season stuff.

-- I haven't kept up with the NFL combines too much, but I was able to catch Louis Murphy (St. Petersburg Lakewood) run a 4.43 yesterday. Louis was supposed to participate in the Senior Bowl but came down with an injury. He looked pretty healthy yesterday.

-- Tis the season for the internet rumors. The comments on the resignation of Kyle Rice story were so nasty that the Tallahassee Democrat removed them from the story (not very democratic now is it?). I remember what most of them said but I won't reveal anything I'm sure you can't find on message boards. Same thing with Orson Charles as his tortoise-like movement on committing to a school had the St. Pete Times website doing comment clean-up after this post. From everything I know, Charles will be making his decision...eventually...and he will do it on J.P. Peterson's radio show, which airs daily from 3-6 on 1010 AM in Tampa.

-- With a home game against Byrnes in the bank, St. Thomas Aquinas got additional support when arguably the state's top prospect, LaMarcus Joyner, transferred to the Fort Lauderdale school from Southwest Miami.

And before I close this out we are in camp season and there are a couple of camps on the horizon.

-- The Unlimited Exposure Camp & Workshop had to be moved back from it's original date (Feb. 22) and location (St. Petersburg Northeast High School) to St. Pete Catholic High School and the target date appears to be March 8, but that hasn't been confimed yet. Call Rich Humber, 863-877-9693 for more information. It's a $20 camp and expect a strong contingent of players from the Bay Area.

-- And, what could be the premier camp of the season, the Elite Combine from Elite Scouting Services will be on April 25 at Cardinal Gibbons High School in Fort Lauderdale. If anyone has attended a Charles Fishbein camp in the past, they know that the the numbers climb quickly and the competition is fierce. It's $25 and call Charles at 305-467-4386 for more information.

Until next time.