Class of 2015 - OLB Shyheim (Shy) Cullen (MA) Signed LOI | Page 27 | Syracusefan.com

Class of 2015 OLB Shyheim (Shy) Cullen (MA) Signed LOI

weedsportwarriors said:
That was an awesome inside look. Like others have said, we really love the family atmosphere that exists with this coaching staff. It had to be a great feeling to know that if anything were to happen to Shy that he still has a great education free of charge. Thanks for the post. I can't wait for Shy to hit the dome.
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you know it was weird me and my wife were talking about this last night...you get the offer and you think oh he has a scholarship great...but when Coach Shafer said you have a full scholarship with us and another staff member said with tuition and meals and housing congratulations on your 330,000 dollar scholarship...it really hit home and felt different
 
30 thousand? i paid 30k in 2002 year i graduated, i think its close to double that :) even better
 
Bambrewer said:
you know it was weird me and my wife were talking about this last night...you get the offer and you think oh he has a scholarship great...but when Coach Shafer said you have a full scholarship with us and another staff member said with tuition and meals and housing congratulations on your 330,000 dollar scholarship...it really hit home and felt different
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I received the bills for my daughter and my son this week. The cost with all fees is now around $58,000/year. This will vary depending on which dorms they stay in and what food plan they get.
 
Bambrewer said:
Ok where to start in this whole thing. I will go back to a couple weeks ago and really give you the whole back story. It was the weekend we went to Miami and we were going down to the camp. They really did love Shy and i still expect him to get an offer from there. But during that week end some stuff happened in Syracuse that had me worried. I noticed a lot of kids going on visits would be told go home and think about your commit and let us know. Except the big star kids. they would get their commit that day. i was worried for shy. You never really know where you are in this whole process..every coach has a great sale spitch and even ones not interested in you talk like you are the greatest thing. I was worried we would get to syracuse and find that Shy was a plan B. So I sent an email to a coach feeling out where we were. Even though he said they want Shy they had the grade concern. I was afraid they wouldnt let Shy commit...now keep in mind up until that week I had been running my mouth on here saying shy was coming. I was like omg this kid is going to be embarrassed if they tell him go home and wait. I was like omg Im going to look like an idiot on the message board...what do I say? He didnt like the place? So I told you he was slowing down keeping options open...which was all true I just didnt know if it was us having to slow down or not. I told Shy i was worried and he was crushed. He was truly set on going here. He looked at me and said now what do I do? I told him we go on as planned if any media ask we are slowing down and holding off. It is such a game and so much happens through social media one wrong perception can ruin a future. I told Shy we go to camp we meet the coaches you show them who you are and you leave it all on the field.

Needless to say when Barry went with Wisconsin I sighed a little. I am sure you guys are disappointed by losing him as a player but I will assure you in four years you wont know that kids name but Shy you will know. I belong to so many forums and recruiting sites I read all day long about this stuff. I knew if a couple big names fell off it would make Shys shot better if he was a plan B.

So we drive up this weekend and the coach texted a bunch asking when where and saying he was looking forward to it. We told him we would be at the camp at 8 and he said he would meet us. We went in and immediately a bunch of coaches came over said hi talked to me and my wife and checked out JJ. Coach Bullough introduced us to Coach Lea. We went in and sat down to talk and he told us of his philosophies and some stories of who he is and where he comes from. Then we went into the defense tape room and did some x's and o's. Shy was a nervous and the coach was testing him. he was asking him to remember terms and Shy was struggling. His coach doesnt use the terms they were and it was all knew to him. needless to say I was sweating. He then took us out to sit down and talk football with coach Bullough who again told us his philosophies and started showing shy terms they use for defense. I started sweating again but this time the coach was up doing the moves physically to show the terms and Shy caught on quick. Coach Shafer came in to talk to us for a brief moment and met my wife and JJ. He was very nice and seemed excited when he met Shy in person. Shy maybe impressive in pictures but standing next to him is a whole different experience.

The coaches all had to go to a meeting for camp to go over the days plans so they brought us to Eric White for a tour of the building. First what a great guy he is... very excited about football and knew everything about the history of it. We toured the trophies and the dome experience we got to see the new uniforms in person...which are much more impressive when you get to see all the details put into them...like the stripes that you cant see in pictures being set to a 44 degree angle. He spoke of the history of the team and the great players which Shy was all over he knew the ups and downs and the whos whos...he must have been studying. We then went and saw the place the kids eat and were told of the rules for the kids. We met some more of the staff and they told us how the lady who works there will make what ever the kids want and if the kids dont have time to eat there will have a sacked lunch made for them to take made with all their personal favorites. I can tell you I have seen a lot of schools none of them do anything remotely close to this. We then made our way to the room where you see all the pictures of the kids in front of the back drop. They had Shys number all set out for himt o try on and get the picture taken. then they showed us all the stuff they get from Nike for free...omg nike is pretty generous but im guessing they dont want shy having anymore photos in my under armour gear. Next we went to see the locker rooms some of the current players where there so we made that quick. We went to the training room where Eric told us of the policies on hurt players and the staff and equipment they have to handle injuries.


Then it was time to get shy measured weighed and signed in to camp. It was almost 11 and we had to get him in. He measured 6 11.5 and weighed in at 208. I told Coach Bullough he was a little light and we just did a change in his medicine to get him back to 215. He indicated he was very happy with shys size and not to worry about him. My wife need to go feed the baby so we headed out to the car. When that stuff was done we headed back to find them. I made the mistake of thinking it was an out door camp and we took a long walk around the complex...needless to say it was hot and a long walk= wife not happy. But eventually we made it in and the kids were warming up. Coach Shafer was standing near shy talking to him during warm ups. They finished up and went to the first of 5 stations. Shy was up at the vertical leap station. I could see him do it but was to far away to know what the height was. as he came around he used hand signals to indicate 36 inches. he had a second chance coming. Coach Bullough came over to the side and yelled up he jumped 36 on bot attempts I yelled back thats it? He said that awesome. I yelled back he jumps 38 make him go again...but it was time to run the three cone drill. I moved over to a spot I could film shy run the drill... that why I can rewind and time him exactly off the film. I saw him go did the calculations and he ran a 4.35...thats pretty good for his size not his best be we will take it. Again coach Bullough yelled up his time they had him at 4.40...didnt make me happy but coach seemed excited about it. Then he slid over to run the 40. Coach Shafer had started moving over during the cone drill and was watching shy talking to him to see what he did. Shys turn came up and he ran a 4.70...again not his best but coach said kids that run on that turf usualyy say they are about .10 or so off from out door numbers so Shy felt better... at any case he and coach Bullough were happy with the 4.70. Finished there and went to the shuttle. Shy had never ran this drill...ever and I was sweating. I didn't even know what a good time was. He ran it while Coach Lea was timing he ran a 7.07 i believe which I later found was a good time. The coaches were happy and coach Lea seemed excited more about the fact of how he ran it He liked that shy was able to move fast at a low stance. then came the broad jump. It was right in front of us and the coach running it had been pumping the kids up big time. Shy jumped 9.8 his first attempt and 9.11 his second. after all the kids were done the coach brought Shy back up and had all the kids gather around and cheer and shout as he took an attempt to jump over 10. He jumped and this time he went really far... I could tell from the marks it was about 10.5 but he fell forward and it didnt count. He had the kids start yelling again and Shy took another shot and jumped 10.1


See Shy looks impressive and is really big but the scarier part of Shy is he stretches every night and works out on speed and flexibilty so he can move and still be the size he is. Thats something alot of gym rats miss out on. they spend all their time lifting and get tight and cant move.

Coach Bullough said he wanted us to come down and shy was running a couple line backer drills with coach Lea. He told us they would be taking Shy out of camp and we would be going with coach Shafer to talk. he said he wanted to make sure we got plenty of time with him and didnt know if after camp he would have time because he had a lot of kids visiting. So they pulled Shy out which actually disappointed shy he wanted to stay and run the drills..he kept saying they didnt get to see me. So we walked bakc thru to coach Shafers office and met some more staff and a bunch of current players who were heading out to the camp to work with the campers.

So we get to Coach Shafers office and we sit down around a table and start talking he begins by telling us some stories of his history and philosophies. He begins telling us the story of a kid who was like Shy that he took a shot on...I said I know I have read a lot of stories about you. I had done a lot of research into this school and him and his staff. He looked either impressed that I knew or worried I was a stalker im not sure which it was. I told him some of the things I had learned that had impressed me and told him I thought he was a great leader. Then he turned to Shys grades he said he thought shy could do it but need to know if Shy wanted it. Shy told him he would work as hard as he could. and coach said he believed he could. He said he knew from talking with Shy that Shy had that look and that it factor that he was looking for.

So then he says to Shy so our offer is on the table and we would love to have you come play here...Now in my head Im still thinking he is going to say but we need to see the grades first ( by the way they actually had Shys grades before we got them...he jumped 2 tenths of a point on his gpa in the fourth quater alone. thatw as huge for us) So I kinda look at my wife like does he mean know? and I look at Shy who is still looking at coach like he is waiting for the but... So coach starts telling us about his reasons he thinks Shy can do it and tellimg us some more stories. I tell him about Shys past testing and his iep and the mess that has been his school time. He brings up a name of a kid he used to Coach at URI from Lowell and Shy says oh yeah Mr Slattery he is my head master at school. Coach Shafer couldnt believe it was the same guy. Its funny how small the world really is.

So then Coach tells him again well the offer is on the table and I am looking at my wife and Shy like say it dam it! But Shy is still looking at him like ...come on give me the but. So the coach goes and starts explaining how his team will work with Shy and the school and how if he needs to prep...they dont want him to but they will be there for him even if we need a plan b. He tells us how if shy gets hurt they cover it and if god forbid he cant play he still has a scholarship and is telling us about the great degrees avaiable.

So he then says to Shy I know if you need some time to think about you can have it if you need a week or so just let me know. and all of a sudden its like shy gets it there is no but coming. Shy gets all watery eyed and says I love syracuse this is where I want to be I thank you so much for believing in me of course I commit. Coach looks over at me and says are you guys on board and I told him about how I thought they might not except his commit but that we had pretty much made up our minds weeks ago he would commit today. I was crying my wife was crying shy was crying every one was hugging... it was awesome. Coach Bullough came in and Coach Shafer told him the news and he was excited. We talked a little more about what was going to happen and he set us up with a couple guys on the staff for a campus tour.

We went and saw the buildings and the guys told us about the area. We went to the dome and they took us inside. I cant wait to see a game there. Whe we went to leave they were explaining how the dome is pressurized and I m not sure if shy thought the door was closed or if he was just excited but lets just say on his first visit to the dome he almost brought the roof down...literally. He opened the door while the inside was opened and wooosh we were almost blown out the door. Dont try that at home kids. they took us to see the dorms next and those were very impressive.

We went back to the building and met the rest of the coaches and staff said all the thank yous and good byes.

The only other thing I want to add is to any kids out there looking at this school...I have seen alot of schools and met a lot of staff. I have never met a staff as down to earth and shoot you straight as this one. I havent been to a single school that made us all feel welcome. The staff here is interested in you as a person and a football player. The are one of the few that will not just use you and leave you to the side when they are done with you. Those big factories like FSU or Ohio and the others may say they care but their past actions are not there to back up their promises...look into the history of those staffs before you make a decision. Dont end up at a school that the second you dont make a play you are forgotten... you may think you are the greatest but there is always some one better...dont chose a school that holds that against you.

The food service here are second to none. No other school I have seen has the system this school does. The weight room here is way beyond what Bc has or even Miami and the dorms? ask about your housing...Miami for one only gives you housing for 2 years then you are paying on your own...check with your schools about that it may make a decision where you end up easier.

Dont be blinded by the glory of past records...if you believe you are the best and want to play in a great system... come to syracuse and be the difference to put this team over the top. You can be on the team that everyone looks at and says that was an amazing team. They expect great records out of those schools that have the bling come be the difference on a team that can be better than those factories. Ask questions and make sure the choice you make is right.

GO ORANGE
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Thanks for sharing. Great look inside.
 
Awesome write-up. Always love to hear how the staff works on this stuff from inside the process.
 
Bambrewer said:
So he then says to Shy I know if you need some time to think about you can have it if you need a week or so just let me know. and all of a sudden its like shy gets it there is no but coming. Shy gets all watery eyed and says I love syracuse this is where I want to be I thank you so much for believing in me of course I commit. Coach looks over at me and says are you guys on board and I told him about how I thought they might not except his commit but that we had pretty much made up our minds weeks ago he would commit today. I was crying my wife was crying shy was crying every one was hugging... it was awesome. Coach Bullough came in and Coach Shafer told him the news and he was excited. We talked a little more about what was going to happen and he set us up with a couple guys on the staff for a campus tour.
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Wow Bam, amazing write up we are all lucky to have you give us the inside angle on the process. Good luck to your family and especially Congratulations to Shy. The section about the commitment really got to me, that he truly wanted to play at Syracuse and was so emotional about it that type of info is something we never see. Looking forward to seeing you all on game days in 2015!
 
Okay, Bam, I know I'm really putting the cart before the horse, but what are your thoughts on Shy's playing time next year? Have you and him discussed the possibility of red-shirting? Or has HCSS indicated potential playing time as a freshman?
 
texascpa said:
Okay, Bam, I know I'm really putting the cart before the horse, but what are your thoughts on Shy's playing time next year? Have you and him discussed the possibility of red-shirting? Or has HCSS indicated potential playing time as a freshman?
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of course the staff will make the final decision on any of this...Shy and I have spoken about what he wants (wow we really do talk alot about football) he wants to save any redshirt for what they are intended for in case of injury. I believe if Shy is eligible on time and picks up the play book quickly he could start. Maybe Im just a dad but as I have mentioned before I have been telling people he will play D1 since 8th grade and they all laugh at me. Well now he is playing D1. I have seen many of these kids in person and I have seen a lot of the kids that are playing now standing side by side with Shy. He more than has the size to play. He has all the speed they will want from him and he loves to crush people with his power. I think as long as the mental stuff is there for the staff he will not only start but with the chip he is carrying... he will be a force in freshman year. He has many quarter backs afraid of him in high school. I expect that trend to continue. The other night at a camp this qb from a school he is playing week 3 came up and was talking to Shy saying oh your cleats are awesome man your huge your bigger than last year really pumping his tires... shy turns around and says great talking to you im still going to try and kill you when we play...the kid almost threw up.lol
 
GoSU96 said:
5 yrs + summer sessions would get you to $330K.
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Hence the reason I only went to grad school at SU.

Bam that was an amazing write-up. Thank you for sharing your experiences with us the past couple months (has it really been that long?) Your insight into that side of the recruiting trail is awesome. I'm also very glad you guys had every opportunity you needed with Syracuse and that coach Shafer really is as genuine as you think he is from press conferences.

Can't wait to see Shy don the Orange (and he should be part of the first class in the all orange unis!). And Yes, you will have to trade in your UA obsession for the insane amount of free Nike gear Shy will be bringing home.
 
Rivals just gave him a 5.3 two star rating... f them... cant wait for shy to shove that right back up their ***. I will now be searching for their number one tight ends running backs etc that Shy will be playing compiling a list and up dating Shy weekly on whose number and name he will target to show rivals has no clue and the star system is a joke. I have said repeatedly it doesnt matter to us but it does matter to the school ranking. I will turn Shy into a 5 star killing machine when he hits the field.
 
Bambrewer said:
of course the staff will make the final decision on any of this...Shy and I have spoken about what he wants (wow we really do talk alot about football) he wants to save any redshirt for what they are intended for in case of injury. I believe if Shy is eligible on time and picks up the play book quickly he could start. Maybe Im just a dad but as I have mentioned before I have been telling people he will play D1 since 8th grade and they all laugh at me. Well now he is playing D1. I have seen many of these kids in person and I have seen a lot of the kids that are playing now standing side by side with Shy. He more than has the size to play. He has all the speed they will want from him and he loves to crush people with his power. I think as long as the mental stuff is there for the staff he will not only start but with the chip he is carrying... he will be a force in freshman year. He has many quarter backs afraid of him in high school. I expect that trend to continue. The other night at a camp this qb from a school he is playing week 3 came up and was talking to Shy saying oh your cleats are awesome man your huge your bigger than last year really pumping his tires... shy turns around and says great talking to you im still going to try and kill you when we play...the kid almost threw up.lol
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No reason to consider saving a red shirt for injury, injury red shirts are given on request by the NCAA and do not count toward your five year playing window. Criteria are that no more than a third of games can be played in that season, and injury caused the rest of season to be lost. Any other lost time to injury is just lost time and would not be eligible for a red shirt.
I am sure the staff will advise Shy of what they believe his best course will be, on taking a red shirt, after his first fall practices are completed.
Congratulation and the best of luck to Shy and all your family.
 
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Bambrewer said:
Rivals just gave him a 5.3 two star rating... f them... cant wait for shy to shove that right back up their ***. I will now be searching for their number one tight ends running backs etc that Shy will be playing compiling a list and up dating Shy weekly on whose number and name he will target to show rivals has no clue and the star system is a joke. I have said repeatedly it doesnt matter to us but it does matter to the school ranking. I will turn Shy into a 5 star killing machine when he hits the field.
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Just don't have Shy skipping assignments so he can kill opposing OL lol
 
SUbear said:
No reason to consider saving a red shirt for injury, injury red shirts are given on request by the NCAA and do not count toward your five year playing window.
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Yes but correct me if I am wrong you still only have 5 total years. So if you red shirt for academics or for gaining size and then get hurt your next red shirt still keeps you off the field for the years you are eligible... So taking a red shirt and getting hurt would hurt you
 
Libero2 said:
Just don't have Shy skipping assignments so he can kill opposing OL lol
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No never assignment comes first... Just when your assignment happens to be the target of the day make sure he remembers your number for the rest of his life. Lol
 
Bambrewer said:
Yes but correct me if I am wrong you still only have 5 total years. So if you red shirt for academics or for gaining size and then get hurt your next red shirt still keeps you off the field for the years you are eligible... So taking a red shirt and getting hurt would hurt you
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No that is wrong a medical red shirt gives additional time,I edited my original post with further explanation.
 
SUbear said:
No that is wrong a medical red shirt gives additional time
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Right ... like in Dan Conley's case where you can get a sixth year with a waiver.
 
wfschrec said:
Right ... like in Dan Conley's case where you can get a sixth year with a waiver.
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That's far from a guarenteed waiver though. We've seen the NCAA through kids best interest away in the past.
 
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