sutomcat
No recent Cali or Iggy awards; Mr Irrelevant
- Joined
- Aug 15, 2011
- Messages
- 25,440
- Like
- 110,270
Welcome to ACC Football Schedule Day!
You're excited. We're excited. The 2018 #ACCFootball schedule will be released tomorrow!! pic.twitter.com/53ZJD3mbav
— ACC Football (@ACCFootball) January 16, 2018
SU News
Syracuse Football: Michigan State transfer Trishton Jackson chooses SU (itlh.com; Carey)
The Syracuse football squad got a huge boost with the addition of a former four star recruit. ITLH breaks down the huge get for the squad.
Syracuse football received word of a transfer who will be eligible to play in the 2019 season. Trishton Jackson, a West Bloomfield, Michigan native is now suiting up on the Syracuse sideline. Jackson was high school teammates at West Bloomfield High with Syracuse starting safety, Evan Foster.
As a prospect coming out of high school, Jackson was rated a four-star prospect and the 229th best player in the class of 2016, according to 247sports.com. Coming out of high school, Jackson had offers from the likes of Iowa, Pitt, in addition to Michigan State. Jackson did not have the most impressive offer sheet, but nonetheless appears to be a very solid prospect.
At Michigan State, Jackson did not set the world on fire in his two years, but was stuck behind a stable full of wide receivers, all of whom will return next year.
...
Jags 'threw a tantrum' when Marrone started making changes (PS; AP)
Jacksonville's locker room was abuzz late last season. Four guys played table tennis while others crowded around a small table for dominoes. Two 80-inch televisions were tuned to a sports highlight show, and music blared from one corner of the room.
Doug Marrone, the team's offensive line coach at the time, walked through and shook his head.
"Can you believe this?" Marrone whispered.
The Jaguars were in the middle of a nine-game losing streak that would ultimately cost coach Gus Bradley his job. Marrone had watched from afar for two years, witnessing an atmosphere he felt was too loose, too laid-back and too lenient amid losing.
So when Marrone was hired to replace Bradley last January, high on his to-do list was to change the culture in Jacksonville. His success is one reason the Jaguars (12-6) are in the AFC championship game against New England (14-3).
The ping pong table was the first to go. Dominoes followed. The locker room stalls were overhauled, too, with Marrone mixing and matching position groups and putting certain players next to veteran leaders and/or NFL role models.
...
ACC schedule to be released Wednesday (myajc.com;Sugiura)
The ACC will release the schedule for the 2018 football season Wednesday at 2 p.m.
Georgia Tech has home conference games against Clemson, Duke, Miami and Virginia and road conference games against Louisville, North Carolina, Pittsburgh and Virginia Tech. The game against Louisville will be the Yellow Jackets’ first in school history.
Tech also has four non-conference games already scheduled – Alcorn State (September 1), at USF (September 8), Bowling Green (September 29) and at Georgia (November 24). There is space on the calendar for one open date. The Jackets have also never faced USF or Bowling Green.
One thing is known about the schedule already. Tech won’t play more than one ACC game in which its opponent has an open date the week prior but the Jackets do not. Coach Paul Johnson and athletic director Todd Stansbury saw to that by leading a change in the ACC’s scheduling model to address that situation.
Johnson criticized the league last January following the release of the 2017 schedule, in which two opponents (Clemson and Wake Forest) were to play the Jackets coming off open dates while Tech was not. It continued a pattern for the Jackets of often being placed in such games while other teams were not. At the ACC spring meetings this past May, after being presented evidence by Stansbury, ACC athletic directors voted unanimously to address the situation.
...
2018 ACC early conference primer: Biggest games, Heisman hopefuls and one big prediction (sportsnews.com; Bender)
The Atlantic Coast Conference enters the offseason coming off another solid season in which three-time defending conference champion Clemson reached the College Football Playoff and ACC Coastal Division champion Miami played in the Orange Bowl.
Both teams lost, however, and it wasn't quite the same banner season the conference enjoyed in 2016. That said, the conference has stability in its coaching ranks and several chances to prove itself all over again in nonconference play next season.
Sporting News takes an early look at what the ACC will look like in 2018:
Way-too-early ranked teams
No. 2 Clemson
No. 7 Miami
No. 15 Virginia Tech
No. 19 Florida State
...
5 ACC players with the highest 2018 NFL Draft stock - ACCSports.com (accsports.com; Powell)
Nearly 30 underclassmen around the ACC have declared for the NFL Draft as of Jan. 15, with three days remaining before the official deadline of Jan. 18. Nine ACC schools have lost at least one underclassman to an early NFL declaration this winter.
Who are some of the likeliest departing ACC underclassmen to get selected in first round this spring? And which five ACC underclassmen made the best decisions to declare now for the NFL?
Derwin James, Florida State
James is the very type of hybrid defensive back that NFL defensive coordinators crave. During his time at Florida State, James demonstrated that he can play a traditional safety role, while also stepping up and being a prominent figure in run support and presssuring opposing quarterbacks. The NFL franchise that drafts James will instantly be more versatile and more explosive defensively.
...
Other
These 25 public high schools are the best for athletes in New York (report) (PS; photo gallery)
25: Huntington High School
Location: Huntington, NY
Section 11
Overall Niche Grade: A+
Overall ranking in NY: 74 of 1,180
Students: 1,324
24: Fox Lane High School
Location: Bedford, NY
Section: 1
Overall Niche Grade: A+
Overall ranking in NY: 23 of 1,180
Students: 1,423
23: Great Neck South High School
Location: Great Neck, NY
Section 8
Overall Niche Grade: A+
Overall ranking in NY: 4 of 1,180
Students: 1,423
...