Looking for stability

I asked the questions about hiring assistants that are not from the high-major FBS schools and if that will help the turnover that annually happens under Craig Bohl and his answers were pretty predictable.

He looks for guys with passion, desire to succeed and who have a knowledge of NDSU so the program can move into spring football without much interuption. Those were Bohl's words.

Here are mine: But, seriously, it has to help.

You don't see other programs in the Missouri Valley lose one to three assistants every year, do you? The problem with hiring guys who have been in great places is they have networked enough to get back to great places.

On Thursday, Bohl introduced Brian Ward from McPherson College (Kan.) as the d-backs coach, Kenni Burns from Southern Illinois as the receivers coach and Nick Goeser from Minnesota-Duluth as the d-line coach. I don't think Tennessee is going to call Goeser next year for their d-line opening. Players have a close relationship with their position coaches and to see guys coming and going can't be good for continuity.

The key for these new assistants is their ability to recruit. I don't know, or frankly don't care to know, how good of coaches they are. But can they get the horses? Will Brian Ward be able to go into Eden Prairie High and beat UNI on a linebacker? Great players make great coaches, as they say.

Posted by: Jeff Kolpack on 3/11/2010 at 5:54 PM | Comments (10) | Permalink

Tags: bison football

Kicker says it's a done deal

New Bison recruit Adam Keller took officials visits to Pittsburgh and Temple, but was not interested in their walk-on offers and that was something that ultimately led him to verbally committing to NDSU. He said today that he will sign a letter of intent as soon as it arrives in the mail to his Dover, Pa., home.

Keller, who visited NDSU last weekend, also had scholarship offers from Illinois State and Jacksonville University (Fla.). He was 5 of 5 his senior year in high school with a long of 43 yards and as a junior kicked a 51-yarder to win a game.

Here is his video from Kohl's Professional Camps for kickers.

Story in Thursday's Forum focuses on the Kohl's camp and how it led to NDSU. He said the chance to compete for a starting berth right away as a freshman was a big factor in his decision. And it doesn't hurt NDSU has a dome.

"That's awesome for a kicker," he said. "Indoors .. that's perfect."

Posted by: Jeff Kolpack on 3/10/2010 at 1:58 PM | Comments (8) | Permalink

Tags: bison football

Pro Day

Here are some times, lifts and jumps I was able to steal at NDSU's Pro Day today:

220 pound bench reps: Keith Buckman (24), Lorenzo Riley (18), Shamen Washington (13), Fred Bussey (17), Nate Agbetola (12).

Vertical jump: Buckman (28 inches), Riley (29 1/2), Shamen (35), Bussey (31 1/2), Agbetola (35).

Broad jump: Riley (9 feet, 5 inches), Shamen (9-10), Bussey (9-1), Pat Paschall (9-10).

40-yard dash (unofficial): Riley (4.88 seconds), Shamen (4.45), Bussey (4.6), Paschall (4.47 and 4.50).

Only two teams, Vikings and Jets, represented today, down from past years. Jets are always here. The only player that I saw get further attention was Buckman, who was told by the Jets to stay after the drills were done so they could talk to him.

Story in tomorrow's Forum centers on Paschall and his need to lower his 40 time from last month's NFL Combine.

Shamen looked faster to me than he did last fall, but I have to wonder if his 40 time wasn't in the sub-4.4 range when he was running away from kickoff coverage defenders in his pre-knee injury prime. He is strong, though, as evidenced by his bench press for a 150-pound guy.

Posted by: Jeff Kolpack on 3/09/2010 at 4:23 PM | Permalink

Tags: bison football

A kicker on the way?

It appears NDSU is on the verge of solving its kicker recruitment dilemma with Adam Keller on his way from the state of Pennsylvania.

I don't know much about him, yet, but he got a good review at The Kohl's Eastern Showcase kicking camp. A story on ESPN.com said he turned in a "solid performance" booting 9 of 10 field goals in one charting session.

The 6-foot-2, 190-pound Keller is from Red Land High School in Lewisberry, Pa. He was more visible last fall as a receiver catching 44 passes for 438 yards. He's also considered to be a good basketball and baseball player hitting .348 last year.

He did not show up on any of the Rivals.com charts. Here is his recruiting evaluation from ESPN.com.:  "Adam Keller is a talented FG kicker from Red Land HS in Dover, PA. Adam's technique has improved greatly during his senior year. His smoothness and rhythm is noticeably better. His FG charting at the Kohl's Eastern Showcase Camp proved that he is a strong college prospect."

The last time NDSU recruited a wide receiver/kicker was Mike Dragosavich and we all know how that worked out for the Bison. They could only hope for more of the same from Keller.

Posted by: Jeff Kolpack on 3/09/2010 at 11:52 AM | Comments (9) | Permalink

Tags: bison football

Summit expansion talk

In reference to a reader comment from my previous blog post, the question had to do with Summit League commissioner Tom Douple's thoughts on expansion on his appearance on our WDAY SportsTalk show today. Douple said a two-division setup is a model his league likes because it curbs travel costs. He said 12 teams would be enough to go to the two divisions.

It's age-old speculation, but let's go at it again. Who would they be? Here's my thought:

North Division: NDSU, SDSU, UND (assuming the NCAA-UND lawsuit settlement that nickname issue be resolved by November will still hold), USD, Oakland, IPFW.

South Division: Oral Roberts, UMKC, IUPUI, Western Illinois, Southern Utah (until it finds a Big Sky home anyway) and one other educated guess. Denver? The Sun Belt Conference is said to not particularily like the Pioneers because they are not a football school and not a real geographical fit (the closest school is North Texas and after that you're mainly in Arkansas and Louisiana), but Denver would consider Summit a step down.

Nebraska-Omaha? Maybe it's time the Mavs jump up. Utah Valley? If Southern Utah stays with Summit, UVU would be a logical travel partner, but that's not the preferred footprint of the Summit, something Douple said on our show.

Remember, Centenary is dropping to D-III. Also, Missouri-St. Louis (enrollment almost 14,000) is said to be considering a Division I move. Other upgrade candidates may include Grand Valley State (Mich.) and Colorado State-Pueblo, although I have a hard time believing that one. Even so, say just one of these schools announces the move tomorrow -- that still puts it at least three years from Summit competition and five years from tournament eligibility.

Maybe you go to an East-West setup.

Please, no UND-NDSU comments.

Posted by: Jeff Kolpack on 3/08/2010 at 8:17 PM | Comments (31) | Permalink

Tags: bison athletics