Thursday Recycle: The Kevin Young Situation

Great Scott

I thought I'd do a little write up on Kevin Young this morning. You've no doubt heard that the three-star defensive end from Olathe, Kansas has switched his commitment from KU to Nebraska. The timing was interesting as the info rolled out on Monday -- still near the peak of one of the greatest moments I've witnessed in KU football history.

Anyway, after heading over to the Phog gridiron board, what a mess? I guess our DL coach Joe Bob Clements is leaving to join Bill Snyder's staff (wow!) and now you have people (possibly friends or family) upset at posters on the KU Rivals board that criticized the switch.

Great scott. First, I really just wanted to say that it is hard for me to conceive of playing high school football in the Kansas City area and not picking either KU or Mizzou considering the commitment to Arrowhead for another four years and the impact that is having nationally. Second, I really can't imagine a Kansas kid watching that game and then saying, "Hey, I don't want to be a part of that -- Lincoln, Nebraska here I come. I want to be famous in the state of Nebraska. Weee!!!"

Of course, losing the DL coach probably has to factor in, but I kept my opinions pretty guarded on the Blake Lawrence situation a few years ago. He's #2 on the depth chart behind a senior, so maybe he'll get his shot as a junior. My take though is Nebraska takes KC kids sells them on the "tradition" and then puts them on the shelf strictly to keep them out of the hands of KU and MU on the off chance that they could develop. Before NU fans jump me on that, I see nothing wrong with that tactic -- it's called winning.

For local kids though, I honestly don't think you're going to get your best shot to play football up there. Listen, you can and will play football here and we do beat Nebraska and on top of that we will get into that Big 12 Championship game and win it and now is a great time to come to KU because the heart of your football career will occur during our weak south rotation. We'll go to battle those years with our recruits earned from the 12-1 Orange Bowl season. The point? Local guys, this is just the tip of the iceberg -- you're going to miss out on something special and that's just sad because I want every Kansas kid that can to be a part of it. However, for those that have made their decisions, farewell and best of luck in the land of red.

I'll get into the Job Bob situation later ...

Comments

[hiphopopotamus]

Much agreed. And maybe he will have great succees up there. But from looking at the kid, he's not exactly an athletic prodigy so I don't see him playing anytime soon. To each his own (and obviously I'm biased), but given the basically even ground the two programs are on right now, I can't imagine why you'd choose them over KU if for no other reason than playing time.

As for Joe Bob, let him go. His back is covered with a powercat tattoo. And honestly, did we really reap any benefits from having him here? Maybe I'm underestimating his impact, but I certainly don't think we saw the d-line undergo any drastic improvements this year. My vote is to find a veteran that can develop players and help gameplan.

[DJ]

I'm going to try to get into the Joe Bob situation a little more in the a.m. -- time permitting. I think you raise a great point though, let's take the opportunity to upgrade the position because I see a lot of young talent with that front four. It's been a little painful at times, but take a look at the last two games.