More from Coach OJ on signing day
While signing day was more about maintaining and building momentum for USF, for Augustana it was the first major event of the Jerry Olszewski era, the first real chance for us to get a peek at what might be in store for the Vikings under their new coach.
Augie announced 36 recruits Wednesday, an insanely high number that could be cut in half or even by 2/3 by the time this group are all seniors. Think about it. How many college football teams — particularly Division II or lower — have 20 seniors, let alone 30. It’s not at all uncommon for college football teams, good ones even, to be down to less than 10 seniors in a given year.
So in some ways the Viking recruiting class feels very much like an attempt to cast a very wide net and hope a few whoppers end up in the net. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but I wouldn’t necessarily be ‘excited’ about that big of a class, either. It feels kind of superfluous. We’ll see.
That said, I wouldn’t be excited about the large class if I was a returning Augie player, either.
I’m not suggesting that Coach OJ is looking to clean house or make big changes in the lineup for the sake of making changes — there are some very good players returning that he’d be foolish not to lean on. But it’s also very clear that OJ wants to start over, at least in the sense that there are no promises.
Several times when I asked OJ questions about personnel or competition for jobs or even schemes, he returned to the same point: He’s anxious to evaluate. He wants to evaluate the players — all of them. He wants to evaluate every facet of the entire program. Already Wednesday he was blunt in assessing the roster, repeatedly stating that the team needs to get much faster, more athletic, bigger and stronger. There’s a sense from several in the program — not just OJ — that this team may be shorter on talent than originally thought. Considering most of Mike Aldrich’s recruits are still underclassmen, I kind of interpreted that as a subtle dig on Brad Salem, but I could be off-base.
At any rate, OJ acknowledged that a strong group of offensive linemen were brought in last year, and that there’s strength at quarterback, receiver and running back.
But he was pretty straightforward in discussing the need for not just depth but more talent at defensive line and the secondary. Those were the two areas that hurt the Vikings the most last year. That and kicker, and OJ brought a kicker with him from St. Olaf. That kicker — Lucas Wainman — sent in his letter of intent after I’d left Augie to visit USF, so I didn’t get a chance to ask OJ about him, but about a month ago OJ had mentioned to me that he’d had a tremendous kicker at St. Olaf that he’d have loved to bring to Augie with him. He was pretty much raving about the kid. I can’t say with certainty that Wainman is him, but I’m assuming he is.
I like the body types that Augie pursued at the positions of need: They went with very tall defensive backs and linemen to whom they can add quality weight. OJ put a big onus on the team’s strength staff to build the recruits to where they want them to be physically.
As for quarterback: Chase Marso and Nathan Merriman out of Colorado both seem to be pretty high-quality recruits. Of course, last year’s class included Trey Heid, the Star Tribune Prep player of the year, and the year before, Erik Brakke was recruited out of Colorado, and then-offensive coordinator Steve Olinger didn’t deny that they envisioned Brakke, at that time, as potentially their future starter.
And, of course, Justin Heinrich will be a junior and Tanner Foth a senior.
OJ gave little hint at all to what he’s thinking at the position, other than to suggest that all six are on equal footing.
“Quarterback is a position I have coached and will coach,” OJ said, confirming that he will serve as his own offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. “I saw these two guys (Marso and Merriman) on tape and fell in love with both of them. The guys that are already here — I haven’t worked one snap with them yet. We’ll have to sort everything out.”
Is there a chance that one or more of them could be moved to a different position to avoid the risk of losing one?
“Potentially, but right now they’re all competing for the starting job. It’s going to be at a premium for the 1-2-3 spots on the depth chart.”
Are Marso and Merriman going to be redshirted?
“That’s yet to be determined. I have to work with our kids in the spring, and I’ll have a great opportunity to do that. We’ll see what they can pick up and what their talents are, what adjustments may need to be made to their mechanics. They have to fit my system and scheme.
It’s gonna be a big spring, but I’ll be honest, I’m much less worried about getting our scheme completely installed as I am of assessing our talent, across the board. I truly want to spend a lot of time assessing our personnel and see exactly where we are.”
What can you tell me about the schemes you plan to run?
“We’re gonna be as balanced as we can, and I really mean that. I want to be as close to a 50/50 run/pass split as we can. We’ll take whatever the defense is giving us and do what it takes to win that day. Some days that might mean throwing it around, but we’re definitely going to be able to run the football. That’s how you win games, especially in the midwest weather.”
What about defense?
“We have to be a faster football team. I’m not gonna be blitz-happy but we’re going to be sound a defense and we’re going to bring our share of pressures. We have to get better on the back half. That’s something we’ve addressed and will continue to address.”
Will you stick with a 4-3 base set? A lot of schools in the NSIC and D2 have made the move to the 3-4.
“I’d like to stay in the 4-3. We’ll mix in some 3-4, but I was 4-3 at St. Olaf. It’ll be predicated on our down line play, but I’m a 4-3 guy.”
