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mat1992

Comments from Recruiting Day Press Conference

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Opening Statement Rob Ambrose
A lot of hard work that got done over an extensive period of time by a lot of people. It was an entire team effort.
Eight different states and 11 positions. I have 11 over 3.0, six over 3.7. It's an ecletic group. Young men of
great character. Support staff have done a tremendous job. Thanks.....(left the rest out, thanks professors, restaraunts,
Marriott, etc.). I'm honored that the families chose Towson Univesity.

On early late signing periods
I will not be surprised if the Power Five or Money Five if they try and change this. Having an early signing date, you
find the kids that want to be here. They have done research. They know what they want out of college. They know who
they want to play for or at least they have a general idea. Then there are the young men that love to be recruited.
Recruiting ends when college begins. The early signing date you can find a lot out about people, about commitment.
I was thrilled to death that we had so many, so early. We weren't the only one that could do that. The bigger schools
saw this as a detriment. There was a lot less picking and lot less poking at the end. That maybe recruiting has gotten
a little more honest. It was great for us. It will be great for the future. I can't see a downside from this perspective.
Normally, you have to work it. If kid commits to you in October, you can sign him in December. We've been poached quite
a bit in the past because of the hard work we've doen. This will alleviate most of that.

On last year and early singing period
Two fold. The timing of it the new concept changed things. The other one was that we re-evaluate who and how we recruit.
There was one thing above all else that we wanted from this class and that was character. We might have to sacrifice
talent for character because character sticks. Those without it don't.

On early signees
Truth be told, that if they were committed and declined to sign early, they wouldn't be coming here because clearly they
didn't understand the meaning of the word. Of the class itself, there are two that are enrolled today. One was long
snapper Conrad Brake. We had to replace Will Hayes. And Jihre Love. Both are older kids.

On late class
A smaller pool in the end. A lot more fined tuned looking. We're talking about 3 or 4. This is a smaller class for us.
Very proud of this class. As an alum, I'm very excited that these kids are going to represent my degree.

On Jeff Miller
Jeff is huge. I did see a play at a high school all-star game, where the defensive end was unblocked and he's not huge.
He bends the corner and beats the tackle and he hits Jeff and he falls down and Jeff throws the ball for a strike and
a 20-yard gain. He's huge. He might be the biggest quarterback I've ever coached. Academically, he's one of the smartest.
He loves football more than most things. He's one of the few people who grew up on the West Coast and swears that
people have told him his whole life that he's an East Coast guy. Parents are from the midwest. He never goes to the
East Coast. The Southern California lackadaisical lifestyle doesn't fit into the sense of urgency to be a D-1 caliber
of the East. Jeff loves that. He was the MVP of the whatever all-star game and he only had a week to prepare. His stats
and how he did it, the fact that he only worked with these guys for a week, that bodes well for his ability to adjust
here.

On DL help
Garrett is large. He's a juco prospect and we've known him from Va. Was a all-everything in Virginia. Junior college kids
are one of two things. They are either kids that didn't figure it out and aren't going to figure it out, or the kids
that didn't figure it out, didn't have good foundations and are fighting, scrapping and clawing for another chance.
That would be him. It's one of those things that after I got to know him and he spent some time here, one of those mutual
love at first sight type of things. His hunger for personal success and his quick falling in love with this place
was a great combination.

On QBs in the spring
The goal was to bring in an older guy, somebody to push Ryan (Stover) a little bit. Somebody that has experience at
a different level. But we weren't going to take a guy, we were only going to take the right guy. So we said no to a
couple. I'm leaving the door open for that to happen at the end of spring. As it stands, we will give those younger
guys some reps in the spring and let them get better.

On Daniel Thompson and Logan Justice
He is an overly large WR with freakish skills. We weren't going to sign a wide out in this class. He was so good, we
could not say no. He's really good. Stonebridge is a perennial champ in Virginia and Mickey Thompson (no relation) is
one of the best coaches in the state. This young man is coming from a great program where academics and athletics
are very important. On Justice and him. Thompson academically is catching up. He may not make it by the fall but will
certainly make it by next January. Might have to grayshirt. Mr. Justice is about as straight and strong as you are going
to get. Son of a Delaware cop, who graduated from Fork Union himself. So they moved to Virginia. There's not much there.
To move from Lewes, Delaware to Virginia tells you about their family. Bryan
is fifth nationally in the 4x200. He's fast. Faster than Summers but not nearly as big and strong.

On Sean Bryan
Yo guys know me. This is not the end. There are still some loose ends to be tied. But Mr. Bryan is a very celebrated
New York back. He looks small like a scatty guy but he's extremely strong. He plays much bigger than his size. There
will be some other running backs that fit into this mix as well. Those guys are all going to compete. If I would have
had my drothers, I would have an older quarterback and older running back this semester. It would raise the level of
play. I'm still not done with that. At the running back position, there were a couple that we were on, I wasn't going
to take a younger guy like that, I was going to take a bigger guy. I didn't work out three times and I wasn't going
to force it.

On secondary
We've older secondary guys, younger secondary guys. Truth be told in the past, we've had a lot of issues with
eligibility at that position and off the field stuff. We decided to recruit a bunch of them. Before the conversation
was, can he run, can he hit, can he cover? Now it is also who is he as a person? They are exceptional characters.

On Troy Vincent Jr.
Depending on where we are in the spring, he can be a boundary corner. He's good enough to do it. It depends on where
he fits in terms of everybody else. Has at least one if not two years.

On Character
I guess I'm getting old. I have a concept of recruiting and choosing your college. Choosing the place that will help
mold the rest of your life to getting married and picking that person, the right fit for you. Once you truly know,
you know. Picking your wife or spouse or life partner, it's not a carnival. It's one of the greatest decisions
and most important decisions you are ever going to make in your life. So is picking your college. And when you make
picking your college a carnival, it shows what kind of respect you have for both the college and your own future or
lack thereof. It's a broad brush that I say in reference to character but are they honest? Do they have integrity?
Are the committed? So they sign. That's easy. Sadly, this should be relatively anticlimatic. And for the ones that not,
it's about attention and things that are the most important. The future is the most important thing. Your future should
not look like a carnival. It should be well-thought out.

We tend to look at all these things these young men can do physically compared to what they won't be able to do due
to their lack of consistency and who they are. We need kids from good foundations or ones that are willing and are
desperate to learn good foundations both on and off the field. That makes for a good program and a good family.

On recruiting story
Ryan Kearney is one of the best players in the state of Maryland, Howard County Player of the Year. He is a kid whose
father died during the season and instead of not playing, he decided to play and he played his heart out. He played in
a way that inspired his teammates and people. They won a game they probably shouldn't have won. He's one of my 4.0+
guys. He comes from a great family. He understands what football can do for him and his family.

On early class
I like Reaves. He's large. He's a big human being. He's going to help and contribute right away. There's a lot of guys
on this list, early or late, that are going to have a chance to contribute next year.

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