Posts Tagged ‘Kenny Tate’

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February 4th, 2009 | 07:40 pm

Signing Day Notes

After Terp coach Ralph Friedgen and recruiting coordinator Dave Sollazzo spoke at length about the class of 2009, Friedgen had some time to update some other Terp notes, including:

As previously reported, linebacker Alex Wujciak had knee surgery and will miss spring practice. 

Wide receiver LaQuan Williams, who struggled with injuries this season after a strong 2007 campaign, is academically ineligible. Friedgen said he could return next semester.

Fifth-year cornerback Richard Taylor is still waiting to hear whether he will be granted a sixth-year of eligibility because of medical hardship. Taylor, who missed the entire 2007 season due to a knee injury, tore his ACL in the fourth game of the season against Eastern Michigan.

Friedgen still hasn’t made up his mind about his special teams coordinator opening. Friedgen said filling the defensive coordinator position was probably a harder task and added Brian White, who took on the bulk of special teams duties for the the bowl game, is still a candidate. “I’m probably going to bring another guy in this week, and then probably make a decision,” Friedgen said. “We’ll see where we’re at. I’ve been very impressed with the people I’ve brought in.”

As far as position moves for the spring, Friedgen announced tight end Drew Gloster, who was academically ineligible this season, will move to defense. Friedgen said safety Kenny Tate, who entered this season as a highly-regarded wide receiver prospect, has been working with the defense during winter workouts and will probably make his own decision about his future position. But when spring practice rolls around, don’t be surprised to see some other positional switches. “We may fool around with some things,” Friedgen said. “But right now we haven’t had a chance because we’ve been recruiting so much.”

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November 19th, 2008 | 06:12 pm

The DeMatha Pipeline Continues

DeMatha Catholic High School football coach Bill McGregor has had a lot of great players in his 27 years on the job, and a good many of them have chosen to take the two-minute car ride down U.S. Route 1 to continue their careers at this university.

Saturday is the final home game for former Stags Edwin Williams and Jeff Allen, but the DeMatha connection will still be strong after Williams and Allen leave.

Cornerback Anthony Wiseman, who was played on the same team as Allen for the last eight years, will be a senior next season. Safety Kenny Tate was one of the Terps’ top recruits last year. DeMatha senior offensive lineman Pete DeSouza, a 6-foot-7, 305-pounder, has verbally committed. He is a rivals.com three-star recruit.

When talking to McGregor about Allen on Tuesday, the conversation turned to the Terp program and coach Ralph Friedgen. The DeMatha coach said when one of his players chooses the Terps, he knows the player will be treated right during a critical time in his young life.

“Coach Friedgen is so committed, so dedicated, so loyal to his players,” McGregor said. “He’s a little bit old school but still new school.”

McGregor mentioned the long history of his players coming to this university dating back to when he took over in the early 1980s. It’s clear that as long as Friedgen and his assistants maintain a presence at the school that is practically in their backyard, the relationship will continue.

“I wish all my kids would have the opportunity to play at the University of Maryland,” McGregor said. “It’s been that way for years.”

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August 5th, 2008 | 03:52 pm

Media Day Musings and First Practice Fall Out

The Terp football team opened practice Monday, preceded by Media Day where the coaches and players talked about the upcoming season.

TATE TO STRONG SAFETY
One of the day’s biggest announcements was highly-regarded recruit Kenny Tate has been moved from wide receiver to strong safety.

The Terps are very deep at wide receiver, and after spring practice, strong safety was the one position where Friedgen was concerned about depth. Senior Jeff Allen is at the top of the depth chart currently, ahead of walk-on Drew Robinson. Senior Dominique Herald, who will be suspended for the season-opener because of an unspecified violation of team rules, could also get into the rotation when he returns.

Tate earned high school accolades as a safety at nearby De Matha, but coach Ralph Friedgen said he was initially apprehensive about asking the 6-foot-3, 215-pounder to make the switch, fearing he could lose credibility as a recruiter.

But Tate accepted the move, saying he wants to be an impact player. Friedgen said Tate will have the option to move back to offense and does not plan to keep him on defense if it does not look like he will play.

“I think he’s excited about it right now,” Friedgen said after Monday’s practice. “I just asked him how he thought he did, and he said he made a lot of freshman mistakes.”

QUARTERBACKS EXCEL DURING DAY ONE
The first thing Friedgen said when addressing the media after the team’s first practice was how well the quarterbacks performed.

“We were much more comfortable at quarterback,” Friedgen said. “I thought our decision-making was better. We got rid of the ball better. I thought I saw improvement from all three of them.”

Earlier in the day, he suggested the position is still wide open, declining to put junior Chris Turner at the top of the depth chart. Senior Jordan Steffy and junior Josh Portis will also compete for the starting spot.

“We may play multiple quarterbacks,” Friedgen said. “I don’t know. I think that’s an area where if we get the production of it that we expect, we have a chance to have a good offense.”

HITTING THE GROUND RUNNING
Friedgen declared this season’s Terps his fastest and most in shape group since taking over the program during his Media Day address.

He put that to the test during Monday’s workout.

Five Terps failed to pass Friedgen’s conditioning test, which forces players to run 12 100-yard sprints with 30 second rests. Players must complete each sprint in a certain time based on their position.

Friedgen said those who did not pass were dropped to the bottom of the depth chart and given an opportunity to complete the test on Tuesday.

None of the five who failed to pass were among the top two on the depth chart at their positions, according to Friedgen.

QUOTABLE TERPS
“It’s spreading it out and still being able to run the ball. The West Coast. You can do it all on the West Coast.”- Junior wide receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey on the new offense under new coordinator James Franklin.

“I feel real astute with it. I’ve been studying real hard. The playbook opens up this year because we have a lot of intangibles with it. Our passing game is short, long, quick, fast, explosive and it’s going to be a good time for us this year.”- Portis on how he’s grasping the new offense.

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March 29th, 2008 | 11:02 pm

Since when is football an a.m. sport?

Saturday’s spring football was way too early. The 10 a.m. weekend start just isn’t acceptable for a college student operating on four hours of sleep per night during the school week.

Regardless, it wasn’t a bad day of practice at all. Sophomore Michael Katz and I covered the practice for The Diamondback, and we watched some pretty interesting drills.

New offensive coordinator James Franklin is an intense guy. In one drill, the offense was attempting to score on the defense in a small circle, almost like some sort of gladiator game. Every time the offense scored, all the other offensive players had to run into the circle and celebrate – or face Franklin’s wrath. Numerous tired players got screamed at for their lack of enthusiasm.

Afterward, the team worked on some goal line formations, with the offense scoring on eight of nine plays, including offensive guard Jack Griffin grabbing a fumble in the end zone.

“You ain’t gonna take that from Jack! Not from Jack!” sophomore linebacker Adrian Moten joked on the sideline.

USC transfer sophomore safety Antwine Perez (yes, a new spelling of Antoine/ Antwan/ Antwane / Anton/ Antwone) was particularly impressive in the drills, coming through with some hard hits. Perez should fit in well as senior J.J. Justice’s replacement. Justice was at practice for a while, joking around with his old teammates and talking some football.

Incoming freshman wide receiver Kenny Tate from DeMatha High School was also around, soaking in the scene that he will be joining in the summer.

Finally, around 1:30, I finished up my last interview with running backs coach John Donovan. Not having ate all day, I grabbed some Panda Express on my way through the Stamp Student Union before collapsing in my bed.

By that point, I didn’t even have enough energy to celebrate a touchdown in the Super Bowl.

ajosephdbk@gmail.com

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February 5th, 2008 | 09:53 pm

The ENORMOUS deal that is National Signing Day

Take 20 or so names and put them on a list.
Take that list and let an older man read it, smile and answer a few basic questions.
Repeat. On every… single… Division 1 campus in America.

In reality, National Signing Day is little more than a formality for most schools.

Prospects are formally announced to the media and the world in what is essentially a public relations-style format meant to highlight anything deemed highlight-able. Generally these players have committed verbally to their new school months (if not years) in advance. Little suspense is left unless you are a loyal fan of team like Michigan or Ohio State and you are waiting to hear about the decision from top quarterback prospect Terrelle Pryor.

Rivals.com football recruiting analyst Mike Farrell was incredibly busy today. Every radio station and newspaper in the country wants to get some insight on the latest recruiting class for the hometown school.

I managed to get a hold of him after literally four different attempts, and thankfully he was in-between two radio show appearances and had a moment to speak. For the most part, he talked about Terrapin football coach Ralph Friedgen making some important moves to sure up team depth and get some playmakers.

He touted wide receiver Kevin Dorsey as the Terps’ top playmaking recruit and called late-commitment Kenny Tate from nearby DeMatha Catholic High School the type of signing that shows the Terps still control their own territory.

There is one reason to pay attention on National Signing Day as a Terp fan. Hargrave Military Academy running back Enrique Davis, rated as the top prep school player in the country, has shown some interest in the Terps. But Davis has yet to visit College Park, and the Terps are a true long shot in his recruiting race.

Still, Davis potentially could choose to spurn National Signing Day and hold out, which might give the Terps the chance.

All this excitement and more *ahem* coming tomorrow! Good luck sleeping tonight.

ajosephdbk@gmail.com

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