Wednesday July 19, 2006

Proctor Gets It; Jackets and Heels Make Noise; Better Than The Best; SEC Defensive Backfield Rankings;

Proctor Gets It
Life presents you with so few opportunities. Some people get one shot if they are lucky and what they do with it sometimes changes history.

In 1989, Chris Morocco was a fifth-year senior who had been a back up to Rodney Williams, the winningest quarterback in Clemson history. Some felt the Tigers should have started sophomore DeChane Cameron instead. Some felt they should give the offense to Cameron and let him grow for the next few seasons. Instead, Morocco led Clemson to one of the best seasons in school history. Clemson’s 10-2 season included a big win in Tallahassee and a 45-0 win at South Carolina.

This season Will Proctor reminds some of Morocco. He is replacing a four-year starter at quarterback in his fifth-year. Like Morocco, Proctor has a bunch of talent around him and all he has to do is get the ball in the playmakers hands.

Proctor understands that this is a one-year deal and he could be remembered as the guy that was between Charlie Whitehurst and Willy Korn. Or he could be the quarterback to lead the Tigers back to greatness. Fortunately for Clemson, Proctor understands that and understands his role.

He also understands that life presents you with few opportunities and he understands this might be the greatest opportunity of his young life. Actually he got his first and second shots last season and he answered the bell against Texas A&M and Duke.

Proctor knows that he has to outwork the competition and his teammates will tell you that no one has been close to his work ethic this summer. Proctor understands leadership. This is a trait that comes much more naturally to him than the guy he backed up. He has been there all summer and he has showcased his leadership daily. The only time he was not there was when he left to work at the Manning Passing Academy in New Orleans.

I heard a great story about the Orlando native today. A great source told me that he and Dustin Fry have been studying together for several hours a day. I have never heard of an offensive lineman and a quarterback getting together and watching film and studying but that is exactly what they have been doing. The reason why is that Proctor wanted to be prepared in case Fry went down with an injury. If Bobby Hutchinson or Barry Humphries had to be thrown in the game like Proctor did last year, Proctor wanted to be able to make the calls the center usually makes for the offensive line. I would say that is going above and beyond.

The senior already was recognized as a terrific athlete but now he is a quarterback. As I stated earlier, he understands that this offense should be built around James Davis, Chansi Stuckey, Rendrick Taylor, Aaron Kelly, C.J Spiller, etc. It takes a quarterback that has to swallow his ego and put the team first and that is exactly what Proctor has done.

Jackets and Heels Make Noise
In recent years Georgia Tech has been dominated in the state of Georgia in recruiting. Georgia has owned the state and even schools like Auburn, Tennessee and Clemson have dipped into the state and hurt the Jackets. The same thing can be said in North Carolina where the Heels went through a coupe of years of N.C. State beating them in recruiting. But the Jackets and Heels are off to much better starts this year. I can understand North Carolina. They have excellent facilities and they are the state school. I do not understand Georgia Tech.

The hard part for Tech and UNC is that Clemson is having another top-ranked class and Miami and FSU will have top classes again.

Better Than The Best
What does Tommy Bowden and his staff do after signing a great class in February? Well you go out and sign a better class. This class is only half finished but it should grow in the next week and the Tigers are on their way to grabbing an even more impressive class than last season. Momentum, stability and facilities are something the Tigers have not had in a while but Bowden and Co. are taking advantage of all three now and are on a roll.

SEC Defensive Backfield Rankings
1. LSU
2. Auburn
3. Tennessee
4. Arkansas
5. Florida
6. Alabama
7. Georgia
8. Mississippi State
9. South Carolina
10. Ole Miss
11. Kentucky
12. Vanderbilt

National Top 10 Defensive Backs
1. LaRon Landry-LSU
2. Kenny Phillips-Miami
3. Brandon Merriweather-Miami
4. Michael Griffen-Texas
5. Leon Hall-Michigan
6. Daymeion Hughes-Cal
7. Justin King-Penn State
8. Tarell brown-Texas
9. Antoine Cason-Arizona
10. Myron Rolle-FSU

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