LineBackers

[E.T.]

Jarvis Hicks 6-1 195 lbs. Deerfield Beach, FL

Kadu Swift 5-9 200 lbs. Apopka, FL

[Guest S.  Bien]

Jarvis Hicks 6-1 195 lbs. Deerfield Beach, FL

Kadu Swift 5-9 200 lbs. Apopka, FL

Avril Monroe, Spencer Atkins (that's right, Atkins), and don't count us out for a few other big namer.  We'll probably grab two for depth and insurance.

[E.T.]

SPT:

RECRUITS:

Among recruits making visits at Saturday's season opener was A.J. Morosco, a coveted junior linebacker from Daytona Beach Seabreeze High.

[Guest HowieP1]

I woner if we will re-sign Gene Coleman who is having a great year at Pearl River CC:

November 4, 2004

Junior college spotlight

The Clarion-Ledger

Gene Coleman

Sophomore

Linebacker

Pearl River

Most of the chatter about unbeaten Pearl River CC involves the Wildcats' offense, which averages some 440 yards and 40 points per game.

That prolific offense leaves the PRCC defense on the field a lot, and preseason All-America candidate Gene Coleman is one big reason the Wildcats' D has more than held its own.

The 6-foot-1, 250-pound linebacker from Lake Wales, Fla., has made 53 tackles, including 12.5 for losses and 5.5 sacks. He has forced three fumbles and recovered one.

He runs the 40 in the 4.6 range and plays with a mean streak.

"I coached against him in high school (at Haines City, Fla.)," said PRCC coach Tim Hatten. "I thought we might as well get him to play with us up here."

Coleman originally signed with South Florida, but Hatten said he expects Coleman to get a lot of other offers.

Coleman is expected to graduate in May.

http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20041104/SPORTS030105/41104006/1025

[bulls96go]

if our coaches did their usual good work of staying in touch w should hav the leg up on resigning coleman, hope it happens

[Guest HowieP1]

Here is one guy we are interested in who won't have trouble qualifying.  ;D

Nov 24, 6:52 PM

Emotions run high

BY BARBARA CAYWOOD

FLORIDA TODAY

MERRITT ISLAND -- A couple of weeks ago in the first round of the playoffs, Merritt Island middle linebacker Sean Hayes yelled across the line as Boca Raton prepared to run a play.

Merritt Island linebacker Sean Hayes, center, is the Space Coast leading tackler and is ranked No. 1 academically in his class. Image © 2004, Tim Shortt, FLORIDA TODAY

"No. 5, you getting the ball right here in this hole," he told the opposing running back.

What happened next made Hayes a happy football player.

"The quarterback looked at me, looked at his coach and called timeout," Hayes said. "He said, 'Coach, they know the play.' "

Sean Hayes will mess with your mind.

It's intentional.

He says it gives him, not to mention his Merritt Island teammates, an edge.

"I'll do anything to get in the other team's head," said the Mustangs' senior middle linebacker, who leads the Space Coast in tackles for the second straight year. "Get them a little shocked, get them a little worried, cause them to get their mind on something else and lose their focus."

Merritt Island coach Paul Friel calls Hayes, a 6-foot, 225-pound senior, "an intense competitor" and that may be an understatement. His on-field histrionics get both his teammates and opponents fired up, but with different results.

"That's just the way I play the game," he said. "Being emotional and intense is the only way I know how to play. You can't play football if you don't get excited. You can't go out there and play and be a mute."

Hayes may be noisy on the field, but he knows what he's trash-talking about. Just ask Boca Raton.

"Sean starts watching film and studying the scouting report for the next game as soon as we get them," Friel said. "He knows what the other team is doing. He memorizes down and distance and hash marks -- everything. The kids prepare and Sean is great at that."

No surprise Hayes can memorize all those downs and distances and hash marks and formations and who's running into which hole. The 18-year-old is a 4.0 student and is ranked No. 1 in his senior class of 401 students.

While he may be a lunatic (his own description) on the field, he's the opposite in the classroom where he takes, among others, advanced placement psychology, calculus and English IV honors.

Phil Higgins, the Mustangs' wide receivers coach, also teaches Hayes' AP psychology class.

"I get to see him in both worlds," Higgins said, "and those worlds are different as day and night. In the classroom, Sean is very reserved. He has a very businesslike approach to school. Of the 79 students in my three classes he would be in the top."

Higgins said he gives a lot of credit to Sean's parents, Rhonda and Dennis.

"They separate those two worlds," he said. "They expect the very best from him every time. He's an impressive student, an impressive athlete, an impressive person."

Susan Maxey thinks so too, but she doesn't get to see much of the linebacker, who will be the Class of 2005 valedictorian.

"He pretty much takes care of himself," said Maxey, Merritt Island High's senior guidance counselor. "He's what you want in a student-athlete to be."

The student part and the athlete part have been imbedded in the Hayes' boys since they were toddlers.

Sean is the third of four football-playing brothers. Ryan, a 2001 Merritt Island grad, currently plays fullback for Pikeville (Ky.) College; Blaine, who graduated in 2002, plays linebacker for Bethel College in Tennessee; and Kyle, a freshman fullback, has been called up to the varsity.

"Even in baby pictures I always had a football in my hand," Sean said. "I first started playing tackle for the St. Cloud Pop Warner League and the second year, when I was 10 and in Junior Peewees, we went all the way to the Super Bowl. That was a great experience."

Having older brothers as role models has been a big plus, Sean said.

"Especially Blaine because I got to play with him last year and he really helped me out. Whatever success I've had is because of him. He was such a good leader. That's where I got my leadership skills and that put me ahead of everyone else."

Those leadership skills are tied directly to Hayes' emotional play on the field.

"I think it gets the other guys around me fired up," he said. "We feed off of it. If there's a big play, I just want to let them know. If the other team gets aggravated well, I don't really care."

The Mustangs (9-1) play their biggest game of the year Friday when they meet Miami Booker T. Washington's Tornadoes (10-0) in the Class 4A, Region 4 final at Miami North Stadium. It's a date Hayes has been waiting and wishing for since this same time last year when the Mustangs lost to the Tornadoes, 27-0.

"As soon as we lost last year, every time I would work out from then on, I thought about wanting Booker T. next year," he said. "Now, we've got a shot. Last year when we got there, we were a little intimidated," he said. "This time we've got to go there and put it to them, hit 'em early."

You know Hayes will be ready.

Contact Caywood at 242-3684 or bcaywood@flatoday.net.

http://www.floridatoday.com/!NEWSROOM/prepstoryS1125MUSTANGS.htm

[bulls96go]

wow hope we have a in with him!

[BIGJL]

This may be a stupid question but is there any news on Nate Harris?

GO BULLS!!!

BIG JL

[sdgukhsdgl]

the guy from MI, Hayes....  great kid, but nothing special on the field...  

[knight_fan]

Avril Monroe, Spencer Atkins (that's right, Atkins), and don't count us out for a few other big namer.  We'll probably grab two for depth and insurance.

Well you made this prediction a long time ago so I'll let it go.  But what info did you have to think you had a shot with Adkins?  He's a Miami commit now btw.