Devante Bond and Alex Figueroa

[DMoney]

Someone once asked Butch Davis what he looked for in a prospect. He said he wants to see two things in every player he evaluates. The first is short-area explosion. This second is a passion for the game of the football.

Watching film on Bond and Figueroa, you can see that they are twitchy athletes with great burst. But what has caught my attention are the quotes from their coaches on how much they love the game. Figueroa's coach said he was the most physical player he's ever seen, and everybody raves about Bond's motor.

They already have chips on their shoulders from not being heralded recruits out of high school. With D'Onofrio implementing more and more odd fronts, these are two players who can really help this defense going forward.

 

[TheUnuffSAID]

 

[WhatTheHell]

The attitude of the kids Butch brought in at Miami definitely stood out.

 

[AllbouttheU]

Early on I was meh on Bond but over the last few weeks I've warmed up to him(mainly after Tito gave his official height/weight) Bond shows amazing explosiveness. Figs shows me he likes to engage in blocks and able to rip through his player to get around them. That's something we're missing at the LB position at the moment imo. Coach D will love Figs because of that, really love both pick ups and what they can bring to this defense.

 

[JHallCanes]

Our last class is loaded with those types of guys, especially some of the less heralded ones.

 

[919Cane2DaGrave]

if we start winning kids like these will magically get higher ratings. They'll become hot commodities once they commit to Miami. People will think "Golden got another one."

 

[deleted3746]

Pass rushing was a clear weakness and Im glad to see the staff doing something about it. I also like the fact juco and prep kids are being evaluated and recruited.

 

[valid]

You just need to watch Bond's highlights once to be sold. He is bat crazy out there on the field.

 

[weownfsu]

Both are explosive and violent players. We have been missing that on defense for a while.

 

[WhatTheHell]

I think it boils down to finding explosive players that are competitive and hate losing. Some people have that and some don't.

 

[The Franchise]

The attitude of the kids Butch brought in at Miami definitely stood out.

No coincidence. The dude stated often that he put a premium on character when recruiting. He'd take the slightly less physically talented guy with higher character every time over the guy with a little more talent who lacked character.

 

[Ethnicsands]

The attitude of the kids Butch brought in at Miami definitely stood out.

No coincidence. The dude stated often that he put a premium on character when recruiting. He'd take the slightly less physically talented guy with higher character every time over the guy with a little more talent who lacked character.

This. What sets the great talent evauators apart is their ability to pick which kids really want it and will sacrifice. Butch could. JJ could. Jury's out on AG. Im optimistic though.

 

[-Blazed-]

I will wait for Butch analysis cause to be honest still not that big of fan of Bond.

 

[OBLIVION]

Need dudes that want to tear **** up every play. Guys that want to stay on the field instead of the ones that are trying to escape to the bench. Guys that will chew into others that are not doing there jobs.

 

[AZHurricane]

Both are explosive and violent players. We have been missing that on defense for a while.

52 would like a word with you.

 

[jerzeycane]

The attitude of the kids Butch brought in at Miami definitely stood out.

No coincidence. The dude stated often that he put a premium on character when recruiting. He'd take the slightly less physically talented guy with higher character every time over the guy with a little more talent who lacked character.

Philosophy born of working under the man who coined that manner of evaluating

 

[TheMatador]

The attitude of the kids Butch brought in at Miami definitely stood out.

No coincidence. The dude stated often that he put a premium on character when recruiting. He'd take the slightly less physically talented guy with higher character every time over the guy with a little more talent who lacked character.

Philosophy born of working under the man who coined that manner of evaluating

If you're talking about Jimmy, you're talking about a man who had a knack for evaluating talent like no other. He could look at a kid's feet and looked at how he placed them and how he walked and tell what kind of athlete he would make. Sally Jenkins, one of the best sports writers in the country, told me once that Jimmy was uncanny. He could look at a kid's parents and tell what kind of player he would be.

That's why all the posters who think we were such great recruiters in the '80's are wrong, at least as far as getting the marquee players. We didn't. We regularly got beat for bigger names. Jimmy and his staff managed to find the kids nobody else saw, kids under the radar, and brought them in and coached them up into good (or better) football players. Think of Russ Maryland, Jimmie Jones, Greg Mark. Jimmy evaluated Greg Mark watching him play HS basketball. When he saw that the one white guy on the team was jumping center he knew the kid was a special athlete.

 

[canecountry3]

Both are explosive and violent players. We have been missing that on defense for a while.

52 would like a word with you.

Exactly. Perryman comes fast and pops guys. Perryman, like Figueroa and Bond, tackle THROUGH ball carriers.

The difference between a tackle by 52 and one by 36 or 34, among others.

 

[WhatTheHell]

Just look at Eddie Johnson and Deon Bush this early in Golden's tenure. Johnson runs people down like they just mugged his Mother and are getting away. He makes sure to pop up and let the other sideline know who just made that tackle. Then you have Deon, who has no regard for his well-being. He got comfortable in the final, I wanna say 5 games, and he started showing up everywhere. Angry, too. He hits people like a Kamikaze pilot. I remember him being ****ed that they wanted to take him out of the VT game after he cracked someone and destroyed his own shoulder.

Guys like that are just wired differently. They take it personally when someone scores on them. Or when they miss a tackle. It eats at them inside and fuels them to go harder. Huge disparity between that and some of the kids during the Dark Ages here that visibly didn't give a **** if they were getting destroyed. They were just happy to be at Miami and couldn't wait to go out that night. We need guys who have the mindset that this isn't "just a game." I'm not exactly sure how you discover that information about a recruit, but I think Golden has a handle on it.

 

[gvillecane]

I like this post a lot. Good times in New Orleans by the way DMoney