And to think people questioned Dougs recruiting when he came from the NFL. It looks like our prospects are as enamored with Doug as we most of us are. He inked two over the weekend for the class of 2010, syracuse.com is reporting

Syracuse football coach Doug Marrone has picked up his first two verbal commitments for the 2010 recruiting class. Quarterback John Kinder (6-foot-3, 190 pounds) of Lawrence High School on Long Island, and linebacker Myles Davis (6-foot-1, 225 pounds) of Penn Hills High School in Pittsburgh each gave Marrone verbal commitments over the weekend.

Well for those of you who have been screaming for option QBs (cough::eriemist::cough) there you go. 

John Kinder is a 6'3" 50/50 running passing QB who also plays mid in Lax. 

"He runs a great spread option for us," said Andre. "He's a very good runner. He has a fantastic arm. I've been a head coach since '82 and he's the best quarterback I've ever coached.

Sounds, and looks, like a good fit. 

Wrapping it up with a nice compliment from the HC:

"We're all very excited. The new guys up there are going to do a tremendous job. I've known them a long, long time. Coach Marrone is going to turn it around. John is excited to be a part of it."

Myles Davis, LB not the famous Jazz artist, is a guy we stole right out of Pitt's back yard.  Dan Conley is my hero for doing that.  6' 1", 225 is pretty good size for a HS Jr.  There is not much info right now except the other schools who were after him.  Ill take stealing a good player from Pitt, WVU and Rutgers.

He had some nice things to say about the team:

"It wasn't really as intense," Davis said of comparing the spring game at Pittsburgh and Syracuse. "The guys (at Pittsburgh) weren't getting after it as much. Nobody was making the big plays. It didn't seem like they were going 100 percent. At Syracuse, they really did.

Doug 1 - WanStash 0.

"I like the fact (at Syracuse that) you get to run and make plays for yourself. Plus, you get the chance to knock somebody's head off.

I just went from 6 to 12. 

Two recruits is not enough to make my monday though.  Here is what did it for me: Click over to the scout.com prospect list and scroll through the list.  What jumps out is the 40 times.  Honestly, that looks like a D1 track team, not a football team.  WOW.  Doug knows what he wants and is going after a specific type of player to fit his system. 

Doug is that buddy of yours who is very perticular about who he takes home.  He only likes tall green eyed brunettes and wont even give anyone else the time of day.  But when that just right young lady walks in, Doug cuts through the croud to her, whispers something magical in her ear and they immediatly leave without saying goodbye (or paying the  tab).  The next morning he meets you at stellas and as much as you want to hear a Tucker Max type story, Doug shrugs it off and goes about his business eating his Frittata with extra Franks Red Hot.

Back to the prospect list:

QB: Well, they dont look like ""big slow dropback statue types"  size isnt the priority here, but they all seem to be in the 4.7 range 40 wise.  Dallas Lloyd is the prototypical Spence System QB.

RB: FAST.  4.4, 4.3... No one with Doug Houge size, but wow speed.  Im sure there little guys have good hands out of the back field.  

WR:  Tall and Fast.  6' 3", 4.4 Guys.  Im thinking Plax type go strech the field and get the jump ball kind of guys.  GRob was picking up short WRs and having them work in the middle against LBs. The tall guys are going to work up the sidelines and use their size to go over DBs in this offence while the RBs will do more of the middle of the field work. 

OL: Well thats Dougs specialty so I expect he will bring in some good guys. 

DE: Tall (6'6")  260, 4.7 Type guys.  Back to more of a pro style DE and less of a converted LB who can drop back but really isnt all that good at it.  He is likley recruiting these guys for one reason, RUSH.

LB: Look like strong guys, all in the 6' range and 4.7 which is good speed for a college LB.  This position will be a focus for us. 

CB:  Not much size here... more of a focus on Speed Im sure

S and DT:  Not Much at these postions so far.

These kids are all Juniors so dont read too much into the Stars as I know some of you will (OMG we are only recruiting 1 start guys!!!! PANIC!) They dont really evaluate these kids until they are Srs.  Pay more attention to who else is recruiting them and the fact that they are even on these sites as Jrs. 

It looks like Doug knows what players he wants and... is getting them.  The fact we were down to the wire with Oku was just a sign of good things to come.  If we could hang with Tenn and the Tigers, we can out recruit anyone in the BE.  Add to that we are working harder and playing more physical than other teams in our league and Doug should have us back winning the BE in no time.