Syracuse Football: Get To Know Your Orange Man - #74 Michael Hay

We continue with our string of offensive lineman here on "Get To Know Your Orange Man" with fiery starting tackle Michael Hay.

Player: Michael Hay

Number: #74

Position: Offensive Tackle

Year: Senior

Height: 6'5"

Weight: 279

Hometown: College Point, NY

High School: Holy Cross H.S.

Community College: Nassau CC

2010 Stats: Started all 12 games for Syracuse

2011 Projections: Hay seems poised to keep his starting position in 2011.  While he was pretty effective as a run blocker last year, he struggled in pass protection at times, especially against faster defensive ends.  After a full year in the program he should be able to make great strides in this area.

How'd He Get Here?: Hay came through the fruitful Nassau pipeline, after playing for current SU assistant John Anselmo in community college.  Hay chose SU over Arizona State, and was considered a pretty big 'get' for the Orange.

What Did Scout/Rivals Say?: Scout listed Hay as a 2-star recruit, while Rivals was a bit more impressed, giving him a 3-star rating.

Money Quote: "I bring a lot of emotion...Toughness. When I was being recruited here that's one thing the offensive line lacked.  It had the talent, it had the skill and everything else.  It was just that toughness."

Links of Wonder: Here's a great article from Dave Rahme on Hay after his infamous penalty in last year's Rutgers game.

What Does Marrone Think?: "He’s a tough kid... I've coached a lot of those kids. I don’t want to not coach that ‘finish’ mentality out of player. He’s hard on himself and he tries. He really does a good job in that area. A lot of guys play in the NFL for years by overcoming their limitations with toughness. You just have to know that in a 16-game season they’re going to get maybe two flags for crossing the line."

Interesting Nugget O'Interest: Hay was a highly regarded player at Nassau, garnering second team All-Northeast Football Conference honors his last year in community college, where he was teammates with fellow Orange lineman Andrew Tiller.  Aside from the Arizona State offer, he received interest from Miami and Rutgers (obviously).

Let Us Get a Good Look at You:  Here's an interview that Dave Rahme did with Hay last season.

(Note: YouTube is blocked here at work, so I'll find some highlights and throw them up on here later.)