Kevin Dorsey and Kenny Tate took opposing paths in joining the Terrapin football team.
Dorsey decided to come to College Park earlier than most – way earlier. The wide receiver committed to joining coach Ralph Friedgen and the Terps as a sophomore in high school.
Tate, on the other hand, made his final decision about a week ago, after carefully considering a viable who’s who in college football. The 6-feet-4-inch DeMatha High School wide receiver had reportedly narrowed his choices down to Illinois, Penn State and the Terps before declaring his intentions to join the Terps.
The two wide receivers were centerpieces in the Terps’ latest recruiting class, which Friedgen and recruiting coordinator Dave Sollazzo announced officially to the media for the first time yesterday, on National Signing Day. The Terps signed 18 players to National Letters of Intent, using up all available scholarships, according to Sollazzo.
Friedgen gushed about both receivers at the 3 p.m. press conference, but not because of their athleticism or skills. Instead, the coach lauded his two prospects for their character and scholarship, two areas the Terp coach said he has placed more emphasis on this season than in years passed.
“We’re really excited about this class for a lot of reasons,” Friedgen said. “We have a lot of speed, a lot of size. But we have probably the best academic class we’ve brought in to date.
“I just think it’s very, very important to get people who not only want to be good football players but want to graduate from college. Where my disconnect comes is when I want a guy to graduate more than he wants to graduate,” Friedgen added. “I look at my job not just as winning football games, although ultimately that’s what I am judged on. I’m looking to really prepare these kids for life.”
Alongside character, Friedgen said he wants to focus his recruiting process almost squarely within a five-hour radius of College Park.
Rather than making offers to distant prospects who are likely to choose a school closer to home, Friedgen and Sollazzo repeatedly expressed their desire to control in-state recruiting and take strides in neighboring states, specifically the Pittsburgh-area.
Specifically, Sollazzo described Florida as a tough recruiting ground despite the fertile high school football scene.
“For us to go down there and spin our wheels in recruiting when you could stay within a five-hour radius and get very good football players … it just makes more sense to [stay in the area],” Sollazzo said. “Those guys are close to their homes. They’re going to come to Maryland more often than a guy all the way down in Florida [who] has so many more options.”
The Terps’ recruiting class was largely comprised of varied receiving options, led by three Rivals.com four-star wide receivers: Dorsey, Tate and Chesapeake, Va., product Kerry Boykins. Rivals.com recruiting analyst Mike Farrell said Dorsey was clearly the most advanced of the three as a wide receiver, and Dorsey could see immediate action, according to both Farrell and Friedgen.
Tight ends Devonte Campbell (Hargrave Military Academy in Chatham, Va.) and Matt Furstenburg (The Hun School of Princeton in Princeton, N.J.) provide the Terps with two pass-catching players who could help replace seniors Jason Goode and Joey Haynos as soon as next season. Friedgen compared Campbell to former Terp tight end Vernon Davis, while Rivals ranked the tight end, who was teammates with Dorsey before attending Hargrave to become eligible to play for the Terps, as the No. 9 prep school player in the country.
As a whole, the additions should provide the Terps with some explosive playmaking options for the future.
“It’s an area of need … They’re losing some guys, not this year but in the next few years,” Farrell said. “They feel they need playmakers at the position.”
The Terps also saw major gains on the defensive line, highlighted by defensive tackle Masengo Kabongo (Fairfield College Prep in Fairfield, Conn.), ranked as the No. 24 defensive tackle in the country by Rivals. Baltimore product Teddy Dargan (Milford Mill High School) had been listed as a verbal commitment for the Terps on several websites, but Friedgen said academic issues caused the Terps to not offer Dargan a scholarship.
But there are still a few areas of need that Friedgen would have preferred to fill better with the recruiting class. The Terps offensive line was extremely thin all season, and during the next two seasons, the unit will lose all top-five players from the 2007 depth chart. The Terps’ three offensive line recruits – R.J. Dill (Trinity High School in Camp Hill, Pa.), Justin Lewis (Johnsonville High School in Johnsonville, S.C and Justin Gilbert (Monacan High School in Richmond, Va.) – are all likely long-term prospects with a lot of room to grow.
Also, Friedgen expressed the desire to strengthen his secondary. Forestville, Md., native Cameron Chism (Bishop McNamara High School) was ranked the No. 20 cornerback in the class by Rivals, but the Terps are shallow at the position, and Chism was their only recruit.
As a whole, the Terps’ 2008 recruiting class is not going to be confused for one of the nation’s elite. Friedgen was quick to mention that too often people get “caught up in how many stars a guy has,” furthering his argument for the importance of character.
Sollazzo summed up the Terps’ recruiting philosophy in a simple, logical manner.
“We’re looking for kids that fit. There’s got to be a fit there,” Sollazzo said. “There’s a certain kid we want here, and the more that we recruit that type of kid, the better off we’re going to be. Coach Friedgen mentioned several different things that we look for: guys that are driven, who want to be successful; football’s important to them but also school is very important.”
Despite using two totally different recruiting strategies to land each of them, Friedgen believes both Dorsey and Tate, along with the rest of the 18-man class, fall directly into the mold of player he wants for the program. They simply “fit.”
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