Rice OC Tom Herman feature

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Rice OC likes what he sees
in this year's crop of recruits

Rice offensive coordinator Tom Herman worked closely with Owl muscle man James Casey during pre-season drills last August (Webletter photo)

HOUSTON (Feb. 21) – Rice Owls offensive coordinator Tom Herman faded quite a bit of heat during the Owls’ series of lackluster offensive performances to open the ’07 campaign. But something clicked for the mentor of the Rice offensive unit, oh, along about the U of H game, and from that point on for the rest of the season, the Rice offense was virtually unstoppable, rolling up point after point, and coincidentally managing to outscore a few opponents along the way.

Most of the cupboard remains full, personnel-wise, for the upcoming campaign, and Owl fans are excited over the prospect of having possibly their best one-two scoring punch in decades, that being quarterback Chase Clement and wide receiver Jarett Dillard, back for their senior years.

But there were soft spots in the Rice offensive scheme last fall, particularly in the backfield, so the crop of ’08 schoolboy signees was looked at with particular interest by Owl fans in regard to players who might be able to contribute early, and prove an additional kick to an already prolific Rice offensive unit, come September.

The Webletter’s Mark Anderson spoke with Coach Herman earlier this week, and, as one might expect, immediately the conversation turned to the crop of new schoolboy signees.

The excitement that Coach Herman had concerning the new recruits began with running back Shane Turner, a 5-9, 170-pounder from Houston Cypress Falls. While Turner may be a smaller-sized back, don’t under-estimate him, Coach Herman said, pointing out that this prize signee was a member of the Texas Top 100 and rated the 28th best all-purpose back in the country this year. “He’s a tough runner,” Herman said of Turner, “a very physical runner who knows how to put his head down and get the tough yards, and run you over.”

Coach Herman loves the fact that Turner “has great vision between the tackles, and can really make you miss.” Herman also pointed out that Turner “is always finishing forward, towards the line of scrimmage, and gets those couple of extra yards as he’s getting tackled.”

But there’s another thing that jacks up the excitement level with the head offensive coach. For The guy’s just one heck of a blocker.

'They're not tackling him and they're not getting by him'

“For a smaller stature guy, he’s a dang good pass protector,” Herman said of Turner, “The one thing you do when you turn on that video tape, they’re not tackling him and they’re not getting by him.”

“It doesn’t matter what size you are,” Coach Herman said, “If they’re not tackling you, and they ain’t sacking that quarterback, you’re pretty dang good.”

If you’re going to throw the ball the way the Owls intend to, it’s always helpful to have plenty of hands to throw it to. The incoming class is loaded with such possibilities. Among the top wide receivers in this incoming class would have to include Derek Clark, Roddy Maginot, and Denzel Wells, and a veritable “THOR II” in tight end Luke Wilson. These four alone combined caught a total of 163 passes last season for 2,829 yards and 34 TDs. That’s not even adding Michael Patterson’s numbers in there (68 catches, 851 yards, 10 TDs).

Speaking of three recruits of whom Coach Herman is eager to get on the field -- Derek Clark, Roddy Maginot, and Denzel Wells -- he said, “All three of these guys, when you watch their highlight tape, they can really run and do a lot of good things with the ball in their hands.”

Redshirts preferred, but circumstances control

Herman’s plan is to red-shirt these three wide receivers. However, he realizes that may not happen. “Ideally, we’d like to red-shirt every freshman we’ve got,” Coach Herman noted, “but we understand if a young man can come in and play as a true freshman, and is able to help us win football games, then he’s going to play as a true freshman.”

But Herman emphasized something here—any player, especially a freshman, has to prove he can handle not only football, but a demanding classroom schedule as well. “Getting them through two-a-days, and seeing what they can do at the college level is first and foremost,” Coach Herman told us.

One player not to forget about, he added, is Michael Fuda. He was hurt early in camp last year, and never got a chance to get on the field. “Michael Fuda is a guy that, in talking to Wayne Graham, is raving about how fast that kid is,” Herman said.

With these additions, the wide receiver spot may well be the deepest position on the team. A few years ago, that wasn’t the case. But now the Owls have Dillard, Dixon, Smiter, Casey, Henderson, as well as Fuda, Beasley, Welch, Dupree, and Randolph. “We’ll see how all those pieces fit into our puzzle of offense,” Herman acknowledged. “That position is certainly one of our strengths, that’s for sure.”

Two anchors for the line

Two of the members of this incoming class will eventually be anchors of the offensive line—Clay Herbert and Eric Ball. Both Herbert (6’3”, 290) and Ball (6’3”, 270) are already fairly good sized linemen, Coach Herman noted, pointing to the good things that these two young men had going for them. “Both of these guys are big and strong, and well-built. They’ve been well-coached in high school and come from great programs.”

While both possess good size and come out of strong programs, Herman said he understands that perhaps the hardest place to break into the lineup is on the offensive line. Just because a player might already possess good size, that doesn’t necessarily make him a finished product. “If there’s any particular position you can predict a red-shirt, that [offensive line] would be one of them,” Herman said, adding that the quandary lies in each man’s need “to develop physically as well as technically.” So while both Clay and Eric realistically can be looked at as two future anchors of the line, the matter of early playing time is another thing.

However, Coach Herman stopped short of saying that both would be red-shirted without a doubt in 2008. “If we feel during the course of two-a-days they can help us win, we’re going to play them,” he explained. “But like I said, that’s a pretty tall order to come in and play as a freshman.”

Don't forget about this one, either

Perhaps the most overlooked offensive player with all the excitement over Shane Turner, Derek Clark, Roddy Maginot, and Denzel Wells, Coach added, is quarterback Ryan Lewis. In Lewis, the Owls believe they have the successor to Chase Clement and James Casey. But Lewis may not turn out to be a replacement part—he may become another great quarterback for the Feathered Flock.

Ryan Lewis reminds Coach Herman of another young quarterback that he coached while a graduate assistant at Texas—a fellow you might have heard of named Major Applewhite. Although Herman did not mention Applewhite by name at this point, there’s little doubt in our minds who Ryan was being compared to when remarked, “Having seen the kind of athlete Baton Rouge has turned out over the years, to know that Ryan started for three straight years at Baton Rouge and only lost a handful of regular season and playoff games, he’s a winner.”

But Herman had further compliments in his assessment of Ryan Lewis. On top of being a winner, Herman said, “He’s highly cerebral, he’s highly motivated, he understands the game very well.” Herman also praised Lewis’ physical tools. “He’s got a very quick release, and he runs better than you think he would.” Of his presence on the field, Herman says, “He’s a guy that’s a very accurate, quick decision making person that can get you out of a lot of trouble with his feet as well.”

--By Mark Anderson, with staff reports