An Interview With Tony Grimes Comment Count

Brian

tony-grimes-recruit

FL CB Tony Grimes and his teammate, FL DE Clarence Murphy, were amongst ten official visitors for the Ohio State game. Tom VanHaaren caught up with Grimes after he got back home and caught him for a brief, encouraging interview.

TOM: How was the trip, was it everything you expected?

TONY: It was my second trip up there, and I already knew I liked Michigan, so it met my expectations. It was pretty cool.

TOM: What was the best part about the game?

TONY: The atmosphere was crazy. Walking out of that tunnel and seeing the fans was pretty cool. None of the other games I've been to have compared to this.

TOM: So this sounds like a really good visit, what made the trip for you? What was so good about it?

TONY: It just felt like home. It really felt like home for me and Clarence. Clarence feels the same way I do about everything. The interaction with the coaches and players was great. There's a couple guys from Florida, so they knew what we were about, and what we were thinking.

TOM: What about seeing the defense in person. Did that give you a good look at how you'd be used?

TONY: Yeah, coach Gibson drew up some plays and schemes for me and Clarence, so we got a real good look at how they would use us.

TOM: Are you still going to be a package deal, and when will you announce your decision?

TONY: We're still a package deal, yes. We're probably going to take a couple more visits, not sure where yet. We're both going to announce on signing day, though.

TOM: One out of ten, how was this trip?

TONY: It was an eleven.

---------------

Grimes is a four-star to Scout (#10 CB) and ESPN(#16) and a three-star to Rivals(#36). Murphy is a three star all around.

Comments

Brick

November 22nd, 2009 at 7:51 PM ^

That's what I was thinking. I think it is highly unlikely we have two open scholarships on signing day. Christian and Furman decide soon and Sam Webb has a strong gut feeling on both. That would leave three spots if they are both blue. Beachum and Vinopal could be soon after that. We may have one open spot in a matter of weeks.

maizenbluedevil

November 22nd, 2009 at 7:59 PM ^

Yeah these package deals just make me cringe sometimes, b/c it's *always* a highly rated guy and a lower rated guy who probably wouldn't get offered on his own merit, as a standalone recruit.

Murphy is 3*, and yeah, that's good not awful. It's a good rating and he's probably a good player. But, given our dwindling number of available schollies to hand out, *AND*, that we already have like, what, 3 DEs in this class(?), I question this.

I dunno, I guess beggars can't be choosers... At this point our secondary is what it is and by all accounts Grimes is a guy you do what it takes to get, but, man, it just seems like we're only offering Murphy so we can get Grimes, which seems less than ideal.

zlionsfan

November 22nd, 2009 at 8:39 PM ^

Well, if part (a lot) of the current situation is lack of depth, the depth has to come from somewhere, and I don't think we're at the point where the depth will be 4* and 5* guys.

If the 4* guy likes it here and commits with his buddy, and then stays here and helps to keep his 3* buddy focused, and they both grow, maybe that will contribute to enough depth to be rolling out waves of Big Ten-caliber players rather than whatever it is now, which feels more like ohmygodpleasedon'tgethurt.

wolverine1987

November 22nd, 2009 at 8:36 PM ^

I'm calling myself out ahead of time. But I think the already strong negative recruiting against us (e.g. " why would you go to a program that has possible NCAA sanctions coming, coach under fire, and doesn't seem to be making progress--two years in a row no bowls, blah blah blah") will only intensify now, regardless of merit. I'm really concerned some of these strong leans may end up going elsewhere.

mendrygal

November 23rd, 2009 at 12:07 PM ^

Kevin Grady 5*
Mike Hart 3*
Brandon Minor 3-4*
Sometimes they're right on (Henne, Lamar Woodley 5*) and sometimes they're way off. There are dozens of 4* guys over the past 4-5 years that never even smelled the field unless they got knocked down running out of the tunnel. Obviously we need both depth and starters. It also seems that there are more guys every year changing commitments on or near signing day and I wonder if all these recruiting sites demanding top 5 lists, where-ya-leaning soft commitments, etc is too much for these kids to handle. All that means is we should probably have more than 25 on hand, although I don't want to Saban a bunch of kids either.