One Week Before Signing Day: Toledo Recruiting Update

Lake Wales, Florida three-star tight end,
Dav'ion Riley is a big name that is still
uncommitted.
Picture Courtesy: 247sports.com

It has been a tough week for Toledo's 2014 recruiting class after losing top recruit, Travis Smith to Wake Forest. However, not all is lost with a week left before signing day. There are two extremely big uncommitted names left that are very high on the Rockets' recruiting board.

The first big time uncommitted recruit is Lake Wales, Florida tight end, Dav'ion Riley. Riley is a three-star recruit as listed by Rivals.com and is has a nice 6'3, 210 lb. frame. A freakish athlete, Riley has offers from nearly twenty division-one schools including Florida State, Oregon, Tennessee, and Wisconsin. However, Toledo is one of the front runners to land Riley's services. The only official visits Riley has taken were to Indiana and Toledo. Riley visited the University of Toledo campus on January 24th with high school teammate Cedric Brinson. Brinson is the less sought after of the two recruits, but the two are projected to sign with the same school as a package. Riley is a freakish athlete who will be a weapon to any recruiting class that he chooses to sign with.

The second big time uncommitted recruit that Toledo is really targeting is Tampa, Florida outside linebacker, Josh Black. Black is a three-star prospect as rated by Rivals.com and has been offered by ten schools including Arizona, Bowling Green, and Minnesota. However, none of those three schools are in Black's future. According to several recruiting sites, Black's commitment is between Marshall, South Florida, and the Toledo Rockets. Black visited Toledo on December 6th, South Florida on January 17th and Marshall on January 24th. A decision is coming very soon for the three-star linebacker. According to Black, his visit to Toledo in December went very well but he wanted to take other visits prior to committing. The 6'2, 225 lb. outside linebacker is a future stud at whatever school he chooses to attend.

More recruiting news to pass along for Toledo is at the quarterback situation. Toledo has pulled back from recruiting Petaluma, Florida three-star quarterback, JaJuan Lawson. Lawson is visiting Cal this weekend which caused Toledo to back off of his services. Instead, the Rockets may look elsewhere at the quarterback position. The quarterback void left by Travis Smith's decommitment is fully expected to be filled in the 2014 recruiting class, but may not be filled until after February 5th's signing day. @PrideOfUT on Twitter will keep you posted with more on that situation and much, much more.

Toledo Drops DT Ikeem Allen from 2014 Recruiting Class

Mallard Creek, NC defensive tackle Ikeem
Allen has been dropped by Toledo.
Picture Courtesy: The Rocket Nation

On January 18th, Toledo received word from Mallard Creek, North Carolina defensive tackle, Ikeem Allen. He was flipping his commitment from Ball State to Toledo. The 6'1, 295 lb. defensive lineman was high school teammates of fellow 2014 Toledo commit, safety Cam Mattison.

However, not even two weeks following his commitment, Allen has been dropped by the Rockets. According to reports, Allen was dropped for being, "Unloyal and not honoring his commitment." Allen was supposedly dropped for taking others visits while committed to Toledo. Toledo was Allen's only real division-one offer, despite his offer from Ball State which he decommitted from in the middle of January. Allen's others offers include Citadel, Georgia State, Northern Illinois, South Carolina State and Western Carolina.

Allen is rated as a two-star defensive tackle by Rivals.com and runs a quick 4.82 40-yard dash for a big 295 pound frame.  Pride of UT will keep you posted with any Toledo recruiting news in the next week.

Wide Receiver Corey Jones to Switch to Running Back in 2014?

Toledo wide receiver, Corey Jones was a four-star wide
receiver last year coming out of Penn Hills, PA high school.
Photo Courtesy: www.247sports.com

Toledo raised some eye brows last January by signing four-star (according to scout.com) wide receiver, Corey Jones away from big programs like Cincinnati, Maryland, Miami, and West Virginia. Jones totaled 2,135 receiving yards and 39 touchdowns in his high school career at Penn Hills (Penn.) high school.

During the 2013 season, Matt Campbell and his staff used Jones sparingly in the slot at wide receiver. Despite being a highly sought after recruit, Jones didn't have many opportunities during his freshman campaign. Look for that to change in 2014. With the loss of senior wide out, Bernard Reedy, Jones will be used a lot more during the 2014 season.

Aside from the loss of Bernard Reedy, Toledo is also losing top running back, David Fluellen. According to Jones on his twitter account, the Rockets will be using him at running back and in the slot in 2014.

The Rockets found a freshman phenom in the backfield last season in Kareem Hunt, who filled in for Fluellen at times through the 2013 while Fluellen nursed injuries. In 2014, Hunt and Jones may create a two-headed monster of power and speed. Jones only carried the ball twice for a total gain of four yards during his freshman campaign. Former Toledo running backs coach, Lou Ayeni left the Rockets last month to accept the same job at Iowa State, but new running backs coach, Anthony Johnson may look to use Jones in the backfield. Johnson comes to Toledo from Sam Houston State but has had past experience as an assistant coach at Texas where he spent time working with NFL running backs Jamaal Charles and Cedric Benson. Johnson may look to use Jones more in the backfield than at wide receiver. The 5'9, 165 lb. wide-receiver is one of the fastest players on the Rockets offense and could be a weapon in the Toledo backfield.

Jones has stated on his Twitter feed that Toledo is still using him in the slot but is also using him at running back as well. He also stated he has yet to meet new running backs coach, Anthony Johnson quite yet. We'll just have to see how much he gets used in the backfield during the 2014 season.

Follow @PrideOfUT on Twitter for the latest on this situation and much more.

Toledo Visits 2015 Quarterback Alex Malzone

Birmingham Brother Rice (Mich.) 2015
quarterback, Alex Malzone already holds
a Toledo offer.
Picture Credit: michigan.scout.com

Toledo started looking at 2015 quarterbacks way back in September. Birmingham Brother Rice quarterback, Alex Malzone was one of the first to receive a Toledo offer in the Class of 2015. The Rockets offered Malzone on September 1st, the same day the Western Michigan Broncos offered the 6'2, 185 lb. junior quarterback.

Malzone currently holds offers from Bowling Green, Central Michigan, Old Dominion, Toledo, and Western Michigan but is expecting several more offers by next February. Aside from those offers, Malzone has consistently been hearing from programs such as Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Penn State, and Wisconsin. According to Yahoo! Rivals, Malzone is currently rated as the seventeenth best quarterback in the class of 2015 and is currently rated as a three-star prospect which may be boosted to a four-star coming up.

Malzone was visited at his high school in Birmingham, Michigan by the Rockets and Michigan State Spartans on Tuesday, January 28th. Several schools have told Malzone they would like to see him throw in person prior to them offering. Toledo and Western Michigan were the first schools to offer Malzone, but programs like Michigan and Michigan State may be the last, which is what really matters. In the end, Malzone may be a top tier Big Ten quarterback prospect.

2014 Toledo Commits Not Bothered By Travis Smith's Decommitment

Toledo head coach, Matt Campbell is doing his best to keep his
2014 recruiting class together.
Photo Credit: www.blog.preps.com

Following the big news of Travis Smith's decommitment, many would say Toledo's 2014 recruiting class got extremely weaker. However, the class wouldn't say that about themselves.

A player we won't name in the 2014 recruiting class for the Toledo Rockets had quite a bit to say about Travis Smith and his recruitment.

"Why is everybody making a big deal about him? He's going to do what's best for him and not what everyone else wants him to do," said the unnamed future Rocket.

It didn't stop there. "Smith wouldn't be a factor until our senior year, we have three quarterbacks better than him on our current roster and he's a bit undersized, the only thing about him is that he's never lost a high school game," said the 2014 recruit. And that's true. Smith went 41-0 as a starter at Ithaca high school in Ithaca, Michigan and helped lead the Yellow Jackets to four straight state championships.

"He has no college experience, who knows what he'll be at the next level. All I know is, I definitely don't want a "leader" to be iffy about is if he's going to take other visits." These quotes all came out the night before Smith's decommitment from Toledo.

As Smith prepared to make a decision between Wake Forest and Toledo, several 2014 Toledo commits took time to tweet to Smith, saying "Your fam is UT #RocketNation". The shocking thing is that just two days prior to decommiting from Toledo, Smith sent out a tweet to newly-committed wide receiver JonVea Johnson of Gary, Indiana saying, "Can't wait to play with you!" But that obviously isn't happening anymore as Smith leaves for Wake Forest.

Ultimately, who can blame Smith? Nobody. It was his decision and not ours to judge but only one thing is for certain: Wake Forest is getting a very underrated dual-threat quarterback. Best of luck to Smith with the Demon Deacons.

Toledo Visits 2014 Quarterback JaJuan Lawson

Petaluma, California quarterback JaJuan Lawson is the next
target on Toledo's recruiting board.
Photo credit: www.pdpreps.com

Matt Campbell and his staff aren't oblivious; they likely knew their top quarterback commit, Travis Smith was leaving for a bigger program. Campbell and his staff have been looking for someone to fill Smith's void if he did leave the Rockets. He did. Now, the Rockets staff has traveled all the way to California to visit Petaluma, California quarterback, JaJuan Lawson. Lawson is a three-star recruit as listed by Yahoo! Rivals and is receiving offers from a lot of programs, but not a lot of attention. Lawson has an impressive offer sheet which includes schools such as Arizona, Arizona State, Boston College, and Nevada. However, Toledo is absolutely in the hunt.

Lawson runs a swift 4.55 40-yard dash but is a bit undersized with a 6'1, 195 lb. frame. It's easy to compare Lawson to current Toledo wide receiver, Dwight Macon who was recruited to the Rockets as a quarterback but was moved to a wide out. Macon also has a 6'0, 200 lb. frame which may have led to the switch to wide out. Nonetheless, Lawson is a tremendous quarterback who is confident with the ball in his hands and is someone who can make plays. Toledo has quietly been getting into Lawson's recruiting hunt and it may be too little, too late for the Rockets, but we'll have to keep an eye on Lawson and his commitment within the next week.

Travis Smith Decommits from Toledo; What's next for the Rockets?

New Wake Forest commit, quarterback Travis Smith (left)
poses with another member of Wake Forest's 2014
recruiting class during his visit over the weekend.
Photo Credit: @CupofT5 on Twitter

Ithaca, Mich. quarterback Travis Smith has officially decommitted from Toledo and has committed to Wake Forest. Smith has been a Rocket commit since June 8 but has since heard from programs such as Indiana and Minnesota, though neither offered. Prior to committing to Toledo, Smith held offers from Bowling Green, Central Michigan, and Western Michigan. Note: Bowling Green. After a MAC Championship season at Bowling Green, head coach Dave Clawson left to accept the head coaching job at Wake Forest. What was one of the first things that Clawson did following his arrival in Winston-Salem? Offer Travis Smith, and Smith bit on the offer. Smith took his official visit to Wake on January 24th and it sealed the deal. Just two days following his visit, Smith flipped from the Rockets to the Demon Deacons.

Now what's next for the Rockets? Smith was the highest rated recruit in Toledo's 2014 class and was highly-ranked nationally. Now what? Well, the Rockets may look elsewhere. Signing day is just over a week away, but Toledo has a backup plan. There are a few whispers leaking out about who the Rockets may look at to fill the need at quarterback. However, with Alabama quarterback transfer, Philip Ely ready to play this season, the need at quarterback won't be evident until next season's class. Anyhow, here are a few names to watch out for when it comes to Toledo's quarterback need in the 2014 class:

Joey Duckworth
Louisville, Ohio
Verbally Committed to Ohio
Duckworth was high on Toledo's list until Smith committed, which led Toledo to back off of all quarterbacks they were once recruiting. With Smith committing to Wake, does Duckworth think about decommitting from Ohio? Maybe not, but there's a chance. Duckworth is the 28th ranked quarterback nationally by Yahoo! Rivals and is 6'3, 209 lbs. we'll just see if Matt Campbell and his staff want to go after the Ohio commit and try to sway him back to the Rockets. Duckworth also holds offers from Akron, Bowling Green, Buffalo, Kent State, and Western Michigan.

Adam Bertke
Maria Stein, Ohio
Verbally Committed to Pittsburgh
Bertke has been committed to Pittsburgh since June, so maybe it's a foregone conclusion that he'll end up with the Panthers. BUT, we thought Smith was coming to Toledo, and that turned against us. Bertke is a pro-style quarterback that is 6'5, 210 lbs. which intrigues college scouts. Bertke holds several offers including Akron, Bowling Green, Illinois, and Kent State.

There are still under the table prospects that the Rockets are keeping quiet about and who can blame them? It takes one schools offer to turn a recruit's commitment upside down. We'll just have to wait it out and see. One prospect that Matt Campbell and his staff could look at in the 2015 class is Ann Arbor Skyline (Mich.) quarterback, Askaree Crawford. Crawford had a break-out junior season and received an Ann-Arbor Dream Team selection. Aside from Toledo, Louisville and Central Michigan have already been in contact with the junior quarterback. Toledo has requested for test scores on the soon-to-be big time recruit.

We'll keep you posted leading up to February 5th. Follow @PrideOfUT on Twitter for the latest.

Current Toledo Commit Travis Smith Leaving for Wake Forest?

Ithaca, Mich. quarterback, Travis Smith is the top prospect
in Toledo's 2014 recruiting class, but they're in danger
of losing the three-star prospect.
Photo Credit: www.freep.com

With the graduation of starting quarterback, Terrance Owens, Matt Campbell and his coaching staff were looking to fill the void at quarterback. And they did just that. Ithaca, Michigan quarterback, Travis Smith committed to the Rockets way back in June. However, Smith's verbal commitment to Toledo may now be in jeopardy.

There's no denying that Smith is a division-one quarterback. There's also no denying what Smith has accomplished as a high school quarterback. As a three year starter at Ithaca (Mich.), Smith went 41-0 and led the Yellow Jackets to three straight state titles, despite being on varsity for a state championship his freshman year as a backup. With four state championships, 56 straight wins, and nearly every Michigan high school passing record, Smith's stock has been on the rise. In the past few months, Smith has heard from schools such as Minnesota and Indiana, though neither of the schools offered the 6'2, 195 lb. signal-caller. However, one school did offer Smith, and they caught his eye.

Wake Forest has come calling. Smith took his visit to Winston-Salem, North Carolina on January 24th and really enjoyed it, making his commitment to Toledo questionable with just over a week before signing day.

"It (the Wake Forest visit) was great. The school is first class in everythign and the new coaches are going to make Wake into a winning program. The biggest thing that sold me was the education," said Smith about his visit to Wake.

As far as decommitting to Toledo, Smith says he's going to talk about it and try to have a decision by January 27th. "I'm going to sit down and talk with my parents about everything and make a decision by tomorrow night," said Smith.

Toledo needs Smith. Former Bowling Green head coach, Dave Clawson took over as Wake Forest head coach nearly a month ago and is now haunting Matt Campbell and the Rockets in Smith's recruitment.

Follow us (@PrideOfUT) on Twitter for the latest on Smith's commitment.

Mailbag: How will Jon Heacock Hiring Effect 2014 Recruiting Class?

Cornerback Trevon Mathis of Woodland Hills,
Pennsylvania has committed to Toledo.
Photo Credit: www.247sports.com

Following the loss of defensive coordinator Tom Matukewicz to Southeast Missouri State, Toledo had a large void to fill. Lacking a defensive coordinator on the recruiting trail can prove costly for a recruiting class.

However, the Rockets finally filled that void with the hiring of Purdue defensive backs coach Jon Heacock. Credit Matt Campbell and his staff for keeping a majority of the recruiting class together while still searching for a defensive coordinator. Most of the time after losing an offensive or defensive coordinator, recruits tend to decommit and look elsewhere, but not with the Rockets.

The question is, now that Toledo has found their defensive coordinator, how will he effect the 2014 recruiting class?

That question is already answered for the most part. Heacock has already had a large and positive impact on the 2014 class for the Rockets. It is not uncommon for a team to announce to recruits who the new coach is before announcing it to the public, which is what appears to have happened in Toledo's case.

Toledo went out and received two big pieces in their 2014 recruiting class from Millard Creek, NC defensive tackle Ikeem Allen and Woodland Hills, PA cornerback, Trevon Mathis. Mathis is the higher-rated of the two prospects and is a three-star recruit according to several recruiting websites. Aside from the three-star rating, the 5'11, 175 lb. Mathis also had offers from programs such as Georgia Tech and Pittsburgh. For Allen, he flipped his commitment from Ball State to Toledo after being committed to the Cardinals since the summer. The 6'1, 295 lb. defensive tackle has the ability to move around on the defensive line and possibly play some defensive end or even some outside linebacker, making him quite an asset to the 2014 class. The 295-pounder also runs a swift 4.82 40-yard dash.

These two commits have added a lot of talent and depth to this 2014 class for the Rockets. Heacock appears to have already made an impact on this recruiting class, though he hasn't been known as a big-time recruiting guru as of yet. The 53-year old Heacock may bring a lot of discipline and different schemes to the Rockets defense which may help on the recruiting trail. There are still a few big prospects that are still uncommitted which are high on UT's radar, so let's see what Matt Campbell and his staff can get done prior to February 5.

Toledo Hires New Defensive Coordinator

Jon Heacock will take over a Toledo defense that ranked
74th in the nation last season.
Photo Credit: www.purduesports.com

After over a month of anxious anticipation, Toledo has finally found their next defensive coordinator. Matt Campbell and the Rockets announced on Saturday that Purdue defensive backs coach, Jon Heacock will become Toledo's new defensive coordinator. The 53-year old Heacock comes to Toledo to replace former defensive coordinator, Tom Matukewicz who left in December after accepting the head coaching job at FCS Southeast Missouri State.

Toledo head coach Matt Campbell was reportedly drawn to Heacock after his success as Kent State defensive coordinator from 2010-2012 under head coach Darrell Hazell. After a 2012 campaign in which Kent State won eleven games and made their first bowl game in forty years, Hazell accepted the head coaching job at Purdue and took Heacock with him as a defensive backs coach. In 2013, Purdue had a brutal year only going 1-11 overall and putting the Purdue coaching staff on the hot seat after just one season.

Heacock will take over a Toledo defensive which allowed 28.6 points per game last season which ranked 74th in the nation under defensive coordinator Tom Matukewicz. Prior to becoming the defensive coordinator at Kent State, Heacock placed nine years of head coaching experience on his resume as the head coach of Youngstown State at the FCS level. In 2006, Heacock led the Penguins to the FCS Semifinals after posting an 11-3 overall record. Heacock led Youngstown State to a 60-44 overall record in his nine seasons with the Penguins.

Heacock first entered coaching as a Toledo graduate assistant in 1983.