Warhawks Inside Slant
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mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"'>ULM coach Todd Berry announced a
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signing class of 22 members heavy on defense, but it wasn't just the 14 players
on the defensive side of the ball that distinguished the group.
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mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"'>First, there were no defectors among
those who had "committed" to the Warhawks, or gone "All-in"
as coaches often say.
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mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"'>Second, that will be true in the
fall as well.
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mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"'>"I'm excited about the athleticism
and character of this group," Berry said. "All these athletes are academically
qualified so we know they will be showing up in August."
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mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"'>Besides the emphasis on defense,
with 14 of the signees playing on that side of the ball, there is big dose of
Texas in the class. Half the group-11 in all-come from
the Lone Star state, four more than are Louisiana natives.
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mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"'>"We focused on finding the athletes
that give us multiple opportunities to put them on the field, which includes
special teams," Berry said.
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mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"'>Top Of The
Class
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href="http://rivals.yahoo.com/ulm/football/recruiting/player-Austin-Moss-130280">Austin
Moss-Already on campus, the transfer from Navarro JC in Texas will compete
for time in the fall after going through spring practice. He began his
collegiate career at Arkansas, playing 11 games in the 2009 season.
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href="http://rivals.yahoo.com/ulm/football/recruiting/player-Jacob-Tyson-128665">Jacob
Tyson-Tyson is a local product from West Monroe High and should fit in with
the Warhawks' 3-3-5 scheme.
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href="http://rivals.yahoo.com/ulm/football/recruiting/player-Tyren-Hills-132218">
class=SpellE>Tryen Hills-Hills, from Boutte,
La., got three stars from Rivals.com. At 6-1, 180, he has the size to cope with
bigger receivers.
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font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"'>NOTES,
QUOTES
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mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"'>•
12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"'>ULM
has added Travis Niekamp, who played for
class=GramE>coach Todd Berry at Illinois State and Army, as their new
tight ends coach. Niekamp came from Washington State,
where he spent three of his four years as linebackers coach and one as
coordinator of football development. His appointment was announced Jan. 24.
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mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"'>•
12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"'>The
Warhawks will go into the 2012 season looking for
their first winning record since it began competing at the FBS (then Division
I-A) level in 1994. The best mark since then has been 6-6 in 2007 and 2010.
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mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"'>Spring Snapshot:
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"Times New Roman"'>
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mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"'>Practice begins/ends: March 5/March
24
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mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"'>Practice priorities: The
class=SpellE>Warhawks must come up with some key replacements on defense
if they want to live up to the big things that some predicted for them in
2011-when they failed to do so. The offense could use some polishing,
especially in the running game.
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mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"'>Quote To
Note:
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"'> Overall this group looks like
Division I athletes when they walk into the room."-Coach Todd Berry, on ULM's
signing class.
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font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"'>STRATEGY
AND PERSONNEL
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mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"'>Key Losses:
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"Times New Roman"'> The loss of DEs Ken Dorsey and Troy Evans leaves a big gap
up front on defense, and there are two key spots that must filled in the
secondary with the losses of Darius Prelow and Tim
Taylor. C Ryan McCaul is the key departure on
offense.
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mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"'>Players To
Watch In 2012:
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href="http://ulm.rivals.com/cviewplayer.asp?Player=417944">Kolton
Browning-Browning won the starting job in the spring of 2010 and hasn't let
go. In just two years, Browning has moved into sixth place in the ULM record
book for passing yardage (5,035) and should reach No. 3 on the list (Raymond
class=SpellE>Philyaw with 7,061) with his usual production in 2012.
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href="http://ulm.rivals.com/cviewplayer.asp?sport=1&sid=1202&player=432085">
class=SpellE>Centarius Donald-Donald rushed for 414 yards, posting
two games over the 100-yard mark, before his season was cut to seven games
because of a leg injury in 2010. He rushed for 414 yards in seven games with
two games over the 100-yard mark.
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href="http://ulm.rivals.com/cviewplayer.asp?Player=417946">Jyruss
Edwards-Edwards had to contend with nagging injuries all
class=SpellE>seasson, but led the Warhawks in
rushing with 667 yards. He also had 31 receptions.
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href="http://ulm.rivals.com/cviewplayer.asp?sport=1&sid=1202&player=432082">
class=SpellE>Kentarius Caldwell-He can get into an opponent's
backfield almost at will. About one in every five of his tackles in 2011
resulted in a loss for an opposing ball carrier.
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mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"'>Player Notes
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"Times New Roman"'>
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mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"'>•
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Ken Dorsey was one of three ULM players to be named to the All-Louisiana
Football Team as selected by members of the Louisiana Sports Writers
Association. He was a first-team selection. DB Darius Prelow
and QB Kolton Browning were second-team picks.