Hazell intends to make Ohio the primary pipeline for talent as long as he is head coach at Kent State."Having 13 of 18 recruits from Ohio was a conscious decision we made as a staff," said Hazell. "Ohio has great high-school football. In the NFL, there aren't many states that produce as many players as Ohio. With all the great football all in this state, I know there is enough talent to go around, for a school like Ohio State to get its players and a school like Kent State to get its players."Hazell was on the road himself as he has only hired six assistant coaches so far.Kent State's class was ranked third in the Mid-American Conference by rivals.com.
Hazell is working on filling out his staff as well as following winter conditioning and planning for spring practice. Kent State was 5-7 a year ago.
TOP OF THE CLASSTB Trayion Durham (Colerain High School, Cincinnati) -- Durham has been picked to play in the Big 33 Classic after he rushed for 3,503 yards and accumulated 38 touchdowns in his high school career."Trayion Durham is a phenomenal player, who has great size and is still quick and can see the field," said Hazell. "It was a battle last week trying to keep teams off of him. In the end, I think it came down to the trust our staff was able to build with Trayion and his family, and he knew he had an opportunity to come in here and play early."DE Nate Terhune (Orange High School, Moreland Hills, Ohio) -- As a senior, Terhune had 118 total tackles, including 16 sacks and 31 tackles for loss. He was a first-team All-Ohio selection. Terhune is being counted on to the heir apparent to Monte Simmons as an edge rusher.SS Devante' Strickland (Marion-Franklin High School, Columbus) -- Strickland was the district player of the year as he made 80 tackles and had six interceptions and a pair of forced fumbles as a senior."(He) is probably the most physical guy I've seen in a long time coming out of high school," Hazell said.
NOTES, QUOTES
Brian Rock has been hired as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. Rock joins the Golden Flashes after having spent the last six years as the wide receivers coach at Purdue. Rock came to the Boilermakers from Western Michigan, where he was an assistant from 1992-2005, serving as the offensive coordinator for five seasons. Prior to his tenure with the Broncos, Rock was defensive coordinator at Saint Joseph's College in Rensselaer, Ind., from 1987-1991. He also coached the defensive backs and special teams.Standout Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker James Harrison is a former Kent State player and will be playing in the Super Bowl on Feb. 6. The Golden Flashes have had a player on the winning Super Bowl team in eight of the past 10 seasons.SPRING SNAPSHOTPractice begins/ends: March 29/April 16.Practice priorities: Installing the new systems on both offense and defense and deciding whether Spencer Keith is the answer at quarterback. Also Kent State must find a consistent running back. On defense, Kent State must replace standouts Monte' Simmons, Cobrani Mixon and Brian Lainhart.The new head coach will have plenty of experience to build on as there are starters returning at 15 positions along with PK Freddy Cortez and P Matt Rinehart,Offensively, the entire offensive line can return along with WR Tyshon Goode, WR Sam Kirkland and RB Jacquise Terry.On defense, DT Roosevelt Nix returns as does LB Luke Batton and corners Norman Wolfe and Josh Pleasant.QUOTE TO NOTE:" I couldn't be more proud of my staff. In a very short period of time, they've done a phenomenal job of evaluating talent and going out and cultivating relationships with high school coaches, players and parents. We started three weeks ago by taking a good hard look at the current players on the team and put together a plan from there." -- Darrell Hazell on his first recruiting class at Kent State.
STRATEGY AND PERSONNEL
KEY LOSSES: DE Monte' Simmons missed three games in 2010 with a broken leg, but still played well. He finished with 21 1/2 career sacks, 3 1/2 sacks from the school record. Freshman Nate Terhune will be given the opportunity to take over for Simmons.LB Cobrani Mixon closed out a strong career with 82 tackles. LB Luke Batton came on at the end of the season and finished with 68 tackles. He'll take over as the leading linebacker.FS Brian Lainhart was a playmaker his entire career. He had 17 career interceptions and finished the 2010 season with 88 tackles. CB Norman Wolfe will take over as the leader in the secondary. He finished with five interceptions and 75 tackles last fall.PLAYERS TO WATCH IN 2011:--DT Roosevelt Nix will only get better. He led the conference in tackles for loss with 20, coming up 1/2 sack short of the school record. He had 10 sacks, the third-most in a single season at Kent State, and he blocked two kicks.--WR Tyshon Goode had a strong sophomore season, finishing with 59 receptions for 743 yards and five touchdowns. He has the potential to be a game-changer for the Golden Flashes.--P Matt Rinehart finished with the best single-season punting average in school history at 42.7 yards per punt. He has been impressive his entire career and will again be a weapon.--QB Spencer Keith had an inconsistent year, due in part to a sprained thumb. If the new offensive scheme at Kent State fits Keith, he has a chance to be one of the top quarterbacks in the league during his last two seasons.There will be plenty of competition for Keith as there are two quarterbacks on the roster who saw playing time in 2010 and there are three quarterbacks in the 2011 recruiting class.PLAYER NOTES--DT Roosevelt Nix has been piling up the awards. He was the Mid-American Conference Defensive Player of the Year and the freshman of the year.He has also been named a first-team Freshman All-American by Sporting News, Rivals.com, Phil Steele, CollegeFootballNews.com and the Football Writers Association of America. Nix was the only player on the 26-member first team (offense, defense and special teams) not to play in a BCS automatic qualifying conference.Nix led the MAC in tackles for loss (20.0) and sacks (10.0), ranking tied for sixth and 11th, respectively, in the country. He also tied for fifth in the nation with four forced fumbles as part of a defense that stood second in the country in tackles for loss, fifth in rushing defense, 11th in sacks and 13th in total defense. He added 43 tackles, eight quarterback hurries and a pair of blocked kicks in his first season.
Last years Schedule and Results Won 5 lost 7
Murray State W41-10
Boston College L26-13
Penn State L24-0
Miami (OH)L27-21
Akron W28-17
Toledo L34-21
Bowling Green W30-6
Ball State W33-14
Temple L28-10
Army L45-28
Western Michigan L38-3
Ohio W 28-6
PASSING YARDS 200.8 74th Overall
RUSHING YARDS 113.6 100th Overall
POINTS FOR 21.3 99th Overall
POINTS AGAINST 22.9 42nd Overall
