Advertisement
Placeholder image with the text:
The Daily

Steve Sarkisian signed 30 players to national letters of intent yesterday to play football for UW.

Sark's signees: UW class of 2010

Here's what UW head coach Steve Sarkisian had to say about the notable players in his 30-man recruiting class, all of whom signed national letters of intent yesterday. QUARTERBACK Nick Montana Oaks Christian, Thousand Oaks, Calif. What Sark has to say: "I feel good that I can actually answer the questions now and not feel like I'm trying to beat around the bush. Nick Montana is a bigger kid than you guys think. His official weight on his visit with us was 6-foot-3 and 194 pounds, so he's still growing. He's a young kid that's still maturing and still growing and has all of the physical tools that we could have ever wanted in a quarterback. He can make all the throws in the pocket, he's got great presence in the pocket of keeping his vision and his eyes down the field, he's extremely adept at throwing when on the run and doing things out of the pocket, he's got a great feel for that. ... What I love about him probably more than those things are his intangibles. He's got the leadership skills set that you love to have from your quarterback. The kids want to be around him, and that's how quarterbacks are supposed to be." RUNNING BACKS Jesse Callier , Warren, Los Angeles Deontae Cooper , Citrus Hill, Perris, Calif. What Sark has to say: "I just like to brag about the fact that we signed the two leading rushers out of the state of California this year. I think that's pretty cool. They're different players. Deontae Cooper, 6-foot, 205 kid, very strong, powerful. I could easily see him being a 220-pound, 225-pound tailback. Downhill runner, powerful, very explosive. Jesse Callier, 5-foot-11, 186 kid with versatility. He's not a straight-line guy. He can catch, he's played quarterback, he's played DB. But at the end of the day, these guys combined for nearly 6,000 yards and 80 touchdowns in their senior year of high-school football. They bring a different mix to the table, so we're excited to have those two kids." FULLBACK Zach Fogerson , O'Dea, Kent, Wash. What Sark has to say: "Fullback, 6-foot-1, 225. We're excited about Zach because he's hopefully adding an element of maybe something we didn't have this year, and that's the athleticism from the fullback position. He can catch the ball out of the backfield, his ability to run the ball some, his versatility is big for us." OFFENSIVE LINE James Atoe
Advertisement
Placeholder image with the text:
The Dalles-Wahtonka, The Dalles, Ore. Mike Criste Mission Viejo, Mission Viejo, Calif. Micah Hatchie Waialua, Haleiwa, Hawaii Erik Kohler Oaks Christian, Camarillo, Calif. Colin Porter Bothell, Bothell, Wash. Ben Riva
Advertisement
Placeholder image with the text:
O'Dea, Seattle Colin Tanigawa Loyola, Pasadena, Calif. What Sark has to say: "On the offensive line it's kind of like, 'Where's the beef?' with these guys. They're big. The smallest of them, Colin Tanigawa, at 6-foot-3, 280 is a nasty, tough kid, plays hard-nosed, out of a great high school in Los Angeles that we project to be an inside guy. The rest of these guys - Atoe, Criste, Hatchie, Kohler, Porter, Riva - all could project to be tackles. That's how you like to start, because if they don't work at tackle, then you can always move them inside instead of moving an inside guy, it's hard to back out. We're excited about all these guys. They're physical, they're athletic, they fit to what we want to do and we've talked about for months now, we've got to be able to run the football and be a physical program, and this is where it starts. This was a huge point of emphasis for us in this class because of the simple fact that we didn't sign any guys last year on O-line. It was too late in the game; we didn't feel like we could get the quality player last year. So to come in this year and be able to sign seven of these guys is huge for us on the offensive line." DEFENSIVE LINE Lawrence Lagafuaina , Aiea, Aiea, Hawaii Sione Potoa'e , Lakes, Fort Lewis, Wash. What Sark has to say: "Sione Potoa'e is a fantastic football player. At 6-foot-3, 285, a kid that was a hard-fought battle to keep in state, one of the top players in the state of Washington that was recruited by everybody in the country, I think he is a guy that could have that instant-impact factor." "Lawrence Lagafuaina, a kid who's really a 6-foot, 315-pound nose tackle, that if you can believe this, ran 4.8 [40-yard dash] at our camp this year. This guy has the speed and quickness for a big man to have a huge impact on the defensive line." DEFENSIVE END Andrew Hudson , Redlands East Valley, Redlands, Calif. Hau'oli Jamora
Advertisement
Placeholder image with the text:
, Kahuku, Laie, Hawaii Brent Williams , Taft, San Fernando, Calif. What Sark has to say: "At the defensive-end spot, two kids are really exciting for me. The first is Hau'oli Jamora out of Hawaii, a kid who not only can rush the passer, but does a great job defending the run. He's physical; we're excited about him." "Andrew Hudson is potentially a state wrestling champ in the state of California this year. He's got great hands, he's got great leverage, which enables him to be a force against the run, and he has the ability and the passion to rush the passer, which is great." "Brent Williams, I know his weight has been thrown around about what it might be. On his official visit he was 6-foot-2 and some change, 205 pounds, so he's getting to where he needs to get to ... 17 sacks his junior year ... he's a fantastic talent." LINEBACKER Victor Burnett , Culver City, Los Angeles Princeton Fuimaono , Jordan, Long Beach, Calif. Garret Gilliland , Orange Lutheran, Anaheim, Calif. Cooper Pelluer
Advertisement
Placeholder image with the text:
, Skyline, Sammamish, Wash. Darius Waters , Lakes, Lakewood, Wash. Chris Young , Auburn, Auburn, Wash. What Sark has to say: "I think this group is really spearheaded by Victor Burnett out of Culver City High School, a kid who's going to be an early enrollee here in spring with us. Fantastic player, student body president, very bright young man, but also will hit you every chance he gets." "Princeton Fuimaono is a kid, another guy you look at on film and he can fly around, he's athletic, really nice outside-linebacker looking type guy." "Garret Gilliland out of Orange Lutheran High School in Orange County, another outside-linebacker type. Athletic, two-time defensive player of the year in his league, just a great player, a guy who's very bright and very smart, and that's a common theme that we need from our linebackers. We need guys that understand the game of football and have a really high football IQ." "A late addition to our class, a guy that we're really excited about is a local product out of Skyline High School who obviously has a lot of ties to the Huskies, Cooper Pelluer. He's a kid that we've had earmarked for over a year now, and it was just a matter of time until our numbers worked the way we want, but Cooper's a perfect linebacker, amongst the Mason Foster mold. He's a guy that has the versatility to cover the tight end, to play on the tight end, man-to-man, still rush the passer, do things on special teams right away." "Darius Waters and Chris Young, both local products, physical players, put your face on you, that are going to have an impact on the field and their presence will be felt when they get out there." SAFETY Sean Parker , Narbonne, Los Angeles Jamaal Kearse , Lakes, Lakewood, Wash. What Sark has to say: "We got a big splash today with the announcement of Sean Parker, a kid that for us, in today's game, the safety better be able to play middle-third, he better be able to come down and fit up in the run game, he better be able to pressure and blitz the quarterback, he better be able to play man-to-man coverage against all the red-zone stuff that we see. This guy fits the bill, and that's why he's so special. I think you guys will come to see that as we move forward." "Loving Jamaal Kearse. We've obviously seen what his brother Jermaine's done for us. Jamaal's a big kid, 6-foot-2, 215, right now. I'm anxious to watch to see how he grows. He's got a great frame on him, a great presence."
Stay up to Date

Subscribe to our weekly newsletters covering the news, arts, and sports.

Newsletters

Monday, Wednesday, Friday.

Friday


Powered by SNworks - Solutions by SN Media. Made with in .