Gerald Willis note

Gerald Willis note

Peter Ariz
Peter Ariz

Comments (179)

Glad Willis stuck with it. I hope it ends up working out for him and team next year.
 
Quick update here because I've seen some people ask about Willis' status for next season. After asking around over the past two days, there is a ton of confidence in where he is at right now. Obviously Willis has had an up-and-down Miami career, but people within the program are very encouraged with the steps he took this season on-and-off the field, while he was still able to practice and workout with the team.

The expectation right now within the team is that at least one, if not both starting DTs in Norton and McIntosh, are leaning towards turning pro -- this would make Willis' return of the utmost importance. As we are in the midst of recruiting season, just remember that Coach Kuligowski's most important addition this offseason is arguably Willis.

he has always battled injuries, hopefully he has healed up.
 
We must have DTs. Without beast in the middle our Cane style defense is useless.
 
Mcintosh will make it in the NFL, Norton not so much. Seems like every year our borderline NFL players make the dumbest fcking mistakes by going pro early.
 
Norton and Willis inside would be nice. I think RJ is gone. The tape don't lie
 
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Man, I was thinking if Willis would have played this season, that Front line would have been nastier than it already was. RJ needs to go and get that money. Would love to have him back, but I would literally shake my head if he came back. He's a first rounder in my eyes.
 
Did we ever find out the exact circumstances leading to the Willis situation?
 
The issue with McIntosh and Norton declaring is position scarcity. RJ is clearly the more productive player but the list of 3 technique DTs in the draft is long. Norton could use more seasoning but there's a shortage of quality one technique guys in the draft which could make a team reach for him higher than he technically should get picked.
 
I seen nothing from any player on this team that makes me think this guy should leave early for the NFL.

They need to come back and finish building this ****.
 
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Mistakes all the way around. Mc and Nort going pro and counting on Willis. UM should be signing 3-4 DT's this cycle..
 
McIntosh lost some money on Saturday night.

Both would be really dumb to leave early.
 
Alot of DT's go off the board in the first 4 rounds. I could see why our guys may consider leaving early. Unless coming back gets them picked in the first round, the money difference isn't all that different from rounds 2-4 . In the last 2 drafts 30 DTs were picked in the first 4 rounds.
 
Man if both RJ and Kendrick leave our DT’s will be Willis, Bethel, Nesta and whatever other recruits we bring in? Good but not great.

Jon Ford

You don't win the ACC and have a shot at National Championships with two or three quality DTs in Willis, Bethel and Ford. We really do need at least one of Norton and McIntosh to come back to be confident we can go toe-to-toe with LSU, FSU, Va Tech and Clemson (in the ACCCG), as well as whomever we'd face in the playoffs.

Hoping for the best with Goldwire, if he comes. But we haven't had much success recently with Juco DTs. And Nesta will be a freshman. No matter how awesome he is, his body will just not be ready for Big Boy trench warfare. Marcus Forston started and played solid ball for us that 2008 season, freshman AA. But he wasn't producing at a national championship level.
 
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Honestly from what I saw Saturday from the underclassmen none of them should leave. This is the NFL we are talking about here. You won't be playing these marginal players on OL that you saw in the majority of conference play.
 
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Man if both RJ and Kendrick leave our DT’s will be Willis, Bethel, Nesta and whatever other recruits we bring in? Good but not great.

Jon Ford

He's the key to all of this. If Gus and Kul can have this monster ready to be a force next year, then it will lessen the blow considerably if both Norton and RJ leave for the NFL. Willis and Goldwire rotating with Bethel and Ford for the heavy minutes, then Nesta, Martin and Fines for spot duty because we'll need to be 3-deep at DT in order to go deep into the post season.

Ideally though, if we can have Norton and Willis as the starters with the rest of the guys for depth, then we are in good shape. Actually better shape than this year because we'll be deeper at the position.

I don't think Norton is ready. He needs another year to work on his conditioning and technique. He still relies on his size too much, and when met with an equally big/strong Guard, he tends to fade a bit and disappear. A guy his size should be able to take over and make critical stops when needed, but he's not there yet.

No matter what he decides though, we are going to need Ford a ton next year. Hope to God he'll be ready.
 
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McIntosh lost some money on Saturday night.

Both would be really dumb to leave early.

How quickly folks forget RJ eating a top 5 draft pick's lunch during the ND game

NFL scouts don't.
 
A top 4 of Willis, Ford, Silvera, Bethel isn't good enough. Need to inject one more war daddy into that mix.
 
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