Not saying playing the position doesn't help. A good friend of mine needed to sign a TE in their class. He told his TE coach that they had an appt with a high school player, his Mom and Dad for 1pm. The TE coach said this kid was recruited by a number of larger schools, didn't know about the odds of signing him. Once they arrived the coach ask the family, how many of the coaches recruiting him had played the position, how many coaches played in Pro Bowls, played on more than one NFL team? They ended up signing the player, so it can help to play the position.
Miles finds perfect fit in Ball Shea Dixon - 3 hours ago When LSU went searching for a wide receivers coach to replace Adam Henry, Les Miles didn’t take long to reel in the next assistant on his staff. Tony Ball takes over a talented group of WR's in Baton Rouge Henry’s departure was announced last Sunday, and Miles had candidates - including Georgia wide receivers coach Tony Ball - in Baton Rouge by Wednesday going through in-person interviews. By Friday, LSU had officially announced the hire of Ball. With 30 years of experience coaching at the collegiate level, Ball heads to Baton Rouge after a nine-year stay at Georgia, where he coached both running backs and later wide receivers. On Monday morning, the newest LSU staff member joined Derek Ponamsky and Jordy Culotta on ESPN 104.5’s Morning Drive, where he opened up about the move from the Bulldogs to the Tigers. "At this point in time of my life, it fit,” Ball said. "Nine years ago when I left Virginia Tech to come to Georgia, that was a challenge. Something in me made me realize it was time for me to grow in other areas. Nine years later, I have grown a great deal from my experience at Georgia and being part of Mark Richt’s staff. Those things happened for me. "LSU being the type of program it is, it happened at a time where it was time for me to take on another challenge. I’ve always been that way. I function better out of my comfort zone. This is that next step in another phase. "Obviously when you talk about LSU, they compete to win National Championships and win consistently in college football and the SEC. It speaks volumes about the program. That talent level and quality of coaching LSU has speaks for itself.” While coaching receivers at Georgia, Ball was part of two SEC Eastern Division Championship teams. He also helped guide two of the most prolific offenses in school history in 2012 and 2013. Georgia’s 2012 offense set the school record for total yards (6,547) and touchdowns (72), while the 2013 unit set the school record with 484.2 yards per game. With Henry proving to be a valuable technician and teacher during his time coaching in Baton Rouge, it appears Miles has found a similar assistant in Ball, who preached practice and preparation as the most important factors in putting great receiving units over the top - and those intangibles having to be present from the recruiting process forward. "As far as the position, I ultimately say that because the talent is great in the SEC, the talent level is equal,” Ball said. “So what are you doing each and every day to prepare yourself for that moment? That’s how critical it is. It can make the difference in a critical third down or that critical play to win a national championship. "I do the collaborative efforts throughout the (recruiting) process, but you have to rely on your evaluation in terms of the physical attributes, the work ethic and those kinds of things. You have to rely on what you deem as being important at the position. There are other intangibles you have to look for.” Fortunately for Ball, he enters a situation where Henry left the cupboard stacked. The only four wide receivers who caught passes last year - Travin Dural, John Diarse, Malachi Dupre and Trey Quinn - are all back on the team, and the Tigers bring in a handful of new talent in the 2015 signing class, including five-star wide receiver Tyron Johnson, who Ball recruited to Georgia. "I have not thoroughly sat down and evaluated (the returning players),” Ball said. "That’s something I will start to do on Wednesday. By Sunday, I will have looked at every rep they played in this past season. I have had a chance to evaluate the incoming signees a little more thorough. I was the primary contact person with Tyron and his dad. I spent quite a bit of time in Louisiana during that process. But I am certainly aware of the talent level of the young men currently in the program.” For Miles, the mix of a proven college assistant and LSU’s deep roster of talent at receiver should leave Ball without many hiccups as LSU makes a coaching transition on offense, once again. “Tony is a very talented coach who is a SEC veteran,” Miles said. “He’s going to be a real asset for us in the passing game. He’s going to be able to come in and take our group of receivers and develop them into great players. We are excited about having him join our staff.”
New LSU receivers coach will bring the best out of Tigers’ talent Brett Weisband February 18, 2015 @ 11:45am LSU has been a wide receiver hotbed for years now. From Josh Reed to Dwayne Bowe to Odell Beckham Jr. and Jarvis Landry, the last decade-plus is marked by NFL-caliber receivers choosing the purple and gold. That’s the kind of player new wide receivers coach Tony Ball will get to work with, and his arrival comes at a good time. The last few years of receiver recruiting have been fruitful for the Tigers. The 2014 class included Malachi Dupre, a top-five receiver in the class, as well as Trey Quinn and John Diarse. This year’s class includes another top-five receiver, Tyron Johnson, as well as four-stars Jazz Ferguson and Derrick Dillon and three-star Brandon Martin. LSU is loaded out wide, and outside of Travin Dural, all of its most talented receivers will be freshmen or sophomores in 2015. That’s what makes the hiring of Ball so vital. In his nine years with the Bulldogs, Ball molded some serious talent. A.J. Green, Marlon Brown and Kris Durham are some of his NFL disciples, and a few more from last year’s team look to be heading that way. By all accounts, the secret to Ball’s success is that he is an exacting coach. He drills his pupils hard on the fundamentals, from downfield blocking (obviously a big key for the Tigers run-heavy offense) to route running to the simple task of catching the ball. Those are the areas that LSU’s young receivers can certainly improve. Against Alabama in particular, a painful overtime loss, the receiving corps was hit with a case of drops that contributed to the loss. That won’t be likely to repeat under Ball, who is notorious for making sure his receivers hold onto the ball when it comes there way. Improving route running is another area where the majority of young receivers could use work, and it applies to LSU as well. Dural was the Tigers best and only consistent receiving threat in 2014. His best skill was using his speed and quickness to simply dart behind his defender and catch a pass streaking down the sideline. As LSU’s quarterback situation worsened, those opportunities became fewer and farther between, and it wasn’t until LSU decided to incorporate some sweep plays that Dural was able to make an impact again. Ball should bring improvement in the route-running department, giving LSU a means to help out its quarterback, whomever that may be in 2015. His predecessor, Adam Henry, did well enough developing talent that he’s heading back to the NFL. Ball will pick up right where he left off, sharpening LSU’s assortment of weapons out wide into what LSU can only hope will be one of the more dangerous receiving groups in the conference in 2015
