Nick Montana Verbals to Washington!
by John Berkowitz on Jun 9, 2009 9:08 PM PDT
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Reports are floating around tonight that Oaks Christian QB Nick Montana has committed to Washington.
We will be following the story through the evening.
This is the story in the LA Times.
Jake who?
I just became a Oaks Christian fan!
I think Nick Montana is a higher profile recruit nationally than Jake Heaps.
I guess we find out who is better when Skyline plays Oak Christian this fall.
Chris Fetters from Dawgman is confirming it!
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Huge
This is huge after just losing Heaps. Cant wait for the Skyline, Oaks Christian game now.
is the game in Seattle?
If so, there is a possibility of a home field advantage for Oaks!!!
If I'm over to watch the DAWGS...
…maybe my wife and I can see that one too.
Washington Husky Football-1991 National Champions
I should make UW Montana jersey's and wear them to that game.
That’d be so sweet.
YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It can’t hurt having Joe Montana hanging around Husky Stadium! Hopefully Nick will draw some more California recruits to come and play with him.
GO DAWGS!!!!!!!!!
P.S. – I hope Oaks Christian serves Skyline some humble pie!!!
"Bow Down to Washington"
"Kick the tires and light the fires!"
Bona Fide Pro Style QB
It was quoted that Joe Montana is going to be the QB Coach at Oaks Christian. This has to be a real stunner for Notre Dame.
by bigdawgdaddy999 on Jun 9, 2009 10:10 PM PDT reply actions
USC is on the 19th...
…so that works for me. I’m going to try and make it and wear my Purple and Gold!
Washington Husky Football-1991 National Champions
More from Condatta
Confirmed from Nick himself!!!
He said it’s a firm commitment and that he’s "fired up’’ to be a Husky.
GO DAWGS!!!!!
The Dawgs are barking loud tonight!!!
Posted by Coach Sark about 1 hour ago.
by bigdawgdaddy999 on Jun 9, 2009 10:42 PM PDT reply actions
I'm so happy
About getting Joe’s son, it’s a honor, i’ve been a diehard thru good time’s and bad, looks like UW is gonna be a powerhouse again.
Now more top recruits have a easier descesion, go dawg’s i can’t wait for fall.
I agree with you, but...
there’s a lot of work to be done. This may help to get things rolling and I’m very pleased with what Sarkisian and staff have done so far, at least what we’re privy to, but I need to see it on the field. I don’t really mean wins. Just the hard-nosed smashmouth style of play that makes kids think, “I could be a part of that”. Take it to them DAWGS and make them stop us!
by hairofthedawg on Jun 10, 2009 4:25 AM PDT up reply actions
I saw this and just started laughing
In the best of ways. I’m pumped.
http://www.spartyandfriends.com/
Just read Condotta's article
3 of Montana’s teammates have offers from us, and one (an offensive tackle) is visiting this weekend. Hopefully Nick’s signing has a ripple effect and we can snag a couple more of the Oaks-Christian kids.
http://www.spartyandfriends.com/
I think it will...
…that ripple is going to build into a wave!
Washington Husky Football-1991 National Champions
Awesome
Sarkisian and company continue to impress the H out of me. The timing was terrific, coming quickly after the downer. Shows these guys have plans in place for everything.
Somebody mentioned in an earlier post that this commitment may be seen better nationally because of the name, and I agree, talk about sizzle. This probably means no Scroggins, but in the late 80s, UW got #3 of the big 3 QBs in Cal, Mark Brunell. He turned out much better than 1 Marinovich and 2 Johnson. Would love to see a “All I saw was purple” comment again in 2011 in Husky Stadium from a similar #1 recruit.
Great get!!!
Welcome to UW NIck!!! Oaks Christian is loaded with talent. Hopefully this will steer some more of it our way. The guy to keep your eyes on now is a kid named Deitrick Riley. Deitrick is tearing it up at all the camps in Cali and if you watch his film he’s just plain sick. If we could some how reel that kid in….. : )
WOO! HOO!
Huge get and the timing couldn’t be better! I like the fact that his high school coach said he is “fast” and can throw on the run. Joe Montana’s son is going to be fundamentally solid in every way. If you guys have ever seen some of those training videos with him and the former 49ers coach (who of course I can’t recall his name now) I think you’d agree that it is impressive the way they had his drops and timing down to the point where it was almost perfect.
Washington Husky Football-1991 National Champions
Ah ah ah ah
Stayin’ alive!!!
You think Sark was down..please! The great thing about Nick is that Oaks Christian is a HUGE D-1 factory. Now we need Erik Kohler to commit (who people have said wants to play with Montana) and this could be a HUGE grab. Montana in Montlake and I can’t wait!!!
Sweet
Blew right past Heaps-to-BYU to keep positive recruiting momentum going. Sark is gettin’ it done.
Yes he is!...
…and if it’s true that 80% of a head football coach’s job is recruiting then he’s getting it done!
Washington Husky Football-1991 National Champions
Wow
I thought we had little to no chance with Montana having offers from Alabama, LSU, and Notre Dame. Sark continues to impress me.
My hope is that we firm up the Potoae commitment (we CAN’T lose a local guy as good as him) and maybe even get Koehler to commit on or after his trip this coming weekend.
Congrats Sark & Co
…for getting the Huskies back in the recruiting mix in SoCal. Let’s go get some OL & DBs….
This is plain and simple a Sark deal!
Sark is the one and only reason that we got Montana. There is no way a 0-12 team, so far away from his home, would ever had come close to Nick Montana. It shows the type of respect that young QB’s hold for our Coach.
Not talked about is the Notre Dame angle. It does not sound like they were never in the running for the son of one of their greatest players. This is a real blow to Notre Dame and Charlie Weiss in particular. I think we just got a glimpse into what alot of people in the inner circle of the atheletic world think of the Irish Coach. He is starting to look like another post-Belichek blow out. If you lose out on Joe Montana’s boy to a 0-12 team you got problems.
Weis is about as popular as Willingham
Weis actually has done a decent job recruiting so far. His classes are always rated among the top in the nation. Of curse that is the way it should be at a place like Notre Dame.
As far as Montana is concerned you have to take into account that he is a West coast kid so staying out here was probably the best thing for him and his family.
I have talked to a number of former ND players and they all hated Willingham. As far as Weis goes they don’t like him either. It has little to do with coaching…they just don’t like his style and the way he treats people. Charlie has an ego as huge as his belly.
by John Berkowitz on Jun 10, 2009 10:50 AM PDT reply actions
Remember Taylor Mays?
Now Notre Dame understands how we felt after losing a “legacy” player. I was shocked by losing Mays to USC…that one STILL stings, but I can hardly blame a kid of his caliber for not wanting to play for Ty. Now, we just need to keep the next legacy at home in the name of Kasen Williams.
by Purple Reign 91 on Jun 10, 2009 11:21 AM PDT reply actions
Mays
It came down to liking Carroll a lot more than Willingham.
by John Berkowitz on Jun 10, 2009 1:25 PM PDT up reply actions
After you put it that way
who could blame the kid!
"Bow Down to Washington"
"Kick the tires and light the fires!"
And is there any doubt that Taylor has maximized his playing potential by going to USC rather than the UW? Hopefully that changes under Sarkisian…remember when the UW maximized their players under DJ, enabling the Huskies to make up the talent difference between us and USC? There wasn’t a huge talent difference, but it did exist, and DJ and his staff got more out of their players which is why we caught and surpassed USC as the premiere Pac-10 football power.
This is a big-time commitment. Losing Heaps was tough because he was a Husky fan and considered by many to be not just the best prospect in the state, but the best QB prospect in the country; even if you think Heaps wasn’t the ideal fit for Sark’s offense, it was a tough PR blow to lose the most high profile recruit in the state.
However, this goes a long, long ways in mitigating that, if not eliminating it completely. Fair or not, Nick Montana carries the weight of his dad’s name and reputation, and while in a lot of ways that will place unfair expectations on him, it also carries a great deal of publicity that can only help the UW and Sarkisian. Think about it: a guy considered one of, if not the best QB in NFL history is signing off on his son committing to the UW and Sarkisian. That alone is a big, big feather in Sark’s cap, a great validation of Sark’s rep as a tutor and developer of QB’s.
Just look at the pub already up on ESPN – it’s the top story on their college football recruiting page, and it’s a choice that is lauded by their recruiting “expert” Tom Luginbill, with Luginbill saying Montana is a better fit for Sark’s offense than Heaps and suggesting Montana was in fact Sark’s top target.
Just imagine all the added publicity on TV broadcasts if Joe Montana starts making a habit of standing on the UW sidelines for games.
Just think how much better this commitment will look if some of Montana’s very talented H.S. teammates decide to follow him up here, especially OT Erik Kohler.
I have no idea if Montana is an elite QB prospect or not; I am impressed by his list of offers (Ohio State, Alabama, Georgia, Notre Dame, LSU, etc), and his pedigree suggests someone who likely has good fundamentals. It will be even better for Sarkisian if Montana does indeed develop into a top-notch QB at the UW, but even if he doesn’t, if he can’t beat out Keith Price and someone from a subsequent class leapfrogs Montana, this is a big-time commitment, and goes a long, long way towards mitigating any of the disappointment of Heaps committing to BYU.
Excellent Points kirkd
“Just look at the pub already up on ESPN – it’s the top story on their college football recruiting page, and it’s a choice that is lauded by their recruiting "expert" Tom Luginbill
Hopefully, not only will it help our playing prowess on the field tomorrow, but this current great PR helps build Sark coaching reputation today. And that’s good news for recruiting right now.
And yeah, it shouldn’t hurt our recruitment of OT Erik Kohler who looks really good. He too got some great offers and Rivals ranks him as one of the nation’s top 300 prospects. Sounds like the ticket for our future OL.
If Sark thinks Montana is an elite HS QB prospect, it’s good enough for me. That fact that he has a slew of offers from other big name programs means other coaches think so too. And, at his current HS level, he’s more than distinguished himself.
I don’t know who will be the best QB in four years: Heaps, Montana or Scroggins…way too many intangibles for anyone to say that far down the road. Indeed, all three could end up being great QBs at their respective schools.
I’m just ‘over the moon’ we got one of top three on our list. With our coaching staff, I think we’ve got a great shot in getting Montana to his highest potential.
Maybe that’s why he choose us.
so...
… since Ty was the reason we lost Heaps, I assume he must be the reason we won out on NM?
ok, just kidding. these are good days.
"Greed is Good."
So is Rudy.
It's National News!
One of the great parts of the commit is that it’s a headline on CNNSI, ESPN and FoxSports!
Add USA Today to that mix
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/football/2009-06-10-1116479079_x.htm
Washington Husky Football-1991 National Champions
This is HUGE!
…and keeps the all important momentum building.
Washington Husky Football-1991 National Champions
Both Heaps and Montana (love that name!)...
…look like they have so much upside in developing physically. It should be intereesting to watch both in the future. I believe we have BYU on our schedule too.
Washington Husky Football-1991 National Champions
According to Rivals...
…he runs a 4.6 40. The kid has some wheels! What does Heaps run?!
Washington Husky Football-1991 National Champions
Joe Montana
Did you guys read where Joe will be coaching Nick next season as part of the Oaks Christian staff?
Washington Husky Football-1991 National Champions
Would you say...
…a bit of fine tuning will be going on?
Washington Husky Football-1991 National Champions
Not surprising
The ESPN segment from last year at Oaks Christian was saying that Joe usually started the games sitting in the stands, but by the second or third quarter he was on the sidelines personally coaching Nick. Guess they decided to finally make it official that he IS one of the coaches by default.
Watch out for Wayne Gretzky’s kid at Oaks Christian. He’s 6’4" and started on the JV last year as a sophomore.
That ESPN segment was great...
I thought the part where the OC coach said, “our rule is that parents cannot be on the sidelines coaching their kids unless they were a Super Bowl MVP,” was hilarious.
Curious for everyone's thoughts...
What about Scroggins? (In light of Montana being only a verbal,)
—Do we still have a prayer of getting him?
—If you’re Sark, do you keep the heat up, or shift your resources elsewhere?
—Would either one accept 4 years of head-to-head competition with the other?
—Would either one quit before playing a different position?
Also, I hear a lot of voices around here saying that Montana is proven by the level of play at Oaks Christian. But ESPN U’s eval is “concerned about the overall level of competition he faces each week.” I don’t keep up on the SoCal HS scene, and so wonder if there is any validity to this?
Not trying to be a wet blanket—just trying to provoke some interesting dialogue.
I don’t see any good reason why Scroggins would commit here at this point. As much as these kids say they’re not scared by competition and they don’t let decisions by other recruits affect them, it’s all talk – all but a very few of them absolutely look at who else is coming in their class. You’ll see multiple QB’s commit to a school in a single year, but it’s almost always 1 top-rated guy and 1 sleeper.
Scroggins has offers from a number of highly rated programs that don’t yet have a QB committed for the 2010 class. I’d be shocked if Scroggins commits here, and I’m not even sure Sarkisian will be pursuing him vigorously any more – there’s only so many slots in the 2010 class that will be available (remember, for every kid that commits beyond the first 10, a corresponding player currently on scholarship will have to move on).
I think Sarkisian would be better spent shifting his focus elsewhere and just making sure that Montana keeps his commitment. Personally, I’d rather see Sarkisian spend time keeping Potoae in the fold than continue to pursue Scroggins…
Those were my thoughts, but
USC in the Sark era certainly was able to stockpile blue-hip QB’s. And many schools (incl. UW) have gone after multiple talents at the position and then moved the runners-up to another skill slot.
Obviously, we have huge issues at a lot of other positions, and it will be awhile before we have the kind of luxuries USC has enjoyed of late. But it makes one wonder how you’d strategize in these situations.
It’s probably a safe assumption that we were pressing hard on Scroggins right up to this week, and what if our staff considered him their preferred pick? How do you proceed? These verbal commits can make for some interesting “problems”.
USC in the Sark era certainly was able to stockpile blue-hip QB’s. And many schools (incl. UW) have gone after multiple talents at the position and then moved the runners-up to another skill slot.
Rarely did USC land multiple 4 & 5 star QB’s in the same class:
2002: Brandon Hance, 1* (i.e. not evaluated)
2003: John David Booty, 5*
2004: Rocky Hinds, 4* (transferred in 2005)
2005: Mark Sanchez, 5*; Michael Coleman, 4* (committed after Sanchez, moved to RB and then trasnferred in 2007)
2006: Garrett Green, 3*
2007: Aaron Corp, 5*
2008: no QB’s
2009: Matt Barkley, 5*
So the evidence shows that USC wasn’t immune to the rule that multiple blue-chip QB’s will almost never commit to the same school in the same recruiting class. And besides, USC is rolling, and UW isn’t.
I have the feeling that if Sarkisian continued to pursue Scroggins that it wouldn’t sit well with the Montana’s, especially if he were able to get a commitment from Jesse.
I think Sark & his staff had 3 guys at the top of their list (Heaps, Montana, Scroggins) and wanted at least 1 of them; maybe they had a pecking order between the 3, but I don’t think they would’ve been disappointed with any of them committing. Even if they had Scroggins rated a little higher, I think they’ll be happy with the Montana commitment and focus their recruiting energies elsewhere rather than trying to roll the dice and get Scroggins too (and risk offending Montana).
And also, if USC does end up offering Scroggins, hard to imagine he wouldn’t jump on it – Barkley looks like he may not redshirt, so there could be 2 years separating him and Barkley, and once Corp graduates there’s only Barkley ahead of Scroggins, so he could be looking at 2 years as a starter at USC if things work out as expected (and maybe even 3 if Barkley is so good he leaves after his true Junior season).
Good review
Though you forgot Mitch Mustain (transfer). The point being that they’ve gotten some highly regarded QB’s to commit with minimal or no offset to the time-lines of other similarly regarded QB recruits. I don’t think I’m alone in feeling that USC has had a remarkable run of high-profile signees at this position during the past 10 years. And Sark was indoctrinated, if you will, into this atmosphere.
All of this, of course, means nothing by itself. It was more a lead-in to my instigation of commentary about how as a coach, one plays the game with early verbals. If you’ve got recruits A, B & C on your wish list, but really want A ahead of the others, you still pursue all three with the hopes that you’ll get one. Now when C “commits” close to two years ahead of his eligibility, what do you do with A & B?
It’s an interesting game, and most of the time, I suppose, most coaches just play with the hand they’re dealt (C, in the above case). Still, I wonder if coaches get that “aw sh_t” feeling when C commits while they’re still in the hunt for A? Don’t read into this any personal feelings about recent events—I’m both pleased and hopeful about our current situation with QB recruits. But I’d be curious if anyone out there has some insight about how Sark approaches such.
Yeah, you have to be careful about who you offer when. Sometimes coaches will hand out offers with conditions – saying, you need to do A, B & C to make this offer official, or you have X number of days to accept or the offer might vanish.
It’s an interesting game, and as much as fans can complain when a recruit changes his mind about a commitment, it works both ways. And of course, coaches have to be careful about pulling back on offers for fear of offending people that could impact future recruiting.
In this particular case, I doubt Sarkisian would have had offers out to Montana, Scroggins and Heaps at the same time if he was going to be disappointed if/when any of them committed. For the sake of argument, let’s say Montana was his 3rd choice out of the three – if he wasn’t totally comfortable taking Montana as his QB for the class, even if one or both of the others were still available if/when Montana committed, I don’t think he would’ve offered.
Oaks Christian
Is it in a small school league? You would think that being in Cali that the competition would be tougher than what Heaps faces playing at Skyline. Maybe somebody else can chime in here?
Washington Husky Football-1991 National Champions
I saw a bit on legacys
on College Football Live today. I didn’t catch the start but it sounds like it was based around the Montana commit. This is outstanding news, I like the quote from the LA Times story to the effect of “he (Sark) was freaking out on the phone.” That is the type of passion we need to have here again. GO DAWGS!
Now Hopefully you guys understand the influential power of our new coach
All the chatter of losing Jake Heaps to BYU, how miserable the week was. BLAMO! ENTER: Nick Montana.
Like I said I think Sark wanted either Montana or Scroggins. I don’t think Heaps was the kid Sark was targeting. Kirkd mentioned something to the effect of losing Heaps was a “PR blow”. I will agree w/ kirkd but it will be short lived. I think nabbing Montana was a more attractive commit even over a No.1 QB prospect in the nation in Heaps. Why?
Nowing his father I can tell you this, the kid is no slouch. He’s just as smart as his ole’ man and has been tutored by arguably the finest pro style QB in the history of the professional game. Also we won’t have a John Elway’s son quitting football issue with Nick. Why? Because w/ Joe being the QB’s coach at O.C.H.S and working with his son as the starting QB, that tells you Nick and his dad have a great relationship, something I highly doubt that Jack Elway had with John Elway.
With us picking up Nick Montana a week after the Heaps disappointment, now do you see why I am in favor of 6+ wins as early as this season? Coach Sarkisian just landed one of the most dynamic QB prospects in all the land and to top it off he got him away from his dad’s Notre Dame. All I can say is WOW!
Sark’s the real deal and the sooner you figure that out the better off your offseason will be.
Go Huskies! WOOF!!!
All I saw was purple
He is definitely getting it done...
…on the recruiting front and my gut tells me he’ll be fine when it comes to being a game day coach. So who’s left in the state of Washington as far as must have guys? Porter? or ? I like the fact that Oaks Christian has several D-1 guys who may follow Nick to Washington, especially that big offensive tackle kid. We need several of those. GO DAWGS!! Joe Montana wearing Purple and Gold what could be sweeter!
Washington Husky Football-1991 National Champions
Porter is probably the biggest uncommitted guy left in-state, but I’d also put a premium on making sure Potoae firms up his commitment now that he’s suggested he’ll take official visits elsewhere and is feeling the love from USC. I also think Sark would be wise to consider extending an offer to Happy Ione very soon – it appears his academic struggles have been solved, and he’s got a shot at qualifying now if he continues working hard at his English language skills. Academics are likely the only reason schools were holding off offering him, and now that he’s on a much better path academically, the offers are starting to come in. It appears he may be as talented as Potoae, so that would make him a big get…
Nick's Coaches Quote
Bill Redell, coach at Oaks Christian, said Montana "is very fast. He’s got great feet.
I love that! Not just fast but VERY fast!
Washington Husky Football-1991 National Champions
Great feet = Great QB footwork
And that is what you really need to be a great pro style QB. Honestly? I didn’t want Heaps. I wanted Nick Montana for multiple reasons. One, the obvious- mormon 2 year mission might surface. Two, Heaps is from a spread system and Nick has the pro style DOWN ask his dad.
There is no rush to get Nick on the field. I’m sure he realizes that this is Locker’s team for the next 2 years. After that Montana will compete for the starting job and could possibly win it out right and have it for the next three years following.
The 2 year mormon mission scared me away from Heaps and I am quite confident that thought ran through Sark’s head a little.
Montana was the target and we got him!
Go Huskies! WOOF!!!
All I saw was purple
I promise I'm not lying
About 2 months ago I was watching Scroggins, Heaps and Montana’s videos and was actually most impressed with Montana’s(my brother can confirm it, I was bugging him and telling him to watch it). Nick is used to running basically the same offense that Sark runs and is very accurate with his passes. His footwork looks great too. I’m no recruiting expert but he seems like he already is a good QB that has the potential to be great…
If you haven’t already read Luginbill’s article, he describes why Montana was the best fit for UW. Check it out
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/recruiting/football/columns/story?columnist=luginbill_tom&id=4247721
Top QB from the Shire.
Is it just me or does “Scroggins” sound like a hobbit name from “the Shire?”
Quick get the tape out!
OMG, he’s only 3’ 9"
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