More on Erik Kohler
by John Berkowitz on Aug 25, 2009 2:41 PM PDT
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PrintErik Kohler is a huge get for Washington, as Steve Sarkisian wandered into an area of Los Angeles typically reserved for UCLA and took one of the top players on Rick Neuheisel's 2009 recruiting list. It was Sark and Neu going head-to-head on Neu's turf, with Sark came out holding the prize.
Projecting as a right tackle with his long arms, Kohler can likely play anywhere on the offensive line. His verbal also sends a signal to others that Washington is putting together a top class, with playing time available for team who is building a winner in future years.
Washington has now recruited three premier high school offensive linemen in this class, leaving room for at least two more. The Huskies may look to add a junior college offensive lineman, provided they can successfully identify a player ready to matriculate winter quarter. Depth is a problem this year and projects as an issue in 2010 as well; recruiting a JC prospect can help alleviate this issue in the short term.
As far as the future goes, annually recruiting 4-5 quality offensive linemen is the way to get back on the path of winning championships. It isn't a quick fix Washington requires, however; Kohler is unlikely to be a savior in 2010, as rarely are even the best offensive lineman prepared to assert themselves as freshmen, so expect him to redshirt unless he does some incredible things in the weight room between now and next August.
With Kohler, Riva, and Porter in the bag where are the next 2-3 verbals going to come from?
Colin Tanigawa, a center from Loyola HS in Los Angeles, is very high on Washington and will visit next month. Expect Tanigawa to commit on his visit. The Huskies are also in on a couple top recruits from Hawaii, including Micah Hatchie from Waialua and Kaiwai Crabb from Punahou. Don't forget Nick Rowland, one of the top OL recruits in the country, who will be visiting in September.
This has been a good month for Washington, having picked up four verbals in typically slow month. In September, kicking the season off against LSU, they will host elite recruits in the double digits the season's opening weekend. This staff isn't sitting around waiting for things to happen, they are out there, and getting it done. If you are a Husky fan, you have to like what is happening right now.
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Listening to Kohler on KJR today, it would seem that we stole him more from Notre Dame and not as much from UCLA. When we have a recruit deciding between the UW and ND, I think it’s a bigger get than if they’re deciding between the UW and UCLA. Now if we had stole him from USC, that would be huge.
Of course it’s always nice to put Slick Rick in his place though. :)
I think in the end it was UW and ND…but until Montana verbaled to UW he was a heavy UCLA lean.
by John Berkowitz on Aug 25, 2009 7:13 PM PDT up reply actions
Biggest Get So Far!
Nick Montana was a huge get, but personally I think getting a mega athlete to play O line is HUGE! Traditionally we’ve always had great offensive lines, where they just moved the L.O.S. forward by 4 yards on every down. We all marveled over Greg Lewis, Beno Bryant, and Nap Kauffman as great Husky runningbacks. Yet take a look at their pro careers- no lengthy careers there.
I firmly believe our great O lines of yesteryear made many of our awesome backs look GOOD and we need to get back to having a roadgrader offensive line.
Welcome to HuskyNation Big Erik! WOOF!!!
All I saw was purple
Totally agree, Crazi.
The UW o-line was a machine for two decades. Hasn’t been the case the last decade, and we’ve all seen the repercussions.
This game is still won and lost in the trenches. It doesn’t really matter what kind of offense or defense a team runs – if you win the line of scrimmage, you win the game.
This recruiting class is looking real nice right now
Two more of the big fellas and we have our O-linemen for this class. Riva,Porter and Kohler are all great gets.
Sark getting Kohler and Rowland this class = major recruiting coup that I want to see!
Hopefully we get Cooper, Wright, Hill, Vainuku and Shirley. Shirley might be a longshot but the other guys are high on the Dawgs
Micah Hatchie
Keep your eye on Micah. According to Fetters he’s really underrated and quite possibly better than Rowland or Kohler.
I want Hatchie
Bad.
Then for dessert ……Tanigawa. That’s all.
Hatchie
He should feel at home at Washington, remember the story about all of the Polynesians that are on the team. Marques Tuiasosopo has a huge family too! Isn’t there a former player working on staff somewhere that was a former Husky Football player? Ikaika Malloy or ?
Washington Husky Football-Undefeated 1991 National Champions 12-0!
Ink Aleaga
He’s an academic advisor at the UW so man, that’s a good thing!
Washington Husky Football-Undefeated 1991 National Champions 12-0!
He should feel comfortable here – plenty of Polynesians on the team and in the larger community. That said, the UW and Seattle certainly don’t have a corner on that market – lots of programs on the West Coast have a notable Polynesian presence. But things sound good with him and we have a decent shot at him from what I’ve read…
Need 3 OL and 2 DL
Need
Rowland -Guard
Hatchie =OT
Tanigawa – Center
Need
Hudson -DE
Kirifi Tuala – DT
Need
D Wright -DB
T. Hill – DB
Need
H. Pullard – MLB
S. Vainuku- MLB
I agree with all the guys you mentioned as legit possibilities, except I think Sani Fuimaono will be our DT pickup and I think Pullard will be hard to steal from USC. My shocker pick would be Josh Shirley at OLB/DE, I think he could see early time here as a pass rusher.
I really, really think we get Wright and Hill, and I will cry tears of joy when we do cuz damn we need some talent at DB
I honestly wouldn’t be surprised to see Sark take 26 or 27 this class and possibly grayshirt some guys. Last I checked we are currently at 80 schollies so we have room
by ChazzReinhold on Aug 26, 2009 6:58 PM PDT up reply actions
Grayshirt
I wouldn’t be surprised to see the number hit 30. The best way to give UW football an jolt is with a huge infusion of new talent.
The incoming OL will redshirt creating a solid foundation and we’ll add some JC help for instant bodies.
I see Sark and Holt grabbing DB with speed and nice size. They are probably showing Wright more love than Shaw but they’d love to have both.
I think Keith Price may have surprised a bit and made Sark realize he doesn’t need to take another QB in this class with Montana coming in next year and Fouch still being just a Soph.
We should be grabbing another WR …I think Slavin is a pretty good choice and of course Sark will be all over Kasen next year who is a kid that will play as a true frosh.
I see us getting Cooper and James going to a Cali school.
I see some kids potentially Grayshirting …chiefly the ones that know they need to get their bodies up to Div 1 standards.
I see a good amount of attrition from kids knowing they won’t sniff the field and oft injured guys leaving.
They will take more than five OL
They will take at least five HS OL plus one or two JC guys.
We have some dead wood in the limited depth we do have that will never play in a game.
by John Berkowitz on Aug 27, 2009 6:34 AM PDT up reply actions
Thomas seems like a prime guy to move on – just doesn’t seem like he’s ever going to crack the 2-deeps. Haven’t heard much from Shugart or Armelin either. Armelin will get more chances to make a positive impression with Fancher’s leg/foot issues, and Shugart will have his shot again next year with Ossai and Rosborough graduating.
Depth at OL right now is scary – obviously losing Jake to injury is the worst case scenario, but right there is losing 2+ starters on the OL for any extended period of time. Things could get U-G-L-Y…
Last I checked we are currently at 80 schollies so we have room
Not yet we don’t. We have 5 open spots right now, and around 10-11 Seniors on scholarship – that means that currently, there is room for 15-16 guys.
Now, I fully expect a lot more attrition to happen between now and next Spring, so I think Sark could take around 25 and make the numbers work, but he’s not there yet.
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