'12 OH OL Caleb Stacey (UC Verbal 1/21/12)
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It's certainly time to start looking at the top prospects for 2012 in Ohio, and one who sticks out on film is Cincinnati Oak Hills offensive lineman Caleb Stacey. Stacey, 6-foot-4, 280-pounds, impressed as a left tackle in 2010.
"I think I did really well this year, and I had a good season," Stacey stated. "I think next year I will be even better, because I will be a lot stronger. My strength is one of my greatest assets, and I'm working on being able to get up on linebackers better."
"I play left tackle in our system, but I will probably be a guard at the next level," he continued. "Most of the colleges that have come out to the school tell me I will probably be an inside player in college, and that's fine with me."
Speaking of college recruiters, they have been coming to Oak Hills in person to watch film and speak to the coaching staff about Stacey.
"I've heard from Arizona and I spoke to them on Saturday," he stated. "I like Arizona a lot too. I also spoke to Illinois head coach Ron Zook on the phone last week, and I liked him a lot. I've also heard from Iowa, Boston College, Virginia, Missouri, North Carolina State and Cincinnati."
"I took one unofficial visit this year, to Northwestern," he continued. "That was great and it was the first big-time game I've ever been to before. I've had a few other invitations, but I couldn't make it, because of my father's work schedule."
Stacey is drawing interest from schools from all across the United States, so the distance factor is an issue that has to be addressed, and he gave his thoughts on going far from home.
"I actually sat down with parents and talked about this not too long ago," he admitted. "I think I'm ready to get away from home, and I'd like to play out West, or even down South, so distance from home won't bother me at all."
http://recruiting.scout.com/2/1032827.html
"I think I did really well this year, and I had a good season," Stacey stated. "I think next year I will be even better, because I will be a lot stronger. My strength is one of my greatest assets, and I'm working on being able to get up on linebackers better."
"I play left tackle in our system, but I will probably be a guard at the next level," he continued. "Most of the colleges that have come out to the school tell me I will probably be an inside player in college, and that's fine with me."
Speaking of college recruiters, they have been coming to Oak Hills in person to watch film and speak to the coaching staff about Stacey.
"I've heard from Arizona and I spoke to them on Saturday," he stated. "I like Arizona a lot too. I also spoke to Illinois head coach Ron Zook on the phone last week, and I liked him a lot. I've also heard from Iowa, Boston College, Virginia, Missouri, North Carolina State and Cincinnati."
"I took one unofficial visit this year, to Northwestern," he continued. "That was great and it was the first big-time game I've ever been to before. I've had a few other invitations, but I couldn't make it, because of my father's work schedule."
Stacey is drawing interest from schools from all across the United States, so the distance factor is an issue that has to be addressed, and he gave his thoughts on going far from home.
"I actually sat down with parents and talked about this not too long ago," he admitted. "I think I'm ready to get away from home, and I'd like to play out West, or even down South, so distance from home won't bother me at all."
http://recruiting.scout.com/2/1032827.html
FBS Division 1 Offers: Ohio, Toledo, Bowling Green, Illinois, Wake Forest, Boston College
http://www.scoutingohio.com/index.php/view-profile.html?task=userProfile&user=6175&name=Cstacey71
http://www.scoutingohio.com/index.php/view-profile.html?task=userProfile&user=6175&name=Cstacey71
MikeDyer: Oak Hills junior OL Caleb Stacey will take unofficial visits to Illinois Saturday and Kentucky on Sunday, says Oak Hills coach Kurry Commins
Oak Hills football coach Kurry Commins just sent film of OL Caleb Stacey to Georgia Tech, Texas Tech and BYU
Commins said there's a chance 2 of those schools will offer Stacey next week
Oak Hills football coach Kurry Commins just sent film of OL Caleb Stacey to Georgia Tech, Texas Tech and BYU
Commins said there's a chance 2 of those schools will offer Stacey next week
JasonS
Football Moderator
Before it gets out from anyone but me I have decided to decommitt from Michigan to stay home and play ball at the University of Cincinnati
Caleb Stacey. @Caleb_Stacey
Caleb Stacey. @Caleb_Stacey
JasonS
Football Moderator
There isn't much film or analysis on Michigan's newest commitment OL Caleb Stacey. I received an email from his offensive line coach that I thought I would share with you. His coach reads MGoBlog and wanted the fans to know what they're getting, so here's the email:
*
Tom,
*
First of all, Caleb is a fairly unknown prospect nationally like I said. However, amongst the college circles he is widely popular. I believe Michigan State would have offered him within the week had he not committed. He was also receiving some serious mail from other major BCS schools. I have also talked to one of the top analysts from Ohio, he actually does a ton of work for Ohio State and he had Caleb ranked as the #6 OL in the class. In any normal year he said he would be a top 20 player in Ohio, however this year Ohio's class is LOADED, especially on the OL. Ohio might put over a dozen OL into BCS schools this year which is amazing. Currently he is ranked as #37 by most people, or in that area, and he is projected as a very high 3 star to low 4 star prospect.
*
Caleb's strengths:
1) Football Knowledge/Coachability - Caleb has the ability and understanding of the game that makes coaching easy. I can coach him on something and what I want done is shown right in front of me the next rep and every rep after. He listens, he learns, and he applies. He is one of those OL that only comes along once every 10 years in that regard.
2) His weight room strength/Physical play - His numbers might not be the most impressive out there, but his power in the weight room translates to the field. He is strong, overpowering, and physical. He benches 300, squats a legit 455, and hang cleans 250+. Those numbers are pretty good overall for a player, but you can tell in his play that his weight room strength allows him to over power even big kids on the field.
3) He excels against great players - We play in one of the best and most physically grueling conferences in Ohio, the GMC. Caleb has started every game since he was a sophomore and allowed zero sacks. He has played against BCS players and played great. This season he took his game to a new level and recorded 114 knockdowns, leading the team, and held the single game record with 21.
4) His footwork - I watch a LOT of film on a LOT of prospects. One thing every person who has watched him as a college coach has said is his footwork is outstanding. He moves his feet well, he gets his second step down quick, and he coves movement well. And he does it physical. He is very talented on the line of scrimmage. In college covering movement up front is what makes or breaks a lineman.
5) His ability to pull - Caleb is one of the rare young players who actually meets contact on his pulls with physical play. I preach running THROUGH contact and if you watch Caleb's film you will see his feet never stop on pulls. He literally runs through people. Many lineman make contact and stalemate or even slow down before impact. Caleb accelerates. If you were able to watch his full film you would see the results.
6) Pass Pro - He moves his feet as well as any lineman I have seen who plays out of position. He is a guard playing left tackle, which is the hardest position to pass protect from. He does a great job kick sliding back with depth and width and he is very fast at closing inside rushes. His best part though is his ability to shoot his hands at a target. His arms are insanely long and his hands are massive. Once he gets on you at this level there is no chance to get near his body and grab him. It will help him a lot when he plays guard down the road in college.
*
Needs to Work On:
1) Second Level - Caleb does a great job of getting on linebackers and taking up space at the second level. I would like to see him physically beat linebackers the way he does DLineman. Linebackers are naturally a bit quicker and more athletic, but Caleb is very athletic for a lineman. He does a great job of staying on them but I would like to see him finish those blocks with more knockdowns. Somewhat of a nit picky thing, but it will make him an elite player.
2) Pad Level - This is always something young lineman have a tough time with. He plays very low for being so big and so tall but every lineman can always play with better pad level. He doesn't play "high" but playing lower can make him even more dominating of a force.
*
Work Ethic:
I could talk about his work ethic for days on end. He refuses to be beaten in anything. Every week in game prep he takes it as a challenge. He takes it like everything is at stake. That is the kind of OLineman you want. It is a personal battle for him. His practice tempo, his game tempo, his off season training, he brings it. You might be stronger than him, you might be faster than him, you might be more athletic than him but he has that will and desire to be better than you on game day. To this point, he has always out played his opponent.
*
Does he compare to anyone:
Caleb reminds me a lot of a good friend of mine who played for Michigan. His name was Mark Bihl. He was an Ohio kid, he didn't get much recruiting hype, but he was a tough nosed blue collar kid who just worked hard every day of his life. I think Caleb has a much greater skill set coming into college than Mark did just because of the system we run. But Mark went to Michigan and just flat out worked his way into the lineup, and I believe became a captain there as a senior and started on OL for 2 years as a center. Caleb might not be a 5 star kid, but I guarantee if you give him the chance to compete with those kind of kids he will give them everything they can handle. That's just how his mindset is.
*
What is Michigan getting:
You are getting one of the finest young people I have had the privilege to coach. I have been coaching for 5 years now and I hope to continue on for a long long time. Caleb is part of a group of 6 junior offensive lineman I have returning next season that helped our school break 13 different rushing records. Of them 3 are projected as D-1 talent, including Caleb, and one of them fits in D-1aa. With all that talent and ability there is one person they all look to when things go bad or when things don't go as we plan. That is Caleb. He is just a natural born leader. There are times in a game where we need 2-3 yards and I can look out to him and see him signaling to call the run play behind him guaranteeing us we will get it. Everyone in the stadium knows who the ball is going behind but this season no one stopped it. Literally, we got our short yardage conversions behind him 100% of the time. Guys feed off that confidence and that energy. It isn't arrogance, it's confidence. That is hard to find in a young lineman because usually they are quiet guys. Caleb speaks through actions. To me, he reminds me of the Michigan lineman I grew up watching. Those guys in the mid 90's and early 2000's where they just *physically dominated. Where everyone in the stadium knew it was going to be power, or iso, or zone and those guys up front just thrived on that and dominated. Being a Michigan lineman was the definition of toughness when I grew up, when I was recruited by them, and when they were winning championships. Caleb wants to be part of that reborn attitude and I think he is a perfect fit for it.
*
Unique:
Caleb is actually a really talented basketball player but opted to not play this season to focus on football training. He had even played some point guard in a pinch when he was younger. Just goes to show how good of an athlete he truly is.
http://mgoblog.com/diaries/tomvh-what-michigan-getting-ol-caleb-stacey
*
Tom,
*
First of all, Caleb is a fairly unknown prospect nationally like I said. However, amongst the college circles he is widely popular. I believe Michigan State would have offered him within the week had he not committed. He was also receiving some serious mail from other major BCS schools. I have also talked to one of the top analysts from Ohio, he actually does a ton of work for Ohio State and he had Caleb ranked as the #6 OL in the class. In any normal year he said he would be a top 20 player in Ohio, however this year Ohio's class is LOADED, especially on the OL. Ohio might put over a dozen OL into BCS schools this year which is amazing. Currently he is ranked as #37 by most people, or in that area, and he is projected as a very high 3 star to low 4 star prospect.
*
Caleb's strengths:
1) Football Knowledge/Coachability - Caleb has the ability and understanding of the game that makes coaching easy. I can coach him on something and what I want done is shown right in front of me the next rep and every rep after. He listens, he learns, and he applies. He is one of those OL that only comes along once every 10 years in that regard.
2) His weight room strength/Physical play - His numbers might not be the most impressive out there, but his power in the weight room translates to the field. He is strong, overpowering, and physical. He benches 300, squats a legit 455, and hang cleans 250+. Those numbers are pretty good overall for a player, but you can tell in his play that his weight room strength allows him to over power even big kids on the field.
3) He excels against great players - We play in one of the best and most physically grueling conferences in Ohio, the GMC. Caleb has started every game since he was a sophomore and allowed zero sacks. He has played against BCS players and played great. This season he took his game to a new level and recorded 114 knockdowns, leading the team, and held the single game record with 21.
4) His footwork - I watch a LOT of film on a LOT of prospects. One thing every person who has watched him as a college coach has said is his footwork is outstanding. He moves his feet well, he gets his second step down quick, and he coves movement well. And he does it physical. He is very talented on the line of scrimmage. In college covering movement up front is what makes or breaks a lineman.
5) His ability to pull - Caleb is one of the rare young players who actually meets contact on his pulls with physical play. I preach running THROUGH contact and if you watch Caleb's film you will see his feet never stop on pulls. He literally runs through people. Many lineman make contact and stalemate or even slow down before impact. Caleb accelerates. If you were able to watch his full film you would see the results.
6) Pass Pro - He moves his feet as well as any lineman I have seen who plays out of position. He is a guard playing left tackle, which is the hardest position to pass protect from. He does a great job kick sliding back with depth and width and he is very fast at closing inside rushes. His best part though is his ability to shoot his hands at a target. His arms are insanely long and his hands are massive. Once he gets on you at this level there is no chance to get near his body and grab him. It will help him a lot when he plays guard down the road in college.
*
Needs to Work On:
1) Second Level - Caleb does a great job of getting on linebackers and taking up space at the second level. I would like to see him physically beat linebackers the way he does DLineman. Linebackers are naturally a bit quicker and more athletic, but Caleb is very athletic for a lineman. He does a great job of staying on them but I would like to see him finish those blocks with more knockdowns. Somewhat of a nit picky thing, but it will make him an elite player.
2) Pad Level - This is always something young lineman have a tough time with. He plays very low for being so big and so tall but every lineman can always play with better pad level. He doesn't play "high" but playing lower can make him even more dominating of a force.
*
Work Ethic:
I could talk about his work ethic for days on end. He refuses to be beaten in anything. Every week in game prep he takes it as a challenge. He takes it like everything is at stake. That is the kind of OLineman you want. It is a personal battle for him. His practice tempo, his game tempo, his off season training, he brings it. You might be stronger than him, you might be faster than him, you might be more athletic than him but he has that will and desire to be better than you on game day. To this point, he has always out played his opponent.
*
Does he compare to anyone:
Caleb reminds me a lot of a good friend of mine who played for Michigan. His name was Mark Bihl. He was an Ohio kid, he didn't get much recruiting hype, but he was a tough nosed blue collar kid who just worked hard every day of his life. I think Caleb has a much greater skill set coming into college than Mark did just because of the system we run. But Mark went to Michigan and just flat out worked his way into the lineup, and I believe became a captain there as a senior and started on OL for 2 years as a center. Caleb might not be a 5 star kid, but I guarantee if you give him the chance to compete with those kind of kids he will give them everything they can handle. That's just how his mindset is.
*
What is Michigan getting:
You are getting one of the finest young people I have had the privilege to coach. I have been coaching for 5 years now and I hope to continue on for a long long time. Caleb is part of a group of 6 junior offensive lineman I have returning next season that helped our school break 13 different rushing records. Of them 3 are projected as D-1 talent, including Caleb, and one of them fits in D-1aa. With all that talent and ability there is one person they all look to when things go bad or when things don't go as we plan. That is Caleb. He is just a natural born leader. There are times in a game where we need 2-3 yards and I can look out to him and see him signaling to call the run play behind him guaranteeing us we will get it. Everyone in the stadium knows who the ball is going behind but this season no one stopped it. Literally, we got our short yardage conversions behind him 100% of the time. Guys feed off that confidence and that energy. It isn't arrogance, it's confidence. That is hard to find in a young lineman because usually they are quiet guys. Caleb speaks through actions. To me, he reminds me of the Michigan lineman I grew up watching. Those guys in the mid 90's and early 2000's where they just *physically dominated. Where everyone in the stadium knew it was going to be power, or iso, or zone and those guys up front just thrived on that and dominated. Being a Michigan lineman was the definition of toughness when I grew up, when I was recruited by them, and when they were winning championships. Caleb wants to be part of that reborn attitude and I think he is a perfect fit for it.
*
Unique:
Caleb is actually a really talented basketball player but opted to not play this season to focus on football training. He had even played some point guard in a pinch when he was younger. Just goes to show how good of an athlete he truly is.
http://mgoblog.com/diaries/tomvh-what-michigan-getting-ol-caleb-stacey
JasonS
Football Moderator
Although it can be very frustrating to fans and coaches when a committed player changes his mind about his college destination, it is an ever-growing part of collegiate football, and for Bearcat football fans, the Michigan Wolverines have been a proverbial “thorn in their side” for years.
In 2008, Patrick Omameh changed his commitment from Cincinnati to Michigan the day before National Signing Day, and UC fans have had to watch the Ohio product start 29 consecutive games for the Wolverines. Two years later, Wyoming High School’s Jibreel Black decommitted from the Bearcats and pledged to Michigan less than two weeks before signing his letter of intent. Even though the true sophomore hasn’t been able to crack the U of M starting line-up just yet, he has lettered twice as a back-up defensive end and a special teams player.
As difficult as it may have been to lose those two excellent prospects, UC fans got some measure of revenge on Saturday afternoon when Caleb Stacey from Oak Hills High School announced via Facebook and Twitter that he had switched his commitment from Michigan to Cincinnati.
Bearcat Lair spoke at length with Stacey on Sunday afternoon so he could explain his change of heart.
“I realized that Coach Jones is doing something special here,” said the local star. “I also realized I could play big time college football right in my backyard. There was no need to go away, and that’s pretty much what did it.”
Despite taking himself off the market by making an early commitment to Michigan ten months ago, the 6-foot-4, 296 pound offensive tackle still managed to accumulate fifteen offers including ones from BCS schools like Boston College, Illinois, Indiana, North Carolina State, USF, Wake Forest and West Virginia.
Often times, these types of “flips” are due to a school pursuing a prospect, but Stacey made it clear that was not the case in his situation.
“UC never recruited me while I was committed. I actually had this feeling about a week ago. I believe it was Friday when I talked to Coach Coombs (UC assistant coach) and talked to him and told him how I was feeling. Yesterday I went down and talked to Coach Jones for about two hours about me possibly becoming a Bearcat. I told him I was in but wanted to do it the right way.”
The “right way” meant Stacey needed to call Michigan and inform them of his decision before making his change of plans public.
“I called them yesterday (Michigan staff), but he understood. He was upset, but they understood.”
Although Stacey didn’t get really serious about changing his commitment until last week, the thought started to bud in mid-November.
“I started thinking about it during the West Virginia game at Paul Brown Stadium,” he said. “I know we didn’t come out on top, but I started thinking I might be able to help my city down the road somewhere. That’s when it started to sink it a little bit. My family and I are very excited about my decision to stay home.”
Bearcat fans would be hard pressed to remember many local stars that have spurned offers from more traditional football powers like Michigan, Ohio State and Notre Dame to cast their lot with UC. Stacey is very aware of that fact and hopes his pledge will make some others look at Cincinnati football differently.
“I hope I can become the poster child for more players staying in Cincinnati to play their college football. Kids don’t need to go away to play big-time football. I still remember something Coach Jones told me when I was down there for a Junior Day. He said the grass wasn’t always greener on the other side. It made me think.”
Although some project the high school left tackle to play inside in college, that might not be the case at UC.
“It’s up in the air right now,” said the senior. “I think there’s a chance I could start out at right tackle, but in the USA Under-19 National Team, I’ll be playing center. I think we’ll try right tackle, but I could also play center or guard (at UC).”
Stacey has never played center in a game, he has been working on his snaps in recent weeks.
The Oak Hills star leaves this Friday to begin practicing for the event. The game will be played on February 1 (National Signing Day) in Austin, Texas. St. Xavier’s Steve Specht will be Stacey’s head coach, and Colerain’s Tom Bolden will be an assistant on the USA staff. Despite being in the Lone Star State, Stacey still plans to sign his letter of intent on National Signing Day.
“I’ll be signing down in Texas, and CBS is supposed to cover it. Hopefully, it will also be a big day back in Cincinnati.”
http://cincinnati.247sports.com/Art...101?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
In 2008, Patrick Omameh changed his commitment from Cincinnati to Michigan the day before National Signing Day, and UC fans have had to watch the Ohio product start 29 consecutive games for the Wolverines. Two years later, Wyoming High School’s Jibreel Black decommitted from the Bearcats and pledged to Michigan less than two weeks before signing his letter of intent. Even though the true sophomore hasn’t been able to crack the U of M starting line-up just yet, he has lettered twice as a back-up defensive end and a special teams player.
As difficult as it may have been to lose those two excellent prospects, UC fans got some measure of revenge on Saturday afternoon when Caleb Stacey from Oak Hills High School announced via Facebook and Twitter that he had switched his commitment from Michigan to Cincinnati.
Bearcat Lair spoke at length with Stacey on Sunday afternoon so he could explain his change of heart.
“I realized that Coach Jones is doing something special here,” said the local star. “I also realized I could play big time college football right in my backyard. There was no need to go away, and that’s pretty much what did it.”
Despite taking himself off the market by making an early commitment to Michigan ten months ago, the 6-foot-4, 296 pound offensive tackle still managed to accumulate fifteen offers including ones from BCS schools like Boston College, Illinois, Indiana, North Carolina State, USF, Wake Forest and West Virginia.
Often times, these types of “flips” are due to a school pursuing a prospect, but Stacey made it clear that was not the case in his situation.
“UC never recruited me while I was committed. I actually had this feeling about a week ago. I believe it was Friday when I talked to Coach Coombs (UC assistant coach) and talked to him and told him how I was feeling. Yesterday I went down and talked to Coach Jones for about two hours about me possibly becoming a Bearcat. I told him I was in but wanted to do it the right way.”
The “right way” meant Stacey needed to call Michigan and inform them of his decision before making his change of plans public.
“I called them yesterday (Michigan staff), but he understood. He was upset, but they understood.”
Although Stacey didn’t get really serious about changing his commitment until last week, the thought started to bud in mid-November.
“I started thinking about it during the West Virginia game at Paul Brown Stadium,” he said. “I know we didn’t come out on top, but I started thinking I might be able to help my city down the road somewhere. That’s when it started to sink it a little bit. My family and I are very excited about my decision to stay home.”
Bearcat fans would be hard pressed to remember many local stars that have spurned offers from more traditional football powers like Michigan, Ohio State and Notre Dame to cast their lot with UC. Stacey is very aware of that fact and hopes his pledge will make some others look at Cincinnati football differently.
“I hope I can become the poster child for more players staying in Cincinnati to play their college football. Kids don’t need to go away to play big-time football. I still remember something Coach Jones told me when I was down there for a Junior Day. He said the grass wasn’t always greener on the other side. It made me think.”
Although some project the high school left tackle to play inside in college, that might not be the case at UC.
“It’s up in the air right now,” said the senior. “I think there’s a chance I could start out at right tackle, but in the USA Under-19 National Team, I’ll be playing center. I think we’ll try right tackle, but I could also play center or guard (at UC).”
Stacey has never played center in a game, he has been working on his snaps in recent weeks.
The Oak Hills star leaves this Friday to begin practicing for the event. The game will be played on February 1 (National Signing Day) in Austin, Texas. St. Xavier’s Steve Specht will be Stacey’s head coach, and Colerain’s Tom Bolden will be an assistant on the USA staff. Despite being in the Lone Star State, Stacey still plans to sign his letter of intent on National Signing Day.
“I’ll be signing down in Texas, and CBS is supposed to cover it. Hopefully, it will also be a big day back in Cincinnati.”
http://cincinnati.247sports.com/Art...101?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
david aka the TYZ
Well-known member
Great to hear he wants to stay home and play ball here. Hopefully this is a sign of things to come for other local kids.
catsfan4life
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jan 25, 2012
- Messages
- 72
what is the news with him. Saw something about him on rivals.com today
Lobot
Well-known member
Simply put he is no longer playing football but is enrolled at UC. For whatever reason he decided to drop FB.
