Greatness grows in the Gorge

IN the Summer of 2005 we first met Demitri Enesi of the Dalles, Oregon. He showed up to camp way big...like 300 plus big..and slow...like really slow... and disinterested in even being at a Linemen's Camp. Our coaches...especially Brian...were not impressed. Looked like another big lazy kid with a could not give a s@#$...attitude.

Well something changed that year in this kid because in the Summer of 2006 we saw a leaner, happier, and very motivated young man show up and we liked what we saw. The Dalles and the Gorge for that matter can be a tough place to grow up. Opportunities are perhaps limited and playing football there is no guarantee of a shot to get out to the next level. I can not speak to his grades but what I can speak to is his attitude and athleticism. Demitri cam in about 6'2" and 260 and looked very very good in our Camp workouts. He worked hard and improved his technique and won a camp award at the end of the week....most improved linemen.

He had apparently a very good season at the Dalles-Wahtonka HS. I saw him a few weeks ago wrestling as the Heavyweight for his school and he displayed what I would term as Cat Like Quickness for a big man. He has gone on to loose a very close one for the State Heavyweight Title.... Finishing #2 int he State. I am not sure where he will play this year but this Big Strong kid of Polynesian descent is going to be a handful for sure.

To you we wish you a great off season and hope we see you reach your full potential. The sky is clearly the limit for you!

The Bottom Line on the New College Football Recruiting Rule Changes and How Combines and Recruiting has been Changed

There is an ever changing Landscape out there and this is a very tough year to figure out what to do if your an athlete trying to get to the next level.  Here is a link to a great article on this subject!

 

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/sports/other_sports/16650618.htm

 

Nike Invite Only Football Combines (Clinics)

These are still the #1 events to get to where coaches and recruiters can see you perform. This year there are some very stringent new rules. There will be no combine type events at these clinics but they will focus on position specific skills. In order to go to an Invite only you need to be invited and there are a number of ways that this can happen. Here are the dates for the upcoming Nike Events:

2007 NIKE Football Training Camp Schedule: Sun., April 1st, 10am-2pm - Coral Gables, Fla. Sun., April 15th, 10am-2pm - Los Angeles, Calif. Sat., April 21st, 10am-2pm - Athens, Ga. Sun., April 22nd, 10am-2pm - Tallahassee, Fla. Sat., April 28th, 10am-2pm - Fort Worth, Texas Sat., May 5th, 10am-2pm - West Lafayette, Ind. Sat., May 12th, 10am-2pm - State College, Pa. Sun., May 13th, 10am-2pm - Piscataway, N.J. Sat., May 19th, 10am-2pm - Stanford, Calif. Fri., June 1st, 1pm-5pm - Columbia, Mo. Sat., June 2nd, 10am-2pm - Boulder, Col. Sat., June 9th, 10am-2pm - Eugene, Ore.

How the Brian derby Offensiveline Camp came to the Mainland!

Offensive Line Coach Brian Derby Brings
Football Camp to Pacific Northwest

Press Release

Putting it all on the Line… Hawaiian Success Spreads to Mainland

For the past 9 years Coach Brian Derby has given young Hawaiian athletes 22 weekends of his life through his Offensive Line Clinics.  A Honolulu firefighter of 17 years and former University of Hawaii Warrior, Brian has a passion to help big men succeed. After helping over 50 players in Hawai`i reach Collegiate Teams and the NFL, the Brian Derby Offensive Linemen's Camp is coming back to the Pacific Northwest for the 2nd Annual Camp.  The Camps will be held on July 24th to July 28th 2006 in Beaverton and Wilsonville, Oregon.  The camps will be offered to all players age 9 through 22 and will include line specific drills which help to develop sound technique and explosive speed coming off the snap.  The Beaverton Camp will be held at Tualatin Hills Parks and Recreation District Fields and feature two sessions; ages 9-13 at 9:00 to 11:00 AM and ages 14-22 at 12:30 to 2:30 PM.  The PM Session will be held at Wilsonville High School's new Football Complex and will offer an all-ages camp from 6:30 to 8:30 PM.  Camps are open to all players and are $65.00 for the entire week with scholarships available to any player by request. As a specialty the Camp will feature Speed, Agility, and Quickness work by former PSU Quarterback Matt James, Director of Athletics at the new Velocity Sports in Hillsboro.

Sponsored by Nike and SPARQ, the camp is the first of its kind on the mainland.  Coach Derby is known for his tireless dedication to his students and receives no financial benefit from his camps.  He is credited by many with helping big linemen achieve the quickness and blocking technique to play at the highest level.           

This past year the Derby Camp in Oahu was instrumental in helping 13 young men make it on to Division 1 & 2 Football Scholarships including:

        Micah Kia, 6'5", 305 pounds; Kamehameha; UCLA -- FULL RIDE  
        Ryan Pohl, Oahu, Kamehameha, 6'3", 250 pounds; Oregon State -- FULL RIDE
        Whitley Fehoko; Farrington, 6'2", 335 pounds; San Diego State -- FULL RIDE

Derby was known for his quickness and technique at Hawaii and was considered by many to be one of the very best linemen to come out of that storied program.  The connection to the Pacific Northwest began when Derby played high school ball for Pearl City High School where legendary Oregon State Quarterback and Green Bay Packer Joe Francis was his coach. 

Beaverton, Oregon area youth coach Dirk Knudsen was in Hawai`i in 2002 when he first heard about Derby through an article in the Honolulu Advertiser that displayed the unconventional techniques that Brian employs to get his players moving.  From Medicine Balls to Bungee Cables and Blindfolds, the players are exposed to a variety of techniques to improve.  The father of two linemen himself, Knudsen decided to try and reach Coach Derby.   After many phone calls and several emails, the two finally met and Coach Derby jumped at the chance to come to Portland to work with players here. " The Northwest has always had some great linemen but finding a Line camp is next to impossible.  For Brian to come over and bring his coaches is a real honor!" said Knudsen.  "We worked hard last year, three camps a day in the July heat! Coach Derby came and brought Coach Michael Beazley, former U of H player. We added some local coaches and it made for an awesome camp. The kids loved it and learned a ton. The coaches that came were amazed at his knowledge. Nike was very impressed and we are working with them again this year," Knudsen added.

Through their affiliation, Derby and Knudsen have developed a web site ( www.DerbyCamp.com) which is dedicated to the Offensive Line and Linemen.  As a result the word is out!  In addition to Oregon, camps are planned for Utah and Alaska this year and Washington, California and Texas by next year.  Players from as far away as New Jersey are coming to the Derby Camp in Oregon.

In 2003, Brian Derby was awarded the Neal Shaw Blasidell Award for public Service to the People of Hawaii and is also recognized for his work with Police Activities League.

For applications and information, call Dirk Knudsen at 503-799-8383 or email: Dirk@theknudsens.com. Visit www. DerbyCamp.com for more info.

 

Rise of a Champion!

This week was an eventful one. Football season has long been over but for many Football led right into wrestling. We are following the story of one exceptional young man at Westview High School in Portland, Oregon. His name is Eric Perry. In the past 12 months Eric has established himself as one of the premier Defensive Tackles in the State. A Junior, Eric was the anchor of a very Stingy Wildcat defense and controlled the line of scrimmage at the point of attack. Eric played at 265ish and at 6'3 1/2" he presents an imposing package to offensive linemen. Eric has a great nose for the ball and pursues well. He has better than average foot speed for this position and is definitely developing himself into a fine football player.

This Wrestling season saw Eric, in only his second year, rise to be one of the very best Heavyweights in the region. This weight bracket has been elevated to 285 max weight. Eric is wrestling at a fit 250 pounds and like many of his team mates that wrestle has cut up to 20 pounds. This past weekend Eric worked his way through the preliminaries and on Saturday night revenged himself of an early loss to Beaverton High Big Man Richie Riggs. After a very well fought match Perry pinned Riggs late in the second round. Eric is a hard worker and displays exemplary behavior. He is a leader and to be congratulated and Commended for his achievements. Wrestler's often are valued by football coaches as the grueling training, regimen, diet, and dedication develop mental toughness. That and the grappling skills and balance learned as a wrestler are totally applicable to football....especially defense. Good luck to Eric Perry in the State Finals and in the upcoming off season preparing for Fall of 2007 when Eric will be a Senior Defensive Linemen @ Westview HS.

Recruiting Stories Part 5 2007: Videotape and the Pancakes seen around the World

The rise of star was not in the plans that night last October when I attended the Barlow versus Central Catholic game. I had come to watch big names like Kevin Frahm and Linebacker Chris Paul that had just committed to Boise State. Using my field press pass I was able to roam the sideline. I forgot my video camera but I had my Sony Mavica which shoot video direct to a CDR Disk. The cool thing is that you can send these clips to whoever you want by compressed MPEG video. Not the clearest picture but not bad. You just pop that baby in the PC and send it direct.

Well after the game was over and every body was wowing over CC running back Jaden Kaufman...who busted for about 200 yards in his first game as a RB....I watched the film. What I saw was not what I saw during the game. I got so carried away that I forgot to focus on the O' line play.

What I saw was not one...not two...not three.. but Four plays in a row where this big cat Antonio Danek of Central served up a major Pancake. I watched it again and again and this 6'6" behemoth really dished it out. So I emailed these four plays to Brian Derby in Hawaii. We had worked with Antonio and his whole line core and his O line Coach James Mick in the Summer of 2006. We liked Antonio than but his technique was still pretty raw. I told Brian...."look at this. Pass the Syrup baby!" For those of you that do not already know the Pancake is the ultimate finish to the block when the O'Linemen releases his hips and finishes the block by flattening the Defenseive player onto his back, stomach, head, ass, or any other body part. It is something that if done enough can make the difference between being recruited and not.

Brian reviewed these little clips and sent them to a few guys. At this point Danek was not on anybodies radar other than one or two D-2 schools that new of him. What happened next was magical. A Coach at a Big Sky School called wanting to now more. Next Weber State wanted in. A couple of weeks late PSU and Northern Arizona decided they wanted some too. I am pleased to know that this big amazing kid got a boost because we sent 4 clips showing him doing his thing around the Internet. Technology is awesome. Ad to that a couple of good contacts, a little nudge, and some excellent blocking and hard work and you have a 4 year full ride.

Antonio is a kid that works 5 days a week on football, six days a week on school, and 7 days a week on being a superb son to his folks and citizen of his community. Good luck at Northern Arizona Antonio!

Congrats Central Catholic 5!

February 7, 2007

Dirk Knudsen
OregonPreps.com Staff Writer

Talk about it in OP Members Forum

It was a misty day here in Portland and there were some misty eyes in the library at Central Catholic as 5 Scholar Athletes from Coach Steve Pyne's Central Catholic Rams signed their official Letters of intent to the Colleges of their choice.

This was a special day and the room was filled with proud parents and loved ones and Family members. Every year we have some very special kids make it through. But this year at this one high school we saw 5 players make it on to play another day and to get their schooling paid for. The Players included:

Antonio Danek, Northern Arizona University; Flagstaff, AZ

Jaden Kaufman, Arizona Western JC; Yuma, AZ.

Joe Martin , University of San Diego; San Diego California.

Kevin Frahm, Oregon State University; Corvallis, Oregon

Myles Wade, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon

This was a special group of kids but Coach Pyne indicated that a few more are going to get through or are still waiting to work out their final terms including linebacker Kevin Showalter who was perhaps the sleeper of the year in Oregon. Kevin has a solid offer to play at Western Oregon where the Coaches believe he is the best they have seen this year.

"This was a special group this year," Pyne said. "We hope to get some more kids through to college before it is over!"

Pyne is a very active Head Coach when it comes to networking and believing in his kids' ability to go on to the next level.

The boys were all humble and thankful. Myles Wade thanked his Family, his 8th grade football coaches, coaches from his experiences at Benson Tech, and Pyne and his staff. Wade also spent a considerable amount of time thanking the US Army and all of the men and women serving in our countries armed forces. Wade will be an Oregon Duck even after receiving a very tempting offer from Coach Urban Meyer to play for the Florida Gators!

"It is an honor to be able to stay home and play at home here in Oregon - that's how I feel," stated Wade emphatically bringing a rousing applause from a room full of beaming Oregonians.

Kevin Frahm will also be staying in State and took time to recognize his teachers; Frahm is a 4.0 Student, for working with him and supporting him. Frahm clearly has strong feelings towards his coaches and family. He will be a tremendous asset to the Beavers.

All of the Players recognized their trainers which included a common link to Top Football trainer Matt James at Velocity Sports who worked to train the boys and developed their speed, strength, and agility. This group is one of many James has helped to train and get on to the collegiate level.

I asked these fine athletes for a word of wisdom if they were to give it to an incoming freshman... a roadmap if you will of how they can make it through to college.

Danek offered: "Dedicate yourself to 5 days a week of working out and training. Get involved with strength training. Be willing to go in early and stay late. Take a Zero period in the early AM to get a chance to hit the gym and keep your grades up. Mentally learn the ability to develop yourself. Pick out the player on the field each play you are going to beat and convince yourself you will beat him...than defeat him. Oh and Eat Right!"

Frahm Offered: "Time and hard work can conquer talent any day. Put in the time and emulate what other top athletes do and you will succeed."

Wade Stated: "Play every game like it is your last game! Want to be in on every play...every tackle. Do not be selfish. Support your team no matter what."

We want to congratulate this special group of young men and their families and wish you well in your academic and athletic pursuits in the coming years.

Dirk Knudsen
From left to right: Joe Martin, Kevin Frahm, trainer Matt James, Jaden Kaufman, Myles Wade, Antonio Danek

Football Recruting Northwest: Part 2

In the Southern part of Oregon is powerhouse football program North Medford. Better known as the Black Tornado. The program has been a Championship program for some time. This year the team was led by Linemen Jason Slowey and QB Darren Bruhns. Both very fine athletes. Slowey is a 6'5" lean 265 pound Linemen with 5.0 quickness and the potential to really develop. Bruhn's is a 6'2" 205 pound Dual threat QB that had a great year his Junior Season with 1800 yards passing and 850 yards running. Both came into their Senior year as top ranked athletes. Slowey was highly praised at Summer camp at Oregon State and Bruhn's trained hard and was expected to be one of the top performers in 2006 for Oregon. By the way...both athletes carry a 3.7ish overall GPA and scored very high on the SAT. Both fit the Blue Chip mold. Letters come to both boys homes. Both plan to play college at the next level.

The season ended with the Black Tornado having a down year and they missed the playoffs. The press died off and recruiters do not travel to Medford, Oregon very often. Coaches began to look at kids on the playoff bound teams and these two moved on to basketball and school. Time to be a kid. Interest continued to come in and I recommended that Jason get up to Western Oregon University where they play a tough brand of D2 football and have a great campus and coaching. Jason as of now had received an offer to play there but D2 programs rarely offer big time scholarships. He can get a good piece of his schooling paid for at this point. This is a good option for him.

I have sent film to Coach Derby who has forwarded it to Weber State but it is happening pretty late in the game. He has also talked about walking on at Hawaii and can walk on here in state but let's remember that a walk on is a long shot to play let alone to get a scholarship. I spoke to Foothills JC, Mt. San Antonio College, Saddleback, College of the Sequoia's, Snow College, and College of the Siskyou's. He may get an offer to play at these fine JC programs. I am pulling for him and keeping my fingers crossed for him as he is a capable and able athlete that as he matures will have the weight and size the big boys want. His quickness and attitude are what impress me. He is headed for Humboldt State today and I will keep everybody updated on his status.

The last I heard from Darren he was committing to Western Arizona JC. Not a powerhouse program but the only JC I am aware of that has room and board and tuition. It is however in Yuma!! Yikes. But Darren I am sure can contribute. The point is if these guys want to keep playing they can and I hope for both of them that it will lead to a great education and good experience. Both were under-rated in my Book and I saw talent all over our fine State this year. Best of luck guys!

Recruiting Stories from around The Northwest 2007: Part 1

Recruiting a player is a real process and tough if your a Collegiate Program. It can be even tougher if you are a family or athlete trying to figure out how to get recruited. Very few parents realize the complexities of having their athlete recruited and almost as few High school coaches know the process.

Let me say that the Blue-Chip D1 kids get found. They just do. Once and a while a sleeper gets left behind but a big, powerful, fast, athletic football player will rarely slip by. A true D1 Collegiate prospect will in high school stand out to the point that jaws will drop. Many programs go years without a D1 Caliber player. So even though you will hear "this kid has got to be D1" all the time in 90% of the cases it is not true. For those that are on the edge and are a great talent but not quite there it can be a little tougher. So here is a look at several stores we have followed this year and where they are at and how they got there.

Case Study #1: Wade Bowen, 6'7" 310 Pounds Colony High School:

Wade Bowen is one of the biggest physical specimens you will ever see. He has consistently dominated his football teams in Alaska since Youth. In the Summer prior to his Junior Year his Mother and Coach felt the need to get Wade some exposure and experience. That Summer Wade attended camps at Washington and Washington State. He also competed in the Competitive Edge Combine in Tacoma that Summer. Wade did very well and at 290ish looked lean and he began to make a name for himself. Now we have an athlete with size, and involved parent, and coaching. About that time the mother was told on good authority that Wade would project into College as an Offensive Tackle. After some work on the web Mom found Coach Brian Derby who with myself had just launched a website dedicated to offensive line play and camps. After inquiring with us Mom was able to convince Coach Derby to spend a week in Alaska with Wade's team. That went well and Brian found a big strong kid that could actually block very well and learn what he was taught. Wade then travelled to Oregon to train at the Derby Camp in the Summer of 2005. Wade went on to have a fairly good Junior year and was turning into a Big Time College Prospect.

About this time Wade was referred by us to some Sports reporters that work for Scout.com and Rivals.com. They will trust our advice and took a look and liked what they saw. Wade now had web pages at both national recruiting websites. He was starting to get the exposure necessary to get where he needed to go. Letters started coming to the house.

Basketball season came and Wade played as he usually did. But he was unfortunate to incur a sever shoulder injury that would sideline him and prevent him from training properly. probably a good idea to focus on one sport if you are getting offers at this point. In the Spring of 2006 he was invited by a contact of mine at SPARQ to the Invite Only Nike Combines where many big time programs planned to check him out. Wade was unable to attend the Big California events and had difficulty preparing. he did make the University of Oregon 2006 Nike Combine and Camp.

We took Wade down and mom had flown him in. Wade was the biggest athlete out of 550 in attendance. He competed hard but his inability to train had allowed his weight to pop up to 326 pounds. Wade came up hurt in a speed and agility drill. Subsequently he did not finish the combine and was not able to do much to impress the Coaches form Oregon and the Camp the next day.

Wade returned to Alaska and heeled himself up over the course of a month or so and began training for the upcoming season. He by this time had received an offer to attend Hawaii on a full ride scholarship. Coach Derby had contacted them and recommended Wade and they responded with an offer after seeing him. Wade went on to have a very good senior year and was First team all State in Alaska and Player of the year in his league and led his team to the State Championship game. It looks like the big man was about to make it all the way.

Now for the tough part. Wade had some academic issues in some classes. Without going into all the gory details...Wade has lost his scholarship as Hawaii is not sure he will recover the credits and graduate on time. They told wade they still want him but right now he is just "too risky". This is a bitter pill for Wade to swallow. His family and classmates and teachers are all very upset. The word travels of what has happened and Wade very shortly picks up calls from some junior colleges.

Now Wade must go to a small college or go to a Junior College where he can earn his way back to the bigs. And so that is what Wade is doing. As of right now Wade has been offered by three Junior Colleges and he is trying to make sure he gets with a solid academic school, a winning program, and somewhere he can play and get the exposure he will need to get to the next level. If he toughs it out and makes this all work he will end up playing Division 1 football. Wade's folks will now have to pay to have him go on to the next level.

A lot has gone right for wade and God blessed him with a big body. Wade let his grades get away from him. That is on him. Wade is on a road and it won't be a long one but his final destination remains unknown. This is a case of a very good player...playing in a small market... doing a lot of the right things...and making it...and than not. This is one story from the Recruiting Road this season. We will update you on the outcome of Wade's Story. No doubt he let alot of people down. Respect is earned and not given. So it is time to work now!