Anyone Remember Allen Bailey? / Arthur Brown Tidbit

[BigEasyTider]

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Do any of you guys remember Allen Bailey from the 2007 class? If not, he was a five-star defensive end / linebacker recruit from middle of nowhere Georgia -- and I mean that, he grew up on an island with like 50 people and no phones, had to take a ferry to play high school football -- who ended up signing with Miami. 'Bama recruited him very hard with both Shula and Saban, and I specifically remember Saban making an in-home visit there.

Anyway, I ran across this little tidbit today in the Sun-Sentinel, directly quoting Miami defensive line coach Clint Hurtt:

	Quote:
	What people don’t understand is this: when he came in, he didn’t get a lot burn in terms of playing time because he was playing linebacker. If we didn’t play him at linebacker when he first got here, Allen Bailey would’ve never attended school here. People don’t understand that. If he didn’t come here, we would’ve been playing against him in Gainesville last year.

I found that quote very interesting, basically the coach coming straight out and saying that they lied to him about where they wanted him, and let him play out of position for a while just to get him. It's this sort of thing that shows you just how shady the recruiting business can be, even with the actual coaching staffs.

Anyway, Bailey isn't doing much there. I remember thinking when he came out of high school that he would be perfect in the 3-4, but I never thought he'd be anything in a 4-3. He's a junior now, and after not doing much at defensive end, they've moved him inside to tackle.

Also, buried in that same article was a tidbit on Arthur Brown. He's a sophomore this year, but still not playing on a bad defense, with Randy Shannon saying he isn't ready because of "inexperience." And I highly doubt that explanation, too. He was physically ready coming out of high school, he has played the position his whole life, and he's a smart kid to boot, plus he's a rising sophomore. I imagine that, quite frankly, he's just not panning out to be that good of a ball player. Given a kid with his background, I'm just not buying the whole "inexperience" bit. Something tells me that he quickly found out once he got to Miami that he wasn't facing the same type of talentless scrubs that he dominated back in Kansas.

[Ratal]

I remember watching Arthur Brown on ESPN his Senior year of HS. I remember that he had an excellent nose for the ball but I felt he needed to gain some size to be ready for college. I really can't remember him having any big hits/being very physical. But I could be wrong on that. With all of that being said. I thought he would end up being a great college prospect, just not someone that would come in and log significant playing time as a true freshman.

[BigOaf]

I remember this guy, freakish size/build for a high school senior, 4.7 in the 40. Think he was about 255 then, and I do remember him being quoted as saying he only wanted to play linebacker in college. I was really disappointed we did not get him.

He looks like he's carrying the weight a'ight - but I can't help wondering what he'd be like @ 265 - 270 with the same speed/quickness out of high school in our defense...

Edit to add: I still remember the clip where he destroys the entire backfield in one play, literally bulldozing the fullback over the tailback. I think it was the shockwave that took out the QB.

[Harmost]

	Quote:	BigEasyTider
	Anyway, Bailey isn't doing much there. I remember thinking when he came out of high school that he would be perfect in the 3-4, but I never thought he'd be anything in a 4-3. He's a junior now, and after not doing much at defensive end, they've moved him inside to tackle.

I wouldn't go so far... he's been switching positions because he keeps getting larger (Listed as 288 now), and he hasn't exactly failed to produce; he led their team in sacks last year after having come into the year with a chest injury.

[runtheoption22]

	Quote:	Harmost
	I wouldn't go so far... he's been switching positions because he keeps getting larger (Listed as 288 now), and he hasn't exactly failed to produce; he led their team in sacks last year after having come into the year with a chest injury.

Of his 24 tackles, 9 were for loss and 5 of those were sacks

[CapstoneGrad06]

I never understood why a kid from a small Gullah island would head to Miami to play his college ball. Alabama and Georgia seemed like better fits for him. Not to mention that he was never going to fit in a 4-3 defense. There are some amazing prospects that, in my opinion, will never reach their full potential, at the current rate Miami is going.

[PDL]

BigEasy, it's good to see you back on here and making the occasional post. You've been very quiet as of late.

The same goes for you, RTO.

[BigAL413]

Arthur Brown, IMO, was very similar to Jerrell Harris coming out of high school. Very fast and aggressive LB's who weren't much bigger than a college SS. My guess would be that, much like Harris, Brown has struggled with the mental aspect of playing defense - something great athletes coming out high school seem to struggle with, because they've not had to worry about it.

I also think that coming out of Kansas high school football hurt Brown. That's kind of like moving from the OVC to the SEC - two different worlds. I kind of think its going to hurt his brother as well. At least I that's my hopes.

[bamabryan]

	Quote:	BigAL413
	I also think that coming out of Kansas high school football hurt Brown. That's kind of like moving from the OVC to the SEC - two different worlds. I kind of think its going to hurt his brother as well. At least I that's my hopes.

My thoughts exactly.

I think both Arthur and Bryce Brown are very talented, but I have always questioned how high both were rated due to the competition they faced in high school. Let's face it, Kansas is not exactly a football recruiting hotbed. I think you have to look hard at the competition these recruits face in high school.

I said Arthur Brown was overrated coming out of high school and I say the same thing about Bryce. Time will tell.

[BigEasyTider]

	Quote:	PDL
	BigEasy, it's good to see you back on here and making the occasional post. You've been very quiet as of late. The same goes for you, RTO.

Work has been crazy the past few weeks, but I should be around more often now.

Anyway, as for Bailey, I will point out that much of his defensive production came against the dregs of the schedule, like Central Florida. Lots of Miami fans out there are viewing this as basically a make-or-break year for him.

And as for the Brown sisters, honestly I've always wondered just how much sway Butler got them with the recruiting experts. You know the "experts" can be as shady as can be at times, and I'm sure Butler was in the ear of every "expert" that he could find to bill his "clients" up. Were they good prospects? Yes, but truly elite ones? I've frankly never been convinced of that.

[LCN]

The Bailey kid really liked Joe Kines . I felt both of the Brown brothers were quality prospects but I believe the younger one might turn out to be just a tad slow on this level .

[M2J]

To be fair, it seems like a lot of elite talents goes to Miami and don't pan out. Maybe he still has one, but I thought Arthur was extremely talented no matter where he played football.

[bamachile]

Weird. I was thinking about Bailey about two days ago and couldn't remember his name. I come to the recruiting board this morning and--Voila!

I was really intrigued by the whole Allen Bailey story and was really hoping he would play for us. I hope he develops well enough to continue at the next level.

AB peaked my interest for a short while, but I never liked the whole "handler" thing. Frankly, I was kind of relieved when he went elsewhere. Nothing against the Brown Brothers, but I don't trust "handlers".