Yes, Bill Lynch can land elite recruits. The Indiana football coach proved it when 4-star cornerback Raymon Taylor committed to the Hoosiers.
Taylor is, in fact, IU’s SECOND 4-star recruit. The other is linebacker Zach Shaw of Ohio.
Taylor has the one thing you really want in a cornerback -- speed. He’s run the 40-yard dash in 4.4 seconds. He ran a 10.6 100-meter dash in track.
He isn’t the biggest guy at 5-10 and 167 pounds, but that’s not an issue. IU coaches will put him on a weight lifting program that should boost him to over 180 pounds by the time he’s an upperclassman.
Here’s how much Lynch and his staff wanted Taylor. They had decided to take just three cornerbacks for the Class of 2011 and got them with Kenny Mullen, Mark Murphy and Nick VanHoose.
But then Taylor decided that he wasn’t interested in scholarship offers from Purdue, Illinois, Wisconsin, Cincinnati, Akron and Toledo, or the fact that Ohio State, Michigan State, Michigan and Iowa were recruiting him. He wanted to be a Hoosier.
Why? Because IU was the first school to offer a scholarship and that came even before Taylor’s strong showing in last January’s U.S. Army National Combine. Hoosier coaches never stopped recruiting him.
He noticed.
How good is Taylor? At Highland Park High School near Detroit he does everything except coach the team. He’s a running back, a receiver and a cornerback. As a junior he rushed for more than 300 yards, totaled more than 450 receiving yards and intercepted six passes, returning three for touchdowns.
In other words, he’s the kind of shut-down cornerback IU needs. It has had them before in recent years, specifically with Tracy Porter, who spent his winter intercepting future Hall of Famers Brett Favre and Peyton Manning to help the New Orleans Saints win the Super Bowl.
But given how bad the Hoosiers’ pass defense was last year, they need all the defensive back help they can get.
Also, Lynch returned to Michigan to get his 17th commitment in Jalen Schlachter, a 6-6, 273 pound offensive tackle. He’s a three-star prospect.
IU beat out Wisconsin, Missouri and Central Michigan. Schlachter has the tall, athletic frame Indiana coaches like to see in their offensive linemen. A couple of years in the weight room ought to get him past the 300-pound barrier.
The Hoosiers figure to sign around 20 players, which means they are close to wrapping up this class. And as hot as the Hoosiers have been lately, maybe they should save it for a 5-star commitment.
way to coach Lynch and staff, keep up the great work!
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