Well Buff fans, we bring you another exciting inside recruiting scoop. This time, we were fortunate enough to sit down with Salisbury High School (CT) head coach Chris Adamson. Adamson coached recent Buff commit, DE Forrest West. Chris is a great guy and was very enthusiastic to talk about Forrest with us. Without further adieu, here is what came of our telephone conversation this morning:
The Ralphie Report (TRR): We are obviously very excited about Forrest coming to Colorado. He is an under the radar kind of guy so we are very interested in him, especially if Dan Hawkins went all the way to Connecticut to get him. What makes Forrest a special player and what kind of talent are the Buffs getting?
Chris Adamson (CA): Forrest's trademark is his motor. He only has one speed. Whether it is in practice or in a game, he is all-out all of the time. He plays with a high level of effort and speed. You can see that on his film. He pursues well and causes a bunch of turnovers, especially early in the year. It was very infrequent to see a team run to his side so he was constantly making plays on the other side of the field. He had to chase everything down from his side. Forrest has the ability and speed to run down running backs as you could see from his film. Actually, on that play where he catches the running back 50 yards down the field, you can see him run past our safety. He plays every play from the snap to the end of the whistle full speed.
TRR: That play was definitely impressive chasing down the running back. How big is he right now?
CA: He is just over 230 pounds. He plays on our basketball team and is a 4 (power forward) man. He is a solid rebounder and defender. I bet he comes out at 240 pounds after the hoops season is done. He has room to grow up top but he is put together very well.
TRR: It looks like he has tree trunks for legs.
CA: Yes, he does. He can jump out of the gym basketball wise. He is a very powerful kid.
TRR: So take me to his sophomore year. Sounds like he had a great year and then he tears his pectoral muscle his junior year and schools kind of cooled on him. Were there any other schools who were calling on Forrest and do you believe he would have been a much higher sought after prospect if he didn't tear that pectoral muscle?
CA: Yeah, I have no doubt he would have been a much more widely recruited guy if he wouldn't have torn his pectoral muscle. He had a lot of momentum coming out of his sophomore year. He was the defensive MVP of the National Underclassmen combine, the big national one they had in New Jersey. He was doing some great things before he got hurt. Boston College was on him a good amount, UCONN had him on their board still, Buffalo was down to see him a few times. Coming off his sophomore year, though, I was talking to Florida and USC and everyone in between about him. But he lost some momentum when he didn't have junior film. He got his feet underneath him pretty quickly this fall and had a good year and produced some good film. He was our leading tackler and was a great player for us.
read the rest of the interview after the jump...
TRR: Is Forrest fully recovered now?
CA: Yes, no question. His bench is probably up around 350 now or within that range. You can't even tell by looking at him. There is no way you can tell that he tore his pec. He is fully recovered.
TRR: Excellent news, what do you think he needs to work on to be the best player he can be at the next level?
CA: The key thing for Forrest is to keep working in the weight room. He already does a great job and works his tail off but keep working on the upper body especially. Maybe put on those 15 - 20 extra pounds which is something I think he can do easily if not more just to physically matchup a little bit better down the road.
Another thing that he will have to improve is, this year he spent a fairly good amount of time playing defensive end in the standup position as an outside linebacker type for us. Later in the year we put his hand back down as a defensive end. I am not entirely sure how they are going to use him at Colorado but I think a lot of people see him as a guy who can do both. He just needs to keep getting repetitions with his hand down again in a three point stance. It was something that was so comfortable to him for a long time and then we took him out of that comfort zone by putting him in a two point stance. He will just need to get used to playing with his hand down again and get back in that comfort zone.
He is very good with his hands and has long arms but he will need to continue to work to get better at getting separation at the point of attack in the run game and get off blocks a little quicker. Pass wise, he has an uncanny natural ability to pass rush, he always has, ever since he was a little pup. He has the ability to get his hands on people and gain leverage. He will just need to work on getting more consistent, he doesn't get pushed around, but just getting off those blocks at the point of attack. That is probably the thing that he will need to improve on most at the next level.
TRR: Have you talked to him since he has been back? Is he excited right now about CU?
CA: Oh yes, he is on cloud nine. He was so impressed. Loved the guys on the team and had a real good time with those guys. He felt very comfortable there. His parents were ecstatic about it. He has had some Ivy League schools recruiting him as well and his parents care a lot about the education piece as does Forrest which is reflected by his 1300 SAT. He is a really bright kid. The education piece is really critical on their end and they were reassured on the visit that he would receive a great education and have some great opportunities. The whole thing went very well from his perspective and his family's perspective.
TRR: What about Forrest off the field. What is he like from his personality to everything in between?
CA:He has become a very good student. He was never a bad student but he has really honed his skills and become a great student over his high school career. He is an honor roll kind of kid.
Forrest is a very likable, low key guy but a funny and personable guy. He has a wide variety of friends and his teachers love him. His philosophy and religion teacher said that he was the best student they have had in their class the last two years which is impressive. He is just a grounded mature kid with good perspective and a solid base at home. Forrest has had a great career here. I would be disappointed if he is not an All Big 12 academic performer.
That is what is most important. We appreciate your time Chris and hopefully in a year or two we are taking about another one of your players coming to the Buffs. Thanks again