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As¬†The Fizz looks over the list of commitments for Syracuse’s 2011 recruiting class, the number of available scholarships¬†continues to dip lower and lower -¬†and that‚Äôs a good thing.
As Wednesday’s National Signing Day approaches, aka¬†Merry Fizz-mas,¬†we‚Äôre trying to figure out who might fill the remaining slots in the SU recruiting class.
Surely you’ve heard of William “Refrigerator” Perry. He played defensive tackle, he played fullback, and he could dance.
The Fizz’s acclaimed National Signing Day coverage hits Wednesday morning. On Feb. 2nd Team Fizz will have you covered with live blogging and interviews with the SU commits all day long. Follow us on Twitter for the latest Signing Day buzz.
Now there’s Nicholas “Freezer” Grigsby, a 6’1”, 210 pound linebacker from Trotwood, Ohio, and the Orange may be in hot pursuit. Last week The Fizz underscored the importance of Ohio to this football team, and maybe the staff’s most recent addition can help and make a big impact in getting Grigsby to commit.
The first question to be asked here, is why is his nickname “Freezer”? Well, it’s actually a lot more self-explanatory than you might think:
‚ÄúMy mom started calling me Freezer when I was a kid cause I was always in the fridge or freezer looking for food. I had so much energy all the time, I was always eating. I‚Äôd just run right back outside and burn it off anyway.”
He hits with the force of what we think it’d be like to have a freezer come at you full speed.
You can often tell who will be a “Marrone Guy” early on. Freezer might be a good fit. When he was asked whether he wanted to be a captain of his high school team, he said:
“It’d be cool if I am. If that’s what Coach needs me to be, that’s what I’ll be. I’m going to work just as hard either way.”
It’d be hard to argue with a player saying that, from a coaching perspective.
By the time his team had reached the state semifinals in late November, Grigsby had racked up 131 tackles and 4 sacks. His closest competition on his own team? 86 tackles.
The Orange loses Doug Hogue and Derrell Smith for next season, but has strong replacements in Brice Hawkes and Marquis Spruill, both sophomores with plenty of playing time under their belts. The model for young linebackers already seems to be working, why not continue the lineage?
Because Pittsburgh stands in the way. It appears as though Grigsby has scheduled an official visit to meet with the Panthers on Friday. He also has offers from Michigan State and a handful of MAC schools.
It’s a new regime at Heinz Field, but that won’t dissuade all recruits. In fact, many commits were sold on the opportunity to start something new with Doug Marrone before his first season. The battle rages on, but nothing’s final until Signing Day.
Posted: Mike Couzens
