re: 2013 Alabama Football Recruiting Thread - DH Decommited from UGA

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@TheDanielWolf
Per reports, it sounds like #Browns fans who arent a fan of FB Marecic could see another FB in the mix w/ Brad Smelley.

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Past results say this is true, but it is a nice recruiting event. What percentage of kids at BCW end up at AU?

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I will list the 5 schools that I plan to visit in the fall later today. I have talked this through with my Dad and Coach Geis and it's time

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The Transformer
Derrick Green renovated his life off the field, helping him become a success on it
By Dave Hooker | ESPN

BALTIMORE -- Two years ago, Derrick Green looked nothing like an invitee to The Opening. As a matter of fact, he didn't even look like a tailback.

Green, who now is 6-foot and 215 pounds, was once a 5-8, 268-pound offensive lineman. Suffice to say, Green, a running back from Richmond (Va.) Heritage who ranks as the nation's No. 83 player, worked hard secure his ticket to The Opening.

"It's a big opportunity for me," Green said about the invitation to the elite camp that features many of the nation's top high school football recruits. "I'm just blessed they picked me to represent Virginia. I'm just going to go out there and compete."

Green was selected after he participated in Saturday's Nike Football Training Camp at McDaniel College in Baltimore.

"I felt like I did real well," he said. "I was catching all my balls. My footwork was on point. I excelled in everything."

That wasn't always the case, especially when he was a chunky high school freshman.

Green, a four-star prospect, decided to lose the extra weight for two reasons. First, a coach with a good eye for talent noticed that even though Green was pudgy, he was still fast. Even at 268 pounds, he clocked a 5.0-seconds time in 40-yard dash. So Green was moved to fullback, where he got a taste of carrying the ball. Then, he met with a trainer in the offseason who asked him what position he played.

"I told him I was a running back and he said, 'Nah, I don't see a running back. I see a defensive tackle or something,'" Green said with his trademark chuckle. "My only words to him were, 'I'm going to show you.' I worked hard with him, lost the weight and cut it down. I just knew I couldn't be a running back at 268 and run a 5-flat. I had to do what I had to do."

Green's dedication to diet and training hasn't just moved the scale. It has moved massive amounts of weight. Green bench presses 330 pounds, squats 600 pounds and dead-lifts 615.

"Everybody says that's not legit, but we have a legit trainer that came from UVa," he said. "He makes sure you get low [on squats] and all that."

So how did Green, who ran for more than 1,500 yards and 20 touchdowns last season, transform his body? Forget Jenny Craig or Weight Watchers. He just went with healthy eating and exercising to become phat in the recruiting world.

For a recent interview, Green came to a restaurant and passed on a meal. He had already eaten his very planned-out lunch. Green also couldn't stay long. He had a yoga class to get to.

Aside from the usual work with his team, Green trains hours every week and maintains his weight by eating as many as three salads a day. As for fried foods, they're a thing of the past. Green drinks only water and will pass on soft drinks faster than he can run the 40.

How often does he splurge on his diet?

Rarely.

And when he does, he makes sure he pays for it the next day in the gym.

"The next day I was working out getting that weight off from that chicken I ate," he said of a recent time he veered off his diet.

Astonishingly, Green lost the 50-plus pounds in less than three months and has kept it off. Obviously, it has helped his game.

"I'm shifty, more powerful, more explosive and a lot faster," Green said. "I can make people miss and get through the holes a lot faster than my freshman year."

But don't start to think of Green as an all-purpose guy. He prefers to be known as a power back. He said he's never had the tendency to bounce runs outside in high school as so many top prospects tend to do.

"I was always downhill," he said. "If you look at my film, I'm not really a bounce guy. I'm a one-cut-and-go, real straight, north-south runner and I have the speed to kick it up in sixth gear. All that bouncing and shaking, I wouldn't say that was me. If you're in the way, I'm going to blow you up. I'm not going to try to shake you.

"At my school, they call me 'The Freight Train.' I like that a lot. I'm going to run you over and let you know I'm here. I'm coming."

Green and his family said he has consistently run the 40-yard dash in the 4.3 area. That wouldn't have happened at 268 pounds. Moreover, the weight loss wouldn't have happened had his family not been so supportive. The menu in the Green household has changed, causing Green's parents to lose a few pounds, as well.

"My husband and I said we just have to be more motivated because Derrick wants to change and break the cycle of diabetes and high blood pressure in the family, so we all decided we're just going to sacrifice some things we really like sometimes," Green's mother, Fran Green, said.

Green's father, Chris Green, doesn't just have to eat different. He's also often pulled into training with his son.

When Derrick read on a website that he didn't catch the ball well, father and son were outside working on pass-receiving for hours after work and school.

"He wanted to get better, so we had to take the time to get him better," Chris Green said. "The next camp he went to, they were saying he had hands good enough to play wide receiver. He accomplished that. He got over that hurdle."

Derrick led his family to better health, and he's also trying to inspire his teammates. He used to be the only player to run laps after practice. Now most of the team is joining him. When he gets his allowance, it's already spent. He buys food -- probably salad -- for the team on Wednesday evenings while they study game video. He takes his offensive linemen to Golden Corral if the team wins on Friday night.

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Sources close to the situation have told me that Coach Saban and Ramsey recently had a lengthy conversation using Skype. Ramsey and his parents are intrigued by the Crimson Tide's current QB depth chart and opportunity for early playing time. Ramsey remains committed to UGA, but Alabama may have made up some ground on this elite QB.

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