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2003 MAC Football Recruiting - CMU Chippewas

Overview

Central Michigan signed a 19-member class where nine members come from their home state. CMU brought in players from eight other states as well. This is down from the previous two classes by Coach Mike DeBord, where 13 and 15 players respectively came from their home state. This current class is set up nicely with six linemen and thirteen skill position players. Within that mix, four players listed as LBs and five as WRs. CMU was able to get some good size and speed across the board.

Highlights

• Jovan Witherspoon was a high school All-American from Fort Wayne (IN) and had offers from several schools, including Notre Dame.  He played his freshman year at Northwestern before transferring to a junior college last year.  He has now resurfaced at CMU, and chose the ‘Chips over North Carolina & Utah.  He should make an immediate impact.
• Two highly touted recruits for the ‘Chips both play LB.  Anthony Rogers was rated as the #9 player in Michigan by the Detroit Free Press and #21 ranked ILB in the country by Rivals.com while De’Onte Burnam was rated the #54 ILB by Insiders.com in the country.
• CMU got several speedy players in this class, including RB Jemmy Jasmin & WR Jerry Seymour, who both run in the low 4.4s/40.
• DE Eric Tunney comes from a very small town in Michigan, but made a lot of heads turn this year in his play on the field, earning All-State honors from a school few have heard about.
• Only one DB was brought in for a pass defense that ranked 13^th of 14 in the MAC in 2002.

Final Thoughts

Central Michigan brought in a class that ranks as VERY GOOD compared to other MAC schools this year.  The LBs are likely the best crop of any school and some big play WRs were brought in along with more perimeter speed to jump-start an average offense.  The only thing really missing here is one or two impact CBs, which CMU could definitely use in this now-becoming pass-happy conference.