About six weeks ago, West Haven’s Ervin Philips received his first college football scholarship, courtesy of Syracuse. The versatile RB spoke with The Fizz and gave his instant reaction to the offer:
“I was thrilled, but more shocked I have to say. I got home from practice last Friday and got a call from Coach Bullough and he offered me. It’s a blessing to get an offer from a great program like Syracuse.”
Since getting the good news, Philips has taken just one other significant phone call. Twelve days after the Orange, Temple also offered to the speedy Philips. Philips visited the Owl campus yesterday, but tells The Fizz his SU visit on June 23rd remains high on his mind:
         “It was great man. I loved it and I felt comfortable.”
Philips tweeted about his visit later that day:
“I did not commit to syracuse today but I will be making a decision very very soon.”
Philips preached his strong relationship with George McDonald to The Fizz and how the OC appreciated his big-play ability. Philips rushed for over 750 yards on the ground last season for the Blue Devils, and had more than 1,000 all-purpose yards in his junior year.
The 5’11” 176 pound back has just two offers, although has interest from Maryland, Steve Addazio’s Boston College Eagles, Pittsburgh, and Rutgers. The three reasons why Philips’ recruitment is among the most important for Syracuse’s 2014 class:
- Versatility
Philips has diversity on the offensive side of the ball. That flexibility is always attractive to an offensive coordinator, especially McDonald. Philips told The Fizz back in May of his ties with The Mailman:
“He was great. He really thinks my agility and speed stand out. He told me he watched my highlight tape, and that’s exactly what he told me stood out. He really liked my quickness on the field.”
SU has already loaded its line-backing corps, as¬†Jason Cabinda is the latest addition to the list, so another offensive get to go along with West Genesee‚Äôs Naesan Howard and 4-star AJ Long would be huge. McDonald‚Äôs trust in Phillips’ raw talent makes him an intriguing piece.
- Coaches
Bullough gave Philips the news about his offer. There‚Äôs already a connection between McDonald and Philips. As for Ervin‚Äôs links with the Owl squad, former BC assistant and current Temple linebackers coach Mike Siravo has kept in touch with Philips. The relationship between Phillips and¬†Owls OC Marcus Satterfield is unclear, but he’s comfortable with Bullough and McDonald.
- Recruiting Connecticut
The NY Post report suggesting¬†Syracuse is losing out on NYC recruits to UConn¬†has bothered Orange Nation. Connecticut may extend an offer to Philips. If Syracuse can win big battles in other places then the importance of NYC can dwindle a bit. There’s some decent players that come out of Connecticut, so taking a few players from that area could put to rest some of the negativity surrounding the Post report.
More from Phillips on Twitter:
¬†‚ÄúOrange Is My Favorite Color… *waits for syracuse fans to go crazy* lol.‚Äù
Looks to be a good sign for Syracuse.
Posted: Brendan Glasheen
55 responses to “Three Reasons Landing Connecticut RB Ervin Philips Is Important for Syracuse”
Connecticut puts 3 or 4 kids yearly into BCS school’s and sometimes 6/8 but some are out of state prep kids!!I wonder why UConn who’s struggling in recruiting hasn’t offered but offered 3 higher rated Conn RB’s?PP is no fool in recruiting wars!I’d prefer Ish Witter or Ollison!!But Im no expert and he is a change of pace scatback!!NY state puts out twice as many D1 kids as Conn’t!!
Ervin Philips puzzles me?He ought to take our offer while its there as we could take someone higher rated and his offers would be nil?A few guys at some local schools regretted stalling,tried commiting too late and now must go to plan B cause the offer expired by “position commit”!!
Take a look at Temple recruiting class so far… comparisons fuel competition! SU has to get more agressive, if a move to the AAC is helping Temple, and RU is surely pitching B10 fb… SU has to do
better. Temple is currently a rival in fb, and Phillips won’t be the last recruit they compete with SU for. Their current ’14 class is ranked around #50 nationally…
* with big contracts comes big expectations, SU has to start reeling in the talent. For example: RU has two 3star NY OLs committed….SU has one NY player?
Hey @Russ.. even with AE & ZA from the ’13 class, I think HCDM & DCSS would have reeled in a class that by (2 bowls in 3 years) standards, were still underachieving. Zach Allen made big news Feb. 2 nd, but TCU has two ’14 QB commitments: both are bigger than 6’2″ 185lbs, ranked higher than ZA as well. In a way I don’t wish him fb success?
The recruiting classes have not matched the gridiron success. Teams that aren’t winning are out recruiting SU at this point? The offers are all over the place too! Lets pray…#organizedconfusionblessing
Some on this site are seeing the light. Programs lower than SU are killing SU on verbals(Kentucky now #3) an example. Cabinda seems a great get/gamble he has size and speed!! Most NR/2 stas are sure gambles, but he’s not!! We’ll loose Cotton to either ISU or Indiana. ISU is decent, but Indiana is a joke. SU would dominate Indiana usually. Ollison is a highlight kid so he’s history. SU does not have enough light for him. It seems that now Phillips is waiting too!! SU is “tied for 72th” in national recruiting!! It could acually be 75th. Come on falling down the latter always hurts. Why aren’t the CUSE climbing up that latter. Being rated in the 50’s is a dream now for this year and that is not rebuilding!!!! Huge HCSS and his staffs fan, but the expections so far are well below what was given out to us fans. Its early but no where that early. Way behind other weak programs!!!! WHY????
Coach Shafer has gone after and offered over 30 scholarships to recruits from the State of Illinois. 2 recruits(3* DB Micquell Cotton and 4* DE Dewayne Hendrix) were offered as a package deal out of O Fallon High School.
An article this morning on syr.com indicated getting Dewayne Hendrix to come to Syracuse was nothing but a pipe dream,and the real target was 3* DB Micquell Cotton. Micquell has narrowed his choice of schools down to three,Iowa St,Indiana and Syracuse,with Iowa St. being #1. The following is his statement from that article.
“What I like about Iowa State is I like how serious they are about football. I like the fact that once there’s a game down there in Ames, Iowa, the whole town pretty much shuts down just to come watch their team play. That’s how I know that they’re serious about football down there”.
Get it people. Perception is everything,just because a town shuts down to come watch a team play doesn’t mean that they have a good winning football program. I will admit though Iowa St is a fairly good program and is equal to what the Syracuse program is.
My point of making this post is(the whole town pretty much shuts down just to come watch their team play)FANNIES IN THE SEATS DO MAKE A DIFFRERENCE AND DOES HELP IN THE RECRUITMENT OF GOOD PLAYERS.
Syracuse fans should take notice,and start to support the program.
Recent football success I believe is directly tied to the US population shifts to the South and West. NE programs are not what they used to be because fan bases are shrinking and the talent pool is lessening. I agree with Terry, more fans in the seats is great…just wish Syracuse had the population it did back in the 70s.
The good news is the ACC. I saw an article in the newspaper a few years ago that said there were 150K Buffalonians in NC alone. There are so many upstate NYs down South that Cuse will pack road games in the ACC with fans. Example: NC State basketball game vs Cuse in Raleigh two years ago…1/3 Cuse fans. The paper even noted how the Cuse fans rivaled the NC State fans noise…for a sold out home game! Maybe recruits will see SU presence at away games and the lure of true CuseNation will help. Selling out home games would just be icing on the cake.
Phillips needs to follow in the steps of another New Haven Running Back and SU Alum and Hall of Famer Floyd Little.
GO SU
@Matty,the 1 good thing about the NY/NJ metro is “consistent Population”…always new immigrants replacing the old!!Although NYC’s not as enourmous as 50 years ago the downstate population is stable!Its the upper midwest that’s seems to be shrinking and losing jobs along with the great lakes regions! Thats why Jersey/NYC/LI is so important to recruiting!
@Ron Thanks! And that was entirely my point in arguing with Terry about UK. 50K people at the Spring Game. Buffalo gets support, why not SU? I think I know the answer, but I won’t say here. I am as uncomfortable as anyone that we took a lot of long shots and are not closing on any of them. I think Philips may have a conditional offer, and nobody will say that. It’s OK, but I think SU is the reason he has not committed. I don’t feel as strong about Mavety as I once did. I feel like he has 3 big programs and then RU before us. They are all over the fact that he’s from Jersey I’m sure and the considering that Ohio State is one of his favs, RU is selling BigTen. His other two are Alabama and FSU I think. He is sold on his relationships with OSU, FSU, and Bama. Any chance we can get Anselmo to talk to him as a friend of the program? We should be pushing ACC on him IF he visits. I also think Deione Hallmon is between WVU and RU and we are 3rd. Again, visits can change that, but he is into the staff at RU and the old Fla connection at WVU (big Tavon Austin fan). Also his mom went to WVU. He plays on Twitter inciting arguments amongst programs. Not crazy about the way things are falling out.
If you went to the Carolina’s,Ga or Fla you’ll find large populations of transplanted NJ/NYer’s dominate the landscape to the chagrin of the old bluebloods!!
Dipper,good point about Temple!!Did you see my post on the previous thread?I brought that very subject up!!There killing it in NJ on the trail!!We should be wupping them?
@Malone,I read Tavon Austin was a S.Jersey HS kid?Maybe prep?
@Malone,I’m concerned the ACC card don’t work here in the northeast(perception)as in Fla/Ga?The B1G seem’s to resonate to a larger extent?Do you agree?I’m starting to get a little nervous about the way our overall “footprint” recruiting is panning out except in NJ?We seem to gain there and lose in NY/Pa?
I think we need an “ace” NJ/NYC area recruiter and Pa then put forth greater effort in Fla/Ga like UConn does?
If the coaches fail to bring in a top quality RB,it will represent a major failure for them. If not Erv Phillips the other big fish is Quadree Ollison One or both is almost a mandate this recruiting year.We might lose Jerome Smith after this coming season if he is pulled by the NFL.Gulley is always a health issue question.
Ollison would be a coup since we really were at the back of the line(PSU,RU,Pitt,Wisc+SU)but all insiders pick one of the 1st two on the list!Malone said since he wouldn’t come here we sent a coach to Buffalo?But 1 RB you forgot about…Ish Witter from Fla who wanted RU but they got bigger fish and would’nt accept his commit!He put us and Pitt on his priority “High” list!!
Ron makes a good point. Packed Dome would help.
Malone you still don’t get the point on Kentucky. They came out of know where to get into first-now 3rd in national ranking. When was the last time SU did that. 1st or 3rd in national ranking??? Kentucky did have a great year over 1/2 a decade ago, but still SU is just as good or better. Do you agree?? Or winning does not matter!! Then why not any better than 72th!! The other programs are using that(whatever it is) against SU. If SU can’t get decent talent against Temple or Indiana let alone Toledo or UMass SU is in trouble!! If you don’t agree then your homer mask has to be removed. Any kind of talent into SU is not good enough if we are all interested in re-building a program. After all I thought dougie helped get this program into better shape. Its HCSS job now to grow on that-I hope!!
Packed Dome would help Terry, that was my point as well. 50K at the spring game. A coach named Stoops. And they don’t come from nowhere, they come from the SEC. Hypothetical – You’re 16-17, a stud athlete and king of your school, someone named Stoops shows up at your door and says, look kid, Bama aint calling and if they do, you’re 4th in line for your position. Play for me and you’ll be in the same league, with as many screaming adoring fans, and you’ll get an opportunity to play them every year to show them what they missed out on. Oh yeah, the weather’s nice, and there’s lots of attractive girls…in bikinis. 28,000 students with plans to take it to 34,000. It is huge and you can take advantage of it all. Yeah second rate team, but in a first rate environment, and with you we’re working on the 2nd rate part. You think, Stoops, he from just up the road in Ohio, and his brothers are excellent coaches, like the Harbaughs of the NFL
Next day another guy shows up and says he wants you to play on his team. Playing time is almost guaranteed, like at UK, but now its in front of 25,000-30,000 fans, and the school is smaller, but it doesn’t matter cause the girls tend to stay in when it snows 100″ or if they get out, they are in bulky jackets and sweaters. And this guy, well you’ve never heard of him. He seems great, and they are in the ACC, but if I want to go to the ACC, I can go to all the other ACC schools that are also offering me and avoid the snow. ACC schools have tough academics too, less time for girls in bikinis. I’m 17, I’m going to the League! Who cares about academics, I will get that degree during or after my NFL career. Yeah they had great players, but like 30 or 40 years ago. Heck my dad’s that old. He says don’t worry about the snow, we play indoors, and that’s cool, but not when it’s half full, or in the case of the spring game, 10% full. I hear the locals hate the students and the bars are raided by the cops every night. Maybe if this guy won a game, if this were next year maybe. The last guy won last year. He’s in the NFL now.
That’s the reality
No homer mask here. I am not the one who cries about MetLife games. Want to solve it fast? move the entire University further south. Temple at least has Philly. They are prideful and full of talent. That city has a lot to offer.
I love SU, and personally wouldn’t change a thing, but I am not a 17 year old stud athlete. Never really was.
Sorry everybody. Guess I didn’t sleep well last night. My comments are not to denegrate our fine university or the city in which it resides, just meant to illustrate for Terry my thoughts on the flip process known as recruiting, where 17 year olds run the show and we get angry about why THEY don’t get it.
@Malone;
No need for an apology here huckleberry. I understood every point that you were making in your post. I for one have never thought of you to flip flop on anything. It’s just,well,some people as they age lose fact of what it was like for them at 17 and in a split seconds time,change their mind on any given subject.
@Terry;
I guess Terry your missing the point here and before you astart your rant,let me explain.
When you make comments like;
(Any kind of talent into SU is not good enough if we are all interested in re-building a program. After all I thought dougie helped get this program into better shape. Its HCSS job now to grow on that-I hope)!!
for me your already starting to spread the seed of doubt with Coach Shafers ability to bring in recruits that will help transform the program.
If that is what your trying to,please use different terminology presenting your opinion before posting and keep your negative thoughts to yourself. Lets get behind and support Coach Shafer in all of his endeavors. You know the old saying “Rome wasn’t built in a day”. Well rebuilding Syracuse Football isn’t going to be built an a day either.
But we do have Rome Smith, so we’re ahead of the game.
@Russ, my bad, I meant Stedman Bailey. He and Geno Smith are both from Miramar in Fla., the same HS as Deion Hallmon attends. Despite the fact that they are RichRod guys, and I read that WVU has lost its Fla line because Holgerson prefers to recruit Texas, guys like Hollman and a lot of other Florida guys like WVU. I don’t personally get it. I think they are drawn to the speed game (collectively that’s their greatest asset). I think McD will draw more with our up tempo fast game, but kids need to see it first.
Austin is from Baltimore Maryland. Dunbar. Well known producer of D1 talent (football and basketball)
Yes I’m not real happy with the proceedings going on around the SU program. More $$$$$$$ coming in, promised new facilies, decent reord last year, a damn good major university and a great new staff coming in all should show 17 yrs olds something good. So for nothing, but average(if you call ranked 72 average). Temple(rated 35) just beat us for a 2 star OL(McHale). Hell ND,PSU, and Michigan are cleaning SU clock let alone the bottom feeders (Kentucky,Temple) are to. You homers like Ron, Russ, Malone are a hell more optomistic than I am. But yes I’m a HOMER to. My home team is not holding up to what we expected so far this year in recruiting. Am I right?? That’s all I heard since the early part of the year is SU looking at better talent. What a rush that was!! Well where is it. More of a downer!! You guys just seem to say “oh well and lets move on”. Well since the late 2000’s we have been moving on, but no real super sucess. This program has been here forever. Stoops is quality, but so is HCSS!! Stoops name didnt get all those kids to Kentucky. Most of those kids could play any where. Rated 72(its real early I know or is it?) is a joke compared to other programs. SU IS MUCH BETTER THAN THAT-RIGHT?? Or are you afraid to say what needs to be said??? I just don’t get this terrible start to the recruiting season??
Sorry I Ron-ed it in babbling today!!
@Malone,You never have to apologize here “Matt”…I say that cause I see on some twitter feeds someone thats tweets sound like you?Your love and frustration of SU shines through your every post!!I’m really a big fan of what you have to say!I’m sure Ron feel’s the same tho I don’t like to speak for others!@Terry,your love also show’s but sometimes your frustration clouds the “positive message” but thats why I love this board…diverse viewpoints!Keep the convo going guys we’ll get there!
Malone,guess who’s Mavety’s hero?Unfortunately Anthony Davis 1st Rd OT All-Pro SuperBowl starter and he’s been negative tweeting us at Maverty according to reports so I understand how frustrating kids can be to us grown men!
RUSS-No problem Homey!! LOL!!
I’m sick of hearing these primadonna’s telling us what they think we want to hear?Favorite school my azz!Same goes for KJ Williams..whats he stalling for?I’m sorry guys between the heat and negative vibe it’s again?(frustrating)lol
Thanks Terry,I just get frustrated with these recruits sometimes!!
Guys I’m really worried about Mavety…now he’s scheduled an “official” visit to RU the night of the Cinncy home game Nov 19th at RU!!Fla St also has an official with him in July 16th?That means he probably will be stringing us along even more!I’m pissed!!I thought he’d verbal soon?Their a NJ.com story by Todderick Hunt online!Sorry to pass BAD news!Ron did he reschedule a visit with us?
@Russell MacEachern;
that’s ok russell,I have more bad news for everyone.
3* 6’7″ 290 lb OT James Mchale committed to Temple earlier today. Syracuse came in second. That’s real bad because both of those schools were the only BCS programs to offer hin a scholarship.
What the hell is going on here guys?
@Russ I can neither confirm nor deny. I need to cool it there. That said, I saw the Anthony Davis stuff. Davis bashed SU calling us soft. He asked who is any good coming out of SU. He was told Pugh, first rounder to his favorite team, and Tiller, SU guy who also went to Nassau CC. He was also reminded that Coach Perles was in the NFL last year, and Marrone and Coughlin are both Syracuse guys. I think that calmed the Davis talk, but not before damage done. I didn’t think former players were allowed to contact recruits. Isn’t there an issue with Wes Welker? Very little faith in Hallmon and I just don’t get McHale except Philly is a little closer and still in PA? Very confused. This year is shaping up to be a lot more important than I thought.
Another thought, there has been a lot of press about how bad we are going to do this season. Not sure why we are the only ones to get so much, but it could also be damaging recruiting.
Guys,I looked up the top 100 recruiters and SU don’t even register?I’m not sure how much that meam’s as RU only had one but some smaller schools had 1 or 2!A couple of school’s pay assistant coaches over 1M just as hotshot hired gun recruiters?USC has 2 Mill+ recruiters!
Maybe when the ACC money starts to come in we’ll hire a hotshot closer!
Malone,someone must have told AD to shut up its not allowed?Wasn’t AD the ex RU guy who blasted Schiano on twitter?I think he had issues with Shady but loves KF?
Worry no!! These players are not “alone” in their decision process. I’m sure all have someone pushing or pulling them in a certain direction-who ever it is you pick them. Again if they don’t want to be here-BYE!!! We all know what happens when players are not happy with their surroundings. It doesn’t make this any easier to say fearing some player might not like these words. But at the same time SU wants the love of a player whose hardnosed,wants to win,get a degree,help out the community and behind closed DOME doors kick some big programs A$$es!! Hey you players out there SU is a small big kinda place!! SU is close knit!! SU wants to entertain its supporters!! SU has won 698 games ranked 16th overall(leave out Ivy Leaugue, Div 2/3 teams). Hey man thats not the smell of sardines in the hot sun-NOW!! That’s ahead of Clemson,VT, GT, and Texas A&M to name a few!! SU , again is a small giant program that’s growing with HCSS and the staff. So if you choose SU expect love if you earn it. SU is the little big program that says yes we can do it and we need you A$$ here to do it. WELCOME to CUSEDOME Mr player!! If you decide to attend SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY!! If you feel another place is better-OK. But BYE THEN!!
@Russell MacEachern;
With all of the extra ACC cash comimg in,upgrading the program doesn’t mean,let’s build a couple new buildings and recruits will come. It’s adding key personnel and retaining good coaches too. If a good recruiter is needed then Coach Shafer and Dr. Gross should get together and discuss the situation.
@Terry;
thanks for the new label. I’ve never considered me being a “homie”. Because of the love I have for Syracuse Football,I’ll wear that badge with great honor. Me a homie,I never imagined.
Your last post Terry made for some good reading and made some salient points to ponder,thanks.
To all of the members of this website,have a Happy & safe 4th of July Holiday.
Please take time to remember the men and women,family members and friends,who gave their lives protecting our freedoms,that gave you the oportunity to hold a barb-a-cue with your loved ones this weekend.
This weekend,if you know of any veteran,don’t be afraid to shake their hands and give them thanks,while putting your arms around them and giving them a hug for protecting you and your family.
To all the service men and women past and present you have my undieing gratitude and respect. Thank you all.
Anthony Davis is the reason why RU might land Mavety. He was here flashing his Super Bowl ring yesterday and selling Mavety on playing one year in the B1G then straight to the NFL with Flood getting him ready. IT’s a ball game I am hearing but he still wants to visit other schools. We shall see. I told you guys KJ is holding out for a Florida offer. Michigan won’t take his commitment right now and Miami has entered the picture.
Ron,I like the fact you never forget the bigger picture of those who defend our rights!Your a real american Ron!Myself who served during an unpopular war still can’t understand the change in public opinion since 9/11?I’m always embarrassed by the thank you’s 40 years after the fact!Generation gap I guess!….I guess your having a BBQ at the grill with your big family?I prefer grilling under the shade of tree’s!Even tho I quit drinking at 29 I’m panging for one of those exotic coconut rum’s with juice or pina colada’s that Terry makes sound SO TASTY!Maybe I’ll indulge myself one of these days?But to all of my friends Ron,Malone,Dipper,Carlton,Terry and anyone I forgot have a safe 4th of July weekend!!
30 days to the start of FB training camp…tick..tick..tick..lol
@mademan, that’s just it. He’s not supposed to be contacting recruits at all. Too late for that, but what SB ring? Runner up? Should we have our SB guys with winning rings contact him? It’s lame is all and he’s acting like the punk he is. Forget that we schooled him personally, or that his current coach employed Shafer as DC at Stanford. Florida schools will be a threat for every recruit at both our schools until Feb. No way Mavety is a done deal for RU especially with him at Bama now and still loving FSU and Ohio St. We have the most room. We are still in it. We have NFL line coach. We have a first round Tackle last year. His favorite NFL team is coached by one of ours. Maybe Q Ismael or A Monk or M Harrison or D Tyree should all call KJ and flash SB rings. Apparently that’s what the competition does. And that’s just the Wide Receivers.
Happy Independence Day everyone. Thank you and god bless our troops!
@Malone,its probably this smack talk we here kids say is so normal?I’m not so sure..I hope they don’t talk that way to each other!Cool down and have a refreshment!
Sorry I was joking about the SB ring lol. We will see. It’s not over until Feb.
A few oat sodas and my disposition is much better. Thanks for the input mademan, you’re one of the good ones. Just need to talk myself off the ledge sometimes. The Davis comments got to me in part because I watched them happening. I do feel that sort of thing could sway Mavety as well as many others. That is one of the reasons the NCAA made rules against it.
Malone and I are kinda frustrated at the turn of events but he’s really an even tempered guy!Im hoping for a season for the ages for the fans and the board…Smitty section is another loyal bunch who I’ll like to see smiling at our rise and success!Were a proud bunch us SU fans Mademan!Thanks for the courtesy!
Capts coconut run and cranberry juice plus a spritz of 7up is my drink. I’m on the deck now after a couple. AHH Mate on word we go.
Is Madman=Mr Williams of NYC or the guy who started the NYCHS Football site. He goes after the name-Madman!! Just wondering or it could be the cranberry juice doing it. TC all the fireworks are coming they always bring back many of memories. AAAHH MATE!!
No Terry,Mademan is a Jersey guy/RU fan who keeps us informed of HS recruits news in the downstate area who seems to be on the level and visits our board frequently!Decent fella for a RU fan but usually honest!I wish I could join you Mr Dona*** on the deck w/a cool drink and conversation!Sounds like you know how to wind down!I’m starting to think a few might be the ticket!!