Frank Clark, Wolverine

Frank Clark is narrow.

Frank Clark, a linebacker from Cleveland, publicly committed to the Wolverines on Wednesday morning.  Clark had been rumored to be a silent commitment since the weekend of January 21st when he made an official visit to Ann Arbor.  Hailing from Glenville Academic Campus, the 6'3", 210 pounder is Glenville's first product to sign with Michigan since Pierre Woods in 2001; Glenville typically funnels its players to Ohio State or . . . well . . . anywhere but Michigan.

A 3-star prospect to each of the three major recruiting services, Clark chose Michigan over offers from California, Michigan State, Minnesota, North Carolina, and others.  But each recruiting service ranked Clark at a different position - linebacker, tight end, and defensive end.

In Brady Hoke's press conference today, he called Clark a linebacker.  So I'm going to assume he's a linebacker.  And I'm going to base my opinions on seeing approximately 60 seconds of film on Clark, who doesn't have a great deal of film out there in cyberspace.  So here we go:

I'm somewhat indifferent.  There's a quote from Ed Orgeron (the famed USC defensive line coach, Ole Miss head coach, renowned recruiter, etc.) in Meat Market that says something like, "You can't look at technique stuff when you're recruiting.  As a coach, you have to think you can coach him up."

Well . . . that's probably a good thing for Clark.  He seems to be a decent athlete (a reported 4.52 in the forty, which is a good time but probably a bit of a lie), but he's about as raw as raw can be.  As a defensive end, he gets his shoulders turned regularly.  He's not an extremely aggressive tackler.  He doesn't wrap up ballcarriers.  Maybe Glenville doesn't employ a defensive line coach.  I don't know.

To be honest, I can't really project Clark anywhere.  He could be a strongside linebacker, where he would be rushing the quarterback off the edge.  He could be a weakside linebacker, too, but I haven't seen him take on any lead blocks from fullbacks, fill any running lanes, etc.  He could be a career special teamer, since he's decently fast and might be able to hit hard. 

Regardless, he'll probably need a few seasons to bulk up and learn whatever position he plays.  My expectations are low, but Ed Orgeron probably has a lot of deep thoughts about a kid like Clark, thoughts that are unintelligible to northerners.  If you're a fan of The Office, take Andy Bernard's accent when he was playing Belles, Bourbon, and Bullets; lower his voice an octave; speed him up by 50%; and toss some kitty litter down his throat.  That's a pretty close approximation of Orgeron.

Or you can Youtube him.  That would probably be easier.

Yep, it was.

TTB Rating: 59