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Rob Ambrose Coastal

Football

Coaches Still Recruting After Signing Day

Even though it's been four weeks since National Signing Day, Coach Rob Ambrose and his football staff haven't stopped recruiting.

In fact, the Tigers' coach, entering his third season, has already added two more incoming freshmen, offensive lineman Jay Kenney of South Boston, Mass. and punter R.J. Peppers, to the Tigers' incoming class.

"Recruiting never stops," says Coach Ambrose, who will be starting his third season as the Tigers' coach. "We keep going and we recruit as much as the NCAA allows. Recruiting is part of our daily routine 365 days a year."

When asked about any additional players coming into the program, the Tiger coach unveils a sly smile and says, "We'll see. We may have a quarterback to be named later, a defensive lineman to be named later and some others yet to be determined."

Kenney is a 6-5, 280-pound lineman who attended Bridgton Academy in Maine last year. A native of South Boston, he enjoyed a solid scholastic career at Matignon.

Peppers is coming off an outstanding senior season at Leesburg High School. He averaged 42.3 yards per punt and nailed 17 punts inside the opponents' 20-yard line.

Ambrose is always cautious when talking about recruits. He never wants to say too much about anyone until they are signed and sealed. So, even though he and his staff are still working the phones, nobody assumes anything until the process is complete.

While many NCAA FCS head coaches spend this time of year talking to NCAA BCS schools about possible transfer students, Coach Ambrose is wary of spending too much time on transfer students.

He says, "What many people don't understand is that the vast majority of FBS transfers don't work out. At this level, I know that the transfer game is part of FCS football. But, I've always felt there is a reason that someone is transferring.

"Some schools have done really well with transfers but we don't know how many transfers they took that didn't work out," he adds. "We are more likely to take a transfer from a BCS school if he is someone we recruited out of high school."

In fact, the only FBS transfer that the Tigers have added is running back Sterlin Phifer, a native of Virginia Beach, Va. who comes to Towson from Boston College. At Boston College, he played in eight games and ran for 101 yards on 17 carries in the 2010 season.

Coach Ambrose revealed that the Tigers also expected to add a defensive back from Baltimore who was transferring from Nevada Las Vegas. After the coaches invested a lot of time and effort into the addition of the student-athlete in question, he enrolled at Towson at the start of the spring semester.

Two weeks later, he withdrew from Towson University for personal reasons.

"That is the risk involved in taking transfer students," says the Tiger coach. "We prefer getting players out of high school and developing them. We want players who want to be here and be part of our program."

With the Tigers three weeks away from the start of spring practice, the Tiger coaching staff is likely to add a few more players. But, it would be a surprise if they weren't incoming freshmen.

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