A Big hit: Ducasse coming off breakout season for UMass

1/2/08 by Dave Ruden, Stamford Advocate

Vladimir Ducasse is accustomed to making big impressions. His imposing size while roaming the hallways of Stamford High School led two football players to encourage him to come out for the team.

Ducasse's performance on the Black Knights' offensive line, though he had only played the sport for two years after moving here from Haiti, caught the attention of college scouts.

A strong showing at a summer camp at the University of Massachusetts made an impression on Don Brown, the coach of the Minutemen, who saw a player of unlimited potential.

That promise was further realized this past fall, as the 6-foot-4, 310-pound Ducasse, as a sophomore, earned the starting left tackle job and had an outstanding season for a UMass team that advanced to the second round of the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision playoffs.

"I was happy with the way I played," Ducasse said. "It was my second year and I thought I'd be a starter. I made the adjustments after the first game. It's something you get used to."

Brown has a vivid memory of Ducasse showing up at his camp, a raw specimen with a huge upside. He offered him a scholarship on the spot.

"He is a tremendous physical talent," Brown said. "He has long arms, high hips. He's a big-body guy. He is a natural Division I talent. The thing that was difficult is you never know what the learning curve is going to be with offensive linemen. You have to learn all the protections, all the schemes. But he had a great foundation."

Brown did his homework and discovered that Ducasse has a track record for picking things up quickly, both on and off the field.

As a sophomore at Stamford, making the transition to a new home, Ducasse had a 2.7 grade point average. The next year it soared to a 3.8.

Ducasse's work on the football field followed a similar trajectory.

"I kept telling people that he was a freak kind of an athlete," Stamford football coach Kevin Jones said. "What he does, people his size aren't supposed to be able to do. He is blessed with a lot of physical gifts you can't teach."

Brown initially considered redshirting Ducasse as a freshman but had a change of heart. It gave Ducasse the chance to see limited action which, in retrospect, accelerated his progress.

"With his gifts and ability we figured we would have to call on him at some time, and he got to play intermittently," Brown said. "Then we went into last spring figuring we would coach him hard and get him ready to be a starter."

Ducasse said his brief exposure that first season gave him an indication of where he would need to get, not just to earn a regular spot, but to flourish.

"The game is really fast," Ducasse said. "You have to think fast, act fast, everything has to be fast. You have to be smart too. Anything you do might jeopardize the game."

Ducasse was also aware that some of the advantages he had at Stamford would not necessarily set him apart at UMass.

"It's a big adjustment. In high school I was always the biggest kid," Ducasse said. "In college I'm going against people who have experience. They're not bigger than me, but they are quick. I had to adjust to that."

UMass won its first four games and was 7-1 at one point this past season. The only loss was against Boston College.

With a 9-2 mark, the Minutemen earned the No. 7 seed in the playoffs and opened with a 49-35 win over Fordham.

In the quarterfinals on Dec. 1, against No. 4 Southern Illinois, UMass fell behind, 34-13, before the offense rallied for two touchdowns to cut the deficit to 34-27. That turned out to be the final score.

"He had a good year, both with his run- and pass-blocking," Brown said. "He played the toughest position on the line and showed great confidence."

Jones said Ducasse is one of the alumni of the Stamford program he uses as a role model to motivate his players.

"He is a great kid who has worked hard to be in the position he is in right now," Jones said. "His work ethic is second to none."

With the season now over for a month, Ducasse said he plans to use this offseason to take his game to an even higher level.

"I want to work on getting stronger, quicker, faster and everything," Ducasse said. "Last summer I stayed at UMass to work out and it paid off. I'm going to do that once again. I have a lot of stuff to improve on."

Brown said there is one other factor that will motivate Ducasse.

"I'm sure he'd like to be All-Conference," Brown said. "I don't think he'll be satisfied. He's got the ability to be one of the best tackles at this level in the country. He's a pretty determined young man."

What is Ducasse's ceiling? Brown dropped a hint.

"He's an untapped potential," he said. "He's smart, agile, quick, a hard worker. He has all the traits the NFL looks for."

For now, Ducasse is not looking that far down the road.

"We are going to have winter workouts and then I'll go into spring football and the summer and take it from there," he said. "I'm very pleased so far. I made the right choice going to UMass."