Marvin Austin...

[mberes]

Hey guys this is my first post, although i've been patiently observing the board for quite some time. Jigga, in one of your post you said that Marvin Austin was quoted as saying his decision will have to wait 'til signing day. I'm thinking Charlie either knows this or will soon, and I was wondering what you think our strategy should be with regards to DT. With 25 scholarships available, do we leave one for him til February? Do we sign 3 other DTs?

 

[jiggafini19]

mberes, I have said since Signing Day of this year that I hope they sign four. They have to take at least three and expect two of them to log significant minutes while working with another.

I don't know what they're going to do. Personally, I hope they take 1 RB, 1 TE and 1 Safety so there is room for 4 DT.

Andre Jones is at Texas, Austin will wait, no chance with Luther Davis and Will Blackwell is probably a long shot. I like their chances with Barksdale based on his feedback.

Hopefully they'll grab Wade and Brent to work with them, then get Barksdale and wait it out with Austin. Otherwise, we're looking at a ton of 3-star projects that will need sculpting before they hit the field.

 

[mberes]

Thanks Jigga! I hope Charlie and Rick have a plan. I feel like this is developing into the achilles heel of recruiting for the New Era.

 

[jiggafini19]

Thanks Jigga! I hope Charlie and Rick have a plan. I feel like this is developing into the achilles heel of recruiting for the New Era.

I think CW will do okay. But DT is a tough spot to recruit, especially the elite guys. They are few and far between.

 

[irishnd31]

Hey guys this is my first post, although i've been patiently observing the board for quite some time. Jigga, in one of your post you said that Marvin Austin was quoted as saying his decision will have to wait 'til signing day. I'm thinking Charlie either knows this or will soon, and I was wondering what you think our strategy should be with regards to DT. With 25 scholarships available, do we leave one for him til February? Do we sign 3 other DTs?

Problem with that is this kind of scenario really bit us in the a$$ last year. I thought we had a good shot at McCoy and I believe (my opinion) that C-Dub thought he was Irish as well at the time. Don't want to see that happen again.

 

[jiggafini19]

The latest I heard was that McCoy was indeed a silent verbal for ND, but then the "issue" arose that made him have to be close to home so he could fullfill his obligations. I'm not sure I buy it, but I will hold to my belief that he was a hard lean for a long time until all this stuff came up with his personal issues.

In a way, I hope it isn't true because it makes losing out on his services that much more disappointing if they were that close.

 

[loweND]

I'm finding our DT recruitment really mystifying. Things I've read and heard just don't seem to add up. On the most recent Irish Eyes Power Hour, Frank said that ND is concentrating on four DTs right now. I'm guessing those guys to be Austin, Davis, Blackwell and Barksdale. They said that Wade was a bit of a stretch academically and that the coaches weren't really sold on him that much anyways. And they said that Brent was down the priority list.

Here's what concerns me, I've heard a lot of pessimistic things about all of our top four.

Austin seems to be a real toss-up. If we get Benn, I think our odds will improve. But I remember reading that he was showing a lot of love for SC at one point.

Mike Frank was also saying that they didn't like our chances with Barksdale. He thought our campus might be a bit 'inhibiting for him'. And after personally listening to a Barksdale interview a few weeks ago, I have to say, I wasn't feeling all that positive.

Then, I read Jiggs post that we have no chance with Davis and that Blackwell is a stretch and I can't help but wonder what's going on - since we're not putting out any new DT offers.

Surely, we must be in decent shape with a couple of these guys, because I know our recruiting staff won't let us strike out twice when it comes to DT. Especially with it being one of our top priorities. Not to mention, one of these top DTs has got to be saying to himself that if he comes to ND he's got a chance to start right away and get tons of exposure. How could you say no to that?

Hopefully, this will play out like our RB recruiting did. A few weeks ago, it looked like we were in rough shape with all of our top guys. And now it looks like we're in good shape with Marc Tyler.

 

[mberes]

I think if Charlie has a silent verbal from one of these guys, or knows one of those four is close to a verbal, I think its time for Charlie to close the deal. I don't think we have time to let all these DTs wait around, because it sounds like one day one of them comes off as an ND lean, whether through a credible source or not, and the next day they don't seem that interested in playing in South Bend. I thing we were in better standing with all of these DTs before now, and it seems as if we get a lot of immediate interest from DTs, because we have a lot of playing time to offer, but then they get swayed by the recent success of programs like Miami and USC. The defense line needs help, and the new staff has yet to recruit one DT; seeds of pessimism indeed.

 

[BigIrish]

i'll get nervous it's october and we haven't made any progress at DT. until then, though, it's a waiting game. even if our efforts on our current targets don't work out as planned, there are quality DT prospects that will emerge from the pack during their senior seasons. perhaps not the immediate impact players we'd like to get, but rest assured, we'll take 4 DT recruits in this class, and they'll be quality prospects.

 

[Irish Envy]

Thanks Jigga! I hope Charlie and Rick have a plan. I feel like this is developing into the achilles heel of recruiting for the New Era.

Then rest easy. The DT position is a pain in the rear for every college program. It may not even be a stretch to say that it is the hardest position to fill. Every year there are only 15-20 legit DT prospects and then a big group of 40-50 players that could either blossom or fail miserably.

Only a few programs in the country like Texas, Tennessee, etc. pull DT talent on a regular basis. They generally get 2 each and then that leaves 100+ programs fighting for the rest. Charlie will eventually break through and get defensive line talent consistently. Right now, offensive prospects are enamored with us, but the defensive ones will soon follow.

 

[Indydomer]

We'll see how much the offensive guys are enamored with us this year as well as defense. Charlie better come up with the recruiting class we all expect or some people are again going to start doubting his recruiting skills. It has started off well with Jimmy and Ragone, I expected more of a buzz with the top offensive guys than there has been. Kind of strange.

Anybody heard any more about Benn, and Kumara. Are they as locked up as we think they are?

 

[mberes]

Sorry Svoboda, I didn't want to shroud the board with pessimism. So far Charlie's recruiting efforts have been fantastic, and I have no doubt he will have continued success. When we become the powerhouse in defensive recruiting the same way we are with offensive recruiting, that’s when terms like "reload" and "dynasty" will be commonplace among ND message board banter, although its good to seem them already appearing.

 

[kickerbg31]

The latest I heard was that McCoy was indeed a silent verbal for ND, but then the "issue" arose that made him have to be close to home so he could fullfill his obligations. I'm not sure I buy it, but I will hold to my belief that he was a hard lean for a long time until all this stuff came up with his personal issues.

In a way, I hope it isn't true because it makes losing out on his services that much more disappointing if they were that close.

As much as I understand the strategy of announcing commitments separately to keep ND in the news, I think it is more advantageous for ND if the commits announce when they decide. If McCoy was indeed a silent commit, would he have changed his mind if he had publically announced for ND?

Certainly, these kids are only 17-18 years old and maybe not the most mature, but I'd like to think that it would be tougher for a recruit to change his verbal if he has already gone through the pomp and circumstance of committing to a school and then answering tons of questions about why he loves that program and didnt choose the others.

Who knows...maybe Oklahoma would have moved on to other DT targets if McCoy announced for ND...then again, they may have started recuiting him that much harder hoping for a decommit.

Certainly there have been high profile decommits (Ryan Perrilloux comes to mind), but I'd certainly feel better with our chances on a public commit vs. a silent one.

 

[jiggafini19]

If they take any less than 3 DT in this next class, it will be a real issue. I will remain solid IMO that they should take four, but they NEED at least 3.

Yeah, you can move this guy and that guy and everything else, but in the end that is resorting to plans B and C rather than meeting the objective.

They didn't offer nearly enough DTs last year. They have four so far this year, which is what they offered last year, and probably only have a chance with two. There should be no excuses this year because the staff isn't behind like last year.

If Austin is worth waiting for, fine. But they'd better take three guys just in case he goes someplace else. Getting Barksdale, Wade and another candidate locked in seems like a good plan.

 

[Indydomer]

Sorry Svoboda, I didn't want to shroud the board with pessimism. So far Charlie's recruiting efforts have been fantastic, and I have no doubt he will have continued success. When we become the powerhouse in defensive recruiting the same way we are with offensive recruiting, that’s when terms like "reload" and "dynasty" will be commonplace among ND message board banter, although its good to seem them already appearing.

Mberes by no means do I think Charlie has done a bad job recruiting. I was just trying to emphasize if he doesn't pull of a hell of a class the bandwagoners and other jackasses who aren't true ND fans will start to dought Charlie.

I love the guy and everything he stands for. I still believe we will have the best class, this year, and if we get some defensive player, of all time!!

 

[mberes]

Indydomer, I was actually responding to Svoboda's post, and I happen to agree with everything you wrote. I think the 2006 recruiting class built depth, and the 2007 class will be the one that has the most starters on the next nat'l championship team, although I am getting a feeling we might win one before some of them arrive on campus.

By the way, how do you like this weather we are gettin' in Indy?

 

[Folsteam_Ahead]

we need to exercise more patience with these kids. we'll have at least 10 by the time the season starts. lots of these kids like to wait until the season starts so they can see who's playing the best. i think some of them are still skeptical of charlie. seeing nd dominate and get out to a 5-0 or 6-0 record will get us up over 20 commits. then we'll have to be patient again until signing day for the top dogs. that's just how it works. texas is the only school pulling in entire classes before the summer.

breathe everyone.....

 

[Indydomer]

Pretty damn nice today. Think Im going to be hittin up the golf course after work.

 

[jiggafini19]

The key will be how the 2006 season. Year Two, no excuses now. 9-3, while not good enough, has set the bar high considering some halfwits out there said they'd start 0-6.

 

[irishnd31]

Pretty damn nice today. Think Im going to be hittin up the golf course after work.

Hit em straight Indy.

 

[irishnd31]

we need to exercise more patience with these kids. we'll have at least 10 by the time the season starts. lots of these kids like to wait until the season starts so they can see who's playing the best. i think some of them are still skeptical of charlie. seeing nd dominate and get out to a 5-0 or 6-0 record will get us up over 20 commits. then we'll have to be patient again until signing day for the top dogs. that's just how it works. texas is the only school pulling in entire classes before the summer.

breathe everyone.....

AMEN 06 champs.

BE EASY MY BABIES!!!!