'14 CA TE Tyler Luatua (Back in Blue)

[dad4aa]

Welcome to recruiting. You must be new here. Btw there are a lot of kids on our team that were committed elsewhere at some point.

I agree with this and it normally doesn't bother me because these are kids and they need to make the right decision for them. I put Tyler in the Anzalone camp. Supposedly took his time to make sure of where he wants to go before committing. Now, just a few days after committing, he isn't being recruited by USC...he is asking them to recruit him. That sucks!

At least that's the way the tweet came across.

 

[rtrn2glory]

raise your hand if you thought this was going to be drama free final month and a week of recruiting?

 

[irishknight35]

Like many have already said "Verbal Commit" doesn't mean a whole lot to certain recruits these days and ND isn't the only that has players like Tyler who enjoy the spotlight. For those of you who follow Mike Farrell of Rivals he was meeting kids arriving for the Under Armour Game today and several kids committed to a variety of schools (FSU, Florida, Bama) are committed but still looking at other schools and expressed it publicly to him.

That's the way it is and I believe the staff realizes this and will do what they have to do to not be left holding the check (again) come signing day this cycle and beyond.

 

[GoIrish41]

Like many have already said "Verbal Commit" doesn't mean a whole lot to certain recruits these days and ND isn't the only that has players like Tyler who enjoy the spotlight. For those of you who follow Mike Farrell of Rivals he was meeting kids arriving for the Under Armour Game today and several kids committed to a variety of schools (FSU, Florida, Bama) are committed but still looking at other schools and expressed it publicly to him.

That's the way it is and I believe the staff realizes this and will do what they have to do to not be left holding the check (again) come signing day this cycle and beyond.

Stay committed, go somewhere else ... who cares? We have better TE options than him already in the fold IMHO.

 

[Irish#1]

Prima Donna.

I'm beginning to think the same thing. If he visits, it wouldn't bother me to drop him. We're stacked at TE right now.

 

[GreenSox04]

pull it if he visits our biggest rival specifically. then call hendrix and green light him now and hope that its not too late.

ill take kids that are all in.

 

[Cackalacky]

There goes our fullback... Smh

 

[SoJerseyIrish]

We didn't pull Yeargin's offer after his visit, granted he wasn't outwardly begging for an offer on Twitter either.

 

[IrishLax]

We didn't pull Yeargin's offer after his visit, granted he wasn't outwardly begging for an offer on Twitter either.

Actually, just FYI, he tried to set up another visit to a different school after the Clemson one and told him if he did we were pulling his scholarship.

 

[magogian]

We always lose 1 or two this time of year. If Luatua is our loss, I'll count it as a win for this period.

 

[ThePiombino]

Guys, Nic Weishar is going to be pretty good. So is Durham Smythe. We have great TE depth.

The issue, for me anyway, isn't about depth so much as it's about ND possibly being held with its d!ck in its hand on NSD.

Agreed, unless none of the other schools want him. I literally do not want him to sign with ND at this point. It will likely be a waste of a spot as he has all the telltale signs of your classic flaky Cali bust.

Agree with this.

 

[NDhoosier]

After seeing his picture in the Juju thread, the kid does not look very athletic. Ill just leave it at that.

Would be awesome if he flipped to U$C, we land Schultz, and we kick U$C's ass the next 4 years.

 

[Fbolt]

The issue, for me anyway, isn't about depth so much as it's about ND possibly being held with its d!ck in its hand on NSD.

it happens every year

 

[Buster Bluth]

After seeing his picture in the Juju thread, the kid does not look very athletic. Ill just leave it at that.

Would be awesome if he flipped to U$C, we land Schultz, and we kick U$C's ass the next 4 years.

Nothing says "athleticism" like how you look in a picture...

 

[Irish YJ]

 

[Ultimate Penn St. Hater]

After seeing his picture in the Juju thread, the kid does not look very athletic. Ill just leave it at that.

Would be awesome if he flipped to U$C, we land Schultz, and we kick U$C's ass the next 4 years.

So, you're hoping he decommits from ND and commits to USC (our biggest rival) because of a picture you saw of him? Really?

 

[OCIrish]

Cat like reflexes......

 

[TheTurningPoint]

Acutally to be fair to Mr. Luatua and the recruiting process. I can actually respect his comments. He stated he was still committed but also still listening. When he gave his verbal commitment to ND, Chuck Martin was the OC. The next day, that OC took the Miami job. Denbrock did a nice patch job of still selling him on ND, and two weeks after he committed it went public. So, to judge a kid who committed under circumstances that are pretty much a 180 from the current circumstances seems premature. He could have said, that he wasnt listening to other schools or other coaches, but he was very upfront that he is still in contact with some. I see nothing wrong with it given the timelines of his recruitment. Im sure ND has a great plan for the situation they are in, and having decommits is a good sign they do have it under control. Luatua knows what is expected of him as a ND commit and the staff will be able to work with him on it, but its just not something that can sold overnight with no "official" news they can comfort his concerns with.

 

[gkIrish]

Acutally to be fair to Mr. Luatua and the recruiting process. I can actually respect his comments. He stated he was still committed but also still listening. When he gave his verbal commitment to ND, Chuck Martin was the OC. The next day, that OC took the Miami job. Denbrock did a nice patch job of still selling him on ND, and two weeks after he committed it went public. So, to judge a kid who committed under circumstances that are pretty much a 180 from the current circumstances seems premature. He could have said, that he wasnt listening to other schools or other coaches, but he was very upfront that he is still in contact with some. I see nothing wrong with it given the timelines of his recruitment. Im sure ND has a great plan for the situation they are in, and having decommits is a good sign they do have it under control. Luatua knows what is expected of him as a ND commit and the staff will be able to work with him on it, but its just not something that can sold overnight with no "official" news they can comfort his concerns with.

A kid that is still listening (and being this open about it) is a kid that might flip on NSD and leave the program holding its junk. I don't care what his motivation is. You commit to the school, not the coach. It's a slap in the face to ND to do what he's doing.

"Hey look over here. It's me Tyler. I'm not really thrilled about going to ND so I'm just going to tell the world that I'm waiting for that USC offer. But I'm still an ND commit in case USC doesn't pull through for me."

 

[Irishman77]

Acutally to be fair to Mr. Luatua and the recruiting process. I can actually respect his comments. He stated he was still committed but also still listening. When he gave his verbal commitment to ND, Chuck Martin was the OC. The next day, that OC took the Miami job. Denbrock did a nice patch job of still selling him on ND, and two weeks after he committed it went public. So, to judge a kid who committed under circumstances that are pretty much a 180 from the current circumstances seems premature. He could have said, that he wasnt listening to other schools or other coaches, but he was very upfront that he is still in contact with some. I see nothing wrong with it given the timelines of his recruitment. Im sure ND has a great plan for the situation they are in, and having decommits is a good sign they do have it under control. Luatua knows what is expected of him as a ND commit and the staff will be able to work with him on it, but its just not something that can sold overnight with no "official" news they can comfort his concerns with.

#fartnoise

 

[Irish#1]

Acutally to be fair to Mr. Luatua and the recruiting process. I can actually respect his comments. He stated he was still committed but also still listening. When he gave his verbal commitment to ND, Chuck Martin was the OC. The next day, that OC took the Miami job. Denbrock did a nice patch job of still selling him on ND, and two weeks after he committed it went public. So, to judge a kid who committed under circumstances that are pretty much a 180 from the current circumstances seems premature. He could have said, that he wasnt listening to other schools or other coaches, but he was very upfront that he is still in contact with some. I see nothing wrong with it given the timelines of his recruitment. Im sure ND has a great plan for the situation they are in, and having decommits is a good sign they do have it under control. Luatua knows what is expected of him as a ND commit and the staff will be able to work with him on it, but its just not something that can sold overnight with no "official" news they can comfort his concerns with.

Sounds like he's 50% committed.

 

[rtrn2glory]

yea 100% committed is hanging up when they call or saying no thanks then hanging up.

if he's still listening at best he's 50%

 

[koonja]

Acutally to be fair to Mr. Luatua and the recruiting process. I can actually respect his comments. He stated he was still committed but also still listening. When he gave his verbal commitment to ND, Chuck Martin was the OC. The next day, that OC took the Miami job. Denbrock did a nice patch job of still selling him on ND, and two weeks after he committed it went public. So, to judge a kid who committed under circumstances that are pretty much a 180 from the current circumstances seems premature. He could have said, that he wasnt listening to other schools or other coaches, but he was very upfront that he is still in contact with some. I see nothing wrong with it given the timelines of his recruitment. Im sure ND has a great plan for the situation they are in, and having decommits is a good sign they do have it under control. Luatua knows what is expected of him as a ND commit and the staff will be able to work with him on it, but its just not something that can sold overnight with no "official" news they can comfort his concerns with.

I don't get what you're saying here TP.

 

[TheTurningPoint]

I don't get what you're saying here TP.

*not

 

[Irishnuke]

Sounds like none of you wanted Folston last year.

 

[STLDomer]

Acutally to be fair to Mr. Luatua and the recruiting process. I can actually respect his comments. He stated he was still committed but also still listening. When he gave his verbal commitment to ND, Chuck Martin was the OC. The next day, that OC took the Miami job. Denbrock did a nice patch job of still selling him on ND, and two weeks after he committed it went public. So, to judge a kid who committed under circumstances that are pretty much a 180 from the current circumstances seems premature. He could have said, that he wasnt listening to other schools or other coaches, but he was very upfront that he is still in contact with some. I see nothing wrong with it given the timelines of his recruitment. Im sure ND has a great plan for the situation they are in, and having decommits is a good sign they do have it under control. Luatua knows what is expected of him as a ND commit and the staff will be able to work with him on it, but its just not something that can sold overnight with no "official" news they can comfort his concerns with.

Luatua committed to Denbrock on his in home on Decemember 3rd which I presume was at night. Martin accepted the Miami job that morning so Luatua would have known about Martin before he committed. Also I don't believe that has had any impact on him, I never have heard him even mention Martin, always Denbrock.

 

[gkIrish]

Sounds like none of you wanted Folston last year.

A few counterpoints:

1. Auburn isn't our most hated rival

2. He actually had an offer from Auburn

3. Folston was one of our top 5 most coveted recruits of last year's cycle so he gets a bit more leeway from the staff/fans. May not seem fair but the better you are the more acceptable it becomes to look around. In other words, we were just happy that he was 50% committed.

4. Folston wasn't publicly begging for attention IIRC.

 

[irishog77]

Luatua committed to Denbrock on his in home on Decemember 3rd which I presume was at night. Martin accepted the Miami job that morning so Luatua would have known about Martin before he committed. Also I don't believe that has had any impact on him, I never have heard him even mention Martin, always Denbrock.

And to add to this-- Not really buying into the notion that circumstances are almost 180 degrees different than when he committed either. The guy that (usually) called plays took a promotion. His position coach is still there, the head coach is still there, his main recruiter is still there, Alford and Denbrock (2 other coaches on O he will be getting some coaching from) are still there, the AD and President are still there, etc., etc. So, barring other information out there that we're not privy to, I'd guesstimate circumstances are about 10 degrees different than when he committed.

 

[ThePiombino]

Sounds like none of you wanted Folston last year.

To be fair, there are a lot more questions about Tyler than there were about Folston. Also, Folston got a late push from AU - not the other way around. Additionally, Folston didn't taking out a personal ad in Twitter basically begging for an offer from another school(s).

A few counterpoints:

1. Auburn isn't our most hated rival

2. He actually had an offer from Auburn

3. Folston was one of our top 5 most coveted recruits of last year's cycle so he gets a bit more leeway from the staff/fans. May not seem fair but the better you are the more acceptable it becomes to look around. In other words, we were just happy that he was 50% committed.

4. Folston wasn't publicly begging for attention IIRC.

I guess mostly this ^ lol

 

[NDinL.A.]

To be fair, there are a lot more questions about Tyler than there were about Folston. Also, Folston got a late push from AU - not the other way around. Additionally, Folston didn't taking out a personal ad in Twitter basically begging for an offer from another school(s).

On very good authority, Folston wanted to go to Auburn, and if he got his way on NSD, he'd be there. There is a reason his LOI got sent in so late.

Having said that, I agree you in that Luatua rubs me the wrong way, much more than Folston did. They are/were both "committed" in the sense that they really aren't/weren't, but Luatua seems far less committed and is very open about it. Plus as you said, the whole begging for an offer thing irks the heck out of me.

BTW, USC fans in Rivals have heard the same things I have heard about him and don't even want him. And we all know, fans know more than anyone and are never wrong.

I'll add this once again for anyone thinking I'm bashing the kid...I would really like to add him to the class, but only if his heart is set on ND and his heart is set on being a great football player. If not, it's not a loss at all.