'15 CA QB Blake Barnett (Arizona State Transfer)

[STLDomer]

Blake Barnett Opens Up to Former Texas QB Chris Simms on Decommitment from ND | Bleacher Report

 

[Luckylucci]

Now he's using his decommitment and the crappy position that he put ND as a way to get even more pub, keep it up Blake. You're a star.

 

[IrishLion]

I enjoyed the part where he recognizes that recruiting a QB is different, and that you have to jump on your offer early and that most places only want one in the class... I wonder if he realizes just how badly he may have screwed ND.

 

[IrishSteelhead]

Never knew Georgia has their "fair amount" of national championships, and the SEC has the only teams that "play on a big stage."

(I want to break something)

 

[SoIll]

I seen USC now has interest?

 

[IrishLion]

I can only hope that Bama blows him away on his visit and steals him from Oregon. That's the only outcome I'll be satisfied with, because I think he's going to be successful regardless. At least we know Hopkins will suffer.

 

[IrishLax]

Now he's using his decommitment and the crappy position that he put ND as a way to get even more pub, keep it up Blake. Your a star.

The funny thing about that interview is that his priorities become really obvious. He mentioned the NFL maybe a dozen times. Did not mention academics once.

I think he could've been a star at ND, but he probably made the right decision decomitting and looking at 5 football factories. He's clearly got football-first goals and I wonder what would've happened at ND if he hit adversity.

 

[IrishLax]

I can only hope that Bama blows him away on his visit and steals him from Oregon. That's the only outcome I'll be satisfied with, because I think he's going to be successful regardless. At least we know Hopkins will suffer.

We DO NOT want that. Then we'd lose out on Waller too.

 

[IrishLion]

We DO NOT want that. Then we'd lose out on Waller too.

And furthering my point in wondering if he realizes how bad he screwed ND lol.

Sub Georgia for Bama then. I don't mind Georgia most of the time.

 

[#1rish]

We DO NOT want that. Then we'd lose out on Waller too.

Oregon wasn't even in his top-4, I guess cause he assumed they're getting Barnett. Would suck if he committed to a team not in his top schools, regardless of their QB situation.

 

[Whiskeyjack]

He's clearly got football-first goals and I wonder what would've happened at ND if he hit adversity.

That's a great way of looking at it. Not sour grapes at all-- Blake is crazy talented and seems to come from a good family. But football-first kids tend not to do well at ND. Perhaps this was a blessing in disguise.

 

[Ndaccountant]

That's a great way of looking at it. Not sour grapes at all-- Blake is crazy talented and seems to come from a good family. But football-first kids tend not to do well at ND. Perhaps this was a blessing in disguise.

Do you think ND needs some football first guys? Do you think guys that live football first cannot change their stripes at ND or cannot be successful?

I was too young at the time, but my Dad and some older fans tell me that the 88-91 teams contained a few guys that were football first. They point to Ricky Watters for example. Vinny Cerrato and Lou definitely got the benefit of the doubt on some guys they brought in. I am curious to know what others think on this. I believe for ND to win a championship, they NEED some football first guys. Not an entire team, but some players that look at ND as a way to get to the NFL first and foremost.

 

[Whiskeyjack]

Do you think ND needs some football first guys?

Stanford does just fine without 'em.

Do you think guys that live football first cannot change their stripes at ND or cannot be successful?

It's possible, but probably not worth the risk. Being a student-athlete at ND is a lot harder than it is at most other sports-oriented universities because we take the "student" part seriously. Being "football-first" strongly implies that a recruit doesn't value a lot of what makes ND special, and is therefore much more likely to bolt or turn into a locker room cancer when adversity invariably hits.

I was too young at the time, but my Dad and some older fans tell me that the 88-91 teams contained a few guys that were football first. They point to Ricky Watters for example. Vinny Cerrato and Lou definitely got the benefit of the doubt on some guys they brought in. I am curious to know what others think on this. I believe for ND to win a championship, they NEED some football first guys. Not an entire team, but some players that look at ND as a way to get to the NFL first and foremost.

Different era. ND's national exposure and appeal were unmatched by any other program for many many years. So we were the obvious destination of choice even for football-first guys; they'd put up with all the "extraneous bullshit" because there was nowhere better to go. That's not the case anymore.

 

[#1rish]

Bryant I think is a good example of this. I remember jimmymac telling a story of how a teacher was asking each student why they were there, to which he responded "I'm here to play football". A year later, he looks like he's all in. He even said during spring practice that ND "humbled" him.

 

[IrishLax]

Do you think ND needs some football first guys? Do you think guys that live football first cannot change their stripes at ND or cannot be successful?

I was too young at the time, but my Dad and some older fans tell me that the 88-91 teams contained a few guys that were football first. They point to Ricky Watters for example. Vinny Cerrato and Lou definitely got the benefit of the doubt on some guys they brought in. I am curious to know what others think on this. I believe for ND to win a championship, they NEED some football first guys. Not an entire team, but some players that look at ND as a way to get to the NFL first and foremost.

Always a tough debate. When I look at Stanford, I see the value of having a bunch of tough guys who didn't sign up "because (insert school) puts guys in The League" and they've been consistently good for about half a decade now with mediocre-to-good recruiting classes. They develop players and most stay 4/5 years eschewing the temptation to leave early for the NFL. They also have far less attrition than most schools and superior depth (they also get lucky with injuries, likely because they're juicing, but that's a whole different tangent).

At the same time, can a team like Stanford get over the hump? I think you can win BCS games with a team like theirs, but can you win CHAMPIONSHIPS without some BAMFs? I don't know.

 

[Wild Bill]

Chemically enhance student-athletes. Problem solved.

 

[Ndaccountant]

Always a tough debate. When I look at Stanford, I see the value of having a bunch of tough guys who didn't sign up "because (insert school) puts guys in The League" and they've been consistently good for about half a decade now with mediocre-to-good recruiting classes. They develop players and most stay 4/5 years eschewing the temptation to leave early for the NFL. They also have far less attrition than most schools and superior depth (they also get lucky with injuries, likely because they're juicing, but that's a whole different tangent).

At the same time, can a team like Stanford get over the hump? I think you can win BCS games with a team like theirs, but can you win CHAMPIONSHIPS without some BAMFs? I don't know.

That is what I am struggling with. They also benefited from having an all world QB, which is something we know matters quite a bit in CFB. Last year, while they were 11-3, they seemed to have dropped a bit even with their great D. I think you can also say two of their three losses came against teams where the most of the players are football first.

I just don't think ND can consistently maneuver a schedule versus teams like FSU, USC, Texas, UGA, MSU, Clemson any many others without a handful of football first guys.

 

[WakeUpEchoes]

That is what I am struggling with. They also benefited from having an all world QB, which is something we know matters quite a bit in CFB. Last year, while they were 11-3, they seemed to have dropped a bit even with their great D. I think you can also say two of their three losses came against teams where the most of the players are football first.

I just don't think ND can consistently maneuver a schedule versus teams like FSU, USC, Texas, UGA, MSU, Clemson any many others without a handful of football first guys.

I agree.

 

[Whiskeyjack]

That is what I am struggling with. They also benefited from having an all world QB, which is something we know matters quite a bit in CFB. Last year, while they were 11-3, they seemed to have dropped a bit even with their great D. I think you can also say two of their three losses came against teams where the most of the players are football first.

We also recruit significantly better than Stanford does. If we're able to emulate their consistency and player development, we should be able to accomplish more.

I just don't think ND can consistently maneuver a schedule versus teams like FSU, USC, Texas, UGA, MSU, Clemson any many others without a handful of football first guys.

Not even 'Bama could maneuver such a schedule and regularly compete for championships under the BCS. But in the playoff era? Who knows. Now everyone is playing for a shot at the post-season, so SoS really matters. Brave new world.

 

[Jebediah Springfield]

Always a tough debate. When I look at Stanford, I see the value of having a bunch of tough guys who didn't sign up "because (insert school) puts guys in The League" and they've been consistently good for about half a decade now with mediocre-to-good recruiting classes. They develop players and most stay 4/5 years eschewing the temptation to leave early for the NFL. They also have far less attrition than most schools and superior depth (they also get lucky with injuries, likely because they're juicing, but that's a whole different tangent).

At the same time, can a team like Stanford get over the hump? I think you can win BCS games with a team like theirs, but can you win CHAMPIONSHIPS without some BAMFs? I don't know.

Isn't that really a tangent though?

They still are putting football-first, just focusing on BCS instead of NFL.

 

[Whiskeyjack]

They still are putting football-first, just focusing on BCS instead of NFL.

It's arguably unethical, but I wouldn't say that makes them "football-first" like most of the football factories. They maintain even higher admissions standards than we do, and their players seem to be real student-athletes.

 

[Jebediah Springfield]

It's arguably unethical, but I wouldn't say that makes them "football-first" like most of the football factories. They maintain even higher admissions standards than we do, and their players seem to be real student-athletes.

I imagine it like this: on one end you have football factories whose primary goal is to win football games and the other end being schools whose primary goal is to teach students with sports being a part of that education (perseverance, teamwork etc etc). The roid thing, for me, pushes Stanford closer to the football factory end of the spectrum.

But then again, if football factories are cheating off the field and the Stanford's of the CFB world cheat on the field then it kind of evens out. Especially if it was done in reaction to the factory schools.

 

[IrishBlood81]

Sub Georgia for Bama then. I don't mind Georgia most of the time.

Until we start playing them. I would hate to play against Blake after all this fiasco.

Chemically enhance student-athletes. Problem solved.

I heard Les Miles has already started looking into it. He's got a factory in Canada.

 

[IrishLion]

Until we start playing them. I would hate to play against Blake after all this fiasco.

DAMMIT.

 

[IrishBlood81]

DAMMIT.

Yeah, didn't think you realized this when you said that.

Never knew Georgia has their "fair amount" of national championships, and the SEC has the only teams that "play on a big stage."

(I want to break something)

Don't you have a Nick Saben voodoo doll you can break? ...removable head..etc?

 

[Irish#1]

Now Barnett's thread has turned into a philosophical discussion on the merits of academics, juicing, football first students and football factories. How many times has a recruits thread turned into this type of discussion? lol

 

[Jebediah Springfield]

Now Barnett's thread has turned into a philosophical discussion on the merits of academics, juicing, football first students and football factories. How many times has a recruits thread turned into this type of discussion? lol

Find me a thread with 20+ pages that has stayed on track lol

 

[Whiskeyjack]

Now Barnett's thread has turned into a philosophical discussion on the merits of academics, juicing, football first students and football factories. How many times has a recruits thread turned into this type of discussion? lol

It's pretty common around here, which should be a point of pride for IE.

My view on this is that Barnett isn't coming to ND, so the need to keep his thread "on topic" isn't very pressing. But if some of you are masochistically clicking on this thread looking for actual news on the kid, I'd be open to cleaning it up more regularly. I generally leave the Thread Nazi shtick to Beau.

 

[IrishLax]

Now Barnett's thread has turned into a philosophical discussion on the merits of academics, juicing, football first students and football factories. How many times has a recruits thread turned into this type of discussion? lol

lol

The reason it does, IMO, is every time we lose a commit and they go to some random ass place because they never gave two shits about academics and only liked ND for the "glitz" factors a bunch of people... including myself... go WHY THE HELL DO WE RECRUIT KIDS LIKE THIS?!

With Blake I feel differently though. I think the staff was right on with recruiting him, and I don't think they could've seen this coming. Is what it is.

 

[irishog77]

It's pretty common around here, which should be a point of pride for IE.

My view on this is that Barnett isn't coming to ND, so there need to keep his thread "on topic" isn't as pressing. But if some of you are masochistically clicking on thread looking for actual news on the kid, I'd be open to cleaning it up more regularly. I generally leave the Thread Nazi shtick to Beau.

Leave. It. Be.

I too view the interaction as a point of pride and is the main reason I stick around this place. Good crootin info...but also there is very often intellectual and humorous discourse.