'16 AL LB Ben Davis (Alabama Verbal)

Irish#1

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NDCrusader said:
From the Scout article BigHead posted above:




Notre Dame, Stanford, Duke, come to your door and offer your son the million dollar handshake and you openly push him to Bama so he can be like you... the all time leading tackler who got a cup of coffee in the League as a 9th round pick, a PE degree and a teaching gig in rural Alabama.

Why force your failed dreams on your kid to satisfy your ego?

.
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He didn't claim to smart.
 
drake29

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NDCrusader said:
From the Scout article BigHead posted above:




Notre Dame, Stanford, Duke, come to your door and offer your son the million dollar handshake and you openly push him to Bama so he can be like you... the all time leading tackler who got a cup of coffee in the League as a 9th round pick, a PE degree and a teaching gig in rural Alabama.

Why force your failed dreams on your kid to satisfy your ego?

.
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Some of the best men and women I've ever met are teachers in rural Kansas. None of them seemed unhappy. Maybe some people would rather take less money to make an impact on someone else's life.
 
ThePiombino

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T Town Tommy said:
Saban called five recruits after the game on Monday. Davis was one of them. On a side note... I hope it's 5 degrees with a wind chill of -15 in South Bend this weekend.
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You can dispense with the faux nervousness. We all know he's not coming here.

NDCrusader said:
Notre Dame, Stanford, Duke, come to your door and offer your son the million dollar handshake and you openly push him to Bama so he can be like you... the all time leading tackler who got a cup of coffee in the League as a 9th round pick, a PE degree and a teaching gig in rural Alabama.

Why force your failed dreams on your kid to satisfy your ego?

.
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If you honestly can't imagine why a kid would prefer Bama to play football over ND then I got nothing for ya. Doesn't make the kid an idiot, nor his father.
 
stlnd01

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ThePiombino said:
If you honestly can't imagine why a kid would prefer Bama to play football over ND then I got nothing for ya. Doesn't make the kid an idiot, nor his father.
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Also any man who can raise a son who can get football scholarship offers from Notre Dame, Stanford and Duke is probably doing something right (even if it's just via Mom). Even if he'd prefer that son play his football at Alabama.
 
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stlnd01 said:
Also any man who can raise a son who can get football scholarship offers from Notre Dame, Stanford and Duke is probably doing something right (even if it's just via Mom). Even if he'd prefer that son play his football at Alabama.
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This.

Something that a lot of people don't consider is that schools like ND, Stanford and Duke force their kids to go to class and don't give them an easy path. Add in the pursuit of excellence in football and it's at least twice as difficult.

There is a difference between getting admitted to these schools and finding success in both the classroom and football field at these schools.

Is a parent suggesting to their kid that maybe going to a school like Alabama, where it's easier to do both football and school, that much different than a parent suggesting to their kid they shouldn't go to private liberal arts school and study theater or sanskrit?

After all, if the kid has the grades to get into ND it's not like he is a bad student. And like it or not, ND is not the only school where you can earn a degree and make connections that will set you up.

I think it's the spectrum. ND does not have kids thrown out with the trash like some SEC schools do. But this does not mean all schools don't have a positive side to the spectrum.
 
C

Cackalacky

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drake29 said:
Some of the best men and women I've ever met are teachers in rural Kansas. None of them seemed unhappy. Maybe some people would rather take less money to make an impact on someone else's life.
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Not sure if you have been privy to this or not but its well understand that one of Alabama's MO regarding its football program is to funnel their players into history or PE focused majors so that they typically end up back at the HS level with coaching aspirations. This is beneficial as now Alabama has loyal alumni/teachers and football coaches that can assess, develop and sway top kids to Alabama. I think I recall Whiskeyjack talking about this a few years back but I am drawing a blank when exactly.
 
beryirish

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Cackalacky said:
Not sure if you have been privy to this or not but its well understand that one of Alabama's MO regarding its football program is to funnel their players into history or PE focused majors so that they typically end up back at the HS level with coaching aspirations. This is beneficial as now Alabama has loyal alumni/teachers and football coaches that can assess, develop and sway top kids to Alabama. I think I recall Whiskeyjack talking about this a few years back but I am drawing a blank when exactly.
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Wow - they think of everything.
 
T Town Tommy

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Cackalacky said:
Not sure if you have been privy to this or not but its well understand that one of Alabama's MO regarding its football program is to funnel their players into history or PE focused majors so that they typically end up back at the HS level with coaching aspirations. This is beneficial as now Alabama has loyal alumni/teachers and football coaches that can assess, develop and sway top kids to Alabama. I think I recall Whiskeyjack talking about this a few years back but I am drawing a blank when exactly.
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Yet a tremendous amount of those players don't become teachers and/or coaches so just how effective something like that would be is debatable. The bigger effect, and why it is so hard to pull players from the South is much more simpler. They grow up watching these teams play, they attend games, they see it, read it, smell it, 24/7. Plus they attend the camps, meet current players and coaches, and they are likely generational fans within their families. And while we sometimes laugh at weather, it is a huge factor as well. Distance from home... on and on.

As far as getting in to a HS in Bama to recruit a kid, that is becoming more and more available to coaches outside the state. HS coaches, and I know several of them, will do as much as they can to assist their players in getting college scholarships. Even if it means that a team outside the South is interested. It is just so much harder for a Harbaugh or a Kelly to walk in to Hoover or Prattville and convince a kid to play for them over Bama/Auburn/ Fla/Ga, etc. Harbaugh has made some ground with his camp last season, but until he pulls the five stars instead of the three stars I just don't see it changing that much.
 
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dublinirish

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Cackalacky said:
Not sure if you have been privy to this or not but its well understand that one of Alabama's MO regarding its football program is to funnel their players into history or PE focused majors so that they typically end up back at the HS level with coaching aspirations. This is beneficial as now Alabama has loyal alumni/teachers and football coaches that can assess, develop and sway top kids to Alabama. I think I recall Whiskeyjack talking about this a few years back but I am drawing a blank when exactly.
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this was mentioned in that "Meet the Bagman" SB nation article a few years ago

EDIT: Meet the Bag Man - SBNation.com

College majors like Exercise Science and General Education have long been assailed by critics as crip-course degrees, but shadow boosters see them as a vital way to perpetuate the cycle. If a player finishes out his eligibility and has no feasible future in the pros, he might return home and become a nearby high school coach. It doesn't matter if it's junior high or seven-on-seven camps; each means a new brand ambassador for the program.

"You win the gym teachers, and you can go a long way. That's why all those basket-weaving degrees are so important, because we need 'em on both ends. You need 'em to keep the kids qualified, and you need 'em to produce guys who can go back and coach and teach and help us."

It doesn't hurt that the system produces agents who often become the most powerful male influence in a young athlete's life. And there is, of course, a fiscal incentive for the ex-athlete to help steer future players in the same direction he went. The bag man doesn't expect any coach to push 100 percent of his Division I-worthy talent to any one particular place, let alone his alma mater, but rather pick spots for the big ones.

"Kids are going to grow up liking teams for one reason or another, but when it comes time to start seriously talking to them, you need as many folks as you can get. Mama wins almost every time. Mama's most important. But you get coaches with ties to the school, then you get one person who has all those kids' attention."
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C

Cackalacky

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T Town Tommy said:
Yet a tremendous amount of those players don't become teachers and/or coaches so just how effective something like that would be is debatable. The bigger effect, and why it is so hard to pull players from the South is much more simpler. They grow up watching these teams play, they attend games, they see it, read it, smell it, 24/7. Plus they attend the camps, meet current players and coaches, and they are likely generational fans within their families. And while we sometimes laugh at weather, it is a huge factor as well. Distance from home... on and on.

As far as getting in to a HS in Bama to recruit a kid, that is becoming more and more available to coaches outside the state. HS coaches, and I know several of them, will do as much as they can to assist their players in getting college scholarships. Even if it means that a team outside the South is interested. It is just so much harder for a Harbaugh or a Kelly to walk in to Hoover or Prattville and convince a kid to play for them over Bama/Auburn/ Fla/Ga, etc. Harbaugh has made some ground with his camp last season, but until he pulls the five stars instead of the three stars I just don't see it changing that much.
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Don't mistake my words .... Its not a conspiracy by any means. But you don't need a tremendous amount. You just need a few. And lets not pretend Alabama alumni are tearing up job opportunities elsewhere in the country.

As to much of what you said, no one denies that. I have made such statements many times. But if you look at what Ben's dad said, he did not mention weather, or distance, though I am sure they have talked about that, but he said he was actively trying to sway him to his alma mater. Its not inconceivable that coaches would do the same for elite talent. Ben's dad is basically saying, forget all the other opportunities and reasons to go elsewhere, you need to be at Bama.
 
T Town Tommy

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=Cackalacky;1674622
Don't mistake my words .... Its not a conspiracy by any means. But you don't need a tremendous amount. You just need a few. And lets not pretend Alabama alumni are tearing up job opportunities elsewhere in the country.



As to much of what you said, no one denies that. I have made such statements many times. But if you look at what Ben's dad said, he did not mention weather, or distance, though I am sure they have talked about that, but he said he was actively trying to sway him to his alma mater. Its not inconceivable that coaches would do the same for elite talent. Ben's dad is basically saying, forget all the other opportunities and reasons to go elsewhere, you need to be a Bama.
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Don't quite understand your first comment.


His father is a Bama alum. I see no issue with him wanting his son to play there. His father has also said many times that it is his son's decision on where he ultimately goes. I think questioning what his father would like to see is a bit trivial. As is those questioning what his father does for a living. And if NSD was tomorrow, it would not shock me one bit if Davis sighed with Ga.

He has already shown that he is as good a student as he is a player. If he wants a great education then he can get it... no matter what school he decides to go to.

Breaking down the "closed door" to HS players in the state is becoming more common. And yes, plenty of coaches do try to steer their players to either Alabama or Auburn. But again, if Kelly or Harbaugh calls most any coach in the state, they can get access. Results are another story with most of the players... and the HS coaches preference is typically pretty low on the list at the end of the day when a player commits to a school.
 
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Irishman77

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Weather is huge. I am at a conference now with Emmitt Smith and when he was talking about the day he was drafted, he said oh hell no when Green Bay's pick was coming up. He grew up a gator and cowboy fan. Great speaker and shared some wonderful life stories
 
dublinirish

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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">5-star LB Ben Davis will arrive at <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NotreDame?src=hash">#NotreDame</a> around noon for his official visit. Story: <a href="https://t.co/wVco04xPZA">https://t.co/wVco04xPZA</a> <a href="https://t.co/L1973IsRrs">pic.twitter.com/L1973IsRrs</a></p>— Tom Loy (@TomLoy247) <a href="https://twitter.com/TomLoy247/status/688015023709523970">January 15, 2016</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
 
Bobias

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dublinirish said:
28 degrees in SB this weekend according to weather.com :/
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I'm assuming that there is snow on the ground which makes winter tolerable to me at least. Some southern kids are even attracted to it because of the novelty factor for them. It's better than it being grey ugly cold windy and muddy as far as impressions are concerned.
 
Booslum31

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Rizzophil said:
I'm going with my gut. 1.98% we get him.
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He's on campus...anything can happen. My fear was that all of the coaches were out on the road and we were hosting the number one LB in the land. I understand his dad's pull to bama but he might want to carve his own path.

Crazier things have happened...I just can't think of one right now.
 
beryirish

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Booslum31 said:
He's on campus...anything can happen. My fear was that all of the coaches were out on the road and we were hosting the number one LB in the land. I understand his dad's pull to bama but he might want to carve his own path.

Crazier things have happened...I just can't think of one right now.
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Manti Te'o fully expected to continue USC's epic run of linebackers only to blaze his own path and head to ND...
 
Irish#1

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Currently 41 in SB so it's not all bad. I'm going out on a limb and say we've got a 3.756% chance to land him. You can hold my feet to the fire on this one.
 
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