'08 NJ LB Brendan Beal (Florida Verbal)

[Axl Rose]

I could really care less about Beal at this point, Sabino and Filer are the two I want(heck one would be good). I know a coach from a rival school that coached against Beal and said that he is over hyped. Hes no where near 4.5 speed, he does make a lot of tackles though but it has a lot to do with the play of Roxbury's D-line which is usually the biggest in the league.

 

[Clausen2Kamara]

I could really care less about Beal at this point, Sabino and Filer are the two I want(heck one would be good). I know a coach from a rival school that coached against Beal and said that he is over hyped. Hes no where near 4.5 speed, he does make a lot of tackles though but it has a lot to do with the play of Roxbury's D-line which is usually the biggest in the league.

Thx for the info Axl, I'm with u, I'd much rather have Filer or Sabino.

 

[notredomer23]

I could really care less about Beal at this point, Sabino and Filer are the two I want(heck one would be good). I know a coach from a rival school that coached against Beal and said that he is over hyped. Hes no where near 4.5 speed, he does make a lot of tackles though but it has a lot to do with the play of Roxbury's D-line which is usually the biggest in the league.

what school was the coach from because im very familiar with the area

 

[Axl Rose]

what school was the coach from because im very familiar with the area

Seton Hall Prep.

 

[rockne19]

i would take sabino in a heart beat he plays against better competion than beal.

 

[Irishknight1023]

i've wrote off Beal for a while now jamming that academic crap down my throat like every recruit does. I never want to hear how a recruit is VERY interested in academics and because of that puts us in good position. I won't beleive he cares about academics until he commits to us. That being said I've felt this way about Beal for a while now and sadly enough i've felt this way about Filer for a while now too and everytime I say so I get ganged up on. I'd rather he come, but i'll live without him. Sabino sounds like a good thing, but it's just an internet rumor and I haven't seen anything in writing yet.

 

[MightyK]

i've detested Beal for a while now jamming that academic crap down my throat like every recruit does. I never want to hear how a recruit is VERY interested in academics and because of that puts us in good position. I won't beleive he cares about academics until he commits to us. That being said I've felt this way about Beal for a while now and sadly enough i've felt this way about Filer for a while now too and everytime I say so I get ganged up on. I'd rather he come, but i'll live without him. Sabino sounds like a good thing, but it's just an internet rumor and I haven't seen anything in writing yet so I will remain negative until proven otherwise.

Is there some kind of 'ignore person' setting here? Is it me or is detesting a 17 year old kid a bit beyond reasonable?

Therapy?

 

[stonebreakerwasgod]

MightyK, I think therapy is overstating a bit. Some people just get tired of the games being played by recruits and their families. Legitimate or not. Kids should learn to say very little until they make the final decision.

Let's try to be civil to each other, while understanding the recruiting process tends to be mixed with joy, sorrow, and FRUSTRATION.

Go Irish!

 

[ant80]

i've wrote off Beal for a while now jamming that academic crap down my throat like every recruit does. I never want to hear how a recruit is VERY interested in academics and because of that puts us in good position. I won't beleive he cares about academics until he commits to us. That being said I've felt this way about Beal for a while now and sadly enough i've felt this way about Filer for a while now too and everytime I say so I get ganged up on. I'd rather he come, but i'll live without him. Sabino sounds like a good thing, but it's just an internet rumor and I haven't seen anything in writing yet.

MightyK, I think therapy is overstating a bit. Some people just get tired of the games being played by recruits and their families. Legitimate or not. Kids should learn to say very little until they make the final decision.

Let's try to be civil to each other, while understanding the recruiting process tends to be mixed with joy, sorrow, and FRUSTRATION.

Go Irish!

Why should kids say little? There are services that survive by posting what these kids say. These are the kids' lives that we are talking about. For people like us, it is simply entertainment. The kids have every right to voice their opinion to someone. Sometimes, they are thinking out loud, sometimes its more than that. Here we overinterpret every word that the recruit utters, and allowing that to affect our mood.

As a buckeye fan, it was frustrating to see Barksdale, Davis and Martin sign with other schools last year, and it is the same way with Rudolph and Long this year (so far). But you just shrug it off. If you allow things like these to dictate your life, then you need to reevaluate your priorities.

 

[Jason Pham]

Reps to those reasonable enough to not write a kid off because of something he said at one time and how he feels now.

 

[stonebreakerwasgod]

Why should kids say little? There are services that survive by posting what these kids say. These are the kids' lives that we are talking about. For people like us, it is simply entertainment. The kids have every right to voice their opinion to someone. Sometimes, they are thinking out loud, sometimes its more than that. Here we overinterpret every word that the recruit utters, and allowing that to affect our mood.

As a buckeye fan, it was frustrating to see Barksdale, Davis and Martin sign with other schools last year, and it is the same way with Rudolph and Long this year (so far). But you just shrug it off. If you allow things like these to dictate your life, then you need to reevaluate your priorities.

It's called an opinion. Just because reporters and sites attempt to make fame/money off of what kid's say, doesn't mean they have to oblige. I don't care if they do or don't. It doesn't make sense to me tho, to have kids lead people on when they have little or no intention of going to a particular instituion. Similarly, coaches like Meyer the Wad should be careful about offering scholies to kids.

 

[Jason Pham]

I think leading on is a misleading statement. For recruits like Beal, Sweat, those who seem to have a new list of top schools with a new list of reasons why every time they visit a new school, they are having a difficult time sorting through what they really want and what they are being sold. And for some, it is much more difficult than for others not to be influenced by some of the best salesmen in the nation: Cockwad, the Poodle, you can even count Charlie and Brown as great salesmen though they allegedly seem to use more honest approaches.

For someone who is just 17 years old, many come ill-prepared for this amount of sales pitching. Imagine someone who isn't car savvy going to a car dealership for the first time, they are easily swayed by the words horsepower, v6, power this, power that just as much as a recruit who comes ill-prepared to the recruiting scene can be swayed by the glitz and glam and the celebrity status. So with each visit to a different university salesmen, they might switch up their lists and interests thinking maybe a v6 and power that is what they wanted all along.

In the end, though. I expect the kids with the best character to be able to sort through the sales pitch and make a decision that maintains their integrity, and I expect the kids who weren't strong enough to buy out of those things to make decisions that they will just have to learn to deal with. I'm not able to say exactly which kids are which, but I wouldn't accuse any of them of being misleading or disingenuous. You just have to understand what these kids are going through and why and how these statements are being made.

 

[ant80]

It's called an opinion. Just because reporters and sites attempt to make fame/money off of what kid's say, doesn't mean they have to oblige. I don't care if they do or don't. It doesn't make sense to me tho, to have kids lead people on when they have little or no intention of going to a particular instituion. Similarly, coaches like Meyer the Wad should be careful about offering scholies to kids.

I don't know how old you are, but when you are 16/17/18, you tend to be flattered by people coming a long way to pay them attention. They might handle situations differently depending on their maturity level and mentality. The kids are in no way obligated to please anybody. They have a life. You and I are not part of it. We are simply outside spectators. If you allow yourself to be "led on", that's your fault.

The kids are in touch with the coaches. The coaches are paid to evaluate the kids. That's part of the job description. They will do that as they see fit. If they are not careful about who they offer schollies, it is the coach's fault. He is not doing his job right. And the recruits will make their own decision. All we are going to be able to do is watch. On the other hand, the kid is entitled to 5 official visits. The schools are willing to pay for them because the coaches think the potential benefit is worth the risk. If the kid doesn't intend to consider the school, but still takes the visit, it's his call. If you call that leading the school on and that the kid mustn't do it, it is again what you said it was, an opinion. Your morals are your own, not the kid's. As long as there is nothing illegal, there's nothing wrong. This is the reality of the situation.

 

[irishunclebill]

Another reason why message board rumor is pretty much worthless. On the same day that Beal placed ND in his secone tier of choices, this post pops up on an ND message board.

"You may see UF and USC back off Beal in the near future. ND is in very good position right now."

Plus the poster was from Beal's hometown of Roxbury, NJ. However, when pressed for why he was making the statement, it turned out that the poster was also from Beal's High School, is a big time ND fan, and the statement was basically his opinion that the Poodle and the Cockwad will not really be interested in Beal because his measurables are not actually as good as what they thought they were. So, this kid makes a post saying that ND is in good position for Beal because he thinks Carroll & Meyer are not aware that the measurables posted at this time of year for all recruits are suspect, and when they find out that Brendan Beal is not quite as fast as what his Rivals 40 time is listed as, that they will kick him to the curb. This is just a ridiculous presumption fueled more by a local kid who is an ND fan hoping that someone from his High School goes to ND, than anything based on reality or fact, but it is exactly how message board rumors create unwanted fires.

 

[irishunclebill]

As a buckeye fan, it was frustrating to see Barksdale, Davis and Martin sign with other schools last year, and it is the same way with Rudolph and Long this year (so far). But you just shrug it off. If you allow things like these to dictate your life, then you need to reevaluate your priorities.

ant80- On a completely different subject, what's the latest word out of Columbus on Josh Jenkins. One of the recruiting sites is saying that Charlie Weis visited Jenkins last week. Is he still hot for OSU, or is he back with WVU?

Also, do you think the Buckeyes will ever offer the Flying Burrito, McGuffie, or Brandon Beachum.

 

[IrishCalves]

ant80- On a completely different subject, what's the latest word out of Columbus on Josh Jenkins. One of the recruiting sites is saying that Charlie Weis visited Jenkins last week. Is he still hot for OSU, or is he back with WVU?

Also, do you think the Buckeyes will ever offer the Flying Burrito, McGuffie, or Brandon Beachum.

Jenkins plans to visit Notre Dame during the summer. I don't know that he's as interested in us as OSU or WVU, but who knows - a visit can change everything (see Dayne Crist).

And as for his soft verbal to WVU, the way he's treating it is useless - its more like he's "high" on them. I don't know about you, but if I was serious about going to WVU, I wouldn't be taking photo opps like this, doing hand gestures for a different school:

Maybe its peer pressure, or a lapse of judgment, but pictures are worth 1,000 words sometimes.

And as for the others you mention, McGuffie won't be seeing an offer from OSU, unless they want to jeopardize their relationship with Torrence. They said if they got him, no other RB would come in with this class.

 

[irishunclebill]

Thanks, that picture was the last I had seen of Jenkins, and I had heard some rumblings that he may have gone back to the WVU camp, but that would appear unlikely if CW really visited him.

 

[ant80]

...Also, do you think the Buckeyes will ever offer the Flying Burrito, McGuffie, or Brandon Beachum.

I have to say I don't know who the Flying Burrito is.

Jenkins plans to visit Notre Dame during the summer. I don't know that he's as interested in us as OSU or WVU, but who knows - a visit can change everything (see Dayne Crist).

And as for the others you mention, McGuffie won't be seeing an offer from OSU, unless they want to jeopardize their relationship with Torrence. They said if they got him, no other RB would come in with this class.

Thanks. I'm going to add that if McGuffie is offered, he is offered as an ATH instead of RB, though even that doesn't seem likely in spite of reports of JB rooting for his offer. Sad because I think we are in really good shape with the kid.

We have other offers out to several LBs including Sabino, Beal, Wilson and Filer. We are in really good shape with two LBs, Hale and Sweat (I haven't included Zordich because I think he's being recruited as a FB). So Beachum is probably not going to be offered.

As far as Jenkins, I think WVU is very high, OSU is high and the rest are medium/low interest.

 

[irishunclebill]

Sorry I didn't phrase that correctly, McGuffie is the Flying Burrito.

 

[ant80]

Sorry I didn't phrase that correctly, McGuffie is the Flying Burrito.

Did you come up with that?

 

[irishunclebill]

Did you come up with that?

Yea, that's an orginal irishunclebillism.

 

[letsgomountaineers]

I graduated from Roxbury High School in 2006 and Beal was my teammate. To clear up the GPA thing, Roxbury runs on a 4.0 GPA but if you take AP and Honors classes you can get higher than a 4.0. kid was a solid linebacker even when he was a sophomore, hard worker and deserves everything he's got going for him. I'm not a ND fan at all but the fact that someone from our town in NJ is getting looks from a big time school like Notre Dame is a pretty big deal and like i said he deserves to have every single bit of Success since he's worked his ass off for it his whole life.

 

[rontdtarchala]

I think the fact that anyone would agree that its ok to mislead an institution of higher learning to better your position with another or for any reason says how low society has stooped and if you can't see it please go to your prayer closet and put it to good use for....a really long duration. If any of these kids are being used then shame on the adults around them...some if not most are smart enough to know exactly whats going on so please don't try blowing that one up my pant leg. I don't think you go over board on them but I will give my opinion and if anyone doesn't like it wah wah geez grow up some of you go way overboard on the pc crap. I do agree we should never verbally castrate any young man. but I refuse to kiss the back side of a young MAN that is extremely misrepresenting his intentions....sorry I've seen a lot of things being said on the subject this is my first chance to respond....

 

[johnnd05]

I think the fact that anyone would agree that its ok to mislead an institution of higher learning to better your position with another or for any reason says how low society has stooped and if you can't see it please go to your prayer closet and put it to good use for....a really long duration. If any of these kids are being used then shame on the adults around them...some if not most are smart enough to know exactly whats going on so please don't try blowing that one up my pant leg. I don't think you go over board on them but I will give my opinion and if anyone doesn't like it wah wah geez grow up some of you go way overboard on the pc crap. I do agree we should never verbally castrate any young man. but I refuse to kiss the back side of a young MAN that is extremely misrepresenting his intentions....sorry I've seen a lot of things being said on the subject this is my first chance to respond....

Huh? This seems WAY harsh. "Misleading an institution of higher learning?" "Extremely misrepresenting his intentions?" Where does this come from? I'm as big a proponent of ND's academics as the next guy, and I've always been super quick to jump on people who've suggested that standards should be lowered or that ND's academics aren't actually that much better than Cal, SC, or whomever, but this kind of talk seems overboard to me.

 

[IrishCalves]

I think the fact that anyone would agree that its ok to mislead an institution of higher learning to better your position with another or for any reason says how low society has stooped and if you can't see it please go to your prayer closet and put it to good use for....a really long duration. If any of these kids are being used then shame on the adults around them...some if not most are smart enough to know exactly whats going on so please don't try blowing that one up my pant leg. I don't think you go over board on them but I will give my opinion and if anyone doesn't like it wah wah geez grow up some of you go way overboard on the pc crap. I do agree we should never verbally castrate any young man. but I refuse to kiss the back side of a young MAN that is extremely misrepresenting his intentions....sorry I've seen a lot of things being said on the subject this is my first chance to respond....

Dude... maybe its just the phrasing, but what you said was a whole lot of railing. I've read it four times, and I still have to ask, what are you exactly saying? I'm pretty sure you're criticizing Beal most specifically, and not those around him, but what is it that you're refering to with his "misleading" and "misrepresentating"? I'm not quite sure what it is that makes you think his actions and comments are malicious. And who exactly is asking us to "kiss the backside" of Beal in this instance? Maybe some more quotes, or specific contexts would help, because... sorry, but I'm left with

 

[grantphilly]

I think the fact that anyone would agree that its ok to mislead an institution of higher learning to better your position with another or for any reason says how low society has stooped and if you can't see it please go to your prayer closet and put it to good use for....a really long duration. If any of these kids are being used then shame on the adults around them...some if not most are smart enough to know exactly whats going on so please don't try blowing that one up my pant leg. I don't think you go over board on them but I will give my opinion and if anyone doesn't like it wah wah geez grow up some of you go way overboard on the pc crap. I do agree we should never verbally castrate any young man. but I refuse to kiss the back side of a young MAN that is extremely misrepresenting his intentions....sorry I've seen a lot of things being said on the subject this is my first chance to respond....

After last year, if you payed any attention at all then you think you would know how this game works. It's like a year long soap opera with several plot changes that would drive any normal person to the brink of insanity. It seems a little redundant to throw accusations at one kid and not at another b/c he's doing the same thing all the other receuits are. Remember not to over anaylze and enjoy the rollercoaster ride!

 

[Katzenboyer]

I've said this a THOUSAND times, but it seems like it needs to be repeated time and time again.

Way too many posters get their panties in a bunch when a recruit picks a school other than ND, or "shows love" to another school who's perceived to be of a lower quality in terms of ranking -- especially when the recruit has said academics are important to him.

It's immature, and it makes you look like a petulant child. Most of us here know the reputation ND fans have from other teams' fans -- that we feel entitled, are spoiled because of the TV contract, blah blah blah blah blah blah. I post on this board because the posters here have the same love of ND that I have, and show it in a mature, dignified way.

But when I see the kind of crap that's been spewed against guys like Beal and Sweat, I get FURIOUS. You know what? Notre Dame isn't for everyone. Deal with it.

Notre Dame has great tradition. Notre Dame has a great history. Notre Dame has great athletics. Notre Dame is a GREAT SCHOOL.

But that doesn't mean that any recruit should be honored to play here, or has to come here if they mention that "academics are important." Lorenzo Edwards got shit on this board last year because he made a comment, and then chose Florida. You know what? He decided ND wasn't for him, despite it's strong academic reputation. DEAL WITH IT.

These are KIDS, and if any of you have gone through the college application process with your children, you know how important the "gut factor" is. If a kid visits campus and doesn't like the cold, or doesn't like the small-town atmosphere, or doesn't like the facilities, that's their choice, and best of luck to them. Lorenzo Edwards chose the University of Florida, and academics might have had something to do with it, and MILLIONS of other factors might have had something to do with it.

If Beal or Sweat, who have mentioned that they are looking for academics, choose another school, I know that certain posters will come on this board railing against them because of their apparent hypocrisy. You know what? They're making a choice for life, and they want to go to the place where they feel the most comfortable, and will give them the best chance of succeeding on the football field. If they fall for a coach's recrutiting pitch, well, good for that coach -- you should be rewarded for being a good recruiter.

I'm sorry if this seems like I'm on a soap box, but the panty-whining that happens with the ups and downs of recruiting during the year infuriates me. Look through the Beal and Sweat threads -- there are moer than a few posters who are criticizing, or saying things derogatory to these two young men's character, because they "show love" to schools that might not have the best academics, or might not be up to the same standards as Notre Dame's. Grow up.

The choice of where to play is up to these young men -- not us. While we'd love them to play here, and can drool about their talents being on the field in South Bend, that's not enough. It's up to THEM. Grow up, get ahold of yourself, and stop blaming these guys for going through the process of being courted by major Division 1 programs. We don't know these guys, and for some of us here to judge them is wrong, immature, and makes us look like idiots.

I will now climb off my soap box.

 

[johnnd05]

Katz is absolutely right - that post should be required reading!

As I noted above, I've always been one to jump down the throats of people who slight ND's academics. But for all that I don't think I've ever slammed a kid who decided that those academics weren't for him, no matter what he'd said about what he was looking for in a college. (At least I hope I haven't done that.) The frequency with which this sort of thing has been happening lately is pretty outrageous; it's one thing to be a little critical, and another to simply go to town on someone whose situation you have absolutely NO understanding of.

Let's learn to hold our tongues sometimes, okay?

 

[ant80]

Is there a great post award? Someone please reward Kat.

 

[IrishCalves]

Katz pretty much hit it right on the head. If I may, I'll tack on from a slightly different angle.

How many recruits, when asked, say, "I'm looking for good academics"? Honestly, isn't that about 90% of the recruits? And the other 10% probably say something like, "Well all the schools I'm looking at will give me an education, so that doesn't really matter."

Point being, many comments about academics are as vanilla and generic as they come, and don't really tell us anything. I can't profess insider knowledge on how HS coaches handle D1 recruitments, but I also wouldn't be surprised if these kids are told how to handle the academic questions. I mean honestly is it true that 75% of the kids in this country "have no favorites at this time"? Thats BS. Most every kid has one or two schools that shine a little brighter in their eye. But they have to play the game, and say the right things. A lot of times, academics fall under that category. Even if you don't care, if you act like you don't that isn't going to look good at all, especially if (as Captain Obvious strikes again) you're being recruited by a school.

And even when a kid states he has a specific academic plan, that can easily change. When I was in HS, I went into my junior year thinking I wanted to go into radio broadcast. I ended my senior year on a career path towards being a high school teacher. Point is, even the best laid plans get changed when you're 17-18 years old. I'm sorry, but you can't treat every one of these kids like they're fully grown adults, or like they should all know better, simply because of their status at a scholarship athlete. Most of these kids aren't yet old enough to vote, yet they should know everything about their academic and professional goals, as well as how to handle the media attention and swarms of recruiters without ruffling anyone's feathers? Please.