Coaching Carousel

[Dale]

Sure, Indiana is better than Nebraska overall but it's not an incredible talent gap and ND is competing with two other P5 schools for the in state talent. The in state conversation is largely irrelevant b/c nobody is building a relevant program relying on in state talent from Nebraska or Indiana.

I could be wrong but I'm not so sure the unique nature of ND would be important to recruits if they were a shit program. Duke is unique, Stanford is unique, Vandy is unique. The most significant unique characteristic about ND is that it is a blue blood school with a great history. The same is true about Nebraska. People tend to forget about that during the bad times. I remember national pundits having conversations about whether or not ND was relevant in 2016, just a few years removed from playing for a title.

I think you're right, leaving the BIG 12 hurt them with recruiting in Texas. To what extent and whether or not it can be overcome is up for debate. I think they can recruit on a national level no different than Oklahoma if they can put a winner on the field. OK gets a significant portion of their high end talent outside of Big 12 country - CA, AZ, MD, FL, GA, VA, Wash DC.

OK and NE are similarliy situated programs - blue bloods great plains and limited in state talent. I think it's reasonable to assume the difference between OK landing these blue chips has more to do with winning and producing NFL talent and less to do with playing in Texas a few times a year. I think OK would agree, which is why they are leaving the BIG 12.

2021 class is for OU has 16 kids and 8 were from TX or OK. In 2020 it was 14/23. Sure Lincoln can recruit blue chips from elsewhere but that’s not how you make roster. So if Nebraska mirrors that is a model of half your roster coming from Nebraska and where else? Kansas and Colorado? Would be a significantly less talented pool of players

Not really about convincing blue chips. About having a pool of players to be foundation of the roster and consistent source. You’d rather compete in a larger pool than have no competition in a small one.

 

[Dale]

In short terms, I don’t think there is a consistent Top 25, top of your division type team that has as bad a recruiting footprint as Nebraska

 

[Riddickulous]

In short terms, I don’t think there is a consistent Top 25, top of your division type team that has as bad a recruiting footprint as Nebraska

They've landed a Top 20 class in each of the last 3 years and went 4-8, 5-7, and 3-5 in those years. I imagine they could do even better if they were actually winning games.

Now this year they're currently ranked 72nd, without a single prospect in the Top 500. Combine that with their atrocious record under Frost (15-27!) and you wonder why he's being retained. But I still think the potential is there. They're never gonna be a dominant powerhouse like they were in the 90's, but I think they still have the potential to be a very solid program.

 

[Wild Bill]

2021 class is for OU has 16 kids and 8 were from TX or OK. In 2020 it was 14/23. Sure Lincoln can recruit blue chips from elsewhere but that’s not how you make roster. So if Nebraska mirrors that is a model of half your roster coming from Nebraska and where else? Kansas and Colorado? Would be a significantly less talented pool of players

Not really about convincing blue chips. About having a pool of players to be foundation of the roster and consistent source. You’d rather compete in a larger pool than have no competition in a small one.

Looks like they're building the foundation in the southeast- over 40 recruits from 17-20 are from SEC country.

Do you need to build a foundation with in state kids or kids that are logistically close to your campus? ND has a handful of Indiana kids and only two contributors - kiser and fisher. The rest of the roster is all over the place. I dont really see a pattern aside from the fact that they pull talent from talent heavy areas, no different than Nebraska is doing right now.

Nebraska is currently recruiting at at a top 25 level despite being dreadful. I'm just not convinced that they couldn't improve their recruiting and compete at the same level as ND is right now if they hired the right coach or Frost could turn them around.

 

[Dale]

Looks like they're building the foundation in the southeast- over 40 recruits from 17-20 are from SEC country.

Do you need to build a foundation with in state kids or kids that are logistically close to your campus? ND has a handful of Indiana kids and only two contributors - kiser and fisher. The rest of the roster is all over the place. I dont really see a pattern aside from the fact that they pull talent from talent heavy areas, no different than Nebraska is doing right now.

Nebraska is currently recruiting at at a top 25 level despite being dreadful. I'm just not convinced that they couldn't improve their recruiting and compete at the same level as ND is right now if they hired the right coach or Frost could turn them around.

But those guys are transferring out haha. Sure that is in large part due to losing but continuing to recruit that way naturally leads to more turnover. Frost recruiting higher end talent from SEC country is part of his problem. Again NDs base is not Indiana it includes Michigan, it includes Ohio, it includes Illinois.

 

[Irish#1]

Don’t doubt that they may want to. Not nearly that simple for many. Bowen as a decent example I believe referenced closer to home was ideal for him in relation to his family. Just because Pops may say I’ll go drive whenever, whenever to see you play doesn’t mean a kid won’t decide on something that is easier for his parents, family.

There are hundreds of visits that never happened, rides that never got sorted out due to location. And Nebraska’s is significantly less advantageous than Notre Dame

We could go back and forth with examples for both sides as it will never be 100% one way or the other. Nebraska has the history, facilities and fanbase to be a factor in the B1G. Is it harder to recruit there now? Probably is, much like what ND went through. You think Saban or Meyer could be successful there? Just like ND finding Kelly, the right coach at Nebraska would make the difference.

 

[Dale]

We could go back and forth with examples for both sides as it will never be 100% one way or the other. Nebraska has the history, facilities and fanbase to be a factor in the B1G. Is it harder to recruit there now? Probably is, much like what ND went through. You think Saban or Meyer could be successful there? Just like ND finding Kelly, the right coach at Nebraska would make the difference.

But the real question would be is do you expect next offseason the Saban/Kelly/Meyer level candidate is going to choose Nebraska over other jobs?

Ex. Matt Campbell would do great at Nebraska, I don’t think Matt Campbell chooses Nebraska.

 

[Rogue219]

ND completely lowballed Meyer on their salary offer. It was about half what Florida offered him (and fewer years too, IIRC) and ND had just pulled the plug on their prior coach after three years. I do wonder if ND screwed that one up or if it just wasn't going to happen.

I think it was both, Pops Fresh.

Meyer met with ND after having already accepted the Florida job. He said he met with them "out of respect."

Truth of the matter is he was on Davie's staff when ND fired Davie and Meyer was still sore about it. If he had this kind of loyalty to his wife, I'd be impressed. He had no intention of taking the ND job at any point. He knew Florida was the path to victory. We all saw how he recruited, who he recruited and what the police blotter looked like while he was there.

 

[Dale]

They've landed a Top 20 class in each of the last 3 years and went 4-8, 5-7, and 3-5 in those years. I imagine they could do even better if they were actually winning games.

Now this year they're currently ranked 72nd, without a single prospect in the Top 500. Combine that with their atrocious record under Frost (15-27!) and you wonder why he's being retained. But I still think the potential is there. They're never gonna be a dominant powerhouse like they were in the 90's, but I think they still have the potential to be a very solid program.

Doesn’t help if they just leave when home comes calling. Actually ends up hurting, leaves holes in the roster.

Wandale Robinson - Kentucky | Transferred
Luke McCaffrey - Colorado | Transferred
Jahkeem Green - South Carolina | Transferred

3/7 Blue Chips

Jaiden Francois - Florida | Transferred
Henry Gray - Florida | Transferred
Marcus Fleming - Florida | Transferred
Keyshawn Greene - Florida | Transferred

4/10 Blue Chips

So Nebraska was able to recruit 17 4 star kids in 2019 & 2020. Over 40% have transferred before their Junior year and of those 6/7 were from SEC country, in most cases back to schools in their original state.

 

[Irish#1]

But the real question would be is do you expect next offseason the Saban/Kelly/Meyer level candidate is going to choose Nebraska over other jobs?

Ex. Matt Campbell would do great at Nebraska, I don’t think Matt Campbell chooses Nebraska.

I only mentioned Saban and Meyer because most would agree both of them would be successful. In reality, it doesn’t matter if it’s Saban or some unknown if they have the chops.

 

[Irishbounty28]

Doesn’t help if they just leave when home comes calling. Actually ends up hurting, leaves holes in the roster.

Wandale Robinson - Kentucky | Transferred
Luke McCaffrey - Colorado | Transferred
Jahkeem Green - South Carolina | Transferred

3/7 Blue Chips

Jaiden Francois - Florida | Transferred
Henry Gray - Florida | Transferred
Marcus Fleming - Florida | Transferred
Keyshawn Greene - Florida | Transferred

4/10 Blue Chips

So Nebraska was able to recruit 17 4 star kids in 2019 & 2020. Over 40% have transferred before their Junior year and of those 6/7 were from SEC country, in most cases back to schools in their original state.

While these guys leaving obviously creates holes in the program, only Robinson was ultra productive at Nebraska. Of those players he is the only one to my knowledge that has been productive since. He's also the only one who would be starting on this years team. There are at least two, maybe three players on this list that have transferred twice since last season, or intend to transfer again. McCaffrey being on of them.

These guys left because they were unhappy about their position's on the depth chart, and that is pretty much a fact. Some of these players transferred to lesser programs (McCaffrey/RICE, Gray/FIU, Greene/FAU). Fleming was from Florida but transferred to Maryland. These things coupled with the new transfer rules had these guys choosing to leave the program. Not a whole lot different from many places in college football within the last year.

One thing Frost needs to be better at is selling the program for what it is, and not try to sell a product he doesn't have. Nebraska isn't Southern Florida, and offers a totally different environment/atmosphere. He knows this, and needs to identify guys that fit the program. He has a lot of negatives against him, but short of recruiting different guys, I don't feel the above transferring shows anything other than the shift in college football (transfer portal changes).

 

[Irish#1]

While these guys leaving obviously creates holes in the program, only Robinson was ultra productive at Nebraska. Of those players he is the only one to my knowledge that has been productive since. He's also the only one who would be starting on this years team. There are at least two, maybe three players on this list that have transferred twice since last season, or intend to transfer again. McCaffrey being on of them.

These guys left because they were unhappy about their position's on the depth chart, and that is pretty much a fact. Some of these players transferred to lesser programs (McCaffrey/RICE, Gray/FIU, Greene/FAU). Fleming was from Florida but transferred to Maryland. These things coupled with the new transfer rules had these guys choosing to leave the program. Not a whole lot different from many places in college football within the last year.

One thing Frost needs to be better at is selling the program for what it is, and not try to sell a product he doesn't have. Nebraska isn't Southern Florida, and offers a totally different environment/atmosphere. He knows this, and needs to identify guys that fit the program. He has a lot of negatives against him, but short of recruiting different guys, I don't feel the above transferring shows anything other than the shift in college football (transfer portal changes).

That’s part of what the “right guy” will have.

 

[Irishbounty28]

That’s part of what the “right guy” will have.

This is very true and we will see if Frost can identify this before getting canned. Either way, I’m confident Nebraska will get the right guy at some point and get back on track. Bo Pelini won at a decent clip there and he isn’t what I would call a great coach. If Frost does go I would make a call to Craig Bohl.

 

[ulukinatme]

The Omaha Metro is finally churning out a bit of decent 3* talent....and they’re running as far away from Lincoln as fast as they possibly can. Frost can’t even sell the program in-state, it sure makes it an even harder sell to kids from 5* hot beds

Living in Huskerland I’m here to tell you: Husker fans are the infantile dickheads you just described to a tee.

Well said. Although on the Husker fans part I'll say we saw quite a few very hospitable Huskers in South Bend back at the turn of the millennia and family said they were well received at the Away game the prior year. Lots of Huskers invited us to their tailgates and were super cool, one of the better fan bases I've interacted with. Sucked that they took over the stadium still, but that's on us and shoddy ticket practices at the time

You made an excellent point about selling the big talent kids in the hot beds to come to Lincoln right now. I did a deep dive comparing rosters from this year and the last heydays around 2000 and it's very different. Today there's a handful of skill players from Florida, California, etc, but after you get past those guys it's almost all Nebraska home raised products and very little out of state kids. If you go back and look at that #1 Nebraska team around 2000 they've got a ton of kids from Texas, some from Cali, Ohio, Alabama, Iowa, etc. There's definitely a stark difference. I'm not sure how they can change that now without winning, but it's certainly got to be a hard sell these days.

 

[Irish#1]

Well said. Although on the Husker fans part I'll say we saw quite a few very hospitable Huskers in South Bend back at the turn of the millennia and family said they were well received at the Away game the prior year. Lots of Huskers invited us to their tailgates and were super cool, one of the better fan bases I've interacted with. Sucked that they took over the stadium still, but that's on us and shoddy ticket practices at the time

You made an excellent point about selling the big talent kids in the hot beds to come to Lincoln right now. I did a deep dive comparing rosters from this year and the last heydays around 2000 and it's very different. Today there's a handful of skill players from Florida, California, etc, but after you get past those guys it's almost all Nebraska home raised products and very little out of state kids. If you go back and look at that #1 Nebraska team around 2000 they've got a ton of kids from Texas, some from Cali, Ohio, Alabama, Iowa, etc. There's definitely a stark difference. I'm not sure how they can change that now without winning, but it's certainly got to be a hard sell these days.

My memory is kind of foggy, but I thought they also went the JC route for a few players as well.

 

[Rogue219]

Jim Mora Jr. has been named the head coach at UCONN.

Two parties with nothing to lose at this point. I think it is a good hire.

 

[BeauBenken]

Jim Mora Jr. has been named the head coach at UCONN.

Two parties with nothing to lose at this point. I think it is a good hire.

Man, Mora went from making UCLA relevant again to coaching one of the worst schools in the country. Good luck to the guy.

 

[Dale]

[TWEET]https://twitter.com/runzekerun01/status/1459217373362368516?s=21[/TWEET]

 

[ShamrockOnHelmet]

Honestly I thought the Deion Sanders coaching thing was a joke, but it seems like he really has done a decent job at Jackson State. It would be interesting to see what he could do at a middle tier stop like TCU

 

[Dale]

TCU insider believes their candidate board is:

A) Napier and Dykes

B) Deion Sanders, Matt Campbell, and Tony Elliott

 

[Dale]

LSU 247 guy believes the focus is on Tucker, Riley and Jimbo

He also in the same tidbit thinks the Napier and TCU interest is legit (said could have impact on Walker Howard also FWIW)

[TWEET]https://twitter.com/geaux247/status/1458450160216858634?s=21[/TWEET]

 

[Dale]

On the USC front couldn’t find much on their board. Fickell, Franklin etc but not as direct “I’m hearing this” type nuggets

 

[Dale]

The Napier to TCU would be a slam dunk hire and I can see why he’d want it over say a South Carolina last year. Napier basically copied Saban and said hey Louisiana is not Alabama but I’m gonna have the biggest recruiting staff, we’re gonna have nutrition the whole thing, strength and conditioning etc, just Sun Belt version. He could do the exact same thing at TCU in the new Big 12 and it sounds like TCU is prepared to cut the check to do so.

/end Dale’s carousel segment

 

[arndtjc]

On the USC front couldn’t find much on their board. Fickell, Franklin etc but not as direct “I’m hearing this” type nuggets

How quiet this is leads me to think it’s Fickell and done deal, and everyone is keeping an air-tight lid on it as not to make for a distraction in Cincinnati

 

[Rogue219]

I like Napier. He has been selective. I hope he winds up somewhere that he is worth rooting for as a neutral. TCU wouldn't be too bad for me.

I am starting to wonder if LSU lands Jimbo. Isn't Tucker getting an extension at Michigan State now?

 

[Dale]

Washington firing Jimmy Lake

Wonder if they can get a HC that can reinvigorate that famous Washington - ND rivalry

 

[Dale]

[TWEET]https://twitter.com/christiancaple/status/1459994939903778817?s=21[/TWEET]

 

[tko]

I don't know why I love this development so much. Maybe it's because I don't care for UW I don't know.

 

[irishff1014]

I wonder if they would go after a Matt Campbell type here? Or if they call Patterson since he just got canned at TCU.

 

[tko]

Ty Willingham continues to haunt them.