'16 FL WR Kevin Stepherson (Notre Dame Early Enrollee)

[NDRock]

I don't think he's overly negative at all. Its not like he's complaining while we're going 11-1 every year.

 

[irishknight35]

Honestly...has he been more right than wrong? He definitely is not an "everything is rosy" type of guy, and he is more negative than I am some of the time, but he is not as negative as some of you are painting. He does have many positive things to say, when he feels they are positive. He has many platitudes he has said about the team, and he calls things out when he thinks they are not-so-good.

Personally, I will take that all day over "we're going 12-0 baby!!!" that you often hear elsewhere. I've learned a lot about recruiting, the dirty antics of other coaches, the way recruits and recruiters talk about ND, etc since joining his old IrishEyes site like 12 years ago. And then when you talk to him at a tailgate, you REALLY get to hear about how dirty other recruiters are.

And one more thing...if you are a reporter and you have sources all over the Gug, you hear about the real shit that is going on. You hear that not all players give a shit, you hear what players will never play a down for the school, you hear which coaches aren't very good, you hear which coaches refuse to recruit hard, you hear which recruits want to be recruited by ND but ND never reaches out to them, etc etc. It gives you an insight to the program and why you might have a tough year (or, you might have a great year).

Anyway, it's a matter of preference. ISD is actually the most positive of al 4 pay-sites I have tried, and it's not close really. Mike is more pessimistic (or "keeps it real" - depending on your perspective), but the site overall, including the other reporters, is decidedly more upbeat than other sites. Makes for a good balance IMHO.

/end of my weekly defend ISD post haha.

This type of insider knowledge clearly gives you and guys who gather and analyze Notre Dame Football information for a living like Mike Frank and others a more informed and realistic perspective then the rest of us who simply get to watch 3 min practice videos, read insider tweets, and listen to 1 hour podcasts built around the idea of being entertaining. I would honestly love to know just half of what your talking about with what really goes in inside the program and with recruiting. But since I don't our perceptions of ND football and how recruiting is going year to year will forever be different. What I'm really saying is please divulge the juiciness!

 

[ColinKSU]

Also, weird swings especially with players. He will be negative (which is fine it's his delivery that makes it so much worse) then he'll be like, "McGovern is gonna win the RG job. I really do think that," like he said a couple weeks ago. Just bizarre stuff from time to time. Last podcast, telling everyone Stepherson is the second best receiver. Eh, don't know bout that.

Something along those lines that I can't help but notice about MF specifically is that he likes every kid ND gets a commitment from and notes that they all have "a lot of potential," but a few years after that class signs, he trips all over himself to compliment the current year's recruiting class, while saying that previous classes had "a lot of kids that even at the time, I didn't know why they recruited and would have thrown back."

Bruh ... which one is it? If you didn't like Recruit X when he committed, why didn't you tell us that? Don't come out and let me know in 2016 that you thought a recruit was trash in 2014 when you were praising him at the time of his verbal.

 

[ACamp1900]

I don't think he's overly negative at all. Its not like he's complaining while we're going 11-1 every year.

explain.

 

[NDinL.A.]

Bruh ... which one is it? If you didn't like Recruit X when he committed, why didn't you tell us that? Don't come out and let me know in 2016 that you thought a recruit was trash in 2014 when you were praising him at the time of his verbal.

That's easy to answer...you don't trash high school kids. That's his rationale and pretty much that of every reporter, really. If you read them enough, you can tell when a reporter/analyst likes a kid and when he doesn't. I had a beer with a couple reporters a couple nights ago and this is exactly what they said. There are guys that they like, and guys that they don't think will be very good at all, but they don't rip the HS kid. Instead, they say things like "has potential" and "raw" and "needs work but there is talent there", which is code for "I'm not very high on this kid at all, but hopefully he pans out".

Also, keep in mind that the high school kids and their families listen to these podcasts and read these websites. It's simply not good for business to tell the world that a HS recruit isn't good, and you sure as hell are not going to keep your sources at the Gug (i.e. coaches) if you are trashing the kids they are recruiting. You have to find a balance, which most reporters not named Loy do. grin:

 

[Veritate Duce Progredi]

So...that Stepherson kid seems like a good one.

 

[ColinKSU]

That's easy to answer...you don't trash high school kids. That's his rationale and pretty much that of every reporter, really. If you read them enough, you can tell when a reporter/analyst likes a kid and when he doesn't. I had a beer with a couple reporters a couple nights ago and this is exactly what they said. There are guys that they like, and guys that they don't think will be very good at all, but they don't rip the HS kid. Instead, they say things like "has potential" and "raw" and "needs work but there is talent there", which is code for "I'm not very high on this kid at all, but hopefully he pans out".

Also, keep in mind that the high school kids and their families listen to these podcasts and read these websites. It's simply not good for business to tell the world that a HS recruit isn't good, and you sure as hell are not going to keep your sources at the Gug (i.e. coaches) if you are trashing the kids they are recruiting. You have to find a balance, which most reporters not named Loy do. grin:

Oh, I'm aware of that -- I was a high school sports reporter for nearly a decade. But with Mike, he will describe every recruit that isn't a five-star the same way (a lot of potential), tell me a class is great on signing day then crap on it two years down the road. There *is* no line to read between with him, at least as it pertains to commits.

 

[ColinKSU]

So...that Stepherson kid seems like a good one.

He's got a lot of potential.

 

[STLDomer]

Only probably I have with Frank is he can make statements that can be bigger than he meant to based on just his feeling on a particular day. With someone of his importance in ND reporting, ppl can run with stuff like that. For instance one week he was talking up ND and Echols and then the next week suddenly he doesn't see it. But both times no evidence just his feeling.

For someone of his stature, just think it would be more responsible to not say anything rather then think aloud. Jason Sapp was best at this. People aren't paying for your random personal thoughts, they pay for information.

 

[NDRock]

explain.

Pretty simple. We've had one season since 1993 where we lost less than 3 games. We're not an elite program (I believe Kelly has us in the very good category) and there are reasons for that. When Mike Frank points out these reasons (or his opinions), I don't think he's being overly negative. In fact, I appreciate someone who is close to the program giving us the truth (at least how he sees it). It's better than listening to some overly optimistic person talking about how we're going 14-0 every year.

To me, these guys are typically negative: Rock's House at NDNation

 

[NDinL.A.]

Oh, I'm aware of that -- I was a high school sports reporter for nearly a decade. But with Mike, he will describe every recruit that isn't a five-star the same way (a lot of potential), tell me a class is great on signing day then crap on it two years down the road. There *is* no line to read between with him, at least as it pertains to commits.

I would disagree with that, but it's all good. On the site anyway, he says quite often that recruiting needs to be better when he feels that way, which is a lot of the time. Maybe on Power Hour on NSD it's different (I honestly don't remember), but on the site he has had to say too often, "It's a good class, but not a great class because they missed out on some difference makers", which has turned out to be true in many cases (especially this past class when we missed out on a couple crucial players at the end). But again, I'm going off the site more than PH.

Only probably I have with Frank is he can make statements that can be bigger than he meant to based on just his feeling on a particular day. With someone of his importance in ND reporting, ppl can run with stuff like that. For instance one week he was talking up ND and Echols and then the next week suddenly he doesn't see it. But both times no evidence just his feeling.

For someone of his stature, just think it would be more responsible to not say anything rather then think aloud. Jason Sapp was best at this. People aren't paying for your random personal thoughts, they pay for information.

Now this I can say is 100% not true. Both him and Freeman said on the site, even before Echols had decommitted publicly from UCLA (the decommitment had actually already happened and from what I heard from a USC buddy, he committed to USC silently a couple of months ago), ISD came out and said that Echols was going to announce that ND would be his leader, but there were a couple of things holding him back from committing...one thing on his end (the distance) and one thing on ND's end (can't say yet). These weren't guesses or "gut feelings", this was info from legit sources. They tried to warn ISD readers not to read into the de-commitment nor expect Echols to commit to ND.

So in this case, it definitely wasn't him just thinking out loud without knowing anything. They knew right away. You'd be amazed at the sources these reporters have, and you'd be amazed at all of the info they have to withhold for all kinds of reasons. The good reporters aren't guessing at all...they might be wrong because kids change their minds or their sources give them info that doesn't turn out to be true (I remember asking one reporter why he kept reporting that ND had a shot with Priest Willis, even though everyone in Southern CA knew he was going to stay local. The reporter knew too, but Willis' uncle kept telling him ND was in it, and an ND coach was telling him the same thing. So he felt he had to report it, just in case. What are you going to do?).

 

[Domina Nostra]

My problem with Mike Frank is he spends all his time explaining to you why the team is just not good enough to win an NC as if it's the first time he's doing it and he's finally being honest.

We get it, the team has holes and recruiting is not great.

 

[Ultimate Penn St. Hater]

How's Stepherson looking so far?

 

[Crazy Balki]

I do think Mike can be overly pessimistic at times, but it is because ND is VERY close.

As for K-Step, I think Mike is more excited about him as a player than he is concerned about the position in general. He seems to have the football speed that doesn't appear in 40 times. His explosiveness is insane and he moves quickly and effortlessly. That and the fact that his hands have shown so far to be very high quality, make him next to impossible keep off the field.

 

[Veritate Duce Progredi]

How's Stepherson looking so far?

Not as good as Mike Frank would like, apparently.

 

[johnnycando]

Not as good as Mike Frank would like, apparently.

No shit huh?

 

[Bogtrotter07]

No shit huh?

Did you forget your comma, or your period?

 

[Irish#1]

Did you forget your comma, or your period?

Don't mention Johnny's period. He gets moody.

 

[johnnycando]

Cranberry juice: check.

 

[PANDFAN]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Notre Dame freshman WR Kevin Stepherson has been targeted at an average of 21.8 yds downfield this season.</p>— CFB Film Room (@CFBFilmRoom) <a href="https://twitter.com/CFBFilmRoom/status/780849682964619264">September 27, 2016</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[ThePiombino]

Shades of young Golden Tate

 

[zelezo vlk]

The kid had a nice game on Saturday. I'm looking forward to seeing his development over the next couple of years.

 

[Henges24]

Agreed. He won't be as quick as Will Fuller but I see a lot of him in KS.

 

[zelezo vlk]

Agreed. He won't be as quick as Will Fuller but I see a lot of him in KS.

Not many are, but he'll be a huge weapon for the next couple of years. Wimbush should be salivating.

 

[NDdomer2]

quick stat comparison:

GP/Receptions/Yards/Avg/TD/AvgYdsPerGame/TDperCatch%

Player 1: 10/44/692/15.73/7/69/16%
Player 2: 10/21/410/19.5/4/41/19%




Player 1 = DRob @ Cal
Player 2 = Stepherson

Obviously, Robinson gets quite a few more looks than Stepherson does, but Kevin has higher average catch, higher TD%.

I honestly don't see the disparity between the 5 and the 3.

 

[IrishLion]

It's also worth noting that DRob is in an offense that is much more pass-heavy, whereas Stepherson's reps have been pretty limited until this past Saturday.

Cal has more targets per play, but the discrepency in number of passes thrown makes up for that.

 

[Sherm Sticky]

Stepherson will never be as fast as Will Fuller, but Stepherson is bigger than Fuller.

I'll keep harping on this but Kevin has to improve on tracking the ball over his head/shoulder. He should have caught that deep ball on Saturday, was it an easy catch no, but that's a catch that has to be made if he wants to be elite. Not a shot at him. It's just something for him to practice in the offseason.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Sherm Sticky]

I was reviewing his ratings and offer lists. Once again this proves the theory offer list over star rankings.

Composite 3 star #596 overall and #92 WR (what a joke)

Offers from: Notre Dame, Florida, LSU, the U, Michigan, UNC, WVU


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[zelezo vlk]

I was reviewing his ratings and offer lists. Once again this proves the theory offer list over star rankings.

Composite 3 star #596 overall and #92 WR (what a joke)

Offers from: Notre Dame, Florida, LSU, the U, Michigan, UNC, WVU


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yeah, wasn't it Steph who came into Invasion without any fanfare and received an offer on the spot? Everyone was hoping that the top 100 athlete from Georgia (Marquez Callaway?) would pop, but instead the staff targeted Steph.

 

[PANDFAN]

Yeah, wasn't it Steph who came into Invasion without any fanfare and received an offer on the spot? Everyone was hoping that the top 100 athlete from Georgia (Marquez Callaway?) would pop, but instead the staff targeted Steph.

yep...looked like he weighed about 125lbs and was 12 years old