National Recruiting Thread

[BobbyMac]

Oregon is about to be back on top again in the west...putting a great staff together of recruiters and coaches

Disagree. They slipped at the worst possible time. Peterson's by them and he won't look back. Oregon's stuck fighting Stanford for bridesmaid.

 

[Legacy]

Alabama Crimson Tide Football Recruiting Update: BIG Crootin' Weekend

With a mere two weeks left until National Signing Day (NSD) on Feb. 1, the Alabama staff will be hosting a bevy of blue chippers on official visits (OV) to see who will fill out the few precious openings in the Class of 2017. Among them will also be plenty of prospects for future classes on unofficial visits.

As is customary, Saban's staff usually visits recruits the week before their OV. If this does not occur, it is a pretty good indication of their status.

Bama will take twenty-five and has twenty-five verbals/enrollees at this time. Thirteen spots are left since twelve have already enrolled. They have twelve Official Visitors this weekend from the '17 Class. (Six of the twelve are verbally committed already.)

For the predictions where each of those not choosing Bama, the recruits are predicted as choosing other SEC schools - either LSU or Florida, as well as SCe for one recruit.

Bama is among the favorites for a handful of others who have already visited in addition to the six uncommitted visitors this weekend.

 

[ResLife Hero]

Thought this was pretty interesting:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">This year's Five-Star Recruit Desert is *2 million* square miles. Or, Why Nebraska's Not That Good, In One Map <a href="https://t.co/SjIHC7vCx2">https://t.co/SjIHC7vCx2</a></p>— Alex Kirshner (@alex_kirshner) <a href="https://twitter.com/alex_kirshner/status/822435796670152704">January 20, 2017</a></blockquote>
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[IrishLax]

Thought this was pretty interesting:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">This year's Five-Star Recruit Desert is *2 million* square miles. Or, Why Nebraska's Not That Good, In One Map <a href="https://t.co/SjIHC7vCx2">https://t.co/SjIHC7vCx2</a></p>— Alex Kirshner (@alex_kirshner) <a href="https://twitter.com/alex_kirshner/status/822435796670152704">January 20, 2017</a></blockquote>
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And if there wasn't a 5 in Detroit, could've realistically made it another 500k miles bigger.

 

[ulukinatme]

Realistically you can't tell me there's not a 5 star talent in the middle half of the country. I realize it's not nearly as populated there, but my guess is this is partly attributed to the fact scouts are going to visit certain schools and regions more often than others. Certain schools are going to receive preferential treatment, and they're going to pick their 5 stars from places they frequent. It's not that I think South Dakota is a hotbed for talent, just seems unlikely there's not at least one elite talent hiding in the entire middle half of the country. It would also help account for the number of 5 stars that never live up to the hype, although there's more than 1 reason for that to occur.

 

[IrishLion]

Things that may interest only me, but kind of apply to ND:

Cincinnati vs Xavier in the Crosstown Shootout tonight.

All of Cincinnati will be watching intently as they eat their cheese coneys. Winners will celebrate with Graeter's Ice Cream. Losers will console themselves with Greater's Ice Cream. Many will flock to Price Hill Chili to tell tales of the game over the course of the weekend.

But of interest to football people, Cincinnati football and Luke Fickell have 31(!) prospects visiting for the basketball game. They're using the Shootout as a huge recruiting tool, which Tubberville never did.

Scheduled to be in attendance:

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">I'll be attending the Crosstown Shootout at UC tomorrow with <a href="https://twitter.com/MalikVann7">@MalikVann7</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/King_Hawk92">@King_Hawk92</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BearcatNation?src=hash">#BearcatNation</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/CinCityPride?src=hash">#CinCityPride</a> ��⚫️��</p>— Jackson Carman (@Jackthejiant) <a href="https://twitter.com/Jackthejiant/status/824323518959648769">January 25, 2017</a></blockquote>
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That's the no. 1 OT in the class of '18 visiting, along with Malik Vann and Aeneas Hawkins, two big ND targets.

There's a 0% chance they get Carman, and similar percentages on the other two... but getting enough interest drummed up to incite a group visit is a huge step forward.

The Fickell hire looks better every day for a UC fan.

 

[PANDFAN]

Things that may interest only me, but kind of apply to ND:

Cincinnati vs Xavier in the Crosstown Shootout tonight.

All of Cincinnati will be watching intently as they eat their cheese coneys. Winners will celebrate with Graeter's Ice Cream. Losers will console themselves with Greater's Ice Cream. Many will flock to Price Hill Chili to tell tales of the game over the course of the weekend.

But of interest to football people, Cincinnati football and Luke Fickell have 31(!) prospects visiting for the basketball game. They're using the Shootout as a huge recruiting tool, which Tubberville never did.

Scheduled to be in attendance:

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">I'll be attending the Crosstown Shootout at UC tomorrow with <a href="https://twitter.com/MalikVann7">@MalikVann7</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/King_Hawk92">@King_Hawk92</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BearcatNation?src=hash">#BearcatNation</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/CinCityPride?src=hash">#CinCityPride</a> ��⚫️��</p>— Jackson Carman (@Jackthejiant) <a href="https://twitter.com/Jackthejiant/status/824323518959648769">January 25, 2017</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

That's the no. 1 OT in the class of '18 visiting, along with Malik Vann and Aeneas Hawkins, two big ND targets.

There's a 0% chance they get Carman, and similar percentages on the other two... but getting enough interest drummed up to incite a group visit is a huge step forward.

The Fickell hire looks better every day for a UC fan.

should be a good fight or 2 also to watch

 

[IrishLion]

should be a good fight or 2 also to watch

Nah, everybody's been well-behaved for four years now, which is why it was allowed to be called the "Shootout" once again.

And Yancey Gates ended any need for future fights when he knocked out Kenny Frease.

 

[zelezo vlk]

Nah, everybody's been well-behaved for four years now, which is why it was allowed to be called the "Shootout" once again.

And Yancey Gates ended any need for future fights when he knocked out Kenny Frease.

Yeah but is Cincy ever gonna win again?

 

[IrishLion]

Yeah but is Cincy ever gonna win again?

This would be as good a year as any, but X always has a white guy shoot out of his ass from long range in the Shootout, which has kind of foiled things 3 of the past 4 years, so I just expect more pain and misery in my sports life.

 

[phgreek]

Realistically you can't tell me there's not a 5 star talent in the middle half of the country. I realize it's not nearly as populated there, but my guess is this is partly attributed to the fact scouts are going to visit certain schools and regions more often than others. Certain schools are going to receive preferential treatment, and they're going to pick their 5 stars from places they frequent. It's not that I think South Dakota is a hotbed for talent, just seems unlikely there's not at least one elite talent hiding in the entire middle half of the country. It would also help account for the number of 5 stars that never live up to the hype, although there's more than 1 reason for that to occur.

I think you got most of it...I also think the perception of competition level might contribute there.

But you'll see those guys that are high 4s from fly over territory do as well as a number of 5 star kids...

 

[BobbyMac]

F UC and X. In my day, we drove 45 minutes down hwy 27 and smacked around Roger McClendon & Byron Larkin, grabbed some Greek spaghetti (or whatever they call it in Cincy) and went back to Oxford.

Actually as good as we were, I think we were just 4-4 against UC, XU and UD my 2 years at Miami. Great rivalries.

 

[dublinirish]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Being told that <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Nebraska?src=hash">#Nebraska</a> offered Arlington Oak Ridge WR Bronson Boyd today, who is already enrolled at <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TexasTech?src=hash">#TexasTech</a>.</p>— Matt Clare (@MattClareRivals) <a href="https://twitter.com/MattClareRivals/status/824696950016466944">January 26, 2017</a></blockquote>
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Somewhere Ty Willingham wonders if he should extend an offer to Brian Toal today..

 

[BobbyMac]

This just isn't right. Wow.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">10.5 (100), 21.8 (200), 21 ft (long jump). This is what Texas is getting in 6'2, 225-pound LB <a href="https://twitter.com/_GaryJohnson">@_GaryJohnson</a>. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/HookEm?src=hash">#HookEm</a> <a href="https://t.co/FVmrG5f3yq">pic.twitter.com/FVmrG5f3yq</a></p>— Justin Wells (@justinwells2424) <a href="https://twitter.com/justinwells2424/status/826962682712555520">February 2, 2017</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Tom Herman told a story today about No. 1 juco LB and Horns' signee Gary Johnson running a 10.59 100-meter w/o blocks. Here is that video. <a href="https://t.co/KRdf2HnP8X">pic.twitter.com/KRdf2HnP8X</a></p>— Jeremy Crabtree (@jeremycrabtree) <a href="https://twitter.com/jeremycrabtree/status/826998624504668161">February 2, 2017</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[IrishSteelhead]

National Recruiting Thread

Being told that #Nebraska offered Arlington Oak Ridge WR Bronson Boyd today, who is already enrolled at #TexasTech.— Matt Clare (@MattClareRivals) January 26, 2017


Somewhere Ty Willingham wonders if he should extend an offer to Brian Toal today..

I thought that was the guy who got kicked out for stabbing a teammate during another recruit's visit? Never too late for Lawrence Philips 2.0

 

[OCIrish]

F UC and X. In my day, we drove 45 minutes down hwy 27 and smacked around Roger McClendon & Byron Larkin, grabbed some Greek spaghetti (or whatever they call it in Cincy) and went back to Oxford.

Actually as good as we were, I think we were just 4-4 against UC, XU and UD my 2 years at Miami. Great rivalries.

Had a really good friend of mine play down in Oxford on a Volleyball scholarship

 

[ND NYC]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Being told that <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Nebraska?src=hash">#Nebraska</a> offered Arlington Oak Ridge WR Bronson Boyd today, who is already enrolled at <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TexasTech?src=hash">#TexasTech</a>.</p>— Matt Clare (@MattClareRivals) <a href="https://twitter.com/MattClareRivals/status/824696950016466944">January 26, 2017</a></blockquote>
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Somewhere Ty Willingham wonders if he should extend an offer to Brian Toal today..

he may still be sitting in the Toals' living room...

 

[Legacy]

Texas finishes with lowest-rated recruiting class this century, leaving Tom Herman to count on what rankings don't show (Dallas News)

 

[#1rish]

Kansas just had 5 players commit today, 3 of which are 4-stars.

They currently outrank Alabama in the 2018 team rankings.

 

[IrishLion]

Kansas just had 5 players commit today, 3 of which are 4-stars.

They currently outrank Alabama in the 2018 team rankings.

And 4 of them are from Louisiana. Setting up that tradition-rich Louisiana-Kansas pipeline.

 

[arrowryan]

And 4 of them are from Louisiana. Setting up that tradition-rich Louisiana-Kansas pipeline.

I'll give it less than 5% that those kids stick. The QB might stick, but Kansas has a snowball's chance in hell that the other 4 do. All 4 are in the middle of SEC country. Bama, LSU, and FSU will come calling and Kansas will lose another 10 games.

 

[BobbyMac]

Here's the reason.

Tony Hull

University of Kansas Athletics - 2016 Football Coaching Staff

 

[BeauBenken]

Kansas just had 5 players commit today, 3 of which are 4-stars.

They currently outrank Alabama in the 2018 team rankings.

According to 247, it's at 6 players. And 5 are from LA. 2 are top 150 players and one is borderline 250.

 

[Bogtrotter07]

I hope they keep them!

To U of K, the new Big 12 football power.

 

[NDdomer2]

Look what Charlie started

 

[dublinirish]

Nelson Jenkins, Plaquemine, Defensive Tackle

Kansas picked up another LA kid

 

[BobbyMac]

Here's the reason.

Tony Hull

University of Kansas Athletics - 2016 Football Coaching Staff

From Coach Hull's bio:

The most obvious package deal in Lawrence since Ed & Danny Manning.

A New Orleans native, Hull arrived at Warren Easton in 2007, the school’s first season playing football following Hurricane Katrina. He guided the Eagles to the playoffs in seven of his nine seasons at the helm of the program, including a state championship game appearance in 2014 and a state semifinals showing in 2015.

Hull developed the Eagles players on the field as he mentored 45 players who went on to earn Division I football scholarships, including 2016 Kansas signee Tyriek Starks. Six of those players earned a nod in ESPN’s top 300 list, while one of his athletes was named the 2014 Gatorade Player of the Year and Mr. Louisiana football.

 

[IrishLax]

College Football: Rolling Talent Ratings: Who has the most talent in college football? - Video - CBSSports.com

This is pretty interesting. Old, but it's my first time seeing it. Shows that over a 5-year span Notre Dame is ranked 8th in the country in terms of total talent haul by 247 Composite. That's very good, and the only team on our schedule that has recruited better than us is USC.

The problems:
1. Player retention. Both naturally (early entrants to the NFL) and by way of off-the-field issue. USC (#5) is an example of another school plagued by this more than most.
2. Holes. It doesn't really matter how good Jaylon Smith is if the guy next to him is literally the worst LB in college football (by PFF). It doesn't matter how good certain players might be if you have zero functional safeties and those players get exploited regularly. Looking at a raw composite doesn't tell you that we have layered talent at some positions (OL, QB) and are bereft at others. LSU (#3) and Auburn (#7) are examples of schools suffering from a similar problem missing key pieces at certain positions.
3. Overrated players/poor development. It's always a bit of chicken-and-egg thing with why guys "bust." Obviously, ND has had issues with getting TEs to play up to their ranking recently, and had massive issues with BVG utilizing players poorly. Georgia (#5) and Florida (#10) are schools that went through similar issues resulting in coaching changes, etc.

What I think is interesting is that Notre Dame seems to have all three problems while most schools only have one or two (or in the case of Bama, Ohio State, and Florida State -- none). Texas A&M, Auburn, and LSU seem to have the biggest combination of all three problems to varying degrees and have consequently underperformed. USC also has issue 1 and issue 3 in spades which had lead to serious inconsistency with flashes of brilliance.

 

[IrishLion]

It doesn't really matter how good Jaylon Smith is if the guy next to him is literally the worst LB in college football (by PFF).

I think I've said it in 10 different places or in 10 different post-game and coaching threads, but I will never forgive BK and his staff for wasting Jaylon.

Jaylon is a transcendent talent that you craft a national-championship-caliber unit around if the talent is even just average... we put some of the worst defenses in ND history on the field with him.

 

[IrishLax]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="und" dir="ltr"><a href="https://t.co/0feapVOFK2">pic.twitter.com/0feapVOFK2</a></p>— Jenni from the Block (@choc_butterfli) <a href="https://twitter.com/choc_butterfli/status/830840379666812929">February 12, 2017</a></blockquote>
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This is really cool.