Showing posts with label college football recruiting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label college football recruiting. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 10, 2016
Satellite Camps
Have you seen Jim Harbaugh's schedule of summer camps? Who are the poor people coordinating this craziness? The Wolverines will hold 26 camps throughout the country in June, beginning June 2nd in Atlanta. On June 8th alone they have camps taking place in Mississippi, Ohio and New Jersey (right here in Paramus). The Paramus Catholic location is extra special--and I am not counting my sister being part of their sports hall of fame--as Harbaugh is even scheduled to be the school's commencement speaker at this year's graduation on June 9.
Too much? Probably. There are only so many recruits Michigan can get and without doing these camps they would be unhappy with any ranking outside the nation's top ten. So this will marginally improve on that. Meanwhile Harbaugh's competition is busy trying to negate some of that new-found advantage. Ohio State, for example, just agreed to come to Jersey too on the same day the Michigan camp is in Paramus to run their own camp in conjunction with Temple and Rutgers. So now think of our favorite rivalries as 365-day realities. Wait, we did already.
Thursday, January 28, 2016
Michigan Recruiting Update
The controversy swirling around the Michigan football program is fascinating for a number of reasons. To update you, Michigan locked up a bunch of solid prospects awhile ago--at least one was even signed by the previous staff years--and is now pulling those scholarship offers from some players (eight at my last count) to give them to higher-ranked guys.
This has been unfolding for a few weeks as the Wolverines continue to attract top talent. There is nothing technically illegal here as nothing is binding until an official letter is signed and the players are free to jump programs themselves. In fact this behavior has been going on for years with some schools not even pulling the scholarships until signing day or, in some awful instances, in the summer (or they will take the scholarship from an older sub if too many players remain on the roster by August). What is fascinating is that the players can now go on twitter and complain about the situation and Michigan immediately gets bad publicity. Let's be frank here. There is nothing positive for the kid to have his offer pulled this late in the game. Sure, most land on their feet but at situations that may not be as positive for them as it would have with the time to fully seek offers. Others get screwed totally. So twitter giving these kids one recourse for some sort of justice is compelling but I also find it interesting that head coach Jim Harbaugh did this at Stanford but received little bad press for it as Stanford receives very little of the coverage that Michigan gets and he could hide there behind Stanford's more rigid acceptance standards (of course he pulled a scholarship from at least one player who could have gotten in without football but I digress).
What is also funny is that when this type of behavior happened elsewhere, especially in the SEC, some Michigan fans were incensed. Now that their coach is doing it? They have become the biggest apologists. Do whatever it takes to win. It is the attitude that has dragged college football through the mud for years.
Saturday, February 9, 2013
National Signing Day
While I do keep an eye on recruiting I am not enough of an expert on the subject to be able to voice an opinion worth anyone's time. Then again, who could truly be an expert when we are discussing thousands of kids throughout the country. How often have you seen the kid play live and was he playing legitimate competition when you did see him? Living in New York City I do not get to see too much high school football and leave the prospecting to others. The reality of recruiting is that every team must get as much talent as it can but said talent has to be coachable and the staff must be able to coach the kids up. Opportunity and desire are paramount. Take the position of quarterback at Ohio State. Troy Smith was an afterthought the year he was recruited--the Buckeyes had an extra scholarship and wanted to appease his father, a big-time high school coach in Cleveland--while Terrelle Pryor was a blue chipper a few years later. Who accomplished more in Columbus?
Hopefully your favorite team brought in some hard-working and gifted kids who are willing to fit into a team. Do not get caught up in the number of four and five stars brought in but take a look at the roster and see if holes were filled. Then hope that they all can stay on the straight and narrow. Good luck.
Hopefully your favorite team brought in some hard-working and gifted kids who are willing to fit into a team. Do not get caught up in the number of four and five stars brought in but take a look at the roster and see if holes were filled. Then hope that they all can stay on the straight and narrow. Good luck.
Friday, February 4, 2011
View From Bennett Avenue
Recruiting was the hot topic of this week so I will continue to look deeper into all of the fuss. With some of the teams that do the best at recruiting having off years in 2010--Texas, of course, but even USC and Florida (off for their level of success)--I thought it would be good to look back at older classes to see what went wrong. Being that USC has been off a bit for two straight years, and did not have the excuse of replacing a future College Hall of Fame QB like the Longhorns and Gators, I thought I would focus on their recruiting efforts. I paid a visit to their 2006 haul, ranked no. 1 overall by Scout and no. 2 by ESPN (behind the great Florida class featuring Tebow, Harvin, etc). I thought it was also worthwhile discussing the Trojans since the man in charge of their recruiting efforts in 2006 was none other than current head coach Lane Kiffin, who was then their OC.
The 2006 class was rounded up when the Trojans were the kings of college football. USC had won 36 of their previous 38 games over a three-year period that featured a shared national title in 2003, perfect season and unanimous national title in 2004 and romp through regular season before narrow loss to Texas in title game in 2005. Having high school players interested in playing for the program would not be difficult. Choosing the right ones would prove problematic.
Head coach Pete Carroll and Kiffin, with help from a great staff of recruiters, pulled in 27 players with 13 earning ESPN 150 honors.
And this is what they ended up with, in order of their ESPN rank:
1) WR Vidal Hazleton: For USC's high-powered offense to continue to run up big numbers they would need a steady influx of playmakers. Hazelton was gifted, but had to wait his turn as a frosh in 2006 behind vets. As a soph he did catch 50 passes, but then a high ankle sprain set him back at the same time that Damian Williams and Ronald Johnson emerged and facing a less heralded role, Hazleton transferred. As disappointing as it was to lose the highest-ranked recruit from this class, the wide receiver position was a position of strength for the team. Hazleton ended up at Cincinnati, but was forced to miss 2009 for transfering and then was injured for most of 2010.
2) S Taylor Mays: The most acclaimed member of the class on the college level, Mays started for most of his time at USC and became an All American. But even he was not able to escape the finger pointing after the 2009 season ended up 9-4 as the USC defense was torched through the air. Mays went from Jim Thorpe Award finalist to being considered over-rated by many in a very short amount of time. Still, Mays's career was very successful.
3) S Antwine Perez: As an early enrollee, Perez was expected to make an immediate impact with the 2006 Trojans. While he did help on special teams, Perez never became a starter and transferred before his soph year. He did help the resurgent Maryland program last year as a starting safety and unit's fifth leading tackler.
4) RB Stafon Johnson: Needing to replace the dynamic backfield pairing of Reggie Bush and LenDale White, the USC regime decided to collect as many good backs as possible. Tops on the list was Johnson--according to the recruiting gurus--but he fell behind other classmates in the race for playing time at TB. After doing zip as a frosh, Johnson worked his way up the crowded backfield picture to rush for 673y as a soph and 705y as a junior. Then as he was preparing for the 2009 season, Johnson had a barbell fall on his throat. He did return to the game to play at Titans camp last fall but is now suing USC and its strength coach.
5) RB Allen Bradford: Bradford was a very good defensive player in high school, but was recruited to be the replacement for big back White. But between the crowd at the position and a hip injury, Bradford did not do much until 2009 when he rushed for 668y. Then in 2010 he had an odd year, rushing for 794y but 223y of that total came against Washington and another 212y were earned versus UCLA. The rest of the time was spent in Kiffin's doghouse for fumbling issues.
6) RB Emmanuel Moody: Although he did rush for 458y as a frosh, Moody was buried on the depth chart entering 2007 thanks to multiple injuries and the talent of other players including class of 2007 RB Joe McKnight. Seeing the writing on the wall Moody transferred to Florida, who was in the midst of an annual recruiting war with the Trojans. Moody was not a great fit for the Spread and also could not hold on to the ball. In three years at Gainseville he never reached the rushing yardage total from his freshman year and disappointed two programs as a collegian.
7) WR David Ausberry: Ausberry was the 6th-ranked WR in the nation but never fulfilled that potential at Southern Cal. He did finish with 64 career receptions and started on and off at both WR and TE but never became a difference maker.
8) RB C.J. Gable: Of their top eight recruits, according to ESPN, Gable is the sixth to play either RB or WR. He had a very mixed career, with his highlight coming early as he was the first freshman to start a season opener at TB for USC in the school's illustrious history. Gable did finish with a solid 1,549y rushing, but fumbling problems kept him in Carroll's doghouse for long stretches of time.
9) LB Michael Morgan: One cannot blame Morgan for not cracking the starting linebacker unit for a USC team loaded with future NFL stars, but once he did become a first unit player in 2009, he did nothing with it. A solid final two years, but USC LBswho played over the past two seasons will soon be forgotten.
10) WR Jamere Holland: Some guys just do not get it. Blessed with sprinter speed, Holland unfortunately had a mouth that talked just as fast. He redshirted for one year and then transferred to Oregon where he became more famous for being dumped by that program after his critical remarks about head coach Chip Kelly from his own facebook page went viral. The Ducks did not miss him.
11) LB Joshua Tatum: A combination of injuries and poor grades derailed Tatum's career. He ended up at Missouri where he played in seven games in 2010 and had three tackles.
12) CB Vincent Joseph: After two seasons as a backup Joseph flunked out and has not resurfaced on the national level.
13) OT Butch Lewis: The final member of this recruiting class to make the ESPN 150, Lewis started 24 games over the past three years on the USC offensive line. He was a solid contributor.
Of the top 13 only one became a star (Mays) while five others did not even stick around for long. The remaining seven had moment or two but not many, especially when factoring in the expectations from national signing day that year. Of the remaining recruits, TE Anthony McCoy became the starting TE his final year but ended his college days with just 46 career receptions, OL Zack Heberer had five career starts, CB Shareece Wright needed four years to overcome poor grades and off-the-field problems to start as a fifth-year CB, Alex Parsons started for two years on the offensive line, and FB Stanley Havili had an inconsistent career but was a captain as a senior in 2010 and always ran and practiced hard. No stars in that group but some usable parts. The remaining seven players just contributed depth or on special teams or did not stay.
Now USC's slip from best program in the nation to also ran can not be laid at the feet of this one class. Still, it is important to reflect on player groups like this to learn some lessons. For one thing, the "gurus" are often wrong especially when evaluating thousands of kids. For another, most players, no matter how good they were in high school need to be developed in college. Due to the success of USC in the middle part of the last decade, coaches like Kiffin moved on to head coaching jobs elsewhere. All of these recruits on the offensive side of the ball went from Kiffin and Steve Sarkisian calling the shot on offense to Jeremy Bates, with Carroll pulling strings, through the 2009 season. Then for those still playing in 2010, Kiffin was back in charge with Kennedy Pola as the new OC. That is a lot of turnover. And, finally, the Trojans attracted some kids who wanted all of the off-the-field excitement generated by the success of previous groups. They needed to recruit more lunch pail types of players.
But recruiting has become a contest to men like Kiffin who are looking to win the recruiting rankings as much as win games. They need to do a better job of evaluation before national signing day.
The 2006 class was rounded up when the Trojans were the kings of college football. USC had won 36 of their previous 38 games over a three-year period that featured a shared national title in 2003, perfect season and unanimous national title in 2004 and romp through regular season before narrow loss to Texas in title game in 2005. Having high school players interested in playing for the program would not be difficult. Choosing the right ones would prove problematic.
Head coach Pete Carroll and Kiffin, with help from a great staff of recruiters, pulled in 27 players with 13 earning ESPN 150 honors.
And this is what they ended up with, in order of their ESPN rank:
1) WR Vidal Hazleton: For USC's high-powered offense to continue to run up big numbers they would need a steady influx of playmakers. Hazelton was gifted, but had to wait his turn as a frosh in 2006 behind vets. As a soph he did catch 50 passes, but then a high ankle sprain set him back at the same time that Damian Williams and Ronald Johnson emerged and facing a less heralded role, Hazleton transferred. As disappointing as it was to lose the highest-ranked recruit from this class, the wide receiver position was a position of strength for the team. Hazleton ended up at Cincinnati, but was forced to miss 2009 for transfering and then was injured for most of 2010.
2) S Taylor Mays: The most acclaimed member of the class on the college level, Mays started for most of his time at USC and became an All American. But even he was not able to escape the finger pointing after the 2009 season ended up 9-4 as the USC defense was torched through the air. Mays went from Jim Thorpe Award finalist to being considered over-rated by many in a very short amount of time. Still, Mays's career was very successful.
3) S Antwine Perez: As an early enrollee, Perez was expected to make an immediate impact with the 2006 Trojans. While he did help on special teams, Perez never became a starter and transferred before his soph year. He did help the resurgent Maryland program last year as a starting safety and unit's fifth leading tackler.
4) RB Stafon Johnson: Needing to replace the dynamic backfield pairing of Reggie Bush and LenDale White, the USC regime decided to collect as many good backs as possible. Tops on the list was Johnson--according to the recruiting gurus--but he fell behind other classmates in the race for playing time at TB. After doing zip as a frosh, Johnson worked his way up the crowded backfield picture to rush for 673y as a soph and 705y as a junior. Then as he was preparing for the 2009 season, Johnson had a barbell fall on his throat. He did return to the game to play at Titans camp last fall but is now suing USC and its strength coach.
5) RB Allen Bradford: Bradford was a very good defensive player in high school, but was recruited to be the replacement for big back White. But between the crowd at the position and a hip injury, Bradford did not do much until 2009 when he rushed for 668y. Then in 2010 he had an odd year, rushing for 794y but 223y of that total came against Washington and another 212y were earned versus UCLA. The rest of the time was spent in Kiffin's doghouse for fumbling issues.
6) RB Emmanuel Moody: Although he did rush for 458y as a frosh, Moody was buried on the depth chart entering 2007 thanks to multiple injuries and the talent of other players including class of 2007 RB Joe McKnight. Seeing the writing on the wall Moody transferred to Florida, who was in the midst of an annual recruiting war with the Trojans. Moody was not a great fit for the Spread and also could not hold on to the ball. In three years at Gainseville he never reached the rushing yardage total from his freshman year and disappointed two programs as a collegian.
7) WR David Ausberry: Ausberry was the 6th-ranked WR in the nation but never fulfilled that potential at Southern Cal. He did finish with 64 career receptions and started on and off at both WR and TE but never became a difference maker.
8) RB C.J. Gable: Of their top eight recruits, according to ESPN, Gable is the sixth to play either RB or WR. He had a very mixed career, with his highlight coming early as he was the first freshman to start a season opener at TB for USC in the school's illustrious history. Gable did finish with a solid 1,549y rushing, but fumbling problems kept him in Carroll's doghouse for long stretches of time.
9) LB Michael Morgan: One cannot blame Morgan for not cracking the starting linebacker unit for a USC team loaded with future NFL stars, but once he did become a first unit player in 2009, he did nothing with it. A solid final two years, but USC LBswho played over the past two seasons will soon be forgotten.
10) WR Jamere Holland: Some guys just do not get it. Blessed with sprinter speed, Holland unfortunately had a mouth that talked just as fast. He redshirted for one year and then transferred to Oregon where he became more famous for being dumped by that program after his critical remarks about head coach Chip Kelly from his own facebook page went viral. The Ducks did not miss him.
11) LB Joshua Tatum: A combination of injuries and poor grades derailed Tatum's career. He ended up at Missouri where he played in seven games in 2010 and had three tackles.
12) CB Vincent Joseph: After two seasons as a backup Joseph flunked out and has not resurfaced on the national level.
13) OT Butch Lewis: The final member of this recruiting class to make the ESPN 150, Lewis started 24 games over the past three years on the USC offensive line. He was a solid contributor.
Of the top 13 only one became a star (Mays) while five others did not even stick around for long. The remaining seven had moment or two but not many, especially when factoring in the expectations from national signing day that year. Of the remaining recruits, TE Anthony McCoy became the starting TE his final year but ended his college days with just 46 career receptions, OL Zack Heberer had five career starts, CB Shareece Wright needed four years to overcome poor grades and off-the-field problems to start as a fifth-year CB, Alex Parsons started for two years on the offensive line, and FB Stanley Havili had an inconsistent career but was a captain as a senior in 2010 and always ran and practiced hard. No stars in that group but some usable parts. The remaining seven players just contributed depth or on special teams or did not stay.
Now USC's slip from best program in the nation to also ran can not be laid at the feet of this one class. Still, it is important to reflect on player groups like this to learn some lessons. For one thing, the "gurus" are often wrong especially when evaluating thousands of kids. For another, most players, no matter how good they were in high school need to be developed in college. Due to the success of USC in the middle part of the last decade, coaches like Kiffin moved on to head coaching jobs elsewhere. All of these recruits on the offensive side of the ball went from Kiffin and Steve Sarkisian calling the shot on offense to Jeremy Bates, with Carroll pulling strings, through the 2009 season. Then for those still playing in 2010, Kiffin was back in charge with Kennedy Pola as the new OC. That is a lot of turnover. And, finally, the Trojans attracted some kids who wanted all of the off-the-field excitement generated by the success of previous groups. They needed to recruit more lunch pail types of players.
But recruiting has become a contest to men like Kiffin who are looking to win the recruiting rankings as much as win games. They need to do a better job of evaluation before national signing day.
Thursday, February 3, 2011
National Signing Day
Well ESPN is really trying to make National Signing Day an event and for the thousands of people who follow high school recruits way too much, it is a big day. Programs are instantly changed with this influx of talent, although it is becoming harder and harder to see how important this one day is when some programs that do not load up on four and five star recruits--like Boise State, TCU and even Oregon--seem to be doing fine and a school like Auburn can do okay on signing day but win a national title thanks to a transfer student.
Unfortunately, to make the day when 17 and 18-year-olds fax in their letters of intent a bit more exciting for television, ESPN has some of the kids announce their selection live on television. This is absolutely dreadful. Not only are many of the kids not particularly savvy in front of a mic, but the whole notion of drawing attention to someone for just their school selection re-enforces a me-first attitude that goes against the core values of the sport.
Unfortunately, to make the day when 17 and 18-year-olds fax in their letters of intent a bit more exciting for television, ESPN has some of the kids announce their selection live on television. This is absolutely dreadful. Not only are many of the kids not particularly savvy in front of a mic, but the whole notion of drawing attention to someone for just their school selection re-enforces a me-first attitude that goes against the core values of the sport.
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