Signing day is almost here! [Archive] - Page 2 - Front Office Football Central

IMetTrentGreen

02-09-2007, 01:36 PM

you guys sure showed me. your sarcasm made creer a better player. amazing.

recruiting 101. ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS be wary of the kid the local schools didn't want. in texas, it's texas. if usc doesn't offer a california kid, if michigan or ohio state don't offer a midwest kid, etc, be wary. tape can lie, especially when you play 3a ball like creer did. the local guys know best. yes i'm talking to you, kirby freeman, lance legget, and soon to be shawnbrey mcneal.

the method isn't perfect, it's just one piece of the puzzle (drew brees, for instance) but it's the best indicator of oos talent.

anyway, i just wanted to say that ou signed a kid that got arrested for burglary or something. michigan backed off, and ou came to the rescue. darn that bleeding heart bob stoops.

MrBug708

02-09-2007, 01:36 PM

Poli

02-09-2007, 01:37 PM

you guys sure showed me. your sarcasm made creer a better player. amazing.
I do what I can, but I'm only one man.

dawgfan

02-09-2007, 01:38 PM

st.cronin

02-09-2007, 01:39 PM

cschex

02-09-2007, 02:07 PM

Can you be a bit more specific? Aren't there something like 7 Death Valleys now in the US? One out in California, one in South Carolina, the one you apparently refer to in Louisiana, and lord knows how many others are latching on to that name...

With the exception of the desert out in Cali, Tiger Stadium has been around the longest (1924) and has been referred to by that nickname longer than Clemson's stadium. Tiger Stadium is almost always referred to as Death Valley in any national articles or broadcasts.

Re: McKnight. Do I think that Bush had illegal contact with him? Yeah, I do. IT won't matter, but saying that he "clarified things" just means that he was a dumbass to open his mouth on national TV and Carroll and JC Curtis yelled at him and coordinated their stories. My favorite line is by Curtis when he said the McKnight mispoke because of all of the questions after the presser. Yeah, like that would make him falsely claim that Reggie Bush called him. SC won't have anything done to them, but I'd rather it be that way. I want to see them on the field at full strength.

Eaglesfan27

02-09-2007, 02:10 PM

Either Pete Carroll is the most targeted man in history or maybe he's actually dirty?

Whoever is at the top always has a big target on their back.

dawgfan

02-09-2007, 02:13 PM

Whoever is at the top always has a big target on their back.
That may be true, but there's an awful lot of smoke surrounding USC now for there to be no fires causing them.

Seriously, take off the USC glasses for a second, look at the McKnight story again and tell me you believe he "misspoke" by creating a story of him talking with Reggie Bush on the phone as arranged by Pete Carroll. I mean, c'mon - how can your BS detector not be going off the charts here?

Eaglesfan27

02-09-2007, 02:22 PM

That may be true, but there's an awful lot of smoke surrounding USC now for there to be no fires causing them.

Seriously, take off the USC glasses for a second, look at the McKnight story again and tell me you believe he "misspoke" by creating a story of him talking with Reggie Bush on the phone as arranged by Pete Carroll. I mean, c'mon - how can your BS detector not be going off the charts here?

I think Pete probably did call Reggie and let McKnight listen to the conversation on the loud speaker. I don't believe there is anything illegal about that, nor should there be. It's natural for McKnight to want to hear from Reggie that there wasn't anything substantial to the investigations involving him and any possible sanctions down the road. I don't think Pete is any more dirty than most college head coaches, but there are a lot more unsubstianted attacks being made against the program because they have been dominanting the polls for 5 consecutive years. Any allegation against them is a more sexy story than an allegation against a less hot program.

Tigercat

02-09-2007, 02:50 PM

I think Pete probably did call Reggie and let McKnight listen to the conversation on the loud speaker. I don't believe there is anything illegal about that, nor should there be. It's natural for McKnight to want to hear from Reggie that there wasn't anything substantial to the investigations involving him and any possible sanctions down the road. I don't think Pete is any more dirty than most college head coaches, but there are a lot more unsubstianted attacks being made against the program because they have been dominanting the polls for 5 consecutive years. Any allegation against them is a more sexy story than an allegation against a less hot program.

I agree with most of what you say, but the reason why USC needs to be punished(probably just a slap on the wrist is deserved, but punished none the less) is because they are a top program.

This kind of cheating, and yes it is cheating even if its minor cheating, is made EASIER when you are the top program. "Oh you want to hear about the good things about our program? Let me call up Reggie Bush." Is a lot better than saying the same thing and calling up the third string running back for some NFL team.

I hope McKnight can and does stick with his decision and I hope USC gets some recruiting visits taken away and we all move on.

dawgfan

02-09-2007, 02:52 PM

I don't believe there is anything illegal about that, nor should there be.
Of course it's a recruiting violation, as well it should be. Former players are representatives of the university, and only coaches and university officials are allowed to participate in recruiting. Why do you think everyone involved is backpedaling so fast from McKnight's original statement if it wasn't a violation?

It's natural for McKnight to want to hear from Reggie that there wasn't anything substantial to the investigations involving him and any possible sanctions down the road.
It may be natural, but Bush is hardly the most objective source in this matter for one thing, and for another, who's to say that was all they talked about?

I don't think Pete is any more dirty than most college head coaches, but there are a lot more unsubstianted attacks being made against the program because they have been dominanting the polls for 5 consecutive years. Any allegation against them is a more sexy story than an allegation against a less hot program.
So, which attacks have been unsubstantiated? Carroll may not be the dirtiest head coach out there, but if shenanigans have happened under his watch I see no reason to brush it under the rug, especially since they've been so successful lately. If shady recruiting practices have helped their recruiting (and thus their play on the field) then they should pay the penalty for it.

Understand that you're not going to get any sympathy from me given how hard the Pac-10 and NCAA fucked the UW program over in '93 for actions that were rather tame and some of which were of questionable veracity, and then seeing how much other big-time programs have gotten away with in more recent years with hardly a scratch (*cough* Ohio State *cough*)...

Easy Mac

02-09-2007, 05:02 PM

Matt Sims Likes Fatties (http://deadspin.com/sports/college-football/matt-simms-can-roll-a-fat-one-in-a-slightly-different-fashion-than-his-brother-can-235305.php)
http://deadspin.com/assets/resources/2007/02/simmsblunt.jpg

Rich1033

02-09-2007, 05:15 PM

Here is another one for you guys

UCLA's recruit Brian Price says that a limo was there to pick him up from is high school a few weeks ago to take him on an official visit he didn't schedule. That's a recruiting violation, but SC says that it was a lincoln towncar. Multiple people verified to the LA Times that it was a limo as well, which Pete Carroll has vehemently denied.

This kind of thing happens all the time. Ronald Johnson(now he was a crazy recruitment) told many people about Florida picking him up in a limo that took him to the airport. Florida denied it saying it was a towncar. Nothing will ever happen with this kind of thing IMO.

anyway, i just wanted to say that ou signed a kid that got arrested for burglary or something. michigan backed off, and ou came to the rescue. darn that bleeding heart bob stoops.

I assume you are talking about the OL Stephenson. Michigan, looking for tackles, came in late. They got a visit scheduled, then he got in trouble. Michigan being Michigan dropped him right away. Lloyd really tries to stay away from possible headaches nowadays, however they did really like his skills and expected him to be a good tackle. Stoops had been on him longer and just decided to stay with him. I dont see a reason to take shots at OU over that kid.

I'm certain that if the NCAA investigated USC they'd find a ton of violations. I'm also certain they'd get no more punishment than their wrists slapped, just like Ohio State a few years back.

Without subpoena power the NCAA will not do anything. Thats the reason to watch this Reggie Bush thing. The bigger it gets and the more attention it recieves, the more dangerous for USC it is. If a grand jury gets involved USC fans should get nervous. There have long been rumors(some from former big USC targets) of violations around Carroll and USC.

If you want to put money on a school getting in trouble I would bet on Illinois. Apparently there are some very open and obvious violations going on with players/recruits. They just dont have the name value to get away with this kind of stuff.

bhlloy

02-09-2007, 09:26 PM

McKnight and his coach are denying that there was ever such a conversation. Even if there was (which I doubt), unless one of them has a change of heart nothing is going to get proved. SC might lose a scholarship as a worst case scenario I would imagine.

The Bush thing makes me very nervous for the aforementioned reasons. If the NCAA looks hard enough, they are going to find violations. And public sentiment seems to have turned very strongly against us. I see very bad things in the near future.

As for programs that may be on probation very soon, Illinois is the obvious one. Zook has consistently brought in recruits that nobody can believe he would have a shot at. I have also heard some things about Dennis Erickson at ASU - remember that Brian Price almost mysteriously decommitted from UCLA when all he had ever wanted was to stay close to home after a visit to ASU that nobody could understand why he would want to take.

MrBug708

02-09-2007, 09:36 PM

I dont think there was anything bad with Price looking at ASU. Brian Price's dad seems pretty involved his recruiting and making sure USC wasn't doing anything to compromise his eligibility. I doubt Erickson could get away with it. His interest in ASU was a backup plan in case the UCLA admissions did pass him.

miami_fan

02-09-2007, 10:02 PM

As for programs that may be on probation very soon, Illinois is the obvious one. Zook has consistently brought in recruits that nobody can believe he would have a shot at.

I may be naive to some of the recruiting stuff. Actually more numb to it than anything else. I am one of those that believe that every program has a bit of dirt in it especially with some of the archaic rules of the NCAA. That being said, I am wondering why is it that Ron Zook is drawing so much suspicion. If there is one thing he has proven is that he can recruit. He did recruit a large part of the national championship team this year. Is it the fact that he is recruiting them to Illinois? I am not saying that Zook has not done anything wrong. None of us know that at this point. It is just surprising to me at least that he is getting this much negative attention. Why shouldn't Ron Zook be able to get good recruits to go to Illinois?

Poli

02-10-2007, 11:20 AM

FSU fans:

Rumors have been floating for the last two months, off and on, that Brandon Warren may transfer to Tennessee. Have you heard anything on your end on that? I mean, other than the fact he's just average?

Poli

02-10-2007, 11:20 AM

;)

Poli

02-10-2007, 11:25 AM

It also appears that at least three backup types for Tennessee are giving up their football scholarships. QB Bo Hardegree, who played in 1 game last year, DT Hostetter (let's face it, I can't remember his first name), and WR Bill Grimes, who has played in 2 games in 3 years.

Hardegree, who fumbled the only snap he took in his career, is moving on to the Tennessee tennis team. He was also the high school teammate of Daniel Brooks, a highly touted in state recruit who was kicked off the team about 18 months ago.

Mr. Wednesday

02-10-2007, 02:46 PM

Why shouldn't Ron Zook be able to get good recruits to go to Illinois?

Because the team sucks, the facilities suck, and he's shown no sign (that I'm aware of offhand) of being able to develop players.

hoopsguy

02-10-2007, 03:11 PM

But he has shown consistently the ability to get players. And there are multiple people who signed with other programs (including Hughest at ND) who have said in interviews that Illinois is not offering any kind of inducements. What is their motivation for publicly saying anything to back another coach?

And why does Illinois get questioned but not UNC, who put together a stronger class in less time? Because of all of their football tradition? I expect if I went down the list of top 20-30 recruiting classes that there would be some others that are head-scratchers as well.

hoopsguy

02-10-2007, 03:14 PM

In terms of developing players, it is a little tough to hold that against a guy who had 2.5 years of head coaching at Florida. He lost games, so you can suggest that he didn't do as good a job on game day but I think a guy needs to be given a shot to coach his recruits as upper-classmen at the very least before you hang the "can't develop talent" rap on him.

He will likely get the shot to develop his players at Illinois. If they are not able to send some of these kids to the NFL, or start winning games in the next few seasons then I think that criticism would start to have some legs.

bhlloy

02-10-2007, 03:20 PM

And why does Illinois get questioned but not UNC, who put together a stronger class in less time? Because of all of their football tradition? I expect if I went down the list of top 20-30 recruiting classes that there would be some others that are head-scratchers as well.

Because Butch Davis has a history of being a successful college coach and getting players to the NFL. The reason they have such a high rating is Marvin Austin, and Austin was also sold partly by the fact that Julius Peppers was so succesful at UNC. In five years time UNC will be a very good football program.

miami_fan

02-10-2007, 03:48 PM

And Ron Zook has a brief history of being a good recruiter. It seems at least plausible to me, that he could sell the fact that he recruited 20 out of 22 starters on a national championship team. I could see him saying if only he had more time he would have been gotten the Gators when Urban Meyer did. Add that to immediate playing time because....well because his team sucks, and a pledge that the facilities would be upgraded and I could see how it would sell on the recruiting trail. Again it may come out tomorrow that he is giving out thousands of dollars to recruits. Yes he has not proven he can coach himself out of a paper bag. But I am not understanding why it is so obvious that he is cheating when his recruiting history says otherwise.

Mr. Wednesday

02-10-2007, 04:11 PM

I probably should have added that I don't believe the argument myself; Zook has a history of recruiting well, which is not in and of itself any evidence of wrongdoing.

Swaggs

02-10-2007, 04:38 PM

Zook can also sell early playing time in the Big 10. That is a big selling point for a lot of kids.

Eaglesfan27

02-15-2007, 12:22 PM

You'd hope. :)

I also hear that USC is in the running for Mustain.

I take back my former comments about Mustain. From news of his recent visit, I'd say there is a better chance than not that he ends up at USC. Will be interesting to see how he handles the heavy competition in 2 years.

cschex

02-15-2007, 02:28 PM

I take back my former comments about Mustain. From news of his recent visit, I'd say there is a better chance than not that he ends up at USC. Will be interesting to see how he handles the heavy competition in 2 years.

Would you really want a guy who's mom and grandma whined to the AD when he got benched? At USC?!? It isn't like they need a QB or anything and Mustain, while highly regarded out of HS, didn't look that great last year and will be unlikely to be better than whatever blue chipper Carroll tabs to replace Booty in two years. I would think that's a headache that everyone in that program would rather avoid.

DeToxRox

02-15-2007, 02:38 PM

Mustain at one point verbaled to Michigan. I'd say it's turned out for the best how things have worked out. A solid four year QB in Henne followed up by perhaps the most touted Michigan QB Recruit ever.

st.cronin

02-15-2007, 03:06 PM

Mustain probably won't start a game at USC. He's not that good.

Eaglesfan27

02-15-2007, 04:06 PM

Would you really want a guy who's mom and grandma whined to the AD when he got benched? At USC?!? It isn't like they need a QB or anything and Mustain, while highly regarded out of HS, didn't look that great last year and will be unlikely to be better than whatever blue chipper Carroll tabs to replace Booty in two years. I would think that's a headache that everyone in that program would rather avoid.

I didn't say I wanted him at all. I just take back my comments about him being unlikely to come there. Right now, I'm not impressed by his attitude or the attitude of his family. That being said, he at one point was regarded to be highly talented. If that talent ever shows, it could be a good pickup. If not, I don't think it is going to hurt the team much (unless Crist turns out to be great and we don't recruit him next year because of Mustain.)

bhlloy

02-15-2007, 09:38 PM

USC might not recruit Crist anyway. They are very high on Barkley out of Mater Dei for the 2009 class and he is pretty much supposed to be a Trojan lock if they don't take a top 5 QB next year.

Mustain will not beat out Mark Sanchez, so he's going to start until 2010 at the earliest. And then he has to beat out Corp which won't be easy if he's as good as he is supposed to be.

I can't believe Mustain would want to come to SC to be honest. There have got to be a ton of D1 teams that would kill for his talent. Who cares if he didn't look all-world as a freshman - he was a top 5 prospect and he is still a redshirt sophomore in 08. But it looks like the Trojans are firmly in the lead mainly because of Damien Williams.

Ksyrup

02-16-2007, 01:34 PM

This is somewhat interesting. I hadn't followed this story since Signing Day, but apparently it's not over yet:

What is expected today is a ruling by the Atlantic Coast Conference on the status of FSU signee Markish Jones, of Spartanburg (S.C.) Broome High.

Jones initially signed a letter of intent with Clemson University during a press conference at his high school on the Feb. 7 national signing day. But he didn't fax the letter to the Tigers and after talking with FSU coaches for a least an hour on Feb. 7, Jones decided to sign with FSU.

Later that day he faxed his letter of intent to FSU. That evening, Clemson coach Tommy Bowden - son of FSU coach Bobby Bowden - talked to Jones for nearly two hours, according to a South Carolina newspaper.

The question is whether Jones' initial letter of intent to Clemson should be recognized.

Eaglesfan27

03-23-2007, 12:50 PM

Slow day at work, so I've been catching up on the USC boards which are on fire about a walk-on who so far looks like he will not only earn a spot on the team, but a scholarship and could be a very interesting story to follow several years down the line.

Martin Blencowe set track records in England as a teenager was a very good rugby player there and reportedly shocked the Trojan coaching staff when he ran a 4.36 40 during walk-on try outs. He did it twice despite it being a wet slightly muddy field. He reportedly looks good in drills as well and has good size. He'll probably end up contributing as a DB down the road. It should be a cool story to follow the next few years.

UNITED KINGDOM ALL-TIME LISTS - UNDER 15 BOYS
22.64 1.7 Martin Blencowe (ENG) 11.04.86 1s2 Sheffield 8 Jul 2000

hxxp://www.gbrathletics.com/uk/mu15.htm (http://www.gbrathletics.com/uk/mu15.htm)

ESAA National Track & Field Championships 7th & 8th July 2000

Junior Boys 200m
pos no name team time std
1 79 Martin Blencowe Sussex 22.92 ns

hxxp://www.esaa.net/2000/tf/national/jb.html (http://www.esaa.net/2000/tf/national/jb.html)

SEAA UNDER 20 TRACK & FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS 2000

100 metres Under 15 Boys - Final (a)
1 4 Martin Blencowe Brighton College 11.5

Logan

03-23-2007, 12:59 PM

Ehhh....let me know when this guy goes from walk-on to defensive captain of a Super Bowl Champion (Gary Brackett, Rutgers, Indianapolis Colts) :).

Dr. Sak

03-23-2007, 01:28 PM

Or check out the story of Ethan Kilmer of the Cincinnati Bengals. He spent his first year and a half at Shippensburg University in Eastern PA. He decides to transfer to Penn State and try t o walk on, never playing football in high school.

He made the team and a few years later was the 2006 Orange Bowl MVP. He got drafted in the last round of the NFL Draft last season and is currently playing with the Bengals.

IMetTrentGreen

03-23-2007, 02:37 PM

Either Pete Carroll is the most targeted man in history or maybe he's actually dirty?

i've got a couple sourses that are connected to the football coaching world, one of them a family friend i trust.

usc and lsu are far and away the dirtiest programs in the country right now. texas a&m and the rest of the sec are tied for second.

lsu makes billy donovan look like a saint.

Tigercat

03-23-2007, 02:48 PM

i've got a couple sourses that are connected to the football coaching world, one of them a family friend i trust.

usc and lsu are far and away the dirtiest programs in the country right now. texas a&m and the rest of the sec are tied for second.

lsu makes billy donovan look like a saint.

You and your source are full of BS. Bottom line is, LSU doesn't have to be dirty. Who does LSU have to compete for for in state recruits? 99% of LSU best players are from Louisiana, and Houston and Mobile(places that have always been somewhat LSU territory out of state.)

A program does what it needs to do and what it can get away with. LSU doesn't need to be dirty, and is run by a guy who is a boy scout at heart(sometimes in a negative way) in Les Miles.

But sure, believe what you want. For a dirty school, we sure screwed up by letting the best player in the nation go out of state.

CU Tiger

03-24-2007, 11:19 PM

Every D1 program in the country commits at least 1 violation every year.
SOme are shocking.
Most are never heard of.

Your school (directd at wwhoever not just last poster) is included, believe me. Yes, they are. I really dont care who your friends dad met at a bar or what they told you.

I playeed and then coached in that system. Its dirty. I promise.

Logan

03-25-2007, 08:02 PM

You and your source are full of BS. Bottom line is, LSU doesn't have to be dirty. Who does LSU have to compete for for in state recruits? 99% of LSU best players are from Louisiana, and Houston and Mobile(places that have always been somewhat LSU territory out of state.)

A program does what it needs to do and what it can get away with. LSU doesn't need to be dirty, and is run by a guy who is a boy scout at heart(sometimes in a negative way) in Les Miles.

But sure, believe what you want. For a dirty school, we sure screwed up by letting the best player in the nation go out of state.

Every D1 program in the country commits at least 1 violation every year.
SOme are shocking.
Most are never heard of.

Your school (directd at wwhoever not just last poster) is included, believe me. Yes, they are. I really dont care who your friends dad met at a bar or what they told you.

I playeed and then coached in that system. Its dirty. I promise.

Sorry, but IMTG is one of only two people on this board who know anything about football. So please understand this and stop presenting logic.

Blade6119

03-25-2007, 09:16 PM

Am i the other???

timmynausea

03-30-2007, 01:57 PM

Noel Devine signed his LOI to go to WVU today. He's still waiting on the test score, I believe, but it's great news for us in any case.

IMetTrentGreen

04-01-2007, 06:29 PM

But sure, believe what you want. For a dirty school, we sure screwed up by letting the best player in the nation go out of state.

out of state . . . to whom?

anyway, you don't have to be embarrassed that you root for a dirty school. you think ou fans care that their entire successful history outside of stoops was built by cheaters? you think florida basketball fans care that billy donovan shops more than he recruits? ask them. they don't.

and no, lsu doesn't really have to break anything out to get the in-state kids. but joseph barksdale? the guy who had michigan, notre dame, and texas stop recruiting him all at once (hmmmm)? terrance toliver, who despite being rated the among the 5 best wr recruits in the country never even got a second look from mack brown? wonder why.

heh, not really, i know why. april fools!

anyway, the reason i came back to this thread was to tell everyone to remember the name john chiles. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00oFanQqlNg)

Poli

04-01-2007, 06:41 PM

I love reading imtg. He makes me giggle. Nothing for or against him. He's cocky and funny.

Dr. Sak

04-01-2007, 07:02 PM

i've got a couple sourses that are connected to the football coaching world, one of them a family friend i trust.

usc and lsu are far and away the dirtiest programs in the country right now. texas a&m and the rest of the sec are tied for second.

Speaking of USC, I got to ask Myles Brand a few questions about recruiting. Here is the link to the ITB post about it and it refers to a podcast on the DoubleAZone where Dr Brand answers my questions.

http://inthebleachers.net/recruiting/dr-brand-answers-my-recruiting-questions/