College Football Recruiting (2013 Class) Discussion

[dawgfan]

Originally Posted by MrBug708

Eh, the downside of the hat thing is that they could put any hat they want there and by not picking them, shows they spurned them.

I'm turning down Stanford to go attend Eastern Washington

The hat thing was curious for Mathis. The only school out of the five he had up there that he'd officially visited was Washington, so there wasn't much real suspense. But watch his film and tell me he isn't a legitimately top level DL/DE prospect...

The grades thing was a legit concern, and it's why schools like USC and the national recruiters like Alabama didn't come after him harder early in the year. But the reports are that he's on track now. We'll see obviously - never count your chickens before they're hatched and all that - but the prospects of him qualifying are a lot better than they were a year ago.

[dawgfan]

Originally Posted by MrBug708

Harlow makes it official

No surprise there. As soon as he was quoted as saying his heart was with Oregon State, I knew he was a goner. Riley is getting a couple OL studs between Harlow & Kearsley.

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by Chief Rum

Actually last we heard, he still had some work to do. And he never even had a chance of getting into UCLA, so it was kinda funny that a Bruin hat was even up there.

But good luck. In Tosh you trust.

Yeah, ditto on USC...

[dawgfan]

Originally Posted by Eaglesfan27

Yeah, ditto on USC...

You mean academically? Since when does USC use something other than the NCAA minimums?

[MrBug708]

Are you insinuating that McQuay isnt a wordsmith?

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by dawgfan

You mean academically? Since when does USC use something other than the NCAA minimums?

USC decided early on that his academics are in such bad shape that he was not going to clear academically so they stopped recruiting him. Silly to have a USC hat up there.

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by MrBug708

Are you insinuating that McQuay isnt a wordsmith?

McQuay has a higher GPA than his 40 time. He is very smart and very athletic.

[MrBug708]

Something is up with Kiffin and USC. Here you have a coach that has never done anything as a HC. He is coming off a season where he is #1 to start and ends up 7-6 and losing to a team with a losing record. His team is on probation. His team had a brawl in the looker room.

They have 15 commits and 13 are top 100. Someone decommits and another top 100 guy is waiting to replace him. Bobby Bowden, Mack Brown and Pete Carroll at their peak didn't put up those numbers.

What is the most likely thing in play here? Willie Mack Garza?

[MrBug708]

Who is the secret UW verbal tomorrow? Seems like either Kelly, Falah, or Ramsey?

[Eaglesfan27]

Leon McQuay III has signed his paperwork and will be an EE.

[dawgfan]

Originally Posted by MrBug708

Who is the secret UW verbal tomorrow? Seems like either Kelly, Falah, or Ramsey?

I dunno, but Falah is the guy most needed.

[dawgfan]

Originally Posted by Eaglesfan27

USC decided early on that his academics are in such bad shape that he was not going to clear academically so they stopped recruiting him. Silly to have a USC hat up there.

Correction - his academics were enough of an issue that they couldn't worry about recruiting him given their scholarship limits.

They'd have pushed harder for him if they had 25 rides to give.

[MrBug708]

Originally Posted by dawgfan

I dunno, but Falah is the guy most needed.

I'm on board with that

[dawgfan]

Sounds like it might be Jermaine Kelly.

[Chief Rum]

Good get if it is. He seems to be very underrated.

It remains a big mystery on UCLA sites what the big falling out was between him and the UCLA coaching staff (or the specific coach, suspected to be former UDub DB coach Martin).

[dawgfan]

Originally Posted by Chief Rum

Good get if it is. He seems to be very underrated.

It remains a big mystery on UCLA sites what the big falling out was between him and the UCLA coaching staff (or the specific coach, suspected to be former UDub DB coach Martin).

Speaking of coach Meat, how was the play of your corners this past year? He was considered a really good recruiter, but he took a lot of heat from Husky fans for the poor play of our corners under his watch. Hard to know if that was him, or the schemes Holt had him run. Trufant looked a lot better this year than his previous 3 years...

[Chief Rum]

Originally Posted by dawgfan

Speaking of coach Meat, how was the play of your corners this past year? He was considered a really good recruiter, but he took a lot of heat from Husky fans for the poor play of our corners under his watch. Hard to know if that was him, or the schemes Holt had him run. Trufant looked a lot better this year than his previous 3 years...

Worst part of our defense, so you may have something there.

Of course, to be fair, Hester and Price were both three year starters when Martin was hired, with a history of not being great and receiving even worse coaching. Plus, Mora is a former DB coach--I would think if Martin was doing a poor job there, we would see him do something to shore that up (and in fact, the defense actually made moves to emphasize the corners being on islands by themselves, so that says they actually had more confidence, not less).

It will be interesting to see how things develop in the next year or two. Goforth was solid at safety, and Hilliard and McKay did okay at the S/LB hybrid spot, but Abbott seemed to regress and McDonald did not improve either. We have top corners in Adams and Rios from last year's class, and we're looking good for Johnnie Johnson, Priest Willis and Tahaan Goodman in this class, so we have talent in the secondary--but it will play to that talent?

That's the primary question in front of an otherwise very strong returning defensive unit for UCLA in 2013.

[dawgfan]

Originally Posted by dawgfan

Sounds like it might be Jermaine Kelly.

Jermaine Kelly it is.

[BishopMVP]

Al-Quadin Muhammad to Miami. Rumor from ND fans is that grades were an issue, but that's what we always say when we lose someone to a Florida school. Makes Vanderdoes the last real important target and a huge get if we can lock him up and avoid any decommits.

[MrBug708]

Originally Posted by dawgfan

Jermaine Kelly it is.

Good pickup for UW, but as a UCLA fan, I'll trade him for Moala pretty much every time.*

*Assuming Johnson, Willis, and Goodman are coming

[dawgfan]

Originally Posted by MrBug708

Good pickup for UW, but as a UCLA fan, I'll trade him for Moala pretty much every time.*

*Assuming Johnson, Willis, and Goodman are coming

Having Moala flip still stings - the UW is still looking for a true LT type recruit. They may have a shot at Falah, but he didn't impress at the Army Game workouts. We're doing OK with interior OL guys, but struggling with tackles.

[Logan]

Originally Posted by BishopMVP

Al-Quadin Muhammad to Miami. Rumor from ND fans is that grades were an issue, but that's what we always say when we lose someone to a Florida school. Makes Vanderdoes the last real important target and a huge get if we can lock him up and avoid any decommits.

Grades are definitely an issue. People at Rutgers think there's a better than even chance he ends up going the prep route.

[MrBug708]

USC totally dicked with Kylie Fitts.

[Logan]

Yeah seems like that coverage is everywhere.

Football: A new recruiting mess for USC - latimes.com

[dawgfan]

Originally Posted by MrBug708

USC totally dicked with Kylie Fitts.

C'mon up to Seattle Kylie...

[MrBug708]

3-4 guy

[dawgfan]

Originally Posted by MrBug708

3-4 guy

Not a problem - Wilcox runs a lot of 3-4 looks. Bigger question is, old-school 2-gap 3-4 guy, or new-school 1-gap 3-4 guy?

[MrBug708]

My guess is more of a 1 gap guy.

Any word on the looks? Seems like the few UW fans I've seen talking about it thinks it a UClA slight lead in a UCLA/UW battle. ESPN mentions a sibling that attends UCLA and I think it bodes well that he hasn't visited yet and probably will and on UCLA's big recruiting weekend on the 18th. Also don't have any DE commits this class. Of course, there is Tosh on the other side of the equation

[MrBug708]

On starting to reach for the USC hat before picking the UW hat at the Army Bowl - "It was a hat-trick because I hate SC. I put SC in there on purpose."
--JoJo Mathis

[dawgfan]

Originally Posted by MrBug708

My guess is more of a 1 gap guy.

Any word on the looks? Seems like the few UW fans I've seen talking about it thinks it a UClA slight lead in a UCLA/UW battle. ESPN mentions a sibling that attends UCLA and I think it bodes well that he hasn't visited yet and probably will and on UCLA's big recruiting weekend on the 18th. Also don't have any DE commits this class. Of course, there is Tosh on the other side of the equation

Dunno yet - the Dawgman guys are putting out their next recruiting blog tomorrow, and maybe they'll have a little more insight into Fitts & the UW. He seemed to enjoy his visit, but at that point he was 100% about the Trojans and was not really serious about considering another school.

The Huskies have some good DE candidates already in Hall & Mathis, and if Farria makes it in (I have my doubts), he could be the best of the bunch. Which isn't to say Tosh won't go full bore after Fitts since he's a stud, but this class is quickly getting close to full and they are much more in need of an OT than another DE. I guess some of it would depend on how confident the Husky coaches are of all of these guys qualifying.

Another factor is if the UW still has any room for an early enrollee to count back against the 2012 class. They've already got Williams & Walker enrolled and presumably counting against 2012, and the kick Van Winkle is expected in the Spring. Maybe at this point Fitts doesn't care about enrolling early since he's already out of H.S., I dunno.

One factor possibly in the UW's favor is their recent history of REV players (Fouch, Polk, Shamburger, Hudson).

[dawgfan]

A lot of recruiting stuff out this morning.

- Hutchings: Was going to visit the UW, but has cancelled. Sounds like USC put the screws to him.
- Fitts: UW is a player for him, but UCLA probably wins out.
- Jack: A UCLA/UW battle, but watch out for Oregon.
- Morris: Was going to visit the UW, but cancelled. Probably got an ultimatum from the UCLA coaches about taking other visits.
- Vanderdoes: UW is probably not going to get him.
- Foster: Officially visiting the UW, but still a longshot.
- Johnson: It's going to be UCLA.
- Falah: It's between the UW & USC.
- Ramsey: Probably sticking with USC; UW is pretty much out.

[Eaglesfan27]

I don't think USC put the screws to Hutchings as they can't afford to play hardball with any of these top talent kids at this point, but they may have told him the likely candidates for DC and LB coach and got him fully back on board.

Ramsey has been recruiting for USC the last few weeks, so I wasn't worried about him at all.

I think Vanderdoes is either USC or UCLA. I still think USC has a decent shot at him, but maybe that is just me having wishful thinking. We'll see. I think the DC hire is going to be important there.

Fitts still has an offer at USC and while he is rightfully pissed off about how things unfolded, I think he may still end up at USC. It has been his dream school for years and he tweeted this morning that he still respects and thinks the USC coaching staff is very talented.

[Eaglesfan27]

Newby picks Nebrasaka.

[Chief Rum]

Originally Posted by Eaglesfan27

Newby picks Nebrasaka.

Not a shock. Newby has maintained Nebraska was his leader for months now.

[MrBug708]

Originally Posted by Eaglesfan27

Newby picks Nebrasaka.

This has been some of the best recruiting news for USC in weeks

[Solecismic]

Nice unexpected pickup for Michigan - a mature senior left tackle who realizes he might be a top three pick next year if he gets just a little better.

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by MrBug708

This has been some of the best recruiting news for USC in weeks

Nah, the little Gutties aren't a concern.

I'll take the McQuay, Hutchings, etc news over Newby news

[MrBug708]

Just have been saddened at the lack of banter lately. I've thought you disappeared!

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by MrBug708

Just have been saddened at the lack of banter lately. I've thought you disappeared!

Getting married in under 48 hours. Working a lot of hours. Between the two, I've been very busy the last few months.

[MrBug708]

Originally Posted by dawgfan

A lot of recruiting stuff out this morning.

- Hutchings: Was going to visit the UW, but has cancelled. Sounds like USC put the screws to him.
- Fitts: UW is a player for him, but UCLA probably wins out.
- Jack: A UCLA/UW battle, but watch out for Oregon.
- Morris: Was going to visit the UW, but cancelled. Probably got an ultimatum from the UCLA coaches about taking other visits.
- Vanderdoes: UW is probably not going to get him.
- Foster: Officially visiting the UW, but still a longshot.
- Johnson: It's going to be UCLA.
- Falah: It's between the UW & USC.
- Ramsey: Probably sticking with USC; UW is pretty much out.

Morris has always poked around, but I havent seen anything about ultimatums from the staff on anyone. I think if he does decommit, it would be to Tennessee

[MrBug708]

Reuben Foster to UW?

[dawgfan]

Originally Posted by MrBug708

Reuben Foster to UW?

He's visiting, and his quotes make it sound like it's a legit option. I'm wary only because we've all heard the scuttlebutt about special favors and more given to his family to land him. If the UW can get him without resorting to serious violations, I'm all for it.

Still seems hard to believe that in his situation he'd be fine with moving all the way across the country...

[BishopMVP]

Borderline 4*/5* LB Alex Anzalone switches from ND to Florida... I hope Kelly gets his shit together quickly and we don't lose too many guys before he makes a decision (or if he does go to the NFL).

[MrBug708]

Deon Hollins might be taking a trip to ND

[Balldog]

With regards to Anzalone, the issue may be with him. He verbally committed to OSU, then ND, and now Florida. Interesting trend...

[BishopMVP]

Originally Posted by Balldog

With regards to Anzalone, the issue may be with him. He verbally committed to OSU, then ND, and now Florida. Interesting trend...

ND has had their share of vacillations over the past 3 years (Lynch, Williams, Kiel, Nash, Tuitt, Anzalone, Carlisle, Greenberry etc) but I feel we have a much better shot at locking each player up when it counts on Feb 5 if Kelly and the staff aren't on the front page of ESPN thinking about leaving. (Even if that's only worth so much - as Lynch, Shepherd and Carlisle show.)

[Matthean]

Originally Posted by BishopMVP

on Feb 5 if Kelly and the staff aren't on the front page of ESPN thinking about leaving.

I can't imagine the process lasting that long. If Kelly comes back this weekend and talks go well, the deal should be done at that point. I don't know when the latest a coach has been hired, but ND will easily be behind Michigan when they hired Hoke.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Not high profile players but an somewhat interesting story from yesterday about a couple of DB's decommitting from Cincy after Tuberville basically didn't bother to contact them or communicate at all.

I'm kinda split about this deal. I'm fairly okay with the new coach decided that previously recruited and committed players were not going to fit into this program, but I also think the etiquette is/should be that you at least tell them so instead of having them twist in the wind.

What really stuck out to me was in the comments from the peanut gallery, where several people said the kids should have been calling, the onus to communicate with the new coach was on them, etc. That part isn't how it usually works is it? I know the lack-of-contact stuff happens sometimes & you can start to read between the lines but I don't recall ever hearing it suggested that the kids were "supposed to" start calling when a coaching change was made. Am I off-base on that?

Ex-football recruit on Tommy Tuberville: ‘It’s a bad situation’ (UPDATED) | AJC College Sports Recruiting

[MrBug708]

Im confused. Where does Malzahn come into the picture?

[Logan]

Of course not. It's called "recruiting" because the players are being sought after by the schools. Even after they commit, other schools will still communicate with them in the hopes of getting them to flip, just come for a visit, etc.

When I was applying to colleges, I was checking on the status of my application because I was a regular schmuck. I wouldn't have expected the same if I was a D-1 football recruit with double digit offers.

FYI...Tuberville, not Malzahn, in your first sentence.