Ja’Juan Seider’s recruiting prowess is getting Penn State into South Florida

BMF

Bad Mother....
Lifetime Member
Sep 8, 2014
25,399
59,220
This is a pay site I subscribe to, so only posting the 'free' part (which anyone can view). This should disgust each and every one of us....


Ja’Juan Seider’s recruiting prowess is getting Penn State into South Florida

https://theathletic.com/386050/2018/06/11/jajuan-seider-penn-state-recruiting-florida/

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Ja’Juan Seider had barely unpacked his bags upon arriving in State College last January when he got to work. The bare walls inside the newly appointed running backs coach’s office overlooking Penn State’s practice field would have to wait.

As Penn State finalized its best recruiting class to date under James Franklin, Seider’s duties, like the rest of the staff’s, were twofold: Continue to identify talent for 2019 and beyond and groom his position group for the months ahead.

“It was crazy because I never really had to look for a job,” said Seider, who joined the Penn State staff after spending the 2017 season coaching running backs at Florida. He was slated to be Dan Mullen’s only holdover on the Florida staff when Jim McElwain was fired, but he left after being switched from running backs to tight ends.

“I’ve been fortunate to know people and been in situations where for some reason people like to keep me around,” Seider said with a smile. “I guess that’s a good thing, and I don’t want to lose that trait. It was just too good of an opportunity not to come here.”

Seider is tasked with grooming Miles Sanders and Penn State’s stable of backs who will hit the field in the post-Saquon Barkley era. He’s also the confident Belle Glade, Fla., native who will help the Nittany Lions expand their recruiting footprint into Florida. South Florida is a talent hotbed that Seider knows better than most, as a native of the area and a high school coach from 2001-07.

His ties run deep in Florida, where his father was a high school track coach, where current Marshall head coach Doc Holliday showed up to recruit him to West Virginia and where Seider’s established connections with high school coaches, friends and community members make him one of the premier recruiters in that territory. It’s part of the reason why, when Mullen was putting his Florida staff together, Gators fans clamored for him to keep Seider.

(more at the link)
 

Mr2Bits

Founding Member
Member
Lifetime Member
Jun 24, 2014
4,015
10,213
Founding Member
Meh....thats like breaking up with your girlfriend and getting jealous when she lands a new dude.....time to move on and accept it is what it is.
 

BMF

Bad Mother....
Lifetime Member
Sep 8, 2014
25,399
59,220
Meh....thats like breaking up with your girlfriend and getting jealous when she lands a new dude.....time to move on and accept it is what it is.

Sure, that would be a great analogy if our recruit class wasn't ranked just inside the top 30.
 

GatorJB

Founding Member
Senior Member
Lifetime Member
Jun 12, 2014
3,449
6,124
Founding Member
Meh....thats like breaking up with your girlfriend and getting jealous when she lands a new dude.....time to move on and accept it is what it is.

Actually in this case the girlfriend broke up with you because she was taken for granted and knew it, and your new girlfriend isn't as good. Agree you have to move on, but still not the same. One of many reasons McElwain was a complete failure because he put his friendships before the program. Mullen may have better friends, but he has started off hiring his buddies like McElwain did. It's a concern considering what happened last time.
 

TLB

Just chillin'
Lifetime Member
Jan 6, 2015
13,680
25,358
It's his job. It fits his experience (recruiting area, relationships, etc). I'd be surprised if anyone hired him and DIDN'T put him to work in SoFla. This is to be expected, and we should anticipate fighting ALL decent programs as they'll want to tap into the talent in this state.

Can't hate PSU on this, it's what they and every other program ought to be doing.

Can't hate on Seider, he's doing his job and he seems pretty good at it.

Those that want to hate on Mullen for getting rid of Seider...meh, ok. That's your right. Without blindly putting faith in Mullen making the right moves with the coaching staff (ie, assuming he'll get someone better), I'll simply wait and see how well we can compete for the recruits. We should expect the best recruiters coming after 'our kids', and I get the sting of it being someone you 'let go'. But I'm not wasting any energy or time gnashing teeth or crying over it. Grow up, move on.
 

alcoholica

Founding Member
I'm what Willis was talking about
Lifetime Member
Jun 11, 2014
16,754
20,381
Founding Member
Sure, that would be a great analogy if our recruit class wasn't ranked just inside the top 30.
In case you haven’t heard, our class is about to explode in July.
 

BMF

Bad Mother....
Lifetime Member
Sep 8, 2014
25,399
59,220
Those that want to hate on Mullen for getting rid of Seider...meh, ok. That's your right. Without blindly putting faith in Mullen making the right moves with the coaching staff (ie, assuming he'll get someone better), I'll simply wait and see how well we can compete for the recruits. We should expect the best recruiters coming after 'our kids', and I get the sting of it being someone you 'let go'. But I'm not wasting any energy or time gnashing teeth or crying over it. Grow up, move on.

The 'ole, "I trust the coaches" response! :D

For clarification, I'm not "hating" on anybody. I've said this before and still believe it, Mullen's biggest mistake since he came to UF was bringing too many of his MSU staff w/ him.

Everyone wants to say our staff has to "build relationships", well, Seider has done that. Continuity is part of that, and keeping him would have further solidified UF's "relationship" w/ recruits. Here's another bit of that article:

“At the end of the day, it’s all about relationships and trust,” Holliday said. “I went to Florida with Urban Meyer, and I had never met Urban Meyer. He didn’t know me from anybody, but he called a couple of the high school coaches down there in South Florida. … He asked, ‘Who would you hire if you had to pick one guy to recruit South Florida?’ My name came up. I met him in an airport and was hired 10 minutes later. … If you can’t recruit in this business — and I told Ja’Juan all this as I tried to mentor him from the time he was a player to the time he got into coaching and getting into this business — you’re not going to be in this profession very long.”
 

Durfish

Feed me!
Lifetime Member
Nov 13, 2017
1,234
2,271
Is Seider coming back? Nah. Is Mullen gonna get fired for letting him leave? Nope. I agree with TLB. Got better things to spend blood pressure on than this.
 

Swamp Donkey

Founding Member
7-14 vs P5 Fire Stricklin First
Lifetime Member
Jun 9, 2014
78,161
109,975
Founding Member
I STILL... DONT...GET... THIS. Seider wasnt a Butters guy. If anything he was a Doc Holliday guy, our best recruiter in the Meyer era. Holliday is a close friend of Mullin's.

I hope we fix the staff next year by hiring several great recruiters, but guys like Seider dont grow on trees.

I guess I should just be happy Bammer or Ugly didnt get him.
 

T REX

Founding Member
Well-Known Member
Jun 24, 2014
10,107
7,389
Founding Member
I think Mullen has been handled with kid gloves so far. This board has been pretty quiet on Dan. Which is fine...we have a lot of wait and see posters. I also think it is ok to post if he made a mistake. No one is saying fire him. He should've kept Seider. Dan probably even knows he f ed up.
 
Last edited:

VirginiaGator

VA to RI to FL
Jul 9, 2014
131
252
Penn State is also tearing up Virginia. Got several big time recruits. Wish Gators would recruit the 757 harder. Though I know Florida is more important.
 

Swamp Donkey

Founding Member
7-14 vs P5 Fire Stricklin First
Lifetime Member
Jun 9, 2014
78,161
109,975
Founding Member
Penn State is also tearing up Virginia. Got several big time recruits. Wish Gators would recruit the 757 harder. Though I know Florida is more important.
Franklin has had strong ties there since his Maryland days. He is a very good recruiter in his own right.
 

soflagator

Senior Member
Lifetime Member
Sep 4, 2014
21,136
78,749
Franklin has had strong ties there since his Maryland days. He is a very good recruiter in his own right.

Correct.

I agree with MR2Bits to an extent. While I get the frustration and offseason lack of topics, at this point, that ship has sailed and there's no reason to keep torturing ourselves every time Seider makes headway in recruiting.

And yes, that's one Mullen will have to answer for if things don't pick up.

But to your point, if we're going to complain about someone being on the Penn State staff instead of wearing orange and blue, and pine about how much better off we'd be if he were here, I think we're talking about the wrong guy.
 

TLB

Just chillin'
Lifetime Member
Jan 6, 2015
13,680
25,358
Penn State is also tearing up Virginia. Got several big time recruits. Wish Gators would recruit the 757 harder. Though I know Florida is more important.

I thought that was why we had you in VA? Are you not doing your Gator Duty and recruiting there for us?
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Help Users

You haven't joined any rooms.