- Dec 19, 2019
- 307
- 644
Have a story to relate that maybe illustrates why we miss on a lot of elite players. Flights to Tampa were delayed at the Pensacola airport night before ESD, and I ended up in conversation with a stranger who turned out to be Michael Redding’s mom. Redding is a 4-star receiver from IMG. He’s listed at 6’2”, runs a 4.56 40, and is rated as a top FL-50 player.
Mom was on her way down to watch his signing ceremony with Miami. I asked why not Florida? She said he was actually very interested in Florida until they visited. In fact from among his 30+ offers, he started out most interested in UF, Purdue, and Notre Dame because he’s a bright kid and academics were important. He’s also a serious athlete and the priority was to enroll in a program that could prepare him for both Sunday football and a fall back on engineering.
Mom said they really liked Dan Mullen. She said coach Mullen made her feel like Michael would be part of an extended family. She liked his vision for the program. She liked the vibe. Her whole demeanor lit up when she spoke of Dan. This makes think Dan is not a bad recruiter.
Then she got a puzzled look and said the time with the receivers coach was disappointing. Michael asked Gonzalez how he develops players and was told that he was not looking for players requiring development. Period. So, they crossed Florida off the list. Michael ended wanting to stay in state and chose Miami over FSU.
Either Gonzalez was processing him, or this is one of the most monumentally stupid comments you could make to a recruit. The kid left the panhandle to go to an elite athletic prep school for crying out loud! Given the overall status of WR recruiting, I’m going with stupid.
I sell and perform engineering services for a living. ‘Sales 101’ indicates you at least reciprocate the question if you don’t have a development plan for the kid. Like, ‘We tailor development on an individual basis. Let’s look at your film and break it down a bit” or “What I’ve seen on tape says you are very close to becoming a prime time SEC baller, so what do you think you need to work on?”, followed by “Yep, I’ve built individual programs to improve (insert skill here) that absolutely helped put (insert protégé here) into the league.” I mean how ****ing hard is that?
Looking at Miami’s class, we’d be happy to have their WR and RB haul. Maybe Dan should hire their position coaches.
Mom was on her way down to watch his signing ceremony with Miami. I asked why not Florida? She said he was actually very interested in Florida until they visited. In fact from among his 30+ offers, he started out most interested in UF, Purdue, and Notre Dame because he’s a bright kid and academics were important. He’s also a serious athlete and the priority was to enroll in a program that could prepare him for both Sunday football and a fall back on engineering.
Mom said they really liked Dan Mullen. She said coach Mullen made her feel like Michael would be part of an extended family. She liked his vision for the program. She liked the vibe. Her whole demeanor lit up when she spoke of Dan. This makes think Dan is not a bad recruiter.
Then she got a puzzled look and said the time with the receivers coach was disappointing. Michael asked Gonzalez how he develops players and was told that he was not looking for players requiring development. Period. So, they crossed Florida off the list. Michael ended wanting to stay in state and chose Miami over FSU.
Either Gonzalez was processing him, or this is one of the most monumentally stupid comments you could make to a recruit. The kid left the panhandle to go to an elite athletic prep school for crying out loud! Given the overall status of WR recruiting, I’m going with stupid.
I sell and perform engineering services for a living. ‘Sales 101’ indicates you at least reciprocate the question if you don’t have a development plan for the kid. Like, ‘We tailor development on an individual basis. Let’s look at your film and break it down a bit” or “What I’ve seen on tape says you are very close to becoming a prime time SEC baller, so what do you think you need to work on?”, followed by “Yep, I’ve built individual programs to improve (insert skill here) that absolutely helped put (insert protégé here) into the league.” I mean how ****ing hard is that?
Looking at Miami’s class, we’d be happy to have their WR and RB haul. Maybe Dan should hire their position coaches.