Recruiting Update, 3/22

[Rentmoneygawd]

So explain to all of us why Kirby Smart isn't a good comparison?

No. If you think that it is a fair comparison so be it. I'm not here to teach you common sense.

 

[BMF]

No. If you think that it is a fair comparison so be it. I'm not here to teach you common sense.

But you are certainly here to act like a jackass. Thanks for posting!

 

[Rentmoneygawd]

But you are certainly here to act like a jackass. Thanks for posting!

you attacked my post...so who is the jackass?

 

[Alagator]

I can't figure out why he thinks this upcoming class is NOT McElwain's 3rd recruiting class. Because he got a late start on his first class it really doesn't count? How stupid is that? I saw Kirby Smart coach in the National Championship game and still pull in an impressive class (much more so than McElwain has pulled in 2 years), I saw Harbaugh dust our ass on the recruiting trail also. Those are just 2 examples of brand new head coaches in the last 2 years that didn't need the same excuses everyone is using for our coaching staff's recruiting failures.

Not disputing anything you've said but don't forget what Mac walked into in that firs class. Kirby and Hard-on didn't start with a class ranked in the 100's with only two full weeks to pull together a decent class. They both started with pretty good classes. Mac started that first class with what...8 pledges? An 8 man class ranked like 111th in the country?.?.?. And he finished with +20 pledges and #21 class. That was nothing short of a miracle. Name one coach out there who has EVER walked into a recruiting situation THAT BAD and finished like that. There may be one out there. But I can't think of one.

I think a lot of our recruiting angst is coming from not signing a top 5 class this year. That's totally understandable considering that is and should be the standard for UF. Of course, Muschamp did sign two top 5 classes and three top 10 if memory serves me correctly. That got us where? SIX offensive lineman for a Spring Practice and ONE viable QB who still hadn't taken a collegiate snap.We were embarrassingly thin last year in numbers and talent at positions that matter. Namely: OL, QB and WR. Which is why I'm not panicking just yet. Clearly our recruiting shortfall last year was on D. We did sign some studs there! But we also signed too many 3 stars on D.

What I see (and maybe it's the optimist in me) is Mac placing an extraordinary effort on the offense, which has been an absolute disaster for years now and our biggest immediate need. I am very satisfied with our offensive class:
- 4* QB who was flipped from a long time commitment to LSU.
- Two 4* RB's (#1 JC RB in the nation, another an Alabama kid who was being pursued personally by Nick Saban)
- Five 4* WR's (Three of which are EE's, one a JC guy with elite speed, and one that was ranked the #2 WR in the country)
- The #1 kicker in the country, flipped from bama who who Saban himself worked very hard to keep in his class
- And three good, SEC caliber offensive lineman. Of course, I wish we had signed at least one more of these.

Our offense has been our biggest weakness for six years now! And Mac signed superb offensive talent, which was obviously his emphasis and primary concern this year. I'm ok with that for this class. But after 4 years of watching muschamp sign uneven classes it's a little worrisome. If Mac maintains the rhythm on O (and by all accounts it seems he is) AND picks up the D back to the level it should be, I think we're backing to routinely looking at top 5 classes. This year may be tough to gauge because it seems we'll sign a smaller class.

This is what I would expect out of a class of say 20: Three 5*, Fourteen 4*, and Three 3* (Not exactly, but something like that)

It's not all rainbows and lollipops. But it's not nearly as dark as some make it appear to be either. Look at our biggest need and biggest weakness for six years now. And look at the class we signed to address those very concerns. Having said all that...if we don't sign some stud LB's and DT's in the class...we're screwed...

 

[BMF]

you attacked my post...so who is the jackass?

I'd say the cocky jerkoff making the condescending posts is the jackass, "No. If you think that it is a fair comparison so be it. I'm not here to teach you common sense."

Trust me, you're not ever going to "teach" me anything....much less common sense. Thank you.

 

[Rentmoneygawd]

I'd say the cocky jerkoff making the condescending posts is the jackass, "No. If you think that it is a fair comparison so be it. I'm not here to teach you common sense."

Trust me, you're not ever going to "teach" me anything....much less common sense. Thank you.

Yet you continue to come back for more...smh

To be fair, I am far from cocky. Another attack huh? Niiiiiiiice!

 

[Rentmoneygawd]

Not disputing anything you've said but don't forget what Mac walked into in that firs class. Kirby and Hard-on didn't start with a class ranked in the 100's with only two full weeks to pull together a decent class. They both started with pretty good classes. Mac started that first class with what...8 pledges? An 8 man class ranked like 111th in the country?.?.?. And he finished with +20 pledges and #21 class. That was nothing short of a miracle. Name one coach out there who has EVER walked into a recruiting situation THAT BAD and finished like that. There may be one out there. But I can't think of one.

I think a lot of our recruiting angst is coming from not signing a top 5 class this year. That's totally understandable considering that is and should be the standard for UF. Of course, Muschamp did sign two top 5 classes and three top 10 if memory serves me correctly. That got us where? SIX offensive lineman for a Spring Practice and ONE viable QB who still hadn't taken a collegiate snap.We were embarrassingly thin last year in numbers and talent at positions that matter. Namely: OL, QB and WR. Which is why I'm not panicking just yet. Clearly our recruiting shortfall last year was on D. We did sign some studs there! But we also signed too many 3 stars on D.

What I see (and maybe it's the optimist in me) is Mac placing an extraordinary effort on the offense, which has been an absolute disaster for years now and our biggest immediate need. I am very satisfied with our offensive class:
- 4* QB who was flipped from a long time commitment to LSU.
- Two 4* RB's (#1 JC RB in the nation, another an Alabama kid who was being pursued personally by Nick Saban)
- Five 4* WR's (Three of which are EE's, one a JC guy with elite speed, and one that was ranked the #2 WR in the country)
- The #1 kicker in the country, flipped from bama who who Saban himself worked very hard to keep in his class
- And three good, SEC caliber offensive lineman. Of course, I wish we had signed at least one more of these.

Our offense has been our biggest weakness for six years now! And Mac signed superb offensive talent, which was obviously his emphasis and primary concern this year. I'm ok with that for this class. But after 4 years of watching muschamp sign uneven classes it's a little worrisome. If Mac maintains the rhythm on O (and by all accounts it seems he is) AND picks up the D back to the level it should be, I think we're backing to routinely looking at top 5 classes. This year may be tough to gauge because it seems we'll sign a smaller class.

This is what I would expect out of a class of say 20: Three 5*, Fourteen 4*, and Three 3* (Not exactly, but something like that)

It's not all rainbows and lollipops. But it's not nearly as dark as some make it appear to be either. Look at our biggest need and biggest weakness for six years now. And look at the class we signed to address those very concerns. Having said all that...if we don't sign some stud LB's and DT's in the class...we're screwed...

solid!

 

[ATXGator]

We really need to pick up the pace. FSU with 7 commits with 6 of them 4 stars. Miami has a bunch of commits - can't figure that out either.

Yeah, but some Miami commits came to visit UF last weekend and FSU commits are putting out a list of top schools.... so how "committed" are they? Right now a commitment means nothing for most of these kids. There are some kids "like Jake" who really recruit hard for their school and you can see the are truly committed, but these guys who are taking officials to other schools, etc... They are not really committed

 

[Alagator]

So explain to all of us why Kirby Smart isn't a good comparison?

In terms of their first class? It's really not that hard...I start with the lesser and work my way up...

- Maybe because Kirby had been at bama for YEARS and had personal relationships with most of the kids, as he had been recruiting them. He knew them and their mommas and grandmammas and they knew him. Contrast that to Mac who had been in Colorado for three years and almost certainly had little to no contact with these kids and their families. Add to that he was in a region and market that gets very little air time and publicity in SEC territory. As it was, Smart came to uga (from bama) a much more known character by these SEC kids in his first year, than Mac did in his first year.

- Is there any doubt that Richt left the uga program in MUCH better shape than mussy left UF??? Did Richt go around bad mouthing uga to the kids he'd been recruiting for years like mussy did to us???

- Finally and most importantly, Mac inherited a class with EIGHT pledges which was ranked in the 100's. That's the <<<ONE HUNDREDS>>> and had two weeks to put together the #21 or 22 class.

There really is no comparison to the mess Mac inherent compared to what Kirby walked into to. Kirby came into a program that had been well run and professionally done so, fresh off the heels of his claiming yet another national championship ring in full view of millions of television viewers.

 

[TheBigClaw]

I love how people try to argue how Kirby Smart is so much better than Mac... Really? Mac inherited a team that had just went 4-8 and 7-5 the past two seasons. He was given a class that was what in the 100's with about a month or two to recruit and brought us up to the top 25? He was given only a few scholarship lineman and went and found enough to field a football team and win 10 games.... Btw, Kirby already inherited a good class at UGA from Richt and inherited a 10-3 football team. UGA also had Eason staying there recruiting for them much longer than franks was here for us this last year.. Not saying our recruiting has been great but let's let them get on the field first before judging. It's March and we already have doom and gloomers...

 

[Rentmoneygawd]

In terms of their first class? It's really not that hard...I start with the lesser and work my way up...

- Maybe because Kirby had been at bama for YEARS and had personal relationships with most of the kids, as he had been recruiting them. He knew them and their mommas and grandmammas and they knew him. Contrast that to Mac who had been in Colorado for three years and almost certainly had little to no contact with these kids and their families. Add to that he was in a region and market that gets very little air time and publicity in SEC territory. As it was, Smart came to uga (from bama) a much more known character by these SEC kids in his first year, than Mac did in his first year.

- Is there any doubt that Richt left the uga program in MUCH better shape than mussy left UF??? Did Richt go around bad mouthing uga to the kids he'd been recruiting for years like mussy did to us???

- Finally and most importantly, Mac inherited a class with EIGHT pledges which was ranked in the 100's. That's the <<<ONE HUNDREDS>>> and had two weeks to put together the #21 or 22 class.

There really is no comparison to the mess Mac inherent compared to what Kirby walked into to. Kirby came into a program that had been well run and professionally done so, fresh off the heels of his claiming yet another national championship ring in full view of millions of television viewers.

There we have it...


Don't forget about UGA being ranked the #3 class at the time of Richt's departure...but hey our staff sucks (sarcasm)


Sad you had to point out the obvious, but maybe you have opened some eyes to the REALITY of the situation.

 

[Alagator]

There we have it...


Don't forget about UGA being ranked the #3 class at the time of Richt's departure...but hey our staff sucks (sarcasm)


Sad you had to point out the obvious, but maybe you have opened some eyes to the REALITY of the situation.

Highly doubtful.... Wait for it...you'll see...

 

[dubster1]

man this is starting to deliver

 

[Rentmoneygawd]

man this is starting to deliver

lmfaaaaaaoooooo

 

[TheBigClaw]

There we have it...


Don't forget about UGA being ranked the #3 class at the time of Richt's departure...but hey our staff sucks (sarcasm)


Sad you had to point out the obvious, but maybe you have opened some eyes to the REALITY of the situation.

Facts do not appeal to the Doom and Gloomers!

 

[Marianna-FL_Gator]

Not disputing anything you've said but don't forget what Mac walked into in that firs class. Kirby and Hard-on didn't start with a class ranked in the 100's with only two full weeks to pull together a decent class. They both started with pretty good classes. Mac started that first class with what...8 pledges? An 8 man class ranked like 111th in the country?.?.?. And he finished with +20 pledges and #21 class. That was nothing short of a miracle. Name one coach out there who has EVER walked into a recruiting situation THAT BAD and finished like that. There may be one out there. But I can't think of one.

I think a lot of our recruiting angst is coming from not signing a top 5 class this year. That's totally understandable considering that is and should be the standard for UF. Of course, Muschamp did sign two top 5 classes and three top 10 if memory serves me correctly. That got us where? SIX offensive lineman for a Spring Practice and ONE viable QB who still hadn't taken a collegiate snap.We were embarrassingly thin last year in numbers and talent at positions that matter. Namely: OL, QB and WR. Which is why I'm not panicking just yet. Clearly our recruiting shortfall last year was on D. We did sign some studs there! But we also signed too many 3 stars on D.

What I see (and maybe it's the optimist in me) is Mac placing an extraordinary effort on the offense, which has been an absolute disaster for years now and our biggest immediate need. I am very satisfied with our offensive class:
- 4* QB who was flipped from a long time commitment to LSU.
- Two 4* RB's (#1 JC RB in the nation, another an Alabama kid who was being pursued personally by Nick Saban)
- Five 4* WR's (Three of which are EE's, one a JC guy with elite speed, and one that was ranked the #2 WR in the country)
- The #1 kicker in the country, flipped from bama who who Saban himself worked very hard to keep in his class
- And three good, SEC caliber offensive lineman. Of course, I wish we had signed at least one more of these.

Our offense has been our biggest weakness for six years now! And Mac signed superb offensive talent, which was obviously his emphasis and primary concern this year. I'm ok with that for this class. But after 4 years of watching muschamp sign uneven classes it's a little worrisome. If Mac maintains the rhythm on O (and by all accounts it seems he is) AND picks up the D back to the level it should be, I think we're backing to routinely looking at top 5 classes. This year may be tough to gauge because it seems we'll sign a smaller class.

This is what I would expect out of a class of say 20: Three 5*, Fourteen 4*, and Three 3* (Not exactly, but something like that)

It's not all rainbows and lollipops. But it's not nearly as dark as some make it appear to be either. Look at our biggest need and biggest weakness for six years now. And look at the class we signed to address those very concerns. Having said all that...if we don't sign some stud LB's and DT's in the class...we're screwed...

Great post! I guess some (myself included) thought we'd be doing alot better than what we are right now with us coming off a 10 win season and going to the SEC Championship for the first time since 09. However....The QB suspension/how we finished the season/how the team Quit on Mac in the bowl game has killed the momentum we had on the trail. Hopefully LDR steps in and picks up where Grier left off and we show recruits we're on the way back to the top. If that happens and we beat FSU we should do well but I think recruits are in "Wait & see what happens mode" until after the season.

 

[dubster1]

how the team Quit on Mac in the bowl game

this is the best statement of the entire thread

 

[GatorTom85]

Nice post.

You are right a top rated class doesn't mean sh*t if the players do not amount to sh*t...

And a lot of that talent doesn't even stick around long enough these days because they want immediate plying time whether they've earned it or not. So a lot of so called star recruits never even give any real performance indicators so you can find out if they could have actually contributed or not. And a lot of those that do transfer never make any real contributions elsewhere either (remember Josh Portis?).

It amazes me how many people buy into stars ratings as though they were gospel. Yet many of those same people will bash NFL recruiting ratings like Mel Kiper's (and rightfully so). At least with the NFL rankings, though, there are a lot of sophisticated data and performance observations behind them yet they are still wrong as often as they are right. HS recruiting is nowhere near as sophisticated and the talent and experience gap between HS and a Division 1 SEC school is much larger than it is between that same SEC school and the NFL. Just think of it in terms of the numbers. The NFL is getting the best of maybe 100-200 Div 1 and 1-AA schools predominantly whereas the SEC is getting the best of literally thousands of high schools from across the country that are also playing at completely different levels of competition.

That's why I find it so ludicrous that there are folks who are willing to pronounce our coach, who just finished a 10 win season and won the SEC East with a cobbled together team mind you, a total recruiting failure because he is not killing the recruiting rankings for 2017 - in March 2016. That is nuts!

On another note, how is it that he gets absolutely no credit for bringing in 12 early enrollees. That is a HUGE number and it is like giving an extra star to each player in reality because early enrollment has been shown time and time again to vastly increase the likelihood that those players will make contributions on the field right away (or at least be prepared to in the case of backup QBs which we should all very much appreciate after last year!).

 

[GatorTom85]

In terms of their first class? It's really not that hard...I start with the lesser and work my way up...

- Maybe because Kirby had been at bama for YEARS and had personal relationships with most of the kids, as he had been recruiting them. He knew them and their mommas and grandmammas and they knew him. Contrast that to Mac who had been in Colorado for three years and almost certainly had little to no contact with these kids and their families. Add to that he was in a region and market that gets very little air time and publicity in SEC territory. As it was, Smart came to uga (from bama) a much more known character by these SEC kids in his first year, than Mac did in his first year.

- Is there any doubt that Richt left the uga program in MUCH better shape than mussy left UF??? Did Richt go around bad mouthing uga to the kids he'd been recruiting for years like mussy did to us???

- Finally and most importantly, Mac inherited a class with EIGHT pledges which was ranked in the 100's. That's the <<<ONE HUNDREDS>>> and had two weeks to put together the #21 or 22 class.

There really is no comparison to the mess Mac inherent compared to what Kirby walked into to. Kirby came into a program that had been well run and professionally done so, fresh off the heels of his claiming yet another national championship ring in full view of millions of television viewers.

And yet in spite of all of those deficits Coach Mac was in the SEC Championship game. Really pretty miraculous when you really think about it. Could have lived without the beat downs, but I really don't think he could have done anything to avoid them at that point. Smoke and mirrors can only go so far...

Great post!

 

[T REX]

And a lot of that talent doesn't even stick around long enough these days because they want immediate plying time whether they've earned it or not. So a lot of so called star recruits never even give any real performance indicators so you can find out if they could have actually contributed or not. And a lot of those that do transfer never make any real contributions elsewhere either (remember Josh Portis?).

It amazes me how many people buy into stars ratings as though they were gospel. Yet many of those same people will bash NFL recruiting ratings like Mel Kiper's (and rightfully so). At least with the NFL rankings, though, there are a lot of sophisticated data and performance observations behind them yet they are still wrong as often as they are right. HS recruiting is nowhere near as sophisticated and the talent and experience gap between HS and a Division 1 SEC school is much larger than it is between that same SEC school and the NFL. Just think of it in terms of the numbers. The NFL is getting the best of maybe 100-200 Div 1 and 1-AA schools predominantly whereas the SEC is getting the best of literally thousands of high schools from across the country that are also playing at completely different levels of competition.

That's why I find it so ludicrous that there are folks who are willing to pronounce our coach, who just finished a 10 win season and won the SEC East with a cobbled together team mind you, a total recruiting failure because he is not killing the recruiting rankings for 2017 - in March 2016. That is nuts!

On another note, how is it that he gets absolutely no credit for bringing in 12 early enrollees. That is a HUGE number and it is like giving an extra star to each player in reality because early enrollment has been shown time and time again to vastly increase the likelihood that those players will make contributions on the field right away (or at least be prepared to in the case of backup QBs which we should all very much appreciate after last year!).

You're wrong. This has been brought up time and time again. There's a direct correlation to recruiting rankings and success. Are there one off classes that bomb or even individual 5 star kids that flame out? Of course. There are exceptions to every rule. But make no mistake about it, you need studs and lots of them to win the SEC. The East was garbage last year and even the biggest pumpers will admit to that. FSU already has SIX 4 star kids. WHo cares you say? Well they are beating the tar out of us on the field and off. Are you ok with that? I don't think anyone in here called Mac a total failure. Moreso, he needs to kick it in gear. He's behind...AGAIN.