Recruiting

[Marshfieldhog]

Mike Gundy was the perfect fit here, choosing BB over Gundy was a mistake. Gundy has all kinds of local recruiting ties. Anyone that wins big in Stilwater is a great coach

[texhog22]

You are assuming that the kid will progress and be just as good in the 12th grade relative to his peers as now. I certainly hope he does but that doesn't always happen. My point is not ALL kids progress at the same rate. Some are early "bloomers" and some are later. Check with Scotty Pippen and he'll tell you the same thing. A lot of things can go into how good OR not good an athlete is by the time they are a senior in high school or even in college for that matter.

Spoken like a true hater. Whats he supposed to assume! Its his kid!

[avatar]

Who was the 1st sec coach to lose a bcs game to a big10 team?  Hint he is at wku now.

huh? now go look up non sequitor

[go hogues]

It won't change much this year or any year. 

This is life as an Arkansas fan.  I don't know why some of you have such an issue with wait till next year seasons so often unless you are dreaming that Arkansas' program can be something it can't or you simply lack patience.  Arkansas will have as many or more wait till next year seasons than not.  It is the result of the recruiting base.  The optimism comes from not really having any other choice except for totally giving up or living in misery. 

Now I don't know if we will be good again next season or 2015 or longer.  I know we'll have a good team again at some point.  I also am self aware enough as a Hog fan to know that the down seasons will continue to come no matter the coach.  I am aware enough that we will not have top 10 or 15 recruiting classes and will likely finish in the bottom part of recruiting rankings in the SEC almost every class.  To build good teams at Arkansas, it takes not having disastrous classes like a couple of recent ones, retaining and developing the players signed, evaluating what those players could be 3-4 years into the program and some luck as in some players exceeding their evals mixed with a Mallett, DMac or an athletic qb like Matt.  Every so often, we will get a mix of a few highly rated players and one of these types of unique talents.  '03 offense with Matt, Cobbs, Andrews and '10 with Mallett, Williams, Davis. 

This is an obvious tactic of those who have already turned on Bielema.  Pointing to recruiting rankings is lazy.  Those aren't getting better with any staff we hire.  Some coaches have better timing and luck as to when they come into our program as far as what talent is here and is poised to come. 

Great post.

[go hogues]

Mike Gundy was the perfect fit here, choosing BB over Gundy was a mistake. Gundy has all kinds of local recruiting ties. Anyone that wins big in Stilwater is a great coach

Lest we forget he turned Tennessee down too. That speaks volumes that he was content at OSU.

[MuskogeeHogFan]

Lest we forget he turned Tennessee down too. That speaks volumes that he was content at OSU.

He wasn't ever going to leave Okla State unless his hand was forced and none of the big donors was ever going to allow that. They value him more than they do his AD Mike Holder.

[westside_player]

Mostly because we are doing so bad now, many are proposing the till next year cure and pointing out that all we need is a very good recruiting year and many are offering the positions and skill levels we need to recruit to those positions.

I just left Rivals and ESPN recruiting webs and found our position on each as of now for 2014.      Rivals is #26 and ESPN is #37.

On Rivals, 10 SEC teams are ahead of us and 5 of those are in the SEC West.
On ESPN, 12 SEC schools are ahead of us and every SEC West school is ahead of us.

I realize that could change but usually it doesn't and what possible reason or reasons could i look forward to that would make it different this coming signing season.  Sorry that i don't see any reasons.

All those SEC West teams have always out-recruited us except Mississippi state and some years Ole Miss. What you are seeing now is what it's always been and always will be.

It's population of players and proximity to campus. That's why I try to preach , don't expect to win.

[DukeOfPork]

Mostly because we are doing so bad now, many are proposing the till next year cure and pointing out that all we need is a very good recruiting year and many are offering the positions and skill levels we need to recruit to those positions.

I just left Rivals and ESPN recruiting webs and found our position on each as of now for 2014.      Rivals is #26 and ESPN is #37.

On Rivals, 10 SEC teams are ahead of us and 5 of those are in the SEC West.
On ESPN, 12 SEC schools are ahead of us and every SEC West school is ahead of us.

I realize that could change but usually it doesn't and what possible reason or reasons could i look forward to that would make it different this coming signing season.  Sorry that i don't see any reasons.

That's where we always are.  That's why expecting to win the SEC in the future is unreasonable.  We just need to become competitive again.

[urkillnmesmalls]

I'm not giving up hope on seeing our recruiting improve based on the 2014 class.  You're still asking our coaches to basically recruit seniors that have recruiters from other schools on them for at least a full year prior to us getting involved in many cases.  I think the 2015 class will be a fair assessment, because they will have had time to start early on these top kids.  The catch 22 is, our fan base is stuck on 3 years to turn it around, and I think we're looking at year 4 before we see anything very dramatic since this year was more or less a lame duck situation. 

I think it's time for our fan base to recognize that we can't continue on a path of starting over every 4-5 years.  We need a coach in place that will be an ambassador, and build the team the right way...from the trenches out.  If he can get the system in place, then it becomes a matter of time before we have that jump start from a really good in-state class, or a good group of kids coming in from out of state at the same time. 

For example..we all saw what happened to a Malzahn type offense in 2011 when Frazier didn't work out at QB.  They are probably one injury away from looking pretty similar now.  There is no way anyone knows if we can compete using CBB's system until he's been given a chance to get the players in and developed, despite so many on here who are convinced that they can already tell that we're doomed forever. 

[MTBrookHog]

I am sick and tired of having sunshine blown up my butt every February telling me how great the class is we just signed only for a handful to pan out. If we are to compete in the SEC, we have to get SEC talent. If not, we need to get out of the SEC.

My biggest concern is keeping instate recruits on the Hill. If these kids are not SEC talent, we don't need them just because they are from Arkansas. If these kids really want to be Razorbacks and are not SEC talent, they need to walk on.

From now on, the first thing I am looking at is who we are recruiting against. If we are on a kid from Louisiana and his list includes La. Tech, ULL, ULM, etc., they are not SEC talent.

[Science Fiction Greg]

I am sick and tired of having sunshine blown up my butt every February telling me how great the class is we just signed only for a handful to pan out. If we are to compete in the SEC, we have to get SEC talent. If not, we need to get out of the SEC.

My biggest concern is keeping instate recruits on the Hill. If these kids are not SEC talent, we don't need them just because they are from Arkansas. If these kids really want to be Razorbacks and are not SEC talent, they need to walk on.

From now on, the first thing I am looking at is who we are recruiting against. If we are on a kid from Louisiana and his list includes La. Tech, ULL, ULM, etc., they are not SEC talent.

Are you putting your foot down?

[MTBrookHog]

Are you putting your foot down?

No, just frustrated.

[urkillnmesmalls]

I am sick and tired of having sunshine blown up my butt every February telling me how great the class is we just signed only for a handful to pan out. If we are to compete in the SEC, we have to get SEC talent. If not, we need to get out of the SEC.

My biggest concern is keeping instate recruits on the Hill. If these kids are not SEC talent, we don't need them just because they are from Arkansas. If these kids really want to be Razorbacks and are not SEC talent, they need to walk on.

From now on, the first thing I am looking at is who we are recruiting against. If we are on a kid from Louisiana and his list includes La. Tech, ULL, ULM, etc., they are not SEC talent.

So let's do a 180, and actually acknowledge that stars do matter?  Is that what you're saying?  You think we should actually put some stock in the national pundits who devote their time to evaluating these kids since they are Soph.'s in HS?  What about that Bama and LSU bias that exists by adding stars to the kids they offer?  What about our coaches evaluating better than anyone on the planet, making the stars invalid? 

I don't care what people say.  We aren't going to compete at the elite level until we have elite level recruiting.  I'm talking top 15 nationally, and at least mid pack in the SEC...not pulling up the rear. 

We'll NEVER get there if we can establish a winning tradition, so it's a catch 22.  We better hope CBB can use this ace staff to develop these kids and wins some games, and generate some interest.  Otherwise...we'll be in the upper 20's, and mid 30's...and we'll still be a fan base that is delusional in the eyes of the rest of the nation for expecting to turn water into wine with no grapes.   

[hawgtime]

So let's do a 180, and actually acknowledge that stars do matter?  Is that what you're saying?  You think we should actually put some stock in the national pundits who devote their time to evaluating these kids since they are Soph.'s in HS?  What about that Bama and LSU bias that exists by adding stars to the kids they offer?  What about our coaches evaluating better than anyone on the planet, making the stars invalid? 

I don't care what people say.  We aren't going to compete at the elite level until we have elite level recruiting.  I'm talking top 15 nationally, and at least mid pack in the SEC...not pulling up the rear. 

We'll NEVER get there if we can establish a winning tradition, so it's a catch 22.  We better hope CBB can use this ace staff to develop these kids and wins some games, and generate some interest.  Otherwise...we'll be in the upper 20's, and mid 30's...and we'll still be a fan base that is delusional in the eyes of the rest of the nation for expecting to turn water into wine with no grapes.   

AMEN!!!!!

[Pig In The City]

The thing that disappoints me about the incoming class is not the ranking but where the class is weak. As you said, we still have 8 spots to fill but our WRs and LBs are pretty lightly regarded and only one of the WRs and none of the LBs look like contributors next year. We need difference makers now.

I totally agree.  I don't worry so much about WRs.  We can recruit that and find serviceable WRs.  Where I am worried and have been for two years now is our LB positions.  I know it isn't an easy fix.  Good LBs are hard to find but I am trusting in our staff to evaluate and field a group that is SEC quality.  Sometimes the JUCOs make big gains in their second season so maybe we will get lucky and have a couple of the JUCOs really step forward next year.

[WPSnation]

The issue is that we don't have someone on staff that competes with other recruiters at a high level.  Take Tennessee for example.  They have Tommy Thigpen on the warpath.  He's relentless.  They've absolutely sucked balls for the last few years but they're manufacturing excitement.  They get blown out by Bama and turn around and get a top 150 kid committed the next day.  It's insane.  Something's got to give.  We either need to pull off an upset to show we're headed in the right direction (lol) or hire an assistant that can go toe to toe with the big boys. 

[urkillnmesmalls]

The issue is that we don't have someone on staff that competes with other recruiters at a high level.  Take Tennessee for example.  They have Tommy Thigpen on the warpath.  He's relentless.  They've absolutely sucked balls for the last few years but they're manufacturing excitement.  They get blown out by Bama and turn around and get a top 150 kid committed the next day.  It's insane.  Something's got to give.  We either need to pull off an upset to show we're headed in the right direction (lol) or hire an assistant that can go toe to toe with the big boys.

....and while I hope he's successful in the NFL for as long as he can be, I would like to see if that is something that DJ Williams would enjoy, and something he would be good at.  He has a good story, and he seems to be a like-able guy.  I don't know him personally, but from everything I saw, he was a leader and well thought of during his time here. 

[hogsanity]

The issue is that we don't have someone on staff that competes with other recruiters at a high level.  Take Tennessee for example.  They have Tommy Thigpen on the warpath.  He's relentless.  They've absolutely sucked balls for the last few years but they're manufacturing excitement.  They get blown out by Bama and turn around and get a top 150 kid committed the next day.  It's insane.  Something's got to give.  We either need to pull off an upset to show we're headed in the right direction (lol) or hire an assistant that can go toe to toe with the big boys.

TN is loading up on juco players, which could very well leave them with no depth again in just a year or 2.

[MuskogeeHogFan]

The issue is that we don't have someone on staff that competes with other recruiters at a high level.  Take Tennessee for example.  They have Tommy Thigpen on the warpath.  He's relentless.  They've absolutely sucked balls for the last few years but they're manufacturing excitement.  They get blown out by Bama and turn around and get a top 150 kid committed the next day.  It's insane.  Something's got to give.  We either need to pull off an upset to show we're headed in the right direction (lol) or hire an assistant that can go toe to toe with the big boys. 

It isn't like Tennessee hasn't been recruiting at a high level for a lot of years, they averaged a ranking of #12 in the nation from 2009 through 2012. The Tennessee program has always recruited well. So the mere fact that they got a committment from a top 250 recruit the day after getting beaten by Alabama is less significant than you want to make it out to be.

Now what they haven't seemed to be able to do, was utilize all of that collective talent to win. Over that period of time Tennessee has gone 23-27 (.460) to Arkansas' 33-18 (.647).

Lighten up amigo. The staff we have now has more contact and offers out to Rivals Top 250 recruits than any staff we have had in 20 years. Rome wasn't built in a day. Give it time.

[Hogs-n-Roses]

I still have hope that the right hire could have top kids from all over coming to the hill.
2002; Bama 30th,LSU15th
2003   Bama49th, Lsu 1
2004Bama24th,LSU2nd
2005 Bama  18th, LSU22nd
From 2006 on to today most years both were in the top 10 with Bama being #1 the last 5 of the last 6 years.
This is as far back as I could easily go on rivals.
I know some of those years were probation years for Bama and some were Saban years for LSU. Looks to me like hiring the right coach(Spending the big money) gets ya what you pay for.
I saw a segment the other day about how Saban hired so much help to accomplish what he's doing and delegating power to his staffs. Wonder how many hundreds of millions of bucks they've profited from the major spending they committed to spend in order to be on top.
Arkansas could do the very same thing. Don't tell me we ain't got the money cause we jumped from 24th on the money makers to 8th during the Petrino years. We must get out of the box with our spending. Instead of being willing to spend 3.2 mil. on a coach we should have set the bar at 6 or 7 and added another 4-5 for staff and recruiting. Guarantee it would pay for itself in the same timeframe we got to 8th.
We want a real defense, pay a coordinator 2 million and I guarantee we'll get the best. You have to spend it to make it. We have it but have the tendency to go cheap.

[Science Fiction Greg]

Arkansas faces many challenges that Alabama does not face in recruiting.  The top two (related) are location and few in-state stars.  It is not as simple as hiring the right guy.

I don't subscribe to the belief that it is impossible to bring in top recruiting classes at Arkansas, but I do say it is not a trivial task.  It will take years of work to accomplish it.

[the_kosher_pig]

Recruiting challenges?  Arkansas has 4 DI football programs.  Alabama has 10. 

[MuskogeeHogFan]

Arkansas faces many challenges that Alabama does not face in recruiting.  The top two (related) are location and few in-state stars.  It is not as simple as hiring the right guy.

I don't subscribe to the belief that it is impossible to bring in top recruiting classes at Arkansas, but I do say it is not a trivial task.  It will take years of work to accomplish it.

No doubt it will be hard work, but folks need to understand that our overall recruiting success, while helped, isn't necessarily dictated by what the state of Arkansas produces every year in terms of talent. This has to have more of a regional/national feel to be successful and cannot be predicated on what Arkansas high school football produces on a year in and year out basis.

[Jim Harris]

Recruiting- on my kid's 8th grade team here in Katy, there are 6 kids, who have gotten letters from colleges and invites to summer camp. 2 sets of twins, one 6 ft, 160 and his brother is 6 ft 3, 205, one long jumped 21 ft this summer and the other finished 2nd in the nationals in shot and disc.- letters from texas and A&M. Their dad played for the Saints.  Another set of twins, both 6 ft 1, 160, letters from Baylor and Houston.  Two Arkansas legacies, one 6 ft, 240 and my son 6 ft 150.  Both have letters from A&M , Houston, LSU, and North Texas.  All had invites to summer camps this past summer.  My son ran 400 meters in 52.9 in 7th grade.....All would love Arkansas, but no contact and seems like no interest.  Where are the Hog recruiters?

Have you spoken with Chris Hauser yet? Have you sent him an email or tried to call him?

[urkillnmesmalls]

Recruiting challenges?  Arkansas has 4 DI football programs.  Alabama has 10.

Irrelevant.  Name a player that wanted to go to either Auburn or Bama and got stolen by another in-state school.  Done with that? 

Do the same for Arkansas. 

ZERO right?  That's what I thought.  That's a moot point.  The point is...we will always be at an inherent disadvantage based on the 250 mile radius statistics, coupled with our state's population.  Slice that however you want, it means we have to work harder to get kids from out of state. 

[Science Fiction Greg]

Recruiting challenges?  Arkansas has 4 DI football programs.  Alabama has 10.

This ratio is not nearly enough to make up the difference in star quality produced in state.

[the_kosher_pig]

This ratio is not nearly enough to make up the difference in star quality produced in state.

4.8 million people divided by 10 =  480,000
2.9 million people divided by 4   =  725,000
There is a bigger pool for us to choose from.

[BallHog1]

Very good RBs and big slow linemen love this power football but most fans don't and choose to do as our HC does and appear to fall asleep on game day.  I know thats a jab and was meant to be but I do wish BB would show some emotion and quit looking like he has the flu and took too much over the counter sleep medicine just before the game.  Get in the game instead of standing with a disapproving look of a Father who expected more from the Kids and got less. 

Not a shot at you personally but I've seen this remark several times lately about BB's demenour on the sideline. This isn't the issue. The issue is not winning.
In the past we've had demonstrative coaches freaking out on the sideline and after the games. We didn't like that either.
The only common denominator to our dislikes (by our, I mean hog fans) is that we don't like to fail to win every game, and when we do, we look for something to complain about. If we were undefeated right now, I can promise nobody would be complaining about the coaches behavior and it would likely be the same as it is right now.

[DoctorSusscrofa]

No doubt it will be hard work, but folks need to understand that our overall recruiting success, while helped, isn't necessarily dictated by what the state of Arkansas produces every year in terms of talent. This has to have more of a regional/national feel to be successful and cannot be predicated on what Arkansas high school football produces on a year in and year out basis.

It's true we have to recruit well nationally, but that doesn't change the fact that if Arkansas high schools produce larger numbers of D1 talent, we'll benefit.  We need to produce a Darren McFadden, J Wright, Tyler Wilson, Shawn Andrews, Steve Atwater type player every year or two rather than every few years.  If the current team had a Tyler Wilson, a J Wright, and a Steve Atwater on it along with the players we have, we wouldn't be suffering 3-5 right now.  (We'd almost definitely have beaten Rutgers and A&M, and the others wouldn't have trounced us.) And all of those guys wanted to be razorbacks.  So we can't downplay the value of a handful of talented guys that want to play for the home team.

[Science Fiction Greg]

4.8 million people divided by 10 =  480,000
2.9 million people divided by 4   =  725,000
There is a bigger pool for us to choose from.

I was not referring to population, I was referring to division 1 quality football players.  Mainly 3 stars and up.

[the_kosher_pig]

Rankings don't matter. /hogville

[urkillnmesmalls]

4.8 million people divided by 10 =  480,000
2.9 million people divided by 4   =  725,000
There is a bigger pool for us to choose from.

Kosher...No.  Just no.  I've seen people attempt to manipulate stats, but that's silly and you know it. 

What that shows is clear.  They have twice as many people, which should equate to roughly twice the potential for their state to produce a 3-5 star HS football player, who will have an inherent desire to go to one of their top in-state schools.  Forget those 8 others...they aren't going to compete at all for the top talent, just like Arkansas isn't losing ours to A-state or UCA. 

Is that a troll effort, are you just really that far off from understanding how big time D1 programs and recruiting works? 

[MuskogeeHogFan]

Recruiting challenges?  Arkansas has 4 DI football programs.  Alabama has 10. 

And guess where a lot of those other lesser D-I programs in Alabama get a lot of their top level talent for their level? From transfers from Alabama, Auburn, Georgia, Ole Miss, Miss State, Florida, Tennessee, etc, etc. They do their own initial recruiting without a doubt, but they benefit by a great degree by maintaining solid relationships with Alabama, Auburn and other big time D-I FBS programs in the area by taking transfers from other big time schools. It benefits the smaller schools with the addition of talent that they might not have had otherwise and it benefits the larger schools by freeing up future scholarships.

This isn't rocket science my friend.

[The Artist Yo Huckleberry]

Let's quit complaining about our recruiting disadvantages and get the hell out there and get some kids in here. We should have permanent satellite offices in Dallas and Oklahoma City/Tulsa, which aren't that far from Fayetteville.

[Science Fiction Greg]

Let's quit complaining about our recruiting disadvantages and get the hell out there and get some kids in here. We should have permanent satellite offices in Dallas and Oklahoma City/Tulsa, which aren't that far from Fayetteville.

Personally, I'm not complaining.  I'm a firm believer that having built-in disadvantages means you have to work harder than everyone else.  So you do that.

[urkillnmesmalls]

Let's quit complaining about our recruiting disadvantages and get the hell out there and get some kids in here. We should have permanent satellite offices in Dallas and Oklahoma City/Tulsa, which aren't that far from Fayetteville.

...and CBB did that this year with a shortened cycle.  We have Fr. that he recruited out there making an impact.  With regard to satellite offices, maybe it would be beneficial to refer to the rule book regarding recruiting and what is and isn't allowed.  I don't know the rules, but I'm pretty sure it would be pointless to have any offices in place if you can't talk to them more than a limited number of times anyway. 

[DoctorSusscrofa]

...and CBB did that this year with a shortened cycle.  We have Fr. that he recruited out there making an impact.  With regard to satellite offices, maybe it would be beneficial to refer to the rule book regarding recruiting and what is and isn't allowed.  I don't know the rules, but I'm pretty sure it would be pointless to have any offices in place if you can't talk to them more than a limited number of times anyway.

Hopefully the satellite office comment was more of an abstract thought of treating those towns like satellite offices rather than a literal comment.

[urkillnmesmalls]

Personally, I'm not complaining.  I'm a firm believer that having built-in disadvantages means you have to work harder than everyone else.  So you do that.

You mean Sam Walton didn't sit back and say, "You know, this will never work in the corner of Arkansas.  The roads aren't very good, not a good railway system, there's not a major airport close by, and building an empire here is totally impossible.  I think I'll bail on this dream...too much work." 

[the_kosher_pig]

At least put U of A billboards throughout the major cities in the south.  There are a few ASU billboards in Little Rock.

[Kc-Razor]

People shouldn't pay attention to the natl ranking. Pay attention to our SEC ranking.

It's still early in the process and it can and will change most likely, but ya finishing 10th in the SEC in recruiting...I would bet my life won't win us a SEC championship. That's gotta improve.

Really, yes I know it's only a figure of speech, and it is a totally unkown fact as to whether or not Arkansas can or will ever win another championship, but a statement this far (betting your life) out sure seems to be over the edge to me.

[urkillnmesmalls]

Hopefully the satellite office comment was more of an abstract thought of treating those towns like satellite offices rather than a literal comment.

Maybe so.  I have always wondered why we don't to any better in Tulsa, but with OU and OK State...I'm sure that's a pretty big hurdle. 

[Kc-Razor]

If you want to talk about recruiting (using Rivals as an example), why not take a look at the "gold standard" which would be the recruited and signed players in the Rivals 100. These are generally considered to be players that have an immediate impact on your team.

In 2010 we were recruiting 13 of the Rivals 100. We signed none of them. Alabama signed 7. Florida signed 11. Auburn and Tennessee, 5 each. Georgia-4, LSU, S. Carolina and A&M-3 each and even Missouri signed 1.

In 2011 we recruited 23 of that 100. We signed none of them. Alabama-8, Auburn and Georgia-6 each, LSU & Florida 5 each, Ole Miss, Tennessee & S. Carolina-2 each.

I could go on but the bottom line is that from 2010 through 2013 recruiting seasons, we recruited 100 of the top 400 players in the country during that period of time and signed none of them. On the other hand our competition in the SEC over that same period of time has signed the following:
Alabama-36
Florida-29
Auburn-17
Georgia-17
LSU-14
Tennessee-9
Texas A&M-8
Ole Miss-7
S. Carolina-7
Missouri-2
Miss State-1
Kentucky-0
Vandy-0

Now signing players from the Rivals top 100 isn't an automatic guarantee of success without the right head coach and staff and let's face it, sometimes HC's can be very successful in the absence of any Top 100 signees, but is it sustainable?

The good news for us is that while we only chased 13 of these types of players in 2010, we chased more in 2011 (23), slightly more in 2012 (29) and when Bielema arrived late for 2013 we ramped it up 35. With the 2014 recruiting class we are already up to 35 of those kinds of players again.

The other good news is that BP was able to put together a couple of classes (along with his offensive know-how) that enabled us to have back-to-back double digit win seasons. So it certainly isn't impossible to accomplish given the right system and the right timing in your conference play.

It is also important to note that Bielema was able to do virtually the same thing at Wisconsin, who during those 2010-2012 seasons, was able to win consistently with having signed only 1 out of the Rivals 100 over that period of time.

Still, if you want to know why we aren't winning SEC Championships and playing for a NC, you probably need to look no further than the table of data I provided to you above. Our scorecard isn't great in terms of going after and at least trying, to recruit the best players in the country.

And you know as well as I do that you aren't ever going to get a "hit" if you don't step up to the plate. As I went through this process of looking at "who had offered whom", the one common theme that I found was that Alabama tossed out more offers to more Top 100 kids than anyone else, and those were to kids from all over the country, not just their region. They throw out those offers like candy.

Alabama obviously realizes that it is after all, a numbers game and the more they toss out there, the greater odds of their success. They seem to knock on more doors of the Top 100 players than anyone else in recruiting and combined with a great coaching staff, you can see why they are successful. Perhaps we should attempt to emulate that philosophy. One thing is for sure, it couldn't hurt us.

Mercy, I wonder how many years it took Saban to figure that out!  That would almost make sense, well at least to some people.   

[Science Fiction Greg]

Rankings don't matter. /hogville

Rankings are not the same thing as ratings.

[the_kosher_pig]

Ratings don't matter. /hogville

[hogsanity]

Maybe so.  I have always wondered why we don't to any better in Tulsa, but with OU and OK State...I'm sure that's a pretty big hurdle.

We have gotten some good Lb's out of Tulsa now and then.  Tulsa though seems to be like the state of AR, produces RB's, WR's, and then it falls off when looking for Db's,Lb's and linemen.

[Science Fiction Greg]

Ratings don't matter. /hogville

Of course, they matter, but they are but one of many, many things that do.

Unless you are taking the position that my grandmother will have the same impact on the football team as Darren McFadden?  That's what your assertion earlier basically said, at least.

Ratings actually matter quite a bit.  It's rankings that can get pretty silly.  The ranking formulas the recruiting sites use magnify small differences in evaluations which are usually well within a margin of error in such an inexact science as predicting the future ability of a player.  It's the large differences in ratings that matter.  A 3 star recruit is significantly better at football than my grandmother.  However, a team full of 3.6 stars is not that much different than a team full 3.4 stars, even though they may be 20 spots away in the rankings.

[the_kosher_pig]

The only points that matter are on the score board, not on a player's Rivals page.

[Science Fiction Greg]

Maybe it is too complex for you that there is a correlation between players' ratings and how often the team they are on puts points on the scoreboard?

[Kc-Razor]

Yeah, it would have worked out great.  But sometimes a man (Long) must forge his own path and prove to everyone else he knows better.

So you have the inside scoop with Jeff? Since you have all this knowledge of the procedures and motives of Jeff, maybe you can tell us all the candidates he contacted and or conversed with and the ones that were seriously interested in the job.   

[Bowfishinghogfan]

Why do people  throw out BB at wisconsin's record. Have you peeked at their schedule. They play only 2-3 teams. He walked into a couple because of troubles at rival schools. He did a great job there but the SEC is a whole different animal. Look at all the coaching hires that don't work out. Not every new hire pans out.