Recrutiing keeps coming up.

[12247]

Many people keep talking about recruiting, but BB and company are doing about the norm with recruiting for what Arkansas usually gets.  I did a bit of research
  2013 Recruits
Alex Collins, Hunter Henry, Kirkland and Austin Allen are 4 stars and we got another 7 players who rated above 85.00
2014 Recruits
Bijhon Jackson, Brian Wallace, JoJo Robinson and Frank Ragnow were 4 star and another 7 who rated above 85.00
2015 Recruits
Froholdt, Gragg, Cheyenne O'Grady, Ty Storey, J. Bell, J Merrick and Ledbetter are 4 stars and another 10 who rated above 85.  We also picked up Ricky Town
2016 Recruits
Agim, Whaley, Capps, Hammonds, Guidry, Heinrick with Agim a 5 star and 5-4 star players, plus 8 more rated above 85.

Truthfully, this level of recruits is decent for Arkansas.  It isn't the recruits, its the use of the recruits.  We are not going to win championships with these Guys but they are not chopped liver either.

I decided to compare us to Auburn, which I want to think of Auburn as just a shirt size larger than us in recruiting.  I soon found out there is no comparison between us and them.
AUBURN

2013:: 2-5 stars, 6-4 stars, and 10 others rated above 85

2014::  2-5 stars, 11-4 stars and 5 others rated above 85

2015::  1-5 star, 19-4 stars and 5 others rated above 85

2016::  1-5 star, 12-4 stars, and 8 more rated above 85.

Bottom line is Auburn is not a good choice to compare to.

[DeltaBoy]

We would have had a better season if Denver and Buddha had came back.

[12247]

So I looked at BAMA for the same time period
BAMA
2013::  6-5 stars, 12-4 stars and 5 more rated above 85.
2014::  5-5 stars, 15-4 stars and 2 more rated above 85.
2015::  6-5 stars, 14-4 stars and 4 more rated above 85.
2016::  3-5 stars, 13-4 stars and 7 more rated above 85.

[DeltaBoy]

We had too many leave early or pan out cause our classes can't take the hits.

[Trystran]

Short on speed, and when we do get it it lacks size. This staff can only get one or the other... mutually exclusive unless it is an uber rare pickup. We're not getting enough of the raw intangibles in my opinion to cover everything, which means the ones we do have are having to pick up slack for the others.... which, in turn, means we can't use the high end talent we do get to its full potential.

[Oklahawg]

Notice our biggest weakness this year - DB and LB - are not represented on your list of names.

And, notice the number of in-state names who have yet to have an impact (first year guys = too early to tell, but it is still telling).

UA needs a recruiting class with in-state talent like 2008, and it needs to land a 4-star DB, a 4-star LB, and maybe more than one of each. That will do a lot to plug bodies into the depth chart (ie, this is simply "fighting chance" territory, but it then might allow you to recruit TO a good situation, instead of having to recruit to a bad situation).

[Oklahawg]

Short on speed, and when we do get it it lacks size. This staff can only get one or the other... mutually exclusive unless it is an uber rare pickup. We're not getting enough of the raw intangibles in my opinion to cover everything, which means the ones we do have are having to pick up slack for the others.... which, in turn, means we can't use the high end talent we do get to its full potential.

The 2016 and 2017 classes seem to be an acknolwedgement of the needed length and speed on defense. The UA model right now suggest it may be 2018 or 2019 before we see the 2017 guys on the field.

[Trystran]

On top of that, the high end talent gets focused on in gameplans, which further diminishes the capabilities in strategy. See this year's offensive line. Good QB, dangerous receiving group, good RBs... negated by blitzing a bad line. Forces more TEs and backs to block, taking away weapons, and still not picking up blitzes. I would say look at the defense, but I don't have enough fingers to point at all the bad stuff.

[Trystran]

The 2016 and 2017 classes seem to be an acknolwedgement of the needed length and speed on defense. The UA model right now suggest it may be 2018 or 2019 before we see the 2017 guys on the field.

And that is the sad part in my opinion. If you have guys that can do the job coming in, don't pull the rug out from under them. Guys seem far too comfortable with the fact that their position in the depth chart is solidified. More competition would do this group a lot of good... especially for mental toughness' sake if nothing else.

[Oklahawg]

And that is the sad part in my opinion. If you have guys that can do the job coming in, don't pull the rug out from under them. Guys seem far too comfortable with the fact that their position in the depth chart is solidified. More competition would do this group a lot of good... especially for mental toughness' sake if nothing else.

Personal opinion (and some have evidence of this, but let's keep it at opinion for now): CBB said, in effect, no more rushing players to the field ahead of their time. This year, the players on the field knew the newbies were not a threat by week 2-3 because the redshirts were pretty well set. Quite a few voices I listen to (ok, I read what they write as we don't actually talk) stand by this. For whatever value that holds to others!

[sorry for the heavy caveats - some folks have decided that real facts are not really as important as generating a good rant.]

[Trystran]

And I totally get that when it applies. I have heard the guys on the radio and on here say that some our redshirts this year were better than what we had on the field. To me, that is who needs to be out there. You put your best team on the field. At the same time, there are others that confuse me. Take TJ this year. He hardly got any touches, and they burned a redshirt in a panic. I get needing more pounds to match the grind, but experience is just a big of factor. I just personally really hate the idea of juniors and seniors getting grandfathered in JUST because they're upper classmen, and in some cases I think that might be the case cracking the 2 deep.

[Trystran]

Favorites might be more of a proper term for what I have seen.

[hawgsalot]

Favorites might be more of a proper term for what I have seen.

Name one you see

[HamSammich]

You guys worry about recruiting.... I actually think CBB is doing alright. We need 284727283663726 walk ons like Nebraska and Iowa and CBB is getting there .

[Trystran]

Froholdt. Ramirez... took 2 weeks of lobbying by Anderson to get him on the field (stated in article). That's just Oline.

[ricepig]

Froholdt. Ramirez... took 2 weeks of lobbying by Anderson to get him on the field (stated in article). That's just Oline.

Are you speaking of Gipson? And if you've read the articles, you'll know that Enos was the one who had to be convinced, that he hasn't seen any consistency from him in practice.

[Oklahawg]

Are you speaking of Gipson? And if you've read the articles, you'll know that Enos was the one who had to be convinced, that he hasn't seen any consistency from him in practice.

Correct. And, I read somewhere, that Enos is a major factor in Anderson's work here. Enos lobbied for Anderson to be the hire. Enos endorsed some of the changes schematically introduced by Anderson. If so, then there is a clear chain of command at work here (that bugs some but I like it, personally).

[PorkRinds]

Froholdt. Ramirez... took 2 weeks of lobbying by Anderson to get him on the field (stated in article). That's just Oline.

I mean, god forbid they look at a walk on for two weeks and letting him prove himself. Two weeks is actually pretty damn fast for winning a position.  It can take an entire season. Or years...

[Trystran]

Yeah. Sorry. Rushing text. Ramirez was playing hurt and they still wouldn't put him in. I read that it was a combo of Enos and CBB. The presser CBB talked about it said Anderson came in and finally put them on the spot and they agreed to give him a shot. When your Oline was as terribad as ours was, you'd think trying something new would be a given. With Fro struggling like he was and AA taking the beating, I was really surprised we didn't see Ragnow moved and Rogers brought in at some point.

[PorkRinds]

And it may be a bit off topic, but it'll be interesting to see if the two JUCO OL guys that came in and ended up redshirting can make an impact.  It'd be great if they could, and with the redshirt year they should be able to in 2017 if they're ever going to.

[PorkRinds]

Yeah. Sorry. Rushing text. Ramirez was playing hurt and they still wouldn't put him in. I read that it was a combo of Enos and CBB. The presser CBB talked about it said Anderson came in and finally put them on the spot and they agreed to give him a shot. When your Oline was as terribad as ours was, you'd think trying something new would be a given. With Fro struggling like he was and AA taking the beating, I was really surprised we didn't see Ragnow moved and Rogers brought in at some point.

Ramirez never played.  It was Raulerson you're thinking of.

[Oklahawg]

Froholdt.

Here's how I read the Froholdt thingy:

Spring drills arrive and we are short at least one OL who can help. Ramirez and Heinrich won't arrive until summer and Heinrich is coming off of surgery. Malone appeared in January and it was determined he needed a year in the weight room to be field-ready. Gibson, Merrick, and Rogers were not deemed ready yet. Wallace and Jackson were battling for a tackle spot. (Wallace was given a look at guard but that didn't last long, I think; a bit fuzzy on the Wallace/Jackson situation).

So, we are short an OL, and we experienced Froholdt having the physical presence to be okay at DT but lacking the mindset to be a disruptive force. In short, he was not distinguishing himself from (say) Bijhon Jackson, Armon Watts, and we have Agim and Capps coming in.

To get him to agree to the move the staff had to promise to give him reps to get him up to speed (as I understand it) at a position he hadn't played before. In short, he was told that he has a big future as an OL but he'd have to commit to it quickly. He was promised that they'd give him every rep possible to bring him up to speed.

By year's end, I don't know that Froholdt was any more problematic than Gibson or Wallace. He was also starting to acquire a bit of Skipper-esque nastiness. I liked it. Didn't like the whiffs, though. Good DCs can expose the lack of experience and that was going to plague Merrick, Rogers, or Froholdt. The staff calculated that Froholdt was the one who had the highest ceiling if given max reps and went for it.

Yes, that can seed dissent. But, if Froholdt displays the work ethic and raw strength they require and others do not, that is not justification for dissent.

If it works, they are geniuses and we aren't worrying about it. When it doesn't work as well as desired we are left wondering "what if" it was Merrick or Rogers given max reps. Or Wallace + Jackson.

Skipper and Ragnow are both greatly improved under Anderson. I am thinking that if we can keep adding solid players (Skipper was only a 3-star, remember) Anderson will get them there. Certainly, he and Enos are a good fit for each other, better than Enos + Pittman.

[Trystran]

When a position coach that specializes in those particular players takes that long to get the HC/OC to giive a kid a shot over a hurt player when you're clearly getting lit up in that position, something is up.

[PorkRinds]

Here's how I read the Froholdt thingy:

Spring drills arrive and we are short at least one OL who can help. Ramirez and Heinrich won't arrive until summer and Heinrich is coming off of surgery. Malone appeared in January and it was determined he needed a year in the weight room to be field-ready. Gibson, Merrick, and Rogers were not deemed ready yet. Wallace and Jackson were battling for a tackle spot. (Wallace was given a look at guard but that didn't last long, I think; a bit fuzzy on the Wallace/Jackson situation).

So, we are short an OL, and we experienced Froholdt having the physical presence to be okay at DT but lacking the mindset to be a disruptive force. In short, he was not distinguishing himself from (say) Bijhon Jackson, Armon Watts, and we have Agim and Capps coming in.

To get him to agree to the move the staff had to promise to give him reps to get him up to speed (as I understand it) at a position he hadn't played before. In short, he was told that he has a big future as an OL but he'd have to commit to it quickly. He was promised that they'd give him every rep possible to bring him up to speed.

By year's end, I don't know that Froholdt was any more problematic than Gibson or Wallace. He was also starting to acquire a bit of Skipper-esque nastiness. I liked it. Didn't like the whiffs, though. Good DCs can expose the lack of experience and that was going to plague Merrick, Rogers, or Froholdt. The staff calculated that Froholdt was the one who had the highest ceiling if given max reps and went for it.

Yes, that can seed dissent. But, if Froholdt displays the work ethic and raw strength they require and others do not, that is not justification for dissent.

If it works, they are geniuses and we aren't worrying about it. When it doesn't work as well as desired we are left wondering "what if" it was Merrick or Rogers given max reps. Or Wallace + Jackson.

Skipper and Ragnow are both greatly improved under Anderson. I am thinking that if we can keep adding solid players (Skipper was only a 3-star, remember) Anderson will get them there. Certainly, he and Enos are a good fit for each other, better than Enos + Pittman.

Great post.

[Trystran]

Here's how I read the Froholdt thingy:

Spring drills arrive and we are short at least one OL who can help. Ramirez and Heinrich won't arrive until summer and Heinrich is coming off of surgery. Malone appeared in January and it was determined he needed a year in the weight room to be field-ready. Gibson, Merrick, and Rogers were not deemed ready yet. Wallace and Jackson were battling for a tackle spot. (Wallace was given a look at guard but that didn't last long, I think; a bit fuzzy on the Wallace/Jackson situation).

So, we are short an OL, and we experienced Froholdt having the physical presence to be okay at DT but lacking the mindset to be a disruptive force. In short, he was not distinguishing himself from (say) Bijhon Jackson, Armon Watts, and we have Agim and Capps coming in.

To get him to agree to the move the staff had to promise to give him reps to get him up to speed (as I understand it) at a position he hadn't played before. In short, he was told that he has a big future as an OL but he'd have to commit to it quickly. He was promised that they'd give him every rep possible to bring him up to speed.

By year's end, I don't know that Froholdt was any more problematic than Gibson or Wallace. He was also starting to acquire a bit of Skipper-esque nastiness. I liked it. Didn't like the whiffs, though. Good DCs can expose the lack of experience and that was going to plague Merrick, Rogers, or Froholdt. The staff calculated that Froholdt was the one who had the highest ceiling if given max reps and went for it.

Yes, that can seed dissent. But, if Froholdt displays the work ethic and raw strength they require and others do not, that is not justification for dissent.

If it works, they are geniuses and we aren't worrying about it. When it doesn't work as well as desired we are left wondering "what if" it was Merrick or Rogers given max reps. Or Wallace + Jackson.

Skipper and Ragnow are both greatly improved under Anderson. I am thinking that if we can keep adding solid players (Skipper was only a 3-star, remember) Anderson will get them there. Certainly, he and Enos are a good fit for each other, better than Enos + Pittman.

Agreed. Great info. Filling some holes in what I knew. Speaking of Capps since you sound like you are informed, what have you heard about him? I have heard coaches rave and say he could be the strongest kid on the team (believe it was him, but I get him and Cantrell mixed up at times). Just haven't heard what the story was with him in general if you don't mind and know.

[GoHogzzGo]

Hmm if there was only an experiment where we could bring in a great Xs and Os coach to Arkansas and see if we can win with this talent level. Ha oh wait we did, and went to the Sugar Bowl. I don't want that scumbag back here but our talent is fine, could be better, but you can win plenty like this.

Not advocating to drop Beleima either, who is better out there? Just saying, it is coaching, we had mizzou, we had va tech. He doesn't know how to finish games and adjust when plan A fails, it isn't the talent. Should be 9 wins with this team.

[Pork Twain]

Attrition has been the biggest difference lately.  Given, we should expect some attrition from the last few classes going forward.

http://www.hogville.net/yabbse/index.php?topic=621672.0

[Hoggish1]

Many people keep talking about recruiting, but BB and company are doing about the norm with recruiting for what Arkansas usually gets.  I did a bit of research
  2013 Recruits
Alex Collins, Hunter Henry, Kirkland and Austin Allen are 4 stars and we got another 7 players who rated above 85.00
2014 Recruits
Bijhon Jackson, Brian Wallace, JoJo Robinson and Frank Ragnow were 4 star and another 7 who rated above 85.00
2015 Recruits
Froholdt, Gragg, Cheyenne O'Grady, Ty Storey, J. Bell, J Merrick and Ledbetter are 4 stars and another 10 who rated above 85.  We also picked up Ricky Town
2016 Recruits
Agim, Whaley, Capps, Hammonds, Guidry, Heinrick with Agim a 5 star and 5-4 star players, plus 8 more rated above 85.

Truthfully, this level of recruits is decent for Arkansas.  It isn't the recruits, its the use of the recruits.  We are not going to win championships with these Guys but they are not chopped liver either.

I decided to compare us to Auburn, which I want to think of Auburn as just a shirt size larger than us in recruiting.  I soon found out there is no comparison between us and them.
AUBURN

2013:: 2-5 stars, 6-4 stars, and 10 others rated above 85

2014::  2-5 stars, 11-4 stars and 5 others rated above 85

2015::  1-5 star, 19-4 stars and 5 others rated above 85

2016::  1-5 star, 12-4 stars, and 8 more rated above 85.

Bottom line is Auburn is not a good choice to compare to.

Looks like Auburn needs better coaching...

[scorekeeper]

So I looked at BAMA for the same time period
BAMA
2013::  6-5 stars, 12-4 stars and 5 more rated above 85.
2014::  5-5 stars, 15-4 stars and 2 more rated above 85.
2015::  6-5 stars, 14-4 stars and 4 more rated above 85.
2016::  3-5 stars, 13-4 stars and 7 more rated above 85.

And HDN could coach these guys to a NC. They averaged 5 - 5 star players, 13 - 4 stars and 4 players rated above 85. WoW

[hawgon]

Lord, I hate to say it, but what we need are a few of the HDN patented "athletes" who run 4.4s and could be turned into safeties.  But we just need some speed wherever we can get it.

[onebadrubi]

Lord, I hate to say it, but what we need are a few of the HDN patented "athletes" who run 4.4s and could be turned into safeties.  But we just need some speed wherever we can get it.

Who are these athletes that ran a 4.4 that HDN converted to safeties?

[Boss Hog in the Arkansas]

Welcome to the world of recruiting. The big diferrence between "us" and "them" is instate recruiting. I used to think that our kids were simply not as good as kids in big recruiting states, but then I looked around central Arkansas and I realized OUR KIDS ARENT BEING DEVELOPED IN HIGH SCHOOL! It shows on Friday nights too. Little Rock teams for the most part aren't even taken seriously by the rest of the state. The facilities are bad and many of the coaches aren't game changers either. We have too many diamonds in the rough that get passed over 1. because they go unnoticed and 2. because the amount of time they need to become that diamond is more than an SEC coach can realistically invest into 1 kid. Improve the development of talent across the state (especially central Arkansas) and you will see improvement in the razorbacks program as well

[hawgsalot]

Yeah. Sorry. Rushing text. Ramirez was playing hurt and they still wouldn't put him in. I read that it was a combo of Enos and CBB. The presser CBB talked about it said Anderson came in and finally put them on the spot and they agreed to give him a shot. When your Oline was as terribad as ours was, you'd think trying something new would be a given. With Fro struggling like he was and AA taking the beating, I was really surprised we didn't see Ragnow moved and Rogers brought in at some point.

If your going to make an argument, dumb as it may be, get your dang facts straight geez.

[CaptainHog]

In order to make a run for the SEC West and more we have to keep players here through their Senior years.  We simply cannot reload like Alabama, LSU and such...

That's the only way Mullen had a run...he developed and had those players stick around..

[hawgon]

Who are these athletes that ran a 4.4 that HDN converted to safeties?

HDN specialty used to be to round out a recruiting class with "athletes" no one else wanted because of grades or whatever.  In fact, that was the way he got most of his 4 stars.  No rhyme or reason to his recruiting but he did from time to time get some good players that way.

[onebadrubi]

HDN specialty used to be to round out a recruiting class with "athletes" no one else wanted because of grades or whatever.  In fact, that was the way he got most of his 4 stars.  No rhyme or reason to his recruiting but he did from time to time get some good players that way.

Got some names of these said guys? 

[hawgon]

Got some names of these said guys?

DeCori Birmingham is a guy who played all over who comes to mind.  Marvin Jackson and Chris Houston come to mind.  One of those guys played JC but I can't remember which.  But you know, those really fast 5'11 type guys we seem to be lacking these days. 

Go get some guys who run 4.5 or better and figure out where to play them later.  We need some speed.

[Redhogs]

Many people keep talking about recruiting, but BB and company are doing about the norm with recruiting for what Arkansas usually gets.  I did a bit of research
  2013 Recruits
Alex Collins, Hunter Henry, Kirkland and Austin Allen are 4 stars and we got another 7 players who rated above 85.00
2014 Recruits
Bijhon Jackson, Brian Wallace, JoJo Robinson and Frank Ragnow were 4 star and another 7 who rated above 85.00
2015 Recruits
Froholdt, Gragg, Cheyenne O'Grady, Ty Storey, J. Bell, J Merrick and Ledbetter are 4 stars and another 10 who rated above 85.  We also picked up Ricky Town
2016 Recruits
Agim, Whaley, Capps, Hammonds, Guidry, Heinrick with Agim a 5 star and 5-4 star players, plus 8 more rated above 85.

Truthfully, this level of recruits is decent for Arkansas.  It isn't the recruits, its the use of the recruits.  We are not going to win championships with these Guys but they are not chopped liver either.

I decided to compare us to Auburn, which I want to think of Auburn as just a shirt size larger than us in recruiting.  I soon found out there is no comparison between us and them.
AUBURN

2013:: 2-5 stars, 6-4 stars, and 10 others rated above 85

2014::  2-5 stars, 11-4 stars and 5 others rated above 85

2015::  1-5 star, 19-4 stars and 5 others rated above 85

2016::  1-5 star, 12-4 stars, and 8 more rated above 85.

Bottom line is Auburn is not a good choice to compare to.

This program has allot more problems than just recruiting, although it is one of many.

[Trystran]

If your going to make an argument, dumb as it may be, get your dang facts straight geez.

If you're going to make a comment, as douchey as it may be, at least use the proper version of "you're."

[code red]

How many of those 4 stars left?  How many have become busts?  More than a few.

[colbs]

How many of those 4 stars left?  How many have become busts?  More than a few.

Pretty much all of the 2013 panned out.  The 2014 class JoJo is no longer with the team.  Bijhon hasn't quite lived up to his ranking but has been a solid contributor.  He looked good toward the end of the year and still has one year left.  The other players are freshmen, RS freshmen, or sophomores.   So they still have a long way to go before you can consider them busts.

[1highhog]

And that is the sad part in my opinion. If you have guys that can do the job coming in, don't pull the rug out from under them. Guys seem far too comfortable with the fact that their position in the depth chart is solidified. More competition would do this group a lot of good... especially for mental toughness' sake if nothing else.

If that's the case then it all goes back to assistant coaches, where I keep harping on where all of our problems currently are.  Hold that thought, not 100% of our problems, but 85%.  It's up to our coaches to put our best players on the field and TEACH them the game up to the best of any in the SEC.  If the starters get to comfortable, it's up to the assistants to pull them and rotate in their place a young hungry player just dying for that starting position and the reps that come with it.  If they can't do so, then the fault goes to CBB, who needs to evaluate his staff, and make needed changes which should be easy to do after what we all saw this past season.  If he doesn't do so, then his seat needs to be hotter than a June bride after next season because it'll be like this past season, which I view as a setback.  Another problem is in recruiting.  This falls in the hands of Bielema as well when he wants to make a hire, he needs to get the best assistant out there coaching let's say just for kicks, a DC.  But that DC also needs to be a DC that every player would just die to play for, not some unheard coach like well, you know where I'm going with this,,,,,.

[Trystran]

If that's the case then it all goes back to assistant coaches, where I keep harping on where all of our problems currently are.  Hold that thought, not 100% of our problems, but 85%.  It's up to our coaches to put our best players on the field and TEACH them the game up to the best of any in the SEC.  If the starters get to comfortable, it's up to the assistants to pull them and rotate in their place a young hungry player just dying for that starting position and the reps that come with it.  If they can't do so, then the fault goes to CBB, who needs to evaluate his staff, and make needed changes which should be easy to do after what we all saw this past season.  If he doesn't do so, then his seat needs to be hotter than a June bride after next season because it'll be like this past season, which I view as a setback.  Another problem is in recruiting.  This falls in the hands of Bielema as well when he wants to make a hire, he needs to get the best assistant out there coaching let's say just for kicks, a DC.  But that DC also needs to be a DC that every player would just die to play for, not some unheard coach like well, you know where I'm going with this,,,,,.

I agree. DC scheme needs to be something that isn't passive, regardless of how well known he is. In my opinion, we already struggle getting recruits... why add to it by playing a style that doesn't allow kids to have fun. Sorry, but 8 feet off your man and hardly ever blitzing is incredibly dull. Give the kids a chance to go get'm. We may not can land the best available, but style of play can generate excitement... something I think we desperately need... anything to generate a spark in this group.

[Oklahawg]

Agreed. Great info. Filling some holes in what I knew. Speaking of Capps since you sound like you are informed, what have you heard about him? I have heard coaches rave and say he could be the strongest kid on the team (believe it was him, but I get him and Cantrell mixed up at times). Just haven't heard what the story was with him in general if you don't mind and know.

Capps played pretty well. He came in and impressed in the weight room, for sure. There was talk (maybe just on HV, you never can tell) that HE was the other option of DL moving to OL this year. The thought was he'd want a shot at DT eventually so they moved Froholdt who had already hinted at a talent ceiling at DT.

Cantrell is a beast. He is a great example of a player that we can win with, but he also highlights the Arkansas recruiting "problem." He doesn't appear to be fast even though he played RB, LB, and even some wildcat QB in HS. "Fast" = game-changing speed at his position (obviously, TE doesn't need as much speed as RB to be "game changing"). He was the lowest rated TE in the class (Bell was rated as a TE by some services; Bell, Gragg, and O'Grady were all 4-stars).

[Oklahawg]

How many of those 4 stars left?  How many have become busts?  More than a few.

Tag-teaming on the TE class in my post above...

...UA suffers from in-state players who are freaks and get 4-star evals but actually have the wicked video highlights because the competition isn't very good.

Former player Austin Beck was all-Hog. He is as good a person as you'd want on your team, and helped with special teams at UA. He was 6-7 x 300 as a senior in HS. He played 2A football in OK and the district was brutal: all four teams made it to the final 8 in the state (64 2A teams in OK football). He played wildcat a play or two, sometimes moved to FB, and would attract three and even four blockers at DT. But, he never saw another D1 player on the line (OL or DL) his senior year. Good teams, but not packed with line talent. He was ok at UA but not good enough to stay in front of Kirkland, Ragnow, or Skipper (or...) once CBB got here and Beck hit his last two years at UA, when he should be fully mature and ready for the field.

[Oklahawg]

Regarding HDN and speed.... HDN had a problem getting a foot in the door with a lot of prospects. He surrounded himself with guys he liked and trusted and did not like the idea of hiring a "hired gun" recruiter and trying to blend them into the staff. IT was a very close circle, shall we say.

They struggled finding speed so badly that they offered a couple of recruits at summer camp...because they won the sprint competitions. These were players who wound up not playing a down at UA.

The place they would often turn was the smaller school all-everything player. They'd find a kid listed at 6-1 (probably 5-10 or 5-11) and 180 pounds (by the time the season was over more like 165) who played everything, but usually was the QB for sure. The logic is good but, too often, they wind up having relied just on their athleticism and struggle to play within a system (see the UA safeties who bite on fakes over the past few years and get burned - they could just "react to the ball" in HS, and those habits reappear sometimes...not sure if that applies, but it might).

[Richard Davenport]

I scanned the last three coaches and the kids the elite schools they beat out. I might have missed a few.

The key is the out-of-state kids you beat the big boys for because the majority of Arkansas' signees are outside of the borders.

Nutt beat out elites for Tony Ugoh, Lucas Jackson, Vickiel Vaughn in 2002, none in 2003, Michael Grant, Fred Beldsoe and Hillis in 2004, Felix Jones, Marcus Shavers and Darren in 2005. Four classes and six out-of -state recruits with elite offers.

Petrino beat out elites for Joe Adams, Jarius Wright in 2008, DD Jones, Ronnie Wingo, Knile Davis, Cobi Hamilton, Darius Winston and David Gordon in 2009, Jatashun Beachum in 2010, Andrew Peterson, Lonnie Gosha, Tevin Mitchel, Quinta Funderburk and Brey Cook in 2011. Five classes and nine out-of-state recruits with elite offers.

Bielema beat out elites for Hunter Henry, Alex Collins, Denver Kirkland, Austin Allen, Brooks Ellis, Dan Skipper and Reeve Koehler in 2013, Jojo Robinson, Frank Ragnow, Brian Wallace, Bijhon Jackson and Rafe Peavey in 2014, Dominique Reed, Jalen Merrick, Derrick Graham, LaMichael Pettway, Will Gragg, CJ O'Grady, Hjalte Froholdt, Zach Rogers, Ty Storey, Jeremiah Ledbetter in 2015, Devwah Whaley, McTelvin Agim, TJ Hammonds, Briston Guidry in 2016. Four classes and sixteen out-of-state prospects with elite offers


Every Arkansas coach will get the vast majority of in-state talent. The only way for Arkansas to be able to get where the fans want them is the ability to recruit top tier out-of-state talent.

To clarify, I looked at recruits that had multiple offers from elites. Not just one. If that was the case Bielema would've had even more.

[hawginbigd1]

RD the other thing to look at is how many of those for Nutt and Petrino were busts. CBB has had some, and could have more, but one has to have an agenda IMO or lack of knowledge to not understand how much better our overall recruiting has been under CBB

[Oklahawg]

Thx RD!

[greenie]

RD the other thing to look at is how many of those for Nutt and Petrino were busts. CBB has had some, and could have more, but one has to have an agenda IMO or lack of knowledge to not understand how much better our overall recruiting has been under CBB

Totally agree.  CBB works his butt off to recruit from a region that is full of recruiting titans, and as we all know, it's VERY rare to steal a kid from another state unless he's been spurned by his local, and likely life-long favorite, program.  Social media has made that task even harder because most big-name recruits want to make the media "splash" by signing with one of the darling programs...which we are not.  Complaining about his X's and O's is legit of late, but not recruiting.  I do think we need to upgrade our staff's defensive recruiting...we need a Michael Smith on the other side of the ball.