Recrutiing keeps coming up.

[NotSoFastMyFriend]

TJ Hammonds redshirt was not burned out of panic. Good grief. There are some good points in this thread about recruiting and player development but this is just insane. TJ was on track to play early, had the injury, worked his way back, had some ball security issues and got limited snaps BUT c'mon...even the most casual of fans could see that he was one of the few threats to take it to the house on any given touch. The staff made some questionable personnel decisions but TJ shouldn't be lumped in just to prop up a completely contrarian narrative. Objectivity is a good thing.

[East TN HAWG]

Greenie, I think we need a Michael Smith in another strategic area such as South Fla or North Texas.  Smith is recruiting defensive players as well as offensive players. 

[Pork Twain]

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.

Great info and made me curious.  I went back and looked at the top 200 ranked players by 24/7 each year and how many we signed and how many of those were from out of state.  I also looked at our top 10 in-state players and how many of those we kept.  In the years where a player went to JC, I did not count them as kept or lost.

[greenie]

Greenie, I think we need a Michael Smith in another strategic area such as South Fla or North Texas.  Smith is recruiting defensive players as well as offensive players.

Good point.  I could be wrong, but I just don't see any of our defensive coaches being as effective as M. Smith.  Regardless, you're right about him.

[East TN HAWG]

Your definitely correct that we don't have any recruiters on the defensive side.  For the most part, they piggy back off what the offensive coaches recruit for them. 

[hawginbigd1]

TJ Hammonds redshirt was not burned out of panic. Good grief. There are some good points in this thread about recruiting and player development but this is just insane. TJ was on track to play early, had the injury, worked his way back, had some ball security issues and got limited snaps BUT c'mon...even the most casual of fans could see that he was one of the few threats to take it to the house on any given touch. The staff made some questionable personnel decisions but TJ shouldn't be lumped in just to prop up a completely contrarian narrative. Objectivity is a good thing.

I said it before the injury and clearly before the season it was a bonehead mistake not to RS him IMO. I said in my earlier post, with RW3 being back, Whaley coming in, and the WR position being a log- jam, there were not enough footballs to go around. I said he would end up with something like 27 touches and it would be a wasted year, well I think he got 17 and it was definitely a wasted year! If he had RS, in 2019 as a junior he would be one of THE guys with 2 seasons to really show his value! Now he will have to get that done as a SR in one season! He may be a star, but he will never take a bunch of carries away from RW3 or DW IMO. Now it remains to be seen can he become a Harvin type player out of the slot!?

[PorkRinds]

I said it before the injury and clearly before the season it was a bonehead mistake not to RS him IMO. I said in my earlier post, with RW3 being back, Whaley coming in, and the WR position being a log- jam, there were not enough footballs to go around. I said he would end up with something like 27 touches and it would be a wasted year, well I think he got 17 and it was definitely a wasted year! If he had RS, in 2019 as a junior he would be one of THE guys with 2 seasons to really show his value! Now he will have to get that done as a SR in one season! He may be a star, but he will never take a bunch of carries away from RW3 or DW IMO. Now it remains to be seen can he become a Harvin type player out of the slot!?

He didn't want to redshirt.