Have you seen the Friday A&M is having?

[JackJohnson]

It could be. But we can barely get highly rated kids from Texas to even visit. We are way down in the Texas pecking order behind Baylor, OU, UT, Aggies, TCU, and OSU. Most of this fall I blame in the previous 2 coaching staffs.

CBB is trying with the Jennings and E.K. Franks hires. But it will take time.

In FL we are getting big time players to visit Dalvin Cook, Jalen Merrick, JoJo Robinson, Denver Kirkland, Jackson and Alex Collins.

Agreed.  While there is a ton of talent and it is a border state, there is a catch 22.  All those schools listed above are all really good options that are closer driving distance.  With the S FL kids unless they go to Da U ever major school is a plane ride away which is why it is seemingly so much easier to get them bc a plane ride is a plane ride.  Also, more of them seem to want to get away from home, whereas the Tex kids seem to want to "stay close"

[HOGINTENNESSEE]

Agree 100%.  It will come around in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.  Just need to be patient.  And I wasn't suggesting we need to sign all of our players from Texas.  Would just like for us to start converting on Texas kids we have a good chance on.  Need to start getting those players and put the state of Texas on notice.

Jennings has been doing great in TX IMO. Last year we couldn't get in on anyone it seemed like.

I have been really disappointed in the recruiting of Joel Thomas and Mike Smith in TX.

Smith I can understand alittle more has he probably landed 3 of our better players in class last year Out of La. Which limits his time in TX.

But Thomas had a good rep as a recruiter in Washington and I thought had some really good ties in TX. Maybe this opinion is alittle unfair because if Solomon Thomas had signed last year my opinion would probably be a lot different. Of course Williams looks like a steal and he should be given credit for him.

[Huckleberry Pig]

aggies gonna aggie.  it amazes me how they always find a way to shoot themselves in the foot. but they've been doin it for decades so it doesn't surprise me anymore

have been to the town before and have spent more time than I care around aggies (grew up in Dallas, sister and her hubby are aggies) and I'm sure that they must trick recruits into going there.  Ugly women, ugly town, bizarre people... 

[Oklahawg]

aggies gonna aggie.

Historically, as underachieving a program as I can name.

[perculator]

Jefferson and McNeal had more to do with miss state/sec than anything. Same with their dt decommit today...he will go to tejas also. There will be more.
So much for a&m controlling tejas. I've never feared a&m recruiting. Tejas is another animal. They will overtake a&m before signing day.

[redeye]

Agreed.  While there is a ton of talent and it is a border state, there is a catch 22.  All those schools listed above are all really good options that are closer driving distance.  With the S FL kids unless they go to Da U ever major school is a plane ride away which is why it is seemingly so much easier to get them bc a plane ride is a plane ride.  Also, more of them seem to want to get away from home, whereas the Tex kids seem to want to "stay close"

I agree with everything you guys are saying and I'm also glad we're recruiting South Florida hard.  However, can anyone think of a school that's had great success filling it's roster with players from afar?  Not just from afar, as Notre Dame, Nebraska and Oregon do, but also from a single state or region afar?  The first school that pops in mind for me is Louisville with it's Florida connection, but I don't believe Louisville has ever won a national championship.

When you think of all the schools that have won national championships, they all either recruit well all over the nation or dominate a certain region and that region is usually within a few hours of their campus.  I'd love to see Arkansas recruit well nationally, like Tennessee or Oregon, but those schools still rely heavily on Georgia (Tennessee) and California (Oregon).  Charlie Strong brought in some great classes filled with Florida players, but they were mostly all 3-star players and probably weren't capable of winning the SEC or a national championship.

In order to compete for national championships, and therefore the SEC championship, I think Arkansas needs a strong recruiting base outside the state, just like Tennessee, Oklahoma and Oregon do.  Texas is the obvious answer, although it'll take time.  I don't care where we get players good enough to win a national championship, but we'll need a lot of them and it just seems more likely that we could get more of that caliber of player from Texas then anywhere else.  If we can get enough of them in Florida, then that's great, but Oklahoma currently has four 4-star players from Texas, Tennessee has four 4-5 star players from Georgia, while Oregon has three 4-star players from California.  I'm not sure that any school lands that many 4-5 star Florida players, except those in Florida and in the states that border Florida, so I'm skeptical that we ever will, either.

[Dominicanhog]

Jefferson and McNeal had more to do with miss state/sec than anything. Same with their dt decommit today...he will go to tejas also. There will be more.
So much for a&m controlling tejas. I've never feared a&m recruiting. Tejas is another animal. They will overtake a&m before signing day.

I think there is enough for both in the state of Texas.. the aggies will not be done in by lack of talent but lack of coaching... which imo is were they are now.

[BoynamedWooPigSooie]

I have been really disappointed in the recruiting of Joel Thomas and Mike Smith in TX.

Smith I can understand alittle more has he probably landed 3 of our better players in class last year Out of La. Which limits his time in TX.

Thomas has been a disaster in recruiting.  John L and Bobby Allen recruited circles around this dude.  Other schools are eating him up, Rawleigh got pushed out of Ole Miss by 3 higher ranked recruits.  Rawleigh had a heck of a year in middle division ball, however he didn't even visit here before he was on shaky ground with Ole Miss.

I'm good with upgrading the offensive coaches at all spots that aren't OL and TE.  I don't believe that Chaney, M. Smith, and Thomas were top choices for Bielema.   A&M is making moves and attempting to upgrade coaches despite having strung together a few really good seasons and racking up talent on the recruiting trail.  There's a lot to be said for continuity, but there's also plenty to be said for spending what you have to to bring in the best coaching staff possible.

[BoynamedWooPigSooie]

Also this disaster of a day couldn't happen to a better fanbase.

[HOGINTENNESSEE]

Thomas has been a disaster in recruiting.  John L and Bobby Allen recruited circles around this dude.  Other schools are eating him up, Rawleigh got pushed out of Ole Miss by 3 higher ranked recruits.  Rawleigh had a heck of a year in middle division ball, however he didn't even visit here before he was on shaky ground with Ole Miss.

I'm good with upgrading the offensive coaches at all spots that aren't OL and TE.  I don't believe that Chaney, M. Smith, and Thomas were top choices for Bielema.   A&M is making moves and attempting to upgrade coaches despite having strung together a few really good seasons and racking up talent on the recruiting trail.  There's a lot to be said for continuity, but there's also plenty to be said for spending what you have to to bring in the best coaching staff possible.

Well rumor was CBB wanted his RB coach from Wisconsin (Thomas Hammock) and we hired George McDonald before Smith.

I'm not sure if Chaney was his first choice for OC or not. But it was Chaney that recommended Pittman to CBB. And Pittman was going to Cincy before we hired Chaney.

[island hog]

Keep an eye on Murray ending up at TT... Had a argument with a horn fan if just met lSt night.  If you didn't know better, you'd have thought Texas had just won the lottery.  You give them an inch and they'll take a mile... I don't care how many recruits the Ags lose as long as they don't go to Texas.  It's a visceral thing... 

[Hogwild]

Jefferson and McNeal had more to do with miss state/sec than anything. Same with their dt decommit today...he will go to tejas also.

He tweeted-
@DaylonMack: My top two schools are LSU and TCU #NoOrder #GeauxTigers #GoFrogs

[Pig in the Pokey]

I agree with everything you guys are saying and I'm also glad we're recruiting South Florida hard.  However, can anyone think of a school that's had great success filling it's roster with players from afar?  Not just from afar, as Notre Dame, Nebraska and Oregon do, but also from a single state or region afar?  The first school that pops in mind for me is Louisville with it's Florida connection, but I don't believe Louisville has ever won a national championship.

When you think of all the schools that have won national championships, they all either recruit well all over the nation or dominate a certain region and that region is usually within a few hours of their campus.  I'd love to see Arkansas recruit well nationally, like Tennessee or Oregon, but those schools still rely heavily on Georgia (Tennessee) and California (Oregon).  Charlie Strong brought in some great classes filled with Florida players, but they were mostly all 3-star players and probably weren't capable of winning the SEC or a national championship.

In order to compete for national championships, and therefore the SEC championship, I think Arkansas needs a strong recruiting base outside the state, just like Tennessee, Oklahoma and Oregon do.  Texas is the obvious answer, although it'll take time.  I don't care where we get players good enough to win a national championship, but we'll need a lot of them and it just seems more likely that we could get more of that caliber of player from Texas then anywhere else.  If we can get enough of them in Florida, then that's great, but Oklahoma currently has four 4-star players from Texas, Tennessee has four 4-5 star players from Georgia, while Oregon has three 4-star players from California.  I'm not sure that any school lands that many 4-5 star Florida players, except those in Florida and in the states that border Florida, so I'm skeptical that we ever will, either.

great post but we have what, 2 4*s and a 5* out of miami. And Merrick leaning Arkansas.

[Hogs-n-Roses]

At the end of the day they have to look in the mirror and know they're still Texas A$M. Texas's little step bro and a team we will be back to owning very soon.Each athlete has to also look into said mirror and ask why they chose to go to a school wit boy cheerleaders! ;-)

[redeye]

great post but we have what, 2 4*s and a 5* out of miami. And Merrick leaning Arkansas.

Yea, that's right.  Now consider a baseline of regularly getting 3-4 4+ star recruits out of Arkansas, 3-4 out of Texas, 1-2 out of Florida and another one out of Louisiana, Oklahoma, Missouri, Kansas or anywhere else.  At a minimum, that would mean getting 8 4-star recruits each year, which would equal our most since the online services began.  I want all the 4-5 star players we can get out of Florida, but I'm skeptical we'll ever get more then 2 in a year.  We currently have Froholdt from Florida, but he was in Ohio when he committed to Arkansas, so we don't even have one rated that high in this class, yet.

If we could continue wrapping up the best instate talent and grabbing 1-2 from Florida, then we really would just need to work on grabbing a few more from Texas to have a great class each year.  That might allow 8-12 4-5 star players each year and that could result in a top-10 class.

I'm not a stargazer, but I don't consider the ratings meaningless, either, and so I'm just using this as an example of what's possible.

[ricepig]

I guess some Ag fans were really upset over it.

http://instagram.com/p/w3xHdSyY9Y/

[Hawk]

That couldn't have been aggie engineers! If so, it would have fallen the wrong way.

[ricepig]

That couldn't have been aggie engineers! If so, it would have fallen the wrong way.

True, haha.

[Dominicanhog]

Yea, that's right.  Now consider a baseline of regularly getting 3-4 4+ star recruits out of Arkansas, 3-4 out of Texas, 1-2 out of Florida and another one out of Louisiana, Oklahoma, Missouri, Kansas or anywhere else.  At a minimum, that would mean getting 8 4-star recruits each year, which would equal our most since the online services began.  I want all the 4-5 star players we can get out of Florida, but I'm skeptical we'll ever get more then 2 in a year.  We currently have Froholdt from Florida, but he was in Ohio when he committed to Arkansas, so we don't even have one rated that high in this class, yet.

If we could continue wrapping up the best instate talent and grabbing 1-2 from Florida, then we really would just need to work on grabbing a few more from Texas to have a great class each year.  That might allow 8-12 4-5 star players each year and that could result in a top-10 class.

I'm not a stargazer, but I don't consider the ratings meaningless, either, and so I'm just using this as an example of what's possible.

agree to a point... Texas has 4 or 5 in-state schools that we have to play catch up with and we are not going to make a living doing that .. we could get a couple of "most wanteds" because of a relationship every year... Florida on the other hand has 3 major schools and just as many or more "most wanteds' as Texas.. 2 of those schools are down and we have real in roads with coaches that are perceived with much higher esteem than what we have recruiting Texas...

I think Florida is ripe for our coaches to create a real pipeline, I hope we continue... I said 2 ears ago when I saw our first results in Florida that we'll have more Florida razorbacks in our 2 deep within 5 years than any other state with the possible exception of Arkansas...,  that's like having a whole other home state to recruit from..

[Oklahawg]

http://www.wholehogsports.com/news/2014/dec/21/texas-running-back-s-family-sold-on-ark/

Thomas is doing just fine recruiting.

The TX recruiting circles are hard to break into. Fans think you just decide to recruit a player from TX and in 2 weeks can secure a commitment. There are towns in East Texas where an OU coach can roll into town and get waves from the locals. That isn't the product of a position coach hired a couple of years ago. It isn't the product of Bob Stoops focusing on the territory. It goes back at least as far as Barry Switzer's staff living in East Texas. Barry has told a friend that he inherited the territory from those before him.

If you run a program that tends to be "clean" it is a challenge to break into those inner circles. Most of the elite TX recruits in this class were already being recruited heavily by the big boys before CBB and Co were hired. Let that sink in - Jennings was recruiting this territory prior to coming to UA.

Thomas had recruited it some for UWash but that is a hard sell - think about it! A middling program half the continent away. You weren't chasing elite-level recruits, you were trying to find "diamonds in the rough" or a nice 5.5/3-star/82 grade guy who has a skillset that matches precisely your scheme. Thomas was recruiting to a totally different scheme at UWash than he is at UA.

Too many think that recruiting works like it does on XBox. Shannon and Pittman are geniuses! Few staffs have one like either, let alone two. I am pleased with the progress of the RBs and our TX recruiting. I am curious who the final RB will be in this class, and if that changes any opinions about Thomas.

[Dominicanhog]

http://www.wholehogsports.com/news/2014/dec/21/texas-running-back-s-family-sold-on-ark/

I am curious who the final RB will be in this class, and if that changes any opinions about Thomas.

I know there has been talk of another, but I'd like to ask if you think it is someone more highly rated than Carr and what makes you confident that we will sign another RB? 

[Pig in the Pokey]

I know there has been talk of another, but I'd like to ask if you think it is someone more highly rated than Carr and what makes you confident that we will sign another RB?

i hope.

[BoynamedWooPigSooie]

Oklahawg,

I'll give you that Thomas is well liked and does seem to be a player's coach and handles the locker room well.

However, don't turn a blind eye to all the misses that dude has racked up in his time here.  How long has it been since we signed a recruit from the I-20 and I-30 corridors?  We consistently lose out on Texarkana area guys that are across the border.  We have been left to take reaches, non-SEC caliber, and academic risks from the metroplex.  You can't deny that we've been getting our asses handed to us in Texas for a heck of a long time.

One of the problems is we're late to offer.  Look at the 247 timelines, who knows their accuracy but the perception is almost more important.  We're rarely the first 3 to offer highly regarded recruits.  Athletes have said it over and over how important being the first show confidence in them is to their choice.  When a guy already has 20+ offers and has been recruited for 2 years by some schools we don't have much of a chance to come in late and act that it's a big moment for a U. of Arkansas offer... especially with 4 win and 3 win seasons on the recent resume.

We've got commitments from 2 of the Top 100 in Texas.  Texas was stupidly loaded this year, we're in on only 1 of the Top 25 who was a late de-commit from Texas and is looking at us only because of our depth issues at Tackle.  We might still be in on only 2 or 3 others in the back end of the Top 100.  That's not going to cut it if we're going to keep improving.  Having a #20 ranked recruiting class is awesome, until you realize that still leaves us 10th in our conference and closer to the bottom of our division than the top.

Recruiting rankings matter, it's how you can initially measure quality depth and understand the talent pool a team is working with.

Our depth issues will be fixed in S. Florida and Texas and supplemented with a strong walk on program.

[lefty08]

Oklahawg,

I'll give you that Thomas is well liked and does seem to be a player's coach and handles the locker room well.

However, don't turn a blind eye to all the misses that dude has racked up in his time here.  How long has it been since we signed a recruit from the I-20 and I-30 corridors?  We consistently lose out on Texarkana area guys that are across the border.  We have been left to take reaches, non-SEC caliber, and academic risks from the metroplex.  You can't deny that we've been getting our asses handed to us in Texas for a heck of a long time.

One of the problems is we're late to offer.  Look at the 247 timelines, who knows their accuracy but the perception is almost more important.  We're rarely the first 3 to offer highly regarded recruits.  Athletes have said it over and over how important being the first show confidence in them is to their choice.  When a guy already has 20+ offers and has been recruited for 2 years by some schools we don't have much of a chance to come in late and act that it's a big moment for a U. of Arkansas offer... especially with 4 win and 3 win seasons on the recent resume.

We've got commitments from 2 of the Top 100 in Texas.  Texas was stupidly loaded this year, we're in on only 1 of the Top 25 who was a late de-commit from Texas and is looking at us only because of our depth issues at Tackle.  We might still be in on only 2 or 3 others in the back end of the Top 100.  That's not going to cut it if we're going to keep improving.  Having a #20 ranked recruiting class is awesome, until you realize that still leaves us 10th in our conference and closer to the bottom of our division than the top.

Recruiting rankings matter, it's how you can initially measure quality depth and understand the talent pool a team is working with.

Our depth issues will be fixed in S. Florida and Texas and supplemented with a strong walk on program.

Those problems started long before Thomas was here, like our depth issues, may take years to patch up

[ricepig]

Those problems started long before Thomas was here, like our depth issues, may take years to patch up

So, he's bitching that this staff didn't offer them when they weren't here, only on HV......

[redeye]

agree to a point... Texas has 4 or 5 in-state schools that we have to play catch up with and we are not going to make a living doing that .. we could get a couple of "most wanteds" because of a relationship every year... Florida on the other hand has 3 major schools and just as many or more "most wanteds' as Texas.. 2 of those schools are down and we have real in roads with coaches that are perceived with much higher esteem than what we have recruiting Texas...

I think Florida is ripe for our coaches to create a real pipeline, I hope we continue... I said 2 ears ago when I saw our first results in Florida that we'll have more Florida razorbacks in our 2 deep within 5 years than any other state with the possible exception of Arkansas...,  that's like having a whole other home state to recruit from..

There are probably 3-4 out-of-state schools we'll have to play catch-up with in Texas, also.  Probably even more in Florida, which may put out better players, but does not put out as many (Texas currently has more players on the top-247 list, as well.)  I don't know why we couldn't make a living in Texas, since I believe we've done it in the past just fine, but I am skeptical that we could do it in Florida; at least by my definition of "make a living".

Like I said, I don't really care where we get them, as long as we get them.  So far, however, we've signed two 4+ star players from Florida in 2012, one in 2013 and none so far this year, although we still have time.  It's great that we're getting these Florida players and I hope it continues, but I just don't think we're getting enough to "make a living".  Like many, I'd rather have 3-stars from Florida then from Texas, but I still think we need a hotbed outside the state where we can find three or four 4+ star players each year, in addition to what we get from Florida, and I think Texas may be the only place to do that.

Maybe that's asking too much, though?  I don't know the answer to that.  I only know that we've recruited Texas well in the past and that the vast majority of players won't move too far from home.

[Oklahawg]

Those problems started long before Thomas was here, like our depth issues, may take years to patch up

So, he's bitching that this staff didn't offer them when they weren't here, only on HV......

East Texas is great! Wouldn't it be nice if UA was the only staff with this bit of insight? We could cherry pick all the great athletes.

A lot of those schools are coached by spread disciplines influenced by Chad Morris, et al. It helped Oregon's inroads. It also means they are producing different types of talent (talent is talent; but, immediate impact players in one system may not be immediately impactful in other systems).

Not sure the previous paragraph is really much of an influence on things.

What is an influence is where are you sending your "A-list" recruiters? Want to pull Shannon out of South Florida? At some point the two 1000-yard RBs will start to generate interest and we'll be just fine.

I know there has been talk of another, but I'd like to ask if you think it is someone more highly rated than Carr and what makes you confident that we will sign another RB? 

Trying to decipher something, maybe others can help. At what point did the staff realize that Korliss Marshall's days were likely over? We would benefit from a shiftier speed back vs another JWill clone (RW3 seems to be built just like JWill, and with similar skills). I think. Or, do we want to continue with the JWill model (which seems to be what we targeted last summer: recruit from NC committed to NCState; recruit from FL committed to Iowa; Carr; Ronald Jones II, ex-OSU commit; others, I just can't remember the names!).

[Dominicanhog]

There are probably 3-4 out-of-state schools we'll have to play catch-up with in Texas, also.  Probably even more in Florida, which may put out better players, but does not put out as many (Texas currently has more players on the top-247 list, as well.)  I don't know why we couldn't make a living in Texas, since I believe we've done it in the past just fine, but I am skeptical that we could do it in Florida; at least by my definition of "make a living".

Like I said, I don't really care where we get them, as long as we get them.  So far, however, we've signed two 4+ star players from Florida in 2012, one in 2013 and none so far this year, although we still have time.  It's great that we're getting these Florida players and I hope it continues, but I just don't think we're getting enough to "make a living".  Like many, I'd rather have 3-stars from Florida then from Texas, but I still think we need a hotbed outside the state where we can find three or four 4+ star players each year, in addition to what we get from Florida, and I think Texas may be the only place to do that.

Maybe that's asking too much, though?  I don't know the answer to that.  I only know that we've recruited Texas well in the past and that the vast majority of players won't move too far from home.

understand and didn't mean it was an either / or.. just I think S. FL is ripe for an outsider to come in and get several nice players.. we've got the coaches, the relationships and are building the reputation... with the number of homegrown recruits available each year, we are going to need to recruit everywhere we can... certainly Texas has to be a big part of that.

[redeye]

The TX recruiting circles are hard to break into. Fans think you just decide to recruit a player from TX and in 2 weeks can secure a commitment. There are towns in East Texas where an OU coach can roll into town and get waves from the locals. That isn't the product of a position coach hired a couple of years ago. It isn't the product of Bob Stoops focusing on the territory. It goes back at least as far as Barry Switzer's staff living in East Texas. Barry has told a friend that he inherited the territory from those before him.

I believe you're right about all that, including the stuff I cut out to shorten this post.  It's also why I believe if we're ever going to be a national player again, with any regularity, then we need to be able to challenge Oklahoma with recruiting in the region.  It won't be easy and it won't happen quick, but I'm not sure of any other way Arkansas can ever recruit at the level of a "Big 6" program without rivaling Oklahoma on the recruiting trail in the region.

I don't want to see us cheating to do it, but we have an advantage over Oklahoma as a SEC school, which I think may pay bigger dividends in the future, and we don't have to steal every Oklahoma recruit: we just need enough to make us competitive in the SEC, playing for the NC and so people recognize us as a threat to Oklahoma in the region.

Btw, Oklahawg, I'd love to hear your opinion on this, since you can see it from an Oklahoma perspective, much better then I can.  I suspect it to be quite gloomy and for good reasons, but I truly am curious.

[redeye]

understand and didn't mean it was an either / or.. just I think S. FL is ripe for an outsider to come in and get several nice players.. we've got the coaches, the relationships and are building the reputation... with the number of homegrown recruits available each year, we are going to need to recruit everywhere we can... certainly Texas has to be a big part of that.

Yea, I completely agree.  I love how well we're doing in Florida and hope to see it continue, if not improve.

[Dominicanhog]

Trying to decipher something, maybe others can help. At what point did the staff realize that Korliss Marshall's days were likely over? We would benefit from a shiftier speed back vs another JWill clone (RW3 seems to be built just like JWill, and with similar skills). I think. Or, do we want to continue with the JWill model (which seems to be what we targeted last summer: recruit from NC committed to NCState; recruit from FL committed to Iowa; Carr; Ronald Jones II, ex-OSU commit; others, I just can't remember the names!).

Gottcha.. just thought you had a name/thought/hope of a big timer... R. Jones maybe but don't think so.. S. Joambo just never hear his name.. maybe Dalvin Cook will reconsider and come to the Hogs... how's that for wishful hoping.  I'm guessing the best available comment CBB made means if he can't find the right RB we'll take other positions and only go with what we have.  I do recall RD slipping in a comment about someone committed to another school, so maybe we'll see some names pop up once OV's start in January.

[Dominicanhog]

Yea, I completely agree.  I love how well we're doing in Florida and hope to see it continue, if not improve.

I'll also add that a lot of those kids leave home already  and we've won some nice battles against Home teams... don't seem to do it as much with Texas athletes, imo.

[ricepig]

I'll also add that a lot of those kids leave home already  and we've won some nice battles against Home teams... don't seem to do it as much with Texas athletes, imo.

I think we'll have to go back to winning, and winning consistently to get back in Texas in a big way.

[redeye]

I'll also add that a lot of those kids leave home already  and we've won some nice battles against Home teams... don't seem to do it as much with Texas athletes, imo.

In recent times, I have to agree with that, unfortunately.  And it's not just home teams, because we've struggled recruiting Texas well against Oregon, Nebraska, both Oklahoma schools and others.  HDN was able to grab some good players from Texas (Ugoh and Richardson come to mind), but he didn't win enough to create much excitement.  He also coached before the SEC was considered the dominant conference, among other reasons I won't list out of fear of derailing the thread further.

[Dominicanhog]

I think we'll have to go back to winning, and winning consistently to get back in Texas in a big way.

agree... winning makes everything better.

[Oklahawg]

Btw, Oklahawg, I'd love to hear your opinion on this, since you can see it from an Oklahoma perspective, much better then I can.  I suspect it to be quite gloomy and for good reasons, but I truly am curious.

The OU perception over here is as hideous as you suspect

They see no one as a threat, except themselves. That is, "as long as OU is OU we will be a finalist for the playoff, if not a participant. Every year. Without doubt."

That's the mindset.

There has been a lot of excuse making ("gotta get Mike Stoops back and bail on Venables") that didn't pan out. They continue to recruit pretty well, but manage to not assemble a good starting roster. They perpetually have a position - in August! - that is held together by duct tape, bailing wire, and homer media.

They have recruited WR well, or so they want you to believe. But, they either have failed miserably at recruiting a QB with an arm...or those WR are not very good.

The biggest concern I hear - and the voices are growing louder - is that Stoops has hired two unfireable coordinators. His brother Mike is DC and Josh Heupel (married to a relative of OU's President Boren) is OC. Cannot be fired. Have to find them gigs and they are not hireable at similar or superior programs in any capacity.

Barry Switzer said a couple of years ago that they were not winning it all because of a failure to recruit properly in the trenches. The OL is as big as UA's OL, or thereabouts, but (despite being a lot more veteran group) is not nearly as good. Scheming by Heupel is not as effective as Chaney, and they are far less diverse. Worse, they completely abandon things that work for the bulk of games. Inexplicable.

Mike Stoops has had no solution for many of the offenses in the B12. The talent isn't there (which is why they can offer more to DBs than UA can offer) but the scheme is failed. The DL rarely gets a great push and a good LB corps 2 years ago hasn't been replaced with similar talent.  Hard to see that they have ANYONE I'd take over a UA defensive starter. Oh, they have some great options, but the scheme is so dysfunctional they don't appear nearly as good as UA.

Fans grumbled in the past but naively were back at the trough last August. I am not certain of this, but I bet OU fans will be back at it next fall. They are emboldened by OkState really struggling right now. Gundy has shown himself to be unable to pick which QB should be starting. They are sorely missing playmakers at WR and TE, and booted their best player, Tyreek Hill. The defense had no answers, with Gundy needing a Nutt-esque 2-year pass, but he may not have it.

Gundy makes it easy on Stoops. Gundy has ceded much of Oklahoma recruiting to the Sooners, choosing to focus on Texas, JUCOs and the occasional recruit that notices them nationally. It is the Gundy approach that SO many on HV want adopted by CBB - "all in, Texas".

As a result, OU has as downhill run for most in-state recruits. Jalin Barnett wanting to be a Hog, but waiting, may not be the wake-up call it was destined to be. Barnett loved UA, his family REALLY loved UA, and UA played his recruiting perfectly, while OU bumbled about. Barnett hurt himself by delaying his choice. OU has signed 17 OL (or so it seems) and UA opted to go after OTs and defense.

I am waiting for Montgomery (TU's new coach, formerly QB coach/OC at Baylor) to pull a recruit OU wants. They are ripe for someone who will run a wide-open offense to do so. OU is now trapped in the run-first QB scheme, the starter being youthful and the best player on the team being a RB.

Most OU fans do not find an issue with Joe Mixson (suspended for a year, assaulted a female, who wasn't even a girlfriend), Frank Shannon (Title IX sexual assault suspension), and DGB (transfer, kicked off of Mizzou for multiple reasons) being on the OU roster. They are quickly reprising the endgame for Switzer, where suspensions and arrests were allowed to trump the team due to incomplete rosters. Stoops needs to be careful - he is going to find himself desperate for an impact player, or two, that others might be shy to roster.

The OU fans don't see the staff the way I do - a mishmash of assistants vs. an assemblage of a unit, a "team" of coaches. That was certainly the case up to Mike Stoops leaving for Arizona, but his return did not rekindle the same chemistry as before.

HS coaches are no longer enamored like before. They have been given reason to pay attention to OK State. They notice the success KS State has had with players from the Tulsa area, in particular. UA is as popular as ever around here. The state's recruits are ripe for the taking...but big-money boosters still know how to play the game and that won't change any time soon. Now is the time for one of them to get desperate and over-reach.

The booster game is bigger in TX because the players don't naturally grow up rooting for either OU or OSU. The OU booster game is for players, not recruits. In OK, that is.

[BoynamedWooPigSooie]

So, he's bitching that this staff didn't offer them when they weren't here, only on HV......

2 years is plenty of time to make contacts and offer kids.   Alabama probably puts out close to 500 "offers"  a year and puts them out early so they're in the conversation and think about every article that will get written about a kid over 2-3 years.  Your school will be associated and mentioned in many of those articles building more awareness for your program and staying in the minds of other future recruits.


eta:  Please don't lump me in with  posters that think the  holy grail is in TX, because  it's not.

Texas HS football went soft a decade ago.  It's where you go to find PRO style QB's, WR's, and back 7 players that will be advanced for the college game.

I'd like to see us sign 4-5 high quality players from Texas, 4-5 high quality from Florida, and a couple prospect types from both states if needed.   We'll need to look across the globe for players honestly.  Hopefully Froholdt can be our poster child in Europe.  Would be great to get a player a year from overseas or bring in a handful as walkons.   I think if we can get 10-12 a year from TX/FL, along with our 5-8 instate, and fill in with the best 10 players we can get across the country then we'll be on our way to winning and the shine will return to the program and create interest.

[redeye]

That's all interesting Oklahawg.  Thanks for the response!

When I mentioned targeting OU recruits, I guess I should have included OSU also.  Whatever happened with Barnett is really unfortunate, because I thought maybe if we had some moderate success in Oklahoma, it might spread into NE Texas and so on.  I'm not sure how possible it would be to cut into OU recruiting territories in the region, but it would certainly seem to be an obvious method for gaining great talent on a regular basis.  Not that we haven't been trying to do that all along, but it might be worthy of some special emphasis?

[ricepig]

2 years is plenty of time to make contacts and offer kids.   Alabama probably puts out close to 500 "offers"  a year and puts them out early so they're in the conversation and think about every article that will get written about a kid over 2-3 years.  Your school will be associated and mentioned in many of those articles building more awareness for your program and staying in the minds of other future recruits.


eta:  Please don't lump me in with  posters that think the  holy grail is in TX, because  it's not.

Texas HS football went soft a decade ago.  It's where you go to find PRO style QB's, WR's, and back 7 players that will be advanced for the college game.

I'd like to see us sign 4-5 high quality players from Texas, 4-5 high quality from Florida, and a couple prospect types from both states if needed.   We'll need to look across the globe for players honestly.  Hopefully Froholdt can be our poster child in Europe.  Would be great to get a player a year from overseas or bring in a handful as walkons.   I think if we can get 10-12 a year from TX/FL, along with our 5-8 instate, and fill in with the best 10 players we can get across the country then we'll be on our way to winning and the shine will return to the program and create interest.

So, you're comparing our recruiting to Bama's? You want 500 offers out that aren't committable? I said you have to be in on these kids as sophomores, our staff is just now getting to that position to be able to do that. Also, you need to be winning to get their attention, we're just starting that phase, too.

[Mike_e]

I don't know y'alls kids but what mine like as Sr.s was pretty much what they grew to like as 8th and 9th graders.

Give it time.

[Inhogswetrust]

http://www.wholehogsports.com/news/2014/dec/21/texas-running-back-s-family-sold-on-ark/

Thomas is doing just fine recruiting.

The TX recruiting circles are hard to break into. Fans think you just decide to recruit a player from TX and in 2 weeks can secure a commitment. There are towns in East Texas where an OU coach can roll into town and get waves from the locals. That isn't the product of a position coach hired a couple of years ago. It isn't the product of Bob Stoops focusing on the territory. It goes back at least as far as Barry Switzer's staff living in East Texas. Barry has told a friend that he inherited the territory from those before him.

If you run a program that tends to be "clean" it is a challenge to break into those inner circles. Most of the elite TX recruits in this class were already being recruited heavily by the big boys before CBB and Co were hired. Let that sink in - Jennings was recruiting this territory prior to coming to UA.

Thomas had recruited it some for UWash but that is a hard sell - think about it! A middling program half the continent away. You weren't chasing elite-level recruits, you were trying to find "diamonds in the rough" or a nice 5.5/3-star/82 grade guy who has a skillset that matches precisely your scheme. Thomas was recruiting to a totally different scheme at UWash than he is at UA.

Too many think that recruiting works like it does on XBox. Shannon and Pittman are geniuses! Few staffs have one like either, let alone two. I am pleased with the progress of the RBs and our TX recruiting. I am curious who the final RB will be in this class, and if that changes any opinions about Thomas.

Barry did indeed inherit any recruiting advantages in TX from his predecessor.

[ur]

As bad as I hate the whorns, my hometown friend Charlie Strong will own the aggies in recruiting. Mommas and dads don't want swag. They want results and someone that will make their kid a man. Tub doesn't do well in front of the camera but he is sincere, honest and a great person. When he went to Louisville, I thought he was doomed. He started by building a great defense, then landed a great QB in Bridgewater that turned it all around. If anyone happened to watch the Texas State champ game on FSSW the other night, Murray is his next Bridgewater. If he gets him, turn out the lights aggies, the party is over.

[ricepig]

As bad as I hate the whorns, my hometown friend Charlie Strong will own the aggies in recruiting. Mommas and dads don't want swag. They want results and someone that will make their kid a man. Tub doesn't do well in front of the camera but he is sincere, honest and a great person. When he went to Louisville, I thought he was doomed. He started by building a great defense, then landed a great QB in Bridgewater that turned it all around. If anyone happened to watch the Texas State champ game on FSSW the other night, Murray is his next Bridgewater. If he gets him, turn out the lights aggies, the party is over.

So, you think Murray is going to decommit from his Dad's alma mater and go to Texass? I know there are rumors swirling around, and he's decided to not enroll early and play baseball, but this??

[ur]

So, you think Murray is going to decommit from his Dad's alma mater and go to Texass? I know there are rumors swirling around, and he's decided to not enroll early and play baseball, but this??

I doubt it but he fits the mold. If he doesn't get him he will find another soon. That state is loaded with talent.

[jbcarol]

Hairopoulos: Turbulent A&M season has place in 'grand scheme'

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Questions about the future of the Texas A&M football program abound even as the Aggies enter Monday's AutoZone Liberty Bowl against West Virginia.

Who will coach Kevin Sumlin name as new defensive coordinator, probably the most important decision of his tenure? Quarterback of the future: Kyle Allen, Kenny Hill or Kyler Murray? Which Aggies will show up against the Mountaineers?

A&M is coming off a turbulent 7-5 regular season, in which it went 3-5 in the SEC, its worst showing in three years in the league.

So leave it to a bowl official to throw this toughie in at the end of Sunday afternoon's pregame news conference with Sumlin.

"Young Elvis?"came the Memphis-centric query, "Or Old Elvis?"

Aggies will be more interested in what happens on the field Monday, and how A&M can take the ups-and-downs of this season and make use of them...

"If you have a season like this," Sumlin said, "you're making changes for the good of the program. ... What you have to do is be able to assess the situation for what it is, figure out what you need to do to get better ... and I think we've done that. In the grand scheme of things, we have an opportunity to take another step.

"There is a method to our madness, and we're going to be just fine."

[jbcarol]

Billy Liucci @billyliucci  ·  14 hours ago
Friday night re-commit for Aggies "@xRichManex: Proud to be a TEXAS A&M AGGIE !👍"


richard moore @xRichManex  ·  Dec 26
HS career stats : 410 total tackles 66 TFL 35 sacks ... I'll take my 3 stars and keep it moving tho 💯💯

[jbcarol]

ESPN SEC @ESPN_SEC  ·  15 hours ago
John Chavis departure causes shakeup for 5-star Daylon Mack http://espn.go.com/blog/sec

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Five-star defensive tackle Daylon Mack recently backed off of his commitment to Texas A&M and announced a top two of TCU and LSU. But after learning that LSU defensive coordinator John Chavis left to take the same position at Texas A&M, Mack had a shake up with his future plans...

THEE MACK TRUCK retweeted
College GameDay @CollegeGameDay  ·  16 hours ago
Congrats to Byron Cowart #99 & Daylon Mack #34 for being named @UAFootball #UAALLAMERICA MVPs!

[hoglady]

Sumlin isn't recruiting against Brown anymore. He'll find the going much tougher against Strong.

[jbcarol]

Brice Jones @Brice_Jones  ·  18 hours ago
A&M is in serious jeopardy of missing out on the 3 best defensive players in the state when at one point it looked like it would land all 3

[jbcarol]

Damon Sayles @DamonSayles  ·  3 hours ago
WR @DaMarkusLodge18 said he's strongly considering #GigEm OV week of 1/16. Still set for #HottyToddy OV week of 1/23.