Recruiting

[12247]

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.

[urkillnmesmalls]

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.

Some of the teams ahead of us have simply signed more players.  We still have a long way to go to fill out that class.  That having been said, it's ludicrous to think that we're going to get even the number 10 class in the nation, run those Fr. out there, and beat the SEC. 

I hate to say this...but I think AC probably knew he was joining a work in progress, but I doubt he thought it would be like this.  I just hope the kid sticks it out, along with the rest of the talented players we have who hate losing.  On that one "end around," "jet sweep," or whatever the flavor of the month is for that play type was run with Sprinkle, they showed AC on the sideline fuming.  He was honestly MAD because he had just been giving his heart and soul out there, and on third and 3 they ran that play with Sprinkle, who appeared to literally jog around the end, rather than giving AC the chance to drag four people for he 3 yards. 

THAT's WHAT I want to see.  Guys hacked off that they're losing.  Sadly...I'm not seeing that, with the exception of a select few. 

[razorhog52]

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.

[Pig In The City]

Yep, time to hang out in the recruiting forum for a couple of years.

[nwahogfan1]

We are in a very tough league and recruiting is everyones life blood.  Unfortunately we do not have alot of 4 and 5 stars in our state so we have to go get them and it is easier when you are winning.   So we have to hope we are better at evaluating players hoping to sign a 3 star and turn him into a 5 star.

I am hoping when we get this ship turned around we can consistently out recruit OM, MSt, Vandy, Missouri and Kentucky and on good years be close to even with SC, Tenn and Aub.  I dont see us out recruiting LSU, A&M, Bama, Flor and Geor very often.  Those schools have to many great players in their immediate area who want to go to there.

But I understand your concern.  It is my concern also.  CBB knew the hornets nest he was coming into. 

Wisc has some of the same limitations as us in recruiting but he signed some nice classes up there.   We must do a great job of evaluating players and then developing them. 

[hogwild210]

Yep, time to hang out in the recruiting forum for a couple of years.

PLEASE no. The recruiting forum is bad enough right now, we don't need the hysteria of MMQB over there!

[Torqued pork]

Yep, time to hang out in the recruiting forum for a couple of years.

Take some Dramanine before you do. The spinning never stops.

[Fatty McGee]

Oklahoma is currently 36th in the Rivals rankings.  Oregon is 40th.  UCLA is 52nd.    USC is 57th.

Point:  It's waaayyyyy too early to be fretting about recruiting rankings.

[redeye]

ESPN always ranks our classes lower then everyone else, so that shouldn't surprise you any. Our ranking with Rivals is more in line with other sites and 26th isn't exactly bad. Bielema went to 3 Rose Bowls and probably never had a class ranked as high as 26th. Missouri is 5th in the BCS, after beating a team we've yet to beat as a SEC member, and they probably didn't have a class ranked as high as 26th. Better classes would certainly help, but we need to get over this idea that recruiting is our problem.

Most are not proposing solutions for next year because we're doing bad, but rather because that's how it works when you have a new head coach. Why so many on hogville fail to understand this is startling, because it's an old axiom with college football. Just like with Petrino, our second year under Bielema should be better and the 3rd should be vastly improved.

Now, if none of that happens, then we have good reason to be alarmed, but until then we need to be patient (I know that's a virtue unknown to hogville, but it's not to other fan bases.) Those looking for heads to roll now are probably the same who expected to compete for a national title with a temp coach, which is something that just doesn't happen. We've had 2 very tough years, but the hard part is almost over and it should be all uphill from here on out, unless our impatience leads us to do something stupid.

[10thPlanet]

We need some Juco players to fill some spots.

[12247]

Actually its human nature to go the wait till next year route when this year is horrible.  Its also human nature to start grabbing at straws while drowning so many grab the recruiting straw.  And it is a straw to go there.  There is no reason to expect us to move from a respectable 26th to around 15th which would be unbelieveable but still wouldn't gain much on the SEC teams.  We'd still be around 8th to 10th in recruiting in the SEC where we play.

Another sounding board is go get Jucos.  Our HC coach went, himself, and got 5 last year and they aren't lighting it up overall.  Maybe we can benefit from those 5 in year 2. 

There aren't any Mallets looking to return home or locals who agreed to go elsewhere and are likely to change their mind and stay home coming up at this time. 

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. 

I will say I don't expect BBs route to success to be successful enough to win Championships in the SEC and that hasn't changed one bit from day one with me, but I am not for pulling the plug after 8 games or even 24 games.  Our school hired the Guy and he should get the opportunity to susceed or fail and a few games is not a chance.

[pfrg999]

And here is goes... Recruiting stars don't matter...CBB does more with less, ( if that's the case we should be good) Bama has a top 5 class every year , but we are not Bama, Ol miss did it, so they must be paying the players, LSU can because so much talent in there own backyard, and on and on and on... We need the best players.. If you can to be last in recruiting in the SEC he's off to a good start! 3-9 he needs a top 10 to 15 class ..5-7 or 6-6 he can get by with top 25!

[Ashdownpanther]

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?

[staffhog]

52.9 in the 7th grade, WOW.  You are going to have many great times ahead.

[Ashdownpanther]

The kid who is 6 ft 240, his dad was an Arkansas lineman in the 80's.  He and my son were dying to go to the Arkansas camp this past summer, but discovered that it was going to have a lot of little kids ( 4th-8th, I believe).  They felt like it was a "rah-rah" camp and had nothing to offer to advance them.  There are multitudes of camps locally for 8th-9th graders with talent, and position specific training from ex-pros.  If you want to get the good kids, you got to get to them early. You got to offer the talented kids in 7th, 8th, and 9th grade something to advance them. Surprizingly, North Texas invited them to their "recruit camp".  First thing the NT coaches said was " we are not here to have a good time, we are here to look for D-1 football players."  There were kids from 8th to 12th, and they all competed against each other.  My kid went as a wr, and he ran routes against 12th grade all staters from Tx and La.  He learned what it took to be a D-1 player and the talent level.  The big kid (8th grade) went against all state kids who were 260-300 lbs and 12th grade.   It made them both "better" this yr for 8th grade football.  After the camp, the North Texas coaches took an interest and told them they would watch their careers and invite them to camp next year, and if they would like to see a N. Texas game, to let them know.  The point is this, if North Texas can do this, why can't Arkansas?  The Houston area is talent rich, and loyalties are established early. A little attention to an 8th grader goes a long way

[1highhog]

And here is goes... Recruiting stars don't matter...CBB does more with less, ( if that's the case we should be good) Bama has a top 5 class every year , but we are not Bama, Ol miss did it, so they must be paying the players, LSU can because so much talent in there own backyard, and on and on and on... We need the best players.. If you can to be last in recruiting in the SEC he's off to a good start! 3-9 he needs a top 10 to 15 class ..5-7 or 6-6 he can get by with top 25!

Recruiting stars didn't evidently matter to Petrino, because his classes were terrible, but his last two years were great on the gridiron.  However, he left us along with Smiley nothing on defense, actually, our line is not bad, it would do, but our back 7 was never recruited the whole time Petrino was here, if a good DB or lb did come along, I'd swear he'd want them as a receiver.

[Inhogswetrust]

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.

I bet your wife is a three star based on others evaluations. Based on that why do you look forward to going home when there are others with five stars.

Good grief people get real.

[Inhogswetrust]

52.9 in the 7th grade, WOW.  You are going to have many great times ahead.

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.

[Snortingred1]

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.

You should look into 247 rankings.  I find them to be more accurate than those two.  They have us at #24 with 17 commits.  Coaches did some major recruiting the last few days sending out offers to a few four stars and some developmental three stars.  Everything is going to be fine.  Transition year, combined with poor recruiting, and an interim coach with no discipline last year...makes for a ** year.  Bite the lip, and support our freshman and incoming recruits.  There are some nice pieces coming in.

[HawgFan70]

We don't need to recruit Texas we have a pipeline to South Florida

[Hogwild]

ESPN always ranks our classes lower then everyone else, so that shouldn't surprise you any. Our ranking with Rivals is more in line with other sites and 26th isn't exactly bad.

Rivals has us 12th in the SEC, with an average star ranking of 3.12

[CDBHawg]

Recruiting is a marathon, not a sprint.

The race is just about 3/4 over.

[jkstock04]

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.

[Wildhog]

Should probably just tear down the stadium.

[MuskogeeHogFan]

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.

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.

[Wildhog]

So close to signing a couple of those Top 100's last year.  Collins was #117 and Henry was #102.

[MuskogeeHogFan]

So close to signing a couple of those Top 100's last year.  Collins was #117 and Henry was #102.

That's true Wildhog, and it is a great start and perhaps the beginnings of better recruiting. But when you look at those numbers above, we have a long way to go. Still, what is that Confucius said? "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a first step?" Or something like that.

[The Artist Yo Huckleberry]

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.

Hammer meets nail. Those of us with doubts about BB would certainly be more apt to give him the benefit of the doubt if we could see recruiting results that match the ype of BB and this staff. It has been insisted by the BB cheeseheads that we don't have any talent, Petrino's fault, of course, and that we have to give BB time to recruit, perhaps 3-4 years of which will produce the results we are looking for. Fine. Go get us a class like Ole Miss got last year. Show us that, THEN, we might have reason to believe. Oh, and one or two guys is not a "recruiting class". Go get us 15-20 outta 25. THEN we can call the CLASS a success.

[Arthur pigby sellers.]

If we are 24th in the country and 10th in the SEC,  then the SEC is just ridiculous these days.  I would really like to see us get into the teens in recruiting, but not sure that getting top 10 classes is reasonable

[Hogfaniam]

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.

How sucky is Muschamp?

[MuskogeeHogFan]

How sucky is Muschamp?

Underachieving, no doubt.

[Wildhog]

If we are 24th in the country and 10th in the SEC,  then the SEC is just ridiculous these days.  I would really like to see us get into the teens in recruiting, but not sure that getting top 10 classes is reasonable

Texas
Alabama
Florida
Florida State
TAMU (now)
LSU
Georgia
Auburn
Ohio State
Notre Dame
Tennessee
USC

These are teams that will always out-recruit us.  Tennessee just went through the lowest point that I've ever seen, and they were still recruiting at an extremely high level.  Maybe, MAYBE we catch one of them at a low point and they fall far enough that we can sneak by (see Auburn 2009). 

Expecting to break into the top ten in recruiting is lunacy.  (Obviously not saying you expect that, you just made me think about it.)

[DoctorSusscrofa]

High recruit rankings are nice, but I'll be happy as long as our class is in the top 25 this year.  We can get there if we pull in an LB, a WR and a DB that are (for their position) what AC was last year among RB's.  If we can get one of each next year (along with our more typical 2.5 and 3 *s) we can get a top 25 recruiting class and begin to shore up the positions we're currently weak at.  Next year we should be at least a little improved at QB, our OL should be good and steady, our RB's should be fine if we don't lose anybody, and our DL should still be steady.  If we can get 1 top LB, 1 good solid Corner, and 1 game breaker receiver, we should be capable of improving on both sides of the ball and then we pull out games like the one we played this year against Rutgers.  We also give a team like SC and Florida a better game. (I know we don't play R, Fla or SC next year, but I think we do better against comparable opponents).

[hoglady]

Coach B's recruiting has always looked better when reranked.
Just like Petrino in 2008.
Wisconsin - 2009 reranked at #10
Wisconsin - 2008 reranked at #7
Arkansas - 2008 reranked at #5

That's encouraging to me.

[Wildhog]

Coach B's recruiting has always looked better when reranked.
Just like Petrino in 2008.
Wisconsin - 2009 reranked at #10
Wisconsin - 2008 reranked at #7
Arkansas - 2008 reranked at #5

That's encouraging to me.

He's proven to be an excellent evaluator, yes, which is something we all agreed was absolutely necessary for Arkansas to be successful.

[hoglady]

He's proven to be an excellent evaluator, yes, which is something we all agreed was absolutely necessary for Arkansas to be successful.

I think that's what we're all hoping for and he sure was that at Wisconsin.
The initial rankings were really, really low (low 30's one year and low 40's another) for those Wisconsin classes reranked in the Top 10.
Quite impressive.

[Wildhog]

I think that's what we're all hoping for and he sure was that at Wisconsin.
The initial rankings were really, really low (low 30's one year and low 40's another) for those Wisconsin classes reranked in the Top 10.
Quite impressive.

When you look at the ludicrous amount of those lowly recruited players that he sent to the NFL, it's hard not be extremely impressed.

[RazorPiggie]

The kid who is 6 ft 240, his dad was an Arkansas lineman in the 80's.  He and my son were dying to go to the Arkansas camp this past summer, but discovered that it was going to have a lot of little kids ( 4th-8th, I believe).  They felt like it was a "rah-rah" camp and had nothing to offer to advance them.  There are multitudes of camps locally for 8th-9th graders with talent, and position specific training from ex-pros.  If you want to get the good kids, you got to get to them early. You got to offer the talented kids in 7th, 8th, and 9th grade something to advance them. Surprizingly, North Texas invited them to their "recruit camp".  First thing the NT coaches said was " we are not here to have a good time, we are here to look for D-1 football players."  There were kids from 8th to 12th, and they all competed against each other.  My kid went as a wr, and he ran routes against 12th grade all staters from Tx and La.  He learned what it took to be a D-1 player and the talent level.  The big kid (8th grade) went against all state kids who were 260-300 lbs and 12th grade.   It made them both "better" this yr for 8th grade football.  After the camp, the North Texas coaches took an interest and told them they would watch their careers and invite them to camp next year, and if they would like to see a N. Texas game, to let them know.  The point is this, if North Texas can do this, why can't Arkansas?  The Houston area is talent rich, and loyalties are established early. A little attention to an 8th grader goes a long way

Because the current staff hasn't even been together for a year yet and are still trying to build relationships they previously did not have. They are still recruiting for this year and are still trying to build those relationships for the 2015 class.  And lets face it, you're talking about 8th graders the 2018 class (if my addition is correct).

[Hawgon]

The kid who is 6 ft 240, his dad was an Arkansas lineman in the 80's.  He and my son were dying to go to the Arkansas camp this past summer, but discovered that it was going to have a lot of little kids ( 4th-8th, I believe).  They felt like it was a "rah-rah" camp and had nothing to offer to advance them.  There are multitudes of camps locally for 8th-9th graders with talent, and position specific training from ex-pros.  If you want to get the good kids, you got to get to them early. You got to offer the talented kids in 7th, 8th, and 9th grade something to advance them. Surprizingly, North Texas invited them to their "recruit camp".  First thing the NT coaches said was " we are not here to have a good time, we are here to look for D-1 football players."  There were kids from 8th to 12th, and they all competed against each other.  My kid went as a wr, and he ran routes against 12th grade all staters from Tx and La.  He learned what it took to be a D-1 player and the talent level.  The big kid (8th grade) went against all state kids who were 260-300 lbs and 12th grade.   It made them both "better" this yr for 8th grade football.  After the camp, the North Texas coaches took an interest and told them they would watch their careers and invite them to camp next year, and if they would like to see a N. Texas game, to let them know.  The point is this, if North Texas can do this, why can't Arkansas?  The Houston area is talent rich, and loyalties are established early. A little attention to an 8th grader goes a long way

Because this staff has little experience in and almost no Texas recruiting connections and would rather mess around in South Florida getting a recruit or two than to concentrate on our traditional recruiting area of Texas.

The main reason I wanted Mike Gundy was because his entire team is built on Texas kids and he could have brought that entire Texas recruiting framework three and a half hours east.

[Hogfaniam]

Coach B's recruiting has always looked better when reranked.
Just like Petrino in 2008.
Wisconsin - 2009 reranked at #10
Wisconsin - 2008 reranked at #7
Arkansas - 2008 reranked at #5

That's encouraging to me.

Don't be goin throwin factuals around all willynillylike.  Not in the QB.

[MuskogeeHogFan]

He's proven to be an excellent evaluator, yes, which is something we all agreed was absolutely necessary for Arkansas to be successful.

And I think that is at least one of the major reasons that Long wanted Bielema. You hear a lot of folks say, "yeah well, Arkansas can't recruit like those other schools and they have too many disadvantages". That may be true, maybe Long believes that too and so he went after a guy who he felt could do a lot of the same thing that BP did with regard to developing players, but might have a tendency to be a tad better recruiter on average and overall?

[ifghog]

And I think that is at least one of the major reasons that Long wanted Bielema. You hear a lot of folks say, "yeah well, Arkansas can't recruit like those other schools and they have too many disadvantages". That may be true, maybe Long believes that too and so he went after a guy who he felt could do a lot of the same thing that BP did with regard to developing players, but might have a tendency to be a tad better recruiter on average and overall?

BINGO!!!

[hogsanity]

Recruiting- on my kid's 8th grade team here in Katy, there are 6 kids............. Where are the Hog recruiters?

Gee, I don't know, looking at kids that might contribute sometime before 2019.

[MuskogeeHogFan]

Coach B's recruiting has always looked better when reranked.
Just like Petrino in 2008.
Wisconsin - 2009 reranked at #10
Wisconsin - 2008 reranked at #7
Arkansas - 2008 reranked at #5

That's encouraging to me.

Having a hard time finding that information. Can you give me a link to that?

[the_kosher_pig]

lol @ recruiting Texas.  I'd rather have a roster with a few Arkansas kids and mixed in with a few Florida/Georgia/Louisiana kids than an entire roster filled with Texas kids.  SEC kids make SEC teams. 

[Chief Mac]

Because this staff has little experience in and almost no Texas recruiting connections and would rather mess around in South Florida getting a recruit or two than to concentrate on our traditional recruiting area of Texas.

The main reason I wanted Mike Gundy was because his entire team is built on Texas kids and he could have brought that entire Texas recruiting framework three and a half hours east.

Its funny how there are some that say we can't win the way that Arkansas has traditionally tried (running oriented offense) but then out the other side of their mouth they say we need to concentrate our recruiting in our traditional areas.

[Chief Mac]

lol @ recruiting Texas.  I'd rather have a roster with a few Arkansas kids and mixed in with a few Florida/Georgia/Louisiana kids than an entire roster filled with Texas kids.  SEC kids make SEC teams.

Want to win the SEC, you have to recruit SEC talent. 

[Pork Twain]

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.

The problem is that this has been going on since we entered the SEC and our coaches always "do more with less".  That is fine if you have a good redshirt and walk-on program and a low miss-rate.  That was not completely the case with BP and it left us buried after JLS.

[MuskogeeHogFan]

lol @ recruiting Texas.  I'd rather have a roster with a few Arkansas kids and mixed in with a few Florida/Georgia/Louisiana kids than an entire roster filled with Texas kids.  SEC kids make SEC teams. 

It isn't about recruiting or offering kids from any particular state. There are really talented athletes in Texas as well. But the template for success appears to be that of Alabama, who tosses out more offers to more of the Rivals Top 100 players all over the nation, than anyone else. It is a numbers game. I say give offers to 75 of the top 100 and see what happens. Got to be good at closing the deal though, which we haven't been given that we have offered 100 of the total top 400 players over the last 4 years and haven't closed the deal with a single one of them.

Still, you don't shy away from this, you offer 300 of them and it becomes first come, first served. Now if you don't close any one of those, then you need to re-evaluate what you are doing and how you might be making mistakes in your recruiting process, but until then, for goodness sakes, at least get yourself up to bat more often.

[Atlhogfan1]

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.

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.