Recruiting

[Redhogs]

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

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

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

So maybe there were some misevaluations and to many stars when it came to Tn. classes....that's the problem with recruiting..it can be very inexact.

[Redhogs]

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

That about sums it up...good post.

[Inhogswetrust]

that's the problem with recruiting..it can be very inexact.

Why some people cannot understand that is unbelievable!

[Inhogswetrust]

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

Good parents should NOT let their emotions interfere with rational, logical evaluations of anyone and most especially their own kids. Even MORE especially a parent should KNOW that not all kids mature physically OR mentally at the same rate or will like the same things as they grow older.

[tex_hogfan]

in presser today, Coach B recounted his recruiting trip days this past week. Said he visited 13? Did I hear that right, 13 schools? Said he had relationships with most of them from Wisconsin days. That is going to be very important for scoring high in the recruiting wars.

The other thing that really stands out to me is that there are 36 true freshmen and 17 RS freshmen on our roster. I don't have a good count on how many of those true freshmen are RS-ing, but it has to be a big number. Remember, Coach B says "Under-recruited, under-sized, under-developed"....that doesn't mean no size, just not ready kind of size. You have to figure there will be some of those contribute after a full year with Coach Herb.

[MuskogeeHogFan]

So maybe there were some misevaluations and to many stars when it came to Tn. classes....that's the problem with recruiting..it can be very inexact.

Of course recruiting can be an inexact science, no doubt about it. But in Tennessee's case and really in the case of all schools, signing a group of talented players isn't the end of the equation for success, it is just the beginning. It will do you little good to have a talented team if you don't have a talented coaching staff that utilizes the  schemes that fit the personnel that they have on the team. Just imagine inheriting a team of personnel that was built for the "Spread" offense and you basically employ a "Power Run" game? Think that might be a problem?

[DoctorSusscrofa]

in presser today, Coach B recounted his recruiting trip days this past week. Said he visited 13? Did I hear that right, 13 schools? Said he had relationships with most of them from Wisconsin days. That is going to be very important for scoring high in the recruiting wars.

The other thing that really stands out to me is that there are 36 true freshmen and 17 RS freshmen on our roster. I don't have a good count on how many of those true freshmen are RS-ing, but it has to be a big number. Remember, Coach B says "Under-recruited, under-sized, under-developed"....that doesn't mean no size, just not ready kind of size. You have to figure there will be some of those contribute after a full year with Coach Herb.

That 36 and 17 seems high to me.  Are we counting walk-ons among the true Freshmen?  Just sounded high to me.

[MuskogeeHogFan]

That 36 and 17 seems high to me.  Are we counting walk-ons among the true Freshmen?  Just sounded high to me.

Have to be counting walk-ons.

[tex_hogfan]

That 36 and 17 seems high to me.  Are we counting walk-ons among the true Freshmen?  Just sounded high to me.

Sure we are counting walk ons, with a limit of 120 in the program it is imperative that you max it out every year. I sorted the roster to make it easy to see. This is one of the reasons that I think we are headed in the right direction. Coach B knows what he is doing and we all will see that clearly eventually. Without taking objective looks, it is easy to throw stones. All you need is internet access and a keyboard. Digging into the facts is what I prefer to do.

http://www.arkansasrazorbacks.com/SportSelect.dbml?SPSID=30724&SPID=2419&DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=6100&SORT_ORDER=5&Q_SEASON=2013&PRINTABLE_PAGE=

[WPSnation]

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

No they're not.  They have 5 JUCOs out of 28 commitments.  They also have Top 250 talent at those positions behind the JUCOs.  You're crazy.

[Piggfoot]

Sure we are counting walk ons, with a limit of 120 in the program it is imperative that you max it out every year. I sorted the roster to make it easy to see. This is one of the reasons that I think we are headed in the right direction. Coach B knows what he is doing and we all will see that clearly eventually. Without taking objective looks, it is easy to throw stones. All you need is internet access and a keyboard. Digging into the facts is what I prefer to do.

http://www.arkansasrazorbacks.com/SportSelect.dbml?SPSID=30724&SPID=2419&DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=6100&SORT_ORDER=5&Q_SEASON=2013&PRINTABLE_PAGE=

Your information is incorrect. The number is 105 with 85 full scholarships at a time
25 max recruits / calendar year.

[hawgfan4life]

Never heard of recruiters offering scholarships to 7th and 8th graders for football.  Never heard of that age getting the generic letters that JRs and SRs get.  Can't say it doesn't happen but, if it does, WOW!  I feel sorry for the kids.  There are some kids that it is self-evident at that age they are destined to be big-time and in those cases, there isn't the pressure to become big-time.  Parents would serve themselves and their children better by letting them develop into the player they will naturally and with self-driven ambition and putting their focus on their academic development.  There is a lot more money for college in the form of scholarships and aide outside of sports than there is an athlete and the lifetime rewards of being smart far outweigh being a good football player.

[Piggfoot]

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

You're incorrect. You must consider available D1 players from which to choose.
Black people comprise 15% of the general population in the US. Yet, Blacks make up at least 50 % of the D1 football population and probably around 75% of the starters.  Alabama has approx 5 million people with 26 percent black or around
1.3 million people. Arkansas has approx 3 million people with 16 percent black or
Approximately   0.48 million people. Now please do not try and make anything "Racist" out of these figures. Yes it is racial and a fact but not racist. It is a fact than many on Hogville ignore or refuse to acknowledge. 

[PonderinHog]

Have to be counting walk-ons.

Didn't we only receive 24 LOI's this year?

[PonderinHog]

You're incorrect. You must consider available D1 players from which to choose.
Black people comprise 15% of the general population in the US. Yet, Blacks make up at least 50 % of the D1 football population and probably around 75% of the starters.  Alabama has approx 5 million people with 26 percent black or around
1.3 million people. Arkansas has approx 3 million people with 16 percent black or
Approximately   0.48 million people. Now please do not try and make anything "Racist" out of these figures. Yes it is racial and a fact but not racist. It is a fact than many on Hogville ignore or refuse to acknowledge.

It's a demographic reality.

[Scrambled Hog]

It's a demographic reality.

Oklahoma manages to get by with similar demographic challenges, with the additional challenge of having another D1 contender in-state.

Decisions made years ago took us out of many Texas high schools, and only in the past 5 years have some attempts been made to get back in.

[PonderinHog]

Oklahoma manages to get by with similar demographic challenges, with the additional challenge of having another D1 contender in-state.

Decisions made years ago took us out of many Texas high schools, and only in the past 5 years have some attempts been made to get back in.

I wonder where they get their players.  Baja Oklahoma

[Atlhogfan1]

Oklahoma high school football is far superior to Arkansas and it is within an easy interstate drive of DFW.  Oklahoma also doesn't play in a conference with 6-8 programs consistently able to recruit top 5-10 classes.  They have one.  One whom they never have to play on the road.  Their situation is nothing like ours even though they are reasonably geographically close. 

We've never stopped recruiting Texas.  A number of our impact players since we have been in the SEC have been from Texas. 

[Chief Mac]

'Low' on talent

ESPN.com's Chris Low, speaking to the Northwest Arkansas Touchdown Club on Wednesday, said Bobby Petrino's staff had concerns about sustaining the success of 2010 and 2011 because of defensive issues.

"I got to know several of the guys on Bobby's staff when he was here, and I can tell you that they were worried, even before the whole motorcycle deal ... if the personnel was going to be good enough on defense to sort of sustain what they had," Low said. "I think they sort of saw this coming.

They just hadn't recruited well enough on that side of the ball, and you're sort of seeing it. You saw it last year. You're seeing it this year."

The Razorbacks went 21-5 during the 2010-2011 seasons, peaking at No. 3 in the Bowl Championship Series standings during Thanksgiving week of the 2011 regular season.

"Make no mistake," Low said, "if they're going to get back to where they have a chance to win an SEC title and contend, they've got to do it on the recruiting trail."

http://www.wholehogsports.com/news/2013/nov/01/razorbacks-report-20131101/?f=sports

things that make you go hmmm

[elksnort]

Oklahoma high school football is far superior to Arkansas and it is within an easy interstate drive of DFW.  Oklahoma also doesn't play in a conference with 6-8 programs consistently able to recruit top 5-10 classes.  They have one.  One whom they never have to play on the road.  Their situation is nothing like ours even though they are reasonably geographically close. 

We've never stopped recruiting Texas.  A number of our impact players since we have been in the SEC have been from Texas. 

Good post.

[WPSnation]

So maybe there were some misevaluations and to many stars when it came to Tn. classes....that's the problem with recruiting..it can be very inexact.

They've suffered a lot of attrition and had their share of busts.  I know they've got some walk ons playing as starters this year.  Also, according to Rivals, Dooley started going backwards it seems.  Classes went 9th (partially Kiffin's), 12th, 17th, and 19th.  Not very impressive imo, at least compared to what they're doing now. 

Just goes to show what a coach that recruits his ass off can do for a suffering program.  It's not impossible.

[MushroomCloudHog]

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.

Good thing for those teams, that they don't play Alabama, LSU, A&M and Auburn every year. Unfortunately, we do.

[tex_hogfan]

Your information is incorrect. The number is 105 with 85 full scholarships at a time
25 max recruits / calendar year.

the number is 120 with 105 of those allowed to report to camp.

.......a limit of 120 in the program.........

was my comment and the context was maxing out the walk ons.

[Ashdownpanther]

to Hawgfan4life- Of the kids I mentioned, the 2 sets of twins and my kid- all are on the honor society and all make mostly all A's.  Both the dad who played for the Saints and myself played college ball.  The other dad's hs coach was Wes Bryant ( remember him) and one's dad actually played at Arkansas ( the 240 lb kid).  So there is no living vicariously through your kids.  We all go out of our way not to "push" these kids toward sports ( my kid is also a world class ballroom dancer- having lessons by invitation from the pros on Dancing with the Stars- he has had 3 offers of scholarships from schools with big time dancing programs as schools get ready for it to be an Olympic sport in the next summer Olympics.  He says- wouldn't it be cool if I could dance and run the 400 meters in the same Olympics!)  LSU and Texas have already offered 8th graders football scholarships!  I'm not saying this is right, but it happens.  What I am saying is to show some attention to these type of kids.  This is when loyalties are formed, and you don't have to offer a scholarship, just show some attention.  A&M, North Texas, LSU, Baylor, OK State and even Notre Dame are doing it now in the Houston area, so why not Arkansas?  Having summer camps that are geared to position specific development at a high level, and not just " rah-rah" camps , would be a great start.  I'll bet the hs coaches in Arkansas would love this.  By the way, my son and the qb of his team got invited to the " Manning Passing Academy " next summer, my son as a wr.  They will get some attention from some college coaches there, I'll bet.  My major point is this- the hogs have to recruit to fix the 2014 to 2015 class immediately.  It would not take much more to set the wheels in motion to help the 2017 to 2019 classes also. All it takes is a little attention.  This is what all the big and want to be big schools are doing, so why not Arkansas?  Me and the other 2 dads would love for our kids to go to Arkansas, but their hearts are not there now, and I am not going to tell my son where to go to school, that is going to be his decision and his decision to even play sports while in college.  I am proud of him whatever he does or decides to do. But he does love it so, he says he loves it when he goes up and pulls a ball away from some db, or gets the stick in the 4x400 meter relay and is behind.  He says loves to run down the other teams and blow by them on the last curve. He says " I love taking their hearts, dad, I just love it.

[three hog night]

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.

We need LB's, Safeties and Corners that are PHYSICAL.   Our corners are not fast or physical enough to play press coverage at the line, so they have to give 7-10 yards of cushion.  The opposing QB's can get the ball out of their hands so quick it neutralizes our front 4.  The Defense is wasting the talent of a good front four, because the back 7 lack of talent allows receivers to get open QUICKLY. 

[CareBear]

I enjoy the running game as I grew up watching Grovey, Rouse, Foster,etc do their thing in the option back in the day. However I feel that the 2 TE , power, tight, 1 WR sets are ridiculously
predictable,  therefore making it extremely hard to run a balanced offense. I want to  see Hunter Henry split out wide more often, split rb's out, 3 wr, etc. Its actually possible to run succesfullyout of those formations...If CBB will not adapt he will sink his own ship. I also feel that a more open offense will attract the players we so desperately need. I don't think BA is an SEC qb but I feel that Bert's philosophy makes things awful tough on him or whomever else gets the nod at qb. I hope he proves me wrong but I just don't think a 1988 Woodland Jr. High offense will get r done on the field and/or on the recruiting trail...

[Hoggish1]

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!

I know you are frustrated and can barely stand it.  But, how would you like to have the best players like Muskchamp has?





Did you see what I did there...?

[Quickdraw]

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

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

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

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

That's where we rank just about every year. Looks pretty normal to me.