Why so much emphasis on Texas recruiting.

[Deep Shoat]

I think states like Michigan, Ohio, Iowa, Nebraska and others might have more.  I talked to a guy a few years ago that was a college athlete...in wrestling.  He was convinced that wrestling is what prepared H.S. kids for offensive and defensive line play. 

Just passing along his theory without any supporting evidence.

Those states, along with Arkansas, produce more interior linemen. 

[Paul]

Those states, along with Arkansas, produce more interior linemen. 

I agree with you, although you can get big time skill players from Texas.  Any position that requires a ton of physicality, though?  Nah.

I agree also. I believe there's a lot of truth to the generalization that TX HS kids are developed close to their potential & are accustomed to more of a "finesse" style vs the more raw, physical kids in FL, LA & MS

[Deep Shoat]

yeah that's impressive. Wonder how many from La, Ms & Ga?

Florida has 20 total OL, 8 of which are OT's.

Georgia has 12 total.

California has 30, 12 OT's.

It's hard to find these numbers for other states.  But those are the 4 states who produce the most players, year after year. 

[Bgarbutt]

The fact that this thread had gone 4 pages and is still on top is disturbing...if educated fans don't know why we need TX recruits...then they do not deserve relevance...yes we need the best from surrounding states...but TX will always be a huge source for us..

[Mjs84]

The fact that this thread had gone 4 pages and is still on top is disturbing...if educated fans don't know why we need TX recruits...then they do not deserve relevance...yes we need the best from surrounding states...but TX will always be a huge source for us..

I'm with you on this.  Folks on HV fascinate me with their loud and limited grasp of the game.  I get such a kick out of some of these folks, every day is something new.  I can't wait until the season starts, the moronic comments get turned up a notch!

[jvanhorn]

Get over Texas in regard to recruiting? I've read some stupid stuff here on Hogville, but this one takes that cake.

LOL, maybe he thinks OU should get over Texas in regard to recruiting also.  Gave me a good laugh though

[TexArkHogFan]

Strictly a numbers game.  More people live in Dallas/Ft Worth than the entire state of Arkansas

[parallaxpig]

The fact that this thread had gone 4 pages and is still on top is disturbing...if educated fans don't know why we need TX recruits...then they do not deserve relevance...yes we need the best from surrounding states...but TX will always be a huge source for us..

It really shows that a lot of fans don't understand the history of Arkansas football...........

[Wooderson]

Quick tell me what team in CFB is killing it with Texas rosters?  OU?  Is the only one and yet 90℅ of you on here would say they would be behind the Ga, Bama, and Auburns of the SEC. Fact is Texas teams suck. Texas sucks. Baylor sucks. TCU is OK. A&M sucks. Oh our history?  The one that hasn't won a conference championship in 29 years with rosters full of Texas talent until Bret.

[MuskogeeHogFan]

The fact that this thread had gone 4 pages and is still on top is disturbing...if educated fans don't know why we need TX recruits...then they do not deserve relevance...yes we need the best from surrounding states...but TX will always be a huge source for us..

I'm with you on this.  Folks on HV fascinate me with their loud and limited grasp of the game.  I get such a kick out of some of these folks, every day is something new.  I can't wait until the season starts, the moronic comments get turned up a notch!

It really shows that a lot of fans don't understand the history of Arkansas football...........

A lot of folks just like to talk football rather than being drawn into conversations about "Bielema sucks", "Petrino was great" or "Coach X is a better DC than Coach Y". Plus, with the coaching change and the approaching signing dates, recruiting is a hot topic right now.

Everyone has different opinions and that makes for a good exchange of ideas and it helps to continue to give us something to talk about since we aren't going to a bowl. I don't understand the folks who don't see Texas as being important to us in recruiting but I still value those exchanges that amount to more than "everything that is Texas sucks".

[Hugo Bezdek]

Quick tell me what team in CFB is killing it with Texas rosters?  OU?  Is the only one and yet 90℅ of you on here would say they would be behind the Ga, Bama, and Auburns of the SEC. Fact is Texas teams suck. Texas sucks. Baylor sucks. TCU is OK. A&M sucks. Oh our history?  The one that hasn't won a conference championship in 29 years with rosters full of Texas talent until Bret.

And yet the NFL is stocked with players from Texas, behind Florida and California and well ahead of the number 4 state, which is Georgia. Texas is the one we share a border with. Louisiana is number 7. Both of those states produce more NFL talent than the home schools can sign if they fill their rosters with home state kids. That said, there is a lot of in-state competition for the Texas kids and only LSU for the Louisiana kids. We don't need to put all of our focus on Texas. We need both. 

Here are some numbers for NFL Players by Home State from 2016:

Florida 193
California 187
Texas 160
Georgia 97
Ohio 80
Pennsylvania 66
Louisiana 63
Alabama 60
New Jersey 50
South Carolina 48
....
Tennessee 34
...
Mississippi 27
Missouri 27
...
Oklahoma 16
Kansas 15
...
Kentucky 13
Arkansas 12
...
TOTAL 1630 (not including international players)

[Inhogswetrust]

Wrong. So damn wrong. Heck by your own stats it is obvious you are wrong. Using your stats LA 1 in 61,000 are NFL caliber. Texas is over 1 in 100,000. Did you flunk math? 

Sure Texas has more total in the NFL but the probability of a LA player being NFL caliber is significantly higher than Texas.

Texas is nothing but a bunch of rich suburban kids with speed trainers and every resource in the world at their finger tips. 

They get to college and the stud athletes from LA, Georgia, Florida get the same training and shine while Texas talent fades away.  Texas colleges are really killing it with all their Texas talent aren't they?  This Texas experiment will fail and I will be unbearable on this board when it does. Too many of you are living in the past.

A LOT of rich folks don't live in suburbs. Besides in order to even have suburbs there has to be a bigger city for them to be a suburb of. Suburbs are generally middle and upper middle class economically.

[BR]

2016 Freshman D1 Players offered Scholarships
Below is the state-by-state breakdown. 

Florida – 336
Texas – 330
California – 224
Georgia – 210
Ohio – 121
Louisiana – 95
Alabama – 91
North Carolina – 83
Michigan – 72
Illinois – 66
Virginia – 58
Pennsylvania – 56
Maryland – 50
New Jersey – 48
Mississippi – 44
Indiana – 38
South Carolina, Tennessee – 36
Washington – 35
Oklahoma, Utah – 33
Missouri – 27
Arizona – 22
Kentucky – 20
New York – 19
Hawaii, Minnesota – 18
Arkansas, Colorado, Kansas, Wisconsin – 15
Oregon – 14
Nevada – 13
Iowa – 12
Massachusetts – 11
Connecticut – 9
Nebraska, New Mexico, Washington DC – 6
West Virginia – 5
Idaho – 3
Delaware, Wyoming – 2
North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Dakota – 1

ADDED BELOW to compare...... Thanks to Hugo Bezdek

Here are some numbers for NFL Players by Home State from 2016:

Florida 193
California 187
Texas 160
Georgia 97
Ohio 80
Pennsylvania 66
Louisiana 63
Alabama 60
New Jersey 50
South Carolina 48
....
Tennessee 34
...
Mississippi 27
Missouri 27
...
Oklahoma 16
Kansas 15
...
Kentucky 13
Arkansas 12

[Hugo Bezdek]

Here's some additional info I posted in another thread a while back. It's a couple of years old now, but I read a blog by one of the football coaches that used to be at Nebraska and some of the analytics he used for recruiting. According to him the average distance from every recruit to every FBS school was roughly 1000 miles. The average distance that a recruit was from the school they signed with was a little over 500 miles. His analytics went deeper than that, but if you go with it and look at the recruiting areas within 500 miles of Fayetteville you get this list of metros:

Tulsa 113 mi.
OKC 218 mi.
KC 235 mi.
Shreveport 315 mi.
Memphis 317 mi.
Dallas 333 mi.
St. Louis 344 mi.
Jackson, MS 449 mi.
Houston 510 mi.

Nashville 529 mi.
Birmingham 553 mi.
New Orleans 614 mi.
Mobile 634 mi.
Atlanta 699 mi.
Jacksonville 1044 mi.
Tampa 1154 mi.
Miami 1361 mi.

Obviously his numbers are averages. There's nothing that says you can't get a kid from Atlanta or Miami. But it does say that it's a lot harder to. Drawing a circle with a 500 mile radius around Fayetteville should give you a pretty good idea of where we have good chance of getting kids to sign with Arkansas. At the end of the day kids want to be able to drive home for a long weekend or have their parents come to see them play so distance is a factor.

[IronHog]

Quick tell me what team in CFB is killing it with Texas rosters?  OU?  Is the only one and yet 90℅ of you on here would say they would be behind the Ga, Bama, and Auburns of the SEC. Fact is Texas teams suck. Texas sucks. Baylor sucks. TCU is OK. A&M sucks. Oh our history?  The one that hasn't won a conference championship in 29 years with rosters full of Texas talent until Bret.

This is true

[Hugo Bezdek]

This is true

A major reason we should be able to start beating out those schools for talent. Based on NFL rosters, the talent is there.

[LZH]

If/when we ever sign a top 20 class it will be loaded with an exceptional group of Arkansas kids plus mostly 4* talent from Texas & Louisiana, not from Florida & Georgia.

[MuskogeeHogFan]

Here's some additional info I posted in another thread a while back. It's a couple of years old now, but I read a blog by one of the football coaches that used to be at Nebraska and some of the analytics he used for recruiting. According to him the average distance from every recruit to every FBS school was roughly 1000 miles. The average distance that a recruit was from the school they signed with was a little over 500 miles. His analytics went deeper than that, but if you go with it and look at the recruiting areas within 500 miles of Fayetteville you get this list of metros:

Tulsa 113 mi.
OKC 218 mi.
KC 235 mi.
Shreveport 315 mi.
Memphis 317 mi.
Dallas 333 mi.
St. Louis 344 mi.
Jackson, MS 449 mi.
Houston 510 mi.

Nashville 529 mi.
Birmingham 553 mi.
New Orleans 614 mi.
Mobile 634 mi.
Atlanta 699 mi.
Jacksonville 1044 mi.
Tampa 1154 mi.
Miami 1361 mi.

Obviously his numbers are averages. There's nothing that says you can't get a kid from Atlanta or Miami. But it does say that it's a lot harder to. Drawing a circle with a 500 mile radius around Fayetteville should give you a pretty good idea of where we have good chance of getting kids to sign with Arkansas. At the end of the day kids want to be able to drive home for a long weekend or have their parents come to see them play so distance is a factor.

I would add that:

Decatur, AL      519 miles
Beaumont, TX   527 miles
Killeen, TX        469 miles
Amarillo, TX      475 miles

You make a good point. Lots of talent contained within that 500 or so mile mark.

[BR]

Quick tell me what team in CFB is killing it with Texas rosters?  OU?  Is the only one and yet 90℅ of you on here would say they would be behind the Ga, Bama, and Auburns of the SEC. Fact is Texas teams suck. Texas sucks. Baylor sucks. TCU is OK. A&M sucks. Oh our history?  The one that hasn't won a conference championship in 29 years with rosters full of Texas talent until Bret.

I agree with your statement, all but one thing.  A*M doesn't suck. They have owned our ass for years now.. Plus been to a Bowl game 8 years in a row...   I would take that all day long.  Plus ranked in the Top 20 all but this year.


1   2017   SEC   7   5   0   .583   2.99   2.08            Jeff Banks (0-0), Kevin Sumlin (7-5)   Belk Bowl   
2   2016   SEC   8   5   0   .615   8.77   3.77      6      Kevin Sumlin (8-5)   Texas Bowl-L   
3   2015   SEC   8   5   0   .615   9.40   4.47      9      Kevin Sumlin (8-5)   Music City Bowl-L   
4   2014   SEC   8   5   0   .615   9.96   5.72   21   6      Kevin Sumlin (8-5)   Liberty Bowl-W   
5   2013   SEC   9   4   0   .692   13.38   5.07   7   6   18   Kevin Sumlin (9-4)   Chick-fil-A Bowl-W   
6   2012   SEC   11   2   0   .846   20.05   5.13      5   5   Kevin Sumlin (11-2)   Cotton Bowl-W   
7   2011   Big 12   7   6   .538   13.36   7.29   8   7   Mike Sherman (6-6), Tim DeRuyter (1-0)   Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas-W   
8   2010   Big 12   9   4   0   .692   11.39   4.85      17   19   Mike Sherman (9-4)   Cotton Bowl-L

[IronHog]

A major reason we should be able to start beating out those schools for talent. Based on NFL rosters, the talent is there.

Problem with big schools in Texas is many of the kids topped out as Seniors in HS.  College level coaching, strength programs, and one sport athletes. Make low 3stars look like 4stars.


Texas has been loading up on early bloomer kids for years that have no room to get better in college


Compare that to southeast kids where many still play multiple sports and are never in a real S&C program.  They blow up in college

[LZH]

Problem with big schools in Texas is many of the kids topped out as Seniors in HS.  College level coaching, strength programs, and one sport athletes. Make low 3stars look like 4stars.


Texas has been loading up on early bloomer kids for years that have no room to get better in college


Compare that to southeast kids where many still play multiple sports and are never in a real S&C program.  They blow up in college

The idea of Texas kids topping out early may or not be true, but I can say for sure that Florida is full of 17 yr old HS football players that look like 25 yr old grown men.

[Hugo Bezdek]

Problem with big schools in Texas is many of the kids topped out as Seniors in HS.  College level coaching, strength programs, and one sport athletes. Make low 3stars look like 4stars.


Texas has been loading up on early bloomer kids for years that have no room to get better in college


Compare that to southeast kids where many still play multiple sports and are never in a real S&C program.  They blow up in college

I'll point again to NFL rosters. That tells you where the talent is.

[Arkansas Fan]

Texas players don't really seem all that great to me. I still think Louisiana is the place we should keep hitting hard. Texas and Florida we can still try to get some guys.

[Arkansas Fan]

The idea of Texas kids topping out early may or not be true, but I can say for sure that Florida is full of 17 yr old HS football players that look like 25 yr old grown men.

Yep, and Texas players seem soft to me. Look at the teams loaded with Texas players, all soft Big 12 teams. If you play soft in the SEC, you get your ass beat.

[BR]

Yep, and Texas players seem soft to me. Look at the teams loaded with Texas players, all soft Big 12 teams. If you play soft in the SEC, you get your ass beat.

Bama has 15 players from Texas,  Clemson has 1, Georgia has 2, Oklahoma has 37

[MuskogeeHogFan]

Texas players don't really seem all that great to me. I still think Louisiana is the place we should keep hitting hard. Texas and Florida we can still try to get some guys.

You have more competition for athletes in Texas and that is a downside, but in the end it gives kids a lot more options to explore and it isn't limited to Texas schools. In Louisiana, LSU generally gets the pick of the litter most of the time (unless Alabama comes calling) because they are THE major in-state school.

I still believe we stand a better chance in Texas even though there is more competition. There are just a lot more athletes to pick from. That doesn't mean that we shouldn't hit Louisiana hard on the recruiting trail, but unless we find an overlooked athlete we will always be lining up behind LSU and Alabama for the best ones.

[IronHog]

I'll point again to NFL rosters. That tells you where the talent is.

A state that Big is going to have people in the NFL


Kid in LA is statistically better than a player from Texas as far a NFL potential


And putting players in the NFL doesn't directly correlate to winning college football

[Hugo Bezdek]

A state that Big is going to have people in the NFL


Kid in LA is statistically better than a player from Texas as far a NFL potential


And putting players in the NFL doesn't directly correlate to winning college football

That would matter if we offered scholarships randomly, but we don't.  What matters is where is there an excess of talent. Texas and Louisiana both have excess and we need to recruit both. Mississippi has a high density of talent per capita, but that doesn't change the fact there isn't enough there to fill the rosters of two home state SEC programs.

[bphi11ips]

A lot of folks just like to talk football rather than being drawn into conversations about "Bielema sucks", "Petrino was great" or "Coach X is a better DC than Coach Y". Plus, with the coaching change and the approaching signing dates, recruiting is a hot topic right now.

Everyone has different opinions and that makes for a good exchange of ideas and it helps to continue to give us something to talk about since we aren't going to a bowl. I don't understand the folks who don't see Texas as being important to us in recruiting but I still value those exchanges that amount to more than "everything that is Texas sucks".

Exactly.

I don't understand the Louisiana vs. Texas discussion.  Neither state produces "better players" than the other.  They both produce quality football players in much higher proportion to population that does Arkansas.  The reasons for that is a separate issue. 

Arkansas can recruit Texas and still recruit Loisiana.  We have been fortunate to get some very good players from the New Orleans area thanks to Michael Smith.  If you can beat LSU and Alabama for players like Briston Guidry and De'Jon Harris by all means do it.  If we can get a few of the same caliber players from DFW, Houston or somewhere else in Texas, we need to do that, too.

Arkansas's depth problem has been much discussed.  One reason for lack of depth is lack of SEC upper tier caliber players in the lower half of classes.  That is where we must improve.  Swapping Texas players for Louisiana or Florida players there will accomplish nothing. 

Arkansas needs to better identify and sign players in all areas of its natural recruiting footprint to build quality depth on the roster.

And there are tough football players everywhere. 

[IronHog]

That would matter if we offered scholarships randomly, but we don't.  What matters is where is there an excess of talent. Texas and Louisiana both have excess and we need to recruit both. Mississippi has a high density of talent per capita, but that doesn't change the fact there isn't enough there to fill the rosters of two home state SEC programs.

The question is do you use up recruiting resources for a 4* running back from Dallas  or take the instate 3* and put your effort into finding some back 7 defensive players?


BB would use up a recruiting cycle on a kid like Whaley when he shoulda wrapped up an instater RB and found some safeties


As far as depth they need to sign more instate kids for role players.....just make sure they aren't plan A

[MuskogeeHogFan]

The question is do you use up recruiting resources for a 4* running back from Dallas  or take the instate 3* and put your effort into finding some back 7 defensive players?


BB would use up a recruiting cycle on a kid like Whaley when he shoulda wrapped up an instater RB and found some safeties


As far as depth they need to sign more instate kids for role players.....just make sure they aren't plan A

How do use up recruiting resources? If you mean time spent on a singular recruit, then I understand that. And there isn't anything wrong with Whaley that a different offensive scheme and a different O-Line coach won't fix.

Recruiting for defense is a different and separate issue and if we haven't landed excellent Secondary talent, it isn't because we spent too much time chasing RB's or any other position of need.

As far as the "Arkansas kids" thing goes, if you need them by position and they are talented enough to play in the SEC and can help the team, by all means go get them. I'm not a fan of signing kids just because they are "Arkansas kids" and "always wanted to be Razorbacks". We have missed on some Arkansas kids in the past and some have just gone off on their own, by their own choice. That's going to happen from time to time.

[Gonzo]

I think it's hilarious there is a debate this vigorous about this issue going on.

All of the arguments both for and against TX recruits can be made about recruits in any other part of the country.

Are some TX recruits "topped out" because of the HS they attend. Sure. But the same can be said for some recruits across FL, CA, LA, GA, etc. And in all those places, some recruits still have room to develop. No matter where they come from the key is being able to differentiate the two.

Are some TX recruits soft? Yep, just like some are everywhere else. And just like everywhere else, some aren't.

Is there a ton of competition for good recruits in a fertile area like TX? Absolutely, just like every other target rich environment.

The one thing that differentiates TX is that they are closer than most of the other rich recruiting grounds most are comparing them to. Simple logic suggests that resource should be tapped heavily, but effectively. Along with AR, of course, and the other surrounding states, east TX should always be a portion of the recruiting base for the Hogs. That doesn't mean the staff shouldn't look far and wide for whatever other talent it can land.

Really good recruiting is not just a one year process. In addition to building relationships with individual recruits over the course of at least a couple years for most, it is imperative to develop relationships with HS programs so that the Hogs start being one of the likely programs of interest for kids coming out of there even before the staff start to work on that individual.

If CM is as plugged in to the TX HS arena as it appears, it will go along way to reestablishing those kind of relationships with the feeder system in TX.  But yes, those same bridges need to be built in OK and MO too, especially the larger metro areas, along with MS, LA, and TN. I think it would be difficult for a staff to really effectively do that in many more areas than that, but if they could accomplish that I think we might be really surprised how well the Hogs could fare with that base.

And of course, that doesn't mean recruits outside of that base are ignored. But the team has to have a base to operate on, and for most teams that base is going to be in its own backyard so to speak.

I'm looking forward to see what CM and his staff can do, both in recruiting and on the field.


Go Hogs!

[LZH]

Yep, and Texas players seem soft to me. Look at the teams loaded with Texas players, all soft Big 12 teams. If you play soft in the SEC, you get your ass beat.

I'm sure that has an awful lot to do with their college coaching staff, too. If a kid is soft coming out of HS but is still soft his Jr year and is starting for a P5 team, that's his coaches' fault.

[Deep Shoat]

Yep, and Texas players seem soft to me. Look at the teams loaded with Texas players, all soft Big 12 teams. If you play soft in the SEC, you get your ass beat.

The NFL dang sure doesn't agree with you.

But y'all keep believing something that is clearly false.

[IronHog]

How do use up recruiting resources? If you mean time spent on a singular recruit, then I understand that. And there isn't anything wrong with Whaley that a different offensive scheme and a different O-Line coach won't fix.

Recruiting for defense is a different and separate issue and if we haven't landed excellent Secondary talent, it isn't because we spent too much time chasing RB's or any other position of need.

As far as the "Arkansas kids" thing goes, if you need them by position and they are talented enough to play in the SEC and can help the team, by all means go get them. I'm not a fan of signing kids just because they are "Arkansas kids" and "always wanted to be Razorbacks". We have missed on some Arkansas kids in the past and some have just gone off on their own, by their own choice. That's going to happen from time to time.

Players like Ellis etc can play in the SEC but should be role players and not 4 year three down players.

If they are going to get depth they've got to get to that point.

[Mjs84]

A lot of folks just like to talk football rather than being drawn into conversations about "Bielema sucks", "Petrino was great" or "Coach X is a better DC than Coach Y". Plus, with the coaching change and the approaching signing dates, recruiting is a hot topic right now.

Everyone has different opinions and that makes for a good exchange of ideas and it helps to continue to give us something to talk about since we aren't going to a bowl. I don't understand the folks who don't see Texas as being important to us in recruiting but I still value those exchanges that amount to more than "everything that is Texas sucks".

People don't understand the importance of proximity in recruiting.  Hopefully I don't have to elaborate. If we weren't right next to Texas, we would be as relavent as kentucky or Vanderbilt.  Louisiana doesn't produce the same quantity.  Somebody was trying to argue all the Texas teams suck, when was the last time we beat a&m?  Lol..you can see why I get a kick out of these folks sometimes.  Yes,  they are encouraged to post, that's why I'm here.  If I can't take you seriously, I'm going to have a laugh.

[Wooderson]

Exactly.

I don't understand the Louisiana vs. Texas discussion.  Neither state produces "better players" than the other.  They both produce quality football players in much higher proportion to population that does Arkansas.  The reasons for that is a separate issue. 

Arkansas can recruit Texas and still recruit Loisiana.  We have been fortunate to get some very good players from the New Orleans area thanks to Michael Smith.  If you can beat LSU and Alabama for players like Briston Guidry and De'Jon Harris by all means do it.  If we can get a few of the same caliber players from DFW, Houston or somewhere else in Texas, we need to do that, too.

Arkansas's depth problem has been much discussed.  One reason for lack of depth is lack of SEC upper tier caliber players in the lower half of classes.  That is where we must improve.  Swapping Texas players for Louisiana or Florida players there will accomplish nothing. 

Arkansas needs to better identify and sign players in all areas of its natural recruiting footprint to build quality depth on the roster.

And there are tough football players everywhere.

We let go the one coach who made some great progress in LA and I have yet to read this staff has made it to LA.

From where I sit we have went all in on Texas because a bunch of 60-70 year old men are trying to relive the "glory" days.

I get we need a bigger presence in Texas than what Bret did.  I agree  5-8 a year, great. However, I truly believe this coaching staff thinks they are still at SMU.

[MuskogeeHogFan]

We let go the one coach who made some great progress in LA and I have yet to read this staff has made it to LA.

From where I sit we have went all in on Texas because a bunch of 60-70 year old men are trying to relive the "glory" days.

I get we need a bigger presence in Texas than what Bret did.  I agree  5-8 a year, great. However, I truly believe this coaching staff thinks they are still at SMU.

Where is Morris' foundation as a coach? Where does he have the most connections? Where does his name carry the most weight with HS coaching staffs who can help channel talent to him and the Arkansas staff? He has been the head coach for 11 days. I wouldn't overreact just yet.

[Hugo Bezdek]

We let go the one coach who made some great progress in LA and I have yet to read this staff has made it to LA.

From where I sit we have went all in on Texas because a bunch of 60-70 year old men are trying to relive the "glory" days.

I get we need a bigger presence in Texas than what Bret did.  I agree  5-8 a year, great. However, I truly believe this coaching staff thinks they are still at SMU.

You realize we just hired these guys right? They were at SMU a week ago. They're recruiting based on the connections they've already made, and that's primarily been in Texas. We still have half our staff to fill out, and a year to flesh out our recruiting for 2019. Morris has said he intends to recruit Louisiana. Let's give him a chance to salvage what he can before the early signing period before rushing to judgement.

[BR]

10 highest-paid 5A, 6A prep football coaches in Texas, whats Funny D2 champ A&M-Commerce head coach Colby Carthel makes $122k base salary, not including any Bonuses. .

    Henry Carter, Austin Lake Travis ($155,156)
    John Snelson, Dickinson ($135,925)
    Randy Allen, Dallas Highland Park ($133,875)
    Gary Joseph, Katy ($133,102)
    Todd Dodge, Austin Westlake ($131,600)
    Donald Clayton, Katy Cinco Ranch ($128,102)
    Todd McVey, Katy Thompkins ($125,762)
    Gerry Stanford, Texarkana Texas ($125,000)
    Clint Hartman, Midland Lee ($124,720)
    Reginald Samples, Duncanville ($124,557)

In his 10th season, Henry Carter at Austin Lake Travis is the state's highest-paid prep football coach at $155,156 annually. The Star-Telegram reports that Carter's salary is $30,000 more than the school's principal and almost three times the average teacher's salary at the school.

The average salary for a high school instructor in Texas is $55,000 a year. For a high school football coach, the average annual salary is a shade under $100,000.

[bphi11ips]

We let go the one coach who made some great progress in LA and I have yet to read this staff has made it to LA.

From where I sit we have went all in on Texas because a bunch of 60-70 year old men are trying to relive the "glory" days.

I get we need a bigger presence in Texas than what Bret did.  I agree  5-8 a year, great. However, I truly believe this coaching staff thinks they are still at SMU.

No one is reliving glory days.  Mistakes are being corrected.  Those mistakes are obvious to anyone paying attention.  The BOT and what people here like to call the GOBN are extraordinary men who understand all of the complex issues that created the worst 6 year run of Arkansas football in 60 years.  Not every issue relates to recruiting.  But Arkansas's lack of emphasis on Texas is high on the list.

Bielema signed more players from Florida than he did from Texas.  He signed almost as many from Louisiana as he did from Texas.  The number are 16 from Florida, 15 from Texas, and 12 from Louisiana.  We'll take 4 stars all day from Florida and should, but attrition was worst among the Florida players.  It should be obvious that distance from home, greater comparative differences in culture and climate, and marginal talent influenced that attrition.  Those are risks that must be considered when recruiting Florida, especially south Florida.

Five to eight players from Texas is probably about right.  There is no quota.   But three to five the last decade was too few.  Further, we are going to have to increase the quality of players coming from Texas.  Devwah Whaley, Rawleigh Williams, Zach Rogers and Chevin Calloway stand out, but Bielema signed a lot of marginal players from Texas as well. 

The bottom-line is that CCM is going to have to recruit better than Bielema if Arkansas is to compete for SEC West titles.  That is the first step.  If Texas is not a key to better recruiting I don't what is.

[bphi11ips]

I think it's hilarious there is a debate this vigorous about this issue going on.

All of the arguments both for and against TX recruits can be made about recruits in any other part of the country.

Are some TX recruits "topped out" because of the HS they attend. Sure. But the same can be said for some recruits across FL, CA, LA, GA, etc. And in all those places, some recruits still have room to develop. No matter where they come from the key is being able to differentiate the two.

Are some TX recruits soft? Yep, just like some are everywhere else. And just like everywhere else, some aren't.

Is there a ton of competition for good recruits in a fertile area like TX? Absolutely, just like every other target rich environment.

The one thing that differentiates TX is that they are closer than most of the other rich recruiting grounds most are comparing them to. Simple logic suggests that resource should be tapped heavily, but effectively. Along with AR, of course, and the other surrounding states, east TX should always be a portion of the recruiting base for the Hogs. That doesn't mean the staff shouldn't look far and wide for whatever other talent it can land.

Really good recruiting is not just a one year process. In addition to building relationships with individual recruits over the course of at least a couple years for most, it is imperative to develop relationships with HS programs so that the Hogs start being one of the likely programs of interest for kids coming out of there even before the staff start to work on that individual.

If CM is as plugged in to the TX HS arena as it appears, it will go along way to reestablishing those kind of relationships with the feeder system in TX.  But yes, those same bridges need to be built in OK and MO too, especially the larger metro areas, along with MS, LA, and TN. I think it would be difficult for a staff to really effectively do that in many more areas than that, but if they could accomplish that I think we might be really surprised how well the Hogs could fare with that base.

And of course, that doesn't mean recruits outside of that base are ignored. But the team has to have a base to operate on, and for most teams that base is going to be in its own backyard so to speak.

I'm looking forward to see what CM and his staff can do, both in recruiting and on the field.


Go Hogs!

Great post.

[Mjs84]

Where is Morris' foundation as a coach? Where does he have the most connections? Where does his name carry the most weight with HS coaching staffs who can help channel talent to him and the Arkansas staff? He has been the head coach for 11 days. I wouldn't overreact just yet.

Lmao! Now, you see why I think it's funny we have to explain this to people.  Yes, it's a message board and people are allowed to complain.  But they won't be taken as seriously as someone who presents a rational argument.  Saying CCM thinks he's still at SMU is a comment that will be read, but not taken seriously!

[Hogtimes]

2016 Freshman D1 Players offered Scholarships
Below is the state-by-state breakdown. 

Florida – 336

Texas – 330

California – 224

Georgia – 210

Ohio – 121

Louisiana – 95

Alabama – 91

North Carolina – 83

Michigan – 72

Illinois – 66

Virginia – 58

Pennsylvania – 56

Maryland – 50

New Jersey – 48

Mississippi – 44

Indiana – 38

South Carolina, Tennessee – 36

Washington – 35

Oklahoma, Utah – 33

Missouri – 27

Arizona – 22

Kentucky – 20

New York – 19

Hawaii, Minnesota – 18

Arkansas, Colorado, Kansas, Wisconsin – 15

Oregon – 14

Nevada – 13

Iowa – 12

Massachusetts – 11

Connecticut – 9

Nebraska, New Mexico, Washington DC – 6

West Virginia – 5

Idaho – 3

Delaware, Wyoming – 2

North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Dakota – 1

Based on this list we should be recruiting Louisiana very hard...considering they only have one P5 school in the entire state...then Georgia

[IronHog]

Based on this list we should be recruiting Louisiana very hard...considering they only have one P5 school in the entire state...then Georgia

Hogs need to be all over North to central La.

[Wildhog]

Hogs need to be all over North to central La.

And South, as we've done well there.  All of LA.

[LRHawg]

LSU can only take 25. We should be going after a few of those plus the 25-35 range kids as well.

[bphi11ips]

LSU can only take 25. We should be going after a few of those plus the 25-35 range kids as well.

We need to beat schools like LSU or the equivalent.  The offer sheet is the best indication of the caliber of the player.

But you're right.  LSU is not taking every SEC caliber player in the state. They have averaged signing 12 in-state recruits per year the last five years. That's about the number of "blue chip" recruits they produce every year according to this article:

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.sbnation.com/platform/amp/college-football-recruiting/2016/6/28/12040586/rankings-state-stars-florida-texas-california

Note that Texas edged Florida by 3 over the five years examined.

What we can't continue to do is take leftovers simply because an area produces a lot of recruits. We have to take the best available athletes/players willing to play at Arkansas in well-rounded classes regardless of where they come from.

P.S. -  LSU signed 20 players from Texas during the last four years.

[LZH]

Hogs need to be all over North to central La.

There's always some pretty damn good athletes in Ouachita Parish.

[MuskogeeHogFan]

We need to beat schools like LSU or the equivalent.  The offer sheet is the best indication of the caliber of the player.

But you're right.  LSU is not taking every SEC caliber player in the state. They have averaged signing 12 in-state recruits per year the last five years. That's about the number of "blue chip" recruits they produce every year according to this article:

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.sbnation.com/platform/amp/college-football-recruiting/2016/6/28/12040586/rankings-state-stars-florida-texas-california

Note that Texas edged Florida by 3 over the five years examined.

What we can't continue to do is take leftovers simply because an area produces a lot of recruits. We have to take the best available athletes/players willing to play at Arkansas in well-rounded classes regardless of where they come from.

P.S. -  LSU signed 20 players from Texas during the last four years.

And from 2007-2016 Alabama signed 2-5 stars, 12-4 stars and 3-3 stars from Louisiana along with 3-5 stars, 7-4 stars and 5-3 stars from Texas. That's 5-5 stars, 19-4 stars and 8-3 stars from well outside the 250 mile limit that some try to impose.

What is often overlooked is that they also signed 18-4 stars and 10-3 stars from various JC Schools during that time.

Good recruiting.