Why does Pete Carroll poach Arkansas?

[Jim Harris]

He has at least two great QBs on his roster already, but takes Mustain. He has a plethora of receivers who are bigger and faster but takes Damian Williams. He can walk around LA and find 10 guys as good or better than Broderick Green. He can offer and sign any of a dozen guys who are as good or better than Joe Adams, but he's recruiting him.

What is the deal here? USC has made little if any overtures toward Arkansas high school athletes during the years, with the exception of Jerry Eckwood and a couple of others who were amazing athletes recruited by everyone. Pete Carroll's methods and this targeting of Arkansas seems calculated.

[jhudson84]

Must have pissed him off somewhere in that home and home series.

[tophawg19]

nutt can no longer kep ark. kids from leaving . carroll knows talent and knows ark. is open to recruiting . unlike in the past.

[Swino]

My guess is that he sees good talent that is ripe for the picking.

[tbhogfan]

Carroll recruits nationwide.  This state is producing some very high quality players, and high quality coaches notice that.   

[cbjagman]

He has at least two great QBs on his roster already, but takes Mustain. He has a plethora of receivers who are bigger and faster but takes Damian Williams. He can walk around LA and find 10 guys as good or better than Broderick Green. He can offer and sign any of a dozen guys who are as good or better than Joe Adams, but he's recruiting him.

What is the deal here? USC has made little if any overtures toward Arkansas high school athletes during the years, with the exception of Jerry Eckwood and a couple of others who were amazing athletes recruited by everyone. Pete Carroll's methods and this targeting of Arkansas seems calculated.

Two reasons in my opinion. First of all, the state is finally beginning to produce the numbers of nationally competitive players that interest many coaches from outside our borders. Secondly, because we have a "numb Nutt" for a HC that only dreams of "building fences" around the state. As usual, Dale's mouth continues to write checks he can't cash.

[501Ben]

You could argue Carroll does that to almost every State. He recruits nation wide.

[Hogstocking]

Joe Adams got MVP at the Nike camp in Fort Worth over players like WR Dan Buckner (Texas commit) and RB Jermie Calhoun (OU commit) who are both on the rivals 100.. Coaches take notice.   It's not coincidence Adams has more offers than anyother player in the state of Arkansas.

Out of highschool USC has offered Ziemba (rivals 100)  Green (was on the rivals 100) and now Adams (who will be on the rivals100 IMO).....Mustain and Williams werent offered by USC out of highschool, but obviously both members of the rivals 100.  He sees talent and goes after it, reguardless of which state it's in.   AKA Mike Williams in Florida, Dwayne Jarrett in New Jersey, Joe McKnight and John David Booty in LA etc.etc.etc.

[ceegar]

When you are USC you go after any athlete anywhere.  The only place they will have trouble pulling the best out of is Texas and Florida but they will get a few.

[PigPusher]

He is also carrying a chip from the way Frank treated him.  Pay back is hell.

[3kgthog]

If you look at Arkansas and can get 2-3 top-notch players with relatively little effort then why not raid Arkansas? You know the Hogs are no competition against Pete Carroll and USC. I'm sure Pete realizes this as well. Most kids with options will not want to play in Nutt's offense in the future. I'd be questioning Carroll's competence if he didn't come here and take the players he wants.

[IronHog]

He has at least two great QBs on his roster already, but takes Mustain. He has a plethora of receivers who are bigger and faster but takes Damian Williams. He can walk around LA and find 10 guys as good or better than Broderick Green. He can offer and sign any of a dozen guys who are as good or better than Joe Adams, but he's recruiting him.

What is the deal here? USC has made little if any overtures toward Arkansas high school athletes during the years, with the exception of Jerry Eckwood and a couple of others who were amazing athletes recruited by everyone. Pete Carroll's methods and this targeting of Arkansas seems calculated.

Because he can, Nutt is no match for him, and I am sure he enjoys building the depth for his team.

Go back and watch some clips of the first Ark vs. USC game.  McFadden and Monk stand out and Carroll sees he can come here and get some top notch talent.

[Bomis Hawg]

Maybe he knows that Arkansas is a school that can become a very big piece in the puzzle of college football one day given the right situation.

Crippling them now by taking home grown talent and establishing a pipeline will hurt that later.

Either that, or he just wants to get top talent in areas that he doesn't normally go after. 

[go hogues]

Because he can.

[pioneerhog]

It wasn't enough for him to embarrass us two years in a roll, he decided he needs to take our top talent from us too.

[southern hawg]

We're getting a little ahead of ourselves aren't we fellas.  It's not like our top recruits are flocking to USC, sure Pete is here looking at them but so far he hasn't got any aside from Green last year, which Arkansas barely recruited.  And I'm speaking strictly of recruits that USC has come in and got, not transfers.

[HawgG]

You could argue Carroll does that to almost every State. He recruits nation wide.

Exactly.

USC is the face of college football right now and just like the sexy girl at school, everybody wants to be with her.

It is a scary feeling for college coaches to learn that Pete Carroll and his USC staff are approaching their state.

[Wu Tang Clan]

You could argue Carroll does that to almost every State. He recruits nation wide.

Exactly.

USC is the face of college football right now and just like the sexy girl at school, everybody wants to be with her.

It is a scary feeling for college coaches to learn that Pete Carroll and his USC staff are approaching their state.

Exactly,  I blame Nutt for making several mistakes in recruiting such as missing on Broderick Green, AJ Whitmore, Adrian Moore, and several players in state who they did not pursue or actively recruit.  However Nutt has been on the players from Warren longer than any coach, and there is nothing legal he could do to fend off Pete Carrol.  The women at USC are ridiculous and once you are on campus you forget about the neighborhood that surrounds the school.  USC is the face of college football, and I could see why any kid from Arkansas would take advantage of the opportunity to play for USC.

[Tomhog™]

He's poaching Arkansas for the same reason we go into Florida.  We've got one or two from the area and can build a connection between the two locales.  Noticed how we have increased our offers to Florida players?  You could say the same about USC and Arkansas.  USC now has three Arkansans on the team.  They've got their foot in the door and are trying to blow it wide open like Tennessee did in Eastern Arkansas.

[Wu Tang Clan]

Because instead of building a fence, Houston with his issues(coaching/recruiting/integrity) have virtually laid out a welcome mat for any top-notch program to come in here an pick-off the state's top talent.

Sure we get some but there definitely is no fence around the state.

Houston Nutt made a ridiculous statement in the first place.  There is no way to build a fence around your state, and every state with maybe Wisconsin being the exception has a fence built around the state.  It does not matter who Arkansas coach was, unless it was Pete Carrol, would Arkansas be able to stop invasions from the most prolific team in college football which is USC.  I don't think Houston Nutt is a good recruiter and he makes way to many mistakes, but he can not be attributed with USC taking away a few recruits who he went after hard. 

[Jim Harris]

Because instead of building a fence, Houston with his issues(coaching/recruiting/integrity) have virtually laid out a welcome mat for any top-notch program to come in here an pick-off the state's top talent.

Sure we get some but there definitely is no fence around the state.

Houston Nutt made a ridiculous statement in the first place.  There is no way to build a fence around your state, and every state with maybe Wisconsin being the exception has a fence built around the state.  It does not matter who Arkansas coach was, unless it was Pete Carrol, would Arkansas be able to stop invasions from the most prolific team in college football which is USC.  I don't think Houston Nutt is a good recruiter and he makes way to many mistakes, but he can not be attributed with USC taking away a few recruits who he went after hard. 

Jose Valdez is from Wisconsin.

[orgkeith]

Wisconsin didn't recruit him either.

[DeltaBoy]

He is also carrying a chip from the way Frank treated him.  Pay back is hell.

Amen
Pete was a UA assistant, under Holtz
Nuttboy can't build a fence.
Arkansas HS football is a lot better skills wise 7a-2a than it was 20-25 years ago.
Frank snubbed Pete for a HC job with the Hogs about 10-15 years ago and just like Jimmy Johnson he payed Frank back in SPADES!

[combsj]

1 of 2 things....Carroll recruits like I do on the PlayStation...just look at the top rated athletes at the position you need and recruit no matter they live; or he has something against Nutt and has an agenda to hurt him any way he can....like dropping 70 on him, or recruiting all the guys that Nutt wants to recruit.

[DeltaBoy]

He's poaching Arkansas for the same reason we go into Florida.  We've got one or two from the area and can build a connection between the two locales.  Noticed how we have increased our offers to Florida players?  You could say the same about USC and Arkansas.  USC now has three Arkansans on the team.  They've got their foot in the door and are trying to blow it wide open like Tennessee did in Eastern Arkansas.

Yes sir Tinner is way bigger in the Delta than it was 25 years ago.

[Jim Harris]

Wisconsin didn't recruit him either.

Maybe they just said they didn't recruit him after it became obvious to them he wasn't going to stay in state.

[holyj04]

its called being a good program and recruiting everywhere and recruiting hard. They go all the way to new jersey to get kids. Rutgers goes down to florida to get guys. arkansas just stinks at recruiting and won't ever change. we don't want big name guys, we just want sleepers. big names win the big games!

[orgkeith]

Wisconsin didn't recruit him either.

Maybe they just said they didn't recruit him after it became obvious to them he wasn't going to stay in state.

Wonder if anyone else caught that sly inference you just made.  I remember when we actually competed for recruits out of state who were offered by their top instate schools.  I remember when we were shocked that a top instate player shunned us and went out of state.  Now we pick over the bones out of state, looking for some kid behind in maturity, therefore  overlooked by his home state school, who may blossom.  Instate it is OH WELL, it is not the coaches fault, we can't get them all, when we lose our best.   Well, it is the coaches fault.  They have to do well enough to instill pride in our program and attract the best players.  We were once a regional power.  Now we dont even sniff a top player from out of state.  We dont even have much of a draw within 45 miles of the campus.  That is just sad.

[The_Bionic_Pig]

Wisconsin didn't recruit him either.

Maybe they just said they didn't recruit him after it became obvious to them he wasn't going to stay in state.

Wonder if anyone else caught that sly inference you just made.  I remember when we actually competed for recruits out of state who were offered by their top instate schools.  I remember when we were shocked that a top instate player shunned us and went out of state.  Now we pick over the bones out of state, looking for some kid behind in maturity, therefore  overlooked by his home state school, who may blossom.  Instate it is OH WELL, it is not the coaches fault, we can't get them all, when we lose our best.   Well, it is the coaches fault.  They have to do well enough to instill pride in our program and attract the best players.  We were once a regional power.  Now we dont even sniff a top player from out of state.  We dont even have much of a draw within 45 miles of the campus.  That is just sad.

Really so your saying Felix Jones, London Crawford, Tony Ugoh, Jermaine Love, Kareem Crowell just off the top of my head... were just left over bones?

[Hawgballz]

Wisconsin didn't recruit him either.

Maybe they just said they didn't recruit him after it became obvious to them he wasn't going to stay in state.

Wonder if anyone else caught that sly inference you just made.  I remember when we actually competed for recruits out of state who were offered by their top instate schools.  I remember when we were shocked that a top instate player shunned us and went out of state.  Now we pick over the bones out of state, looking for some kid behind in maturity, therefore  overlooked by his home state school, who may blossom.  Instate it is OH WELL, it is not the coaches fault, we can't get them all, when we lose our best.   Well, it is the coaches fault.  They have to do well enough to instill pride in our program and attract the best players.  We were once a regional power.  Now we dont even sniff a top player from out of state.  We dont even have much of a draw within 45 miles of the campus.  That is just sad.

I disagree and believe that you are trying to show our current state of recruiting in its very worst light.  I hated losing Kodi Burns & Lee Ziemba more than anybody (especially Ziemba with our offense he would have been a star here), but to claim that we only take the leftovers from other states is way overblown.  Just off the top of my head I know we have offers out to 2008 recruits in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi (I believe we offered a receiver, but am not 100% certain), Tennessee, Ohio, Kansas, Florida (10 offers), Oklahoma and Alabama before these recruits even finished their junior year.  That does not sound like a team waiting to pick over the leftover bones.  We have offered 9 of the top 10 players in the state with Tyler Wilson being the glaring exception.  We have commitments from 3 of the top 10 players in the state.  We are considered a viable option by 6 of the remaining 7 Top Ten players with Tyler Wilson once again being the major exception.  I am not by any means saying that our recruiting is where I would like for it to be, but this doom & gloom picture that you paint is just a little out of focus.  I apologize for getting on a rant.

Just 1 more thing for stat purposes: 
Number of Top 10 recruits from their home state signed by SEC teams for 2007 per Rivals

Alabama - 4
Auburn - 4
Arkansas - 6
Florida - 5
Georgia - 2
Kentucky - 3
LSU - 7
Ole Miss - 1
Miss State - 3
South Carolina - 4
Tennessee - 4
Vanderbilt - 1

Yes, I know these are all different situations with competition in-state for some & not for others, but here are the numbers as they ended up.

[press ham]

nutt recruits 2/3 star projects. carroll recruits from the top 100 list.

[tbhogfan]

Wisconsin didn't recruit him either.

Maybe they just said they didn't recruit him after it became obvious to them he wasn't going to stay in state.

Wonder if anyone else caught that sly inference you just made.  I remember when we actually competed for recruits out of state who were offered by their top instate schools.  I remember when we were shocked that a top instate player shunned us and went out of state.  Now we pick over the bones out of state, looking for some kid behind in maturity, therefore  overlooked by his home state school, who may blossom.  Instate it is OH WELL, it is not the coaches fault, we can't get them all, when we lose our best.   Well, it is the coaches fault.  They have to do well enough to instill pride in our program and attract the best players.  We were once a regional power.  Now we dont even sniff a top player from out of state.  We dont even have much of a draw within 45 miles of the campus.  That is just sad.

Last year, we had four 4* recruits, two were from out of state.  Trust me, when you see Crowell and Love play, you will not think of them as 'picked over bones'.

Despite some famous defections, 4 players from the last 2 recruiting classes are from Springdale.

That is not to disagree with some of your points, especially that of once being shocked when a good in state player committed out of state.  And I also agree that recruiting needs to improve (and if the first few commits for next year are any indication, it will).

[razorbackmkh]

He has at least two great QBs on his roster already, but takes Mustain. He has a plethora of receivers who are bigger and faster but takes Damian Williams. He can walk around LA and find 10 guys as good or better than Broderick Green. He can offer and sign any of a dozen guys who are as good or better than Joe Adams, but he's recruiting him.

What is the deal here? USC has made little if any overtures toward Arkansas high school athletes during the years, with the exception of Jerry Eckwood and a couple of others who were amazing athletes recruited by everyone. Pete Carroll's methods and this targeting of Arkansas seems calculated.

Because, unlike the HC at the states flagship university, he can. Simple as that.

[Swino]

Really so your saying Felix Jones, London Crawford, Tony Ugoh, Jermaine Love, Kareem Crowell just off the top of my head... were just left over bones?

Felix = Injury kept people away
Love = Grade issues made other teams back away
Ugoh =  Great player, we had an "in" and went for him.  Appears to the the exception rather than the rule.
I don't know anything about Crowell.

[Hogstocking]

Really so your saying Felix Jones, London Crawford, Tony Ugoh, Jermaine Love, Kareem Crowell just off the top of my head... were just left over bones?

Felix = Injury kept people away
Love = Grade issues made other teams back away
Ugoh =  Great player, we had an "in" and went for him.  Appears to the the exception rather than the rule.
I don't know anything about Crowell.

Grades didnt stop Louisville, Nebraska, Texas A&M etc.etc. from offering and going after Love.  Felix had offers from Tennessee and A&M.   Ugoh was on the rivals 100.  Not exactly like we were competition free on any of these players.

[Swino]

Really so your saying Felix Jones, London Crawford, Tony Ugoh, Jermaine Love, Kareem Crowell just off the top of my head... were just left over bones?

Felix = Injury kept people away
Love = Grade issues made other teams back away
Ugoh =  Great player, we had an "in" and went for him.  Appears to the the exception rather than the rule.
I don't know anything about Crowell.

Grades didnt stop Louisville, Nebraska, Texas A&M etc.etc. from offering and going after Love.  Felix had offers from Tennessee and A&M.   Ugoh was a rivals 100 player.  Not exactly like we were competition free on any of these players.

By no means were we competition free, I was only pointing out why WE went after them. 

[Hogstocking]

Really so your saying Felix Jones, London Crawford, Tony Ugoh, Jermaine Love, Kareem Crowell just off the top of my head... were just left over bones?

Felix = Injury kept people away
Love = Grade issues made other teams back away
Ugoh =  Great player, we had an "in" and went for him.  Appears to the the exception rather than the rule.
I don't know anything about Crowell.

Grades didnt stop Louisville, Nebraska, Texas A&M etc.etc. from offering and going after Love.  Felix had offers from Tennessee and A&M.   Ugoh was a rivals 100 player.  Not exactly like we were competition free on any of these players.

By no means were we competition free, I was only pointing out why WE went after them. 

All these guys had double digit offers or were recruited by big programs.  Guess I'm missing your point.

[orgkeith]

Other teams blew it on Jones.  Tennessee recruited him as a CB while we offered as a TB.   The kid wanted to be a TB.  OU did not recruit him at all.  Auburn committed Crowell until they determined he would not make it into school.  He signed with Louisville and ended up at prep school.  I have high hopes for him, but academic issues affected his recruiting.  Ugoh had little impact until his senior year after he finally got serious and quit track.  He actually had the best options of any of our out of state recruits.  Anyway, we are not talking about more than one a year with many other options.  We are not winning recruiting battles like we use to do.  In this era the Billy Ray Smith Jr's ditch us to go to Texas.

[Oklahawg]

Maybe Pete Carroll sees top-flight talent that others are not giving the proper respect. He can "fly under the radar". Stated otherwise, he's having to recruit against fewer suitors to get the Arkansas guys than he recruits against for a similar talent from a "hotbed".

[orgkeith]

We better get our act together and stop this poaching of our top talent or we will soon return to the days of 5-7 to 7-5.  It is looming after this season if dont stop it soon.  It irritates me to no end that we had three Parade All-American type QB's living in this state in the last two years and none of them are on our squad.  That is just pathetic.  The end result of that can not be good.  I quess we will find out in the next few years.

[PigTimePlayer]

Because he can.

Beat me to it.  Of course that's why he does it.

Why don't we poach all of the 4 and 5 stars out of California, Florida, and Texas? 

Because we can't.

[HawgG]

This thread has taken forever for me to read. I spent 22 minutes on your post alone 

I try to make good points.  

[HeathWimp]

Houston is a fine Christian man.  Pete Carroll is a godless heathen who lives in the most sinful state in the nation.  It is natural that he would target Houston, and try to make him look bad by stealing top recruits.  What Caroll doesn't know, though, is that the kids is "stealing" would not have cut it at Arkansas.  I'm sure that Houston evaluated them very thoroughly, and made the determination that they were not up to snuff.

[Wu Tang Clan]

Houston is a fine Christian man.  Pete Carroll is a godless heathen who lives in the most sinful state in the nation.  It is natural that he would target Houston, and try to make him look bad by stealing top recruits.  What Caroll doesn't know, though, is that the kids is "stealing" would not have cut it at Arkansas.  I'm sure that Houston evaluated them very thoroughly, and made the determination that they were not up to snuff.

I disagree.  Joe Adams could play at Arkansas and Broderick Green has the potential to be a good power back.  Once D-Mac is gone, Arkansas will need a TB who can run through the middle.  I think BG should have been offered and recruited hard by Arkansas.  After a Redshirt year he could have been an asset. However I think he is more a 3 star than 4 star prospect. 

[The Coletrain]

Houston is a fine Christian man.  Pete Carroll is a godless heathen who lives in the most sinful state in the nation.  It is natural that he would target Houston, and try to make him look bad by stealing top recruits.  What Caroll doesn't know, though, is that the kids is "stealing" would not have cut it at Arkansas.  I'm sure that Houston evaluated them very thoroughly, and made the determination that they were not up to snuff.

I disagree.  Joe Adams could play at Arkansas and Broderick Green has the potential to be a good power back.  Once D-Mac is gone, Arkansas will need a TB who can run through the middle.  I think BG should have been offered and recruited hard by Arkansas.  After a Redshirt year he could have been an asset. However I think he is more a 3 star than 4 star prospect. 

Just a gut feeling on my part, but I think you missed the sarcasm in his post, Wu Tang. 

[Foshodo]

If we went to Nebraska or michigan (examples)for a home/away series and won each time by 40-50 points... would we not use that to our advantage and grab the best players from that area that just witnessed what we did to their proud team?

The man destroyed us on the field two years in a row and is using it to his advantage to snag some of the better talent this state has produced in a long time... its as simple as that... you think if we would have beat USC last season, MM and Williams would be going there now? i dont... they might still be transferring but i doubt it would be to USC...