Minnesota football recruiting

**Prone2Clone** · 12-19-2007, 08:45 PM

How do you suppose Minnesota has been able to assemble a class that Rivals has ranked 23rd overall right now with five 4-star recruits, 11 3-star recruits, and a total of 24 verbals? I kind of see ISU's and UM's programs at similar stages and having similar seasons this year. Is Brewster that strong of a recruiter? Is it the new stadium coming in 2009? I'm sure it'll be nice but it doesn't look that impressive. Not even close to Okie State's planned renovations. I mean, if people think Ames is the North Pole, who wants to play outside in the Twin Cities in November? And it's not local talent. Only one of the 4-stars and two of the 3-stars are from Minnesota.

Guess I'm just kind of frustrated that our class doesn't look a little bit better on paper than it does right now. Hopefully we'll finish strong and all the rankings and stars won't mean diddly.

**thakeepa14** · 12-19-2007, 08:52 PM

I'll agree with you on the weather. Our highs haven't gone above freezing since mid-November. But they play in the Metrodome, it's quite toasty in there.

**ia8manfan** · 12-19-2007, 08:52 PM

I know one thing, its easier to recruit to Minneapolis, theres a hell of a lot more to do there than Ames

**Prone2Clone** · 12-19-2007, 08:55 PM

Originally Posted by ia8manfan

I know one thing, its easier to recruit to Minneapolis, theres a hell of a lot more to do there than Ames

Yeah, that is one big advantage although they've had that going for them for a long time and they've been marginal at best for a long time.

**Prone2Clone** · 12-19-2007, 08:56 PM

Originally Posted by thakeepa14

But they play in the Metrodome, it's quite toasty in there.

They new stadium in '09 is wide open though, right? I didn't see any sliding roof on the renderings.

**isucyfan** · 12-19-2007, 08:56 PM

Some guys want to play for a coach that acts like a hyperactive puppy, I guess.

**Steve** · 12-19-2007, 08:58 PM

Minnesota has always sold the advantage of having a number of major corporations headquartered in the twin cities. Play college sports, establish name recognition, move on to a high profile career for a major company. It doesn't happen for everyone, but they have enough examples that they can use it as a selling point.

**thakeepa14** · 12-19-2007, 08:59 PM

That's a good point. I suppose Brewster's recruiting these kids to eventually play outside. Yes, it's going to be a nice stadium, but it WILL be cold for half their season. And yes, no retractable roof.

**Prone2Clone** · 12-19-2007, 09:04 PM

Since 2002, their highest recruiting class ranking on Rivals was #37. Average ranking over those years is #54. Apparently, Glen Mason trumped the big-city advantage.

**goldmember** · 12-19-2007, 09:46 PM

The stadium looks pretty nice to me.

**SLCyclone** · 12-19-2007, 09:55 PM

I was at Da Bears vs Vikings MNF game. At half time the high school All State Football team was introduced. I thought that was kind of neat.

**cygrads** · 12-20-2007, 09:12 AM

Originally Posted by goldmember

The stadium looks pretty nice to me.

How many with MN stadium hold?

**BryceC** · 12-20-2007, 09:27 AM

Not a whole lot, like 55k or something.

Brewster is a good recruiter, and this is why he was sought out by teams. He has that reputation anyway.

**Knownothing** · 12-20-2007, 09:31 AM

They recruit kids who like to go fishing. Then sell them on the fact that they have 10,000 lakes. They also recruit kids who never got a chance to have a snowball fight when they were little.

**dunar** · 12-20-2007, 09:42 AM

TCF Bank Stadium (love the corporate sponsorship...) will hold 50k to start. They speculate that it can be expanded to 72-80k.

The plans and fund-raising look pretty good. My wife and I used to live in the cities and she worked blocks from where the stadium is going. They have a little different "donor base" than we do, but the $288M makes our master plan look far more achievable.

I can't imagine that the new stadium is having that big of an impact on recruiting, it's all Brewster (the guy that convinced Vince Young to play at Texas) and his staff...