Minnesota football recruiting

[Prone2Clone]

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]

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]

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

 

[Prone2Clone]

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]

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]

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

 

[Steve]

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]

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]

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]

The stadium looks pretty nice to me.

 

[SLCyclone]

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]

The stadium looks pretty nice to me.

How many with MN stadium hold?

 

[BryceC]

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]

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]

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...

 

[cygrads]

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...

So is the renderings in the post above of the initial 50k or the ending 72-80k??

 

[CTTB78]

I don't think these recruits know how nuts Brewster is. The top in-state kids, and there were a couple who could have played for anyone, did not sign with Brewster.

 

[ISU_phoria]

The one major disadvantage Minny recruits face (which they probably don't realize until they arive there) is that in almost all major college towns, the college athletics are the only events in town. Most major universities are in smaller to mid-sized towns. With the U of M being in the Twin Cities, the Gophers have to compete with all the professional teams for fans. That's why the Gophers don't even have the attendance rates ISU does; even though the U of M is located in population base of approx 3.5 Million

 

[cyfanatic]

I don't follow recruiting as much as some do on this site...my question is with Brewster and Zook bordering Iowa...how is the Hawks' recruiting stacking up against those two?

 

[dunar]

They plan to open in fall 2009 and I assume that these renderings are of the 50K start. Reading the plans gave no indication that expansion would be immediate. According to this, they averaged 49,025 in 2005, so 50k seats would barely fit the need for the bigger games (and since I don't follow Minnesota football, I have no idea what games those would be...) Living in Minnesota, we immediately found common ground with the Gophers - nobody likes the Hawkeyes! :biggrin: