I personally am not being a "negative nancy" at all. I am happy we signed the kid
But it just shows how poor recruting has been SO FAR (key words there) when we have posters starting threads talking about the positives in recruiting.....and all they can mention is a Punter!
100% WRONG!!!!!
My emphasis was on the fact that i follow recruiting quite a bit, and i had not even heard of this kid from within our own state not to mention guys they might be looking at outside the state. But, my whole point was that the punter plays a bigger role single-handedly then any other player in terms of field position and unless your florida and not punting but 12 times a year, you better have a good-great punter or the opposing team will be working with a short field a lot.
Come on Clones85 - regarding recruiting....check this out - at this point last year, we had two committments in Lichtenberg and Blankenship. Considering everything in the press talks about our 10 game losing streak, our coach left us high and dry, 17 game road losing streak - what in amongst that would you take as motivating for a high school kid to commit early....maybe playing time....or offensive/defensive scheme.
I've said it before, i'll say it again.....this staff has several huge hurdles to overcome....
Coaching - i usually grant coaches some slack on players and their development. However, during Chiziks reign, the first year, it appeared the players were being coached because as the season went on, the team as a whole got better. I cannot make that same statement for last year, in actuality i think the defense got worse. So first and foremost this staff needs to get the most out of the players they have.
Second, they need to win and win this year. Win games this year because next years schedule is brutal!!!! Looking at Kansas as a template, you need to win games and develop those inroads for recruiting - be like Iowa (i hate to admit it) but show that you can develop a player for the NFL and kids take note of that....there's a reason why iowa continues to send Defensive players to the nfl - thats the side of the ball where they get the most talent because of their success in the NFL.
IMO we now have a staff with a proven track record, especially at the OC and DC which helps. Nothing against McFarland and Bolt i just thought they looked in over their heads - and thus the confusion both in coaching as well as game management.
I was a huge supporter of Chizik and his recruiting capabilities, but, it was more about Scott Fountain and Chizik was the figurehead....We need guys that can Coach first then recruit because if you can coach and win a few ball games, the recruiting becomes easier.
This staff has said it and i'm taking them for no BS guys when they say they have a plan. They've evaluated their team, they know the weaknesses, they know the strength.....that will change in actual game time situations, but, i feel they will have our team better prepared for game day then did their predecessors. If thats all we get out of this staff it will still be a huge improvement. Lets not forget these NO-TALENT kids from last years team lost 4 games by 1 touchdown or less, they lost 2 other games by less then 2 scores...they were blown away by Baylor, Nebraska, Okie State, Missouri.......
I know Rhoads and his staff has been talking about speed and talent and this and that.....thats called smart marketing of his team.
1. It drives the kids on this team to prove him wrong.
2. It lowers expectations...
Its smart and very much in the mold of a phil jackson comment......but the reality is this team was very close to being a surprise team in the big 12 because nobody expected them to be competitive and the close scores in 8 of our 12 games reflects our offenses talents and the scores also reflect the terrible position our defense put our offense. Lets not forget that our redzone offense was 108th out of 119 (ooops Auburn) and we didnt score on 15 trips inside the 20 yard line...thats gotta change....
If a reflection of how this staff is going to recruit was established last year, it clearly shows they will go after talent - lets look at who this staff received commits from after Rhoads hiring on Dec. 20th.
Money Reynolds 4*
David Sims
Jake Knott
Joshua Bellamy 3*
Walter Woods
Brandon Mims
Aaron Moore 3*
Donnie Jennert 3*
Jansen Watson
Willie Scott
Taylor Martin 3*
James Capello 3*
Keith Blanton 3*
Matt Taufoou 3*
Jacob Lattimer 3*
9 out of 15 recruits were rated as a 3* or above.....thats pretty good to me!!!!!