I don't know if any caught this info

[retro44]

But this is our highest rated star class in the History of TOS at 2.95 rating for for star averages which translate into a 43 ranking by stars alone and it was all done in a month and a half time.

 

[FAL]

 

[ArtsJunk]

Let's not get to carried away...3 of the best players were HCSS holdovers and we had the 15th best class of the 27 schools that had HC changes.

Additionally, no impact players (Even grumpy HCDM brought some in coming off horrible years of HCGR), weak attempt to build and staff to recruit the NE (his comments today further reflect this by not mentioning CT & MA which are not hotbeds but areas which are under recruited and states that have served us well in the past and more importantly ounces we can win).

 

[OrangePA]

Let's not get to carried away...3 of the best players were HCSS holdovers and we had the 15th best class of the 27 schools that had HC changes.

Additionally, no impact players (Even grumpy HCDM brought some in coming off horrible years of HCGR), weak attempt to build and staff to recruit the NE (his comments today further reflect this by not mentioning CT & MA which are not hotbeds but areas which are under recruited and states that have served us well in the past and more importantly ounces we can win).

I can't recall our last Mass recruit.

Diamond Ferri?

Dino was right I think. NY, NJ and PA are our primary recruiting states aside from Florida.

 

[cuse62]

Shy Cullen

 

[PAcuse]

Let's not get to carried away...3 of the best players were HCSS holdovers and we had the 15th best class of the 27 schools that had HC changes.

Additionally, no impact players (Even grumpy HCDM brought some in coming off horrible years of HCGR), weak attempt to build and staff to recruit the NE (his comments today further reflect this by not mentioning CT & MA which are not hotbeds but areas which are under recruited and states that have served us well in the past and more importantly ounces we can win).

If you listened to what HCDB had to say. This year and 2017 is the foundation for the years to come. Sure you can pull just a bunch of stats of how we did compared to other schools and have it show we where towards the bottom of those schools. I'm not sure what more people expected with the short time this staff had, with how poorly Syracuse University has played football over the last decade, and with what the previous staff had assembled as recruits. We got positive press from a bunch of places for how this class came together so quickly.
Not sure why you are so concerned with CT & MA, I'm sure this staff will give those states a look over. Our "hotbed" needs to be what HCDB said NY> NJ > PA > MD/VA with a stop over in the sunshine state.
If this staff lays an egg with the next class then I think we have every right to "not get carried away" until then

 

[IthacaBarrel]

Let's not get to carried away...3 of the best players were HCSS holdovers and we had the 15th best class of the 27 schools that had HC changes.

Additionally, no impact players (Even grumpy HCDM brought some in coming off horrible years of HCGR), weak attempt to build and staff to recruit the NE (his comments today further reflect this by not mentioning CT & MA which are not hotbeds but areas which are under recruited and states that have served us well in the past and more importantly ounces we can win).

WOW. Tough post considering the circumstances that he came in under and timeframe. No Impact players? and you know this how? Mass and CT? Good luck building a winner there, why not go to VT and Maine while you are at it, good lord

Please, Please, Please Put your junk away Art, please

 

[NC'cusefan]

With the success of this recruiting class and it is a success coupled with the exciting brand of football and maybe a few more wins will make recruiting easier in the NY area which to me means Conn.

 

[Scooch]

Let's not get to carried away...3 of the best players were HCSS holdovers and we had the 15th best class of the 27 schools that had HC changes. Additionally, no impact players (Even grumpy HCDM brought some in coming off horrible years of HCGR), weak attempt to build and staff to recruit the NE (his comments today further reflect this by not mentioning CT & MA which are not hotbeds but areas which are under recruited and states that have served us well in the past and more importantly ounces we can win).

Weird, don't players usually need to see the field before we can summarily dismiss them as not being "impact"?

But hey, keep on keepin' on, Nostradamus.

 

[IthacaBarrel]

Weird, don't players usually need to see the field before we can summarily dismiss them as not being "impact"?

But hey, keep on keepin' on, Nostradamus.

If Babers can recruit middle of the ACC type classes, with his system on offense we should get to be a top 25 program and I don't see that as a stretch by any means. I think people cynics will alaways be disappointed with the rankings when it comes to Syracuse recruiting. I think top 25-35 is about the absolute ceiling.

 

[TheCusian]

If Babers can recruit middle of the ACC type classes, with his system on offense we should get to be a top 25 program and I don't see that as a stretch by any means. I think people cynics will alaways be disappointed with the rankings when it comes to Syracuse recruiting. I think top 25-35 is about the absolute ceiling.

I don't disagree 100%. I'd just be careful of capping anything - we don't know what a top ten offense in a dome, P5 looks like to offensive recruits.

There was a reason the didn't push too hard for QB/WR in this class. Reputation will get you one level of recruit - actual huge production on the field another.

That's all to say - smart money would be on 25-35. But we've not seen an on fire program for a very long time.

Good lord this exciting

 

[ArtsJunk]

I'm not upset with the job he did, it's just not an overwhelming succeed when you finish behind non-power 5 schools who also had coaching changes.

Also, agree that NJ & PA are very important but, NJ is recruited far different than it was even 5 years ago with players going to B10 & SEC schools. We need to win in states we can.

 

[SoBristol]

I'm not upset with the job he did, it's just not an overwhelming succeed when you finish behind non-power 5 schools who also had coaching changes.

Also, agree that NJ & PA are very important but, NJ is recruited far different than it was even 5 years ago with players going to B10 & SEC schools. We need to win in states we can.

It is a success by most SU measures -- particularly on the defensive side (except DT). Nick Monroe (db coach) got strong results in Florida, and others were effective in the Midwest. We need to continue there, and get better results within our 6 hour drive radius: NY, NJ, PA, Md/Virginia, Eastern Ohio. Need to win there against Pitt & Maryland.

Babers did try to upgrade at WR -- many offers, some visits. Wasn't able to connect with the highly rated prospects who ended up at Louisville and Arizona. If you want to knock the class, it is due to WR, RB & QB -- next cycle, those (and DT) are the likely spots of emphasis.

His first class is very comparable to Shafer's 2015 class, and better at LB and DB.

I wonder if he is done. There are a couple of slots available, and likely more with attrition as things shake out in Spring.

 

[HRE Otto IV]

Let's not get to carried away...3 of the best players were HCSS holdovers and we had the 15th best class of the 27 schools that had HC changes.

Additionally, no impact players (Even grumpy HCDM brought some in coming off horrible years of HCGR), weak attempt to build and staff to recruit the NE (his comments today further reflect this by not mentioning CT & MA which are not hotbeds but areas which are under recruited and states that have served us well in the past and more importantly ounces we can win).

1. We improved our ranking under Babers. His start point was lower than other new HCs.
2. Marrone had issues getting impact kids. That was one of his weaknesses.
3. Are you serious about CT & MA? Can you even name 3 NFL players combined from those states? Focusing on states that produce maybe 1-2 P5 level kids a year isn't smart. They aren't recruited for a reason.

 

[upperdeck]

I think the main nugget from the PC was his statement about kids he got that he could not have gotten at BG, this to me means this is a step up to what he had to use at BG and he was competitive against P5 schools with lesser talent.

 

[Rage4CUSE]

I'm not upset with the job he did, it's just not an overwhelming succeed when you finish behind non-power 5 schools who also had coaching changes.

Also, agree that NJ & PA are very important but, NJ is recruited far different than it was even 5 years ago with players going to B10 & SEC schools. We need to win in states we can.

You have to take into account the amount of decommits SU had after Shafer left. Do you know how many decommits did the other teams that finished above us have after their staff turnover?

 

[upperdeck]

the last kid who played in Mass who actually had a real impact would have been Ryan Lacasse in 2005, Ferri in 2004 and the only real impact one might have been Konrad in 98. we had a nice run of pretty good solid kids in the years before that though.

 

[gbo]

I don't disagree 100%. I'd just be careful of capping anything - we don't know what a top ten offense in a dome, P5 looks like to offensive recruits.

There was a reason the didn't push too hard for QB/WR in this class. Reputation will get you one level of recruit - actual huge production on the field another.

That's all to say - smart money would be on 25-35. But we've not seen an on fire program for a very long time.

Good lord this exciting

"Reputation will get you one level of recruit - actual huge production on the field another." This is the key here. I know that FSU and Clemson are the standard in the conference, but who's to say you can't mix it up with them and be a perennial Top 25-30 program. Put the right system in place and the wins will pile on.

 

[VirginiaOrange]

Let's not get to carried away...3 of the best players were HCSS holdovers and we had the 15th best class of the 27 schools that had HC changes.

Additionally, no impact players (Even grumpy HCDM brought some in coming off horrible years of HCGR), weak attempt to build and staff to recruit the NE (his comments today further reflect this by not mentioning CT & MA which are not hotbeds but areas which are under recruited and states that have served us well in the past and more importantly ounces we can win).

Go look at who Rutgers took out of their home state and then look at where the good guys went. Rutgers got the leftovers and all the highly rated guys went to programs SU cannot compete with right now: Michigan, Ohio State, Michigan State, etc. The guys SU took out of the midwest are better than the NJ leftovers and the NY kids (and the CT and MA kids). You recruit where you have ties and for now if SU can take good kids out of the midwest who cares?

People continue to talk up NJ but the fact is Shafer's crew was not hitting homeruns there and probably would not be anytime soon. Do you really think SU would be beating Michigan (who took 4 of the top 6 NJ kids)? And after the top 3 ranked kids in MA, the only programs to sign kids were UCONN and Illinois. The state produced less than 10 D1 kids for crying out loud and only 3 of them signed with any notable programs. And CT was only slightly better. You are not building a solid ACC program putting a ton of your resources into NY, CT and MA. The rare national recruits hear from everyone and the rest are mostly second tier. When you have a finite number of hours and dollars you put them where they matter.

 

[CuseIsInTheHouse]

I can't recall our last Mass recruit.

Diamond Ferri?

Dino was right I think. NY, NJ and PA are our primary recruiting states aside from Florida.

I think it was Ryan Durand in 2002 or 2003.

 

[KaiserUEO]

WOW. Tough post considering the circumstances that he came in under and timeframe. No Impact players? and you know this how? Mass and CT? Good luck building a winner there, why not go to VT and Maine while you are at it, good lord

Please, Please, Please Put your junk away Art, please

art thought he was on the BC Hockey board.

 

[OrangeFoo]

If Babers can recruit middle of the ACC type classes, with his system on offense we should get to be a top 25 program and I don't see that as a stretch by any means. I think people cynics will alaways be disappointed with the rankings when it comes to Syracuse recruiting. I think top 25-35 is about the absolute ceiling.

Too put this in perspective, this year Baylor has its highest ranked class ever and they checked in at the 18-20 range. Art Briles has a 10 year head start on Dino at Syracuse, he is considered one of the top 5-10 coaches in college football, he has a recent heisman trophy winner to his credit and he is in the middle of a recruiting hotbed. Gerry Hamilton from ESPN was on this morning on an Austin radio show and he talked about how this is Baylor's highest ranked class ever however it's not necessarily Briles' most talented class... he's getting some of the same kids as before but now when Briles is on a kid early he jumps in the recruiting rankings. I thought this was a really really brilliant point. It shows that while recruiting rankings are somewhat correlative of winning... winning on the field is still the end all be all. If Dino starts to win like Baylor has been then when he starts going after kids their ranking will start to go up... just like it happens when JB goes after a kid.

Long story short we need to start regularly appearing showing up in the top 25-30 in the rankings... once we get there winning and coaching will take us to the next level in the on the field rankings.

 

[HRE Otto IV]

Go look at who Rutgers took out of their home state and then look at where the good guys went. Rutgers got the leftovers and all the highly rated guys went to programs SU cannot compete with right now: Michigan, Ohio State, Michigan State, etc. The guys SU took out of the midwest are better than the NJ leftovers and the NY kids (and the CT and MA kids). You recruit where you have ties and for now if SU can take good kids out of the midwest who cares?

People continue to talk up NJ but the fact is Shafer's crew was not hitting homeruns there and probably would not be anytime soon. Do you really think SU would be beating Michigan (who took 4 of the top 6 NJ kids)? And after the top 3 ranked kids in MA, the only programs to sign kids were UCONN and Illinois. The state produced less than 10 D1 kids for crying out loud and only 3 of them signed with any notable programs. And CT was only slightly better. You are not building a solid ACC program putting a ton of your resources into NY, CT and MA. The rare national recruits hear from everyone and the rest are mostly second tier. When you have a finite number of hours and dollars you put them where they matter.

IMO NJ is overrated. The top talent in the state is good but there is not much depth after that. I think we should focus more on Ohio. Sure the top kids will go to the B1G but there are plenty of good secondary kids who end up at Cincy or as good MAC players that we can pull in. At the very least we play close to Eastern Ohio every other year (Pitt) and Southern Ohio the other years (Louisville). Plus if you schedule an Ohio MAC team OOC you get another game in the area.

 

[phil77]

I think they should build the class with areas they know and get a solid foundation then start to sprinkle in NY/NJ kids. I agree with Babers when he stated that he wasn't going to take a NY/NJ kid just because they are local to sit on the bench. He wants players and until he builds a winner here and builds those local relationships he will not get the top players in the area. So he should continue to do what he knows recruit Florida and the midwest area while continue to develop the local relationships. Once we start winning and putting up big numbers on offense the local kids will want to start staying home and coming to Syracuse. Until then recruit the areas you know and get the players you need to run your system.

 

[anglerman]

SU had a decent player from Connecticut named Dwight Freeny.