Class of 2016 Dino's On Fire

[IthacaMatt]

Is it just me, or are the guys that Dino is bringing in for these late visits a step up from what we had been seeing under Scott Shafer? I see lots more P5 offers in this last group of kids, although I'd like to see a little more height from the defensive backs. Now let's just see how he closes.

 

[CuseCrew08]

Very, very excited to see how he closes in the next month.

 

[SUFan44]

We shall see - nothing matters until signing day, to be honest. Am encouraged we were able to secure these types of visits this late in the game, but need to close.

 

[IDOC]

Is it just me, or are the guys that Dino is bringing in for these late visits a step up from what we had been seeing under Scott Shafer? I see lots more P5 offers in this last group of kids, although I'd like to see a little more height from the defensive backs. Now let's just see how he closes.

Offers are easy to do, commitments are another item. I am pleased that he is getting several here for visits!
What should our positioning statement be? "The best weather stadium in all of
college football."

 

[IthacaMatt]

Offers are easy to do, commitments are another item. I am pleased that he is getting several here for visits!
What should our positioning statement be? "The best weather stadium in all of
college football."

We're getting a ton of visits in the next couple weeks. I'm very excited to see how this goes.

 

[O-pulse]

HCDB and staff are doing the best they are able to fill up these few final recruiting weekends prior to Nationl Signing Day. We most likely won't see this type of late push going forward; once we have a full year to recruit.

 

[CuseLegacy]

I think it is a little hard to say whether this class of Babers is better than what the old staff was bringing in. First neither staffs' class was/is finished for 2016. Seven of the kids that Babers has kept are Shafer recruits. And were the other seven not kept because they aren't good or simply because they don't fit the system?

We need to see how this class ends and then see the product on the field. Stars in high school can be duds in college.

 

[RF2044]

I think it is a little hard to say whether this class of Babers is better than what the old staff was bringing in. First neither staffs' class was/is finished for 2016. Seven of the kids that Babers has kept are Shafer recruits. And were the other seven not kept because they aren't good or simply because they don't fit the system?

We need to see how this class ends and then see the product on the field. Stars in high school can be duds in college.

Good post, CL.

And good topic, Matt. Really looking forward to seeing some commits over the next few weeks!

 

[WeeWoo]

It's been interesting to watch as things develop. I think the true mark of how this staff can recruit will be determined after the next couple of full cycles, where they are not just trying to finish off a class but have the full year to put a class together.

 

[retro44]

What I like is how he is finding very fast players late in the game for this recruiting cycle. Give him a few cycles to really see if Dino brings in some real speed here

 

[IthacaMatt]

Good post, CL.

And good topic, Matt. Really looking forward to seeing some commits over the next few weeks!

I think Dino is fired up, because he knows his pitch already. He's never had an environment like this to play in, this level of competition, etc. This offense inside the Dome is going to be very exciting.

 

[anomander]

As of right now it's still TBD. Offers are nothing. Visits are telling. Commitments are even better. But all that matters is who signs their LOI.

Of the group that is "tentatively" scheduled to visit, i don't see a major improvement in overall talent. The floor of the overall prospect talent is clearly much better, but as far as the high end, as of right now it's pretty similar. Now that's not to say it won't be a major improvement come next year. For coming in late December, and not only solidifying the class, but adding to it with prospects of his own choosing, I think that proves that Dino and his staff are very capable of being a force on the recruiting trail. Just in comparison to what happened when HCSS took over for HCDM, and not being able to hold the class together,, while Babers came in from the outside, totally gutted the staff, and literally kept everyone he wanted. I think that shows how respected he is. For the most part these kids know of Babers on the offensive side because of what he has proven his success on the field. Come next year when he and his staff have a full year to evaluate, offer, and recruit, I will go out on a limb and say we see a pretty significant uptick in recruiting.

I was probably in the minority, but I have been pretty vocal on how I felt Shafer, and his recruiting prowess has been overblown. I think you can see some of the evidence of this by where some of the kids we had committed, or extremely interested in, have committed to since the change over; I always felt the top of Shafer's classes have always been poor. The mid part has been extremely solid, but the bottom was also poor. I felt there was always a solid 5-7 kids a class that were questionable takes. Now on the contrary, just from what we have seen thus far, I think we are going to see an improvement at the top of his classes, and an improvement on the bottom. I'd be shocked if we don't have a top 40 class next year.

 

[CuseOnly]

As of right now it's still TBD. Offers are nothing. Visits are telling. Commitments are even better. But all that matters is who signs their LOI.

Of the group that is "tentatively" scheduled to visit, i don't see a major improvement in overall talent. The floor of the overall prospect talent is clearly much better, but as far as the high end, as of right now it's pretty similar. Now that's not to say it won't be a major improvement come next year. For coming in late December, and not only solidifying the class, but adding to it with prospects of his own choosing, I think that proves that Dino and his staff are very capable of being a force on the recruiting trail. Just in comparison to what happened when HCSS took over for HCDM, and not being able to hold the class together,, while Babers came in from the outside, totally gutted the staff, and literally kept everyone he wanted. I think that shows how respected he is. For the most part these kids know of Babers on the offensive side because of what he has proven his success on the field. Come next year when he and his staff have a full year to evaluate, offer, and recruit, I will go out on a limb and say we see a pretty significant uptick in recruiting.

I was probably in the minority, but I have been pretty vocal on how I felt Shafer, and his recruiting prowess has been overblown. I think you can see some of the evidence of this by where some of the kids we had committed, or extremely interested in, have committed to since the change over; I always felt the top of Shafer's classes have always been poor. The mid part has been extremely solid, but the bottom was also poor. I felt there was always a solid 5-7 kids a class that were questionable takes. Now on the contrary, just from what we have seen thus far, I think we are going to see an improvement at the top of his classes, and an improvement on the bottom. I'd be shocked if we don't have a top 40 class next year.

I think a lot of how we recruit next cycle will depend on the on field results. If we win 7+ games in the first season with Babers, it will be gangbusters in recruiting.

It just might snowball into something that could catch fire.

 

[CuseLegacy]

Hey Ano. One thing I will disagree with you on is the ability for Babers to come with a new staff and still recruit well. Makes a little difference that he was already an established HC, at a winning program and was able to bring in kids that his staff already had a relationship with or had already committed to them at BGSU. Easier to attract those kids to a P5 school from a MAC.

 

[hoopsupstate]

The most telling is that the players that decommitted, have gone to noname schools. They have not been recruited by other bigtime programs. They were reaches at best for the ACC.

 

[PhatOrange]

First set of visitors

1/16/16

P5 offers in BOLD. Source is rvls


DE Drew Beesley (BGSU Decommit) 6-3 / 220 Warren, MI (HS) De La Salle (2 star 5.3)
(O) Air Force, Army, Ball St, Bowling Green, Directional Michigans, Miami OH, NIU, Toledo


LB Andrew Armstrong (BGSU Decommit) 6-2 / 215 Youngstown, OH (HS) Cardinal Mooney (2 star 5.4)
(O) Bowling Green, Cincinnati, Wake Forest


WR Devaughn Cooper (Arizona Commit) 6-0 / 175 Harbor City, CA (HS) Narbonne (3 star 5.7)
(O) Arizona, Arizona St, Colorado, Kansas, Michigan, Washington, Washington ST


WR Sean Riley (Arizona Commit) Harbor City, CA (HS) Narbonne (3 star 5.6)
(O) Arizona, Nevada, SDU, Utah, Wyoming


WR Cedric Byrd 5-9 165 Harbor City, CA (HS) Narbonne
(O) none


S Devon Clarke 6-3 190 Kissimee, FL (HS) Osceola (3 star 5.5)
(O) Bowling Green, Marshall, Memphis, Oregon St, Purdue, South Florida, Temple, Tulane

 

[IthacaBarrel]

I think Dino is fired up, because he knows his pitch already. He's never had an environment like this to play in, this level of competition, etc. This offense inside the Dome is going to be very exciting.

Agreed, first step is getting the offense rolling and return to bowl games, down the road fine tune the defense, get it to average and we could be very good. I am not expecting much on the defensive side of the ball for 2-3 years

 

[TheCusian]

First set of visitors 1/16/16 P5 offers in BOLD. Source is rvls DE Drew Beesley (BGSU Decommit) 6-3 / 220 Warren, MI (HS) De La Salle (2 star 5.3) (O) Air Force, Army, Ball St, Bowling Green, Directional Michigans, Miami OH, NIU, Toledo LB Andrew Armstrong (BGSU Decommit) 6-2 / 215 Youngstown, OH (HS) Cardinal Mooney (2 star 5.4) (O) Bowling Green, Cincinnati, Wake Forest WR Devaughn Cooper (Arizona Commit) 6-0 / 175 Harbor City, CA (HS) Narbonne (3 star 5.7) (O) Arizona, Arizona St, Colorado, Kansas, Michigan, Washington, Washington ST WR Sean Riley (Arizona Commit) Harbor City, CA (HS) Narbonne (3 star 5.6) (O) Arizona, Nevada, SDU, Utah, Wyoming WR Cedric Byrd 5-9 165 Harbor City, CA (HS) Narbonne (O) none S Devon Clarke 6-3 190 Kissimee, FL (HS) Osceola (3 star 5.5) (O) Bowling Green, Marshall, Memphis, Oregon St, Purdue, South Florida, Temple, Tulane

Given the coaching change, not too bad. The guys we let go all had similar offers.

This year was always going to be a less than stellar class (Hot Seat Shafer vs New Coach Babers).

 

[CuseLegacy]

 

[Jake]

686664951641935872

Is it me or have we lost a lot of commitments and only added 1, and all we have are a bunch of maybes coming in the next couple of weeks?

 

[OrangeXtreme]

Is it me or have we lost a lot of commitments and only added 1, and all we have are a bunch of maybes coming in the next couple of weeks?

Lost 8, gained 4.

 

[jgeorge322]

doesn't matter how many he lost and gained. gotta see how this ends up. but, please, feel free to bicker about the merits in the interim.

 

[Crusty]

Seems pretty much what we might have expected. Many verbals don't fit Dino's system so 8 or so have been encouraged to decommit. They are trying to take advantage of existing relationships, which are obviously kids that do fit. Not much talent differences, just better fits.

I think there is a bit of "best available" going on with positions of need. I would bet the staff would privately confess we have needs virtually everywhere and they are prioritizing as best they can. We need defensive linemen and need to grab what we can. Same goes for DBs and LBs. This group might actually be a pleasant surprise.

Dino's roster composition is significantly different, but given our immediate needs, it will take him a couple of classes to get to where he wants to be. I am sure we will see many more WRs and O Lineman in next year's class.

I don't expect any meaningful upgrade this class. All in all, I would guess we will be marginally better off when the class is final.

 

[Shark58]

I really wanted to get a dog named Monquavion

 

[tep624]

I expect this staff to hit the JUCO circuit HARD next year. No doubt there will be attrition off the current roster as the new system sets in.