Feeling Better About Recruiting?

[ImperialOrange]

I didn't feel bad about this years recruiting unless I was given tangible evidence to feel that way. It's steadily improved year to year, and with a start like this we may be looking at our breakout big recruiting year that everyone has been so anxious for.

 

[SoBristol]

Obviously -- like getting all 3 even though 2 are special situations (JUCO, and transfer). Whoever is prospecting/closing for JUCO help in the DL deserves a round of applause.

Among our many, many offers to rising HS seniors, are we getting much traction? Need to see a QB, a RB and a quality LB leaning Orange.

Yeah, it is only May.

 

[Scooch]

I dream of a day when we have to worry about Marrone leaving for greener pastures. I welcome that day.

 

[rrlbees]

I feel better but of course everyone should because it seems to be 3 pretty good players. But I temper the feeling better part with the fact that I felt Provo and Williams were close to givens due to Provo's brother and Williams relationship with Reddish and Morgan. I think others have felt during the past year we would probably get Williams. So those 2 in my mind weren't surprises and made me go "wow". On the other hand, Funderburke was a complete surprise that came out of nowhere just recently. So that is great news but we have to hope he can perform to the level of potential/projections he had coming out of high school (or close to it). It's not clear completely what happened at Arkansas so hopefully he comes in here really wanting to play football and displays all his skills.

 

[GoSU96]

I feel better but of course everyone should because it seems to be 3 pretty good players. But I temper the feeling better part with the fact that I felt Provo and Williams were close to givens due to Provo's brother and Williams relationship with Reddish and Morgan. I think others have felt during the past year we would probably get Williams. So those 2 in my mind weren't surprises and made me go "wow". On the other hand, Funderburke was a complete surprise that came out of nowhere just recently. So that is great news but we have to hope he can perform to the level of potential/projections he had coming out of high school (or close to it). It's not clear completely what happened at Arkansas so hopefully he comes in here really wanting to play football and displays all his skills.

What's happening is that the program is starting to recruit for itself. Kids in a program that is at a .500 level are selling it to friends and family. All three are coming here in a large part because of that.

That says something about the direction and internals in the program. In a related note, the fact that both Edsall and Addazzio had/let their sons come here says something about respect by peers.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

You won't until the quality of play at OL improves.

I don't want to hijack the thread, but I think that's only partially true.

We seem to have adopted a system and set of play formations that do need an improvement in how the OL plays to consistently perform. I do think there are some creative ways with different formations and pacing the offensive playcalling that can hide the deficiencies on the OL to at least some degree.:noidea:

I really think a lot hinges on whether Hickey and Trudo are healthy and ready to perform. I have high hopes for those guys.

 

[tep624]

I feel better but of course everyone should because it seems to be 3 pretty good players. But I temper the feeling better part with the fact that I felt Provo and Williams were close to givens due to Provo's brother and Williams relationship with Reddish and Morgan. I think others have felt during the past year we would probably get Williams. So those 2 in my mind weren't surprises and made me go "wow". On the other hand, Funderburke was a complete surprise that came out of nowhere just recently. So that is great news but we have to hope he can perform to the level of potential/projections he had coming out of high school (or close to it). It's not clear completely what happened at Arkansas so hopefully he comes in here really wanting to play football and displays all his skills.

The first two can help with Momentum though. The hardest part is getting that first recruit each year to come on board. So granted relationships were leveraged to get Provo and Williams, but that's exactly how we should be pulling in our first few recruits in. Get the guys that truly bleed orange and are geeked up to be at SU in and in early and let them help recruit. The higher profile they are the better.

 

[bnoro]

I feel better but of course everyone should because it seems to be 3 pretty good players. But I temper the feeling better part with the fact that I felt Provo and Williams were close to givens due to Provo's brother and Williams relationship with Reddish and Morgan. I think others have felt during the past year we would probably get Williams. So those 2 in my mind weren't surprises and made me go "wow". On the other hand, Funderburke was a complete surprise that came out of nowhere just recently. So that is great news but we have to hope he can perform to the level of potential/projections he had coming out of high school (or close to it). It's not clear completely what happened at Arkansas so hopefully he comes in here really wanting to play football and displays all his skills.

My counter would be that you heard this before in terms of relationships on the team but the player didn't end up coming here. So there's progress. Legacy recruits haven't always been ours.

 

[RF2044]

I don't want to hijack the thread, but I think that's only partially true.

We seem to have adopted a system and set of play formations that do need an improvement in how the OL plays to consistently perform. I do think there are some creative ways with different formations and pacing the offensive playcalling that can hide the deficiencies on the OL to at least some degree.:noidea:

I really think a lot hinges on whether Hickey and Trudo are healthy and ready to perform. I have high hopes for those guys.

I don't disagree that there are creative ways to spread a defense out. And also that playmakers that the defense has to account for can create beneficial mismatches for other players, etc. and open things up.

But I wouldn't underestimate how poor the OL has played in general, and what the offensive coaches have had to resort to in order to avoid the OL getting blown up. Bunch formations with multi-tight ends to provide extra protection. Quick slants to get rid of the ball before the pass rush gets there. Insufficient time to let anything develop downfield because the OL was a sieve. Scaling down what the offense does because the OL didn't hold up enough to run things. All of those things were a factor in the stagnant offense we saw last year--not just play calling / pacing. And until the OL starts to perform better as a unit, player for player, we probably won't see adequate improvement / progress offensively.

Like you, I have high hopes for some of the players on the OL. I think Pugh is an above average LT. Trudo is another guy I'm excited about--we need him to live up to the advanced billing. I hope that Hickey's multiple leg injuries don't derail what seemed like a promising career. What can guys like Alexander, Foy, and Curtis bring to the table? The answers to those questions will go a long way toward determining how good our offense can be this year. If we can somehow just cobble together 7-8 solid contributors on the OL...

 

[retro44]

nope...!!!

I like the two star classes as it keeps my season tickets in sec 128 cheap.

Now if some here want to donate some cash to my seat purchases I will gladly root for some three star kids. I have some donor levels for stars depending the receipts

 

[wfschrec]

My counter would be that you heard this before in terms of relationships on the team but the player didn't end up coming here. So there's progress. Legacy recruits haven't always been ours.

I concur ... if it were that easy we would have had Gronk ... Ishaq's parents were SU alums ... the list goes on and on ... getting these kids isn't a slam dunk in these circumstances anymore.