Class of 2017 not impressed

[money3189]

Babers could pull an offer if better kids commit later, no good to do that but Harbaugh did it last year

Yup, coaches do it more than we know. Even some of the coaches that are considered high character.

 

[Shenexon]

I've always relied on the word of others to understand how well our coaches were recruiting. Now is no different. Sometimes kids put on great displays, like Moe Neal, but there are a lot of very fast and athletic kids who have a host of things that impact where they end up going to college.

Almost all the kids we recruit have been successful in high school. Recruiting and analyzing the attributes of high school kids is one of the great mysteries of the universe. As one of many coaches & schools, Babers et all are looking for their kinds of kids, applying criteria that they make up or subscribe to services to provide. He's made mention of the kinds of skills and attitude they're looking for and I think we'll attract more A & B listers in proportion to our success in 2016 and 2017.

 

[tep624]

my only question is are we now recruiting to the system in a way that competes at the P5 level? Are the coaches getting the same level of kid they got the last 2 years or a step above? time will tell

That's the million dollar question but we're not going to really know until we see these kids hit the field. Boise St. wasn't recruiting world beaters either but they recruited kids that fit their system and they've done pretty well.

 

[Halfmooncuse]

i think half of bryant moved to fairmount/camillus---i have brothers and sisters out there and in marcellus. nieces and nephews live on tipphill

Same thing when I was twelve. They never told me in advance. I caught the last truck out when I came home to an empty apartment. It was an apartment over the Blarney stone! Never had a chance to say goodbye to most of my friends who for the most part went to St. Pats.

 

[DoctorBombay]

Meh... the original post is crap. There's a hundred ways to make that point and start a discussion without being a douche.

Agreed.
We're all frustrated by the last coupla decades of SU football- the false starts, do-overs, and saviors du jour.
But the fact is we've NEVER had a HC like this- w/ a proven track record and system that fits our facilities like no other.
Yes, I'm like Ronald Reagan at this point when it comes to HC's; "Trust...but verify"! But the fact remains, Dino is a known entity and its more likely than not that he will succeed w/ these recruits, because he knows what he needs to make his system work.
I'll defer to his experience and knowledge, rather than some random message poster's opinion, until its proven otherwise. JMHO

 

[Ish88888]

Agreed.
We're all frustrated by the last coupla decades of SU football- the false starts, do-overs, and saviors du jour.
But the fact is we've NEVER had a HC like this- w/ a proven track record and system that fits our facilities like no other.
Yes, I'm like Ronald Reagan at this point when it comes to HC's; "Trust...but verify"! But the fact remains, Dino is a known entity and its more likely than not that he will succeed w/ these recruits, because he knows what he needs to make his system work.
I'll defer to his experience and knowledge, rather than some random message poster's opinion, until its proven otherwise. JMHO

Bingo, thats tje difference here; Marrone and Shafer got the gig as first time head coaches. They were criticized for taking a chance on the "talented" unranked, but raw kid. However, dino has built in credibility from day 1 bc of hos previous coaching stops and being a head man.

 

[tipphill]

Same thing when I was twelve. They never told me in advance. I caught the last truck out when I came home to an empty apartment. It was an apartment over the Blarney stone! Never had a chance to say goodbye to most of my friends who for the most part went to St. Pats.

thats where i went. played hoops for bobby hayes. he just got inducted into the greater syracuse hall of fame--god bless him

 

[Finwad32]

Every commitment we currently have, less 2, has another P5 offer right now. I guarantee you can't find another class, since the recruiting services really picked up, that can mirror that.

Moreover, the majority of our previous classes picked up their offers close to NLI Day, save a handful.

I'm not saying offers are a huge indication, but, given how we're constantly comparing to past regimes/current peers, it has to count for something. I personally put stock into verified offers, not wholly, but they mean something.

Recruiting is currently better than I'd initially anticipated. Do what we're supposed to do on the field this Fall and it's only going to improve.

Lot going on in the next handful of years on the Hill, just hope The staff's there to keep it rolling.

 

[Cusefan69]

Nice thoughts Fin...can you expound further on your last sentence though? Are you just making a general comment that there is going to be so much going on the hill that it could be disruptive for Coach or is that a comment more to a new AD potentially? I know he is on the search committee...Just curious, found that last thought interesting...there is indeed allot going on...

 

[Crusty]

Seems to me the big difference may be in the skill players. We seem to be landing better QBs and WRs. They are bigger and faster.

 

[AZOrange]

I don't even worry about the recruiting anymore because I'm so confident in the system on offense. Before, when I thought we were being dumb and backwards with our approach on offense, recruiting mattered a ton to me because I didn't believe we could do anything on offense without major talent.

Now, though? Not a care in the world.

This^^^...talent is still important and will come after wins and YUUUUUGE stats!!!

 

[IthacaMatt]

as of today, not impressed with the offer sheets of most of these recruits----but as i said before--i give him a year to improve performance . then we will see what he can do

I AM impressed with the approach to selling the program. Huge change in mentality that I really, really like. I like them going out and holding all these satellite camps. He didn't wait for it to become "a thing"; he jumped on that early, and we got great exposure in new areas out of that, like Virginia in particular.

We are drawing kids from traditional powerhouse HS programs. If these kids don't all have great offer sheets already, it doesn't mean they wouldn't have, in time. I love that we are hitting Florida, Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and getting on the radar of kids in New York.

It's all good. The enthusiasm is out there. We need big help on the lines, though. That's how we have to close out this class.

 

[IthacaMatt]

Every staff we have ever had here has gotten kids in their classes that were projects. This isn't something new and quite frankly it gets tiring having to read these pretentious posts every single year (not yours but the one you were responding to).

Dino Babers has installed his system at two other programs and turned both programs around recruiting players that he and his staff judged would be successful in his system. And that's exactly what he's doing here. So IMO it's silly to judge the quality of their recruits before you see their 2016 product, let alone their recruits hit the field in their system.

I mean, if OP is going to "give him a year", then What was the point of the original post to begin with? I mean seriously. That's far less impressive to me than anything that Dino Babers has done to date.

A three star is a decent recruit. I remember not too long ago having classes with 6 or 7 two-star kids - and maybe one four star, to be fair, but it was usually either a kicker, or a kid who didn't qualify.

We are doing well in top notch HS programs. Right now we are maybe getting their less heralded players, but in time, some of these kids are going to "pop" and then we'll get better kids from that school. We play in the ACC, after all. If we have a reasonable level of success, we are going to start getting more of the four star kids, and it does make a difference.

 

[IthacaMatt]

That's the million dollar question but we're not going to really know until we see these kids hit the field. Boise St. wasn't recruiting world beaters either but they recruited kids that fit their system and they've done pretty well.

Fitting the system is important, but we've seen in basketball recruiting, getting kids from traditionally successful programs delivers to you kids who are not just terrific individual talents, but kids who are used to a culture of winning. I think that's what's important about where Dino has pulled kids from already. He's making inroads into schools that traditionally turn out Division 1 caliber kids, year after year.

We used to have those relationships in New Jersey, for instance, and thought maybe we were getting them back under Shaffer, but with one signing, Dino has changed perceptions with getting DeVito. That's like getting kids from St. Anthony's in NJ or Oak Hill Academy. We're starting to get kids from those kinds of football factories.

 

[dasher]

Fitting the system is important, but we've seen in basketball recruiting, getting kids from traditionally successful programs delivers to you kids who are not just terrific individual talents, but kids who are used to a culture of winning. I think that's what's important about where Dino has pulled kids from already. He's making inroads into schools that traditionally turn out Division 1 caliber kids, year after year.

We used to have those relationships in New Jersey, for instance, and thought maybe we were getting them back under Shaffer, but with one signing, Dino has changed perceptions with getting DeVito. That's like getting kids from St. Anthony's in NJ or Oak Hill Academy. We're starting to get kids from those kinds of football factories.

Matt, the offer list these kids have had is not very good. That scares me.

 

[CIL]

Matt, the offer list these kids have had is not very good. That scares me.

Remember how early it is in the cycle though. These kids still have another year of FB to play. This isn't basketball where 90% of kids have all their offers by the end of their sophomore years.

Trotter and Strizinger were hurt most of last season. Those two would have more P5 offers if that weren't the case. Heck, Divito only had a few offers and was a 2 star prior to his showing at a camp. The kid just recently added an A&M offer.

This class will be one of the best we have had in a while on paper. We certainly have a long way to go to catch the FSUs and NDs of the world. I'm not so sure that's possible. Much like IB said, even in our best years we were somewhere around 25-35. I think our ceiling is somewhere near WVU's when they had that run with Rodriguez as their HC. Lots of solid 3 star players with a 4 and occasional 5 (Noel Devine) sprinkled in.

We are a system team, much like WVU was. Players that would be great in our system might not fit in another's. Melifonwu is an ideal cover 2 corner. He is long, rangy, and is strong in run support. He wouldn't be perfect if he had to play man to man on an island every snap, but he is not being asked to do that here.

 

[Finwad32]

Nice thoughts Fin...can you expound further on your last sentence though? Are you just making a general comment that there is going to be so much going on the hill that it could be disruptive for Coach or is that a comment more to a new AD potentially? I know he is on the search committee...Just curious, found that last thought interesting...there is indeed allot going on...

All evidence points to the contrary, and, I'm pretty sold on him making Syracuse a home; I heard rumblings, though, that if he sees success his career path will remain consistent to what it has.

all you can do, though, is have a little faith, right?

 

[PhatOrange]

Tommy DeVito (QB) 6-1 1/2/190 Don Bosco Prep (Ramsey, N.J.) > (O) Texas A&M, Boston College, Maryland, Rutgers; CAMP

Sharod Johnson (WR) 5-11/174 Booker T. Washington (Miami, FL) > (O) Purdue, Illinois, UCF, Toledo, Temple

Zach Morton (DE/LB) 6-4/222 Cass Tech (Detroit, MI) > (O) Pitt, Iowa State, Cincinnati, Bowling Green, West Michigan; CAMP

Tyrell Richards (LB) 6-3/225 Central Peel Secondary School (Brampton, Ontario) > (O) ; CAMP

Nykeim Johnson (WR) 5-9/167 Friendship Academy (Washington, D.C.) > (O) Virginia, Bowling Green, Navy; CAMP

Josh Palmer (WR) 6-3/190 St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) > (O) Michigan, Illinois, Louisville, Maryland, Nebraska, NC State, Pitt, Purdue, Temple, Wake Forest

Dakota Davis (OL) 6-5/310 Glenelg High School (Glenelg, Md.) > Connecticut, Air Force; CAMP

Eric Coley (DB/WR) 6-1/185 Fayetteville-Manlius High School (Manlius, N.Y.) > (O) Boston College, Rutgers, Bowling Green, Army, Toledo, Buffalo (Reynold's son; CAMP)

Cameron Jordan (WR) 6-4/187 Half Hollow Hills High School West (Huntington Station, N.Y.) > (O) Boston College, Wake Forest, Temple, Uconn, Buffalo; CAMP

Allen Stritzinger (RB) 6-0/184 De La Salle Collegiate High School (Warren, Mich.) > (O) Michigan, Bowling Green, Cincinnati, Toledo, West Mich, Miami Oh,

Keirston Johnson (LB) 6-0/215 Robert E. Lee High School (Jacksonville, Fla.) > (O) Maryland, South Florida, Memphis, SoMiss, Western Kentucky, Miami Oh, Marshall, Geo South, FAU, App St

Ifeatu Melifonwu (DB) 6-3/185 Grafton Memorial High School (Grafton, Mass.) > (O) Boston College, Connecticut, UMass; CAMP

Kadeem Trotter (S/LB) 6-3/196 Canton McKinley High School (Canton, Ohio) > (O) Iowa State, Boston College, Bowling Green, Toledo, Miami Oh; CAMP

 

[Finwad32]

Tommy DeVito (QB) 6-1 1/2/190 Don Bosco Prep (Ramsey, N.J.) (O) Texas A&M, Boston College, Maryland, Rutgers; CAMP

Sharod Johnson (WR) 5-11/174 Booker T. Washington (Miami) (O) Purdue, Illinois, UCF, Toledo, Temple

Zach Morton (DE/LB) 6-4/222 Cass Tech (Detroit) (O) Pittsburgh,Iowa State, Cincinnati, Bowling Green, West Michigan; CAMP

Tyrell Richards (LB) 6-3/225 Central Peel Secondary School (Brampton, Ontario); CAMP

Nykeim Johnson (WR) 5-9/167 Friendship Academy (Washington, D.C.) (O) Virginia, Bowling Green, Navy; CAMP

Josh Palmer (WR) 6-3/190 St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) (O) Michigan, Illinois,Louisville, Maryland, Nebraska, NC State, Pitt, Purdue, Temple, Wake Forest

Dakota Davis (OL) 6-5/310 Glenelg High School (Glenelg, Md.) Connecticut, Air Force; CAMP

Eric Coley (DB/WR) 6-1/185 Fayetteville-Manlius High School (Manlius, N.Y.) (O) Boston College, Rutgers, Bowling Green, Army, Toledo, Buffalo

Cameron Jordan (WR) 6-4/187 Half Hollow Hills High School West (Huntington Station, N.Y.) (O) Boston College, Wake Forest, Temple, Uconn, Buffalo; CAMP

Allen Stritzinger (RB) 6-0/184 De La Salle Collegiate High School (Warren, Mich.) (O) Michigan, Bowling Green, Cincinnati, Toledo, West Mich, Miami Oh,

Keirston Johnson (LB) 6-0/215 Robert E. Lee High School (Jacksonville, Fla.) (O) Maryland, South Florida, Memphis, SoMiss, Western Kentucky, Miami Oh, Marshall, Geo South, FAU, App St

Ifeatu Melifonwu (DB) 6-3/185 Grafton Memorial High School (Grafton, Mass.) (O) Boston College, Connecticut, Umass; CAMP

Kadeem Trotter (S/LB) 6-3/196 Canton McKinley High School (Canton, Ohio) (O) Iowa State, Boston College, Bowling Green, Toledo, Miami Oh; CAMP

Good work, pretty telling IMO.

 

[CIL]

Tommy DeVito (QB) 6-1 1/2/190 Don Bosco Prep (Ramsey, N.J.) (O) Texas A&M, Boston College, Maryland, Rutgers; CAMP

Sharod Johnson (WR) 5-11/174 Booker T. Washington (Miami) (O) Purdue, Illinois, UCF, Toledo, Temple

Zach Morton (DE/LB) 6-4/222 Cass Tech (Detroit) (O) Pittsburgh,Iowa State, Cincinnati, Bowling Green, West Michigan; CAMP

Tyrell Richards (LB) 6-3/225 Central Peel Secondary School (Brampton, Ontario); CAMP

Nykeim Johnson (WR) 5-9/167 Friendship Academy (Washington, D.C.) (O) Virginia, Bowling Green, Navy; CAMP

Josh Palmer (WR) 6-3/190 St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) (O) Michigan, Illinois,Louisville, Maryland, Nebraska, NC State, Pitt, Purdue, Temple, Wake Forest

Dakota Davis (OL) 6-5/310 Glenelg High School (Glenelg, Md.) Connecticut, Air Force; CAMP

Eric Coley (DB/WR) 6-1/185 Fayetteville-Manlius High School (Manlius, N.Y.) (O) Boston College, Rutgers, Bowling Green, Army, Toledo, Buffalo

Cameron Jordan (WR) 6-4/187 Half Hollow Hills High School West (Huntington Station, N.Y.) (O) Boston College, Wake Forest, Temple, Uconn, Buffalo; CAMP

Allen Stritzinger (RB) 6-0/184 De La Salle Collegiate High School (Warren, Mich.) (O) Michigan, Bowling Green, Cincinnati, Toledo, West Mich, Miami Oh,

Keirston Johnson (LB) 6-0/215 Robert E. Lee High School (Jacksonville, Fla.) (O) Maryland, South Florida, Memphis, SoMiss, Western Kentucky, Miami Oh, Marshall, Geo South, FAU, App St

Ifeatu Melifonwu (DB) 6-3/185 Grafton Memorial High School (Grafton, Mass.) (O) Boston College, Connecticut, Umass; CAMP

Kadeem Trotter (S/LB) 6-3/196 Canton McKinley High School (Canton, Ohio) (O) Iowa State, Boston College, Bowling Green, Toledo, Miami Oh; CAMP

Nice work. Coley is a son of a coach and a camp kid too.

 

[TheCusian]

Good work, pretty telling IMO.

I dunno. Still terrified of that offer list. No Akron.

 

[SUFan44]

An additional thing to remember about most of these kids coming from big-time high school programs is that they usually have to wait their turn. And a lot of times, bigger high school programs have kids who are undervalued just because the team they play on has a star that plays either the same position or one that directly impacts how many times the kid touches the ball, or they don't get an opportunity to play a ton of snaps until their junior/senior year because of an upperclassman above them.

 

[money3189]

I dunno. Still terrified of that offer list. No Akron.

Brilliant post my man. Made me laugh

 

[orangenirvana]

Football recruiting is so overrated. Those classes ranked between 21 and 75 (where we fall every year) are basically all the same. The difference between those teams comes down to not how naturally talented your players are but how well they play. And how well they play is about coaching, schemes, and player development.

Over the last ten years there's been very little difference in recruiting class rank between Syracuse and Baylor. Yet Baylor (RIP) had dominated on the field because their coaches knew what they were doing.

Coaching and player development is what it's all about.

 

[Jasoncuse]

I see where you're coming from and agree that some of these offer lists are not impressive. However, Dino seems to have a big fish at QB in DeVito and that is the most important position to get a big time recruit. He's added speedy WR's and some with size. What we need him to land is some impressive players in the trenches and secondary. Hopefully, the second half of the class will be more physical types.