OK I have to ask, you have my interested, can you share what you are working on?
This article by Chris Carlson got me thinking about not only Texas but all states and their numbers. One thing I pointed out to him was that the same class that produced Joe Fields also included Houston product Nick Chestnut, who was not mentioned. Then I got to wondering if there were any other players from Texas that weren't included.
Recruiting is the life blood of any program. We have all heard tales or been directly involved in missteps in this vital area by the football program from coach to coach over the past decade or so. Frustrating, you bet, maddening too. In business if you want to be the best you have to have the best people working for you. In football that includes not only your coaches and staff but also recruits. You must know how to sort out leads and follow up. When you're at or near the bottom, as we were through most of the 2000's you must use every connection you have to find talent. We don't have fertile recruiting grounds nearby and the top players in NYS rarely give us a sniff.
Under various staff's there were football alums who were trying to help, as they were asked to by the program, find talent early and let SU get a jump on the competition. Many of these alums, coached kids who were blossoming stars who were flying under the radar at the time. Some because they were at large programs who were stocked 2-3 deep with upper classmen. I know of several instances where there wasn't even the courtesy of a thank you.
Right now there are several players who wanted to come here that are starting in both the SEC & the B
IG. All started as college sophomore's. Another had a strong Syracuse connection who for four years never heard from Syracuse even though the staff was notified of his interest each year from the 8th grade on. He now gets a lot of playing time for conference rival and number one team in the country, Florida State, as a true freshman. In fact, he scored a touchdown on an interception return late in the season.
Some of the reasoning for not looking at some of these kids is that they are not in areas that we recruit. To me, if a highly talented player is presented to us, I don't care if he's playing in Germany or Alaska I'm going to follow up. If my contacts give me an advantage over other programs I'm going to use that advantage.
Just one example of a kid who wanted to come here was Melvin Gordon. The reason we weren't interested? We already had Tyree Smallwood, a player who will never play a single down in D1. It has been frustrating watching from the sidelines and knowing things could have been better a lot sooner if we had better football minds at the helm.
Scott Shafer and his staff seem to get it. They are doing a terrific job this recruiting season. I have faith that this team of coaches and staff will bring us up to a level where we can compete with the powers that be.
