Something is not right

[FloridaFan]

We just rarely seem to win recruiting battles against other P5 schools. i'm not talking about someone's listed offer list with most of the offers not being commitable. How many times did we get a recruit that multiple P5 schools really wanted and get them? I'd guess our record in these battles is like 4-52. We should win more, just based on probability.

How do you know if an offer is “commitable”

 

[chugg21]

Any DT signed this year wouldn't be helping out the team until at least a couple of years down the road. Two players signed last year (Munoz, Rondi) are expected to be pushing for DT time in 2020 to back up Williams, Black, Harper and Rhino. A DT miss here right now isn't a huge deal.

We did sign some really good players

An A+ list wide receiver (Aflord 6-5 210) and another A list WR (Williams 6-1 195).
An A list TE (Mahar 6-6 225)
An A list LB (Thompson 6-0 225)
3 developmental OLineman
An A list kicker (Williams)
An A+ list defensive end (Kinsler 6-4 215) and another A list DE (Lowery 6-40 220)
1 really good running back - go watch Tuckers film again (5-9 192)
1 really good multi-use RB in Wax who might be a better LB (6-0 210)
LaBrosse (6-2 200) and Baron (6-4 205) are A list and big utility guys
Hanna is another highly regarded Florida DB.

Well hell, guess it was an A class then! Excited for 4 straight bowl years.

 

[FloridaFan]

Well hell, guess it was an A class then! Excited for 4 straight bowl years.

We were 5-7 this year with those struggles. It’s not hard to hit 6-6 consistently. Make bowls and put people in the NFL and you’ll get your higher rated kids

 

[chugg21]

How do you know if an offer is “commitable”

Can usually tell when it's the FL kids and they claim offers from Miami, UF, FSU and then are deciding between us, USF and Florida Atlantic.

 

[chugg21]

We were 5-7 this year with those struggles. It’s not hard to hit 6-6 consistently. Make bowls and put people in the NFL and you’ll get your higher rated kids

Not hard? We've had back to back bowl seasons once since 2004.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

put people in the NFL and you’ll get your higher rated kids

I'm sure we face a lot of negative recruiting on this.

 

[TheCusian]

(I know I'll be accused of being too positive, so please read the following knowing I'd like to sign a higher rated class filled with kids with Ohio St and Clemson offers. I hate that we haven't signed a QB yet and have missed on some monster WR's. Clearly, guys from other countries are a bit more unknown and that is inherently more risky.)

I think some of the angst is that everyone was feeling pretty good at the end of last year and then the season sucked and then our recruiting stayed about where it was (not good enough). I get that and def feel that too.

But, perspective might help. The first two years with Dino, we were happy with the guys he brought in as it felt like we were building towards something (a Clemson win will do that). 10 wins later with 90% of guys that Dino has brought in, including two freshman all-ACC guys - along with a very highly thought of QB on the roster and things were looking like we were back.

The reasons for our 5 win season are well documented and sit at Babers feet. A bad D and a worse OL tanked the season - alongside a kind of unfocused, undisciplined looking team - made any hope of success look distant.

But what if the OL and D can be fixed and the QB with more time and a running game - start to really pick it up? What if last year was a blip, caused by some fixable OL issues and a new DC? Is it that implausible to imagine an 8 win year next season? Does 4, 4, 10, 5, 8 wins - change the perception of our recruiting?

I don't know. I could see it either way.

 

[PhatOrange]

Well hell, guess it was an A class then! Excited for 4 straight bowl years.

well hell then, in your expert opinion, why don't you tell us what is wrong with the class - or better yet - the guys we signed.

I only listed 12 kids. It's not a grade A class, but we did sign a lot of kids we targeted early on and landed them. And there's no denying their athleticism and such. There's again kids in the class with better offers than most of the kids we landed for the 15 years prior to HCDB arriving here. A large portion of this class will fill in the underbelly quite nicely.

 

[PhatOrange]

Can usually tell when it's the FL kids and they claim offers from Miami, UF, FSU and then are deciding between us, USF and Florida Atlantic.

which player was that ?

 

[Chip]

Both of your first statements are not only true they are fact. We all debate the star system but I always laugh b/c we've never landed a bunch of 4- and 5-star kids so I'm not sure what we're arguing. If you aren't getting those guys and aren't going to get those guys you need to find another way.

Bottom line: The landscape of college football makes it such that this program is going to have a really hard time continually filling the pipeline with talent and winning at a high level. That may sound depressing but there are a lot of other schools accustomed to far more success than we are that struggling with many of the same issues, at least relative to what they are used to. Notre Dame, USC, Texas -- schools that feel it's their birth rite to be in college football playoff are spending an awful lot of time on the outside looking in. ND has had some good success (and Texas still has that potential with the right coach) with Kelly but realistically can't consistently compete with Georgia, LSU, Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State ... They're in the camping bowl vs. 7-5 iowa state. If that isn't a rude awakening for a 10-win ND team I don't know what is.

Bottom line: We need to hope these kids have good athleticism and can be molded into quality players. Crying about not signing higher profile kids is fine, but you might as well save your posts so you don't have to re-type them for the next 10 years.

It's not only that, but we don't have a backyard either. Unless that's Canada now. NYS just isn't a HS football state.

Back in my day (let's call them the 90s to us old folks), we could walk into high schools in New Jersey and PA and take whatever Penn State didn't have room for. We could even go toe to toe with JoePa.

We could go to Florida and take whatever the big 3 didn't want. There were no UCFs, USFs, FAUs, FIUs to think about for the 2nd level of Florida kid. Now it's more of a fight.

We can still do better, but it's not an easy job.

 

[albanycuse]

Biggest bs myth here is Syracuse can never recruit well enough to have even top 20 classes every year. There’s a correlation here on the money spent on head coaches and the recruits they bring in since forever.
When the University decides to up the game one day thats when we will see big time changes in recruiting. You can’t convince me otherwise.

 

[PAcuse]

Biggest bs myth here is Syracuse can never recruit well enough to have even top 20 classes every year. There’s a correlation here on the money spent on head coaches and the recruits they bring in since forever.
When the University decides to up the game one day thats when we will see big time changes in recruiting. You can’t convince me otherwise.

You mean like the big donation and extra money announced this season to redo the football offices and more?
Or more money?

 

[GoCuse14]

Yeah I knew he went crazy with drugs etc, didn't realize it was meth and that wide spread but makes sense

Oh yah big time...that was his theory to keep his soldiers going...I live in Iowa...its not a horrible strategy. You should see the meth soldiers around here on a daily basis.

 

[tep624]

Is it possible to wait until the recruiting cycle is over before the soap box crew start telling us how terrible everything is?

I mean, there is still 2 months to go afterall and we have 5-7 spots left to fill.

 

[TheCusian]

Biggest bs myth here is Syracuse can never recruit well enough to have even top 20 classes every year. There’s a correlation here on the money spent on head coaches and the recruits they bring in since forever.
When the University decides to up the game one day thats when we will see big time changes in recruiting. You can’t convince me otherwise.

It's a money correlation, but it ain't admin > coaches

It's booster guy with bags of cash > recruits

 

[Bayside44]

Biggest bs myth here is Syracuse can never recruit well enough to have even top 20 classes every year. There’s a correlation here on the money spent on head coaches and the recruits they bring in since forever.
When the University decides to up the game one day thats when we will see big time changes in recruiting. You can’t convince me otherwise.

The correlation is our geography and simple demographics. Hopefully those 2 big German kids want to repopulate upstate New York, and soon.

 

[PAcuse]

Is it possible to wait until the recruiting cycle is over before the soap box crew start telling us how terrible everything is?

I mean, there is still 2 months to go afterall and we have 5-7 spots left to fill.

oh no sir!! It's time to FREAK OUT!!!!

 

[FloridaFan]

Not hard? We've had back to back bowl seasons once since 2004.

We have also had 3 bad coaches since then (yes I think marrone is a bad coach) Dino is changing the culture and I belive we will make a bowl every year the next 4 years

 

[billsin01]

It's not only that, but we don't have a backyard either. Unless that's Canada now. NYS just isn't a HS football state.

Back in my day (let's call them the 90s to us old folks), we could walk into high schools in New Jersey and PA and take whatever Penn State didn't have room for. We could even go toe to toe with JoePa.

We could go to Florida and take whatever the big 3 didn't want. There were no UCFs, USFs, FAUs, FIUs to think about for the 2nd level of Florida kid. Now it's more of a fight.

We can still do better, but it's not an easy job.

Yeah, the extent to which those schools have hurt us is hard to deny. It's also worth noting that BC went in the tank for a while after the gambling scandal, Rutgers was brutal in the Graber (I think that was his name) era, Pitt was struggling, Temple was an absolute joke and UConn essentially didn't exist (I know they suck now but they hurt us at times when Edsall was doing well with that program). Maryland more or less sucked as well until the Fridge era.

So, yeah, it's an uphill battle.

 

[PAcuse]

We have also had 3 bad coaches since then (yes I think marrone is a bad coach) Dino is changing the culture and I belive we will make a bowl every year the next 4 years

I think Marrone was okay coach, his heart was never fully into after finding out the full grind
However he sold his soul to JUCO kids and you bookmark that with the little engine that could and isis it's a recipe for disaster.

 

[billsin01]

We have also had 3 bad coaches since then (yes I think marrone is a bad coach) Dino is changing the culture and I belive we will make a bowl every year the next 4 years

Marrone was a pretty credible coach. Two 8-win seasons in four years and we were even drastically more competitive in his Year 1 than we were the previous season. He then went on to have two NFL head coaching jobs and had some success in those spots as well. Guy may be a pr!ck but he's a pretty good coach.

 

[FloridaFan]

Marrone was a pretty credible coach. Two 8-win seasons in four years and we were even drastically more competitive in his Year 1 than we were the previous season. He then went on to have two NFL head coaching jobs and had some success in those spots as well. Guy may be a pr!ck but he's a pretty good coach.

his success as a coach in Jax is solely due to the talented defense he had. None of which is due to his coaching. We can agree to disagree but at best he was average in college

 

[blizz]

they lost because they were all doped on meth including the top guy himself. in the early years of the war, those troops tapped into limitless energy along with loss of empathy. eventually the side effects caught up with them. hitler went crazy. literally. we can thank drugs for not speaking german today.

THANK YOU DRUGS!

Sincerely,
blizz

 

[GoCuse14]

I seem to remember in 2015 we got a late QB kid from Oregon no one was aware of ..

yep...and that story happens a lot. We should just bet on it happening again.

 

[PAcuse]

yep...and that story happens a lot. We should just bet on it happening again.

Honestly if we can keep getting Dungey's or good QBs late who really cares.
Just need to do a better job closing.