Incoming...

[Palatine]

Kind of getting worried. Literally like more than half of our class didn't have a single other FBS offer...

Like Byron Jones?

 

[Excalibur]

Like Byron Jones?

Palatine is bad at math . . .

 

[Jimmy Serrano]

10 years ago we were the shiny new toy playing in a P conference. This is what happens when your trajectory is down, not up.

I believe we will show improvement and that will drive interest, but this is a process. My big concern with the process is finding kids who want to play a 3-3-5, particularly up front.

I’m not asking us to compete with multiple P5 programs for kids. I would like to be competing with other AAC schools, MAC schools, etc sprinkled in with occasional win vs a P5 school. Having a small number of these kids is fine. But when half your class is made up of kids with FCS offers don’t be surprised when we need miraculous comebacks to beat Maine and Holy Cross.

 

[Jimmy Serrano]

Like Byron Jones?

You forgot Lutrus and Beatty too.

 

[JMick]

You forgot Lutrus and Beatty too.

If Lutrus was playing today he'd be a 3* recruit and have all sorts of P5 offers. This state barely got recruited 10-15 years ago

 

[Hornet22]

Most of us concentrating on offers don't care much about stars and rankings.

You can talk about Edsall's first stint all you want, but many if not most of our best players had other offers, even if they weren't ranked by the recruiting services, and the availability of film to evaluate has only increased since then. It's pretty simple -- if multiple coaching staffs think a kid can play, it's more likely that the kid can actually play.

So then I guess RE doesn’t really believe these kids he’s signing can play and/or he’s just a horrible judge of talent now.
Here’s the irony in all of these statements. And be truthful with yourself. Everyone uses HUDL and we watch the same highlight tapes that every other coach sees right?
So riddle me this...When you watch the film on these guys do you believe what you see? Or do you need another coache’s opinion to validate what you’re seeing?
Maybe the sizes listed on these players isn’t real on their film. Or perhaps Maurisseau didn’t really run a 6.45 in his 55 meters. Or perhaps Gillespie didn’t really hurdle that kid while running the ball on that very athletic looking play. Or perhaps Kevin Jones doesn’t really hit hard or isn’t explosive as I tend to see on the film I watch. Or maybe Travis Jones isn’t really that big and athletic like what I saw on film and maybe Edsall is suffering from onset dementia when he said that it will be tough to handle him in the trenches. Or maybe Dan O was crazy or misleading for saying Krajewski can be special and maybe the balls I saw him throw weren’t real.
I don’t know guys. But when I turn on the film and watch these guys I see size, speed, athleticism and a commitment to the physicality of the game. Not sure what you see. But again, maybe you need to see someone else go after them in order to validate. Or perhaps when you watch them you see a bunch of slow, soft, small and awkward players?
Please share what you see.

 

[JMick]

So then I guess RE doesn’t really believe these kids he’s signing can play and/or he’s just a horrible judge of talent now.
Here’s the irony in all of these statements. And be truthful with yourself. Everyone uses HUDL and we watch the same highlight tapes that every other coach sees right?
So riddle me this...When you watch the film on these guys do you believe what you see? Or do you need another coache’s opinion to validate what you’re seeing?
Maybe the sizes listed on these players isn’t real on their film. Or perhaps Maurisseau didn’t really run a 6.45 in his 55 meters. Or perhaps Gillespie didn’t really hurdle that kid while running the ball on that very athletic looking play. Or perhaps Kevin Jones doesn’t really hit hard or isn’t explosive as I tend to see on the film I watch. Or maybe Travis Jones isn’t really that big and athletic like what I saw on film and maybe Edsall is suffering from onset dementia when he said that it will be tough to handle him in the trenches. Or maybe Dan O was crazy or misleading for saying Krajewski can be special and maybe the balls I saw him throw weren’t real.
I don’t know guys. But when I turn on the film and watch these guys I see size, speed, athleticism and a commitment to the physicality of the game. Not sure what you see. But again, maybe you need to see someone else go after them in order to validate. Or perhaps when you watch them you see a bunch of slow, soft, small and awkward players?
Please share what you see.

Coaches aren't watching the same HUDL tapes we are lol. They're pouring through entire games, not highlights

 

[Exit 4]

If Lutrus was playing today he'd be a 3* recruit and have all sorts of P5 offers. This state barely got recruited 10-15 years ago

Yes because there is a ton of HUDL tape for almost every program out there - so the world of trading highly controlled game tape passed to select coaches by high school coaches has broken down. Today Lutrus would have had a HUDL tape that attracted a ton of attention.

I just looked back at the last 5 years of 247 rankings for our players. The rankings /stars were more accurate than inaccurate. You have to go back to the class of 2013 to find gross inaccuracies - the more recent years are more accurate.

 

[Exit 4]

Coaches aren't watching the same HUDL tapes we are lol. They're pouring through entire games, not highlights

But they are watching highlights to decide if entire game tapes are worth their time. It starts with highlights.

And the point remains, tapes are readily available now in all regions unlike 10 years ago.

 

[Hornet22]

Coaches aren't watching the same HUDL tapes we are lol. They're pouring through entire games, not highlights

Yes they are. But the highlights draw them to the games.
If you haven’t gone to any of the invited Rivals camps then you don’t have a chance to get stars. No stars means no major programs are sniffing around you.
Doesn’t mean the guy can’t play.
Most of it starts with the rivals camps.

 

[UConnJim]

The biggest fallacy is that Edsall had a roster full of kids with no other FBS offers. People who bring up Lutrus and Beatty type of recruits selectively forget A) most of the roster had FBS offers and B) the kids who didn’t have any other offers more times than not didn’t contribute much (if anything) at all.

We are taking way more of these kids now than we did in Edsall’s first stint. It’s concerning.

I don't think you are right. I went back and looked at the 2003 to 2007 recruiting classes, 5 classes in all and looked at their listed offers from Rivals. Some kids were listed in 2 classes, so I only included them in the first class listed. And, many of the kids we were getting with P5 offers either didn't make it UConn (Anoai, Nixon, McClellan, Tinney, Pommels, Hicks), or were non-factors or left the team early (Fogarty, Teague, Dorcelus, Jeffrey, Miller, Apostolakos).

Here are the numbers for those classes (Note: from 2003 to 2007, I don't think FCS offers were listed that frequently, so many of the kids with no offers probably had FCS offers):

2003: 5 P5, 2 G5, 13 no offers
2004: 5 P5, 2 G5, 1 FCS, 19 no offers
2005: 10 P5, 3 G5, 2 FCS, 9 no offers
2006: 8 P5, 0 G5, 14 no offers
2007: 5 P5, 7 G5, 16 no offers

Total: 33 P5 offers, 14 G5 offers, 3 FCS offers, 71 no offers.

2017: 6 P5, 11 G5, 4 FCS, 2 no offers
2018: 5 P5, 7 G5, 5 FCS, 2 no offers

Total: 11 P5 offers, 18 G5 offers, 9 FCS offers, 4 no offers.

By %:

2003 to 2007: 27.3% P5 offers, 11.6% G5 offers, 2.5% FCS offers, 58.7% no offers.
2017 to 2018: 26.2% P5 offers, 42.8% G5 offers, 21.4% FCS offers, 9.5% no offers.

To my eyes, the recruits offers look very similar and, it is pretty clear, that Edsall 1.0 rosters were not loaded with players with FBS rosters.

One last point. Since 2007, UConn has had 24 players drafted. Of the 24:

6 had P5 offers (and a total of 9 offers) and 18 had no P5 offers.

UConn is a developmental football program and we need to recruit kids that we can project to be very good football players. Edsall had success doing this and it seems like Diaco totally failed at this.

 

[Hornet22]

But they are watching highlights to decide if entire game tapes are worth their time. It starts with highlights.

And the point remains, tapes are readily available now in all regions unlike 10 years ago.

Coaches buy the subscription from HUDL to get access to any game they want. I think they pay something like 20k.

 

[Hornet22]

I don't think you are right. I went back and looked at the 2003 to 2007 recruiting classes, 5 classes in all and looked at their listed offers from Rivals. Some kids were listed in 2 classes, so I only included them in the first class listed. And, many of the kids we were getting with P5 offers either didn't make it UConn (Anoai, Nixon, McClellan, Tinney, Pommels, Hicks), or were non-factors or left the team early (Fogarty, Teague, Dorcelus, Jeffrey, Miller, Apostolakos).

Here are the numbers for those classes (Note: from 2003 to 2007, I don't think FCS offers were listed that frequently, so many of the kids with no offers probably had FCS offers):

2003: 5 P5, 2 G5, 13 no offers
2004: 5 P5, 2 G5, 1 FCS, 19 no offers
2005: 10 P5, 3 G5, 2 FCS, 9 no offers
2006: 8 P5, 0 G5, 14 no offers
2007: 5 P5, 7 G5, 16 no offers

Total: 33 P5 offers, 14 G5 offers, 3 FCS offers, 71 no offers.

2017: 6 P5, 11 G5, 4 FCS, 2 no offers
2018: 5 P5, 7 G5, 5 FCS, 2 no offers

Total: 11 P5 offers, 18 G5 offers, 9 FCS offers, 4 no offers.

By %:

2003 to 2007: 27.3% P5 offers, 11.6% G5 offers, 2.5% FCS offers, 58.7% no offers.
2017 to 2018: 26.2% P5 offers, 42.8% G5 offers, 21.4% FCS offers, 9.5% no offers.

To my eyes, the recruits offers look very similar and, it is pretty clear, that Edsall 1.0 rosters were not loaded with players with FBS rosters.

One last point. Since 2007, UConn has had 24 players drafted. Of the 24:

6 had P5 offers (and a total of 9 offers) and 18 had no P5 offers.

UConn is a developmental football program and we need to recruit kids that we can project to be very good football players. Edsall had success doing this and it seems like Diaco totally failed at this.

Solid post.
Exactly. Sell UConn. If you come here you have a chance to grow academically and athletically. Edsall targets the kids who have upside. There is nothing wrong with that strategy.
There are so many players out there folks. I believe our program actually puts in work and evaluates talent.
I’m sure there are lots of players RE evaluates and doesn’t offer because he doesn’t think they have upside. It’s almost like some people feel he’s offering guys with no purpose.
You know how easy it is for Rutgers to offer a kid that BC just offered? It’s the lazy form of recruiting. “Well, BC or Pitt just offered so he must be good.” Not realizing that Pitt offered because someone else did.
Smh. All of these guys look at the same small pool of Rivals/Under Armor Camp kids.

 

[Guru13]

But they are watching highlights to decide if entire game tapes are worth their time. It starts with highlights.

And the point remains, tapes are readily available now in all regions unlike 10 years ago.

I remember when my brother Noel was being recruited by Uconn, they asked for more of his game film even though they saw his Highlight film. Usually to get full game access, the highschool coaches have to provide them to the recruiters.

 

[Hornet22]

Does anyone believe all of our incoming players were evaluated by all of these other schools that we wish offered them and were passed up?
Did Syracuse, BC, etc watch our guys game film and decide they weren’t good enough? Or did they watch our guys highlight tape and decide they weren’t good?
Or was it simply we won’t offer a kid unless others have kinda deal? And by the time they got the one from UConn there was already a bunch of other guys on the board ahead of them which meant an offer wasn’t worth it? Perhaps that’s why RE welcomed the early signing period so he can lock all of these guys in before his validation offer took effect and poachers would come looking? I believe a good portion of our skill guys would have gotten some offers after the early signing period as recruiting boards shifted and teams didn’t get their plan A.
The offer business is far more wharped than you think.

 

[Jimmy Serrano]

I don't think you are right. I went back and looked at the 2003 to 2007 recruiting classes, 5 classes in all and looked at their listed offers from Rivals. Some kids were listed in 2 classes, so I only included them in the first class listed. And, many of the kids we were getting with P5 offers either didn't make it UConn (Anoai, Nixon, McClellan, Tinney, Pommels, Hicks), or were non-factors or left the team early (Fogarty, Teague, Dorcelus, Jeffrey, Miller, Apostolakos).

Here are the numbers for those classes (Note: from 2003 to 2007, I don't think FCS offers were listed that frequently, so many of the kids with no offers probably had FCS offers):

2003: 5 P5, 2 G5, 13 no offers
2004: 5 P5, 2 G5, 1 FCS, 19 no offers
2005: 10 P5, 3 G5, 2 FCS, 9 no offers
2006: 8 P5, 0 G5, 14 no offers
2007: 5 P5, 7 G5, 16 no offers

Total: 33 P5 offers, 14 G5 offers, 3 FCS offers, 71 no offers.

2017: 6 P5, 11 G5, 4 FCS, 2 no offers
2018: 5 P5, 7 G5, 5 FCS, 2 no offers

Total: 11 P5 offers, 18 G5 offers, 9 FCS offers, 4 no offers.

By %:

2003 to 2007: 27.3% P5 offers, 11.6% G5 offers, 2.5% FCS offers, 58.7% no offers.
2017 to 2018: 26.2% P5 offers, 42.8% G5 offers, 21.4% FCS offers, 9.5% no offers.

To my eyes, the recruits offers look very similar and, it is pretty clear, that Edsall 1.0 rosters were not loaded with players with FBS rosters.

One last point. Since 2007, UConn has had 24 players drafted. Of the 24:

6 had P5 offers (and a total of 9 offers) and 18 had no P5 offers.

UConn is a developmental football program and we need to recruit kids that we can project to be very good football players. Edsall had success doing this and it seems like Diaco totally failed at this.

I know with 100% certainty that a lot of kids from the classes of 2006/2007 who are listed as having no offers held multiple offers from FBS programs.

People want to use recruiting info (offer lists) from over 10 years ago to prove a point while also talking about the advances in recruiting in today’s world. People who follow this recruiting nonsense don’t have the first idea how it works. They’ve turned it into their own little cottage industry. I know from first hand info that Isaiah Moore held multiple offers. Where does he fall in this list?

 

[Exit 4]

Does anyone believe all of our incoming players were evaluated by all of these other schools that we wish offered them and were passed up?
Did Syracuse, BC, etc watch our guys game film and decide they weren’t good enough? Or did they watch our guys highlight tape and decide they weren’t good?
Or was it simply we won’t offer a kid unless others have kinda deal? And by the time they got the one from UConn there was already a bunch of other guys on the board ahead of them which meant an offer wasn’t worth it? Perhaps that’s why RE welcomed the early signing period so he can lock all of these guys in before his validation offer took effect and poachers would come looking? I believe a good portion of our skill guys would have gotten some offers after the early signing period as recruiting boards shifted and teams didn’t get their plan A.
The offer business is far more wharped than you think.

Hey man, some of the dudes commenting have been watching this program closely for 20 years - so its not like this discussion is all new to them.

 

[UConnJim]

If Lutrus was playing today he'd be a 3* recruit and have all sorts of P5 offers. This state barely got recruited 10-15 years ago

I totally disagree. The best players in Connecticut have been recruited, it's just that the number of highly developed kids coming out of Connecticut is limited, so you don't get a lot of eyes looking at the players. Going back before the recruiting services, Connecticut kids were recruited. It seemed most went to either Syracuse (like Dwight Freeney) or BC (like Bill Romanowski), but others were going all over the country. Think about guys like Doug Dubose (Nebraska), Tony Ortiz (Nebraska), Jermelle Lewis (Iowa), Steve Young (BYU), Sandy Osiecki (Arizona St.), Andrew Pinnock (South Carolina), Edwin Esson (Missouri), Tony Elliot (Wisconsin), Pete Demerle (Notre Dame),...

Scott Lutrus was a great football player for UConn, but he was listed at 6'1" and 196 pounds as a recruit. That is pretty small for a linebacker and he needed to be developed which is why he was a 2* recruit with only a UConn offer.

 

[Hornet22]

Hey man, some of the dudes commenting have been watching this program closely for 20 years - so its not like this discussion is all new to them.

Got it.
But it just seems like the entire offer game gets lost on some people.
So many offers go out before a true evaluation is even done. And so many offers go out that later become non committable because an evaluation was done and it was determined that the player wasn’t good enough. But the offer still gets reported.
Whether someone offers you or not it all comes down to a coach actually watching your games. And I believe RE is offering guys he believes can be developed.
There’s a market for that.
You just have to have the pieces in place to develop the talent. That’s the true challenge.

 

[freescooter]

Edsall has always gone his own way with recruiting. Even recruiting “guru” Farrell mentioned that it is really hard to evaluate Edsall classes for that reason but he makes it work. Would I like 25 5* guys? Sure but I have some confidence that Edsall knows what he is doing. The list of guys is too long.

 

[UConnJim]

I know with 100% certainty that a lot of kids from the classes of 2006/2007 who are listed as having no offers held multiple offers from FBS programs.

People want to use recruiting info (offer lists) from over 10 years ago to prove a point while also talking about the advances in recruiting in today’s world. People who follow this recruiting nonsense don’t have the first idea how it works. They’ve turned it into their own little cottage industry. I know from first hand info that Isaiah Moore held multiple offers. Where does he fall in this list?

Maybe Moore did. But, he was listed as a 2* rated 5.0 on Rivals and 2* 0.7222 on 24/7. That is about as low as a high school recruit can be rated, so he was not a highly rated recruit. As we all know, the recruiting services can be wrong.

 

[freescooter]

The other thing about Edsall is that he isn’t recruiting for guys who will play in 2018 or 2019. If necessary he will use them like he did this year but he is looking for guys who will be ready as redshirt sophomores or even juniors. I’m sure it killed him to use a 265 pound freshman at tackle this year but it had to be done. In the future those kids will be 290-300 redshirt Frosh before they play.

 

[Hornet22]

I know with 100% certainty that a lot of kids from the classes of 2006/2007 who are listed as having no offers held multiple offers from FBS programs.

People want to use recruiting info (offer lists) from over 10 years ago to prove a point while also talking about the advances in recruiting in today’s world. People who follow this recruiting nonsense don’t have the first idea how it works. They’ve turned it into their own little cottage industry. I know from first hand info that Isaiah Moore held multiple offers. Where does he fall in this list?

Edsall has always gone his own way with recruiting. Even recruiting “guru” Farrell mentioned that it is really hard to evaluate Edsall classes for that reason but he makes it work. Would I like 25 5* guys? Sure but I have some confidence that Edsall knows what he is doing. The list of guys is too long.

So do I
Like I said in an earlier post. Seems like some posters feel Edsall is blindfolding himself and offering a kid. He’s evaluating just like you think other schools are doing and based on what HE wants he’s offering. If you trust RE then you believe in who he brings in. If you don’t trust his pedigree then you’re SOL and will be frustrated for years.

 

[Excalibur]

I know with 100% certainty that a lot of kids from the classes of 2006/2007 who are listed as having no offers held multiple offers from FBS programs.

People want to use recruiting info (offer lists) from over 10 years ago to prove a point while also talking about the advances in recruiting in today’s world. People who follow this recruiting nonsense don’t have the first idea how it works. They’ve turned it into their own little cottage industry. I know from first hand info that Isaiah Moore held multiple offers. Where does he fall in this list?

Rivals didn't have much competition back then, and the services weren't nearly as efficient at tracking offers then as they are now.

 

[Nextmanup]

The other thing about Edsall is that he isn’t recruiting for guys who will play in 2018 or 2019. If necessary he will use them like he did this year but he is looking for guys who will be ready as redshirt sophomores or even juniors. I’m sure it killed him to use a 265 pound freshman at tackle this year but it had to be done. In the future those kids will be 290-300 redshirt Frosh before they play.

Already some of those kids who were undersized have gained at least 10 pounds over the last 4 months....now that games are over and they are in the weight room I'm sure by spring they will be up another 10 if not more by the summer! All those will be ready to go plus what we have.. I think we are looking pretty good this year.