Weekly Press Conference Tidbits (Tulane)
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UConnDan97
predicting undefeated seasons since 1983
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It's tough to say. Take Rugg for instance; he was the #40 player in all of Pennsylvania (3-star Rivals), and he played in the Big33 game. At the time, he looked like someone that would be battling for an OL spot in short order. Schafenacker, a kid who was a 3-star, #37 player in Florida, with offers from South Carolina, Cincy, and a few others, also looked like he would be a probable starter this year.
Are players like the ones I've mentioned "just one year away"? Or are they busts? I'm hoping it's the former. I'm hoping that they pick up the system and really compete for starting time in the very near future. But I can't fault the recruiting...
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I remember reading how Miami's fall under coker began because coaches were recruiting off rivals lists rather than seeing kids both in person, and on film. I understand football recruiting is inexact science but the players on the ol in edsalls last few recruiting classes either were not good or they weren't developed under the next regime at all. Schaffenakcer is not really in that category is he was part of Ps last class. Its the Rugg, Nwokeji, Hemingway, along with the center who just quit the team and the tackle that was switched to tight end and also left the team. Too many kids from that period contributed little. Cruz has been the only real contributor. So now we have some real inexperienced players being asked to do more than they may he ready for. Simply put way too many misses and not enough hits on the oline.
UConnDan97
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I'm leaning toward the statement you made that I highlighted in bold.
I don't buy the Rivals argument. The fact of the matter is that the Rivals / ESPN / whatever rankings, while not the be-all end-all of evaluating a kid's talent, are still indicative of a relative quality of player. There's a reason why the Alabama's of the world have 4 and 5 star kids, and why a UMass has a bunch of 1 and 2 star kids. Also, when you see that our kids were also getting scholly offers from schools like South Carolina, Penn State, etc., then you have to say, "Well, we were probably going after the right kids." And we had a bunch of unfortunate losses, from highly regarded McKee (I don't feel like going into his stuff), to Chasz Wright getting poached by Penn State, etc.
Our current linemen probably weren't developed. Plain and simple. We've heard some pretty dire stories about the lack of weight room activities under the previous regime, as well as some ridiculous over-scheming zone principles by a bunch of wallpaper. That will take time to un-do. Hopefully, next year's versions of these same players will be night-and-day from this year's versions...
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I get what you're saying bro, when it comes to Oak ( a true frosh ).... Maybe I'm just reading way too much into this... but back in during the Edsall era there was a difference (noticeable) in player sizes from year to year ( from fall roster to Spring roster to fall again )... we just don't seem like we're big enough up front to accomplish whatever it is our last HC and current one want to accomplish....
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Recruiting goes in cycles, within a calendar year, in a calendar year, along multiple years. Always cycles.
There was some discussion about recruiting going back to about 2008 or so in the offseason. 2007, was our strongest recruiting class to date IMO, backed up by the results on the field. I went through some basic numbers, based on the NLI recruiting cycle and process that led to signed NLI's, going all the way back to the 1999 season. We had two full cycles from 1999-2008, where we brought in very large classes - I don't remember the exact years, where we hit peaks, when the class size via NLI was at it's largest, followed by a predictable, decline in numbers until the next full cycle. Based on those numbers, just to keep the trend going, we needed the 2010-2011 recruiting cycle needed to produce another peak, high number in NLI recruits, to follow the trend. Edsall left after the Fiesta Bowl, with a recruiting class that had less than 10 players I think, Pasqualoni came in, kept essentially the same coaching staff in place, and scrambled to keep those few recruits and add a few more.
We've been playing catch up ever since, in just basic NLI cycle numbers, and that is most evident in the offensive line.
Instead of having a full roster of as close to 85 full scholarships that were recruited through a full NLI signing period process for the past 4 seasons, we've been going to bat with a roster, because we didn't hit that peak again, in Edsall's last recruiting cycle, and have had so much coaching turnover, we've essentially been playing football with a 1-AA cache of full NLI cycle year recruiting (approx. 65 scholarships) and have been filling in those other 20 or so scholarships annually with JUCO transfers, division 1 transfers, walk ons, and any other player we can find, rather than the NLI cycle process of high school recruiting.
This again, is nowhere more evident, than in the OL.
What was interesting about what was put together with the simple numbers, is that the attrition rates of recruits from 1999, right through 2013, was remarkably consistent. It seems skewed, recently, but that's just because Edsall's last recruiting classes were small, and Pasqualoni brought in large numbers of players in the past 3 seasons.
We simply needed to hit another peak with recruiting in basic NLI high school recruits that we didn't hit approx. 4 years ago. Edsall had to know it, what he was leaving behind. Pasqualoni was pumping in players left and right from anywhere and everywhere in his 2 full NLI cycles of recruiting, we had several players as transfers and juco's b/w 2011-2013, and stacking them up in the post graduate, and prep school circuit as well. It was a simple numbers catch up game. Diaco, is right on track, to fill up this next class, as another peak in that cycle, that started a decade ago.
What this program needs long term, more than anything, is a few years of consistent NLI cycle recruiting at a competent level to produce athletes for our level of competition, for a few seasons.
I will say this though, if we are building up recruiting big boards, by primarily identifying names off of websites like Rivals, Scout, 247 etc......we are screwed.
There was some discussion about recruiting going back to about 2008 or so in the offseason. 2007, was our strongest recruiting class to date IMO, backed up by the results on the field. I went through some basic numbers, based on the NLI recruiting cycle and process that led to signed NLI's, going all the way back to the 1999 season. We had two full cycles from 1999-2008, where we brought in very large classes - I don't remember the exact years, where we hit peaks, when the class size via NLI was at it's largest, followed by a predictable, decline in numbers until the next full cycle. Based on those numbers, just to keep the trend going, we needed the 2010-2011 recruiting cycle needed to produce another peak, high number in NLI recruits, to follow the trend. Edsall left after the Fiesta Bowl, with a recruiting class that had less than 10 players I think, Pasqualoni came in, kept essentially the same coaching staff in place, and scrambled to keep those few recruits and add a few more.
We've been playing catch up ever since, in just basic NLI cycle numbers, and that is most evident in the offensive line.
Instead of having a full roster of as close to 85 full scholarships that were recruited through a full NLI signing period process for the past 4 seasons, we've been going to bat with a roster, because we didn't hit that peak again, in Edsall's last recruiting cycle, and have had so much coaching turnover, we've essentially been playing football with a 1-AA cache of full NLI cycle year recruiting (approx. 65 scholarships) and have been filling in those other 20 or so scholarships annually with JUCO transfers, division 1 transfers, walk ons, and any other player we can find, rather than the NLI cycle process of high school recruiting.
This again, is nowhere more evident, than in the OL.
What was interesting about what was put together with the simple numbers, is that the attrition rates of recruits from 1999, right through 2013, was remarkably consistent. It seems skewed, recently, but that's just because Edsall's last recruiting classes were small, and Pasqualoni brought in large numbers of players in the past 3 seasons.
We simply needed to hit another peak with recruiting in basic NLI high school recruits that we didn't hit approx. 4 years ago. Edsall had to know it, what he was leaving behind. Pasqualoni was pumping in players left and right from anywhere and everywhere in his 2 full NLI cycles of recruiting, we had several players as transfers and juco's b/w 2011-2013, and stacking them up in the post graduate, and prep school circuit as well. It was a simple numbers catch up game. Diaco, is right on track, to fill up this next class, as another peak in that cycle, that started a decade ago.
What this program needs long term, more than anything, is a few years of consistent NLI cycle recruiting at a competent level to produce athletes for our level of competition, for a few seasons.
I will say this though, if we are building up recruiting big boards, by primarily identifying names off of websites like Rivals, Scout, 247 etc......we are screwed.
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@UConnDan97 , eh there is something Diaco said in the spring that really stood out as one of the few moments where it felt he wasn't speaking in parables. He said how is it possible, that after 3-4, years in the program, you look like you did when you came in as a freshman. Iregardless of coaching, it SEEMS kids didn't put the work in. As far as rivals/recruiting sites. Sure the high four and five star kids are close to can't miss prospects, but who cares we will not be recruiting in this pools for decades if ever. There is very little difference between the 2 and low three star kid which is where we recruit and where coaches doing their own evaluations is clutch. Scott Lutrus, and Lawrence Wilson were 2 star kids with no other offers. Wilson was from Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and the fact that he has played in the NFL leads me to believe that he was good enough to play at Alabama had they chosen to recruit him. Our lbs right now aren't bad, all three star and above with other bcs offers, talking about Vann, Ashiru, and Stewart, I don't think they're really close in ability to Lutrus, Wilson, Lloyd, and So Moore.
Difton had a slew of offers and a four star rating and he pretty much sucked.
I don't want us to try and emulate Bamas recruiting approach cause we can't. We can however do what Boise State, and Kansas State did when they were coming up, but some of that is style of play.
Difton had a slew of offers and a four star rating and he pretty much sucked.
I don't want us to try and emulate Bamas recruiting approach cause we can't. We can however do what Boise State, and Kansas State did when they were coming up, but some of that is style of play.
UConnDan97
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I never said that we were recruiting by emulating what Bama does, as you and I both know that we can't and that it wouldn't be successful. What I'm saying is that the talent on OL is no different than in years past (by your own admission of 2 and 3 star players being somewhat equivalent). There is no drop-off in talent from our successful years.
As for the weight room stuff; if I am to believe Diaco (and there's no reason not to), the ENTIRE TEAM was lacking in that department. Enough so that we replaced our strength coach. Enough so that we were talking about how low our kids' vitamin D levels were. And from that standpoint, I blame the previous coaching staff. Kids will do what you tell them they need to do to see the field, period. It was clearly not a priority from a coaching perspective, and now it is again. I suspect that our OLine woes are much closer to getting solved than what most other people think...
Same thing with John Hicks. Another Big 33 LB, loved his tape. Still hasn't really seen the field.
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Not true, he's a RS SO third year player, that has been playing kick coverages for 2 seasons, and is in line to be on the game day depth chart as an upperclassman. LB is one of the position groups on this roster where we are stacked up well vertically and horizontally so to say. We still have no seniors, but that's because the one that should still be playing as a senior declared for the NFL early, which I thought was a mistake way back when,, and still think was a mistake.
Again seeing the field on special teams in 2 years to me is barely seeing the field, when True Frosh Diggs, Carrezola and RS frosh Junior Joseph have been getting snaps on defense from day 1. Joseph day 1 after his RS. Hicks is "in line" as you say which would be year 4. He better be ready by then.
Also, in reference to Rugg, you're not going to see an OL on special teams. IMO, Hicks and Rugg are at the same point. Big 33 guys that haven't been able to crack the rotation.
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