Toe

I'd say I'm still more cautiously optimistic, rather than over the moon like you'd normally be when you bring in a 5* guy. I've said before: for every Justin Fields in the transfer portal, there's ten Tate Martells. I'd be more excited about a guy who has actually shown he can play at a high level on a college field (even at a lower level). I still wanna know which position they're planning to have him play (or at least start out at). Any word on that?

*eyes glaze over, skips reading most of the thread*

January, to be exact. As I said in the post.

So did he drop his previous top three from January? Or were they non-commitable offers or something? Or just making sure he uses every OV he has available?

I think our O-line is a bit underrated TBH. They were absolutely atrocious most of the 2020 season, but at this point they're not one of my bigger concerns. Maybe not 'good', but maybe 'solidly average'. I think people tend to fixate on a few things (like Jurgens's snaps, which also weren't nearly as bad last year as they were in 2020) and miss the bigger picture there. I'm more worried about the WRs and RBs.

@Mavric Also we had an intern/grad assistant coaching QBs.

Here's another good look at quarterbacks and offenses. One chart sums up a lot for me... Have I said enough times yet that the problem with the offense isn't Martinez, it's the guys around him? https://www.fromtherumbleseat.com/2021/1/22/22243300/advanced-stats-season-review-part-2-offense-epa-cpoe-jeff-sims-success-efficiency

They pick QBR as the best metric. Last season, Martinez was in the top 25... https://www.espn.com/college-football/qbr

Oh, that's part of it, certainly. But my point is more that Solich never quite established himself as The Guy In Charge after Osborne left, and wasn't firmly in control. The Crouch vs Newcombe situation was handled poorly from a leadership standpoint, culminating in Solich driving up to Omaha and sucking up to Crouch. Supposedly, Osborne's other assistants still sorta looked at him as the RB coach, and didn't treat him with the same respect as they did Osborne, and started to slack off on things like recruiting. As mild-mannered as Osborne was, he didn't tolerate any BS from anyone on the team or his staff, and fundamentally I think that's one of the biggest areas where Solich was lacking.

Still on the roster, but apparently on the way out?

In hindsight, I consider chasing after Crouch to be the first sign that Solich was losing control of the team. Won that battle but lost the war. Pretty sure we don't have to worry about Frost chasing McCaffrey. But I do wish I could've been a fly on the wall when our coaches heard Luke was transferring again!

Speaking of 'would you take him back?' guys...

This ain't the 1980s, Boomers. You don't make more money by waiting around and hoping maybe the company will throw you a few extra scraps one day, you make more money by finding a company that'll pay you what you're worth. The ones who don't get left behind and taken advantage of.

Wake me up when he's on the roster.

Kinda surprised USC is still moving up so much in the post-Pete Carroll era.

@BartonHusker Why hello there, table from two pages ago!

I'd be willing to take him back... as a walk-on WR.

@Xmas32 Or he got all the right advice, but refused to listen to it...

It's a touchy subject with a lot of guys. Remember that we got Ameer because we were the only ones who were willing to give him a shot at RB. He had a ton of big-time offers, but they were recruiting him as an athlete that they'd put at DB or something. In Ameer's case, letting him stay at the position he really wanted to play worked out great. In Luke's case, not so much. And this is why I'm wary of Tyreke Johnson...

In McCaffrey's case, I think it's fair to question whether the coaches evaluated him well. I don't like second guessing that, though. He was a guy that 247 had rated 4* with a pretty decent offer list - if Frost mis-evaluated him, he's not the only one. The thing is, judging from his actions, I think it's safe to say that Luke is a guy who thinks he's better than he really is. Considering that, I suspect that his real problem might not be talent, but rather coachability. Maybe it's not that Verduzco couldn't coach him up, maybe it's more that Luke is so hard-headed that no one could get through to him. I remember when Gebbia left, his scholarship was 'burned' for the year because he'd went to classes, even though it was one freaking week. That was what really pissed me off about him - that scholarship could've been given to a walk-on who needed it.

So apparently somebody is trying to make a new recruiting site. That somebody being Shannon Terry, who created both Rivals and 247Sports. He's hired Ivan Maisel, who was ESPN.com's first college football writer until he was recently laid off. Chad Simmons, formerly of Rivals, is director of recruiting. Maybe Nate Clouse ends up there? Hey, we've kinda needed another voice since Scout went bye-bye. It's supposed to launch just before the season starts. https://www.on3.com/ https://www.nashvillepost.com/sports/sports-recruiting-website-on3-com-latest-venture-for-shannon-terry/article_f203bfe8-c351-11eb-8632-571311f9af42.html https://www.on3.com/news/ivan-maisel-new-job-is-to-make-on3-com-the-college-sports-destination-site/ https://www.on3.com/news/chad-simmons-joins-on3-com-as-director-of-recruting/

Well, Tyreke apparently didn't commit on the spot. On the other hand, there doesn't seem to be any news of him visiting other schools, so there's that...