Coach Watson shares his process of how he evaluates QB recruits

[Nexus]

A few football topics while I take a break from answering pro-Adrian Fiala e-mails:

 

* I never learn. Here I had this image of college coaches scouring recruiting Web sites (Rivals.com and Scout.com) to come up with prospects to target.

 

Maybe it's easy to overlook the foresight and elbow grease required in good recruiting.

 

Exhibit A: In Nebraska offensive coordinator Shawn Watson's initial video evaluation of a quarterback prospect, Watson doesn't even want to know the player's name, let alone his star ranking or reputation among recruiting analysts.

 

"I just want to evaluate what I see on film, and nothing else," Watson said. "We keep our own lists of prospects. I always try to work at least one year in advance. Like in our elite quarterback camp, my No. 1 objective is to get all the top sophomores in here. Because it exposes them to us, to our university, me to them and them to me. So that's objective No. 1.

 

"I'm actually well into the process for the next (2011) class. We've laid out a handful of possible offers for who I think are exceptional kids. And I don't know what kind of star rankings they're going to get and don't care.

 

"I don't want to be tainted by all that stuff."

 

The 50-year-old Watson obviously trusts his instincts.

 

"After I evaluate the film, I do a rank and rate," he said. "Pretty soon I come up with a list of, let's say, my top 10 guys. I'll take those top 10 guys, with my opinions, to the staff table."

 

The offensive staff works together to decide which quarterbacks merit scholarship offers. That's when head coach Bo Pelini gets involved.

 

"I'll take those to Bo and let Bo see what we feel — what I feel, in conjunction with the (offensive) staff — in terms of what kids we want to offer, and he puts his 51 percent on it," Watson said.

 

Watson continually cross-checks himself with the staff, including Pelini. What's more, Watson seeks input from "some guys I really trust in the business," with California quarterback guru Bob Johnson topping the list. Johnson is well-known in recruiting circles for his work with the national Elite 11 quarterbacks program.

 

"He and I see the quarterback position a lot the same," Watson said.

 

* By the way, is college football recruiting season over yet? How many more days before national signing day, when we can cease trying to predict the whims of 18-year-olds? The hype machines are working overtime. "Ultimately, as a coach, you use those services (such as Rivals.com and Scout.com) as just another tool, almost like a database," Husker defensive coordinator Carl Pelini said. "But you can never, and there are coaches guilty of it as well as fans, play to the hype around certain players who are highly rated."

 

LINK

[ESPY]

Thank you Nexus. This is incredibly insightful, and to be honest, exactly what I was hoping to see from our coaches. These guys definitely have experience, so they should trust their instincts & their connections. They know what they're looking for because they have a system in place. I think the most important part is that our coaches thoroughly discuss recruits amongst themselves, which further proves they're all on the same page & heading in the same direction with this program.

[kchusker_chris]

"Ultimately, as a coach, you use those services (such as Rivals.com and Scout.com) as just another tool, almost like a database," Husker defensive coordinator Carl Pelini said. "But you can never, and there are coaches guilty of it as well as fans, play to the hype around certain players who are highly rated."

 

I'm not sure of what he means in regards to "play to the hype". I'm assuming he means you shouldn't jump on the bandwagon just because Rivals determines a kid is 4-5 stars. I just wonder what they do in regards to Owa - because in this case our coaches seem to think Rivals has it right.

 

Do they recruit Owa differently than a Kenny Bell? I would assume so. You have to be able to fan these kids' ego a little. Tell them how great they are, 5 stars, etc, etc. To me that is "playing to the type".

[Nexus]

"Ultimately, as a coach, you use those services (such as Rivals.com and Scout.com) as just another tool, almost like a database," Husker defensive coordinator Carl Pelini said. "But you can never, and there are coaches guilty of it as well as fans, play to the hype around certain players who are highly rated."

 

I'm not sure of what he means in regards to "play to the hype". I'm assuming he means you shouldn't jump on the bandwagon just because Rivals determines a kid is 4-5 stars. I just wonder what they do in regards to Owa - because in this case our coaches seem to think Rivals has it right.

 

Do they recruit Owa differently than a Kenny Bell? I would assume so. You have to be able to fan these kids' ego a little. Tell them how great they are, 5 stars, etc, etc. To me that is "playing to the type".

 

^^ That's how I interpreted it too. Don't feed into the kid's ego. Treat him like you would any other player, regardless of star status. There are no guarantees that he'll live up to the hype, so humble him if you must.

[kchusker_chris]

Which is a nice approach - but you know that 95% of these 5* recruits, and a large portion of the 4* recruits are far from humble. They've been the top dawgs wherever they were for 2-3 years now. They get the girls they want, they get the grades they want, they play football. Then, they take 5 official visits where they are taken out for $300 in prime rib and lobster and we aren't suposed to "play into the hype"?

 

I personally think you do feed their ego on the recruiting trail. Urban Meyer has dreams about kids playing for him. Who knows what Kiffin tells them. You get em in the door...then you humble them in practice. It's a fine line to walk between trying to not "play to the hype" and also not coming across as "you haven't played a down in college football, nothing you've done to this point matters until you succeed in college" (or some variation of that)

 

I'd rather see us make the sale, then give them a dose of reality in the fall. You don't have to convince them they are Jesus, but maybe that they have already worked a couple miracles and are on their way to sainthood. These 5*'s think they are different - they know they are different. How many schools did Tyler Evans have flying him around the nation for strip club visits and steak dinners? Gotta play into that a little to win the game...everyone else is.

[Vince from ShamWOW]

Watson trusts his recruiting methods

 

A few football topics while I take a break from answering pro-Adrian Fiala e-mails:

 

* I never learn. Here I had this image of college coaches scouring recruiting Web sites (Rivals.com and Scout.com) to come up with prospects to target.

 

Maybe it’s easy to overlook the foresight and elbow grease required in good recruiting.

 

Exhibit A: In Nebraska offensive coordinator Shawn Watson’s initial video evaluation of a quarterback prospect, Watson doesn’t even want to know the player’s name, let alone his star ranking or reputation among recruiting analysts.

 

“I just want to evaluate what I see on film, and nothing else,” Watson said. “We keep our own lists of prospects. I always try to work at least one year in advance. Like in our elite quarterback camp, my No. 1 objective is to get all the top sophomores in here. Because it exposes them to us, to our university, me to them and them to me. So that’s objective No. 1.

 

“I’m actually well into the process for the next (2011) class. We’ve laid out a handful of possible offers for who I think are exceptional kids. And I don’t know what kind of star rankings they’re going to get and don’t care.

 

“I don’t want to be tainted by all that stuff.”

 

The 50-year-old Watson obviously trusts his instincts.

 

“After I evaluate the film, I do a rank and rate,” he said. “Pretty soon I come up with a list of, let’s say, my top 10 guys. I’ll take those top 10 guys, with my opinions, to the staff table.”

 

The offensive staff works together to decide which quarterbacks merit scholarship offers. That’s when head coach Bo Pelini gets involved.

 

“I’ll take those to Bo and let Bo see what we feel — what I feel, in conjunction with the (offensive) staff — in terms of what kids we want to offer, and he puts his 51 percent on it,” Watson said.

 

Watson continually cross-checks himself with the staff, including Pelini. What’s more, Watson seeks input from “some guys I really trust in the business,” with California quarterback guru Bob Johnson topping the list. Johnson is well-known in recruiting circles for his work with the national Elite 11 quarterbacks program.

 

“He and I see the quarterback position a lot the same,” Watson said.

 

* By the way, is college football recruiting season over yet? How many more days before national signing day, when we can cease trying to predict the whims of 18-year-olds? The hype machines are working overtime. “Ultimately, as a coach, you use those services (such as Rivals.com and Scout.com) as just another tool, almost like a database,” Husker defensive coordinator Carl Pelini said. “But you can never, and there are coaches guilty of it as well as fans, play to the hype around certain players who are highly rated.”

[knapplc]

There's a thread about this article in Recruiting.

 

I don't have a problem with his methods; I'd be shocked if he did it any other way. You absolutely cannot abrogate your responsibility to do your own homework. That's your own work and nobody else's.

 

The key question is, how accurate is his analysis of each kid's potential?

[HuckFoley]

I liked the article and think it's a smart way to approach recruiting.

 

Sometimes though, you don't have to re-invent the wheel.

 

What I mean by that is, others have also done their analysis, and usually people as a society or group, get it right most of the time.

[dylan]

Which is a nice approach - but you know that 95% of these 5* recruits, and a large portion of the 4* recruits are far from humble. They've been the top dawgs wherever they were for 2-3 years now. They get the girls they want, they get the grades they want, they play football. Then, they take 5 official visits where they are taken out for $300 in prime rib and lobster and we aren't suposed to "play into the hype"?

 

I personally think you do feed their ego on the recruiting trail. Urban Meyer has dreams about kids playing for him. Who knows what Kiffin tells them. You get em in the door...then you humble them in practice. It's a fine line to walk between trying to not "play to the hype" and also not coming across as "you haven't played a down in college football, nothing you've done to this point matters until you succeed in college" (or some variation of that)

 

I'd rather see us make the sale, then give them a dose of reality in the fall. You don't have to convince them they are Jesus, but maybe that they have already worked a couple miracles and are on their way to sainthood. These 5*'s think they are different - they know they are different. How many schools did Tyler Evans have flying him around the nation for strip club visits and steak dinners? Gotta play into that a little to win the game...everyone else is.

 

i have no problem with telling a kid how you see his potential and exactly what kind of impact you expect him to make, but i don't agree with playing into the hype or promising them the world just to make the sale. that is just begging for a toxic atmosphere around your team and we all saw how that can turn out.

 

I liked the article and think it's a smart way to approach recruiting.

 

Sometimes though, you don't have to re-invent the wheel.

 

What I mean by that is, others have also done their analysis, and usually people as a society or group, get it right most of the time.

 

 

i would just as soon have our professional football coaches grading prospects than "recruiting experts" that probably never played or coached at a level above high school.

[schuhbdoo]

Which is a nice approach - but you know that 95% of these 5* recruits, and a large portion of the 4* recruits are far from humble. They've been the top dawgs wherever they were for 2-3 years now. They get the girls they want, they get the grades they want, they play football. Then, they take 5 official visits where they are taken out for $300 in prime rib and lobster and we aren't suposed to "play into the hype"?

 

I personally think you do feed their ego on the recruiting trail. Urban Meyer has dreams about kids playing for him. Who knows what Kiffin tells them. You get em in the door...then you humble them in practice. It's a fine line to walk between trying to not "play to the hype" and also not coming across as "you haven't played a down in college football, nothing you've done to this point matters until you succeed in college" (or some variation of that)

 

I'd rather see us make the sale, then give them a dose of reality in the fall. You don't have to convince them they are Jesus, but maybe that they have already worked a couple miracles and are on their way to sainthood. These 5*'s think they are different - they know they are different. How many schools did Tyler Evans have flying him around the nation for strip club visits and steak dinners? Gotta play into that a little to win the game...everyone else is.

 

i have no problem with telling a kid how you see his potential and exactly what kind of impact you expect him to make, but i don't agree with playing into the hype or promising them the world just to make the sale. that is just begging for a toxic atmosphere around your team and we all saw how that can turn out.

 

I liked the article and think it's a smart way to approach recruiting.

 

Sometimes though, you don't have to re-invent the wheel.

 

What I mean by that is, others have also done their analysis, and usually people as a society or group, get it right most of the time.

 

 

i would just as soon have our professional football coaches grading prospects than "recruiting experts" that probably never played or coached at a level above high school.

 

 

 

This is the coach that coach Watson has a relationship with and he asks for opinions when coach Watson is doing his due diligence.

 

http://www.usctrojans.com/blog/2010/01/johnson-named-coach-of-the-year.html