Why recruiting matters, and the importance of signing day

[GBRFAN]

 

Congrats to the new recruits and the coaching staff for closing strong. Still need more elite players but for year 1 ill take this class and be happy!

finished 25th, about what i figured, but still not nearly good enough, michigan and ohio state kicked our ass!

 

 

That was a bold statement. Did you expect it to be the opposite. There are only 3 schools that can say they did better then those teams (all coming from the talent rich area of the SE). We can say the same to Iowa and Minn - we also beat Wisc. Those are schools that we need to dominate first. Mich and Ohio St are currently on a different tier. Let's bring that discussion up after next season leading into the signing of the 2017 class.

[Hunter94]

 

 

Congrats to the new recruits and the coaching staff for closing strong. Still need more elite players but for year 1 ill take this class and be happy!

finished 25th, about what i figured, but still not nearly good enough, michigan and ohio state kicked our ass!

 

 

That was a bold statement. Did you expect it to be the opposite. There are only 3 schools that can say they did better then those teams (all coming from the talent rich area of the SE). We can say the same to Iowa and Minn - we also beat Wisc. Those are schools that we need to dominate first. Mich and Ohio St are currently on a different tier. Let's bring that discussion up after next season leading into the signing of the 2017 class.

 

while i agree, we even got outed by Penn State.........not good,

[Guy Chamberlin]

 

 

 

 

 

 

There are rare QB talents like those mentioned above, and then there are the guys who are just really competent, consistent and don't make mistakes. Those guys can win you championships, too. Like the QBs at Alabama whose names you forget.

Helps when the rest of the roster is made up of 4 and 5* guys--2-3 deep.

 

 

Alabama has signed... 15 elite (4 and 5 star) players today. 5 of the fifteen... are 5 star players.

 

Florida State has signed 19 elite (4 and 5 star) players today.

 

Ohio State has signed 17 elite (4 and 5 star) players today.

 

Michigan has signed 16 elite (4 and 5 star) players today.

 

Clemson has signed 13 elite (4 and 5 star) players today. 3 are 5 star players.

 

You get the picture.

 

 

What was Michigan's recruiting class ranked last year?...50th.... and they signed only 6 elite players last year.

 

That's the difference hiring an elite-winning-great recruitng coach makes.

 

 

And there are far fewer elite-winning-great-recruiting coaches than there are 5 star players.

 

Harbaugh was the only one last year, and he was only going to Michigan.

 

 

Uhhh... you forgot Tom Herman at Houston.

 

11 - 1 ranked 8th in the nation.

 

Except Herman rejected offers and stayed at Houston.

 

 

 

We're talking about great coaches. Herman achieved greatness in his first year as a head coach. That doesn't happen very often.

 

So... of course... he got offers... and he's going to get a lot more offers... that's what happens when you prove yourself to be a great coach.

 

 

Okay. I'll go first.

 

The trick is grabbing Tom Herman a year ago, when he had zero victories as a head coach, while Jim Harbaugh had turned around entire programs at San Diego State, Stanford and the San Francisco 49ers. That's why I listed Harbaugh as the only elite, no-brainer head coach candidate last year, and the only college that could have kept him out of the NFL was Michigan.

 

Herman was a solid choice at the time and looks even better in hindsight. But that's what we're dealing with here: hindsight. Had Nebraska announced Tom Herman as its HC, it would have still sent people to Google, where some would no doubt have been alarmed to see we were hiring yet another coordinator off a national championship team, who had yet to prove anything as a head coach.

 

Not many coaches achieve greatness in their first year, and fewer still can maintain it. Other coaches have slower, bumpier roads to greatness.

 

Leaving Nick Saban, Urban Meyer and Jim Harbaugh in the position to get virtually any recruit they covet, while David Shaw grabs the smartest ones for Stanford.

 

Let's see if Riley can coach up a #25 recruiting class into an actual Top 25 ranking, and build from there. That story isn't written yet.

[cornographic]

 

 

There are rare QB talents like those mentioned above, and then there are the guys who are just really competent, consistent and don't make mistakes. Those guys can win you championships, too. Like the QBs at Alabama whose names you forget.

Helps when the rest of the roster is made up of 4 and 5* guys--2-3 deep.

 

 

Alabama has signed... 15 elite (4 and 5 star) players today. 5 of the fifteen... are 5 star players.

 

Florida State has signed 19 elite (4 and 5 star) players today.

 

Ohio State has signed 17 elite (4 and 5 star) players today.

 

Michigan has signed 16 elite (4 and 5 star) players today.

 

Clemson has signed 13 elite (4 and 5 star) players today. 3 are 5 star players.

 

You get the picture.

 

 

What was Michigan's recruiting class ranked last year?...50th.... and they signed only 6 elite players last year.

 

That's the difference hiring an elite-winning-great recruitng coach makes.

 

You're singing to the choir. FSU's class is pretty ridiculous. Well, if you are taking a swipe @ Riley, I will reiterate that I am pro Riley so far and feel he's done a fairly good job recruiting this year considering he's new, not a "sexy" name, and the problems w NE's geographic locale. All the schools that are recruiting big time classes are in recruiting hotbed areas and generally have a better and more recent name brand than NE. I wouldn't want Psycho Harbaugh, even though he's a winner, he's also, well, psycho. AND, I don't think he's a better coach than Riley. In fact, didn't Riley beat Harbaugh a time or 2 in the PAC? Riley is really a perfect fit for NE in terms of his persona, etc, and I'm sure if we keep winning and get to the CC regularly, our recruiting will improve. We need to get into the double digits w 4* recruits to get back into top 10 contention on a regular basis. However, being that QB is such a key position, if POB pans out as billed, he may be the "X factor" over the next few years in accelerating the whole process of NE success.

 

Another thing I like about Riley and Langsdorf is that I don't think there is any stage too big for them, especially Riley. He's done about everything as a coach and coached and beaten some of the bigger name guys(Carroll, Whittingham, Mora , Dantonio, Kiffin, Strong, Sark, Harbaugh). The sideline seems fully in control, calm/cool/collected, with him at the helm. A stark contrast from the last guy. If Riley keeps winning and getting NE back in the discussion, I'd say it was one of the best, most unexpected, coaching hires of any sport in recent memory and Husker Fans will all be smiling in a big way.

 

All you haters out there. Well, it's easy to hate and especially after a 6-7 showing(which could have easily been 9-4/10-3). How about do something "radical" and throw your support behind these coaches? The coaching carrossel is a bad thing and really, who else out there is any better other than, say, Urbs or Saban? Fuente, Hermen, McElwain, yeah, good coaches, but I don't think they are better than Riles and they have the good fortune of being in recruiting hotbed areas. I will also note that Paxton Lynch would make ANY coach look great, just as Bridgewater made C Strong look great, Cam Made Chizik look great, etc As to Hermen, the guy is good, but Houston is considered the #3 area for recruiting in the country, if I recall correctly.

 

As it stands now, I think we'll be alright. If we go anything worse than 8-4 next year, then, sure, cast your aspersions at me then.

[hskrpwr13]

I agree that Riley seems to have a vision and 2017 recruiting will hopefully be even better, but lets not understate it. I don't think anyone expected NU to "win" against UM/OSU in recruiting, but NU got a 70pt/400+ rushing yards beat down. I don't expect us to ever have a higher class than Harbaugh/Meyer, but I'd prefer it not be THAT one-sided (not to mention other East teams).

[cornographic]

I agree that Riley seems to have a vision and 2017 recruiting will hopefully be even better, but lets not understate it. I don't think anyone expected NU to "win" against UM/OSU in recruiting, but NU got a 70pt/400+ rushing yards beat down. I don't expect us to ever have a higher class than Harbaugh/Meyer, but I'd prefer it not be THAT one-sided (not to mention other East teams).

Its' going to be hard to compete in recruiting with MI and tOSU, well, forever. They just have certain advantages: big name coaches, bigger brands, better recruting areas. State of OH is like #4 recruiting area in the country. Both OSU and MI get alot of their players from OH. Bo was in there some, maybe Riley will get back into OH as well. Riley seems to be working the CA connection real well, though, and that's just fine by me. I'd be willing to sacrifice OH for CA(L.A.) any day of the week. But it's going to take at least 2-3 years to get to double digits in 4* if it even happens. Sparty has been ave ~11 wins/per for some time and this is the 1st year maybe ever that they have gotten double digits in 4* recruits w 10. Usually, they have recruited below us. If we can even get 6-8 of those guys/year it will be a significant jump for us, and still leave us well behind the Big Boys. Riley gotta coach 'em up, that's what he's paid for.

 

I think if we can win the division 2-3 times out of 5 years, and conference, say, 2-3 times every 10 years, well, that's fairly realistic. The world of CFB is MUCH more competive these days, and I think we have to accept that reality. When a guy can roll out of bed and go to TCU or Baylor, or Houston, and be close to family, well, why would he want to come to NE?

[cm husker]

 

 

 

 

 

 

There are rare QB talents like those mentioned above, and then there are the guys who are just really competent, consistent and don't make mistakes. Those guys can win you championships, too. Like the QBs at Alabama whose names you forget.

Helps when the rest of the roster is made up of 4 and 5* guys--2-3 deep.

Alabama has signed... 15 elite (4 and 5 star) players today. 5 of the fifteen... are 5 star players.

 

Florida State has signed 19 elite (4 and 5 star) players today.

 

Ohio State has signed 17 elite (4 and 5 star) players today.

 

Michigan has signed 16 elite (4 and 5 star) players today.

 

Clemson has signed 13 elite (4 and 5 star) players today. 3 are 5 star players.

 

You get the picture.

 

 

What was Michigan's recruiting class ranked last year?...50th.... and they signed only 6 elite players last year.

 

That's the difference hiring an elite-winning-great recruitng coach makes.

You're singing to the choir. FSU's class is pretty ridiculous. Well, if you are taking a swipe @ Riley, I will reiterate that I am pro Riley so far and feel he's done a fairly good job recruiting this year considering he's new, not a "sexy" name, and the problems w NE's geographic locale. All the schools that are recruiting big time classes are in recruiting hotbed areas and generally have a better and more recent name brand than NE. I wouldn't want Psycho Harbaugh, even though he's a winner, he's also, well, psycho. AND, I don't think he's a better coach than Riley. In fact, didn't Riley beat Harbaugh a time or 2 in the PAC? Riley is really a perfect fit for NE in terms of his persona, etc, and I'm sure if we keep winning and get to the CC regularly, our recruiting will improve. We need to get into the double digits w 4* recruits to get back into top 10 contention on a regular basis. However, being that QB is such a key position, if POB pans out as billed, he may be the "X factor" over the next few years in accelerating the whole process of NE success.

 

Another thing I like about Riley and Langsdorf is that I don't think there is any stage too big for them, especially Riley. He's done about everything as a coach and coached and beaten some of the bigger name guys(Carroll, Whittingham, Mora , Dantonio, Kiffin, Strong, Sark, Harbaugh). The sideline seems fully in control, calm/cool/collected, with him at the helm. A stark contrast from the last guy. If Riley keeps winning and getting NE back in the discussion, I'd say it was one of the best, most unexpected, coaching hires of any sport in recent memory and Husker Fans will all be smiling in a big way.

 

All you haters out there. Well, it's easy to hate and especially after a 6-7 showing(which could have easily been 9-4/10-3). How about do something "radical" and throw your support behind these coaches? The coaching carrossel is a bad thing and really, who else out there is any better other than, say, Urbs or Saban? Fuente, Hermen, McElwain, yeah, good coaches, but I don't think they are better than Riles and they have the good fortune of being in recruiting hotbed areas. I will also note that Paxton Lynch would make ANY coach look great, just as Bridgewater made C Strong look great, Cam Made Chizik look great, etc As to Hermen, the guy is good, but Houston is considered the #3 area for recruiting in the country, if I recall correctly.

 

As it stands now, I think we'll be alright. If we go anything worse than 8-4 next year, then, sure, cast your aspersions at me then.

I'm not going to bother touching most of that post, but I'll just say that 8-4 against next seasons schedule would be awful.

[cornographic]

 

 

 

 

There are rare QB talents like those mentioned above, and then there are the guys who are just really competent, consistent and don't make mistakes. Those guys can win you championships, too. Like the QBs at Alabama whose names you forget.

Helps when the rest of the roster is made up of 4 and 5* guys--2-3 deep.

Alabama has signed... 15 elite (4 and 5 star) players today. 5 of the fifteen... are 5 star players.

 

Florida State has signed 19 elite (4 and 5 star) players today.

 

Ohio State has signed 17 elite (4 and 5 star) players today.

 

Michigan has signed 16 elite (4 and 5 star) players today.

 

Clemson has signed 13 elite (4 and 5 star) players today. 3 are 5 star players.

 

You get the picture.

 

 

What was Michigan's recruiting class ranked last year?...50th.... and they signed only 6 elite players last year.

 

That's the difference hiring an elite-winning-great recruitng coach makes.

You're singing to the choir. FSU's class is pretty ridiculous. Well, if you are taking a swipe @ Riley, I will reiterate that I am pro Riley so far and feel he's done a fairly good job recruiting this year considering he's new, not a "sexy" name, and the problems w NE's geographic locale. All the schools that are recruiting big time classes are in recruiting hotbed areas and generally have a better and more recent name brand than NE. I wouldn't want Psycho Harbaugh, even though he's a winner, he's also, well, psycho. AND, I don't think he's a better coach than Riley. In fact, didn't Riley beat Harbaugh a time or 2 in the PAC? Riley is really a perfect fit for NE in terms of his persona, etc, and I'm sure if we keep winning and get to the CC regularly, our recruiting will improve. We need to get into the double digits w 4* recruits to get back into top 10 contention on a regular basis. However, being that QB is such a key position, if POB pans out as billed, he may be the "X factor" over the next few years in accelerating the whole process of NE success.

 

Another thing I like about Riley and Langsdorf is that I don't think there is any stage too big for them, especially Riley. He's done about everything as a coach and coached and beaten some of the bigger name guys(Carroll, Whittingham, Mora , Dantonio, Kiffin, Strong, Sark, Harbaugh). The sideline seems fully in control, calm/cool/collected, with him at the helm. A stark contrast from the last guy. If Riley keeps winning and getting NE back in the discussion, I'd say it was one of the best, most unexpected, coaching hires of any sport in recent memory and Husker Fans will all be smiling in a big way.

 

All you haters out there. Well, it's easy to hate and especially after a 6-7 showing(which could have easily been 9-4/10-3). How about do something "radical" and throw your support behind these coaches? The coaching carrossel is a bad thing and really, who else out there is any better other than, say, Urbs or Saban? Fuente, Hermen, McElwain, yeah, good coaches, but I don't think they are better than Riles and they have the good fortune of being in recruiting hotbed areas. I will also note that Paxton Lynch would make ANY coach look great, just as Bridgewater made C Strong look great, Cam Made Chizik look great, etc As to Hermen, the guy is good, but Houston is considered the #3 area for recruiting in the country, if I recall correctly.

 

As it stands now, I think we'll be alright. If we go anything worse than 8-4 next year, then, sure, cast your aspersions at me then.

I'm not going to bother touching most of that post, but I'll just say that 8-4 against next seasons schedule would be awful.

 

Well, unless TA improves in a big way, 8-4 might be pretty realistic. The sched is tougher next year--e.g., play @ tOSU, for one, and OR. We also lost MC and VV which leaves a fairly big hole in the DL.

[Guy Chamberlin]

Good point. 20 years ago it would have been laughable to think Nebraska was competing with TCU, Baylor and Houston for coaches, players or respect.

 

We had a bigger slice of a smaller pie back then.

 

At the moment we still have a bigger stadium, better facilities and a richer history, so we gotta make that matter while we can.

 

If we're really serious, we'll start recruiting hotter co-eds.

[cornographic]

Good point. 20 years ago it would have been laughable to think Nebraska was competing with TCU, Baylor and Houston for coaches, players or respect.

 

We had a bigger slice of a smaller pie back then.

 

At the moment we still have a bigger stadium, better facilities and a richer history, so we gotta make that matter while we can.

 

If we're really serious, we'll start recruiting hotter co-eds.

We don't have better facilities than Baylor, they just built that state of the art facility. I think TCU just upgraded too, as are many of the formerly "lesser" programs. In short, the facilites aren't as big a factor as before, and it's tougher to get the bigger time would-be recruits to even make the trip. As to history, well, yeah, if they make the trip they can learn about the history--watch a movie about it--but for all practical purposes, our history is either non existent or laying fallow in the minds of recruits. Hate to say it, but out in on the east coast NE is fairly irrelevant. People out here think NE is the capitol of IA or something. None of the recruits were alive when our history was relevant.

 

Now, if we make a splash, win the CC and get to the playoff sometime, then our recruiting will bump up and the history will become more relevant as the buzz will be, "the great traditional power of NE is BACK!", yada yada. Just win, baby.

[Guy Chamberlin]

I like to think that behind every recruit is a 48 year old dad who still thinks Nebraska is the Harvard of football.

 

But that could be the Wild Turkey and codeine talking.

[Mavric]

For comparison, Nebraska was #30, #22, #36 and #30 for an average of 29.5 over this span. So we were ahead of TCU, Houston, Iowa, North Carolina, Utah, Navy, Oklahoma State, Wisconsin, Northwestern and Western Kentucky. And slightly behind Michigan State and Baylor. So we recruited as well or better than half the Top 25.

Here are the top 25 teams in the final AP Poll, along with their four previous recruiting classes, and their 2016 class (per 247Sports Composite):

 

Link

 

 

My other take-away is that it's true about the national champion having Top 15 classes but that doesn't mean that you have to be that far off if you don't have them. Four of the Top 10 - Michigan State, TCU, Houston and Iowa - didn't even have a single Top 20 class over that span. Clemson and Oklahoma had Top 15 classes but were right on the edge each time. And Stanford and Ole Miss' average was outside the Top 20. So really only two of the Top 10 were always right at the top of the Recruiting war.

 

Better recruits definitely help but they're not the only factor.

[Bowfin]

The people who say recruiting doesn't matter, well, they're the same ones who say size doesn't matter.

 

The people that say Osborne, Switzer, Saban, Harbaugh, and Urban Meyer win because they have the best recruits probably say that what makes the food in a restaurant so good is how many people come to eat there. Obviously, that is backwards. The food was good at the outset, thereby drawing the crowds. The "best" recruits go to the place where they get the best coaching and the best chance of success.

 

Now, I am not saying that one can't judge an 18 year old and say that some have more potential than others. But Bill Snyder says "hi" to everybody who consistently bets against him when his team plays the Texas Longhorns because of the huge recruiting advantage they have at Austin.

[BigRedBuster]

Bill Snyder's success doesn't prove recruiting doesn't matter. It just shows that in a place like KSU you have to be creative with it and a really good talent evaluator.

 

That said, what really has Bill won't own there for as many years as he been there?

[RedDenver]

Bill Snyder's success doesn't prove recruiting doesn't matter. It just shows that in a place like KSU you have to be creative with it and a really good talent evaluator.

 

That said, what really has Bill won't own there for as many years as he been there?

I think what Snyder proves is that recruiting rankings aren't all that matters.