Bo and High School Coaches

[jmfb]

I'm not sure what the general perception Bo has amoungst HS coaches in Nebraska or nationwide, but I can share 2 stories from guys I know.

One is a very close friend and is an assistant coach in Florida with a big program, he doesnt exaggerate. A couple of years ago Bo came down in person to visit a highly ranked recruit. Bo came to the coaches office and there were 3-4 coaches there. Bo asks the head coach " do we have a chance with this kid" the HC looks over to my buddy and gives him the question mark look. My friend is the kids position coach and he shakes his head no. The kid really liked another school was committed there- and was just out shopping around for free trips, NU had zero chance with the kid. The coach says no and Bo says, "now that we got that over with, lets talk some football". Bo asked them what they were struggling with defensively and gave them some ideas scheme and drill wise. They were there as a group for well over an hour. This was in the Orlando area and Bo could have made a bunch of other stops etc They were really impressed with him, the real deal, someone they could trust. Bo never bothered seeing the kid, told the coaches to tell the kid he wished him his best.

Another HS head coach in Florida, pretty good friend. Big program. He attended Bos coaches clinic in Florida when we were down there. Guy asks to come to NUs practices, Bo is fine with that. Then Bo makes sure the guy gets plenty of info on some of the tweaks in NUs offense like the Power Read, Sweep Read and even Jet Sweep Read. Some good personal attention. The guy intergrates this into his offense and becomes a HUGE Bo fan. Cant say enough nice things about Bo and his coaching staff.

Bo may not know everyone and his perception amoungst the casual fan may not be great. But like his players, these coaches respect and trust the man.

I realize this is a very small sample size. I could go into other people I know who know him well, they all say the same thing. Not perfect, but honest and trustworthy. I like that if Im a HS coach or a mom or dad sending Junior away to school.

 

[da skers]

I often wish he was more PR minded. The fans don't know all the great things this guy does for people. He's not perfect by any stretch but I'd be proud to have my kids play and be lead by him. But hey....he looks funny when he yells so he's a bad guy.

 

[junior4949]

This probably isn't the point you were trying to make, but it sticks out with me. Do you think Saban walks into a coaches office and asks if there's a chance the kid will come to Bama' and then when told no doesn't even meet with the kid? This scares the crap out of me. If everyone involved with sales took this approach, they'd either be fired or starve to death. Nebraska itself doesn't exactly sell itself. Bo is going to have to go above and beyond in recruiting to ever have a chance.

 

[caveman99]

This probably isn't the point you were trying to make, but it sticks out with me. Do you think Saban walks into a coaches office and asks if there's a chance the kid will come to Bama' and then when told no doesn't even meet with the kid? This scares the crap out of me. If everyone involved with sales took this approach, they'd either be fired or starve to death. Nebraska itself doesn't exactly sell itself. Bo is going to have to go above and beyond in recruiting to ever have a chance.

Perhaps you could look at it that way, but I actually do see it as Bo putting an investment in for longer term gains. If he knows that putting the same time in is a wasted investment, and I am guessing he had more information from his Asst. Coaches as well to confirm that they wouldn't be able to flip the young man, then perhaps putting that time in with the Coaches to build good is a better investment. After all, the HS Coaches are very instrumental in directing players to colleges. If you build a solid relationship with them, then perhaps they start talking your program up in the ears of the future prospects.

 

[desertshox]

This probably isn't the point you were trying to make, but it sticks out with me. Do you think Saban walks into a coaches office and asks if there's a chance the kid will come to Bama' and then when told no doesn't even meet with the kid? This scares the crap out of me. If everyone involved with sales took this approach, they'd either be fired or starve to death. Nebraska itself doesn't exactly sell itself. Bo is going to have to go above and beyond in recruiting to ever have a chance.

you do realize the better his relationship with a coach the better his chances with future recruits that play for that coach?

 

[Thanks_Tom RR]

+1 Thanks for sharing. These kind of relationships don't seem to always pay out, but they can't hurt. I would think the relationship between Bo and Zach Darlington's dad helped us beat out Ohio St and land him this year, and I suspect one of the major reasons we have been able to make any progress with Martin Ivey is because of that same relationship. Love to hear more stories good or bad like these, if anyone else has them.

 

[jmfb]

Oh, you might be surpised

THe HS coaching thing is all about relationships

These guys know each other like brothers many of them. Most of the relationships are very positive and very friendly, a big Frat.

Its tight knit community, the 2-3 day coaching clinics and conventions

Heck in Omaha there used to be 40-50 guys at Mamas Pizza on Saddlecreek meet after games- even some of the Millard guys would make it down there.

Gossip amoungst HS coaches would rival that of 65 year old women.

Word spreads VERY quickly

I know HS coaches who wont let specific coaches in their building because of what theyve done to their players

Who do kids trust most after their parents? Coaches, some kids , #1 influencer

 

[rawhide]

I like that approach. No trash talking other programs; let the local coaches talk positives to their players about the husker coaches. Each coach can do their own thing. Bo doesn't have to be like saban or meyers. I'm actually glad he isn't. Not that I'm giving Bo a 100% pass on everything

.

 

[HUSKER FREAK]

This probably isn't the point you were trying to make, but it sticks out with me. Do you think Saban walks into a coaches office and asks if there's a chance the kid will come to Bama' and then when told no doesn't even meet with the kid? This scares the crap out of me. If everyone involved with sales took this approach, they'd either be fired or starve to death. Nebraska itself doesn't exactly sell itself. Bo is going to have to go above and beyond in recruiting to ever have a chance.

Not necessarily, Bo in a way did himself a very big favor in the future for recruiting by gaining the respect of these coaches. Who may then recommend to kids and their parents to take a look at the Huskers and Bo Pelini. Any questions they have about his demeanor would be squashed by them telling how he came in and even though had no chance at a kid still stayed and helped out with their game plan. You are right though Saban probably wouldn't have done that. Bo probably knew coming in their was no chance and took it as an opportunity to make an in with these coaches.

 

[ColoradoHusk]

College coaches help themselves the most by building relationships with high school coaches. These big high school programs send 5-10 kids to D1 football each year. These high school coaches are first going to contact the college coaches whom they have the best relationships with. College coaches are better off building long-term relationships with high school coaches, rather than a 1 year relationship with a potential recruit.

Also, many of these kids being recruited come may not have a father-figure at home, so their high school coach is the closest thing these kids have to a father. These high school coaches have a lot of pull with these kids.

 

[junior4949]

This probably isn't the point you were trying to make, but it sticks out with me. Do you think Saban walks into a coaches office and asks if there's a chance the kid will come to Bama' and then when told no doesn't even meet with the kid? This scares the crap out of me. If everyone involved with sales took this approach, they'd either be fired or starve to death. Nebraska itself doesn't exactly sell itself. Bo is going to have to go above and beyond in recruiting to ever have a chance.

you do realize the better his relationship with a coach the better his chances with future recruits that play for that coach?

Never once did I say it was bad for making a good relationship with those coaches. What was bad was the fact he didn't even meet with the recruit he went down there to see. By not even seeing the kid, well this is a defeatist attitude. I just don't see Urban Meyer or Nick Saban taking the same approach. I'd be willing to bet both Saban and Meyer have been told by a high school coach that a recruit just isn't interested that they got to come to their school.

 

[Thanks_Tom RR]

This probably isn't the point you were trying to make, but it sticks out with me.  Do you think Saban walks into a coaches office and asks if there's a chance the kid will come to Bama' and then when told no doesn't even meet with the kid?  This scares the crap out of me.  If everyone involved with sales took this approach, they'd either be fired or starve to death.  Nebraska itself doesn't exactly sell itself.  Bo is going to have to go above and beyond in recruiting to ever have a chance.

you do realize the better his relationship with a coach the better his chances with future recruits that play for that coach?

Never once did I say it was bad for making a good relationship with those coaches.  What was bad was the fact he didn't even meet with the recruit he went down there to see.  By not even seeing the kid, well this is a defeatist attitude.  I just don't see Urban Meyer or Nick Saban taking the same approach.  I'd be willing to bet both Saban and Meyer have been told by a high school coach that a recruit just isn't interested that they got to come to their school.

I see you point, but if Bo meets with the recruit in this situation, it is no longer a story about how a college coach takes off the "salesman hat" and focuses sole on building a relationship with a coach from a big high school program. I think it is in this approach that Bo sets himself apart from other college coaches that look to play an angle with recruits and their coaches rather than being genuine and earnest.

 

[NUance]

This probably isn't the point you were trying to make, but it sticks out with me. Do you think Saban walks into a coaches office and asks if there's a chance the kid will come to Bama' and then when told no doesn't even meet with the kid? This scares the crap out of me. If everyone involved with sales took this approach, they'd either be fired or starve to death. Nebraska itself doesn't exactly sell itself. Bo is going to have to go above and beyond in recruiting to ever have a chance.

you do realize the better his relationship with a coach the better his chances with future recruits that play for that coach?

Never once did I say it was bad for making a good relationship with those coaches. What was bad was the fact he didn't even meet with the recruit he went down there to see. By not even seeing the kid, well this is a defeatist attitude. I just don't see Urban Meyer or Nick Saban taking the same approach. I'd be willing to bet both Saban and Meyer have been told by a high school coach that a recruit just isn't interested that they got to come to their school.

I see you point, but if Bo meets with the recruit in this situation, it is no longer a story about how a college coach takes off the "salesman hat" and focuses sole on building a relationship with a coach from a big high school program. I think it is in this approach that Bo sets himself apart from other college coaches that look to play an angle with recruits and their coaches rather than being genuine and earnest.

Yeah, exactly. There comes a time when there's just no way you're gonna make *that* sale. Especially if the "sale" has already been made. Would it have been better for Bo to push his way into a meeting with the kid? Perhaps the best that could come from that meeting is that Bo created some goodwill. And even for that particular recruit, if something happens with his original choice it sounds like NU would be among the top choices that the HS coach would recommend. Further, Bo's approach in this sounds a lot like what Osborne would have done in that situation.

 

[junior4949]

He could have done both. If setting himself apart from other college coaches yields zero better results, what did we gain? I'm not in the camp that believes we must always have a top 10 recruiting class. However, I do believe we need to average a top 20 class year in and year out if we want to compete not only with the rest of college football but with the top 2-3 in the B1G. We're doing a pretty decent job at getting skill position players. Where we need to get tremendously better in recruiting is the guys in the trenches particularly the OL. Barney isn't my favorite coach, but he needs more talent to work with.

 

[da skers]

This probably isn't the point you were trying to make, but it sticks out with me. Do you think Saban walks into a coaches office and asks if there's a chance the kid will come to Bama' and then when told no doesn't even meet with the kid? This scares the crap out of me. If everyone involved with sales took this approach, they'd either be fired or starve to death. Nebraska itself doesn't exactly sell itself. Bo is going to have to go above and beyond in recruiting to ever have a chance.

you do realize the better his relationship with a coach the better his chances with future recruits that play for that coach?

Never once did I say it was bad for making a good relationship with those coaches. What was bad was the fact he didn't even meet with the recruit he went down there to see. By not even seeing the kid, well this is a defeatist attitude. I just don't see Urban Meyer or Nick Saban taking the same approach. I'd be willing to bet both Saban and Meyer have been told by a high school coach that a recruit just isn't interested that they got to come to their school.

I see you point, but if Bo meets with the recruit in this situation, it is no longer a story about how a college coach takes off the "salesman hat" and focuses sole on building a relationship with a coach from a big high school program. I think it is in this approach that Bo sets himself apart from other college coaches that look to play an angle with recruits and their coaches rather than being genuine and earnest.

Yeah, exactly. There comes a time when there's just no way you're gonna make *that* sale. Especially if the "sale" has already been made. Would it have been better for Bo to push his way into a meeting with the kid? Perhaps the best that could come from that meeting is that Bo created some goodwill. And even for that particular recruit, if something happens with his original choice it sounds like NU would be among the top choices that the HS coach would recommend. Further, Bo's approach in this sounds a lot like what Osborne would have done in that situation.

Exactly. My first job (for a year) out of college was a recruiter for a JC. You have 300 leads handed to you that you need to go through. Why waste time on something that won't happen. It was a question about character to me. Do we have any chance? The answer was no he just wants some trips. So he wasn't open to anything but having a free trip and a party. This might not be the kind of guy we want anyway. And I would guess Bo's gut told him as much or that wouldn't have been his first question.

Most people don't realize that Suttles offer was almost pulled when he came here because of some character things the other players and coaches didn't care for. He was told about those concerns and was told he was on thin ice from the start and don't come here if you don't think you can be the type of person you want. He assured us it wasn't who he was as did his coach. We see how that worked out.