McKewon: 5 Recruiting Thoughts post-Warren

[zoogs]

The problem I've long had with recruiting from both Bo and Clownahan was the fact that they insisted on giving large quantities of scholarships to the skill positions while at the same time almost completely ignoring other positions. Clownahan's bread and butter in coaching was the OL. However, we for the most part enjoyed a poor to very poor OL nearly every year he was here. The same can be said with regards to Bo and the OL, LB, and DL positions. At one time, didn't we have like eight RB's on scholly? There was a time when we had like six QB's on scholly.

I think in the beginning, that was simple a case of the cupboard being dry. It was a big reason why he went after so many JUCOs, particularly for his OL. By 2007 it was maybe getting a little better, back up to competency, and his 2008 class was an OL class for the ages before it fell apart, and all of those 4/5 stars basically amounted to nothing at CU anyway.

6 QBs on scholarship isn't that big a deal IMO. Probably anticipating transfers. I think we would have had 6 if we got Burrow this year.

On Bo, it seems like the poor DL recruiting really killed us. Some of it was guys not panning out. But I still remember how these 5 stars were blowing up Carl's phone after 2009, but we never seemed to be able to leverage that attention that came from Suh's play. Instead, DL play bottomed out quickly after 2010.

Green, Abdullah, and Heard were only kind of in the same class and I actually don't have much problem with it. Heard was from the previous year and was delayed. Green & Heard were both highly regarded talents and I think Abdullah was a really solid recruiting pull, too, stars or not. These are guys with position versatility and the kind that you make room for. 2 ended up transferring early and didn't impact our numbers that much anyway. It's easy to say in hindsight, just get Ameer and that's it, but that's hindsight...

 

[junior4949]

I don't think it's hindsight at all. We had a kid from I believe Omaha on scholly as a RB who I'm not sure ever even cracked the top six. It just seems we've "wasted" a large quantity of scholarships over the past decade or so. I don't think it's of any coincidence that the best LB brought in by Bo was a JuCo transfer who was typically in Bo's doghouse for not playing within the "system".

I don't follow a lot of the out-of-state recruits, but over the years I have watched some of the in-state recruits. It was a pretty well known fact that the OL from Aurora was extremely lazy and took several plays off while in high school. I was extremely surprised when he was offered a scholly. The year we recruited Banderas, there was another LB that we basically had to pass on because we didn't have a scholly left to offer him. He wasn't the athlete Baderas was, but all he did was make plays while Banderas mostly just jumped on the pile after the tackle had pretty much already been made.

Part of our problem at certain positions has been offering to those that shouldn't be offered while not offering to some we should. The other part of our problem has been not developing some of the talent we've had. Our run defense has been atrocious primarily because of lack of development of both DL and LB.

 

[zoogs]

Oh, there's not much to disagree with there. The hindsight comment was if one were to say it was unnecessary to take on Green & Heard. I think they would have been necessary gets in any class, but things just didn't materialize for them here. The rest of recruiting management, or mismanagement as it were...

Wonder who our player personnel guys were during Bo's tenure, and what kind of role they played. It certainly seems very different now. It is kind of like a front office, really, only the coaches are the only ones who can do the actual travel and legwork.

 

[NUance]

The problem I've long had with recruiting from both Bo and Clownahan was the fact that they insisted on giving large quantities of scholarships to the skill positions while at the same time almost completely ignoring other positions. Clownahan's bread and butter in coaching was the OL. However, we for the most part enjoyed a poor to very poor OL nearly every year he was here. The same can be said with regards to Bo and the OL, LB, and DL positions. At one time, didn't we have like eight RB's on scholly? There was a time when we had like six QB's on scholly.

I think in the beginning, that was simple a case of the cupboard being dry. It was a big reason why he went after so many JUCOs, particularly for his OL. By 2007 it was maybe getting a little better, back up to competency, and his 2008 class was an OL class for the ages before it fell apart, and all of those 4/5 stars basically amounted to nothing at CU anyway.

6 QBs on scholarship isn't that big a deal IMO. Probably anticipating transfers. I think we would have had 6 if we got Burrow this year.

On Bo, it seems like the poor DL recruiting really killed us. Some of it was guys not panning out. But I still remember how these 5 stars were blowing up Carl's phone after 2009, but we never seemed to be able to leverage that attention that came from Suh's play. Instead, DL play bottomed out quickly after 2010.

Green, Abdullah, and Heard were only kind of in the same class and I actually don't have much problem with it. Heard was from the previous year and was delayed. Green & Heard were both highly regarded talents and I think Abdullah was a really solid recruiting pull, too, stars or not. These are guys with position versatility and the kind that you make room for. 2 ended up transferring early and didn't impact our numbers that much anyway. It's easy to say in hindsight, just get Ameer and that's it, but that's hindsight...

Yeah, I think this hurt way more than people realize. You really need a couple of starter quality players for each DL spot. You can't just leave a guy in the whole game and expect him to perform well in the 4th quarter. It'd help us out if we had a couple more top notch down linemen to rotate in. Even if we had to carry fewer DBs on the roster.

 

[Hunter94]

The problem I've long had with recruiting from both Bo and Clownahan was the fact that they insisted on giving large quantities of scholarships to the skill positions while at the same time almost completely ignoring other positions. Clownahan's bread and butter in coaching was the OL. However, we for the most part enjoyed a poor to very poor OL nearly every year he was here. The same can be said with regards to Bo and the OL, LB, and DL positions. At one time, didn't we have like eight RB's on scholly? There was a time when we had like six QB's on scholly.

I think in the beginning, that was simple a case of the cupboard being dry. It was a big reason why he went after so many JUCOs, particularly for his OL. By 2007 it was maybe getting a little better, back up to competency, and his 2008 class was an OL class for the ages before it fell apart, and all of those 4/5 stars basically amounted to nothing at CU anyway.

6 QBs on scholarship isn't that big a deal IMO. Probably anticipating transfers. I think we would have had 6 if we got Burrow this year.

On Bo, it seems like the poor DL recruiting really killed us. Some of it was guys not panning out. But I still remember how these 5 stars were blowing up Carl's phone after 2009, but we never seemed to be able to leverage that attention that came from Suh's play. Instead, DL play bottomed out quickly after 2010.

Green, Abdullah, and Heard were only kind of in the same class and I actually don't have much problem with it. Heard was from the previous year and was delayed. Green & Heard were both highly regarded talents and I think Abdullah was a really solid recruiting pull, too, stars or not. These are guys with position versatility and the kind that you make room for. 2 ended up transferring early and didn't impact our numbers that much anyway. It's easy to say in hindsight, just get Ameer and that's it, but that's hindsight...

Yeah, I think this hurt way more than people realize. You really need a couple of starter quality players for each DL spot. You can't just leave a guy in the whole game and expect him to perform well in the 4th quarter. It'd help us out if we had a couple more top notch down linemen to rotate in. Even if we had to carry fewer DBs on the roster.

no doubt, hope that is the direction we go........

 

[4skers89]

Thanks for breaking it down. I had been wondering how the LB situation got to this point, since it felt like yesterday where the LB corps was burgeoning with promising young talent.The last eight DE recruits...Gregory was a star and Keels another JUCO, but how much did will we get out of the other six? That seems like the result of 2011 recruiting at the position, but then it's compounded. Because now the numbers are flush, less scholarships for the '15 class for the position, but a whole bunch of guys in the same years. Gotta have a few guys really step up out of this group (and Daishon).The consultant firm thing, I had never heard that before.

I remember it from when it happened but really can't remember the specifics of why he hired the firm.

Wasn't the consulting firm brought in to help teach them ask the recruits specific questions so they could better gauge their behavioral characteristics? Maybe I am thinking of something else...

Now that you mention it, that sounds familiar. I thought it was discussed on HB but couldn't find it. Google found this from 3 years ago http://www.cornnation.com/2012/2/22/2816936/pelini-evaluating-recruiting-practices-at-nebraska and mentions evaluating mental character. Skip the Lumosity, you're good to go

.

 

[Dr. Strangelove]

What boggles my mind is that Pelini had a larger support staff than Riley does AND he went out and hired a consultant firm for recruiting in his first few years. Crazy to think about what the finished product was on the field.

For me, I thought it was very impressive that Riley came in with limited time, saved the class, and added a few well placed cogs all in the first few weeks. Hope he can build on it for next year.

Other than the first 2 to 2.5 classes under Bo, I honestly don't think he recruited bad. Sure, he could have recruited one or two positions such as LB better. But, in general, the last 3-4 classes were pretty good.

What he lacked is program management and situational management during big games.

Because of this, we have talent on the team. We need someone who understands how to manage a program and coaches that know what to do in the heat of the moment.

I think we have that along with a group that has the chance to improve recruiting even more.

Somewhat. It's hard to judge so far, but I think the 2014 class is/was a let down. 2015 wasn't much better, but considering the circumstances of MR and the attitude of Pelini while he was here, I'll take it.

As far as 2014, the recruiting misses at DE and LB are really going to come back to haunt us. That's all on the previous staff. The new staff did what they could to address the positions, but there were a couple of reaches in that mix. I hope they pan out.