Slow start this year?

[The Dude]

I find it interesting that Els is quick to basically say "We're not on the level of Ohio State or Michigan" and is completely fine with that. You'd think that would be something to shoot for, instead of trying to justify the fact that they're better than us.

Is that what he is saying? That's just putting words in his mouth. His words are right above your rubbish.

He talks about how you can't compare how fast we fill up. That is not the same as saying we can't compare. That's straight bullsh*t, KJ.

He went on to say why we won't recruit at the same level as those schools, but he did basically imply what KJ said. It's not that much of a stretch, and it's certainly not straight bullsh#t.

And it's very concerning our coaches have that mindset.

 

[Mavric]

Original ESPN Article

"I want to be done now," Els told ESPN.com. "The problem is we aren't going to get a ton of commitments, obviously, until we get kids on campus. And because of our small population base around here, it's hard to get kids to come visit us right away when we're not paying for it. It's expensive."
Nebraska's location makes it challenging for prospects to pay their own way on unofficial visits before their senior years. Els had to interrupt our interview to take a call from a recruit in Texas. The recruit asked about the cost of an air ticket to Nebraska.

The Huskers will gladly pay for recruits to take official visits after the start of their senior year in high school, but the value of the official visit has changed as recruits are committing earlier and earlier.

"Some kids will make the circuit," Els said. "They'll go along that East Coast and hit four or five schools. Well, when you come to Nebraska, where else are you going to go? No place is really very close. They have to make a special trip. ... It's not an excuse. It's just a fact that it's hard to get kids up here early.
"Once we do, we've got a great shot at them because of the facilities, the people. So I'd love to be done, but we'll take 'em when we get 'em."

I see nothing in this article that says or implies that Els is conceding the better recruits to anyone. He is just talking about how tough it is to get kids to campus early and tough to get them to commit before they take a visit. Please show me where he says anything about not competing as hard as we can for any recruit we think we want.

 

[QMany]

You are right Mavric, nothing in that article concedes we can't recruit on the same level as those schools.

It is about the junior visit rules and us being farther from recruits. Because of that, we need to be patient.

"Once we do, we've got a great shot at them because of the facilities, the people.

 

[The Dude]

Please show me where he says anything about not competing as hard as we can for any recruit we think we want.

ummm . . . when did anyone say he said anything of the sort?

He simply said we can't recruit like Ohio State, Michigan, and Notre Dame unless we win a national title and everyone wants to play here. He then said another way we could fill up fast is to start reaching, which nobody wants.

 

[QMany]

Please show me where he says anything about not competing as hard as we can for any recruit we think we want.

ummm . . . when did anyone say he said anything of the sort?

He simply said we can't recruit like Ohio State, Michigan, and Notre Dame unless we win a national title and everyone wants to play here. He then said another way they could fill up fast is to start reaching, which nobody wants.

You are taking his words completely out of context. He is not saying we can't recruit like them, PERIOD. He is saying that early recruitment will be much different.

But then again, you know that, and it doesn't fit what you are trying to say about our coaching staff.

 

[The Dude]

Please show me where he says anything about not competing as hard as we can for any recruit we think we want.

ummm . . . when did anyone say he said anything of the sort?

He simply said we can't recruit like Ohio State, Michigan, and Notre Dame unless we win a national title and everyone wants to play here. He then said another way they could fill up fast is to start reaching, which nobody wants.

You are taking his words completely out of context. He is not saying we can't recruit like them, PERIOD. He is saying that early recruitment will be much different.

But then again, you know that, and it doesn't fit what you are trying to say about our coaching staff.

Yes, because early recruitment has no bearing on overall recruitment. :hmmph

And I wasn't saying anything about the staff, I was damn near quoting Els word for word.

 

[QMany]

And I wasn't saying anything about the staff, I was damn near quoting Els word for word.

You damn near butchered the quote with ZERO context and then wrote:

And it's very concerning our coaches have that mindset.

 

[The Dude]

Oh, I assumed you were talking about the comment you were responding to. Of course it's very concerning.

And nobody took his comments out of context. The context of the whole discussion is the slow start to our recruiting. That's what his quote is addressing.

 

[Mavric]

Please show me where he says anything about not competing as hard as we can for any recruit we think we want.

ummm . . . when did anyone say he said anything of the sort?

He simply said we can't recruit like Ohio State, Michigan, and Notre Dame unless we win a national title and everyone wants to play here. He then said another way we could fill up fast is to start reaching, which nobody wants.

I find it interesting that Els is quick to basically say "We're not on the level of Ohio State or Michigan" and is completely fine with that. You'd think that would be something to shoot for, instead of trying to justify the fact that they're better than us.

 

[kchusker_chris]

Michigan currently has 9 commits, including 3 or 4 that are outside that 300 mile range everyone says is the reason for their early recruiting triumph. Why can Michigan pluck kids out of Florida and Utah this early and we can't...if we're still on the same level as them?

Last year Ohio State had 11 kids by May, pulling in kids out of MO, California, Texas, and Florida.

These schools may not have to go far for most of their recruits...but when they want an out of state kid they certainly have a lot easier time getting the commit than we do. Why is it so hard for Nebraska fans to accept the fact that we aren't on the same level as OSU/Michigan when it comes to recruiting. We just aren't. Probably never will be.

 

[QMany]

Did you read the article kchusker_chris? I'm guessing not. If you did, you would see Els touches on this.

"Some kids will make the circuit," Els said. "They'll go along that East Coast and hit four or five schools. Well, when you come to Nebraska, where else are you going to go? No place is really very close. They have to make a special trip. ... It's not an excuse. It's just a fact that it's hard to get kids up here early."

 

[kchusker_chris]

Did you read the article kchusker_chris? I'm guessing not. If you did, you would see Els touches on this.

"Some kids will make the circuit," Els said. "They'll go along that East Coast and hit four or five schools. Well, when you come to Nebraska, where else are you going to go? No place is really very close. They have to make a special trip. ... It's not an excuse. It's just a fact that it's hard to get kids up here early."

You'd have guessed wrong....

He's comparing us to the East Coast. So Maryland, UNC, NC State, Boston College, Virginia, VTech, etc? If you're making a trip like that, I'd say Missouri, Iowa, ISU, Nebraska, K-State, KU, etc would be pretty similar as far as quality of programs and distance between. And honestly, if you're flying (which since we're talking about kids coming from outside that 500 mile range most of these are) - not many parents are going to fly into a school then travel the entire east coast to find schools comparable to Virginia Tech.

There's not many places this theory holds water. Maybe if you flew into Raleigh you could take in Duke, Wake, UNC, NC State, VTech. But for the most part, there is rarely 4 or 5 major schools that would be competing for the same talent within an hour of or two of each other. OSU doesn't have any close by. Michigan maybe MSU - but there aren't both chasing the same FL kids.

 

[zeWilbur]

Michigan currently has 9 commits, including 3 or 4 that are outside that 300 mile range everyone says is the reason for their early recruiting triumph. Why can Michigan pluck kids out of Florida and Utah this early and we can't...if we're still on the same level as them?

Last year Ohio State had 11 kids by May, pulling in kids out of MO, California, Texas, and Florida.

These schools may not have to go far for most of their recruits...but when they want an out of state kid they certainly have a lot easier time getting the commit than we do. Why is it so hard for Nebraska fans to accept the fact that we aren't on the same level as OSU/Michigan when it comes to recruiting. We just aren't. Probably never will be.

There was an interesting article from around signing day where Michigan coaches mentioned how great it was to be almost full in November/December. The reason was that they could babysit the guys they had and dedicate the extra time they had left to starting relationships with sophomores and juniors they had evaluated in an earlier recruiting cycle. I think that is the key to a lot what you are focusing on.

 

[kchusker_chris]

There was an interesting article from around signing day where Michigan coaches mentioned how great it was to be almost full in November/December. The reason was that they could babysit the guys they had and dedicate the extra time they had left to starting relationships with sophomores and juniors they had evaluated in an earlier recruiting cycle. I think that is the key to a lot what you are focusing on.

And I think it gives them a lot more time to devote to the season. While our coaches are spending who knows how many hours mid-season trying to fill up a class...they are game planning. It's why I see Nebraska as the type of school that would benefit most from a "scouting" department like was proposed prior to the NCAA backing down on their recommendations. If 7 or 8 coaches could each spend a couple more hours a week worrying about the game in late December versus a few recruits they'll be hosting/selling...that could make a big difference.

 

[Mavric]

Michigan currently has 9 commits, including 3 or 4 that are outside that 300 mile range everyone says is the reason for their early recruiting triumph. Why can Michigan pluck kids out of Florida and Utah this early and we can't...if we're still on the same level as them?

Last year Ohio State had 11 kids by May, pulling in kids out of MO, California, Texas, and Florida.

These schools may not have to go far for most of their recruits...but when they want an out of state kid they certainly have a lot easier time getting the commit than we do. Why is it so hard for Nebraska fans to accept the fact that we aren't on the same level as OSU/Michigan when it comes to recruiting. We just aren't. Probably never will be.

And a year ago at this time Michigan had 16 recruits with only one outside the 500 mile circle while three of our four recruits were outside 500 miles. Cherry-picking one year doesn't prove much of anything.