Hope your team does well as long as they don't take a guy the Gators are after. Things are looking good for the Gators, 26 verbals and a lot of talk that we could get 4 or 5 more. We can go to 33 with early entries counting back to last year.
Irish set to have a top 5 class. We are most likely done, still some slim hope for a couple of west coast guys, but it's pretty slim. The team that has me wondering what's going on is Ole Miss. They could possibly shoot up the recruiting lists on signing day if all of these guys who are uncommitted announce for them on Feb 6th as predicted by ESPN recruiting Nation. Robert Nkemdiche Loganville, Ga./Grayson <b>ESPN 300 RANK: 1</b> POS: DEDECISION DATE: Feb. 6 Laremy TunsilLake City, Fla./Columbia <b>ESPN 300 RANK: 5 </b>POS: OTDECISION DATE: Feb. 6 Antonio ConnerBatesville, Miss./South Panola <b>ESPN 300 RANK: 24 </b>POS: SDECISION DATE: Feb. 6 Austin GolsonPrattville, Ala./Prattville <b>ESPN 300 RANK: 52 </B>POS: OTDECISION DATE: Feb. 6 And they already have a couple of top ranked players who have announced for them. I wonder what's going on down there?
Bill Counters against 2012 have already enrolled, and are in class. It irritates me that ESPN shows A&M with 32 commits (which implies over-signing). We have 24. Eight of the kids are already in school.
I know that Scott, but they are in this recruiting cycle and that is why they are listed. They are additions since last season. It doesn't bother me that they are listed that way. So far I haven't heard a lot of whining about the SEC but I for one don't see any problem with using the early entries. What is not counted though are transfers. The Gators have a couple of OL transfers who are eligible this coming season who will either start or certainly be in the rotation.
Oh Terry, I meant to comment. It is pretty amazing what Ole Miss is doing. Freeze has heard criticism about unethical recruiting and challenged anyone who has any proof to contact his AD otherwise leave it go. I do not mind them becoming a force in the SEC West.
I can't help but think Ole Miss is cheating. I've just seen this too many times. I'd like to believe in the tooth fairy, but time and time again it is proven that there are no shortcuts and things that seem to good to be true are too good to be true. I have zero evidence to support my claim now. I'll just sit back and wait to see what happens over the next 5 to 7 years.
When Billy Donovan became the BB coach at Florida he was a very aggressive recruiter and when he recruited and signed Mike Miller, who was from South Dakota. Roy Williams who was the coach at Kansas at the time accused him of cheating because there was no way a player like that would go to Florida over Kansas. Donovan has never had a scandal at Florida and he and Williams have a good relationship.
I find this class ranking list by ESPN to be particularly reliable: http://insider.espn.go.com/college-sports/football/recruiting/classrankings?action=login :wink: 8) Re: Ole Miss I'm like Bill in that I remember when Billy D began to attract the top notch BB talent at UF and had to withstand the same sort of whispers about how he was doing it. I'll give Freeze some room.... some benefit of the doubt because after all......he's not Lane Kiffin for Christ's sake!!!!! :wink:
The word on Billy D was that he had an extremely close relationship with a street agent who steered players to him. Technically not cheating, but coaches like Roy Williams and the Stanford coach who did not befriend street agents and AAU coaches (one in the same) did not like what Donovan was doing, even though it was not technically cheating. t's much the same as the criticism that Urban Meyer endured for going after other teams verbals, he basically started the wholesale trend that we see now where a verbal isn't worth much. He was called out on it at Ohio State where there was supposedly some gentlemans agreement that B10 coaches didn't recruit other b10 coaches verbals. Not cheating and now it's considered just regular strategy where as at one time once a player verbaled other teams left them alone. Urban also pioneered what is now called the uncommitable offer, at UF he gave out all sorts of offers knowing that kids like them and think more favorably of their early offers esp from big programs, but Urban wouldn't accept their verbal just give them an offer and tell them that they couldn't accept the verbal right now. Brilliant strategy on both points...pissed off a lot of coaches though.
As far as over signing, we've argued about that so much it's unlikely anybody has changed their positions. It's legal, and that's that. I do think it gives you a competitive advantage though.
Terry, there is two types of what you are referring to as over signing. One is where you sign more than you have room for thinking some will fall by the wayside. The other is using early entrees to count backward. I see nothing wrong with the latter and the former is now illegal in the SEC. I am like Scott and don't really see the Early Entrees as this years class, only in the sense they are additions to your team.
Yeah pretty much everybody uses early entree's and in fact if you don't offer that option you lose kids, the Irish didn't offer it till Charlie was the coach and he found out right away it was a burden for him in recruiting and got them to change it. Kind of funny but we actually owe Charlie some debts of gratitude. He convinced the powers that be that early entry kids were a good thing and he convinced them that our facilities were woefully outdated compared to the schools that we were recruiting against, and on his way out he convinced them that they needed to review their methods of handling discipline for athletes. Irish players suffered far more/worse consequences for things that players at other schools.
In case anyone didn't know, the SEC has PROHIBITED the signing of any more than 25 recruits for any single class. A&M can take 2012 "counters" because we didn't sign the full 25 in the official 2012 class. We will only be able to sign 25 2013 counters. Sumlin has let a few "go" that were probably not going to qualify so we can get a full load of guys that will actually be there in August. RE: Ole Miss - I'll give folks the benefit of the doubt until a lot of smoke starts to appear. From what I hear Freeze has a great message so I will go with that for now. BUT... on the other hand I remember how a pretty sorry SMU team suddenly pulled in class after class of NFL talent. Let's hope it's nothing along those lines.
The practice of "oversigning" that is deemed problematic by most relates to the hard 85 schollie max, not the 25 annual limit. You can limit the amount of signees to 25 per year, but still "oversign" to the extent that you need to get rid of some kids if you don't have room for the 25 under your 85 cap. No question that the 25 annual limit imposed by the SEC has reduced the size and impact of the practice from what is was in the past....
Gator fans seem to have this incredible ability to take virtually anything and make it about them.. and it forces me into a situation in which I have to say nice things about them or their program (that are true) in an attempt to show you the point you are trying to make to save your conference brethren is really misguided. In the end, you still won't listen... With that in mind. Billy Donovan was not some 'no name outta nowhere' hoops coach. He's as connected as it gets. He was Petino's golden boy "Billy The Kid" at Providence. He started his coaching career as an assistant at Kentucky. You learn where all the bodies are buried at a job like that. He went on to become the HC at Marshall. At Marshall, he started landing top flight talent including Jason Williams (future Gator who followed him from Marshall to Florida). By all accounts, the basketball coaching career of Billy The Kid has been nothing short of a rocket ship in momentum. Recruits want to be a part of that and he has a big time pedigree with ties all over the country. That is not what is going on at Ole Miss. Hugh Freeze is a HS football coach (as depicted in the movie Blind Side) who followed Michael Oher from the prep field to a coaching position in the SEC. He was hired by Ed Orgeron. One of the most vile and corrupt college recruiters in the game today. Technically, he was hired originally as a "Assistant Athletic Director for Football External Affairs." Seriously... that's as ******** as it gets. He became the TE coach and recruiting coordinator the next season.. After ONE YEAR.. seriously..ONE YEAR of off the field coaching experience. He's a solicitor... period. Then he took the head gig at Lambuth which is an NAIA school. NAIA is a cesspool of backroom recruiting and corner cutting. That's not to say that everyone in NAIA is corrupt. I'm stating as fact from personal experience that a whole lot of shady people are in NAIA. The virtuous are greatly outnumbered there. He then goes on to work as the OC and then HC briefly at Arkansas State. That's another cesspool of shady activity. Then... he becomes the HC at Ole Miss? With that resume?! Okay.. I'll keep dancing. They go 7-6, show no real signs of life until they win the Egg Bowl and a bowl game against a team that was essentially a one man show, with their one man taking a vacation from his last college game because he was going pro.. And now this guy is pulling down top flight, 5 star talent like a boy band pulls teenage ass.... Really? The whole Blind Side/Oher story wrapped with a Jesus themed snuggy makes a nice pitch, great commercial and gosh darn it.. don't it just make you feel all warm inside to believe that something so good exists? Or..you see a guy who is a snake oil salesman who has never stayed anywhere long enough for his FAQ sheet to get double checked. He's never had to reap the foundation that he's laid. Hell, he's never really laid a foundation. He just makes a name for himself and moves on. You tell me which is more likely.... I'll say this.. After the Auburn debacle and now watching this Hugh Freeze nonsense, there is a disturbing amount of Jesus wrapped up in high stakes recruiting that prevents people from looking into certain things..and that should upset people. This is starting to look like the new Southern tradition. A strip mall savior leading a church between a pharmacy and a hand me down store, with a big fancy car in the driveway. This thing stinks to hell and back...
That said....this isn't the SWAC.....etc etc....it's the SEC and you start unusually pulling studs from Bama, Auburn and LSU in that region and you are going to eventually get some NCAA attention IMHO. Speaking of Orgeron.... a recruiting article from December on him and Kiffin: http://insider.espn.go.com/colleges/usc/football/story/_/id/8742403/usc-trojans-coaches-lane-kiffin-ed-orgeron-kennedy-polamalu-nation-elite-recruiters Scroll down to see the predictor of recruiting vs. the preseason AP poll to the final AP poll of last season: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/college-football/news/20130204/recruiting-rankings-predictive-accuracy/?sct=uk_t11_a8