After 25 years, Has the game and today's players passed Robe by?

[CajunVic]

Something is very wrong with recruiting. I played for Acadiana (many moons ago), and am still close with one of the coaches. He has told me that it is like pulling teeth to get the coaches to go and see the quality kids at Acadiana (and this is in our own back yard). Just as an example, Acadiana has a catcher this year that is going to sign to play D1 ball. The UL coaches will not go out to see him, but guess who did: Southern Miss. When the came in to play the Cajuns, the coach for Southern Miss went to an Acadiana practice and then one of their coaches stayed behind to watch Acadiana play the next day while the rest of the team traveled to play LaTech. I am told that Southern Miss will offer him and a couple of other solid D1 programs, but he can't get a look from us. I am also told that this is not the only year where Acadiana has had quality players that UL, for whatever reason, has refused/failed to even give a look.

I guess they only go to STM and Teurlings. Well, with STM, not so much, 3 of the 5 went somewhere else first and 1left for 3 years.

[CajunProud]

I guess they only go to STM and Teurlings. Well, with STM, not so much, 3 of the 5 went somewhere else first and 1left for 3 years.

I have nothing against Teurlings or STM kids, and I certainly didn't make the post to promote recruiting only Louisiana kids, or to be an Acadiana homer. The only reason I made the post is because we have some high quality kids that are in our back yard, that for whatever reason, the coaches are unwilling to evaluate. Just my 2 cents.

[CajunVic]

Southern Miss is in more regionals than us since 2000. Not shocking I guess. Recruiting is not rocket science. I'm not a recruiter, but it looks like a lot of travel, late nights, phone calls, texts and emails to players and just plain hard work.

That kid has been good at Acadiana for 3 years. No travel, no late nights, no need to rely on phone calls, texts or emails - he is in your back yard - virtually no work at all to see and get him.

[CajunAmos]

Something is very wrong with recruiting. I played for Acadiana (many moons ago), and am still close with one of the coaches. He has told me that it is like pulling teeth to get the coaches to go and see the quality kids at Acadiana (and this is in our own back yard). Just as an example, Acadiana has a catcher this year that is going to sign to play D1 ball. The UL coaches will not go out to see him, but guess who did: Southern Miss. When the came in to play the Cajuns, the coach for Southern Miss went to an Acadiana practice and then one of their coaches stayed behind to watch Acadiana play the next day while the rest of the team traveled to play LaTech. I am told that Southern Miss will offer him and a couple of other solid D1 programs, but he can't get a look from us. I am also told that this is not the only year where Acadiana has had quality players that UL, for whatever reason, has refused/failed to even give a look.

Could it be we already have all our catcher slots full? You typically only have about 15-16 position players, and we'll have Toro returning as the only catcher for next year. In the early signing period we've signed a freshman (Julian Brock from Fulshear Texas) and Nick Hagedorn (JUCO from Jefferson College) so that makes three catchers. I don't think you can reasonably commit to any more unless he accepts a walk-on opportunity.

[babysitter]

I guess I don't understand the meaning of pass ya by. Robe is ultimately due the glory, and the failures. I think he can still recruit. He's gotten too lenient with some coaches, so maybe that's passed him by, except it's what he's always done.

Robe does not recruit. Not sure the last time he did recruit. Talbot, Freeman, and Babs have done recruiting.

[ryan.hess1986]

Southern Miss is in more regionals than us since 2000. Not shocking I guess. Recruiting is not rocket science. I'm not a recruiter, but it looks like a lot of travel, late nights, phone calls, texts and emails to players and just plain hard work.

I used to see Kevin O'Sullivan freaking everywhere when he was at Clemson. Sully was relentless. Shortly thereafter he got the Florida Gator HC job. He signed a 10-year $12.5 million contract three years ago.

Agree. Recruiting seems like a nonstop grind. It has to be extremely exhausting mentally and emotionally. Especially in the age of technology and social media. I think it takes a special personality to be great at both identifying and attracting talent.

[Turbine]

Something did not translate. We had the 15th ranked recruiting class in 2015 and we see exactly where that got us. We signed 20 freshman players in the last 4 years that were complete flops. If that's not a state record, its a school record.

Let's just say recruiting has been less than impressive.

What if, just presenting a scenario...

What if JT is a fantastic recruiter but a poor scout?

Seems to me, that in order to get ranked nationally your recruits have to align with the recruiting websites.

That does not mean they match your needs or system.

He has shown the ability to pull them in, but in some cases its as if they peaked in high school.

just musing.

[Dad04]

That kid has been good at Acadiana for 3 years. No travel, no late nights, no need to rely on phone calls, texts or emails - he is in your back yard - virtually no work at all to see and get him.

Assuming he is a "good" kid, that is sad. We'd probably cut him anyways and he'd wind up in the big leagues. See? I fixed that problem...

[Dad04]

What if, just presenting a scenario...

What if JT is a fantastic recruiter but a poor scout?

Seems to me, that in order to get ranked nationally your recruits have to align with the recruiting websites.

That does not mean the match your needs or system.

He has shown the ability to pull them in, but in some cases its as if they peaked in high school.

just musing.

Recruiting class rankings in baseball are more meaningless than preseason. How hard is it to sign kids to the only offer they get? Go look at the freshmen we signed. Mostly big busts. If Jon Lucroy only got one D1 offer, I can't believe any of the dozens of flops here in the last three years got more than one offer. That level of recruiting fail rate didn't happen here before JT got here. We had a few, but they were rare.

[CajunVic]

Assuming he is a "good" kid, that is sad. We'd probably cut him anyways and he's wind up in the big leagues. See? I fixed that problem...

I don’t know if he is a good kid or not - he is a good baseball player and has been so for a while.