2008 Recruiting Wars

[CajunT]

_ Look I know nothing about this kid and I do hope he is all that and a bucket of... whatever the kids say..lol.. But I stand by my comment... We should be competing with bigger schools than SE and Nichols.. Maybe this kid will be the next Brian Mitchell...

But if we are going to venture into places like Tennessee and not want to get embarrassed we need kids who are highly recruited. If we are going to year in and year out be competing for a SBC championship...If we want this program to be other than a middle of the road in the worst conference in America... dang-it we have to start DEMANDING better..... Whats wrong with that concept??????

Comeon Bustle.... reach HIGHER _

Who stated that we are not? Feagins- LSU and West Virginia- Carter- UCONN,UCF and MACS
Ambrose- Ole Miss,La Tech,Ark- Johnson- Illinois, La Tech, Memphis,Miami

You can offer,but if they don't accept we move on.

[JamesTheJeweler]

_ Who stated that we are not? Feagins- LSU and West Virginia- Carter- UCONN,UCF and MACS
Ambrose- Ole Miss,La Tech,Ark- Johnson- Illinois, La Tech, Memphis,Miami

You can offer,but if they don't accept we move on. _

i think he was referring to the gauthier kid. not the others you listed.

[CajunT]

_ i think he was referring to the gauthier kid. not the others you listed. _

"But if we are going to venture into places like Tennessee and not want to get embarrassed we need kids who are highly recruited. If we are going to year in and year out be competing for a SBC championship...If we want this program to be other than a middle of the road in the worst conference in America... dang-it we have to start DEMANDING better..... Whats wrong with that concept??????

Comeon Bustle.... reach HIGHER"


No, he stated exactly what is quoted above. Again, I think we are reaching for some athletes, but you must have some success before these kids will seriously consider your program.

[Kal]

_ JR type numbers and the best offers he got other than us was D-2 or whatever that division is called nowdays??

Look I hope the kid is great.. I remember a young QB that was not highly recruited by the name of Jake Delhomme.. Kid had a decent career :-) Im not down on the kid.. I'm down on what it seems our focus is not... not chasing bigger time athletes... _

Don't get too down yet. We all know that the big recruits don't verbally commit too early, and even when they do it isn't definite. We aren't sure who else is on the UL recruiting board. Every year we get two or three guys who were being pursued by SEC caliber schools, I'm sure this year will be no different.

[IHateLaState]

_ "But if we are going to venture into places like Tennessee and not want to get embarrassed we need kids who are highly recruited. If we are going to year in and year out be competing for a SBC championship...If we want this program to be other than a middle of the road in the worst conference in America... dang-it we have to start DEMANDING better..... Whats wrong with that concept??????

Comeon Bustle.... reach HIGHER"


No, he stated exactly what is quoted above. Again, I think we are reaching for some athletes, but you must have some success before these kids will seriously consider your program. _

You are 100% correct. I am NOT down on Gauthier.. I am down on the quality of athletes that we seem to be chasing. And I stand by it until I see something different. Now don't start questioning my loyalty.. For the record.. AGAIN. Season tickets to Football, basketball, baseball and this year softball.. Other than softball we are talking at least 20 years of those Season Tickets. I am just engagin in conversation and voicing a concern as a Cajun Fan..

We alway seem to be satisfied with mediocre result around here. I voiced during the season my displeasure at being happy with 6-5 and middle of the road in the worst conference in Americal. I dont look at the videos that some of you seem to do. I don;t read any recuriting websites. I have my own method. I look at who the recruit chose us over. If all we are beating is SE La and Nichols then I have a problem. We cannot compete if that is the level of recruit we are getting. Soemone stated that it is early.. and I am hoping there are some bigger fish ready to hit the pan.. I sincerely hope so..
Someone sldo stated that all we can do is offer if we get turned down well we just move on.. Thats like saying well all we can do is tee it up.. If we lose we just move on.. NO.... dang-it we have to EXPECT to do better around here. If this coaching staff cant get better recruits we wont win. If we dont win they have to be gone...
Once again... Comeon Bustle... reach higher... and grab a few............

[Crowley Cajun]

Here's a link to his videos.

Link:
http://footballrecruiting.rivals.com...uit&pkey=56214

And here's a link to the current commits, according to Rivals.

Link:
http://footballrecruiting.rivals.com...008&School=149

He seems to have pocket awareness, good touch and zip when needed.

[IHateLaState]

_ Here's a link to his videos.

Link:
http://footballrecruiting.rivals.com...uit&pkey=56214

And here's a link to the current commits, according to Rivals.

Link:
http://footballrecruiting.rivals.com...008&School=149

He seems to have pocket awareness, good touch and zip when needed. _

Thanks for posting that..He sure seems to be the stud everyone says he is... Thats exciting

[Just1More]

_ You are 100% correct. I am NOT down on Gauthier.. I am down on the quality of athletes that we seem to be chasing.

I don't question your loyalty one bit... first of all. I think one reaction to your comments is that you tagged it to this post on Blaine. You are not attacking Blaine, but the overall gut feeling that we don't reach high enough on HS football prospects... understood. I tend not to agree with you.

Here is an simple analogy...

If you were recruiting for a new girlfriend... and some highly heralded website ranked them all in a multitude of categories... and let's say you are a 5.5 on a scale of 10. You would not, with limited time, and the desperate need for a girlfriend, run across the pasture and stomp up next to the guys who have earned their 10 spot... and start haggling with a 10 babe. If you had a brain at all, you would study the likelihood of a "fixer-upper" that appears on the list as a 5 or 6... and look beyond her bad choice in hair coloring (the reason for at least 2 spots on the heralded ranking) and a) vision her playing "in your system", and b) how could you bring her up to be "your 10".

If you go running around, with a couple of teeth missing, a funny odor about yourself, and still driving that old clunker... you had better target your "fixer-uppers" and at the same time... try earning a little more money, get your teeth fixed, take a shower every once and a while, and get a better car. What girl wants to hang around a slob?

I think we've been fortunate in some respects that a couple of those pretty nice looking 7s and 8s have looked at our 5 spot and viewed us as a "fixer-upper". When we get our act together... you will get your wish on "ranked recruits".

I also go back to the whole rankings thing... there are super athletes that Rivals doesn't account for... and does not get correct. They may be right that a 4 or 5 deserve it. But, once you start getting below 4... it starts getting heavily subjective. Rivals will toss out a tremendous linebacker because he's undersized. They act like they know where he is going to be in 2 years out of high school... bull.

I know you hate LSU, but Jacob Hester, who LSU road like a mule the past couple of seasons actually caused them to drop in their coveted recruiting class when they signed him. Can you imagine that... they have all of these 4 and 5 star signees, are hoping to be the top freshmen class in the nation... and when they pick up Hester, it drops them... he was not a heralded player. Ironically, he pulled the entire team thru most games. The 4 and 5 star guys were sitting on the sidelines watching him show them how it gets done.

[DrumRoll]

_ You are 100% correct. I am NOT down on Gauthier.. I am down on the quality of athletes that we seem to be chasing. And I stand by it until I see something different. Now don't start questioning my loyalty.. For the record.. AGAIN. Season tickets to Football, basketball, baseball and this year softball.. Other than softball we are talking at least 20 years of those Season Tickets. I am just engagin in conversation and voicing a concern as a Cajun Fan..

We alway seem to be satisfied with mediocre result around here. I voiced during the season my displeasure at being happy with 6-5 and middle of the road in the worst conference in Americal. I dont look at the videos that some of you seem to do. I don;t read any recuriting websites. I have my own method. I look at who the recruit chose us over. If all we are beating is SE La and Nichols then I have a problem. We cannot compete if that is the level of recruit we are getting. Soemone stated that it is early.. and I am hoping there are some bigger fish ready to hit the pan.. I sincerely hope so..
Someone sldo stated that all we can do is offer if we get turned down well we just move on.. Thats like saying well all we can do is tee it up.. If we lose we just move on.. NO.... dang-it we have to EXPECT to do better around here. If this coaching staff cant get better recruits we wont win. If we dont win they have to be gone...
Once again... Comeon Bustle... reach higher... and grab a few............ _

I will apologize in advance if this angers you, and for the long post this is going to be, but I can see that you really do not appreciate how recruiting works these days, and more specifically, how it must work at UL, in order to have success.

UL is not in the SEC, UL is not in a BCS conference, so there is nothing that UL can do to compete with that. If a kid absolutely wants that, has the highlights, stats, height, weight, and speed that proves that he can play there, he is gone.

UL is not likely to get 4-5 star athletes that have 20 offers to top 25 teams, unless there is a family connection.

What if a kid does not have playing in the SEC/BCS as his top priority and is not a "made man" by the recruiting services?

Here are my top 10 other priorities, in random order:

1) Proximity to home or relatives
2) Education
3) Geographical Region
4) Nearest City
5) $ value of tuitition/scholarship
6) Extra Curricular Compensation
7) School Size
8) School Tradition
9) Coaches
10) Facilities

Your coaching staff cannot do much about items 1-8. If they can get kids to visit, 2, 3, and 4 will be pleasant surprises. The current status and ongoing upgrades to 10 is very positive, but meeting and getting to know 9, the coaching staff, is UL's "Ace in the Hole".

Why? Because of priority #11, the one I left off the list. Every player thinks in the back of their mind, "I want a shot at the NFL", and while they know the odds are slim, they are looking for a staff that can coach them up and help provide that shot if they do the work. UL actually has way above average coaches for the level of compensation they receive, solid guys with awesome personalities, and the strength and conditioning coach will be the scale tipper for priority #11, he will get them where they need to be, and they will know it upon meeting him.

Ever been on an Easter Egg hunt as a kid, where they had a GOLDEN EGG? Ever been the first one to find it? Kids are running past all sorts of eggs, staying in motion, scanning the horizon, when all of the sudden, one kid stops, turns, and inspects something closely, most of the other kids surge towards the area in frantic hopes of beating the kid to that GOLDEN EGG.

Recruiting is a lot like this. It is a delicate balance of not showing too much interest too early, and offering right when you either think you can get them to commit or just before everyone else notices them. Your coaches have stopped, turned, and are inspecting a player closely, and the result is that many other coaches will surge to the area and try to snatch the kid away. The UL coaching staff does a good job of this, and it is not easy to pull off.

This is where I break off into why I posted. You have it all wrong, most of the time you do not want the guys that have all of the offers, because you want them to commit before everyone else in the Easter Egg Hunt finds them. Why have the others not noticed, because there are plenty of easy to find eggs laying around in plain sight. The UL coaching staff does a very good job of finding the well hidden ones, the guys that have slipped through the cracks so far. They go after late bloomers, kids that backed up a superstar, kid's that were not featured because of the system their HS uses, kids that started playing football late, kids that transferred and had to earn a starting spot, in general, the well hidden eggs, the ones that are the hardest to find, the ones that will still be out there under that bush long after the hunt is over, if nobody takes the time to really try to find them.

As mentioned above, UL is typically not going to win the battle for the guys that everyone has found, everyone has offered, and everyone has ranked as a 4-5 star. UL needs to do the work, uncover the guys that are harder to find, and offer at the right time. When a kid commits early, it pretty much ends his offers, if he is truly committed, because he politley tells coaches that he is happy with and honoring his commitment to UL. Kid's that continue to rack up offers after commiting somewhere, are not telling coaches that, trust me on this, they are most likely showing interest in the other program, under the "keeping your options open" plan. So to say that a kid is a low level recruit because he has no offers, is meaningless, because he may be one of those hard to find eggs at the Easter Egg hunt, and UL had an eye on him all along, and got there before the crowd.

[ULGrad@HOU]

You all have good points to make in this and I'm not sure in reality what exactly happens between coaches and recruits. There's so much we don't know. As fans, we see the results of the process, not the process. I can understand what IHateLaState is saying, that we should be competing against other respectable, D-1 programs for most of our commitments. You can't believe (not directed at anyone specific) that out of 24 recuits, most of these are the under-the-radar type. Some sure, but not most. You can't have those odds and expect to win. I believe for the program to grow and improve, at some point, your program should get recruits it really doesn't deserve. This is where the coaches make or break the program. This is where the recruit sees something in the coaches, not just the facilities, that make them want to play for them. I also don't think all of a sudden we are going to see 4 and 5 star athletes on our list. But, we should see several guys that are on the scope of other programs, dare I say some 3's and a sprinkling of 4's ( I know these ratings aren't that accurate, lets not divert the discussion that direction). This is a slow process, it takes winning to fully push this train at full speed and we aren't winning enough. That's another item, we need to win games consistently that we are suppose to win and then win some that we aren't. Just my 2 cents.

Geaux UL!