Does Texas have a championship-quality class?
SBNation recruiting editor Bud Elliott takes a look at which schools have the highest-rated commits and opines on how the rankings could influence future championships.
4 months ago
Wescott Eberts (GoBR)
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So does Wyatt lose sleep at night now that the possiblity with DGB is slim to none
I believe I saw on JS’s post a few weeks back saying that if we land DGB he wouldn’t lose any sleep over losing TJ
we always have the caliber of talent....
now can we cultivate it properly….
Why you should not lose sleep over losing holdouts still on the board
Who has the best class of high schoolers? Texas. And I don’t think it’s all that close at this point. The Longhorns are bringing in 21 non-kicker/punter high school commitments, and a very impressive 16 of them are rated four-stars or better! The Longhorns are showing that it is very possible to take a big class without sacrificing quality. It doesn’t hurt to have unlimited resources and be the flagship university of one of the most talent-rich states in the country.
We ARE The Joneses™ - Burnt Orange Nation
Follow @TXStampede
they also claim they are a top 10 coaching job....
we could literally go on for days listing all of A&M’s dilusions
In The Morning To You
I know. That’s what they say, technically anyway, but money talks (read: state money) at some point right?
From what I gather just doing some Wikipedia research: Maybe someone here can help me out.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Texas_System – Texas (Austin) is the flagship of the Texas University system.
Texas A&M is the flagship of the Texas A&M University system. Which I didn’t even know there was one.
Editor at Alligator Army.
Staggering thought
that we might not get DGB and won’t get Edwards Jr., and we still rank out front in percentage of 4- and 5-star recruits. With a big class!
The more I read about what this staff is doing on the recruiting trail, the more ticked off I get at Mack for letting our program wither on the vine — from a recruiting standpoint — from 2006 to 2009.
haha, i was trying to post his quote....
then i went aggie and brushed over my mistake instead of truly fixing it. damn it.
I am honored
and more than a little surprised, that somebody would want to post my quote.
I be gettin’ famoso.
I understand the sentiment
But we did manage to win a Big 12 championship and have a shot to win it all in ‘09. All of those classes were rated in top 10. It wasn’t the recruiting. It was the development.
We ARE The Joneses™ - Burnt Orange Nation
Follow @TXStampede
I agree almost entirely
Development is the issue. People can question all the misses, but when everyone from the Texas coaches to the other top schools offering these kids to the recruiting services all think they’re great recruits, that seems to be about a problem with development once they’re on the team, not poor evaluation.
"Anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that 'my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.'"
― Isaac Asimov
by burntorangehorn on Jan 20, 2012 6:15 PM CST up reply actions
It was both
We developed — or utlized — poorly.
But we also took a lot of low-hanging fruit (not my term, but I’m happy to steal it). We left a lot of talent out there. Others were more than happy to sign it. And beat us with it.
Not sure the Sooners benefited, but Baylor, Aggie and OSU surely did!
Look at those recruiting classes
And it’s apparent that it wasn’t low-hanging fruit. Those classes were generally as good as or superior to this class. I think it appears as though a lot of that talent left out there was actually intentionally avoided, sometimes for academic, character, or street agent problems.
"Anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that 'my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.'"
― Isaac Asimov
by burntorangehorn on Jan 21, 2012 6:34 PM CST up reply actions
How do you figure he was letting it wither on the vine?
Take a look at the 2009 vs. 2012 classes.
2009
5* X 3
4* X 11
3* X 6
Avg. * rating: 3.85
% that are 4+ stars: 70%
2012
5* X 2
4* X 13
3* X 8
Avg. star rating: 3.74
% that are 4+ stars: 65.2%
Doesn’t it appear that 2009 was actually the superior class, as long as we’re not using hindsight to judge how those 2009 recruits developed?
"Anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that 'my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.'"
― Isaac Asimov
by burntorangehorn on Jan 20, 2012 5:50 PM CST up reply actions
2007...
…seems to be better than 2012 as well.
5* X 2
4* X 16
3* X 5
2* X 1 (Tyrell Higgins)
Avg. star rating: 3.79
% that are 4+ stars: 75%
Of course that class did help as sophomores in the 2008 almost-appearance and as juniors in the 2009 appearance in the BCS championship.
For fun, 2006:
5* X 2
4* X 11
3* X 11
(not included: Hunter Lawrence, 3* PK)
Avg. star rating: 3.63
% that are 4+ stars: 54.2%
That was sort of a disappointing result for a team that was on its way to winning the BCS championship, and had won the Rose Bowl not long before that class’s junior days.
If there’s a year that really looks like the team mailed it in on paper, it was 2005. Even coming off a Rose Bowl win before NSD and a 10-3 record (bowl loss included) the previous season, they wrapped up zero 5*, eight 4*, and six 3* guys, for a total of 14 non-punters/kickers. That’s a tiny class and a very low-rated one, although it certainly produced a lot of NFL guys. 4* recruits Charles, Finley, Melton, and Roy Miller, 3* recruits McCoy, Muckelroy were all drafted, while Cosby, Tanner, and Aaron Lewis all signed UDFA contracts; Chris Hall chose seminary over trying for the league.
"Anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that 'my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.'"
― Isaac Asimov
by burntorangehorn on Jan 20, 2012 6:12 PM CST up reply actions
Because, guys, and no criticism intended at all . . .
recruiting rankings are for OUR eyes. They’re not what you win with. They shouldn’t be what guides coaches.
Beyond the superstar recruits, you win with players your staff can mold and develop, players who fit your system, players who haven’t become 5- or even 4-stars by the time they sign.
BUT THEY BECOME 5- and 4-star performers under efficient development — and because somebody’s assistant coach saw something our assistant coach did not!!!
But they saw something in those guys for their system.
They did not recruit those players and think, “Well, at least Texas doesn’t have those guys.”
Bottom line, it is about grading for your needs and closing on the highest grades. Texas has done a pretty good job getting the high grade kids. They have also suffered the ups and downs of developing that talent. Darius White graded high. We got him. We worked hard to develop him. He did not take advantage and was not a Texas man. It happens.
We ARE The Joneses™ - Burnt Orange Nation
Follow @TXStampede
Sure, but this doesn't address my point:
It’s factually incorrect that Mack was “letting our program wither on the vine — from a recruiting standpoint — from 2006 to 2009.”
This recruiting class doesn’t seem to be clearly better or worse than that period. Sure, it’s fun to read evaluations about these guys, and sure, it’s easy to buy into hindsight-driven opinions about why these recruits are destined for greatness compared to those 2006-2009 classes, but there’s really no more reason other than optimism for its own sake to think this class represents some kind of a watershed moment. If the results of this recruiting class turn out to be better than for the years you are criticizing, it’ll have to be due to development, not the raw quality.
"Anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that 'my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.'"
― Isaac Asimov
by burntorangehorn on Jan 21, 2012 6:31 PM CST up reply actions
Bud, did you use my post to you from yesterday in your article?
My post:
The more 3 or 2 stars you take, the less room you have for 4 and 5 stars down the line.
The article:
If a team gives a scholarship to a two- or three-star player, that is a scholarship that cannot be allocated to a four- or five-star player
Hey Bud
Loved my visit to your school for the OU game. I want to check out a new stadium every year and a good friend is an FSU grad so we made the trip.
Too bad y’all didn’t pull that one off, but the campus was really pretty and I had a really good experience there. Not quite Austin, but doing the game day experience with Corso and gang was very cool. Love the atmosophere of the game with the spear and tomohawk.
You seem like a nice guy, but let’s not make it a habit for FSU to land one of the top 2 players from our state….capiche?
We're Texas, We're not OK.
we have a great class
I don’t think its the best class right now. But definitely one of the best. It doesn’t really matter how good the class is as long as we can keep them progressing. That’s something we failed to do in recent years, great classes but players couldnt evolve into playmakers.
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