Football Recruiting

[hoopsalot25]

I don't know if it is a recruiting coup that we get a 2-star recruit that had an offer from Colorado St. Equally significant is that several teams pulled their interest after hearing about his torn knee. The injury is truly bad for this person!

I see a bigger issue here: KF is competing with small conference programs for players. Seriously, how many times has KF swooped in to steal a small school player, or a D-IAA player being given a partial scholarship?

I sure hope his knee heals and he and his brother develop into quality players.

 

[Clemenza]

Iowa getting lesser known recruits is not a new thing. Nor is switching their positions as soon as they put on the Iowa uniform. Some of the best recruiting classes we've ever had were loaded with 2 and 3 star kids who didn't have any major D1 scholarship offers and, conversely, some of the worst classes we've ever had were top heavy with busts like Dan Doering, Jake f--ing Christensen......who could've basically picked any school in the country to go to.

In the end, recruiting is fun to talk about but you can't judge how good or bad the classes are until several years down the line.

 

[herky]

Iowa getting lesser known recruits is not a new thing. Nor is switching their positions as soon as they put on the Iowa uniform. Some of the best recruiting classes we've ever had were loaded with 2 and 3 star kids who didn't have any major D1 scholarship offers and, conversely, some of the worst classes we've ever had were top heavy with busts like Dan Doering, Jake f--ing Christensen......who could've basically picked any school in the country to go to.

In the end, recruiting is fun to talk about but you can't judge how good or bad the classes are until several years down the line.

While I agree that you don't really know how the class will pan out for a few years after, history isn't on our side with lesser classes.

One of our Husker counterparts wrote this up about recruiting ranking averages and National Championships.

http://www.sportshoopla.com/forums/nebraska-cornhuskers/62177-recruiting-class-averages-title-winners-compared-nu.html

 

[Hawkeye]

Pretty interesting write up, the unfortunate thing is Iowa will never even come close to sniffing the top 10, but hey Mark Stoops has his Kentucky class at #1 right now, sure it will fall, but look what he has brought in already...KF just likes to maintain status quo I guess and win 8-9 at most, head to Florida and try to win.

We are the Kansas City Chiefs of the Big Ten, for years when I lived in KC, they did the same thing, content to bring in talent, make the playoffs and the fans loved it, never any Super Bowls, but they didn't lose more than 5 every year.

We all know what has happened to the Chiefs in the last 5-8 years...just a matter of time.

 

[Clemenza]

While I agree that you don't really know how the class will pan out for a few years after, history isn't on our side with lesser classes.

One of our Husker counterparts wrote this up about recruiting ranking averages and National Championships.

http://www.sportshoopla.com/forums/nebraska-cornhuskers/62177-recruiting-class-averages-title-winners-compared-nu.html

Apples to oranges. Clearly getting top 5 recruiting classes year after year will put you in position for national championship runs. Iowa isn't in that class, nor have they ever really been. I think the Jake C/Doering class was top 10, not sure that KF has had one other one in his tenure here....I could be wrong. Regardless, my point is that with Iowa you can throw most of that out the window as the # of stars with recruits does not translate to standings, championships (moot) or, really, any substantive success.

 

[hoopsalot25]

Hawkeye,

I would agree with you. KF is never going to get a sniff of the top 10 recruiting classes. Given who KF targets in his recruiting efforts, the Iowa program seems to be playing for an 8-4 season --- every year! Winning more than that in the regular season...translates into a great year for Iowa Football. Getting 7 or fewer...under KF...the blame goes to the players, not the coaches.

It is truly amazing that KF proven to win big at Iowa. However, what is more amazing is that KF has allowed the product to drop off so significantly and so often.

A long time ago, KF said that you can't win every game at Iowa. That going 8-4 is a very good year for Iowa Football. Given his comments, recruiting approach, and game preparation/management preferences, my expectations are low again this year. They will remain low moving forward until a clear change of direction is evident.

Getting small school talent to come into Iowa will only produce limited results. Small school talent means stealing a recruit from a mid-major, or D-IAA program. Also signing a small high school recruit to play in the B1G conference.

Some won't like my comments here...and that is okay. It is very easy to point out the successes. But can you truly acknowledge the failures of the same type of recruit?

 

[Clemenza]

The one and only way KF........or really, just about any D1 head coach.......can get 4 and 5 star recruits to consistently come to Iowa is to cheat, period. Even winning a National Championship wouldn't get us there. Iowa has far too many barriers to recruit kids like that.

So basically I'm saying either jump on the "2-star Recruit" train or get the hell off 'cause it will never change, Ferentz or not.

 

[hoopsalot25]

Clem,

Winning every year doesn't net KF better recruits coming to Iowa City? That means winning B1G championships and BCS bowl games.

Clem, I forgot...Tuscaloosa has a population of 91,000+ to Iowa City's 69,000. Ya.....that'll draw the recruits in...wow.

Point blank: Winning brings in better recruits...not the city/state location.

 

[Hawkeye]

I am not disagreeing with either of you, think both points are valid and true, but I would love to know what Hayden's recruiting classes vs KF's classes are in comparison. I do feel Hayden got better overall recruits back then, but...that was the 20th century and the day of letters and phones vs today with social media and all the crap we have now.

So recruiting is hugely different today. I do feel that Iowa City is not really much different than many other college towns such as Tuscaloosa, or Manhattan Kansas or where most of these SEC teams are located, or even other B10 teams...Penn State, Wisconsin, Indiana...not really in the middle of the deluxe cities in their states. The main difference in some cases is weather and academics. I am not sure of the atmosphere in Iowa City these days, I know the police seem to have it out for the athletes whereas the old days they seemed to look the other way.

I guess it comes to how in tune a coach can be with kids and what he can do with them when they get there. With all the coaching turnover the last 2 years I am willing to see what happens. I do feel Iowa should not accept KF's bullshit of winning 8 games is good, 9 is good, 10 should be expected and more is whip cream on the pie. For $4 mil, I expect a lot.

 

[hoopsalot25]

Hawkeye,

Nicely stated. I can agree with what you said. However, I feel that 9 regular season wins should be the standard for Iowa Football. Given the history of Iowa Football, 9 wins + a big bowl game would be significant. Iowa would be in a position - talent wise - each year to upset a tough opponent. Iowa would also be in a position to win the conference championship. Above all, given how Iowa schedules in the non-conference slate of games, Iowa should NEVER lose any of those four games EVER!

 

[Clemenza]

Clem,

Winning every year doesn't net KF better recruits coming to Iowa City? That means winning B1G championships and BCS bowl games.

Clem, I forgot...Tuscaloosa has a population of 91,000+ to Iowa City's 69,000. Ya.....that'll draw the recruits in...wow.

Point blank: Winning brings in better recruits...not the city/state location.

LOL, this is so false that I don't even know where to begin. I said NOTHING about the city's population, that has really nothing to do with it. Tuskaloosa is located in a warm weather state, surrounded by states who consistently produce 4 and 5 star recruits. So not only do they NOT have to convince kids to move far from home, they also have the sell of a warm-weather city/state.

In fact, let's look at the current Rivals top 10 rated kids and see where they're from:

1. Virginia
2. New Jersey
3. Louisiana
4. Virginia
5. Georgia
6. Florida
7. Virginia
8. Louisiana
9. California
10. Maryland

The highest rated kid from the midwest is at #22, from Kansas, and (wait for it) has an offer from Iowa.

So population aside, the southern states have a clear advantage in recruiting for several reasons......the two biggest being weather and the location, the number of highly rated recruits down south is far greater than in the Midwest. Poor black kids who have their choice of schools who grew up in, say, Florida, likely don't want to spend the next 4 years playing at Iowa. That's just common sense.

BTW - you seem to think that just because a kid doesn't go to Iowa that he wasn't recruited by Iowa. Iowa "recruits" a lot of kids but only a fraction actually end up with scholarships and an even smaller amount actually end up at Iowa. Iowa recruited some top talent for many years and just didn't land them. So while you can call out KF for not landing all of these highly rated kids, you can't fault him for trying and he also recruits "smart", doesn't waste unncessary time/effort recruiting a 5 star kid from Georgia or Louisiana who would never in a million years choose Iowa.

 

[Aaronhawkeye44]

City, state and location has everything to do with recruiting! Top high school football states in the country are Florida, Texas, California, Alabama, Ohio, etc... Are you seeing any trends? The newest recruit is a 2star (which basically means that he hasn't been evaluated) by one service and a 4 star by another, hardly a bad get...

 

[Hawkeye]

funny but I hear all of you saying the same thing here, just in different ways...bottom line is KF has to recruit what he can, but he has also gone on record saying that he is not going to recruit 5 star kids, which, if they are in Alabama or most of these states, makes sense, cause that is a waste of time, but let's go back to this kid out of Utah a couple years ago that was a stud OL, practically begged to come but KF looked the other way and he went to Utah I think...when KF passes those kids up, it is really annoying.

Jok tore up the game last night in the Prime Time league, no matter what we do in football, I think the basketball team is going to be very strong for a while

 

[Hawkeye]

Jameer Outsey committed tonight, OLB from Jersey...apparently has quite a few offers already from Pitt and a few others, looks like he has great potential even though interest is just heating up...he hasn't visited yet so this one could be a maybe at some point, but still, size wise he is a good fit. Part of me doesn't care about the stars as long as they have good football skills, but I am guessing this kid will end up a solid 3 to 3.5 star kid.

 

[herky]

Jameer Outsey - Yahoo! Sports

 

[hoopsalot25]

Clem,

What are the educational standards for high school states in the list that you provided?

Not to mention the eligibility requirements for playing football in the SEC...as they pertain to academics.

Coaches that win...and win big...have NO PROBLEM bringing in better recruits. And it doesn't matter the location of the program that is winning big. Winning...cures everything. You honestly think Saban brings in all of that talent if he was losing? Please...

 

[Hawkeye]

Another commit, Keegan Render...HawkCentral ran the story...Keegan? Interesting name, a neighbor had a dog with that name when I was growing up, but if Indiana Jones can be named after a dog, why not an OL share the same name

"The 6-foot-4, 305-pound lineman said he fielded scholarship offers from Iowa, Iowa State, Northern Illinois, Illinois State and Northern Iowa.
Render, a three-star recruit by Rivals.com and a Des Moines Sunday Register all-state selection, said he also received interest from schools such as Kansas State, Notre Dame, Nebraska, Michigan State and Minnesota."

 

[herky]

Nice. Looks like we have a good class so far, especially after a 4-8 season.

 

[Aaronhawkeye44]

Great class so far!

 

[Clemenza]

Clem,

What are the educational standards for high school states in the list that you provided?

Not to mention the eligibility requirements for playing football in the SEC...as they pertain to academics.

Coaches that win...and win big...have NO PROBLEM bringing in better recruits. And it doesn't matter the location of the program that is winning big. Winning...cures everything. You honestly think Saban brings in all of that talent if he was losing? Please...

You have it backwards, my friend. Recruiting 4 and 5 star kids (and the winning that comes along with it) is strongly influenced by location. There are, of course, exceptions (Nebraska in the 80s/90s, for example), but a team that wins doesn't automatically stay in the driver's seat for the next 20 years solely because they won a national championship.

OK, I'm done beating the dead Hoops here.