***2016 Recruiting***

[zoogs]

I mean that the guys they find might not stay overlooked for long. We'll see how it is with the offers list and so on when the dust finally settles. I don't think the idea is to try to get overlooked guys -- it's to identify and secure talent early, and get the jump on other schools who will be later to offer.

I'm sure the coaches aren't checking the rankings and thinking about "what star level of talent do I am for." I think they make their own evaluations with film and visits, offer everyone they think is worthwhile, and go from there.

This is before the senior season at this point. And for the '17 class it's before their junior seasons. The '18 guys only have freshmen film.

 

[alwayshusking]

It's still pretty early so this isn't to be taken as a criticism, just an observation.

It kind of seems to me like we have an inverse bell curve going on right now with our offers. That is, we seem to have offered a lot of guys at both ends of the spectrum - high-end guys who we probably don't have much of a chance with and "low-end" guys in that we are one of their first/only Power 5 offers - when you'd kind of expect to see more of the mid-level guys. Not saying there aren't any of the low-four star, high three star guys who usually make up a lot of the class but it just seems to me like there aren't a lot of them popping up.

Will be interesting to see who becomes interested as the summer goes along.

I've noticed this as well. Frankly, I find it concerning. The two most recent commits are nice, but unless Nebraska starts landing some real talented players to end the year with a class ranked somewhere in the top 20, we're in trouble.
The players who've committed and the types of players we've been offering lately are nowhere near good enough for Nebraska to compete at the highest level.

Based on what? These kids havent even played their final season before coming to college. As far as we know a few of these guys may add a 4th star of end up a 5.7 3 star. Im willing to let this play out

Hopefully that's the case, but I won't count on it.
Personally, I base a player based on their offer lists and star power. Nebraska is handing out offers to players with neither. So, unless Mike Riley and his staff are the first major coaches to see something in a player the others haven't, I find it concerning.

As of now, our recruiting class seems poised to land in the 30s, just like the last few years. That is not good enough.

It wouldn't be a good strategy for us to wait until a kid has 20+ offers before offering. We'd have trouble even being in the ballgame.

If you judge guys by their recruiting rankings and offers, then you need to wait it out. There'll be a bunch of movement in the rankings and offer lists will grow from now until signing day.

 

[Dr. Strangelove]

It's still pretty early so this isn't to be taken as a criticism, just an observation.

It kind of seems to me like we have an inverse bell curve going on right now with our offers. That is, we seem to have offered a lot of guys at both ends of the spectrum - high-end guys who we probably don't have much of a chance with and "low-end" guys in that we are one of their first/only Power 5 offers - when you'd kind of expect to see more of the mid-level guys. Not saying there aren't any of the low-four star, high three star guys who usually make up a lot of the class but it just seems to me like there aren't a lot of them popping up.

Will be interesting to see who becomes interested as the summer goes along.

I've noticed this as well. Frankly, I find it concerning. The two most recent commits are nice, but unless Nebraska starts landing some real talented players to end the year with a class ranked somewhere in the top 20, we're in trouble.
The players who've committed and the types of players we've been offering lately are nowhere near good enough for Nebraska to compete at the highest level.

Based on what? These kids havent even played their final season before coming to college. As far as we know a few of these guys may add a 4th star of end up a 5.7 3 star. Im willing to let this play out

Hopefully that's the case, but I won't count on it.
Personally, I base a player based on their offer lists and star power. Nebraska is handing out offers to players with neither. So, unless Mike Riley and his staff are the first major coaches to see something in a player the others haven't, I find it concerning.

As of now, our recruiting class seems poised to land in the 30s, just like the last few years. That is not good enough.

You realize that Riley is regarded as a great talent evaluator right? Even at OSU he was able to identify and sign some guys that many schools passed on. With our added resources and support it isnt that hard to fathom Riley landing a better prospect at NU. If he consistently develops 2 stars into NFL draft picks what happens when you hand him 3-4 star talent?

I'm aware, and he's done about as good of a job developing guys as you can.

This is why I focus on offer lists. A kid with many offers means his talent is obvious, coaches across the country know the kid is good. Banking on Mike Riley noticing something in a player other coaches don't notice will work some of the time, as evidenced by the recent NFL draft, but means that most of the time the player will be a miss (see the rest of Oregon States players and their record the last few seasons).

I know it's early and the offers will start to come for many kids, but it's concerning right now. They have to start landing better players.

 

[zoogs]

Again, I think you have to take into account that they're playing catch-up to an extent in this class. They laid some groundwork Dec to February and there are guys these coaches were in on from their previous jobs, but they couldn't start focusing in earnest on '16 until after NSD and the rush to finish the '15 class was over.

By then, it was already closing season. A lot of the "well known" commodities with heavy P5 offer sheets are guys that have extensive history with those schools that Riley & co would have to just jump in on. So perhaps they are deliberating focusing on a smaller pool of guys who are still "recruitable" -- at least to start establishing a base for the class. They will have a lot more time overall than last year and there will be plenty of high profile battles to be fought (we lost a QB battle to Michigan recently, after all).

Look at the '17 offers and tell me this staff is too scared and will back down from anybody.

 

[Hedley Lamarr]

It's still pretty early so this isn't to be taken as a criticism, just an observation.

It kind of seems to me like we have an inverse bell curve going on right now with our offers. That is, we seem to have offered a lot of guys at both ends of the spectrum - high-end guys who we probably don't have much of a chance with and "low-end" guys in that we are one of their first/only Power 5 offers - when you'd kind of expect to see more of the mid-level guys. Not saying there aren't any of the low-four star, high three star guys who usually make up a lot of the class but it just seems to me like there aren't a lot of them popping up.

Will be interesting to see who becomes interested as the summer goes along.

I've noticed this as well. Frankly, I find it concerning. The two most recent commits are nice, but unless Nebraska starts landing some real talented players to end the year with a class ranked somewhere in the top 20, we're in trouble.
The players who've committed and the types of players we've been offering lately are nowhere near good enough for Nebraska to compete at the highest level.

Based on what? These kids havent even played their final season before coming to college. As far as we know a few of these guys may add a 4th star of end up a 5.7 3 star. Im willing to let this play out

Hopefully that's the case, but I won't count on it.
Personally, I base a player based on their offer lists and star power. Nebraska is handing out offers to players with neither. So, unless Mike Riley and his staff are the first major coaches to see something in a player the others haven't, I find it concerning.

As of now, our recruiting class seems poised to land in the 30s, just like the last few years. That is not good enough.

You realize that Riley is regarded as a great talent evaluator right? Even at OSU he was able to identify and sign some guys that many schools passed on. With our added resources and support it isnt that hard to fathom Riley landing a better prospect at NU. If he consistently develops 2 stars into NFL draft picks what happens when you hand him 3-4 star talent?

I'm aware, and he's done about as good of a job developing guys as you can.
This is why I focus on offer lists. A kid with many offers means his talent is obvious, coaches across the country know the kid is good. Banking on Mike Riley noticing something in a player other coaches don't notice will work some of the time, as evidenced by the recent NFL draft, but means that most of the time the player will be a miss (see the rest of Oregon States players and their record the last few seasons).

I know it's early and the offers will start to come for many kids, but it's concerning right now. They have to start landing better players.

Our QB and recent LB commit will move up in the rankings. Mark it down

 

[Dr. Strangelove]

Again, I think you have to take into account that they're playing catch-up to an extent in this class. They laid some groundwork Dec to February and there are guys these coaches were in on from their previous jobs, but they couldn't start focusing in earnest on '16 until after NSD and the rush to finish the '15 class was over.

By then, it was already closing season. A lot of the "well known" commodities with heavy P5 offer sheets are guys that have extensive history with those schools that Riley & co would have to just jump in on. So perhaps they are deliberating focusing on a smaller pool of guys who are still "recruitable" -- at least to start establishing a base for the class. They will have a lot more time overall than last year and there will be plenty of high profile battles to be fought (we lost a QB battle to Michigan recently, after all).

Look at the '17 offers and tell me this staff is too scared and will back down from anybody.

No doubt, this is true. They've been handing out offers to highly ranked kids for the '16 class too. But offering and recruiting against major schools is one thing, landing those recruits is another.

I do think there is some merit to the fact that the staff is relatively new and haven't had the chance to lay the ground work for the '16 as much as they would like. Still, it is not uncommon for first year coaches (see Penn State last year) to use their previous recruiting ties to start landing bigger fish. I don't expect Riley to do that well, as Penn State finished with a top 15 class, but it is imperative that they finish their first year with a class at least ranked in the top 25.

 

[Hedley Lamarr]

I guess for me it is looking at how his OSU classes ranked. If he finished ranked in the 50s to 60s but now ends up with 20-30 would he not be able to win?

 

[Treand3]

Again, I think you have to take into account that they're playing catch-up to an extent in this class. They laid some groundwork Dec to February and there are guys these coaches were in on from their previous jobs, but they couldn't start focusing in earnest on '16 until after NSD and the rush to finish the '15 class was over.

By then, it was already closing season. A lot of the "well known" commodities with heavy P5 offer sheets are guys that have extensive history with those schools that Riley & co would have to just jump in on. So perhaps they are deliberating focusing on a smaller pool of guys who are still "recruitable" -- at least to start establishing a base for the class. They will have a lot more time overall than last year and there will be plenty of high profile battles to be fought (we lost a QB battle to Michigan recently, after all).

Look at the '17 offers and tell me this staff is too scared and will back down from anybody.

Thank you.

Additionally, just remember, that vaunted '05 class Callahan had didn't have its 1st commitment until June if I'm not mistaken. It can't be overstated the late start this staff got.

 

[Red Five]

I totally agree we need to recruit at a high level and get at least a top 20/25 class and top 3/4 in the B1G every year. But it is May 7th. With a new staff that started a bit behind. I am willing to give them a bit of time before it becomes concerning to me. Unless everything goes to hell this season, I am probably going wait until end of summer 2017 before I start to get worked up about recruiting.

 

[Red Five]

Again, I think you have to take into account that they're playing catch-up to an extent in this class. They laid some groundwork Dec to February and there are guys these coaches were in on from their previous jobs, but they couldn't start focusing in earnest on '16 until after NSD and the rush to finish the '15 class was over.

By then, it was already closing season. A lot of the "well known" commodities with heavy P5 offer sheets are guys that have extensive history with those schools that Riley & co would have to just jump in on. So perhaps they are deliberating focusing on a smaller pool of guys who are still "recruitable" -- at least to start establishing a base for the class. They will have a lot more time overall than last year and there will be plenty of high profile battles to be fought (we lost a QB battle to Michigan recently, after all).

Look at the '17 offers and tell me this staff is too scared and will back down from anybody.

Thank you.

Additionally, just remember, that vaunted '05 class Callahan had didn't have its 1st commitment until June if I'm not mistaken. It can't be overstated the late start this staff got.

I get your point, but the recruiting timeline has changed a lot in 10 years.

 

[Treand3]

Again, I think you have to take into account that they're playing catch-up to an extent in this class. They laid some groundwork Dec to February and there are guys these coaches were in on from their previous jobs, but they couldn't start focusing in earnest on '16 until after NSD and the rush to finish the '15 class was over.

By then, it was already closing season. A lot of the "well known" commodities with heavy P5 offer sheets are guys that have extensive history with those schools that Riley & co would have to just jump in on. So perhaps they are deliberating focusing on a smaller pool of guys who are still "recruitable" -- at least to start establishing a base for the class. They will have a lot more time overall than last year and there will be plenty of high profile battles to be fought (we lost a QB battle to Michigan recently, after all).

Look at the '17 offers and tell me this staff is too scared and will back down from anybody.

Thank you.
Additionally, just remember, that vaunted '05 class Callahan had didn't have its 1st commitment until June if I'm not mistaken. It can't be overstated the late start this staff got.

I get your point, but the recruiting timeline has changed a lot in 10 years.

To your point is has. It still doesn't change the fact that Riley and Co were behind the 8 ball in regards to '16, to no fault of their own. You will see my tune change if things don't look different by season's start for the '16 class. However, for '17 things will be vastly different due to the staff having things in place. The '11 class, Bo's best class on paper didn't have a single commit until June for a more recent reference.
Not directed at you Red, but we can't get caught up in comparing beginning classes of places like PSU and Michigan. Many of these coaches had "ins" with kids they currently have.

 

[jsneb83]

Again, I think you have to take into account that they're playing catch-up to an extent in this class. They laid some groundwork Dec to February and there are guys these coaches were in on from their previous jobs, but they couldn't start focusing in earnest on '16 until after NSD and the rush to finish the '15 class was over.

By then, it was already closing season. A lot of the "well known" commodities with heavy P5 offer sheets are guys that have extensive history with those schools that Riley & co would have to just jump in on. So perhaps they are deliberating focusing on a smaller pool of guys who are still "recruitable" -- at least to start establishing a base for the class. They will have a lot more time overall than last year and there will be plenty of high profile battles to be fought (we lost a QB battle to Michigan recently, after all).

Look at the '17 offers and tell me this staff is too scared and will back down from anybody.

Thank you.
Additionally, just remember, that vaunted '05 class Callahan had didn't have its 1st commitment until June if I'm not mistaken. It can't be overstated the late start this staff got.

I get your point, but the recruiting timeline has changed a lot in 10 years.

To your point is has. It still doesn't change the fact that Riley and Co were behind the 8 ball in regards to '16, to no fault of their own. You will see my tune change if things don't look different by season's start for the '16 class. However, for '17 things will be vastly different due to the staff having things in place. The '11 class, Bo's best class on paper didn't have a single commit until June for a more recent reference.
Not directed at you Red, but we can't get caught up in comparing beginning classes of places like PSU and Michigan. Many of these coaches had "ins" with kids they currently have.

Being in populous areas helps too

 

[Treand3]

Again, I think you have to take into account that they're playing catch-up to an extent in this class. They laid some groundwork Dec to February and there are guys these coaches were in on from their previous jobs, but they couldn't start focusing in earnest on '16 until after NSD and the rush to finish the '15 class was over.

By then, it was already closing season. A lot of the "well known" commodities with heavy P5 offer sheets are guys that have extensive history with those schools that Riley & co would have to just jump in on. So perhaps they are deliberating focusing on a smaller pool of guys who are still "recruitable" -- at least to start establishing a base for the class. They will have a lot more time overall than last year and there will be plenty of high profile battles to be fought (we lost a QB battle to Michigan recently, after all).

Look at the '17 offers and tell me this staff is too scared and will back down from anybody.

Thank you.
Additionally, just remember, that vaunted '05 class Callahan had didn't have its 1st commitment until June if I'm not mistaken. It can't be overstated the late start this staff got.

I get your point, but the recruiting timeline has changed a lot in 10 years.

To your point is has. It still doesn't change the fact that Riley and Co were behind the 8 ball in regards to '16, to no fault of their own. You will see my tune change if things don't look different by season's start for the '16 class. However, for '17 things will be vastly different due to the staff having things in place. The '11 class, Bo's best class on paper didn't have a single commit until June for a more recent reference.
Not directed at you Red, but we can't get caught up in comparing beginning classes of places like PSU and Michigan. Many of these coaches had "ins" with kids they currently have.

Being in populous areas helps too

It absolutely does and needs to be taken into account. Michigan for example has 6 commitments, 4 are within 4 hour's drive of their campus 3 of them are 4 star rated.

 

[zoogs]

There's another thing with the Penn State comparison: this staff probably just isn't as good at recruiting as James Franklin, who is a beast. Now, we have a great set of coaches with good reputation for talent evaluation and teaching, but we knew when they were hired that we weren't lining the staff with Ed Orgerons.

With respect to recruiting, they don't treat it as a burden or Nebraska as a disadvantage and they will try and maximize as best they can...but they probably are not going to match some of the best recruiting operations in the country. Should still be solid.

 

[Atbone95]

Watch. This staff will land Dontavious Jackson. He is the 2nd highest rated player in the country (if ratings are based off who has offered that player - some link someone had, very cool). But hey, we can't recruit.