Nebfanatic
New member
I cringe when people say 'well these guys are ranked higher.' If we are scrapping for this guys commitment now, he is high on our board period. Recruiting rankings don't matter that much at this point I find anyway.
ILB Malik Reed [Wisconsin - Signed LOI]
- Thread starter Mavric
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Ziebol
New member
I think you are misinterpreting what I am saying.. Again, there is a long time until signing day and we have other options on the board. I wanted him just like a lot of people of the board did and we missed. He is still a mid 3 star at the end of the day who some say looks better in a 4-3 so it is not the end of the world for the staff on the ILB recruiting trail. Did Ruud want him? Obviously. To act like this is a big miss is foolish though. I cringe when people say rankings don't matter.
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Nebfanatic
New member
At this point they kind of don't. Things will change in a major way between now and signing day as it always does. You will have big droppers and big surgers and this may be a surge guy. I doubt he finishes at a mid 3 star. But I am referring to our recent CB signing as well. People are skepticle because of the rating but my thing is if the coaches want a player to sign at this point in the cycle they are near the top of our board.
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badgers007
New member
1. To clarify, Wisconsin runs a 3-4. Been that way since 2013.
2. Rankings matter, of course, but how much does it matter for many three-star players? Most experts are grasping at straws after ranking the four- and five-star athletes. Two of the three other mentioned targets are in the same breath of Malik Reed.
desertshox
New member
did he commit to a school?
BIG ERN
New member
Let's not act like Chryst is producing NFL players - they had solid players and a great D coordinator when he got there. 8-5 like last year will be the more norm for Wisconsin than the good run they have had. Ol' Paul will go into Pittsburgh mode here shortly you can bank on that. Fall Wisconsin, Rise Nebraska. Bet it
bugeater17
New member
That's a pretty ballzy prediction considering Wisc just landed the best recruit / QB recruit in their history. They also continue to churn out All Big Ten linemen and running backs.
But I like your optimize!!
The Murphinator
Active member
Committed to Wisconsin
badgers007
New member
This seems like an informed, rational post.
There is no comparison between Paul Chryst at Pittsburgh and Paul Chryst at Wisconsin. Chryst grew up in Madison, went to college in Madison, and has coached in Madison on two separate occasions. He understands the foundation of which the program has built (i.e. resurrecting walk-on program that was being ignored by Gary Andersen), which has resulted in wins and an uptick in recruiting successes (i.e. average class rating has never been higher).
I don't disagree that Nebraska is on the rise, and I have never contended that claim.
BIG ERN
New member
You realize Anderson won 11 games the year before Paul got there right? Not even being a hater, I just don't think he's that good of a coach and starting last year you saw with HIS players what he will be. Average
Husker in WI
New member
And Chryst won 11, 10, and 13 before last years drop to 8. It's usually a quicker drop if an inferior coach takes over. They'll be fine, I'm more worried about them over the next 5 years than I am Minnesota, Iowa, or Purdue.
On a Reed note, hard to fault him for choosing Wisconsin - they've pretty much been LB University, 7 drafted since 2016.
BIG ERN
New member
I'll stop with the back and forth, but I hammered the under on win totals for WI last year and I think it will be more of the same. I'm not saying they will be bad by any means, just not sitting top the West like they have been for the most part.
badgers007
New member
Gary Andersen was doing his best to alter the direction of the Wisconsin program, which did not sit well with fans or the Athletic Department, including Barry Alvarez. The in-state walk-on program was starting to dry (HS coaches were vocal about their displeasure of the way Andersen maintained relationships in-state), he was accepting commits that would never be admitted (part of the reason he left for Oregon State), and the structure of the roster (i.e. lighter OL, dual-threat QB) would never work long-term. There is a reason that Alvarez, explicitly, said "Paul saved our program..." Sure, there is hyperbole at play, but there is little-doubt the direction that Alvarez knew the program needed to go and Andersen wasn't the best fit. He's talked about this at length. Simply, Chryst is a coach that understands the foundation that has made Wisconsin successful and has rebuilt the walk-on program (i.e. securing PWO commits with offers from MAC programs), replenished OL depth, and recruited kids that he can get into school. The only one that was ever denied admission was Jordan Stevenson, an Andersen commit.
Last season was total dysfunction at Wisconsin. Injuries decimated the Wisconsin defense (i.e. Garrett Rand, Isaiahh Loudermilk, D'Cota Dixon), Quintez Cephus and Danny Davis were caught in legal trouble, and there were rumors about Alex Hornibrook that helped contribute to his departure. These types of circumstances are, often, out of the coach's control, but can be fixable. Still, the Badgers somehow won eight games.
Don't think you're a hater, at all. Simply, as an outsider, you see everything from the macro-level.
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