Recruiting stories from former Recruiting Coordinator

[RockyMountainOySker]

Steven M. Sipple: Recruiting memories from master storyteller
He recruited Neil Smith, and retains a soft spot for the former Nebraska All-America defensive lineman.

He had some recruiting gaffes, too. For instance, he turned away Jamelle Holieway.

He's a consummate salesman, a master storyteller.

Jack Pierce is a name familiar to many Nebraska football fans, a link to another era of the program.

He was the Huskers' chief off-campus recruiter from 1985 to 1992 (when there was such a thing), specifically targeting the states of Texas and Louisiana.

In addition to Smith, Pierce played a lead role in Nebraska's recruitment of Broderick Thomas, Reggie Cooper and Mickey Joseph, among other prominent names.

He has a zillion recruiting stories and tells them with flare and uncanny detail.

Now the president of the Nebraska Independent College Foundation, Pierce was kind enough to sit down for a 90-minute Q&A.

Link: Huskerextra.com

 

[Danny Bateman]

That's the kind of recruiting coordinator we need. Instead, we're stuck with lil Teddy Gilmore. I wish we could show him a tape of Pierce's interview, just so he'd know how to come off as personable and likable.

Heck, at this point, with Gilmore, I think we should start with a Hooked on Phonics tape and go from there.

 

[NUance]

Neil Smith of New Orleans was one of the greatest players you recruited. Anything stand out about his recruitment?
"His mother, Lutisha, was the greatest cook God ever created. They lived in the projects. ... Here's this building, with windows broken out, right by the Mississippi River. Lutisha would try to keep the place as clean as she could. I said to her, ‘Here's the one thing you've got to remember: Look at this (building), and picture yourself five years down the line, and Neil's a great NFL player. You will never have to deal with this stuff again.'

"I remember Lutisha came up to Lincoln on the recruiting visit with Neil, paid her own way. She told Tom and me, ‘If you take this here boy, you better take this here boy and take good care of him, because I'm giving him to you.' You sit there and think, ‘Wow, wow, this woman is giving a piece of herself to a university.' Long story short, when I would come back to New Orleans in later years to recruit, Neil had moved her out of the projects to Kenner, out near the airport. Gorgeous place. Absolutely gorgeous. We'd sit there and eat gumbo. She'd always sit back in her chair and say, ‘Jackie, you done told me this was going to happen to me.'"

What a GREAT story. I'd love to knock back a few beers with this guy and hear some of his recruiting stories.

 

[dylan]

That's the kind of recruiting coordinator we need. Instead, we're stuck with lil Teddy Gilmore. I wish we could show him a tape of Pierce's interview, just so he'd know how to come off as personable and likable.

Heck, at this point, with Gilmore, I think we should start with a Hooked on Phonics tape and go from there.

that's nice and all except that pierce wasn't the recruiting coordinator, he was the lead recruiter. steve pederson was the RC.

the recruiting coordinator's job isn't to be an awesome salesman, it's to be an awesome organizer. now, i'm not completely sold on gilmore as recruiting coordinator, but i can say that we've had three strong classes in the last three years.

 

[Danny Bateman]

That's the kind of recruiting coordinator we need. Instead, we're stuck with lil Teddy Gilmore. I wish we could show him a tape of Pierce's interview, just so he'd know how to come off as personable and likable.

Heck, at this point, with Gilmore, I think we should start with a Hooked on Phonics tape and go from there.

that's nice and all except that pierce wasn't the recruiting coordinator, he was the lead recruiter. steve pederson was the RC.

the recruiting coordinator's job isn't to be an awesome salesman, it's to be an awesome organizer. now, i'm not completely sold on gilmore as recruiting coordinator, but i can say that we've had three strong classes in the last three years.

I actually agree with you, Dylan. My statement about Gilmore isn't really my true opinion of him... He's actually not a bad recruiting coordinator. People we start clamoring that he is when we have lulls in recruiting with no commits or decommits, but honestly, we have had three solid classes the last year. The staff did especially well closing out the 2008 class after being brought in after that horrendous 2007 season. Getting Fonsie out of NOWHERE, and PJ Smith, both a week or so before signing day was particularly huge that year. Escpecially Fonsie, to reel in a guy with no prior ties to us, shows they can get the guys they want, and fast.

It's just Gilmore's total ineptitude as a WR coach that makes me :facepalm: . We all know you want them to block, Ted. We need to just make him an Oline assistant or something.

An offensive line taught by Cotton and Gilmore... now THAT would be special.

 

[zoogs]

(edit: shame, shame...already posted. Now I got to merge my own topic! Props to SkerChicago for being the guy that posted this in the forum it belonged it, rather than in Husker Football, like me...)

http://huskerextra.com/sports/football/article_e62aec96-5d70-50f8-882a-9dcf968c8558.html

Interesting stuff here from HuskerExtra and Steven Sipple

"He'd talk about stuff that would yank the mom's heart right out. He'd tell her, ‘We don't want your son to leave this family. We want your son to be part of our family, which will incorporate you into our family, too.' I mean, stuff the mom really wanted to hear, about education and that type of thing"

(The above is on Tom Osborne)

"There were so many of them. (Ex-Husker assistant) Kevin Steele was a great one. I love the boy to death, but Kevin was like a chameleon, man. You put him in a tree and he was going to change colors. And I don't mean he'd change philosophy. I mean he could go from one home to another and be two completely different people, with that southern accent and his ability to associate himself with the pro end of it, you know what I mean?"

A lot of interesting stories here, too many to quote I like the one about Marshall Faulk and the "nameless" who "lost" him for us.

 

[zoogs]

The stuff I took from this article:

Dr. Tom's staff took recruiting seriously. There is always a knock on Frank's recruiting and even Tom's recruiting, but I think they are two very separate approaches and should not be lumped together. People say Tom didn't have stellar classes but this isn't true, there just wasn't Rivals back then. And maybe we weren't getting Top 5 classes year-in-year-out, but we weren't exactly outside the Top 30 every year either.

Through these stories we see a staff that really put in the legwork doing the recruiting. What is most interesting is how Jack Pierce talks about selling the program to these kids like he's an advertiser. It isn't, "Tom shot from the hip and was honest with everyone." It was "He'd say these things that would melt a mother's heart." And that stuff about sitting down and telling recruits' dads, "I wouldn't recruit a kid who couldn't play as a freshman, I think your kid can play as a freshman" - wow! And I thought we had a reputation back then about kids putting in their time and emerging as stalwarts after a few years, especially on the line!

It seems to be a much different approach than Solich's recruiting. I think both Bo and Frank don't get after it as much as Tom, but I think Bo is a cut above Frank, clearly, in his recruiting. We certainly have some more than capable people here on the staff now recruiting, and we need more of those if Bo doesn't like the dirty work himself.

It is just striking to me that Bo's staff could be more honest with recruits than Tom's staff back then...well, I like it this way.

On Gilmore -- I actually wonder how much of the solid classes we managed to pull out lately, has to do with Gilmore. It's like our OL class this year is really good, and some people are going to point to that and say, "wow, Barney is an ace OL recruiter." I really doubt that is the case. The Miami OH fans wanted Gilmore to come with Shawn back when that was up for discussion, pointing to our recruiting success. I thought, "Not so fast guys. Looking at the surface only there."

 

[dylan]

The stuff I took from this article:

Dr. Tom's staff took recruiting seriously. There is always a knock on Frank's recruiting and even Tom's recruiting, but I think they are two very separate approaches and should not be lumped together. People say Tom didn't have stellar classes but this isn't true, there just wasn't Rivals back then. And maybe we weren't getting Top 5 classes year-in-year-out, but we weren't exactly outside the Top 30 every year either.

Through these stories we see a staff that really put in the legwork doing the recruiting. What is most interesting is how Jack Pierce talks about selling the program to these kids like he's an advertiser. It isn't, "Tom shot from the hip and was honest with everyone." It was "He'd say these things that would melt a mother's heart." And that stuff about sitting down and telling recruits' dads, "I wouldn't recruit a kid who couldn't play as a freshman, I think your kid can play as a freshman" - wow! And I thought we had a reputation back then about kids putting in their time and emerging as stalwarts after a few years, especially on the line!

It seems to be a much different approach than Solich's recruiting. I think both Bo and Frank don't get after it as much as Tom, but I think Bo is a cut above Frank, clearly, in his recruiting. We certainly have some more than capable people here on the staff now recruiting, and we need more of those if Bo doesn't like the dirty work himself.

It is just striking to me that Bo's staff could be more honest with recruits than Tom's staff back then...well, I like it this way.

On Gilmore -- I actually wonder how much of the solid classes we managed to pull out lately, has to do with Gilmore. It's like our OL class this year is really good, and some people are going to point to that and say, "wow, Barney is an ace OL recruiter." I really doubt that is the case. The Miami OH fans wanted Gilmore to come with Shawn back when that was up for discussion, pointing to our recruiting success. I thought, "Not so fast guys. Looking at the surface only there."

i'm surprised that anyone would have a doubt about how much emphasis and effort tom put into recruiting. NU has always been a place that requires more effot in recruiting than other places and TO just plain got it done. the legend of NU living on walk-ons and scraps has some basis in fact, but we have always also recruited very well nationally. TO had at least one class considered the top class in the nation in the 80's, and while much was made of the early 90's classes being ranked poorly, that was the exception, not the rule.

recruiting slipped under frank for a couple of reasons. part of it was a failure to recognize its importance, particularly that kids aren't just going to come to NU because it's NU. part of it was an aging coaching staff that was probably kept together for too long out of loyalty.

not sure why you mentioned bo though. seems as if we've recruited well under his watch. whether you want to credit gilmore for that or not, i don't know or care, but we've had good results.

 

[zoogs]

Well, there's been a bit of a "Get Back" mindset since Callahan left. A lot of fans saying, "you know, we don't need all these 4/5 stars, just look at how we won with Dr. Tom back in the day." Which seems to be a bit of a myth. It isn't like we'll just take some Nebraska kids and groom them all into All-Conference players anymore.

I mention Bo because I think there's a little bit of not liking the recruiting game there. Lots of talk about how he is refreshing, different, shoots straight from the hip. Though we have finished solidly for the most part, I think there's been genuine concern at one time or another with recruiting. And I think Bo's staff is a mix of guys who take recruiting very seriously and guys who slack off in that regard.

 

[dylan]

Well, there's been a bit of a "Get Back" mindset since Callahan left. A lot of fans saying, "you know, we don't need all these 4/5 stars, just look at how we won with Dr. Tom back in the day." Which seems to be a bit of a myth. It isn't like we'll just take some Nebraska kids and groom them all into All-Conference players anymore.

I mention Bo because I think there's a little bit of not liking the recruiting game there. Lots of talk about how he is refreshing, different, shoots straight from the hip. Though we have finished solidly for the most part, I think there's been genuine concern at one time or another with recruiting. And I think Bo's staff is a mix of guys who take recruiting very seriously and guys who slack off in that regard.

i'm not aware of anyone that doesn't think recruiting is important. there is certainly a valid argument to be had for which is MORE important, coaching or recruiting, and it's also open for debate how well the recruiting agencies do at determining which kids can help you win games; but anyone that doesn't think we need to recruit talented kids to win games isn't playing with a full deck of cards.

i don't blame bo for not liking recruiting, but i think it's clear that he and his staff treat it as an important part of their jobs. whether or not there's been problems along the way(or perhaps just message board panics), and whether or not there are some coaches that work harder at it than others (which is no doubt the case on all staffs), we are getting positive results in recruiting.

 

[PaulCrewe]

Well, there's been a bit of a "Get Back" mindset since Callahan left. A lot of fans saying, "you know, we don't need all these 4/5 stars, just look at how we won with Dr. Tom back in the day." Which seems to be a bit of a myth. It isn't like we'll just take some Nebraska kids and groom them all into All-Conference players anymore.

I mention Bo because I think there's a little bit of not liking the recruiting game there. Lots of talk about how he is refreshing, different, shoots straight from the hip. Though we have finished solidly for the most part, I think there's been genuine concern at one time or another with recruiting. And I think Bo's staff is a mix of guys who take recruiting very seriously and guys who slack off in that regard.

i'm not aware of anyone that doesn't think recruiting is important. there is certainly a valid argument to be had for which is MORE important, coaching or recruiting, and it's also open for debate how well the recruiting agencies do at determining which kids can help you win games; but anyone that doesn't think we need to recruit talented kids to win games isn't playing with a full deck of cards.

i don't blame bo for not liking recruiting, but i think it's clear that he and his staff treat it as an important part of their jobs. whether or not there's been problems along the way(or perhaps just message board panics), and whether or not there are some coaches that work harder at it than others (which is no doubt the case on all staffs), we are getting positive results in recruiting.

The best story was Pierce saying no on recrutiing Jameel Holloway, who went to Boomer, and Barry Switzer's philosophy with recruiting "outlaws". Read the story if you haven't. It gets the dancing banana/corncob :corndance cause it is that good.

 

[T-Husker]

Well, there's been a bit of a "Get Back" mindset since Callahan left. A lot of fans saying, "you know, we don't need all these 4/5 stars, just look at how we won with Dr. Tom back in the day." Which seems to be a bit of a myth. It isn't like we'll just take some Nebraska kids and groom them all into All-Conference players anymore.

I mention Bo because I think there's a little bit of not liking the recruiting game there. Lots of talk about how he is refreshing, different, shoots straight from the hip. Though we have finished solidly for the most part, I think there's been genuine concern at one time or another with recruiting. And I think Bo's staff is a mix of guys who take recruiting very seriously and guys who slack off in that regard.

i'm not aware of anyone that doesn't think recruiting is important. there is certainly a valid argument to be had for which is MORE important, coaching or recruiting, and it's also open for debate how well the recruiting agencies do at determining which kids can help you win games; but anyone that doesn't think we need to recruit talented kids to win games isn't playing with a full deck of cards.

i don't blame bo for not liking recruiting, but i think it's clear that he and his staff treat it as an important part of their jobs. whether or not there's been problems along the way(or perhaps just message board panics), and whether or not there are some coaches that work harder at it than others (which is no doubt the case on all staffs), we are getting positive results in recruiting.

The best story was Pierce saying no on recrutiing Jameel Holloway, who went to Boomer, and Barry Switzer's philosophy with recruiting "outlaws". Read the story if you haven't. It gets the dancing banana/corncob :corndance cause it is that good.

My fave part too! We shall dance together. No homo tho. :corndance :corndance