Caw Caw

I'M SO SCAREDCITED.

We knew from some of our recruiting experts here on the board we were in business for some JuCo Big men. Glad to see these offers out on a busy week.

Don't worry, they'll still send you the Diploma in the mail when you don't walk.

I don't remember beating a #17 ranked LSU this year... do any of you? Just ridiculous to me people think we're too good to play a very good Troy team in a great town. If you're going to constantly crap on our G5 brethren, don't forget you're one of them, and the rest of the country is looking at you the same way. Happy to be in a bowl, better than New Mexico... Better than playing Army. If the staff and players are happy, I'm happy. Do my best to go if I can.

I've watched almost every game twice now, I really feel like our issues are at LB.

UNT has offers out to kids committed to AzSt, A&M and Rice. Time to hit up some phone lines.

Can he take that dirt bag briles out of conference when he goes?

Man, we are heavy into DBs this cycle, specifically safeties. Are we converting some to coverage corners? Does anyone have any guesses how we try and fill the remaining slots?

Tennessee did not fill. The rabid fan mob stopped the hire. Maaaan, social media sure is something.

I think at North Texas, at least currently, evaluating and developing under-recruiting talent is a huge key to why this staff has been successful. It's definitely is a huge step forward from the previous staffs. I'd genuinely say we had some natural QB talent that went squandered here because we lacked development under previous staffs. All that being said, it still doesn't make us good recruiters. It makes our staff good coaches and evaluators, which we obviously want, but that doesn't make them good salesman. I guess I think of it like this, if you invest in and fine tune a Honda Civic you can get a lot out of that car. More than most expected, but imagine you invest in and fine tune Lambo, your results will still be better. We are in the best place this program has ever been in, since at least Dickey, if you throw in facilities, conference and leadership maybe the best position we've ever been in. It is no secret this staff can do a lot with less, but I'd like to see what they can do with a couple top 5 recruiting classes as well. I trust them to dig up gems and evaluate and develop kids like Lawrence, Fine and Evan Johnson. I know they will offer kids early that other people don't see the potential or the fit in their systems. I'm fine with that, but we have to want them to win this part of the game too.

I'm enjoying the moment fine, but as fans this is part of it. We speculate about everything. And, I'd hope back-up plans A, B, and C are in place by this administration. Seth Litrell and his appeal aren't a secret. The media is going to talk about it, coaching circles will talk about it. There are a lot of really big, open jobs this year. 5? in the SEC alone. ASU's 7-5 Todd Graham was let go today. You can enjoy what you have and speculate when it's leaving. For the record, I think we get one more year. I hope we tie in a hefty extension to get paid when he goes.

But Billy isn't evaluating the recruit... he is evaluating the recruiting... very different. Yes obviously contributors matter in the long run but recruiting is skill coaches have. Like a madden player is evaluated on speed, quickness, hands, etc. Coaches ability to outsell other coaches is meaningful. If you're going to credit guys who had no other offers but did outstanding, you have to evaluate how well the offers you extended who went elsewhere did.

https://n.rivals.com/content/prospects/2018/chritauskie-dove-183960 this version of his offer list is much bigger than the 247 one.

https://northtexas.rivals.com/offers/football/2018 I was looking for guys we haven't discussed and I was wondering if any of these were still good, or even options: Tamar Butts - S - Denton Ryan https://n.rivals.com/content/prospects/2018/tamar-butts-77689 Chris Stamps - CB - Northwest Mississippi C.C. https://n.rivals.com/content/prospects/2018/chris-stamps-209074 Issac Beverly - CB - Del City, OK https://northtexas.rivals.com/offers/football/2018 Jeremy Fowler - OLB - Manor, TX https://northtexas.rivals.com/offers/football/2018 Shabazz Dotson - DT - Cedar Hill https://n.rivals.com/content/prospects/2018/shabazz-dotson-163757 Maurice Edmodnson - ATH - Pataskala, OH https://n.rivals.com/content/prospects/2018/maurice-edmondson-16399

If Sumlin is out, I would recommend a full court press on this young man... https://n.rivals.com/content/prospects/2018/deneric-prince-189397

Better question is, what happens when you do sign in December and the coaches leave in January? Is there an out? Does the staff have to honor those commitments?

First, let me say that the lack of news here is driving me a little insane, I really wish there was some trackable activity here. Since there isn't, I want to get a couple hot takes from you guys: While we obviously know winning is a good thing for this program and it will help in the long term in a myriad of ways, does playing the two extra games this year also have a detrimental effect on the time they can invest in recruiting? The new football early signing period in December is open for 72 hours from the 20th through the end of the 22nd. And our coaches will likely not have been able to shift into recruiting mode. Here's a look at the Bowl Games in conference: Bowl Date Time Matchup NetworkR+L Carriers New Orleans Sat., Dec. 16 12 pm CT C-USA vs. Sun Belt ESPNGildan New Mexico Sat., Dec. 16 3:30 pm CT C-USA vs. Mountain West ESPNBoca Raton Tue., Dec. 19 6 pm CT C-USA vs. American ESPNSt. Petersburg Thu., Dec. 21 7 pm CT C-USA vs. American ESPNBahamas Fri., Dec. 22 11:30 am CT C-USA vs. MAC ESPNZaxby’s Heart of Dallas Tue., Dec. 26 TBA C-USA vs. Big 12 ESPN*Independence Wed., Dec. 27 12:30 p.m. CT C-USA vs. ACC or SEC ESPN As you can see, the two bowl games are played after the signing period. And two of them are during. Obviously, the exposure, the extra practice, the money and potential title are good things, but will we be able to solidify the guys we need to during this time while being out-of-town and in need of focus? I do think the early signing period is a win for G5 schools. You can prevent late vulturing on some of your kids, and it opens up a longer period of being able to find guys who had their offers dry up and maybe didn't know they weren't in a P5 program's plans anymore. I think this staff does well with guys like Darden and Siggers and identifying their potential when their offers go. We always seem to have a few ships for those guys. As we've taken less JuCo kids, we've seen the coaches clamp down on qualifiers. Better to have someone who qualifies and can contribute a little than a star who never sees the field. Last question is, what positions do we think we have left to fill with the remaining scholarships in the 2018 class?

Mike White just got a nice boost from triple overtime...

Every time I watched, The safety did his job, he ran past the qb and hit the RB with or without the ball. I looks like a bad play, but that's his assignment. I saw one or two pitches work out, which is honestly pretty good.

See, I think it's a player issue still. I understand the concerns... But man, we're pretty rough at linebacker. If you looked at all the option plays the ran with a pitch, safety was in place for hte pitch man, dive man got swallowed up but the linebackers got lost in the wash. They couldn't get off their blocks/scrape and keep up with Bradshaw. Our D-line is a musical chairs game, they are doing enough. Our best defensive stands come when D-lineman make plays. Our worst, on wheel routes and when a linebacker has to spy a QB. We need some speed and tenacity from the LB. I'm glad McDonald has helped us fill a void, but man he gets burnt on the edge. Healthy Wheeler, Healthy Bryce and Rod moved to the outside, I think we are having a way different conversation.

Tune's offer has been out since the beginning of the year before he committed to Kansas. Looks like after his decommitment the offer is good again. Would be interested in seeing how that shakes out with Bean, Martin and Tune. We lost like 3 QBs of depth this year, so maybe they want to take an extra.

The tough balance with JUCO guys is that the ones who qualify clearly and easily aren't usually the most talented guys on the roster. That isn't to say they can't be, or that some guys just need more time to develop... The reality is Lane Kiffin and Co. are taking all of hte problematic guys with ridiculous offer sheets and finding away to make it work out. I know that's not our style, and i'm fine with that. Would just be nice to land a defensive Guyton-level guy to anchor the defense. (Also, I think if Bryce was healthy and we could have moved Rod to DE like we planned, this defense hums)

I wonder if the D-lineman is Marvin Terry. He is from Oak Cliff. We offered out of high school... here is his list from high school. Played both LB and DE. https://247sports.com/Player/Marvin-Terry-36497/high-school-60201

You should have seen the team and coaches celebrate the targeting pick up. Still with Guyton on the ground. Turning around and hushing the crowd talking trash during an injury. I have ZERO respect for that staff. And the officiating crew. One of those 15 yard personal fouls was a right hook thrown to the head of Nate Brooks. That's an ejection and it should have been the first of two. Brooks lost his cool one time that I saw, but man they did him dirty all night.

Keep Kason Martin in the class, flip the other Aggie Manvel kids. There are two or three.