Eli "Cinco" Howard, DE, San Angelo Central

[Aldo]

43-6, yo.

[NT03]

Just got off the phone with Coach Montgomery, & planned my official! #Tulsa ?

— Eli Howard V (@EliHoward5)

January 8, 2015

[MEANGREENCOACH2]

Supposedly that's illegal!!! What about this dead period???

[Mean Green 93-98]

Eli, Eli . . . here's what happened the last time we played them.

Now which side of that do you want to be on?

[greenit]

Supposedly that's illegal!!! What about this dead period???

Phone calls are ok, in person contact is not. Phone lines and email are burning up right now in preparation for the 15th.

[Withers940]

Its just a visit guys and just because we beat them the last time we played them doesnt mean a damn thing. I remember a couple of times that they took us to the woodshed and they own us in the overall record at 17-7. That's neither here nor there, it doesnt matter what one school has done to the other the last couple years. Its about who is coaching, what the program is about, whats the town like and etc. I know for one thing that Coach Montgomery is a real good guy, He coached at Denton High for one year when I was a JR. I hope the best for him up in Tulsa.

Edited January 8, 2015 by Withers940

[NT03]

I'm not sure if this will influence Howard's decision or not, but SMU just got a commitment from a HS DE. Had previously verballed to UTEP

.@Patrick_Engel94 has the FREE story on 2015 Comanche DE/TE @hunterthedford committing to #SMU! #PonyUp #Tempo http://t.co/bnNmKPblg2

— Pony Stampede (@SMUScout)

January 10, 2015

[Harry]

Tulsa bringing him in on visit:

Another Class of 2015 defensive end being pursued by TU is Eli Howard from San Angelo (Texas) Central. Howard, who committed to North Texas last month but later reopened his recruiting, is a former quarterback who moved to defense two years ago. He has a visit scheduled at TU, he announced on Twitter last week.

http://www.tulsaworld.com/sportsextra/tu/tu-recruiting-notebook-chad-president-is-lone-mid-year-enrollee/article_b10c6b1a-3f65-5267-afd0-693562e9384d.html

[NT03]

Contrary to other reports, San Angelo Central DE @EliHoward5 is headed to Tulsa today, not #SMU. Between New Mexico/SMU for Jan 30 visit.

— Billy Embody (@BillyEmbody)

January 16, 2015

[UNTLifer]

Wonder if we are still recruiting him, as he wished, or if we have moved on?

[NT03]

This makes sense :

@mhachtx Mccarney is really old school, if a guy commits he assumes its over and moves on. rather recruit someone new than "fight" over kid

— Landthieves (@LandThieves)

January 17, 2015

[greenit]

Not a terrible precedent to set with kids. Don't commit unless you mean it. And vice versa.

[emmitt01]

Not a terrible precedent to set with kids. Don't commit unless you mean it. And vice versa.

Yes a great precedent. If an 18 year old kid is unable to be 100% decisive, tuck tail and move one

[BillySee58]

Not a terrible precedent to set with kids. Don't commit unless you mean it. And vice versa.

Maybe if this were the 70s and most commitments occurred after a kids senior year in high school. In this day and age more kids are getting offered early and being pressured to commit well before their senior year, and 6 months or more before signing day. New offers come out from other schools over that time and it's a major life decision so you can't blame these kids for looking at their options, that way they aren't thinking about what could've been later on.

But because of the nature of present day recruiting, you have to recruit your own commits and keep building that bond with them. They're not just committing and signing the next month. They're committing months before signing day and if you don't keep working in your bond with them then you'll lose them. We've lost a lot of commits, and it's not a coincidence or just because we didn't have a good year.

[greenminer]

This makes sense :

Wow. Light has been shed.

[greenit]

Since you guys seem to have some insight, how many kids that commit, then back out, ultimately recommit to the original team?

It sounds like the implications is that other teams ultimately sign kids that commit, then back out but Mac does not. Would be curious to see examples.

[NT03]

Since you guys seem to have some insight, how many kids that commit, then back out, ultimately recommit to the original team?

It sounds like the implications is that other teams ultimately sign kids that commit, then back out but Mac does not. Would be curious to see examples.

Probably not a high % , but the Lane kid "re-committed" to South Alabama after previously backing out

[Marty]

who is Matt and Landthieves and why should we care about what their opinion is?

[greenit]

I get that kids change their minds. So do coaches. If a kid backs out, I just don't see the need to beg him. Stay in contact, sure, but no need to beg.

The difference between the bottom 1/2-2/3 of our recruiting class is a lot less about athletic ability and more about character/work ethic differences that are not always existent on film.

Even still, would like to have landed him after his original commitment, but at some point you have to you have to move on and figure if it is meant to be, it will work itself out.

[BillySee58]

I get that kids change their minds. So do coaches. If a kid backs out, I just don't see the need to beg him. Stay in contact, sure, but no need to beg.

The difference between the bottom 1/2-2/3 of our recruiting class is a lot less about athletic ability and more about character/work ethic differences that are not always existent on film.

Even still, would like to have landed him after his original commitment, but at some point you have to you have to move on and figure if it is meant to be, it will work itself out.

I agree about going hard after players after they decommit. When you said "not a bad precedent to set" I took it as you referring to the tweet 03 posted. Which said Mccarney stops recruiting players once they commit to him. Not decommit.

So when you said "not a bad precedent to set" I took that as you saying it's not bad precedent to stop recruiting and building bonds with your commits and paying then little attention and letting them decommit if other schools show attention. Rather than doing what you can to keep then committed.

So I don't think anyone is suggesting we beg players to come back after they decommit. But rather we keep recruiting and convincing our commits to stay committed once other schools try and flip their commitment. That way they don't decommit in the first place. Because that is the problem we're having.

Edited January 17, 2015 by BillySee58

[NT03]

So I don't think anyone is suggesting we beg players to come back after they decommit. But rather we keep recruiting and convincing our commits to stay committed once other schools try and flip their commitment. That way they don't decommit in the first place. Because that is the problem we're having.

Exactly

[greenit]

We don't think The staff continues to recruit our commits? I have no way of knowing, but it seems unlikely. For example, didn't Preston tweet about just getting off the phone with Mac? It would be hard to imagine we aren't in at least weekly contact, but I guess it's possible that we are not, which would be a shame.

[Mean Green 93-98]

We don't think The staff continues to recruit our commits? I have no way of knowing, but it seems unlikely. For example, didn't Preston tweet about just getting off the phone with Mac? It would be hard to imagine we aren't in at least weekly contact, but I guess it's possible that we are not, which would be a shame.

He also tweeted a recent photo of Coach Hicks with him at his house for a recruiting visit. I'm not sure exactly what to make of that comment. It's possible the guy who said it doesn't have a clue, like the people who say, "North Texas doesn't recruit the Metroplex." Or he may not mean it in an absolute sense, more like, "Coach Mac doesn't keep recruiting his verbal commits hard enough." Whatever the case, it's obvious he's doing something wrong.

[NT03]

Since you guys seem to have some insight, how many kids that commit, then back out, ultimately recommit to the original team?

It sounds like the implications is that other teams ultimately sign kids that commit, then back out but Mac does not. Would be curious to see examples.

Another example :

https://twitter.com/ben_baby/status/557591164375670784

[meangreendork]

who is Matt and Landthieves and why should we care about what their opinion is?

Yeah, that's what I want to know. Random mooks on Twitter isn't the same as say, HFC at an area HS that gets a lot of UNT offers, or people that are deep into college football recruiting journalism.