Recruiting Success?

Wag Tag · December 12, 2015

247 has us ranked 150! We all know why at this time,but what do you think are ranking should be this year to consider it a success?

Being this late in the game I would say break 90 with a good Qb prospect?

hickoryhouse · December 12, 2015

If we end up in the top 100 we moved up 50 places and that's huge. It's a short period for our staff, I hope we can be in the ... Double... digits ranking and come away with a couple big pieces for the future, if that happens than it is a success. This year is the building block and the first step to big things to come.

Edited December 12, 2015 by hickoryhouse

Ben Gooding · December 12, 2015

If we end up in the top 100 we moved up5 places and that's huge. It's a short period for our staff, I thing we can be in single digits ranking, but come away with a couple big pieces for the future than it is a success. This year is the building block and the first step to big things to come.

Single digits?!?!?! A top 9 class, I'm totally game.

hickoryhouse · December 12, 2015

Single digits?!?!?! A top 9 class, I'm totally game.

yeah... I'm bad at this

casual fan · December 13, 2015

If he starts to flip committed recruits from other FBS schools, I'll get excited.

Keep your fingers crossed.

untjim1995 · December 14, 2015

I really wouldn't even focus on the final team ranking. We all know why it is where it is. He'll need a full season to get in front of HS talent that will actually look at us as something other than the last option.

Now in 2014, coming off a bowl win the season before, to finish dead-ass last made zero sense. It really just screamed give-up by McCarney and his staff. I truly believe he never imagined that recruiting here wouldn't improve on its own, especially after going 9-4 and winning the HoD Bowl. That class and this class upcoming will both be among the worst in college football, when compared to other G5 programs. Its understandable that a brand new coach just hired would have a poorly rated class--its a whole different deal to have a recruiting class that was rated terrible and now provides you with upcoming juniors and redshirt sophomores for 2016.

That is what is known as leaving the cupboard barren , Dan McCarney, not what you complained about when you got here and inherited Todd Dodge's team that just wasn't coached very well. He left you Derek Thompson to be the QB. You brought in and started Andrew McNulty as a FBS QB for the better part of your career here--a guy that was given preferred WALK-ON status at Iowa as a DB. McNulty wouldn't have even been the backup QB at one other FBS program, yet he played significant games here in 2011, 2013, 2014, and 2015.

ChristopherRyanWilkes · December 14, 2015

I really wouldn't even focus on the final team ranking. We all know why it is where it is. He'll need a full season to get in front of HS talent that will actually look at us as something other than the last option.
Now in 2014, coming off a bowl win the season before, to finish dead-ass last made zero sense. It really just screamed give-up by McCarney and his staff. I truly believe he never imagined that recruiting here wouldn't improve on its own, especially after going 9-4 and winning the HoD Bowl. That class and this class upcoming will both be among the worst in college football, when compared to other G5 programs. Its understandable that a brand new coach just hired would have a poorly rated class--its a whole different deal to have a recruiting class that was rated terrible and now provides you with upcoming juniors and redshirt sophomores for 2016.
That is what is known as leaving the cupboard barren , Dan McCarney, not what you complained about when you got here and inherited Todd Dodge's team that just wasn't coached very well. He left you Derek Thompson to be the QB. You brought in and started Andrew McNulty as a FBS QB for the better part of your career here--a guy that was given preferred WALK-ON status at Iowa as a DB. McNulty wouldn't have even been the backup QB at one other FBS program, yet he played significant games here in 2011, 2013, 2014, and 2015.

I think you are thinking of 2013... As far as recruiting rankings go. That class was last or close to last in C-USA and I think we felt the effect of that this last season along with much of the higher rated 2012 recruits being gone(which is why we filled out with JuCo). 2014 actually saw a bump in ranking after the HoD bowl, I think around middle of the pack in C-USA by most websites, with the recruits having a decent amount of other FBS offers. In 2015 we saw another dip in rankings but not as bad as the McCarney years leading up to the Bowl win. This is all based on website recruiting rankings which is what I assume you are talking about. If you're talking about standings this last year, that was primarily upperclassmen talent from the 2012 & 2013 recruiting class. We still don't really know what we have with the 2014 & 2015 classes. You generally have to go 3-4 years back to see the Freshmen who are now Seniors and Juniors to judge. Such as the last Dodge recruiting class being fairly highly rated compared to our now C-USA peers and in 4 years, once they were upperclassmen, we had the Heart of Dallas bowl win. I'm probably over simplifying this and maybe @BillySee58 can explain better.

untjim1995 · December 14, 2015

I think you are thinking of 2013... As far as recruiting rankings go. That class was last or close to last in C-USA and I think we felt the effect of that this last season along with much of the higher rated 2012 recruits being gone(which is why we filled out with JuCo). 2014 actually saw a bump in ranking after the HoD bowl, I think around middle of the pack in C-USA by most websites, with the recruits having a decent amount of other FBS offers. In 2015 we saw another dip in rankings but not as bad as the McCarney years leading up to the Bowl win. This is all based on website recruiting rankings which is what I assume you are talking about. If you're talking about standings this last year, that was primarily upperclassmen talent from the 2012 & 2013 recruiting class. We still don't really know what we have with the 2014 & 2015 classes. You generally have to go 3-4 years back to see the Freshmen who are now Seniors and Juniors to judge. Such as the last Dodge recruiting class being fairly highly rated compared to our now C-USA peers and in 4 years, once they were upperclassmen, we had the Heart of Dallas bowl win. I'm probably over simplifying this and maybe @BillySee58 can explain better.

In 2013, Rivals rated us #118 (in a tie with Akron) out of 123 FBS schools. In 2014, following the HoD Bowl win, Rivals had us rated 123 out 123. In 2015, we moved up to #90, out of 129. This year, it would be a shocker to see us anywhere out of the 120s. But again, just to reiterate, this year's ranking in irrelevant. Littrell is brand new, has two commitments from the previous staff, and hasn't even finalized a staff yet to help him recruit before February. And its not like he can bring a bunch of recruits out to a packed Super Pit to watch our basketball team win in front of a rabid fanbase, like many of our SBCUSAAC peers can.

This is the retrenching year, starting from last week. Whether its recruiting, strength and conditioning, on-field results, or off-the-field rebuilding of the character of the roster, the next year is all about building up for 2017 and beyond. His squad will be accomplishing something gigantic just to get this team to more than 2 wins next year because of the schedule and the current roster. 2016 doesn't matter--not the class ranking, nor the w/l record. Littrell has to get the mindset fixed around here, just like Morris has had to do at SMU. If that means we go 2-10, like SMU just did, than that is the cost of a retrenching season. Morris will never get a pass for a season like this past one ever again--and he knows it--but he also used it to just fix the program's recruiting, playbook, and expectations. This is what Littrell will have to do here thru 2016. The only things I want him to focus on for 2016 are strengthening our contacts in recruiting at Texas and Oklahoma high schools and to run off anyone in the locker room that refuses to get onboard with your plan. We have your back on this, Coach. The guys who absolutely quit on the university and gave us the embarrassment of the worst loss in modern college football history better work twice as hard for you as they did for your predecessor, just to show you (and us) that they will fight for our school. Because if Bethune-Cookman comes in here and whips our ass, that will be the only thing on the field next year that will cause severe disappointment and make your honeymoon year less than comfortable. Otherwise, there is nobody else we play that a loss will surprise us on the side of being completely beaten down if we lose.

BillySee58 · December 14, 2015

In 2013, Rivals rated us #118 (in a tie with Akron) out of 123 FBS schools. In 2014, following the HoD Bowl win, Rivals had us rated 123 out 123. In 2015, we moved up to #90, out of 129. This year, it would be a shocker to see us anywhere out of the 120s. But again, just to reiterate, this year's ranking in irrelevant. Littrell is brand new, has two commitments from the previous staff, and hasn't even finalized a staff yet to help him recruit before February. And its not like he can bring a bunch of recruits out to a packed Super Pit to watch our basketball team win in front of a rabid fanbase, like many of our SBCUSAAC peers can.

It's misleading. So we were ranked 33 spots better in 2015 than 2014. You and others are under the impression that rivals believes we had a better class in 2015 than 2014. But the reality is Rivals thought our 2014 class was better. They rated four players as 3-stars in 2014 with the rest of the players being 2-stars. They rated just two of our 2015 signees as 3-stars, with the rest being 2-stars. They also still have Sam Miller as committed to us for 2015, when he actually signed with ULM.

That's why I say to stop focusing so much on the rankings and look at the players' offer lists. They just give out a bunch of half-ass ratings, and don't bother to reevaluate our commits because we don't have an active subsite. Chris Miles was rated a 2-star, but had more offers than any player signed under Mccarney besides Dillman (who was offered by everyone else as a QB). Should we be surprised Miles was freshman all-conference just because Rivals have him a lazy 2-star evaluation? 2014 was our best class by far under Mccarney, and it's because it's the one class we got players who a substantial amount of other schools actually wanted.

ChristopherRyanWilkes · December 14, 2015

In 2013, Rivals rated us #118 (in a tie with Akron) out of 123 FBS schools. In 2014, following the HoD Bowl win, Rivals had us rated 123 out 123. In 2015, we moved up to #90, out of 129. This year, it would be a shocker to see us anywhere out of the 120s. But again, just to reiterate, this year's ranking in irrelevant. Littrell is brand new, has two commitments from the previous staff, and hasn't even finalized a staff yet to help him recruit before February. And its not like he can bring a bunch of recruits out to a packed Super Pit to watch our basketball team win in front of a rabid fanbase, like many of our SBCUSAAC peers can.
This is the retrenching year, starting from last week. Whether its recruiting, strength and conditioning, on-field results, or off-the-field rebuilding of the character of the roster, the next year is all about building up for 2017 and beyond. His squad will be accomplishing something gigantic just to get this team to more than 2 wins next year because of the schedule and the current roster. 2016 doesn't matter--not the class ranking, nor the w/l record. Littrell has to get the mindset fixed around here, just like Morris has had to do at SMU. If that means we go 2-10, like SMU just did, than that is the cost of a retrenching season. Morris will never get a pass for a season like this past one ever again--and he knows it--but he also used it to just fix the program's recruiting, playbook, and expectations. This is what Littrell will have to do here thru 2016. The only things I want him to focus on for 2016 are strengthening our contacts in recruiting at Texas and Oklahoma high schools and to run off anyone in the locker room that refuses to get onboard with your plan. We have your back on this, Coach. The guys who absolutely quit on the university and gave us the embarrassment of the worst loss in modern college football history better work twice as hard for you as they did for your predecessor, just to show you (and us) that they will fight for our school. Because if Bethune-Cookman comes in here and whips our ass, that will be the only thing on the field next year that will cause severe disappointment and make your honeymoon year less than comfortable. Otherwise, there is nobody else we play that a loss will surprise us on the side of being completely beaten down if we lose.

Sorry, I gotcha. See Billy's post above but I tend to believe 24/7 is a little more accurate than Rivals as far as their ranking system. At least it has been for us from what I can observe.

97and03 · December 15, 2015

One problem with the rankings, IIRC, is that they give bonus points for being state ranked. So number 50 in Oklahoma gets you more points than 150 in Texas, even if the 150 TX guy is better and had more offers.