You're a high school senior QB

greenjoe · July 22, 2016

Let's say that you're a blue chip high school QB with everything you need to get recruited and play at the D1 level. And not only that, you have the ability to see into the future (Hey...It's the off season).

You get to choose where you go to play college football and you know what the outcome will be. Would you:

Go to one of the most prestigious football schools in the country, far from home, where you would be part of 2 National Championship teams, and graduate in 4 years but never see the field. Or,

Would you choose to play at a struggling program, close to home, start 4 years in a row, graduate, and be so successful, many would consider building a bronze statue of you in the stadium.

GO MEAN GREEN

UNT90 · July 22, 2016

Sadly, this hypothetical has been answered time and time again.

No competitor thinks he is "going to sit for 4 years" at a prominent P5 program. They believe they will start, and believe that will happen early in their career. Because that is the only experience that they have ever known in most cases.

Bad hypothetcal.

Wag Tag · July 22, 2016

51 minutes ago, greenjoe said:

Let's say that you're a blue chip high school QB with everything you need to get recruited and play at the D1 level. And not only that, you have the ability to see into the future (Hey...It's the off season).

You get to choose where you go to play college football and you know what the outcome will be. Would you:

Go to one of the most prestigious football schools in the country, far from home, where you would be part of 2 National Championship teams, and graduate in 4 years but never see the field. Or,

Would you choose to play at a struggling program, close to home, start 4 years in a row, graduate, and be so successful, many would consider building a bronze statue of you in the stadium.

GO MEAN GREEN

This is were I think Graham could really have an impact. Not at the HS level but at the transfer level! UH has a lot of QBs, who wants to play?

Side Show Joe · July 22, 2016

2 hours ago, greenjoe said:

Let's say that you're a blue chip high school QB with everything you need to get recruited and play at the D1 level. And not only that, you have the ability to see into the future (Hey...It's the off season).

You get to choose where you go to play college football and you know what the outcome will be. Would you:

Go to one of the most prestigious football schools in the country, far from home, where you would be part of 2 National Championship teams, and graduate in 4 years but never see the field. Or,

Would you choose to play at a struggling program, close to home, start 4 years in a row, graduate, and be so successful, many would consider building a bronze statue of you in the stadium.

GO MEAN GREEN

I was certainly not a blue chip QB. There was no college football in my future. But when it came time to pick my university, Texas and Rice were on the table. I chose North Texas.

Why be the next in line, when you can trailblaze a new path. If someone is good enough to do something, they don't need to be at X university to stand out and get noticed. But, to take the road less traveled, you have to believe in yourself. Let's find those guys.

Edited July 22, 2016 by Side Show Joe

Marty · July 22, 2016

reminds me of a kid I saw play several times in high school, Nic Shimonek of Corsicana MIldred. Not sure if we recruited him or not, Mildred is not a football factory but Nic led them to the playoffs all 4 years including a 13-1 record his junior year & state runner up his senior year. He signed with Iowa out of high school (2013), redshirted there his freshman year, and then transferred to Texas Tech, sat out last the 2014 season due to transfer rules, played a couple of downs last season in mop up duty, and is now the backup to Mahomes. I'm convinced Nic would have pushed for the starting job here his freshman year and would now be a 3rd year starting QB.

I'm sure there's countless others out there just like this.

UNT90 · July 22, 2016

Kids want to compete at the highest level to test themselves. It's 2nd nature to a competitive personality.

Speaking on purely football reasons, if you believe you can be a starter in the Big 10, why would you sign with a CUSA school? There will have to be non-football related reasons to win this recruiting battle.

Go after the 6' or 6'1" guy the P5s don't want. That guy should have a chip on his shoulder and UNT should be able to compete with other G5s for his service.

Ben Gooding · July 22, 2016

4 hours ago, greenjoe said:

Let's say that you're a blue chip high school QB with everything you need to get recruited and play at the D1 level. And not only that, you have the ability to see into the future (Hey...It's the off season).

You get to choose where you go to play college football and you know what the outcome will be. Would you:

Go to one of the most prestigious football schools in the country, far from home, where you would be part of 2 National Championship teams, and graduate in 4 years but never see the field. Or,

Would you choose to play at a struggling program, close to home, start 4 years in a row, graduate, and be so successful, many would consider building a bronze statue of you in the stadium.

GO MEAN GREEN

Obviously option 2. But 90 hit the nail on the head. These kids are pampered and praised throughout high school to point where their damn heads can hardly fit through a doorway. Most don't think logically and given there are 22 starting positions and "only" 85 scholarship players, most sit that pine. And a lot of them do it for a their playing career. Hence all the transfer and graduate transfers strangling college athletics (it's become an epidemic in bball).

meaniegreenie · July 22, 2016

Easy answer...the one with the hottest girls!

Censored by Laurie · July 22, 2016

if there's a blue chip QB out there who is also in a deep-gothic-post-punk or alt-country-stomp-and-holler band, we've a great shot.

until that unicorn signs his LOI, I think the path of P5 transfers...either grad like Morris or a 2 year kid still 3rd or 4th on a P5 depth chart looking at the choice between moving to WR or transferring to play QB are our best bets. have some success with one or two like this...especially if they put up gaudy passing numbers...and you'll get some 18year olds looking toward Denton.

baberuthbomber8 · July 23, 2016

Honestly at UNT, if we have a successful, and hopefully a few years in a row of being successful, we can bring in some talented QBs. We need to sale the HS QBs on NFL teams will come find you even if your at a smaller school... Big Ben, Wentz, Bridewater, Carr, Culpepper, etc.... Also, honestly we need Morris to talk to the QB's we bring in and tell them about the pros/cons of a big school vs UNT.

Pro-teams look more at tape look more what you have done and what you could do in the future.. Yes it helps going up in a bigger conference, but lower levels still get picked early and often as well. Like the QB Murray that went to A&M and now transferred to OU, he left bc every year A&M brings in 4/5* QBs... honestly he coulda came here last year and dominated and started day 1, but the appeals of big schools always draw in kids for them to compete.

GrandGreen · July 23, 2016

Most good players by nature think that they are good enough to play anywhere. It has nothing to do with being pampered, but everything to do with being confident and competitive.

southsideguy · July 23, 2016

ask our current qb that question-he could give real insight to the question.

FirefightnRick · July 23, 2016

15 hours ago, Censored by Laurie said:

if there's a blue chip QB out there who is also in a deep-gothic-post-punk or alt-country-stomp-and-holler band, we've a great shot.

until that unicorn signs his LOI, I think the path of P5 transfers...either grad like Morris or a 2 year kid still 3rd or 4th on a P5 depth chart looking at the choice between moving to WR or transferring to play QB are our best bets. have some success with one or two like this...especially if they put up gaudy passing numbers...and you'll get some 18year olds looking toward Denton.

Agree.

Rick

FirefightnRick · July 23, 2016

Seems finding a top rated QB who wants to play for playing time over the chance to play for a NC is going to be as rare these days as finding a top rated QB who plays for an unkown high school program because his parents have ethical work values and are teaching him to work hard and lead his team to success, and if you don't win,.....you'll at least know you did your best because that's how life is,.....as oppose to taking part in this insane new selfish wave of easy-street..."We're selling the house and moving to XYZ already successful HS program, and we'll continue to do it until we find a winner" way.

It's a new sickness that we've never seen before.

Rick

Edited July 23, 2016 by FirefightnRick

SilverEagle · July 23, 2016

...and then there is the game day experience. I cringe at the thought of some promising QB (or any player for that matter) coming to most of our home games. Between the low turn-out, the lack of noise from the fans that DO come, and the players on the sidelines constantly doing their arms in an upward motion practically begging the crowd to make some noise, why WOULD THEY want to come here? In HS most players with college level ability get special treatment by the fans and community before, during and after games. At North Texas they get to blend in with the student population and become anonymous between games. Wearing their letter jackets don't get them any special treatment by the student body.

Whereas, going to schools like OU, Texas, A$M, Tech etc, and riding the pine for 4+ years, BUT getting to be part of their game day atmosphere, PLUS all the "benefits" that go along with wearing a letter jacket on campus. And it's not hard to see why NT gets a lot of "thanks-but-no-thanks" from guys who could easily start here, but not at a "big time" program.

I'll never forget the look of absolute surprise on the face of a former player from the 80's a few years back when I struck up a conversation with him at a game at Fouts (I overheard him talking to another person and mentioning Coach Mills). When he told me his name I immediately did my "there he is # whatever on your program, routine. He was shocked that I remembered his number, and the fact that he was all-conference.

HE HAD NO EXPECTATION OF EVER BEING REMEMBERED DESPITE HIS ACCOMPLISHMENTS ON THE FIELD.

What 18 year old knowingly wants that for their college career?

Once again folks. Our CULTURE needs to change.

We need to develop a REAL FOOTBALL CULTURE with a REAL FOOTBALL GAME DAY ATMOSPHERE, or we need to get used to constantly pondering these academic questions/analogies in the off season whilst pulling our hair out in frustration.

BillySee58 · July 23, 2016

One factor that often gets overlooked in the whole "start your whole career at 'X' G5 school, or wait your turn and never play at 'Y' P5 school" is that the coaches at the P5 schools are usually better recruiters than the G5 schools' coaches. So the challenge isn't just getting kids who have a better product to choose, but the salesman selling that product is elite as well.

HoustonEagle · July 23, 2016

1 hour ago, BillySee58 said:

One factor that often gets overlooked in the whole "start your whole career at 'X' G5 school, or wait your turn and never play at 'Y' P5 school" is that the coaches at the P5 schools are usually better recruiters than the G5 schools' coaches. So the challenge isn't just getting kids who have a better product to choose, but the salesman selling that product is elite as well.

Yes and no. To paint with a broad brush I would say G5 schools often have hungry young coaches out their recruiting. Maybe their sales skills are less honed but the extra effort is there. The bigger obstacle to a G5 recruiter is budget. Flights are expensive. Hotels are expensive. At UNT I am guessing most of our recruiting is done on the road. That eats up more time and limits your ability to get face time with more recruits. In the end it's money that makes the world go around.

Withers940 · July 23, 2016

Well, When NCAA Football was still a Game, on Road To Glory i always chose UNT and won a bunch of Heismans. In reality though, I would probably go to a big time school that would give me the most exposure for the next level.

GMG_Dallas · July 23, 2016

Something else to consider is that kids know if after a couple of seasons at a P5 they aren't getting the playing time they think they deserve they can transfer elsewhere, most often to a G5. On the flipside, I can imagine it's much more difficult to transfer from most G5 to most P5 (excluding upper G5 transfers to lower P5). Transfering these days is part of college sports. Going to a P5 first puts you in the best position regarding schools willing to take you in if you chose to transfer.

bloodstunt · July 23, 2016

I would go to Stanford where the Level of Football Play, Value of Degree and Campus Location is hard to beat.

outoftown · July 23, 2016

no. I am not a high school senior.

Cerebus · July 24, 2016

If I could go back to being a high school senior I would buy Apple stock at $26.38. Which once you consider then 7:1 split in 2014, and the 2:1 splits in 2005 and 2001 would now be worth ~$2660 a share.

Then I would T. Boone this place into the B12.

Mike Jackson · July 24, 2016

Young athletes don't think long term usually. If that were the case Stanford, Norte Dame, Michigan, USC, Boston College and UCLA would almost never struggle. They all are highly touted academically and have good athletic brands. All these schools have struggled for years on end over the last 25 years. And only USC could blame some of their issues on NCAA scholarship penalties during that period of time. UNT makes a lot of sense as destination for student athletes however, if Boston College can consistently struggle in their conference division just about any school should.

But look at our conference rivals. UNT is the oldest and largest school in the conference. And if you were ranking the schools academically UNT is in the middle of the pack. We should be out recruiting these schools regularly except for maybe Rice and La Tech if you want to consider location and academics. And that is assuming that the recruits are heavily influence by the academic reputation of the schools.

University	Forbes Rank
North Texas	553
UAB	515
Rice	30
MTSU	638
LA Tech	392
Southern Miss	522
Marshall	Not Ranked
UTSA	654
WKU	576
UTEP	554
FIU	455
FAU	557
Old Dominon	545
UNC Charlette	492

Got5onIt · July 24, 2016

I would go P5, 10 times out of 10. It's the reality of most kids wanting to go to the biggest & best programs.

southsideguy · July 24, 2016

11 hours ago, Mike Jackson said:

Young athletes don't think long term usually. If that were the case Stanford, Norte Dame, Michigan, USC, Boston College and UCLA would almost never struggle. They all are highly touted academically and have good athletic brands. All these schools have struggled for years on end over the last 25 years. And only USC could blame some of their issues on NCAA scholarship penalties during that period of time. UNT makes a lot of sense as destination for student athletes however, if Boston College can consistently struggle in their conference division just about any school should.

But look at our conference rivals. UNT is the oldest and largest school in the conference. And if you were ranking the schools academically UNT is in the middle of the pack. We should be out recruiting these schools regularly except for maybe Rice and La Tech if you want to consider location and academics. And that is assuming that the recruits are heavily influence by the academic reputation of the schools.

University Forbes Rank
North Texas 553
UAB 515
Rice 30
MTSU 638
LA Tech 392
Southern Miss 522
Marshall Not Ranked
UTSA 654
WKU 576
UTEP 554
FIU 455
FAU 557
Old Dominon 545
UNC Charlette 492