Here Is What Recruiting Success Would Look Like

untjim1995 · June 28, 2017

54 minutes ago, MeanGreenMailbox said:

Philip Montgomery's success goes beyond two years at Tulsa. He was with Art Briles as QB coach and OC at both Houston and Baylor. Both of those programs did well offensively while he was training QBs and calling plays.

He's proves he wasn't just Briles' puppet by taking a Tulsa squad which had been losing and turning them into a record-setting scoring machine within two years.

Let that last part sink in. Tulsa was 3-9 and 2-10 the two years directly before Montgomery arrived. He took them to a bowl game his first year, then led them to a 10-win season last year. He didn't wait to get his own recruits. He used what was there. There were no excuses.

If he goes bowling again this year, he will be gone, as we've discussed here before. If he goes, and Littrell wins here, it is conceivable that TU comes after Littrell, with his hometown Muskogee being less than an hour away from the TU campus. His wife's family as well.

I expect regional dominoes to fall in November and December after Hairgel Hands misleads Texas Tech again and is fired. Montgomery would be the perfect replacement for him inasmush as he runs the spread and has been a successful Big 12 assistant.

I'd say it's a no-brainer...but, we are talking Texas Tech here. They were dumb enough to give Hairgel Hands a fat contract. They might not be able to figure out that hiring Montgomery would make them Big 12 title contenders. The dust on the plains wreaks havoc on the brains.

Montgomery to Texas Teck would make a lot of sense. Same style of offense and familiar with Big XII opponents.

I don't think Tulsa hires SL, though, at least not after this upcoming season, unless we win 8 or more games. I think they'll hire from within or hire someone more accomplished, like another spread assistant, such as Sonny Cumbie...

MeanGreenMailbox aka TFLF · June 28, 2017

Scout also shows that La Tech already has a QB committed as of June 16th: http://247sports.com/player/aaron-allen-46036828

247 shows that Allen's offer came within days of Bean's alleged offer from them: http://247sports.com/Player/Aaron-Allen-46036828

1 minute ago, untjim1995 said:

Montgomery to Texas Teck would make a lot of sense. Same style of offense and familiar with Big XII opponents.

I don't think Tulsa hires SL, though, at least not after this upcoming season, unless we win 8 or more games. I think they'll hire from within or hire someone more accomplished, like another spread assistant, such as Sonny Cumbie...

Good point on Cumbie, forgot about him. Am I wrong to remember that he turned down another P5 who wanted to hire him away from TCU as OC? I am getting old.

untjim1995 · June 28, 2017

2 minutes ago, MeanGreenMailbox said:

Scout also shows that La Tech already has a QB committed as of June 16th: http://247sports.com/player/aaron-allen-46036828

247 shows that Allen's offer came within days of Bean's alleged offer from them: http://247sports.com/Player/Aaron-Allen-46036828

Good point on Cumbie, forgot about him. Am I wrong to remember that he turned down another P5 who wanted to hire him away from TCU as OC? I am getting old.

It was Texas, under Charlie Strong. Cumbie knew Strong was probably a goner if he didn't win in year 3, so he said no thanks. So UT sent up the president and AD to Tulsa to money whip their OC to jump ship to Austin.

UNTLifer · June 28, 2017

1 hour ago, MeanGreenMailbox said:

Philip Montgomery's success goes beyond two years at Tulsa. He was with Art Briles as QB coach and OC at both Houston and Baylor. Both of those programs did well offensively while he was training QBs and calling plays.

He's proves he wasn't just Briles' puppet by taking a Tulsa squad which had been losing and turning them into a record-setting scoring machine within two years.

Let that last part sink in. Tulsa was 3-9 and 2-10 the two years directly before Montgomery arrived. He took them to a bowl game his first year, then led them to a 10-win season last year. He didn't wait to get his own recruits. He used what was there. There were no excuses.

If he goes bowling again this year, he will be gone, as we've discussed here before. If he goes, and Littrell wins here, it is conceivable that TU comes after Littrell, with his hometown Muskogee being less than an hour away from the TU campus. His wife's family as well.

I expect regional dominoes to fall in November and December after Hairgel Hands misleads Texas Tech again and is fired. Montgomery would be the perfect replacement for him inasmush as he runs the spread and has been a successful Big 12 assistant.

I'd say it's a no-brainer...but, we are talking Texas Tech here. They were dumb enough to give Hairgel Hands a fat contract. They might not be able to figure out that hiring Montgomery would make them Big 12 title contenders. The dust on the plains wreaks havoc on the brains.

Seth Littrell's success goes beyond his first year at North Texas. He was at Arizona, Indiana and North Carolina all as the OC. All of those programs did well offensively while he was coordinating their offenses.

He proves he wasn't Fedora's puppet by taking a North Texas squad which had been losing and turning them into a bowl team in his first year.

Let that part sink in. UNT was 4-8 and 1-10 the two years directly before Littrell arrived. He took us to a bowl game his first year, and I am excited to see what his second season brings. He hasn't waited to get his own recruits. He has used what was here. There were no excuses.

Wow, see the similarities. Of course Montgomery took over a passing team where the previous coach had an overall record of 24-27 while Littrell took over a run heavy/pro style attack where the previous coach had an overall record of 22-32. Montgomery took over a program that had players that really fit his style of play while Littrell took over a program that had players that didn't fit his style of play. I am not downplaying Montgomery as a coach. He is and has proven over time to be a very good coach, but so has Littrell. Everywhere SL has been, his team has shown marked improvement in year two over year one. Stating that he has a "track record of success" while acting like Littrell doesn't looks like you are twisting things to meet your argument. Montgomery and Littrell are very similar outside of the teams they inherited.

MeanGreenMailbox aka TFLF · June 28, 2017

2 minutes ago, untjim1995 said:

It was Texas, under Charlie Strong. Cumbie knew Strong was probably a goner if he didn't win in year 3, so he said no thanks. So UT sent up the president and AD to Tulsa to money whip their OC to jump ship to Austin.

Ah, yes! I knew it was something. Turned down the Longhorns.

Wiki says both he and his wife are Texas Tech grads, so it probably does make sense that he's more in line, logically - if you can apply logic to Texas Tech - to succeed Hairgel Hands.

I'll say this about Montgomery, too, he did inherit a starting QB who was already pretty good, Dane Evans, and a really good receiver, Kevan Lucas.

What he also had in 2016 that was amazing was two RBs that ran for 1,400+ yards - two! http://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/schools/tulsa/2016.html

You can talk about inheriting talent all day. But, look, an offense with two 1,000+ yard receivers and two 1,400+ yard rushers? All with guys what were already there, but not doing that under Bill Blankenship.

Coaching does mean something. The only one of the 1,000+/1,4000+ crew returning is RB D'Angelo Brewer. We'll see what Montgomery is made of now. If Tulsa goes bowling again and can even get one 1,000 rusher and receiver out of the young guys now called on to step up, I think it's a plus for Montgomery as far as P5s looking at him.

MeanGreenMailbox aka TFLF · June 28, 2017

1 minute ago, UNTLifer said:

Seth Littrell's success goes beyond his first year at North Texas. He was at Arizona, Indiana and North Carolina all as the OC. All of those programs did well offensively while he was coordinating their offenses.

He proves he wasn't Fedora's puppet by taking a North Texas squad which had been losing and turning them into a bowl team in his first year.

Let that part sink in. UNT was 4-8 and 1-10 the two years directly before Littrell arrived. He took us to a bowl game his first year, and I am excited to see what his second season brings. He hasn't waited to get his own recruits. He has used what was here. There were no excuses.

Wow, see the similarities. Of course Montgomery took over a passing team where the previous coach had an overall record of 24-27 while Littrell took over a run heavy/pro style attack where the previous coach had an overall record of 22-32. Montgomery took over a program that had players that really fit his style of play while Littrell took over a program that had players that didn't fit his style of play. I am not downplaying Montgomery as a coach. He is and has proven over time to be a very good coach, but so has Littrell. Everywhere SL has been, his team has shown marked improvement in year two over year one. Stating that he has a "track record of success" while acting like Littrell doesn't looks like you are twisting things to meet your argument. Montgomery and Littrell are very similar outside of the teams they inherited.

Littrell's offense produce the same number of TD passes at McCarney's 2015 non-spread squad did. So, there is a vast difference in what Littrell did his first year compared to Montgomery.

Now, I say this as one who believes Littrell/Harrell pulled the trigger too soon on Morris, who did throw multiple TDs in the games he played. To me, that was a judgement error on Littrell/Harrell's part.

Also, as already pointed out, three of the five wins in 2016 were the result of Jeffrey Wilson's second half outbursts, not anything the UNT QB Fine, wrongly elevated early over Morris, was doing.

Montgomery's offense produced 58 TDs, 25 through the air, during his first year at Tulsa. Littrell's produced 39 TDs, only 15 through the air - 9 coming from Morris. As already stated, the Littrell/Harrell spread's 12 regular season TD passes were equal to the McCarney/Canales offense's 12 in 2015.

It's also worth noting that McCarney/Canales' 2014 offense provided 13 TD passes in 2014. So, Littrell/Harrell's 2016 were behind that even.

In fact, UNT hadn't thrown as few as 12 TD passes in a season since 2006, when Daniel Meager, Woody Wilson, and Matt Phillips combined for nine TD passes. All of Dodge's and McCarney's offense surpasses what Littrell/Harrell produced in 2016

So, we'll put the Littrell/Montgomery comparisons aside until Littrell/Harrell can figure out the QB position...as well as finding some WRs who can run good routes with some consistency.

UNTLifer · June 28, 2017

6 minutes ago, MeanGreenMailbox said:

Littrell's offense produce the same number of TD passes at McCarney's 2015 non-spread squad did. So, there is a vast difference in what Littrell did his first year compared to Montgomery.

Now, I say this as one who believes Littrell/Harrell pulled the trigger too soon on Morris, who did throw multiple TDs in the games he played. To me, that was a judgement error on Littrell/Harrell's part.

Also, as already pointed out, three of the five wins in 2016 were the result of Jeffrey Wilson's second half outbursts, not anything the UNT QB Fine, wrongly elevated early over Morris, was doing.

Montgomery's offense produced 58 TDs, 25 through the air, during his first year at Tulsa. Littrell's produced 39 TDs, only 15 through the air - 9 coming from Morris. As already stated, the Littrell/Harrell spread's 12 regular season TD passes were equal to the McCarney/Canales offense's 12 in 2015.

It's also worth noting that McCarney/Canales' 2014 offense provided 13 TD passes in 2014. So, Littrell/Harrell's 2016 were behind that even.

In fact, UNT hadn't thrown as few as 12 TD passes in a season since 2006, when Daniel Meager, Woody Wilson, and Matt Phillips combined for nine TD passes. All of Dodge's and McCarney's offense surpasses what Littrell/Harrell produced in 2016

So, we'll put the Littrell/Montgomery comparisons aside until Littrell/Harrell can figure out the QB position...as well as finding some WRs who can run good routes with some consistency.

And, as I mentioned, Montgomery took over a passing offense similar to the system he runs while Littrell took over a run first pro style attack. Don't forget that.

MeanGreenMailbox aka TFLF · June 28, 2017

38 minutes ago, UNTLifer said:

And, as I mentioned, Montgomery took over a passing offense similar to the system he runs while Littrell took over a run first pro style attack. Don't forget that.

I'm not forgetting that. But, I'm also not forgetting that McCarney/Canales didn't have the bar set very high as far as production in the passing game.

Littrell/Harrell have simply got to find a QB who can stand in the pocket and get the ball to receivers at least with a 60% completion percentage, and I'd say even higher than that.

Derek Thompson hit 64.4% in McCarney/Canales offense in 2013. College spread QB regularly get high completion percentages than that. You simply aren't throwing the ball very far down field in these offenses. Littrell/Harrell have to find someone who can do it.

hickoryhouse · June 28, 2017

Would it look something like beating out SMU, La Tech and others for a 3* QB prospect in our own backyard?

http://247sports.com/Player/Jason-Bean-93779

https://twitter.com/jasonbean24

I don't know how to insert stuff....

untjim1995 · June 28, 2017

51 minutes ago, MeanGreenMailbox said:

I'm not forgetting that. But, I'm also not forgetting that McCarney/Canales didn't have the bar set very high as far as production in the passing game.

Littrell/Harrell have simply got to find a QB who can stand in the pocket and get the ball to receivers at least with a 60% completion percentage, and I'd say even higher than that.

Derek Thompson hit 64.4% in McCarney/Canales offense in 2013. College spread QB regularly get high completion percentages than that. You simply aren't throwing the ball very far down field in these offenses. Littrell/Harrell have to find someone who can do it.

It really is amazing how poorly we have done at cultivating QBs around here. Since Scott Hall, only Gio Vizza and Derek Thompson have shown any modicum of success as the QB here for more than one game.

Danny Meager, Matt Phillips, Woody wilson, Riley Dodge, Nathan Tune, Andrew McNulty, Josh Greer, DaJon Williams, and Demarcus Smith were either unqualified to be FBS QBs or they got no help being developed. Some of them had a game or two that were good to great, but overall, they weren't meant to be QBs at this level. I'm not sure at all about Mason Fine, but I give him lots of credit for taking his lumps as a freshman and still coming back for a sophomore year. Not everyone is willing to do that these days...

UNTLifer · June 28, 2017

1 hour ago, MeanGreenMailbox said:

I'm not forgetting that. But, I'm also not forgetting that McCarney/Canales didn't have the bar set very high as far as production in the passing game.

Littrell/Harrell have simply got to find a QB who can stand in the pocket and get the ball to receivers at least with a 60% completion percentage, and I'd say even higher than that.

Derek Thompson hit 64.4% in McCarney/Canales offense in 2013. College spread QB regularly get high completion percentages than that. You simply aren't throwing the ball very far down field in these offenses. Littrell/Harrell have to find someone who can do it.

Absolutely, but in the context of comparing Montgomery and Littrell, as you mentioned earlier, Montgomery inherited a QB that had already had success at Tulsa in Dane Evans. Littrell inherited a grad transfer that never played a down at Alabama in Morris, a non-scholarship player in Shanbour and that was about it. Littrell got Fine at the last minute and Cason walked on from Flower Mound. That, to me, doesn't make Montgomery a benchmark.

Our greatest problem was that we have never had the reputation of throwing it around like a Tulsa, Tech, La Tech, etc... We have been known as a run first offense, except for the Dodge years which were the least successful in our history, team pretty much forever but especially back to 2000.

Edited June 28, 2017 by UNTLifer

TreeFiddy · June 29, 2017

Montgomery earns $1.8M. Someone has pointed out several times that Littrell earns $1M. How can Littrell possibly be compared to Montgomery when Montgomery clearly has a superior salary? We should consider raising Littrell's salary so he can compete.

GrandGreen · June 29, 2017

22 hours ago, untjim1995 said:

It really is amazing how poorly we have done at cultivating QBs around here. Since Scott Hall, only Gio Vizza and Derek Thompson have shown any modicum of success as the QB here for more than one game.

Danny Meager, Matt Phillips, Woody wilson, Riley Dodge, Nathan Tune, Andrew McNulty, Josh Greer, DaJon Williams, and Demarcus Smith were either unqualified to be FBS QBs or they got no help being developed. Some of them had a game or two that were good to great, but overall, they weren't meant to be QBs at this level. I'm not sure at all about Mason Fine, but I give him lots of credit for taking his lumps as a freshman and still coming back for a sophomore year. Not everyone is willing to do that these days...

It is very hard to be a great QB on a bad team. I don't think many of those you dismissed as unqualified were FB division caliber, however it is my belief that a few were just as good as Hall, Vizza and Thompson. The difference is that Thompson and Hall had good surrounding casts.

Lot of critism from some about Fine. He was a true freshman and had a very questionable offensive line and weak receiving corp. Not sure if he is the answer, but not sure he isn't either.

Monkeypox · June 29, 2017

51 minutes ago, GrandGreen said:

Lot of critism from some about Fine. He was a true freshman and had a very questionable offensive line and weak receiving corp. Not sure if he is the answer, but not sure he isn't either.

Agree. I definitely think there's room to criticize Fine. The problem is that not a single individual offensive unit (well, maybe RBs) performed adequately. We did not have good QB play (from either QB) last year. We also didn't have good OL play or good WR play. It makes it incredibly difficult to parse just HOW bad any individual was. Last year, we could assign them all excuses... True Freshman, New System, Whatever... doesn't matter, it's over.

This year, those excuses die. Players and coaches need to get it done.

Recruiting success will be increasing, consistently, our level from 90-120ish into somewhere in the 70s-80s in ranking. And that's not a huge jump individually, but it will make a difference. Doesn't have to be linear. Doesn't have to be perfect. You do that, and with good coaching, you'll put up wins at this level. You do THAT, and then you can make the next jump up in recruiting. Rinse and repeat... and then don't risk it by covering up a bunch of crimes.

TreeFiddy · June 29, 2017

A reasonable goal in recruiting seems like the top 1/3rd of G5's. With 65 P5 teams, that would mean you have to be in the top 85-90 nationally. Seems reasonable. It may take a couple of years, but that should be the goal. Fortunately, it is also a very easy thing to measure.

BTG_Fan1 · June 29, 2017

1 hour ago, Monkeypox said:

Agree. I definitely think there's room to criticize Fine. The problem is that not a single individual offensive unit (well, maybe RBs) performed adequately. We did not have good QB play (from either QB) last year. We also didn't have good OL play or good WR play. It makes it incredibly difficult to parse just HOW bad any individual was. Last year, we could assign them all excuses... True Freshman, New System, Whatever... doesn't matter, it's over.

This year, those excuses die. Players and coaches need to get it done.

Recruiting success will be increasing, consistently, our level from 90-120ish into somewhere in the 70s-80s in ranking. And that's not a huge jump individually, but it will make a difference. Doesn't have to be linear. Doesn't have to be perfect. You do that, and with good coaching, you'll put up wins at this level. You do THAT, and then you can make the next jump up in recruiting. Rinse and repeat... and then don't risk it by covering up a bunch of crimes.

The biggest thing with Fine was he did not show progress, if anything he stayed the same or even slightly regressed.

Yes the OLine was bad, and the WRs at times as well, but Fine did not help himself. We can be critical of both QBs last year in Morris and Fine.

Fine took a lot more sacks and unneeded hits because he would hold the ball to long. If that is because of play call or because of height we won't know. I would say it's very likely it's because of the height and not the scheme because SL and GH would have changed it up most likely. Morris it was mostly about turnovers. Yes some of the turnovers were on the WRs, but what Morris seemed to excel at, was throwing the ball away. Fine never developed this.

If Fine has just learned to throw the ball away instead of holding it longer and hoping something develops that will help this offense. Instead of being in 2nd and 18, or 3rd and whatever and having to pass it will help this offense.

This WRs corp I feel will be a lot better this year than it was last year. Guyton just looks the part of what a #1 WR should look like. With Guyton slotting into that #1 it allows the likes of Smiley and Rico to fall in and battle it out for #2. Rico could see a huge jump in production. What he did in the HOD was impressive, and he is leaps and bounds ahead of last year at this time. Last years WR core was lead by Goree, and he was no impressive. TT and Buyers are going to huge loses to this offense because they seemed like guys who were just reliable and in a leadership role, now that is on Smiley.

We don't need to see s huge jump in terms of positions going from good to great, if the OL can just be average and the WR can catch 60% of the passes that would be huge for this offense. When this offense clicks it's because of completions, that also opens it up for Jeffery. If we even just move from 117 to 80 or 90 on offense that is huge.

MeanGreenMailbox aka TFLF · June 29, 2017

1 hour ago, TreeFiddy said:

A reasonable goal in recruiting seems like the top 1/3rd of G5's. With 65 P5 teams, that would mean you have to be in the top 85-90 nationally. Seems reasonable. It may take a couple of years, but that should be the goal. Fortunately, it is also a very easy thing to measure.

From 2017, rivals rankings
53. Central Florida
60. Cincinnati
62. Memphis
64. BYU
66. Boise State
69. South Florida
70. East Carolina
71. (three way tie): Sand Diego State, Southern Miss, UTSA
76. (three way tie): Florida Atlantic, Houston, Navy
79. (three way tie): Middle Tennessee, Toledo, Tulsa
82. Fresno State
83. Colorado State
84. (three way tie): Miami (OH), SMU, Western Kentucky
87. Ball State
88. Bowling Green
89. (two way tie): Marshall and Tulane

That's roughly the top 1/3 of G5s

https://n.rivals.com/team_rankings/2017

AustinFromUNT · June 29, 2017

5 minutes ago, MeanGreenMailbox said:

From 2017, rivals rankings
53. Central Florida
60. Cincinnati
62. Memphis
64. BYU
66. Boise State
69. South Florida
70. East Carolina
71. (three way tie): Sand Diego State, Southern Miss, UTSA
76. (three way tie): Florida Atlantic, Houston, Navy
79. (three way tie): Middle Tennessee, Toledo, Tulsa
82. Fresno State
83. Colorado State
84. (three way tie): Miami (OH), SMU, Western Kentucky
87. Ball State
88. Bowling Green
89. (two way tie): Marshall and Tulane

That's roughly the top 1/3 of G5s

https://n.rivals.com/team_rankings/2017

I am actually really surprised at where USF is. I figured with Strong recruits would be flocking there. He was never a good play caller but a phenomenal recruiter.

TreeFiddy · July 2, 2017

On 6/29/2017 at 4:13 PM, MeanGreenMailbox said:

From 2017, rivals rankings
53. Central Florida
60. Cincinnati
62. Memphis
64. BYU
66. Boise State
69. South Florida
70. East Carolina
71. (three way tie): Sand Diego State, Southern Miss, UTSA
76. (three way tie): Florida Atlantic, Houston, Navy
79. (three way tie): Middle Tennessee, Toledo, Tulsa
82. Fresno State
83. Colorado State
84. (three way tie): Miami (OH), SMU, Western Kentucky
87. Ball State
88. Bowling Green
89. (two way tie): Marshall and Tulane

That's roughly the top 1/3 of G5s

https://n.rivals.com/team_rankings/2017

Seems about right. In order to be in the top 1/3rd of G5 then you need to be below 90 in the country. Not too surprising to see the top G5 classes for a particular year beat out some of the dregs of the P5, but for the most part you see the top G5 in the 66 - 90 range.

MeanGreenMailbox aka TFLF · July 3, 2017

On 7/1/2017 at 9:59 PM, TreeFiddy said:

Seems about right. In order to be in the top 1/3rd of G5 then you need to be below 90 in the country. Not too surprising to see the top G5 classes for a particular year beat out some of the dregs of the P5, but for the most part you see the top G5 in the 66 - 90 range.

My goal would be to get into the 70s. There, you are talking about recruiting at least as well as Southern Miss, UTSA (sigh), Florida Atlantic (again...sigh), and Middle Tennessee.

Speaking of Middle Tennessee, does any other program do as well by constantly flying under the radar? Entering his 12th season - has it really been that long? - as the Blue Raiders head, he has a career 72-66 record, only four losing seasons, and six bowl appearances.

IDEA FOR BRETT VITO: Rick Stockstill is the only coach in America to have coached against every UNT head coach in the 21st Century, having begun his career at MTSU during Darrell Dickey's 2006 swansong. With C-USA media days coming up, a good story angle might be to approach him and ask about his view of what happens at North Texas and its never-ending "potential," as well as what it takes to keep a program at the G5 level competitive for several years.

Would love to hear Stockstill's angle on recruiting and how its has changed for Non-BCS/G5's since he took over the Blue Raider program. Whatever his approach is, it works for them, even thought they are seemingly at a disadvantage for top recruits sitting there in deep SEC/ACC territory.

Edited July 3, 2017 by MeanGreenMailbox

KRAM1 · July 3, 2017

My goal would be to have the players we DO recruit win football games, keep their grades up, be involved in no off field legal situations, be role models for other athletes and represent UNT is a positive light.

Not asking much, huh? Please note...nowhere did I mention being seen as a "star rated" athlete before ever playing a down of college football.

But, I understand the point others are trying to make about recruiting. Just don't much care until I see them play. Or, where some of these "higher rated" athletes transfer to after year one or two at their "chosen" places. :-)

Mean Green 93-98 · July 3, 2017

On 6/29/2017 at 4:20 PM, AustinFromUNT said:

I am actually really surprised at where USF is. I figured with Strong recruits would be flocking there. He was never a good play caller but a phenomenal recruiter.

I would say that Strong is a good gameday coach. And a good coach at developing players. His recruiting at UT was actually a little substandard by UT standards. I think his main problem at UT was getting elite (and often coddled) athletes to buy into his culture change. I would expect him to produce a winner at USF almost regardless of recruiting. He is twice the coach Willie Taggart is, IMO. Even if he is not as good of a recruiter as Taggart.

techdawg88 · July 3, 2017

On 6/28/2017 at 10:54 AM, MeanGreenMailbox said:

Yes. Louisiana Tech and Colorado State are schools that are now regular bowl participants. In particular, Colorado State, though. They've hired two coaches in a row who were SEC offensive coordinators - Jim McElwain from Alabama and Mike Bobo from Georgia.

Those guys know what college QBs look like. If they have offered the kid, he's legitimate. If Littrell beats them, that's as good as beating Rocky Long and Philip Montgomery.

Skip Holtz is a fine football coach as well at Louisiana Tech. He's the first coach to lead the Bulldogs to three consecutive bowl games, and he's won them all. La Tech has five total bowl wins in their history - Holtz has three of them. He knows what it takes to consistently find players that are ready to play G5-level football. Beating him on a recruit like Jason Bean would mean a great deal towards proving we are moving in the right direction.

Where are you seeing he's been offered by La Tech and Colorado State, though? The sites I have show that he's only been offered by us and SMU.

Tech pulled their offer to Bean after Aaron Allen committed a few weeks ago