How far is too far when it comes to trusting the transfer portal?

UNT18Grad · February 5, 2021

I know we talk a lot on here about needing to be more active with transfers, etc but I have to think Texas State is going a bit overboard with this and I don't see it working out well.

Their 2021 recruiting class has zero high school players currently, and in 2020 they signed 5. I originally thought they made a decent hire with their new coach, but it will be an interesting experiment to see what they look like over the next few years.

MeanGreen_MBA · February 5, 2021

19 minutes ago, UNT18Grad said:

I know we talk a lot on here about needing to be more active with transfers, etc but I have to think Texas State is going a bit overboard with this and I don't see it working out well.

Their 2021 recruiting class has zero high school players currently, and in 2020 they signed 5. I originally thought they made a decent hire with their new coach, but it will be an interesting experiment to see what they look like over the next few years.

I agree. This is simply a form of free agency. No kids except the top few will get scholly’s out of HS. They will have to go to a lower school to prove themselves and work their way through the portal.
just because you CAN do something, doesn’t mean you should.

MeanGreenTexan · February 5, 2021

1 hour ago, UNT18Grad said:

I know we talk a lot on here about needing to be more active with transfers, etc but I have to think Texas State is going a bit overboard with this and I don't see it working out well.

Their 2021 recruiting class has zero high school players currently, and in 2020 they signed 5. I originally thought they made a decent hire with their new coach, but it will be an interesting experiment to see what they look like over the next few years.

Spavital is burning all of his bridges with high schools in Texas going this route.

You only get 25 new scholarships per year to hand out. If you add that up by only bringing in guys with 1, 2, or 3 years of eligibility in (instead of 4 or 5), your roster begins shrinking year by year. It's not sustainable. This is a bone-headed, desperate move.

Wag Tag · February 5, 2021

If they are 0ne and done that is an issue, but if they have 2 plus seasons available this is the way to go. He would of never been able to sign these type players out of high school. We could possibly have 10. Pandoras box has been opened.

DentonLurker · February 5, 2021

13 minutes ago, MeanGreenTexan said:

Spavital is burning all of his bridges with high schools in Texas going this route.

I don't know that this is true. In interviews I've seen with Spav, I think he's also needing to fill some major holes in the OL and DL. He needs guys who can come in and play right away. Coaches are going to understand what he's doing. If I remember correctly, he's also giving a lot of Texas players a chance to come back home. If I was a HS coach, that would be cool to me too.

I'm sure they're still paying attention to the timing of when players would be coming in/out of their program.

El Paso Eagle · February 5, 2021

Just now, DentonLurker said:

I don't know that this is true. In interviews I've seen with Spav, I think he's also needing to fill some major holes in the OL and DL. He needs guys who can come in and play right away. Coaches are going to understand what he's doing. If I remember correctly, he's also giving a lot of Texas players a chance to come back home. If I was a HS coach, that would be cool to me too.

I'm sure they're still paying attention to the timing of when players would be coming in/out of their program.

Filling gaps is one thing, but not one HS players up to this point? Maybe he believes for TSU to win they have to think way outside the box. This is a make-or-break risk.

Has any FBS team never signed a HS player in a recruiting class?

DentonLurker · February 5, 2021

6 minutes ago, El Paso Eagle said:

Maybe he believes for TSU to win they have to think way outside the box. This is a make-or-break risk.

Personally, I love the outside the box nature of what he's doing down there. He's trying to win games. I think it shows a lot of boldness to do things differently than the norm or what we're used to. We'll see how it translates on the field, but my guess is he's going to be putting more talented players on the field than just going the HS player route as he builds that program into what he wants it to be.

Edited February 5, 2021 by DentonLurker

MeanGreenTexan · February 5, 2021

4 minutes ago, DentonLurker said:

I don't know that this is true. In interviews I've seen with Spav, I think he's also needing to fill some major holes in the OL and DL. He needs guys who can come in and play right away. Coaches are going to understand what he's doing. If I remember correctly, he's also giving a lot of Texas players a chance to come back home. If I was a HS coach, that would be cool to me too.

I'm sure they're still paying attention to the timing of when players would be coming in/out of their program.

I may agree if his class was 1/2-and-1/2 or something... but he didn't sign a SINGLE high school player in this class. Not one.

That's a bad look when I see all of these High School coaches tweeting out that they have Seniors who they would normally expect to have playing D-1 ball instead having to sign to D-II or lower because of the Covid waiver & the flood of Transfers. So to see a school here in Texas choose to fill their entire class with transfers (and have room left over... I believe they only signed 11), but still not provide opportunities for high school guys... it's a recipe for burned bridges.

El Paso Eagle · February 5, 2021

This is definitely an experiment that could work or bust. Here is a podcast from a reporter that covers the team (guess their BV) where their coach explains what he is trying to do. The coach starts speaking around th 18:50 mark.

PS - He coached under Dykes at Cal and they mention how he has talked a bit about the SMU model

PlummMeanGreen · February 5, 2021

All transfers at TSU-San Marcos?

So win quick—get out of San Marcos quicker?

🦅❇️🦅

UNTLifer · February 5, 2021

27 minutes ago, PlummMeanGreen said:

All transfers at TSU-San Marcos?

So win quick—get out of San Marcos quicker?

🦅❇️🦅

Image result for B-I-N-G-O gif

DentonLurker · February 5, 2021

1 hour ago, PlummMeanGreen said:

So win quick—get out of San Marcos quicker?

Welcome to the life of a Group of 5 program

PlummMeanGreen · February 5, 2021

Trust but verify? 🙄😌😊

southsideguy · February 5, 2021

SMUT does very well with it. I guess schools are saying why take a risk on high school player when you can get two years out of a proven player. So the school that take the chance on high school players will become the farm system for the P5. Sad what college has become and it seems to only be getting worse.

What made college football so great in the past of the field was more level for all teams.

DentonLurker · February 5, 2021

5 minutes ago, southsideguy said:

I guess schools are saying why take a risk on high school player when you can get two years out of a proven player.

That's kind of the vibe I got from listening to his reasoning in that podcast. He also stated that over 50% of his scholarship players are freshmen and sophomores due to the COVID stuff, so he is looking for guys with more experience. He said he would only have 5 seniors on scholarship next year. He also basically said that he doesn't have to make an offer to athletes who don't have other offers like he has has in the past, so he can be patient and see what his options are before making that offer. I think COVID makes transfers even more appealing. Look at Ruder. He's been in a college program for 3 years and he still has 4 years of eligibility left.