DRC: UNT signs early class of eight that signals shift in recruiting approach

[BillySee58]

7 minutes ago, Wag Tag said:

Dykes 2020 class had 6 transfers the 2021 class had 13 this was the trend. When Dykes was discussed the first advantage is "he knows how to work the portal".  Head, out of HS would of been one the top rated H QB's in C-USA and maybe #1 this class. I believe he is a lot better  value now having played a year under Skip, and having 4 yrs of eligibility. Bush was a no brainer. This is the model I would follow.

Everyone who played in 2020 was eligible to return in 2021, even the players who were seniors in 2020. So instead of seniors graduating and getting replaced with freshmen, your freshmen got to be freshmen again and the players who left were transfers. Those transfers got replaced with outside transfers. 

I agree we need to hit the transfer portal hard. I just think we need high school recruiting to still be the lifeblood of the program going forward still. It sounds like the new rule is you get 25 spots per class plus you get an additional spot for each player you have transfer out, up to 12 transfers. So you could potentially sign 37 players in a class. 

I think the model should be to replace your outgoing senior scholarships with freshman and JUCO scholarships like normal, then replace your outgoing transfer spots with portal signees. This way you sign those high school players, develop them, and then when the players who get buried decide to leave or quit as they inevitably always have, you replace them with portal signees to supplement the players you already have in your system.

[Wag Tag]

30 minutes ago, BillySee58 said:

Everyone who played in 2020 was eligible to return in 2021, even the players who were seniors in 2020. So instead of seniors graduating and getting replaced with freshmen, your freshmen got to be freshmen again and the players who left were transfers. Those transfers got replaced with outside transfers. 

I agree we need to hit the transfer portal hard. I just think we need high school recruiting to still be the lifeblood of the program going forward still. It sounds like the new rule is you get 25 spots per class plus you get an additional spot for each player you have transfer out, up to 12 transfers. So you could potentially sign 37 players in a class. 

I think the model should be to replace your outgoing senior scholarships with freshman and JUCO scholarships like normal, then replace your outgoing transfer spots with portal signees. This way you sign those high school players, develop them, and then when the players who get buried decide to leave or quit as they inevitably always have, you replace them with portal signees to supplement the players you already have in your system.

Head would be my beta. With comparable ratings out of HS I would much rather have a transfer with 4 yrs eligibility than a HS kid with 5.

[PlummMeanGreen]

23 hours ago, TheColonyEagle said:

I like the shift in direction....it tells me Littrell is learning and adjusting. I don't want to get too far ahead of myself here but it feels like Littrell is turning a corner in his growth as an FBS head coach. I have been critical of him but some of the things he has done the back half of this year are really impressive and I have to give kudos to him.

He completely changed his offensive strategy to adjust for the personnel he had on the field. That is HUGE and it paid dividends. He kept the team together after the horrible start and they did not quit on him. That may be even MORE huge. And now he's seeing the landscape of college football and making the necessary adjustments. 

I've said this before, but keeping Littrell through this learning curve he's been on may be a better outcome for UNT and I will admit, he's changing my mind about him. Still need to go out next year and prove that these changes will lead to a big year but I feel better about it.

Well done coach.

Amen, amen & amen!

Hell at 1 & 6 most of us were ready to grab a torch & march up to Frankenstein’s castle, but most of us have now changed our minds—not all, but most. 

As an admitted novice the main thing I’d like to see Littrell & staff to do now is bear down on portal recruiting.  I think it’s that which gets us ready to compete in the  American Conference.

••• Hope to see many, many familiar faces next Thursday at the Frisco Classic. 

GMG!

Edited December 17, 2021 by PlummMeanGreen

[KeithLee]

On 12/16/2021 at 9:06 AM, meanJewGreen said:

Colleges have always paid players. Now they just do it legally. 

Then why am I always having to transfer money into my kids bank account?  The amount of food this kid eats kills me. Can we get a food NIL stat for the TE room?

[El Paso Eagle]

2 hours ago, BillySee58 said:

Everyone who played in 2020 was eligible to return in 2021, even the players who were seniors in 2020. So instead of seniors graduating and getting replaced with freshmen, your freshmen got to be freshmen again and the players who left were transfers. Those transfers got replaced with outside transfers. 

I agree we need to hit the transfer portal hard. I just think we need high school recruiting to still be the lifeblood of the program going forward still. It sounds like the new rule is you get 25 spots per class plus you get an additional spot for each player you have transfer out, up to 12 transfers. So you could potentially sign 37 players in a class. 

I think the model should be to replace your outgoing senior scholarships with freshman and JUCO scholarships like normal, then replace your outgoing transfer spots with portal signees. This way you sign those high school players, develop them, and then when the players who get buried decide to leave or quit as they inevitably always have, you replace them with portal signees to supplement the players you already have in your system.

What I would like to see with the additional spots is that they can be used if the player transfers out on their own. If a coaching staff chooses not to renew a player then that spot should not be able to be replaced. I know it will get difficult because the players might say it was their own choice trying not to burn bridges, but in some cases when it's very obvious a team pushes a player out and chooses not to renew a scholarship I do not think they should be able to replace that spot.

[VideoEagle]

3 hours ago, BillySee58 said:

It sounds like the new rule is you get 25 spots per class plus you get an additional spot for each player you have transfer out, up to 12 transfers. So you could potentially sign 37 players in a class. 

I think the model should be to replace your outgoing senior scholarships with freshman and JUCO scholarships like normal, then replace your outgoing transfer spots with portal signees. This way you sign those high school players, develop them, and then when the players who get buried decide to leave or quit as they inevitably always have, you replace them with portal signees to supplement the players you already have in your system.

Thanks for the explanation! I've been trying to understand it! I know several times in the past, coaches over recruited JUCO players that didn't the full 5 years to play 4 left. You can do that for a year or 2, but after that the limits on how many players you can recruit in a given year mean you play a year at less than 85 scholarship players which always results in a bad year. It appears you can still get in the same trouble with the portal, but you have an additional way to balance things out. 

In any case, the math of limited number of replacements in a year, 5 years to play 4, and 85 play limits mean high school players are still going to have to be the majority of your recruits except in the very usual year. 

[El Paso Eagle]

I like the way WKU shows eligibility on their site

 

[BillySee58]

58 minutes ago, VideoEagle said:

Thanks for the explanation! I've been trying to understand it! I know several times in the past, coaches over recruited JUCO players that didn't the full 5 years to play 4 left. You can do that for a year or 2, but after that the limits on how many players you can recruit in a given year mean you play a year at less than 85 scholarship players which always results in a bad year. It appears you can still get in the same trouble with the portal, but you have an additional way to balance things out. 

In any case, the math of limited number of replacements in a year, 5 years to play 4, and 85 play limits mean high school players are still going to have to be the majority of your recruits except in the very usual year. 

Exactly. That’s definitely something that coaches need to be mindful of from a roster management standpoint. We have 44 players on our roster who currently have freshman eligibility and we’re getting 2 more through the portal in JD Head and Jay Maclin. We need to build some type of freshmen class behind them otherwise we’re going to lose 30+ graduates in one year with only 25 new scholarship spots to replace them. 

[UNTLifer]

4 hours ago, KeithLee said:

Then why am I always having to transfer money into my kids bank account?  The amount of food this kid eats kills me. Can we get a food NIL stat for the TE room?

Needs a NIL with a local eating establishment.