Transfers - What Percent Should We Target

[El Paso Eagle]

I am in no way in favor of getting transfers that cannot contribute, but I believe we should have a stronger emphasis on transfers. Currently, everyone is pointing to Texas State and Colorado as examples of what can happen. However, keep in mind that Texas State's previous coach went very heavily all transfers; in fact, I believe one of his classes was 100% transfers, yet he was unsuccessful.
 I will give Texas State credit. They are being very vocal about recruiting Texas high school players, but they seem to be putting just as much, if not a more significant, effort into bringing in transfers. We do not seem to be prioritizing or making a lot of effort at this. Also, as has been mentioned in other posts, I commented that even before the transfer portal and NIL, North Texas has never seemed to get the higher-level transfers that other G fives seem to land. This is very frustrating.

[MeanGreen4Life1998]

It has genuinely shocked me how other schools at a similar level and/or smaller schools have rebuilt with transfers every year and UNT hasn’t seemed interested. There are plenty of players in the P5, G5, FCS and D2, who transfer, that would start over UNT players year after year. Obviously some will be harder to get than others but you’ve gotta at least try.

[Rudy]

At this point, get as many as you can.  If that means 75%, get 75%.

[C Rod]

I voted 75%. The transfer portal launched in Oct of 2018. It’s time we accept the new reality and dive in headfirst.

Let’s not forget SMU also changed their philosophy after their loss to us in 2018. Of course it helps when you have huge NIL coffers but that didn’t stop TX State.

[NorthTexasWeLove]

I don't think there's a %. 

It's more complicated than that. 

If I had about 2 hours of uninterrupted time, I could paint a picture. 

[GrayEagle]

The number can vary widely on who's available and who we can afford.  We are getting pretty high-rated recruits and I'd hate to pass on them in order to get a rather short term senior unless it's a real position of need.  Several of our recruits now could play as freshmen especially against lower rated teams.  A few would be starters as sophomores.  We don't really have the deep NIL pocket to chase forty or fifty transfers.  Many are in there because they weren't getting the playing time, in their last year classification or just want to see if they can get the big bucks.  Don't get me wrong, if you can afford to spend every year you can put together some talented teams.  As I understand it, Cal bought 50 players from the Transfer Portal and it looks like they got their money's worth.  We seemed to have very good recruiting personnel so I would take less than 50% from the transfer portal.  Let's wait to the end of the season and find where our true weaknesses are.

[NorthTexasWeLove]

1 minute ago, GrayEagle said:

The number can vary widely on who's available and who we can afford.  We are getting pretty high-rated recruits and I'd hate to pass on them in order to get a rather short term senior unless it's a real position of need.  Several of our recruits now could play as freshmen especially against lower rated teams.  A few would be starters as sophomores.  We don't really have the deep NIL pocket to chase forty or fifty transfers.  Many are in there because they weren't getting the playing time, in their last year classification or just want to see if they can get the big bucks.  Don't get me wrong, if you can afford to spend every year you can put together some talented teams.  As I understand it, Cal bought 50 players from the Transfer Portal and it looks like they got their money's worth.  We seemed to have very good recruiting personnel so I would take less than 50% from the transfer portal.  Let's wait to the end of the season and find where our true weaknesses are.

I hate to pass on that, too. 

There is a problem nowadays landing HS kids that turn into ballers: 

1. We develop them, and while they're not even hitting max potential yet..

2. They leave 

As wild as the transfer rule is, it's still a 1 time deal, unless they are willing to sit for a year as a 2x transfer. We start landing ballers from the portal, they're basically locked in and we're ready to go. 

[TripleGrad]

Building our players won't work in the world of NIL and transfers.  If our guys get good, they'll get recruited away.

That leaves transfers.   Colorado and Texas State just proved the case.

[C Rod]

8 minutes ago, NorthTexasWeLove said:

As wild as the transfer rule is, it's still a 1 time deal, unless they are willing to sit for a year as a 2x transfer. We start landing ballers from the portal, they're basically locked in and we're ready to go. 

Exactly. This is exactly why I’m so pro-portal. If we’re going to spend our time and energy recruiting players, let’s go after the ones that are locked in by the transfer rules. This is how it was before the portal became a thing. You want to transfer to another school, that’s fine but you have to sit a year. That year long waiting period makes players think long and hard before jumping ship. 

[BillySee58]

9 minutes ago, TripleGrad said:

Building our players won't work in the world of NIL and transfers.  If our guys get good, they'll get recruited away.

That leaves transfers.   Colorado and Texas State just proved the case.

I think the picture here has been painted inaccurately because of not weighing in all the variables. We had a coaching change. Of course dudes were going to transfer. Also the extra COVID year doesn’t get factored in.

But with Littrell all the dudes tended to stay, when the coach who signed them was still here. Then when he left we saw more guys leave. But the Murphy twins were the only guys who left who actually left early while Littrell was still here. The other guys were all grad seniors who had already played 4 years here and chose to use that extra season somewhere else.

I think that’s what we’ll see with the guys Morris is bringing in from HS. Even if they start early they aren’t just going to leave as long as he’s still here. Now as for the HS recruiting, need to start seeing more impressive d-line and LB recruits.

Edited September 4, 2023 by BillySee58

[GMG_Dallas]

Watching LSU vs FSU last night and both schools have several transfers. You might be surprised to hear that some of the starters on those P5 rosters are not from other P5 schools. Some of the names I heard include McNeese State, Southeastern Louisiana, and Albany. You get talent where you can find it. If that's in the FCS ranks or lower, get it. Not every kid comes out of high school with an FBS body.

I also don't see the point in developing high school recruits to watch them leave. Reload every year with juniors and seniors who want PT and have spent years developing in an FBS program. 

[NorthTexasWeLove]

1 hour ago, BillySee58 said:

I think the picture here has been painted inaccurately because of not weighing in all the variables. We had a coaching change. Of course dudes were going to transfer. Also the extra COVID year doesn’t get factored in.

But with Littrell all the dudes tended to stay, when the coach who signed them was still here. Then when he left we saw more guys leave. But the Murphy twins were the only guys who left who actually left early while Littrell was still here. The other guys were all grad seniors who had already played 4 years here and chose to use that extra season somewhere else.

I think that’s what we’ll see with the guys Morris is bringing in from HS. Even if they start early they aren’t just going to leave as long as he’s still here. Now as for the HS recruiting, need to start seeing more impressive d-line and LB recruits.

That's only because we aren't recruiting (or playing well enough) well enough for our players to be plucked away at a high level. The new staff has been hired to recruit HS kids. Great. Go recruit them. If we start getting ballers like this staff is clearly banking on, our attrition will inevitably increase. 

[BillySee58]

5 minutes ago, NorthTexasWeLove said:

That's only because we aren't recruiting (or playing well enough) well enough for our players to be plucked away at a high level. The new staff has been hired to recruit HS kids. Great. Go recruit them. If we start getting ballers like this staff is clearly banking on, our attrition will inevitably increase. 

That’s just not true. We have seen the offers our average, run of the mill starters have gotten in the portal. Guys like Cam Johnson and Larry Nixon getting scooped up by UCLA and Auburn clearly shows it doesn’t take guys being all conference here to attract P5 teams. 

[NorthTexasWeLove]

12 minutes ago, BillySee58 said:

That’s just not true. We have seen the offers our average, run of the mill starters have gotten in the portal. Guys like Cam Johnson and Larry Nixon getting scooped up by UCLA and Auburn clearly shows it doesn’t take guys being all conference here to attract P5 teams. 

It is true. Since the portal rules have been established our top players flirt with the idea of it or do it. 

OL to Vandy

TE to Arkansas

Corner to Ole Miss

2 DE to UCLA

Corner to UCLA

2 TE to Cal

RB to SMU

Corner to SMU

WR to Hawaii (not sure if rule change had happened yet)

WR to Auburn 

LB to Auburn 

LB almost to ATM

And these aren't just JAGs, these were major contributors, and many starters. Teams are clearly scouring some of our most productive players and snagging them.

Pleasant surprises have been the RB corp, Mose, and Texada (And he came on late last year, I'll be surprised if he's still here next yr if he plays well). Tip of the hat to Cobbs on keeping that group together. 

[BillySee58]

27 minutes ago, NorthTexasWeLove said:

It is true. Since the portal rules have been established our top players flirt with the idea of it or do it. 

OL to Vandy

TE to Arkansas

Corner to Ole Miss

2 DE to UCLA

Corner to UCLA

2 TE to Cal

RB to SMU

Corner to SMU

WR to Hawaii (not sure if rule change had happened yet)

WR to Auburn 

LB to Auburn 

LB almost to ATM

And these aren't just JAGs, these were major contributors, and many starters. Teams are clearly scouring some of our most productive players and snagging them.

Pleasant surprises have been the RB corp, Mose, and Texada (And he came on late last year, I'll be surprised if he's still here next yr if he plays well). Tip of the hat to Cobbs on keeping that group together. 

Again, almost all of these guys you are referring to left during a coaching change or after playing what would’ve been their Senior for us, then using that extra COVID season somewhere else. 

We just have not seen it yet where we bring in HS recruits who starts for us as underclassmen and suddenly decide to use us as a springboard when the coach who signed them is still here. If it starts happening with Morris’ actual recruits then we can consider it a valid fear. But until then, guys tend to stay and play for the coach that signed them out of HS.

Edited September 4, 2023 by BillySee58

[NorthTexasWeLove]

2 minutes ago, BillySee58 said:

Again, almost all of these guys you are referring to left during a coaching change or after playing what would’ve been their Senior for us, then using that extra COVID season somewhere else. 

We just have not seen it yet where we bring in HS recruits who starts for us as underclassmen and suddenly decide to use us as a springboard when the coach who signed them is still here. If it starts happening with Morris’ actual recruits then we can consider it a valid fear. But until then, guys tend to stay and play for the coach that signed them out of HS.

Yes. But if we are trying to elevate our HS recruit that we land, which I think given the staffing hires is the plan? You can agree with that? 

Then, attrition will naturally increase? Also, how transferring is becoming as common as breathing oxygen, and not just transferring but successful transfer projects, it will also naturally occur even more? 

I think those are safe assumptions? Do you agree? 

[BillySee58]

Just now, NorthTexasWeLove said:

Yes. But if we are trying to elevate our HS recruit that we land, which I think given the staffing hires is the plan? You can agree with that? 

Then, attrition will naturally increase? Also, how transferring is becoming as common as breathing oxygen, and not just transferring but successful transfer projects, it will also naturally occur even more? 

I think those are safe assumptions? Do you agree? 

I agree that we are trying to elevate our HS recruiting. I don’t think it is a safe assumption that the HS guys are going to transfer out more as their quality improves. If their quality is improving then so should our quality as a team.

Again, there isn’t much evidence showing guys who are successful players already on successful teams transferring out without a coaching change. Certainly not common enough to change strategies on or treat as anything other than an exception, not the rule.

[MrAlien]

at think at this level UNT should be targeting as many as possible.  The day the transfer window opens should be one of the most important days of the year for this program, though they totally screwed that up last season

[NorthTexasWeLove]

9 minutes ago, BillySee58 said:

I agree that we are trying to elevate our HS recruiting. I don’t think it is a safe assumption that the HS guys are going to transfer out more as their quality improves. If their quality is improving then so should our quality as a team.

Again, there isn’t much evidence showing guys who are successful players already on successful teams transferring out without a coaching change. Certainly not common enough to change strategies on or treat as anything other than an exception, not the rule.

 I see what you're saying. 

I don't think UNT has utilized all of their tools to be as successful as they possibly can be, namely the transfer portal. And I think that's why it's frustrating. Littrell didn't. And it appears, again the staffing hires we have made, Morris doesn't plan to. And I think it's a short-sighted terrible idea, and extremely frustrating. 

[BillySee58]

1 hour ago, NorthTexasWeLove said:

 I see what you're saying. 

I don't think UNT has utilized all of their tools to be as successful as they possibly can be, namely the transfer portal. And I think that's why it's frustrating. Littrell didn't. And it appears, again the staffing hires we have made, Morris doesn't plan to. And I think it's a short-sighted terrible idea, and extremely frustrating. 

He definitely is utilizing the portal and will continue to do so. We’re only one game in, but on paper the portal additions he got were pretty solid. Actual legit playing experience at the FBS level.

[NorthTexasWeLove]

8 minutes ago, BillySee58 said:

He definitely is utilizing the portal and will continue to do so. We’re only one game in, but on paper the portal additions he got were pretty solid. Actual legit playing experience at the FBS level.

Alright, well guess he has it figured out then. 

[BillySee58]

46 minutes ago, NorthTexasWeLove said:

Alright, well guess he has it figured out then. 

What are you hoping for out of the portal? Paula Vaipulu started double digit games at a P5 school (Georgia Tech), and he still got beat out by a guy we signed out of high school. Trey Cleveland and Blair Conwright had productive seasons in the receiver rotations for P5 schools (Texas Tech and TCU). Chandler Rogers was a starter at ULM with solid stats. Phil Hill was a starter at UNLV who had 3 picks his last season there. Larry Moore was on the 2-deep at LT at Texas Tech as a redshirt freshman.

It’s not like we’re bringing in a bunch of G5 backups. And still none of these guys made any difference in game 1. Not sure what a few more of them does immediately. It takes time. I don’t think the expectation from our fanbase about what you get out of the portal currently matches reality.

[NorthTexasWeLove]

Top to bottom we do not have capable players on defense. We snagged 2 safteies and a DE in the portal for defense and how it looks only 1 will contribute of the 3. So they come in and inherit an already bad defense, some players leave, some graduate and they fill those voids with a singular safety and apparently a walk-on from Canada. It's as if they may have thought we were good enough on defense OR they don't value it. I don't know, you tell me. 

[El Paso Eagle]

My big concern remains that from the time he was announced as a hire, many of us were very worried about our ability to have the proper personnel to run the 335. From my view of the outside looking in and not trying to say it after just one game, I still think we lost the opportunity to bring in transfers on the defensive side of the ball to have the right personnel, at least on paper, to run this defensive scheme.

[GMG_Dallas]

8 hours ago, NorthTexasWeLove said:

It is true. Since the portal rules have been established our top players flirt with the idea of it or do it. 

OL to Vandy

TE to Arkansas

Corner to Ole Miss

2 DE to UCLA

Corner to UCLA

2 TE to Cal

RB to SMU

Corner to SMU

WR to Hawaii (not sure if rule change had happened yet)

WR to Auburn 

LB to Auburn 

LB almost to ATM

And these aren't just JAGs, these were major contributors, and many starters. Teams are clearly scouring some of our most productive players and snagging them.

Pleasant surprises have been the RB corp, Mose, and Texada (And he came on late last year, I'll be surprised if he's still here next yr if he plays well). Tip of the hat to Cobbs on keeping that group together. 

You're forgetting a transfer at a very important position (Open the tweet and peep #25).