More Recruiting Rumors

PerryG2480 · January 9, 2007

A normally reliable poster over on 5ATexasFootball.com is reporting that Dodge has three Lufkin Panthers in his sites:

Dez Bryant: 4 STAR WR - 6'1 195 4.5 (listing LSU, Nebraska, Oklahoma State, Texas Tech and others)

A. J. Penson: 2 STAR ILB - 6'1 215 (listing Houston, Iowa State, Nebraska, UTEP, and Texas A&M)

Ralph Thomas: 2 STAR CB - 5'9 180 (listing only Rice right now)

Again, just a rumor right now...but the poster over there has been pretty accurate on things in the past. If we have no shot at the WR, so be it...at least Dodge is recruiting him. Never know, with his system, we might be able to land a WR of that caliber.

http://www.5atexasfootball.com/forum/vB/sh...4438&page=4

greenminer · January 9, 2007

I don't know about the rest of ya'll, but just reading about all of this is refreshing after having to tread through the "stealth" methods used in the recent past.

-gm

TicketJohn · January 9, 2007

As of December 19th, Bryant had yet to qualify. He was waiting on his ACT score. I haven't seen an update since. It looks like it could go either way with him.

OldTimer · January 9, 2007

I can't remember if NT has ever had a recruit from Lufkin and I graduated from Lufkin HS before the Lufkin HS's were integrated I have heard that the Lufkin coach Outlaw is a friend of Todd Dodge so that could be the source of this interest.

DeepGreen · January 9, 2007

I live two hours south of Lufkin so info on that area is pretty decent when it comes to football. There are several very high caliber 1A recruits that come out of Lufkin each year and North Texas needs to tap into that market. Another big recruiting area is Jaspar and Newton. It's good to see Dodge at least reaching into those areas.

Smitty · January 9, 2007

Dez Bryant: 4 STAR WR - 6'1 195 4.5 (listing LSU, Nebraska, Oklahoma State, Texas Tech and others)
If we have no shot at the WR, so be it...at least Dodge is recruiting him. Never know, with his system, we might be able to land a WR of that caliber.

Amen! At least we're trying!

Thanks for the information.

MeanGreenZen · January 9, 2007

We should be all over some of these non-qualifiers and late qualifiers. Jonas Buckles was a non-qualifier and Cody Spencer was a late qualifier. This is an area where UNT should take some risks that bigger programs wouldn't take. The potential reward is huge. Of course, you can't fill a recruiting class with them. Just like you can't fill a recruiting class with a bunch of undersized, slow, overachieving high school players like Justin Padron. Cherry picking a guy like him is OK, but I'm glad to see Dodge is chasing some high upside guys who have yet to reach their ceiling, too.

DeepGreen · January 9, 2007

"bunch of undersized, slow, overachieving high school players like Justin Padron. Cherry picking a guy like him is OK, but I'm glad to see Dodge is chasing some high upside guys who have yet to reach their ceiling, too.

:blink:

MeanGreenZen · January 9, 2007

Justin Padron is undersized, slow and an overachiever. A class full of guys like that is fine for Austin College, Midwestern State or Angelo State, but to win at the Division IA level you need big, fast overachievers. Padron may be able to play at the D-1 level, but give us some stud athletes in this class, too

Will to Win · January 9, 2007

Justin Padron is undersized, slow and an overachiever. A class full of guys like that is fine for Austin College, Midwestern State or Angelo State, but to win at the Division IA level you need big, fast overachievers. Padron may be able to play at the D-1 level, but give us some stud athletes in this class, too

One thing you failed to mention is that Padron is a high character young man. It's not all about size & speed Mr. Kiper.

good_ken · January 9, 2007

Justin Padron is undersized, slow and an overachiever. A class full of guys like that is fine for Austin College, Midwestern State or Angelo State, but to win at the Division IA level you need big, fast overachievers. Padron may be able to play at the D-1 level, but give us some stud athletes in this class, too

That's what folks said about most our UNT's 2004 defense: Awasom (slow for a DE), Kennedy (undersized), Kassel (slow), Hurd (all of the above).

Someone ought to email Chris Simms and ask him what he thought about about that defense (they sacked him 7 times).

Gotta trust that our new HC knows what he's doing.

MeanGreenZen · January 9, 2007

One thing you failed to mention is that Padron is a high character young man. It's not all about size & speed Mr. Kiper.

Well, then if that's true why don't we just go over to the First Baptist Denton 12th grade boys Sunday School class and pass out all our scholarships? That's not a good idea because Size and Speed win football games. So does smarts and heart, but smarts and heart without size and speed will lose almost every time. Dodge needs to sign some size and speed.

GangGreen · January 9, 2007

Well, then if that's true why don't we just go over to the First Baptist Denton 12th grade boys Sunday School class and pass out all our scholarships? That's not a good idea because Size and Speed win football games. So does smarts and heart, but smarts and heart without size and speed will lose almost every time. Dodge needs to sign some size and speed.

Dat Nyguen's pro playing size: 5'11'' 238 lbs. I think you are jumping the gun. Dat wasn't blazing fast, but he played smart. Give the kid a chance before you even see him play.

Eagle1855 · January 9, 2007

for every one of these doug flutie, dat nyguen, etc references, there are hundreds if not thousands of undersized guys that didn't make it. Yes, you are right, it is certainly POSSIBLE this guy could be the next undersized superstar, but the odds are not in his favor. I hope he turns out to be an excellent recruit. Character, will, etc are all important components- but you still need speed and size to compete with the big boys.

And while its great we had a lot of guys who far-exceeded anyones expectations in the Dickey years, there were plenty more that were mediocre, and it didn't really "cut it" the last 2 years when our competition improved.

Quoner · January 9, 2007

Well, then if that's true why don't we just go over to the First Baptist Denton 12th grade boys Sunday School class and pass out all our scholarships? That's not a good idea because Size and Speed win football games. So does smarts and heart, but smarts and heart without size and speed will lose almost every time. Dodge needs to sign some size and speed.

Why is everyone attacking a guy for making this point?

Yeah he was a jerk about how he said it and probably shouldn't dimiss a recruit without having ever seen him play, but more size and speed is not a bad thing.

Green Mean · January 9, 2007

for every one of these doug flutie, dat nyguen, etc references, there are hundreds if not thousands of undersized guys that didn't make it. Yes, you are right, it is certainly POSSIBLE this guy could be the next undersized superstar, but the odds are not in his favor. I hope he turns out to be an excellent recruit. Character, will, etc are all important components- but you still need speed and size to compete with the big boys.
And while its great we had a lot of guys who far-exceeded anyones expectations in the Dickey years, there were plenty more that were mediocre, and it didn't really "cut it" the last 2 years when our competition improved.

I dont think TD has a lot of options right now recruiting. Sure he's a popular coach with a lot of connections and influence in the hs community will facilitate NT recruiting in fb but its still NT football in the sunbelt conference with a stadium worse than several big hs stadiums. Not to mention the last two years in the sunbelt conference which is the worst div 1a we have gone 5-17. Not much we have to offer right now guys. Thoughts?

GrandGreen · January 9, 2007

We should be all over some of these non-qualifiers and late qualifiers. Jonas Buckles was a non-qualifier and Cody Spencer was a late qualifier. This is an area where UNT should take some risks that bigger programs wouldn't take. The potential reward is huge. Of course, you can't fill a recruiting class with them. Just like you can't fill a recruiting class with a bunch of undersized, slow, overachieving high school players like Justin Padron. Cherry picking a guy like him is OK, but I'm glad to see Dodge is chasing some high upside guys who have yet to reach their ceiling, too.

I am not sure how a player can overachieve. College recruiting is far from a science and the further you stray from the players identified at the very top of every one's recruiting lists the more difficult and risky identifying those that will excel in the college game becomes. I agree there are definitely players with academic issues that are worth the risk. However, if you look at NT's recent history you are going to find many more failures than successes when taking players with academic problems. As far as high school overachievers that was the consensus label for Booger Kennedy and the Mighty Quinn, and they turned out to be pretty good ball players.

Quoner · January 9, 2007

I dont think TD has a lot of options right now recruiting. Sure he's a popular coach with a lot of connections and influence in the hs community will facilitate NT recruiting in fb but its still NT football in the sunbelt conference with a stadium worse than several big hs stadiums. Not to mention the last two years in the sunbelt conference which is the worst div 1a we have gone 5-17. Not much we have to offer right now guys. Thoughts?

SHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH - stop making sense.

Todd Dodge built me a car out of a hat once. Of course he can land 4 star recruits and revive a program in 1 month.

MeanGreenZen · January 9, 2007

There are outstanding, overachieving 5-foot-10 linebackers on almost every high school team in the state of Texas. Very, very, very few of them turn into Mike Singletary, Zach Thomas or Sam Mills. Instead of signing Padron, why didn’t Dodge just buy a lottery ticket? Same odds. (Just kidding)

The Justin Padron/Chris Hurd comparisons are not legit. Hurd was every bit of 6-foot-1 or 6-foot-2 and was as thick as an oak tree. Padron is really only about 5-10.

A kid like Padron who was coached by Todd Dodge in high school is probably already as good now as he will be as a senior in college. That may be good enough to be All-Sun-Belt, who knows?

I still like Padron at North Texas because he is hard working, a good leader, he’ll probably graduate, he can be a good liaison between Dodge and the team and he helps establish a Southlake pipeline. It’s fine to sign one or two kids like Padron in the class, but you also need some kids with higher upsides, who haven’t come close to realizing their potential physically yet.

UNTLifer · January 9, 2007

Well, then if that's true why don't we just go over to the First Baptist Denton 12th grade boys Sunday School class and pass out all our scholarships? That's not a good idea because Size and Speed win football games. So does smarts and heart, but smarts and heart without size and speed will lose almost every time. Dodge needs to sign some size and speed.

I will trust Coach Dodge, who has had Padron in his system for the last 5 or 6 years and watched him develop, knows first hand his strengths and weaknesses, and has watched him lead his defense for the last two years, over an insurance salesman that may or may not have seen Padron play. You don't rack up the kind of stats Justin has without having considerable talent.

Quoner · January 9, 2007

There are outstanding, overachieving 5-foot-10 linebackers on almost every high school team in the state of Texas. Very, very, very few of them turn into Mike Singletary, Zach Thomas or Sam Mills. Instead of signing Padron, why didn’t Dodge just buy a lottery ticket? Same odds. (Just kidding)
The Justin Padron/Chris Hurd comparisons are not legit. Hurd was every bit of 6-foot-1 or 6-foot-2 and was as thick as an oak tree. Padron is really only about 5-10.
A kid like Padron who was coached by Todd Dodge in high school is probably already as good now as he will be as a senior in college. That may be good enough to be All-Sun-Belt, who knows?
I still like Padron at North Texas because he is hard working, a good leader, he’ll probably graduate, he can be a good liaison between Dodge and the team and he helps establish a Southlake pipeline. It’s fine to sign one or two kids like Padron in the class, but you also need some kids with higher upsides, who haven’t come close to realizing their potential physically yet.

If every team has 5'10 overachieving linebacker, perhaps you are misusing the term overachieve?

To say the kid has reached his ceiling is ludicrous - he is about to see a faster game against better competition and learn from them. The one thing I posted and saw from watching the Southlake/Allen game in person was how well the linebackers and players played against cut backs, options, and other gap control and discipline-bending plays. Why bash a kid who coems in with fundamentals and a desire to be here. Quit digging for reasons to bitch - unless you enjoy stirring things up, which I firmly disagree with....morally...

GangGreen · January 9, 2007

Undersized LB's for UT:

R. Babino 5'11" 230

J. Campbell 6'2" 220

A. Cobb 6'0" 205

S. Derry 6'3" 220

D. Earnest 6'3" 217

D. Kelson 6'2" 215

R. Killebrew 6'3" 230

C. Kugler 6'2" 220

When you consider that these guys have had the benefit of at least a year or so in college under diet and conditioning training, I really don't see a difference as far as size goes.

PerryG2480 · January 9, 2007

http://www.5atexasfootball.com/forum/vB/sh...ead.php?t=14410

Thread on Dez Bryant. Sounds like we have a very slim shot at him, but people are saying that he is going to at least visit NT.

Stan R · January 9, 2007

If he is actually taking an official visit that is HUGE!!! If we land him it would be monumental... Fingers crossed. Sell the dodge, dodge! Don't forget the rust undercoat treatment.

OldTimer · January 9, 2007

A normally reliable poster over on 5ATexasFootball.com is reporting that Dodge has three Lufkin Panthers in his sites:
Dez Bryant: 4 STAR WR - 6'1 195 4.5 (listing LSU, Nebraska, Oklahoma State, Texas Tech and others)
A. J. Penson: 2 STAR ILB - 6'1 215 (listing Houston, Iowa State, Nebraska, UTEP, and Texas A&M)
Ralph Thomas: 2 STAR CB - 5'9 180 (listing only Rice right now)
Again, just a rumor right now...but the poster over there has been pretty accurate on things in the past. If we have no shot at the WR, so be it...at least Dodge is recruiting him. Never know, with his system, we might be able to land a WR of that caliber.
http://www.5atexasfootball.com/forum/vB/sh...4438&page=4

I don't think we have a chance on Dez Byrant...he has visited A&M and plans to visit LSU, OK St TT in January. I hope he does visit NT and if so NT should take a chance on him grade wise...I just get the idea he thinks too highly of himself. Hope I am wrong.

Ralph Thomas is a baseball STAR he has been invited to the US Jr. Olympic baseball team in Sept, he has baseball offers from AZ ST, Ark, Miami and Rice for baseball. He did mention he would like to play both...but we don't have baseball

It just sounds like Outlaw is trying to help TD and I hope he succeeds.