Recruiting

MCMLXXX · December 3, 2007

It seems to me that more of our Junior College recruits have historically been busts than successess. I would rather avoid the JC rout and recruit HS athletes and make extensive use of redshirting even if the payoff is not immediate. Anyone disagree?

Cooley · December 3, 2007

Not disagreeing with the failures of our Juco's, but when we consider the fact that we have been one of the worse teams in the country the last few years, I'd say that a great number of our HS kids have been bust as well. Keep in mind that you still have to put 22 kids out there. (So despite many getting PT, they still aren't good enough to get us from the bottom) A good indicator is whether they could start for most mid-majors. I don't think so!

I would not stop recruiting Juco's. We just need to do a better job screening them as well as HS kids! We remain at the bottom because it seems that we always appear content with our returning starters and only recruit to replace the holes left by our seniors.

H-towngreen · December 3, 2007

We need juco help this year, it's not something you like to depend on, but we do need it. Sometimes it just works out where you don't have a quality replacement, an have to go the juco route. It's alot easier to expect a juco to come in a survive rather an unproven high schooler. I would like to see TD use 3-4 of the remaining ships on juco. I don't think that number is too terribly, especially if you can get some jucos who come in as sophmores rather than juniors. The spots that I think NT could use some JUCO help are OL, DE, S, and CB. If we could land a juco who could come in and start that would solve alot of problems.

GreenAlums · December 3, 2007

I think we have to look at JUCOs for next year. I agree with eariler posts about screening better. We have got to find a JUCO player that can work in the schemes TD and group (OK not sure about defense) have developed so they can be instant impact. Grades are of concern with a JUCO player too. I don't exactly know how UNT has faired in that arena but if they can be an instant impact player for us now, somebody may have passed on them as a Freshman recruit because of grades or worse - criminal concerns. Get 'em but screen 'em!

MeanGreenZen · December 3, 2007

Kevin Galbreath, Darrell Daniels, Michael Pruitt, Aaron Weathers... some of our best players in recent years have been JUCOs. We should not build the program around JUCOs, but we should be smart and use them to fill immediate holes. We badly need some JUCO defensive linemen in this upcoming recruiting class.

MeanGreenBuzz · December 3, 2007

Kevin Galbreath, Darrell Daniels, Michael Pruitt, Aaron Weathers... some of our best players in recent years have been JUCOs. We should not build the program around JUCOs, but we should be smart and use them to fill immediate holes. We badly need some JUCO defensive linemen in this upcoming recruiting class.

I agree. Also, see Troy for good use of JUCO players...

H-towngreen · December 3, 2007

We badly need some JUCO defensive linemen in this upcoming recruiting class.

Not true, we only need to fill the D--end spot left by Chapman.

Cooley · December 4, 2007

Not true, we only need to fill the D--end spot left by Chapman.

Were you at the Navy game?

H-towngreen · December 4, 2007

Were you at the Navy game?

Stopping an option attack relys on the LB's and CB. The D-line is basically just supposed to suck up blockers. Gilmore performed well and got better as the weeks went on. We are losing 1 D-tackle, but I believe we have enough options to replace him. Replacing Chapman should be our only concern on the line.

nautique · December 4, 2007

I see Kyle Russo being a very similar player to Chapman. I would to see more rotation and more use of depth on defense next season where its available.

Dodge2007 · December 4, 2007

Interesting that out of 12 verbal commits for Texas Tech for 2008, that 5 our JC recruits.

UNT must get five or 6 impact players on defense out of JC or HS that are ready to go. That will be a tough task. Not sure what are connections to the JC coaching pipeline will be?

Cooley · December 4, 2007

Stopping an option attack relys on the LB's and CB. The D-line is basically just supposed to suck up blockers. Gilmore performed well and got better as the weeks went on. We are losing 1 D-tackle, but I believe we have enough options to replace him. Replacing Chapman should be our only concern on the line.

Everything begins and ends with the guys up front. (Offensively & Defensively) A good defensive line would disrupt or take away the first option in the backfield; allowing LB's & DB's to focus on the QB and/or trailing back. I only pointed out the Navy game because it was clearly our worse performance against the run. Quite frankly, our defensive front sucked most of the year. Our DB's were equally weak, but you have to ask your guys up front to put more pressure on the QB to help inexperienced DB's out. Hey, I don't mean to bash our guys. They did put out max effort every game. Are they talented enough to dominate an opponent? No!

I really do like Gilmore's size & quickness as D1 DE. If he continues to work hard in the off seasons, he could be a nice undrafted free agent possibility. The other guys had some moments throughout the year but they would be decent backups behind a great line. No disrespect H-towngreen but why should we be satisfied with returning members of the 119th ranked defense in the country? Sure, we need to replace Chapman but that would mean that we will still role out the same defensive front as this past year. Imagine how strong this team would become if these guys were backups to better players?

There are a lot of holes (needs) on this team. I understand your point that maybe we should not devote many more scholarships to the front. I just feel that championships are won on defense, in which you must have a great Dline.

H-towngreen · December 4, 2007

I really do like Gilmore's size & quickness as D1 DE. If he continues to work hard in the off seasons, he could be a nice undrafted free agent possibility. The other guys had some moments throughout the year but they would be decent backups behind a great line. No disrespect H-towngreen but why should we be satisfied with returning members of the 119th ranked defense in the country? Sure, we need to replace Chapman but that would mean that we will still role out the same defensive front as this past year. Imagine how strong this team would become if these guys were backups to better players?

So tell me what your plan is to fill in all 11 spots since you don't want any defensive players from this years team? That should be fun to hear. I'm sorry but you can't just replace an entire defense.

Talking about the D-line. I stated we need to fill Chapmans spot with a JUCO. We both agree that Gilmore is getting much better and may have a chance at All-Belt honors at some point. So that leaves the D-tackles where we lose 1 of 2 starters . I felt as though our play at DT played well throughout the year and continued to improve. Add in all the youngsters(Ross, DeSotto, Scroggins, Franklin) and I think that we should be fine at that position. So tell me what your plan is to improve the defensive players this off-season?