Looking Aroudn The State ( Football Recruiting )

[MeanGreen61]

http://meangreenblog.dentonrc.com/

[The Fake Lonnie Finch]

None of this worries me as much as others. We're not, nor were we ever going head-to-head with Texas or anyone from the Big 12...or any other bigger conference.

And, yes, I realize some kids say they have offers from this school or that. But, having known several people who played college ball and other sports, words at this point in the game are just words. I've seen guys with shoeboxes full of letters from schools and coaches.

We are what we are. If every other Sun Belt team had 20 commitments at this point and we had zero, I'd worry. Our clout at this point in the game is that same as it was before Todd Dodge arrived - even though many here believed Dodge had some magic recruiting dust to sprinkle over the landscape and change it.

No matter what your conference - and particularly in the Belt - the only magic dust is winning. And, we will win this year. And, I think we will win it all.

But, even if I'm right and we do win the Belt, I still don't think we'll be up there with Texas, OU, Texas A&M, etc. with half a dozen or more commitments by May 2011. It's just not going to happen that quickly.

It takes season after season after season of proving it. We're not there. The 2010 season is the first step. But, don't worry about recruiting at this point...unless UTEP or Rice or ULM or Lousiana Tech or Tulsa, etc. go on a summer tear and start garnering a bunch of commitments.

Kids are going to see that Chico Canales is a guy who they want to play for. They are going to see Gary Deloach and Mike Nelson's defense is worth playing in. But, they have to see it first.

[GrandGreen]

NT like the last two years is in about as weak a recruiting position as possible. I said this last year and got a lot of negative responses, NT should not worry about early recruiting. The level of athletes that they can get at this point early are in general not worth NT's commitment. Wait till much of the season plays out, Dodge hopefully will have turned the program around or if he has not than recruiting should be up to the new staff. In ether case, a rejuvenated Dodge program or a new staff should be able to recruit at a much higher level athlete than now.

[UNT Mean Green]

I am not worried at all about this matter. In fact, I know most on here don't like 'stealth' recruting, but at this point that's what our coaches are doing and it seems like their asking kids to keep quiet. Can you blame them? I mean almost any other school in the country can knock North Texas to a recruit while talking on the phone, sitting in the high school or living room, whatever. So, our coaches offer, tell kids to keep it hush. They do. Come early February, we're sitting here with 10 verbals or whatever that we don't even know about as a fanbase. Look at this year: Chris Bynes (WR Coffeyville CC via St. Thomas Aquinas HS in Florida), DeAndre Wood (CB New Mexico Military Institute, via North Carolina-yes Tar Heels...kid won the 5A 100 meter dash state title as a SR), Mike Miller (DE California JC who was an all region player), Jamize Olawale (TE/H Back California JC via Long Beach Poly HS). These are a few examples of kids we didn't know about who are VERY good athletes and solid recruits.

Now, going forward as we improve, get into the new stadium, start playing on TV and winning conference titles in C-USA I think our staff(s) can afford to publicize things and other schools (besides OU, Texas, aTm, OSU, Ark, etc) won't say a whole lot about it. That's where I want us to get, and by golly, we're on our way!