Turner Smiley commits to UNT - Mean Green Blog

[UNTLifer]

Per Rivals, Shavod didn't hold any other offers, nor did Bennet or White. In 2010, Bellazin had quite a few, Orr had multiple, Wright had one other (UTEP), Steven Ford had a couple, etc..

[MeanGreenTexan]

Per Rivals, Shavod didn't hold any other offers, nor did Bennet or White. In 2010, Bellazin had quite a few, Orr had multiple, Wright had one other (UTEP), Steven Ford had a couple, etc..

I seem to recall quite vividly awaiting Shavod's decision between us and West Virginia on signing day. I don't remember Chevy's or Kyle's situations, so I don't know.

[glick1980]

Can you provide info? I used, http://espn.go.com/c.../249/class/2013, it looked at each player that signed commitments for each of the years listed and documented what I found. Most all of the players had additional schools that they were interersted in or that were interested in them, but it does not show that they officially received an offer (except for the ones I listed). I would be happy to update the list.

I just quickly looked at a couple of players on Rivals not ESPN, but Orr and Belazin between the two of them had like 12 FBS offers. There were quite a few others as well. Rivals seems to hold onto past info pretty well.

[SilverEagle]

Glad to have this young man on board. Meanwhile I look forward to hearing about some players like this who have signed up.........

[CurveItAround]

I just quickly looked at a couple of players on Rivals not ESPN, but Orr and Belazin between the two of them had like 12 FBS offers. There were quite a few others as well. Rivals seems to hold onto past info pretty well.

Yep, it looks like a few, especially the 2 you mention had several offers per Rivals. However, even after looking at Rivals, there are not a lot with multiple offers. I will try to use Rivals and repost.

[Harry]

ESPN usually trims their recruiting info after a player is signed. As an example just go look @ Arizona's 2011 class and u will notice their top players only show the 1 offer

Just off top of my head I know Orr had 7,8 DI offers

Was that before or after his injury in his senior year?

[FirefightnRick]

http://www.hudl.com/athlete/959390/highlights/7603373

the boy seems like he can play a little football i looked up his times on rival and was a little worried about his speed i saw it was posted at 4.8 but then i watched this highlight film and that cant be the case

WELCOME aboard Mr. Smiley

4.83 in one camp and 4.79 in another.

Rick

[FirefightnRick]

"There is a 40 time floating around on the internet from a recruiting combine a few people have picked up on that is from a few years ago. Turner ran a 4.4 40 over the summer and attended one of UNT’s camps."

Link?

Rick

[FirefightnRick]

Maybe he's shaved .43 seconds off since the 2011 Under Armor combine?

It could happen.

http://combines.underarmour.com/football/athletes/11633

http://espn.go.com/college-sports/football/recruiting/player/news/_/id/135014/turner-smiley

Rick

Edited November 5, 2012 by FirefightnRick

[All About UNT]

Maybe he's shaved .43 seconds off since the 2011 Under Armor combine?

It could happen.

http://combines.unde.../athletes/11633

Rick

Turf condition wet.... just saying

[UNTLifer]

4.83 in one camp and 4.79 in another.

Rick

Click on the link from hudl and then on the left click on athletics. It lists his 40 time as 4.5 and also shows his bench and squat weights.

[cl_1_2008]

Per Rivals

2008: Desmond Brigham (ULM, Missouri), DaWaylon Cook (TCU, Utah, West Virginia), Riley Dodge (Mizzou, Rice, SMU, Texas, Tulsa), Lance Dunbar (Colorado, Oklahoma St, Virginia), Justin Edward (Ole Miss, NM State), Troy Franklin (Colorado St., Tulsa), James Hamilton (Kentucky, ULL, Rice, SMU, Tulsa, UTEP, Washington St.), Joe Hawthorne (Buffalo, ULM, UTEP), Royce Hill(Rice), Gabe Hollivay (Memphis), Alonzo Horton (Kansas St., Southern Miss), Jeremi Mathis (Tulsa), Jeremy Phillips (Army, Duke, Rice, TCU), John Shorter (Iowa St., SMU, Tulsa)

2009: Austin Fitzpatrick (FAU, ULL, New Mexico), Jamaal Jackson (Louisiana Tech), Kelvin Jackson (ULM), Daniel Mayberry (UTEP), Daniel Prior (Iowa St., LA Tech, ULM, Rice, SMU, UTEP), Ira Smith (Ole Miss, LA Tech, UAB), Tyler Washington (LA Tech, SMU, UTEP)

2010: Aaron Bellazin (Buffalo, ULM, New Mexico, San Diego St., SMU, UTEP), Ryan Downing (Northern Illinois), Steven Ford (East Carolina, Kansas St.), Antonio Johnson (ULM), Zach Orr (LA Tech, San Diego St., Tulsa, UTEP), D'Andre Wood (Louisville, Ole Miss, USF, Vanderbilt), Will Wright (UTEP), Mason Y'Barbo (Houston)

2011: Derek Akunne (Air Force, Colorado St., WKU), Cooper Jones (Air Force), Cyril Lemon (FIU, Houston, LA Tech, Mizzou, NM State, Rice), Chad Polk (Baylor), Andrew Power (Memphis, Nevada, Maryland, Tennessee, Utah St.), Chaz Sampson (Pittsburgh, Tulsa, UTEP), Kerry Swarn (Arizona, East Carolina, Iowa), Micah Thompson (Tulsa), Freddie Warner (Colorado St, Utah St), Zac Whitfield (NM St.)

Dodge had his problems, but he did a lot better job of out-recruiting other more "prominent" schools, if you will. And don't tell me he didn't recruit linemen because 5 of our 6 offensive linemen(the teams biggest strength) that play were Dodge recruits, and 6 of our 8 defensive linemen that play were Dodge recruits.

Edited November 6, 2012 by cl_1_2008

[UNT90]

Per Rivals

2008: Desmond Brigham (ULM, Missouri), DaWaylon Cook (TCU, Utah, West Virginia), Riley Dodge (Mizzou, Rice, SMU, Texas, Tulsa), Lance Dunbar (Colorado, Oklahoma St, Virginia), Justin Edward (Ole Miss, NM State), Troy Franklin (Colorado St., Tulsa), James Hamilton (Kentucky, ULL, Rice, SMU, Tulsa, UTEP, Washington St.), Joe Hawthorne (Buffalo, ULM, UTEP), Royce Hill(Rice), Gabe Hollivay (Memphis), Alonzo Horton (Kansas St., Southern Miss), Jeremi Mathis (Tulsa), Jeremy Phillips (Army, Duke, Rice, TCU), John Shorter (Iowa St., SMU, Tulsa)

2009: Austin Fitzpatrick (FAU, ULL, New Mexico), Jamaal Jackson (Louisiana Tech), Kelvin Jackson (ULM), Daniel Mayberry (UTEP), Daniel Prior (Iowa St., LA Tech, ULM, Rice, SMU, UTEP), Ira Smith (Ole Miss, LA Tech, UAB), Tyler Washington (LA Tech, SMU, UTEP)

2010: Aaron Bellazin (Buffalo, ULM, New Mexico, San Diego St., SMU, UTEP), Ryan Downing (Northern Illinois), Steven Ford (East Carolina, Kansas St.), Antonio Johnson (ULM), Zach Orr (LA Tech, San Diego St., Tulsa, UTEP), D'Andre Wood (Louisville, Ole Miss, USF, Vanderbilt), Will Wright (UTEP), Mason Y'Barbo (Houston)

2011: Derek Akunne (Air Force, Colorado St., WKU), Cooper Jones (Air Force), Cyril Lemon (FIU, Houston, LA Tech, Mizzou, NM State, Rice), Chad Polk (Baylor), Andrew Power (Memphis, Nevada, Maryland, Tennessee, Utah St.), Chaz Sampson (Pittsburgh, Tulsa, UTEP), Kerry Swarn (Arizona, East Carolina, Iowa), Micah Thompson (Tulsa), Freddie Warner (Colorado St, Utah St), Zac Whitfield (NM St.)

Dodge had his problems, but he did a lot better job of out-recruiting other more "prominent" schools, if you will. And don't tell me he didn't recruit linemen because 5 of our 6 offensive linemen(the teams biggest strength) that play were Dodge recruits, and 6 of our 8 defensive linemen that play were Dodge recruits.

It is all about player development. An 18 year old is not going to be the same player, body type, mentality as a red-shirt 22 year old senior.

It is what you make of the talent you recruit. TCU, Boise St., Houston, etc... in the recent past prove this completely.

Can DMac develop talent? Jury is still out. Is it concerning that none has been developed in key spots on this team the past 2 years? Of course it is.

You are either blind or covering your eyes if you can't see that.

[cl_1_2008]

It is all about player development. An 18 year old is not going to be the same player, body type, mentality as a red-shirt 22 year old senior.

It is what you make of the talent you recruit. TCU, Boise St., Houston, etc... in the recent past prove this completely.

Can DMac develop talent? Jury is still out. Is it concerning that none has been developed in key spots on this team the past 2 years? Of course it is.

You are either blind or covering your eyes if you can't see that.

Of course talent development is key, but if you're insinuating that our freshman aren't playing because they need to develop, I'd argue that plenty of teams have a lot of true freshmen and sophomores not only playing, but playing well, and if Dodge's recruits are so bad, then why haven't they been replaced with Mac's new and improved recruits? I think Mac's recruiting is a bigger problem than it's being made out to be. Time will tell though.

[UNT90]

Of course talent development is key, but if you're insinuating that our freshman aren't playing because they need to develop, I'd argue that plenty of teams have a lot of true freshmen and sophomores not only playing, but playing well, and if Dodge's recruits are so bad, then why haven't they been replaced with Mac's new and improved recruits? I think Mac's recruiting is a bigger problem than it's being made out to be. Time will tell though.

No, I was agreeing with you. I think 2 of the Freshmen WR recruits had season-ending injuries and are redshirting. I think Mac realizes that we are woefully shorrt on talent in a lot of areas. To be fair, Mac has this thing set up to have many of his recruits ready to challenge for positions in Spring practice next year (lots of redshirt freshmen and Sophs). .

But yes, recruiting concerns me greatly. Haven't seen the bump that the stadium and the new conference were supposed to bring. Waiting anxiously.

[CurveItAround]

Ok, I jumped the gun earlier by trusting ESPN's recruiting info and some people alertly point out the issue with the ESPN site for 2011 and earlier data. It does look like Dodge was able to win a few recruiting battles. Unfortunately, there is only 1 player left on the roster from 2009 where we won a recruiting battle. There are 5 left from the 2010 class. Keep in mind this is just showing players that we signed that had other offers available to them. The list in no way is meant to take anything away from players on the roster that did not receive other offers or those that walked on. Some of those players have proven to be very valuable contributors, but it is extremely difficult to continually find diamonds in the rough and develop them into key contributors. It can be done, but it would seemingly reduce your odds of being successful in the long run.

The idea here is that as we are able to sign more players that receive multiple offers, that we are essentially signing higher rated players, which you would hope eventually results in improved performance on the field. It looks like Coach Mac is able to win a comparable number of recruiting battles (it still needs to improve). The proof will be in whether or not he can keep these players in the program in their 3rd/4th/5th years.

2009 (8) – *Shavod Atkinsin (SHSU), *Austin Fitzpatrick (FAU, ULL, New Mexico), *Jamaal Jackson (LaTech), *Kelvin Jackson (ULM), *Daniel Mayberry (UTEP), Daniel Prior (Iowa St, LaTech, ULM, Rice, smoo, UTEP), *Ira Smith (LaTech, Ole Miss, UAB), *Tyler Washington (LaTech, smoo, UTEP)

2010 (9) – Aaron Bellazin (Buffalo, ULM, New Mexico, SDSU, smoo, SFA, UTEP), *Ryan Downing (Northern Illinois), *Steven Ford (ECU, KState), Antonio Johnson (ULM), *D’Leon McCord (Western Carolina), Zach Orr (LaTech, SDSU, Tulsa, UTEP), *D’Andre Wood (Louisville, Ole Miss, South Florida, Vanderbilt), Will Wright (UTEP), Mason Y’Barbo (Houston, Northwestern St)

2011 (13) – Derek Akunne (Air Force, Colorado St, WKU), *Jamone Greer (Cent Ark, Utah St), Cooper Jones (Air Force, SFA), Cyril Lemon (FIU, Houston, LaTech, Mizzou, NMSU, Rice), Austin Orr (Montana St, NMSU, TxSt), Brent Osborn (Murray St, Tenn-Martin), Chad Polk (Baylor, SHSU), Andrew Power (Memphis, Nevada, Tennessee, Utah St), Chaz Sampson (Pitt, Tulsa, UTEP), *Kerry Swarn (Arizona, Iowa, ECU), Micah Thompson (Tulsa), Freddie Warner (Col St, Utah St), Zach Whitfield (NMSU)

2012 (9) – David Busby (Navy, Utah), Malik Dilonga (ULM), Boone Feldt (Houston, LaTech, TxSt), Brad Horton (Air Force, Army, ULM), DQ Johnson (Akron), Xavier Kelly (Ball St, Florida A&M, Memphis, MTSU, Wash St, West Mich), Ryan Rentfro (ULM), Nick Schrapps (Air Force), Connor Trussell (New Mexico)

2013 (5) - Dajon Williams (Montana), Cody Nelson (LaTech), Turner Smiley (Navy), Fred Scott (TxSt), John Schilleci (Wash St), hopefully more to come!

Edited November 6, 2012 by CurveItAround

[GrandGreen]

Not sure what the debate is, recruiting has been bad to horrible including the last three years of Dickey, all but one Dodge year, and has not significantly improved on paper by McCarney. Does anyone think that list of other offers to NT signees is anything but pathetic? When a class has less than a handful of players with multiple fb division offers, and those generally lower tier teams; recruiting is not going well.

NT's best hope is that McCarney and staff are picking the best players from the lightly recruited but there is little evidence thus far that they are any better at identifying those players than prior staffs.

[BillySee58]

Not sure what the debate is, recruiting has been bad to horrible including the last three years of Dickey, all but one Dodge year, and has not significantly improved on paper by McCarney. Does anyone think that list of other offers to NT signees is anything but pathetic? When a class has less than a handful of players with multiple fb division offers, and those generally lower tier teams; recruiting is not going well.

NT's best hope is that McCarney and staff are picking the best players from the lightly recruited but there is little evidence thus far that they are any better at identifying those players than prior staffs.

Exactly. That article by brett vito about how it is concerning that an unrecruited walk-on (Darnell Smith) is out performing schloarship players, it wasn't that surprising to me. Shoot, even Brelan Chancellor was offered only by us. What if we hadn't and he walked on here anyways? Would we be going crazy over his production?

It shouldn't be that surprising when a still talented walk-on who wants it more can beat out some guys who only had a couple other offers or, much less, we were the only school that recruited him.

[glick1980]

Of course talent development is key, but if you're insinuating that our freshman aren't playing because they need to develop, I'd argue that plenty of teams have a lot of true freshmen and sophomores not only playing, but playing well, and if Dodge's recruits are so bad, then why haven't they been replaced with Mac's new and improved recruits? I think Mac's recruiting is a bigger problem than it's being made out to be. Time will tell though.

The stadium was supposed to help with recruiting, but it doesn't look like it has. Moving to CUSA was supposed to help too, but it doesn't look like it has.

[glick1980]

Not sure what the debate is, recruiting has been bad to horrible including the last three years of Dickey, all but one Dodge year, and has not significantly improved on paper by McCarney. Does anyone think that list of other offers to NT signees is anything but pathetic? When a class has less than a handful of players with multiple fb division offers, and those generally lower tier teams; recruiting is not going well.

NT's best hope is that McCarney and staff are picking the best players from the lightly recruited but there is little evidence thus far that they are any better at identifying those players than prior staffs.

I think one thing Mac is doing is recruiting guys with FBS frames and speed, now whether or not they can play football is another matter.

[UNTLifer]

Can DMac develop talent? Jury is still out. Is it concerning that none has been developed in key spots on this team the past 2 years? Of course it is.

You are either blind or covering your eyes if you can't see that.

Considering DMac's recruits are either Sophmores, RS Freshmen or true Freshmen, I think it is way to early to grade his recruits. Then again, Jimmerson, Lemon, Akunne, Whitfield, Davis and Busby have all been major contributors too early in their careers.

[GrandGreen]

I think one thing Mac is doing is recruiting guys with FBS frames and speed, now whether or not they can play football is another matter.

I think you are right that is exactly what he is doing, however getting a player with a fb division frame and speed doesn't guarantee they can play football. Would he have recruited Booger hardly anyone else did because he was wider than tall? Likewise that whole recruiting class which is easily the best NT has had in decades was made up of "toos", too short, too slow, too academically challenged, etc. Kennedy: too short and fat, Brewer; too little, Gardner; too slow; Carey; too thin, add Buckles and Spencer which had academic issues and Hall who no one else wanted at QB.

There are different philosophies about recruiting from the rear. Concentrate on the toos, recruits that can play but don't fit the football powers' parameters, or get players with the physical attributes and hope you can develop them to be better football players. Obviously all lower tier teams do a little of both, but I think McCarney is primarily going for the physical tangibles this year.

Edited November 8, 2012 by GrandGreen

[H-towngreen]

I think you are right that is exactly what he is doing, however getting a player with a fb division frame and speed doesn't guarantee they can play football. Would he have recruited Booger hardly anyone else did because he was wider than tall? Likewise that whole recruiting class which is easily the best NT has had in decades was made up of "toos", too short, too slow, too academically challenged, etc. Kennedy: too short and fat, Brewer; too little, Gardner; too slow; Carey; too thin, add Buckles and Spencer which had academic issues and Hall who no one else wanted at QB.

There are different philosophies about recruiting from the rear. Concentrate on the toos, recruits that can play but don't fix the football powers' parameters, or get players with the physical attributes and hope you can develop them to be better football players. Obviously all lower tier teams do a little of both, but I think McCarney is primarily going for the physical tangibles this year.

That class of 2000 was one of the best classes that NT has had in many many years, both in retrospect and at the time. I don't recall the exact number but that class had something like 5 Texas top 100 players in it.

[UNT90]

Considering DMac's recruits are either Sophmores, RS Freshmen or true Freshmen, I think it is way to early to grade his recruits. Then again, Jimmerson, Lemon, Akunne, Whitfield, Davis and Busby have all been major contributors too early in their careers.

I agree that it is too early. Next year will tell the tale. I know we are young, but it does concern me that the talent level won' be there when we hit CUSA next year.

[Harry]

I agree that it is too early. Next year will tell the tale. I know we are young, but it does concern me that the talent level won' be there when we hit CUSA next year.

A lot will depend on the draw that we get from C-USA especially the East schools that we get. USM might be a win, ECU not so much...