'15 OL Clayton Woods (Highland Park)

BillySee58 · April 16, 2014

6'3" 280 lb offensive lineman. Plays center for Highland Park, and that is his most likely position in college, although he could project to guard spot as well. Not a brand new offer, and I think he's been at practice during the spring. 1st-team all district in 10-4A last year. Also holds a UTSA offer.

Highlights:

http://www.hudl.com/athlete/828487/highlights/90976382

http://sports.yahoo.com/ohiostate/football/recruiting/player-Clayton-Woods-158690

http://247sports.com/Player/Clayton-Woods-52115

http://recruiting.scout.com/a.z?s=73&p=8&c=1&nid=7565975

BillySee58 · April 29, 2014

Picked up a New Mexico offer.

ntmeangreen11 · June 27, 2014

Commits to UTSA

BillySee58 · June 27, 2014

That one hurts a little bit. Fortunately we still have some good interior linemen and centers left on our board, but I was really hoping we could pull this kid.

Harry · June 27, 2014

It hurts if his UNT offer was still valid. That unfortunately we don't and may not ever know. He's a good pickup for UTSA nevertheless.

GMG24 · June 28, 2014

Womp womp

Cooley · June 28, 2014

UNT football recruiting has been painful to follow the last few years. Brand new stadium, a more regional conference and more money thrown at a coaching staff than at any other time in the program's history. I expected better.

GrayEagle · June 28, 2014

I'm afraid that his offer wasn't valid until several above him accepted elsewhere. I would have rated him fifth or sixth among the centers that we are recruiting. Of course, two of those, Tyler Moore and Erik McCoy, are extremely remote possibilities but I like three others ahead of Woods. I like either Creighton Barr or Beau Hott (or even both depending on how Avery Fortenberry projects) and I think that Rowdy Clark may have a lot of upside plus he's a Denton boy.

Woods would have been a good one but he obviously didn't want to take the chance of waiting to see how that position develops.

Edited June 28, 2014 by GrayEagle

UNT90 · June 28, 2014

UNT football recruiting has been painful to follow the last few years. Brand new stadium, a more regional conference and more money thrown at a coaching staff than at any other time in the program's history. I expected better.

Hopefully Tee Goree and some others from last year's class, and Sam Miller from this year's class indicate a turn in our recruiting fortune.

It is frustrating that we sit at 3 commits at this point in the recruiting cycle. It is also frustrating that we still are having a hard time recruiting defensive linemen.

But it all comes down to winning football ames, and Mac won 9 of them last year. This year will tell us whether that was a one year surge or if Mac has developed players that the recruiting services considered under talented.

Ben Gooding · June 28, 2014

Yeah, I'm with you 90. The only optimistic response I have is that a lot of the guys we have offered said they were going to make a decision before their senior season starts. So we might get a solid handful of guys committing in mid-late August and that will be a positive boost on the recruiting trail to start the football season.

Also, do we know for a fact that that Mr. Woods' offer was pulled or that we backed off on going after him? Or are we just saying that to feel better about ourselves bc he committed to utsa? Honest question. Nevertheless, GMG.

correcamino · June 28, 2014

Yeah, don't kid yourselves. Big schools make non-commitable "offers"...neither of us can do that.

According to Woods himself he was deciding between UTSA and UNT (Texas State was out of the running) and went with us.

Ben Gooding · June 29, 2014

If I wanted an uninformed ignorant comment I would have asked you. Otherwise, get on outta here.

correcamino · June 30, 2014

How is it uninformed if it's coming from the horse's mouth? lol

UTSA beat you out for a recruit...again. You're taking it out on the wrong guy.

greenit · June 30, 2014

He probably thinks he has a better chance to see the field at UTSA. From what I have seen of him, compared to our depth, he is probably right. I don't see him cracking the lineup here unless he really improves.

GMG24 · June 30, 2014

This Corre guy is loving this "win" in recruiting. I'll take a Bowl win but thats just me.

UNTLifer · July 1, 2014

Again, we go from complaining about signing 2 star recruits one year to complaining about losing out on a 2 star recruit the next. I guess there is no relief from the gnashing of teeth on this board. Let's wait until signing day to see how all of this shakes out.

BillySee58 · July 2, 2014

Again, we go from complaining about signing 2 star recruits one year to complaining about losing out on a 2 star recruit the next. I guess there is no relief from the gnashing of teeth on this board. Let's wait until signing day to see how all of this shakes out.

Has nothing to do with recruiting service rankings and everything to do with how we're stacking up in recruiting against other schools. Particularly in head-to-head battles for kids.

UNT90 · July 2, 2014

Has nothing to do with recruiting service rankings and everything to do with how we're stacking up in recruiting against other schools. Particularly in head-to-head battles for kids.

And this is what is concerning.

correcamino · July 2, 2014

He probably thinks he has a better chance to see the field at UTSA. From what I have seen of him, compared to our depth, he is probably right. I don't see him cracking the lineup here unless he really improves.

Nah. From the horse's mouth, per our Rivals site he liked the excitement surrounding UTSA (in his opinion unrivaled by the other schools that offered him) and feels like big things are coming--things that he wants to be a part of.

This Corre guy is loving this "win" in recruiting. I'll take a Bowl win but thats just me.

People were saying his offer probably wasn't on the table anymore. I just came in to say it was.

You can't really play that card either since we've had plenty of on the field success as well, including the head to head win at your place. Stop being so salty.

UNTLifer · July 2, 2014

And he and Marks were two of our lower rated OL recruits is all I am saying.

Edited July 2, 2014 by UNTLifer

BillySee58 · July 2, 2014

And he and Marks were two of our lower rated OL recruits is all I am saying.

Unrated on rivals just means they haven't evaluated him yet. Not that he's a 0-star or something. As for Woods, he is a 3-star on scout.

Other than Larry Hughes, we really don't have a realistic shot at getting our higher rated o-line targets. Erik McCoy (ok state & Kansas), Connor Williams (OU & Texas), Tyler Moore (Texas), Josh Jones (ok state & TCU), and Madison Akamnonu (OU & Texas) all have pretty big time offers and will be extremely difficult to land. Not to mention those who have already committed to bigger programs.

Those are all of our more highly rated and recruited offensive line targets. Marks and Woods would've been good gets because of their offer lists, not their rankings. Of our remaining o-line targets we have 5 who hold offers from other schools.

Our coaches are good evaluators and developers, but it's hard to reach your potential as a program when you aren't getting the kids you want from other schools, especially in your conference. I think we'll be fine, but just letting you know why these losses in recruiting matter and that it has little to nothing to do with the star ratings.

Edited July 2, 2014 by BillySee58

GMG24 · July 2, 2014

I can and I will... Head to head? +1 for you. Bowl champions? +1 playing a bowl game +1. That extra 2-3 weeks of practice will show with the younger classes. That's where player development will show IMO.

Edited July 2, 2014 by GMG24

UNTLifer · July 3, 2014

Unrated on rivals just means they haven't evaluated him yet. Not that he's a 0-star or something. As for Woods, he is a 3-star on scout.
Other than Larry Hughes, we really don't have a realistic shot at getting our higher rated o-line targets. Erik McCoy (ok state & Kansas), Connor Williams (OU & Texas), Tyler Moore (Texas), Josh Jones (ok state & TCU), and Madison Akamnonu (OU & Texas) all have pretty big time offers and will be extremely difficult to land. Not to mention those who have already committed to bigger programs.
Those are all of our more highly rated and recruited offensive line targets. Marks and Woods would've been good gets because of their offer lists, not their rankings. Of our remaining o-line targets we have 5 who hold offers from other schools.
Our coaches are good evaluators and developers, but it's hard to reach your potential as a program when you aren't getting the kids you want from other schools, especially in your conference. I think we'll be fine, but just letting you know why these losses in recruiting matter and that it has little to nothing to do with the star ratings.

Fair enough, but I still find it amusing that our fans complain about us landing 2 star recruits and how we need to really go after the 3 star + players, and then the same complain about losing out on the same 2 star players just one year later. My old math says we have 7 months left to signing day, and much can happen between now and then.

GrayEagle · July 3, 2014

I know that each of us has our favorites but that doesn't mean that they are the highest ranked by either websites or our own staff. If we 'lose' a battle for a recruit it can often mean that we were not willing to sacrifice one of our limited offers simply to compete with another school. I have to trust that our staff not only knows the talent that best fits their needs but also the possibility of a higher-ranked talent falling to them.

Billy, I agree that the athletes that you named are unlikely to choose us when it comes commitment time. But, there are about fifteen more offensive linemen still left on our board plus one three-star that is very interested in us but as far as I know has not been offered. Alphabetically they are:

Creighton Barr C

Abdul Beechum G

Shane Block T

Rowdy Clark C

Evan Curl T

Riley Daniel T

Aaron Garza G

Joseph Gonzales T

Matt Hiter T

Beau Hott C

Chet Munden T

Zach Pare T

Wyatt Santos G

Judd Terry G

Broderick Washington G

Cody Wheeler G

Bryce Wilds T

The list doesn't include Larry Hughes, who I think that we have a good chance to get unless he gets one particular offer. Santos is the 3* that we've yet to offer but has indicated an interest in us.

In the case of Marks, I don't feel as if we lost a recruiting battle. Until very recently his only offers were from us and SMU and neither chose to do any arm-twisting at this time.

correcamino · July 4, 2014

I can and I will... Head to head? +1 for you. Bowl champions? +1 playing a bowl game +1. That extra 2-3 weeks of practice will show with the younger classes. That's where player development will show IMO.

Wut? Those 2-3 weeks aren't for player development, they're used to iron out the kinks before the bowl game.

And no you really can't play that card, atleast not against UTSA. We had enough wins to be eligible for a bowl game too. It's not like we didn't go bowling bc we weren't good enough or bc no bowl committee was willing to invite us.

I know that each of us has our favorites but that doesn't mean that they are the highest ranked by either websites or our own staff. If we 'lose' a battle for a recruit it can often mean that we were not willing to sacrifice one of our limited offers simply to compete with another school. I have to trust that our staff not only knows the talent that best fits their needs but also the possibility of a higher-ranked talent falling to them.

Billy, I agree that the athletes that you named are unlikely to choose us when it comes commitment time. But, there are about fifteen more offensive linemen still left on our board plus one three-star that is very interested in us but as far as I know has not been offered. Alphabetically they are:

Creighton Barr C

Abdul Beechum G

Shane Block T

Rowdy Clark C

Evan Curl T

Riley Daniel T

Aaron Garza G

Joseph Gonzales T

Matt Hiter T

Beau Hott C

Chet Munden T

Zach Pare T

Wyatt Santos G

Judd Terry G

Broderick Washington G

Cody Wheeler G

Bryce Wilds T

The list doesn't include Larry Hughes, who I think that we have a good chance to get unless he gets one particular offer. Santos is the 3* that we've yet to offer but has indicated an interest in us.

In the case of Marks, I don't feel as if we lost a recruiting battle. Until very recently his only offers were from us and SMU and neither chose to do any arm-twisting at this time.

It'd be wise on your part to stop focusing so much on stars. There are plenty of two stars out there that have better offer sheets than some three star guys.

The fact that UNT offered Woods before they offered some of the 3 stars you are raving about should tell you something about who they preferred.

Edited July 4, 2014 by correcamino