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SEC West: Recruiting winds shift out West
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There's a reason the SEC is annually considered the best or one of the best football leagues.
It all starts with recruiting the talent-rich South, and with signing day less than two weeks away on Feb. 6, the recruiting has been fierce as usual.
A panel of recruiting experts - Tom Luginbill, national recruiting director for Scouts Inc., Bill King, a longtime recruiting guru who has a daily Sirius satellite show on Rivals Radio, and Scott Kennedy, director of scouting for Scouts Inc. - discuss issues in the Western Division:
1. Now that Alabama coach Nick Saban has gone through a full recruiting year -- spring, summer and fall -- will he live up to his reputation as one of college football's best recruiters?
Luginbill: "Alabama is winning the state right now. They've signed more high-profile guys, and they've made real inroads within the state, especially south Alabama, where I think (previous 'Bama coach) Mike Shula and his staff really missed the mark."
King: "Saban already has a top-three nationally ranked class, and that's without (receiver) Julio Jones (of Foley, Ala., ranked as the nation's second best high school prospect by Scouts Inc.). Alabama will recruit great under Saban. He'll go get better overall athletes and football players than what Alabama has had there the past few years. This class is well-rounded. They've done well in-state, they've got three of the top five players from the state of Tennessee, and they've dipped into other states, like getting quarterback Star Jackson of Lake Worth, Fla. Saban is spreading the word pretty good."
2. Auburn has hired new offensive and defensive coordinators and will run more spread option on offense. Should the Tigers be worried by Saban's recruiting success?
Luginbill: "Don't misread Alabama's recruiting success as Auburn doesn't know what it is doing. If you look at Auburn's success the last nine years, you understand that Auburn knows what a football player is, whether he's highly recruited or a middle-of-the-road player who two or three years into his career is developed into a great player.
"The new coordinators and their systems won't affect this year's recruiting. But in the 2009 class and beyond, you'll start seeing elite offensive skill people considering Auburn, when those players wouldn't have looked at Auburn before. Auburn has been a balanced power running team with not a lot of playmakers. Once recruits see the spread offense, with four and five wides, they understand Auburn will need playmakers."
3. Will LSU roll in recruiting because it just won its second BCS national championship in five years?
Kennedy: "They've got some pretty high-profile guys over the past few weeks, including the Scout Inc. No. 1-rated cornerback in the nation, Patrick Johnson of Pompano Beach, Fla. I put LSU in the same boat as Georgia. There's a ton of in-state talent, and LSU doesn't have any competition that stops it from getting that talent. If LSU takes care of the players in its state, it will always be a top 10 nationally recruiting team."
Luginbill: "LSU's class is very, very good. But I'm not convinced that its class is elite, a class that you would anticipate from a team that just won the national title. I think Georgia and Florida have stronger classes from top to bottom, but what LSU has done is in the last few weeks they have closed on some upper-echelon kids. There are 10 undecided players among the ESPN national top 150 recruits that have LSU among their top three to five teams. Since LSU won the national championship, you'll figure the Tigers will get some of those guys. LSU will be just fine when it is all said and done."
4. With Mississippi State winning eight games and a bowl game, has that given Bulldogs coach Sylvester Croom and his staff a boost?
Kennedy: "It's not a great year in Mississippi for academically qualified, highly recruited student-athletes. But when you win eight games, beat Auburn and Alabama and win a bowl game, the recruits who weren't answering your calls before are picking up the phone. Mississippi State is doing a nice job."
King: "Most of the recruiting hay for this season was in the barn by the time State won eight games this year. The class of 2009 is where Mississippi State's rise will have an impact."
5. New Ole Miss coach Houston Nutt has put together a good staff. What was his best hire in respect to boosting in-state recruiting, and what does Ole Miss need to become respectable again?
Luginbill: "I think it helped Ole Miss when Houston hired (defense coordinator) Tyrone Nix (who at one time held the same job at Southern Miss). You've got a guy with some roots and some familiarity, and he's a guy who can get into almost any school and home at a moment's notice.
"The one thing both Ole Miss and Mississippi State have lacked is at quarterback, a guy who can be a program-changer. That person for Ole Miss will end up being (Texas transfer) Jevan Snead. I don't think Mississippi State has found that yet, but another winning season will raise credibility and give State a chance to go after a program-changer."
6. Has Arkansas lost any recruits because of new coach Bobby Petrino's reputation for having a wandering eye looking for the next big job?
Luginbill: "It only has affected one recruit, cornerback Ugo Okapara from Sugar Land, Texas. He was a commit to the Houston Nutt staff, but he switched to Boston College because of Petrino's job-hopping reputation.
"That's the only recruit (Petrino) has had a problem with, because the rest has been positive. He lured back (quarterback) Tyler Wilson (Greenwood, Ark.), who had been a Tulsa commit, and he got Ryan Mallett (University of Michigan QB transfer). Petrino is in tug-of-war with USC for Joe Adams (a Percy Harvin-type versatile offensive threat), who's from Little Rock (Central Christian). He has committed to USC, but he's visiting Arkansas this weekend."
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Posted by VOLstuckINky on January 28, 2008 at 12:29 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Sabama is the master ............ of 6 wins
Posted by ATLVOL1 on January 28, 2008 at 12:41 p.m. (Suggest removal)
King: "Saban already has a top-three nationally ranked class, and that's without (receiver) Julio Jones (of Foley, Ala., ranked as the nation's second best high school prospect by Scouts Inc.). Alabama will recruit great under Saban. He'll go get better overall athletes and football players than what Alabama has had there the past few years. This class is well-rounded. They've done well in-state, they've got three of the top five players from the state of Tennessee, and they've dipped into other states, like getting quarterback Star Jackson of Lake Worth, Fla. Saban is spreading the word pretty good."
3 OF THE TOP 5 FROM TENNESSEE...A RB,DE,OT-- 2 FROM NASHVILLE, ONE FROM MEMPHIS.
WE GOT THE OFFENSIVE AND DEFENSIVE MVP OF THE ALL STAR GAME- BOTH RATED LESS THAN ALL THREE OF THESE GUYS.
Posted by HotlantaVol on January 28, 2008 at 12:48 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Maybe so, but his six wins got "three of the top five players from the state of Tennessee". He's like a relief pitcher who comes in with the bases loaded and gives up a dinger. Yeah, he didn't do his best, but four or five of those losses ought to have gone on Shula's record.
Posted by VolsorCat on January 28, 2008 at 1:42 p.m. (Suggest removal)
The kid from Memphis' Dad is an Alabama alum. He has been going to Bama games for a long time and was going to Bama from the start. We never stood a chance. The other two, I can't comment on.
Posted by TNfaninMS on January 28, 2008 at 2:29 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Losing any Tennessee native to a team from Alabama especiall the Crimson Queers is horrible for the state of Tennessee and the University. Why arent we being able to recruit our own state? Any comments?
Posted by yemmusdarb on January 28, 2008 at 2:39 p.m. (Suggest removal)
who cares if we recruit our own state or not? TN isn't exactly a recruiting hotbed. i'd rather recruit nationally and get Eric Berry's and Kevin Simon's rather than Marsalous Johnson's and Ellix Wilson's. and for all those who say recruiting sites and star-ratings don't matter, do the numbers. it's rare that 2 and 3 star recruits play in the NFL. almost as rare as a top 10 player in HS not making it to the NFL. it DOES matter and they do know what they're talking about. coaches just don't want to admit it because they think they know it all and would rather take credit for making a 2 star into a decent college player than take a 5 star and end up not needing the coaching as much because they're able to play on talent alone.
Posted by sjt18 on January 28, 2008 at 2:48 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Why did UT lose those guys?
The RB was told by UT (because they are unusually honest with recruits as compared to other programs) that he was being recruited only as a LB. He said he wanted to play RB so they stopped actively recruiting him. They weren't willing to tell him they'd give him a chance when they had no intentions of doing it.
Barrett Jones came down to UT and Bama. His father played basketball for Bama... They couldn't pull him away.
The other kid just chose Bama. I can't give you a whole lot more than that other than UT was kind of late on him for some reason. There's an article in the archives here about him.
Posted by GoVol on January 28, 2008 at 3:46 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Fulmer has the '08 & '09 seasons to turn the ship and become much more competitve in the big meaningful games. If he doesn't he'll be gone. Recruiting will be just as difficult the next 2 years has it has been this year. The writing is on the wall and it's all a matter of time now. It will be very tough for all of the VOL faithful, but we'll eventually survive and be better after Fulmer departs.
Posted by Pullingguard on January 28, 2008 at 4:06 p.m. (Suggest removal)
The over riding factor of this column is how can Alabama come into Tennessee and get 3 of the top 5 rated players... This should never happen.. If the kid wanted to play running back, give him a chance and when he gets no reps he will change to LB.. That will probably happen at Bama... Give them the chance chance to pursue the dream.. Still say that Fulmer needs to get Chavis and his goonies off their seats and recruiting or replace them.
Posted by sjt18 on January 28, 2008 at 4:21 p.m. (Suggest removal)
GoVol, the first part of your statement was dead on. Then in the second part, you presume to be a prophet in saying that CPF will fail and that the program will be better without him.
If you want the program to be better any time soon, you better hope that CPF succeeds. Changing coaches is a crap shoot unless you're in a state that produces a ton of talent that can carry you for awhile. Even with that advantage, UGA struggled for years as did Bama. UF had Zook. LSU had a series of coaches including DiNardo.
USC has more talent within 50 miles of campus than the whole state of Tn... but they struggled for years under a series of good and bad but never great coaches.
Posted by bigbluevol on January 28, 2008 at 4:23 p.m. (Suggest removal)
pullin, Chris Jordan (the RB/LB) isn't originally from TN. It wasn't his dream to play at UT. He was going to go where they would "let" him play RB. UT didn't want him as such, therefore he went to Bama. We'll see where he plays when it's all said and done. But, he wasn't a TN native and he had no loyalty to the Big Orange.
Posted by sjt18 on January 28, 2008 at 4:24 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Pullingguard, Jones is really the only one out of the three that UT wanted badly.
UT doesn't need RB's and doesn't need to lie to kids to get them in. That has consequences... plus they didn't think, and in the end he wasn't, that this kid was the best LB on their board.
If UT should never lose players like Jones to Bama... should UGA ever lose players like Berry to UT?
UT gets alot more blue chip players from out of state than they lose within the state.
Posted by 4jerry on January 28, 2008 at 4:24 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I guess the 41-17 game, nor Saban's connections to the NFL, nor his reputation as a relentless recruiter, nor his expertise in coaching defense and getting those players to the pros have nothing to do with it. I don't have a clue why he's doing so well. Must be an aberration. Things will get better next year for UT recruiting. They will never be ranked in the 50's again.
Posted by sjt18 on January 28, 2008 at 4:25 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I'd forgotten about Jordan not being from Tennessee either.
Posted by 4jerry on January 28, 2008 at 4:29 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Yeah sjt18, Tennessee didn't want any of those players Saban got. You guys wanted that 0* recruit from last weekend who won't qualify academically. You didn't want those 4* with good grades. Got ya. You're a classic.
Posted by waterskier3 on January 28, 2008 at 7:46 p.m. (Suggest removal)
stay the course.... yeah lets write off the 08 season and wait til 09 that's it... another 4 loss season and the fat one an ext and raise again because average is expected at UT now...
that' BS... fulmer should be held accountable each year not given a free pass because he changed coaches... sorry.. no excuse this recruiting class.. fulmer is the leader and he is accountable for everything about ut football...
Posted by bgreybass on January 28, 2008 at 10:22 p.m. (Suggest removal)
The RB Bama got from TN was not offered at RB by UT but was at LB. Bama told him he could play at RB -----Once he gets on campus look for him to be a LB.---- You Know its like, I am not leaving the Dolphins.
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