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most of you know where I stand on the importance of recruiting but I think most recruiting analysts will bear out that we are presently suffering from historically poor recruiting classes in our junior and senior class. One objective source(not my favorite beccause it comes out before the recruits senior year) is Dallas Campbell's Top Recruits at each position. The Top 300 list is next to worthless because it really doesn't gauge success with top recruits. For comparison I start with the Feb 1999 crop most which graduated last year unless redshirted. 1999-(4 out of Top 130)Briggs, Cardwell, Cunningham, and Beard; 2000 -(0 out of Top 135) THIS IS OUR SENIOR CLASS!!!!!; 2001-(2 out of Top 155) Shanderrick Charles and Don Stansbury; 2002 (5 out of Top 135) Anthony Barnett, James Elliot, Dustin Morton, Rolando Humphrey and Jamey Harper; 2003 (6 out of 150) Ricky Joe Meeks, Richuel Massey, C.D. Moss, Desmond Jones, Avery Cleveland and Zach Hall. SMU also got plenty of freshmen from out of state who already contributing and reflected in these numbers too-Note that Don Stansbury is the ONLY player in the Top of his class in the entire JUNIOR and SENIOR recruited class. 1/270 players highlights just how uncompetitive we were in recruiting. Cunningham obviously was an outstanding player and a medical redshirt that has had difficulty recovering. Let me assure you ALL other recruiting analysts confirm this information. Essentially Bennett is correct that the Junior and Senior classes had very little talent-and probably the most talented Shanderrick Charles was forced to give up football. So when you wonder why we can't beat teams like UTEP et al remember it has a lot to do with recruiting failures. This is why I was so angry 2-3 years ago when I really was pushing for changes in admissions standards. You have to think 2-3 years down the line to see any real progress.

<small>[ 10-20-2003, 06:43 PM: Message edited by: Stallion ]</small>

Good objective facts, Stallion.

Coach Bennett looks at his roster each week and knows that his best athletes are in their first or second year on the Hilltop...some are being redshirted and others are just not ready to make plays as regulars.

This is an very frustrating problem, especially since SMU's small but loyal pool of fans is clamoring for some victories and obvious signs of progress.

I hope that Coach Bennett clearly understood the realities he would face when he accepted the job.

I also hope that SMU's fans clearly understand the patience (time) required to genuinely turn the football program around.

It could take years.

Stallion, like you, I hope the children on this board have gone to bed. The Mustangs have a great future very soon...

Thank you Stallion. This is a massive overhaul and will take a full four years of recruiting to turn around.

Nice post, Stallion.

Originally posted by Stallion:
This is why I was so angry 2-3 years ago when I really was pushing for changes in admissions standards. You have to think 2-3 years down the line to see any real progress.

I agree with your assessment and would only add that JC's can shorten that turn-around window.

Also, look at the strong correlation between the few names that did make Campbell’s list and how they have contributed to our program.

I’m with you all the way on that one. Recruiting matters, and while I’m not overjoyed with some on-the-field coaching decisions, I am more than willing to give Bennett the benefit of the doubt. He earned that given his last recruiting class.

One of your better posts Stallion. I'm curious though. How did the poor rankings with those two classes rate with the classes of 1 or 2 years before? Weren't Cavan's last 2 years (I know at least one was) under basically the same standards that Bennett is operating under now? Why was Cavan unable to recruit? Was it because everyone knew he was going to be fired?
The reason I am asking these questions is that while I understand why SMU hasn't been good, I don't quite understand how we continue to get worse.

The reason Cavan's last two classes were so poor is two fold. The first was the whole Malin thing which everyone seem's to have forgotten about. The subsequent probation cast a cloud over the program, and also contributed heavily to our failure to gain admitance to C-USA the first time around. Given all of the negative publicity it was very dificult to attract the kind of talent to the hilltop that cavan had in his 2nd and 3rd classes which were on par with our most recent class. The second reason was the concern by recruits that Cavan would not be at the school for very long due to the mailin thing, and his inability to win games.

Also to add to stalion's analisis of Cavan's classes if you review Phil Steele's breakdowns of our classes you will find that while the 2nd and 3rd classes of cavan's contained numerous recruits that were in the top 50 to 75 in their positionnation wide, the last two classes were hard pressed to sign one or two recruits in the top 150 of their position, further bearing out the problem that we have very little talent in the Jr & Sr classes.

My own personal opinion, not based on any facts besides my own observation of the man, is that in the last two years of the Cavan administration he had simply given up.

This isn't to say that he didn't continue to try, that he didn't care about his players, that he didn't try to put together a reasonable game plan or anything like that. It's just that on some level he knew that he way in WAY over his head. He lost that internal fire that motivates players and gives a coach his edge. For instance, the rumor is that as February approached and he hadn't filled his annnal allotment of scholarships, he'd fill up his class with some random guys who weren't at all well regarded recruits. He'd do that rather than saving the scholarships for the next year, all so he could say, "look at all these kids I recruited; we got a full class." Makes you look good in the short term, but in the long term that's a disastrous way to recruit.