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Without rehashing for the gazillionth time JJ and recruiting (if I might make an sincere request not to hijack the thread), I wonder what the impact on recruiting has been the last couple of years when it was increasingly obvious, due to the lack of an extention and the ASU skirmish, that JJ would not be here in a few years. How do you get a kid to commit to a program where he does not know who the coach will be by the time he likely sees the field? Obviously other programs do it, but it seems to me that, taking TCU as an example, having a long term coach is a considerable benefit in this regard. How does a program handle "come play for "us (but we don't know who us is)"?

Didn't Tyler Harris, a 4 star (or 3 depending on which website you look at) commit to SMU?
Rivals.com 3-star
ESPN 4-star

My only response would be that kids are told to commit to a school, not a coach. That said, I would guess the majority commit to a coach.

Personally I committed to SMU and did not really know anything about Fry's history, ability, philosophy, etc. But I would bet, as an example, if Saban went to Texas, many of his recruits would follow if he asked them to flip.

Apparently so, I just wonder what the effect on a potential recruit is. We need more like Tyler for sure.

mrydel wrote:My only response would be that kids are told to commit to a school, not a coach. That said, I would guess the majority commit to a coach.

Personally I committed to SMU and did not really know anything about Fry's history, ability, philosophy, etc. But I would bet, as an example, if Saban went to Texas, many of his recruits would follow if he asked them to flip.

that is my perception as well. The risk that a new coach may not use you and you would have to transfer and sit out if it all goes wrong seems like a major consideration. Like being a WR and committing to a school that hires an option coach.

Apparently JJ was bringing some kids to ASU, Klemm brought some to UCLA I think, so it is pretty clear that commitments are often to a coach.

Did Padron switch to SMU when JJ left Hawaii?

skurtn wrote:Did Padron switch to SMU when JJ left Hawaii?

That was Bo Levi Mitchell I thought

I think Bo Levi Mitchell and Chris Banjo were committed to Hawaii, and Zach Line was being recruited by Hawaii, but I might be mixed up on that.

As for the extension thing, you're right that it's hard to recruit. If a school thinks its coach is down to his "last chance" he often will get an extension, anyway, but it will be like Phil Bennett's last deal, an extension for recruiting but written in such a way that the school can buy out of it fairly cheaply.

Beat Cincinnati!

Oh, that's right. Bo Levi.. not Padron. I didn't realize Banjo and Line changed their mind as well.

I went to SMU because of Ron Meyer. Sure, my parents went to SMU and I grew up loving SMU.

But recruiting has twist. I had scholarship offers and all. But in the end I didn't accept a scholarship because I want to play big time ball and Ron Meyer offered that opportunity. It was a calculated risk. I believed Meyer was honest and offered equal opportunity ( and he did). So my situation is very unique.

Had I got offers from other big time programs who knows? SMU wasn't even in my top 5.

So my opinion and experience is so out of the norm that I wouldn't for a second deem it within the range of normal.

In the end, I think two things are important. One is trust. The kid has to trust he is being given information that is accurate. In the end a kid has to recognize his potential is understood and realized by the coaching staff.

The second is opportunity. A kid has to feel that he has a chance to fulfill his dreams.

Ron Meyer offered me both. I didn't like what he told me but it was honest. And I felt he would give me an opportunity.

And that is what helped me make my decision

Ponyte does not like what I tell him either but I too am honest.

It is not hard to find commits. It is hard to find highly rated players to commit when the situation is unsettled. That is why when you look at the offers our commits have we are going against North Texas, Arkansas State, Texas State kids instead of getting those kids that are leaving state to play at Kansas, K State, Mizzou and Iowa State or kids who might have an offer at TCU or Baylor but want a chance to play early here. We have totally missed on those type kids. Amazing we have done as well as we have but seems we should have been able to do better.