Michigan Offers Danna

[Original Frank]

Mickey, are you in love with Stallion?

[feelan]

Stallion,

For what its worth, you clearly have more credibility than the rest of the sunshiners and excuse makers who have their heads in the sand.

Thee sunshiners classic rebuttal is to throw out names like Ramon Flanigan, bill Kiley, Chris Bordano, Larry Allen, Jerry Rice, etc., etc. as players that weren't highly recruited out of HS. Then they spout off about how it doesn't matter how the class grades out- it is the results five years in the futre that counts. The problem with that thought process is that 5 years later we usually have a total of about only 10 wins. Why bother arguing with them. They have put up with this crap for the past 20 years, and they still don't get what your saying about the model.

Give me the highly recruited everytime.

Stallion called, he wants you off his [deleted].

[PK]

They have put up with this crap for the past 20 years, and they still don't get what your saying about the model.

Give me the highly recruited everytime.

First of all, we all understand the problem with the model ...unfortunately none of us (including you evidently) have the big bucks necessary to get the attention of the administration and the board of trustees to force a change in it. Second point, for all of you "realist" out there, we are not in a position at this time to compete head to head with all the BCS schools for the top recruits and win. Would we ALL like to have a recruiting class full of them?...DUH?

So get off your high horse Mickey (is your last name Mouse by any chance?) and try to appreciate the recruits that we are able to get to come to SMU. We are making progress, but we aren't at the BCS level yet and we won't be getting those highly rated recruits until we start having winning seasons and going to bowls. Even TCU with all their bowl games aren't getting all that many of those top recruits either...more than us?...well, DUH, yeah...they have had winning seasons for awhile now.

[Webmaster]

A simple request: Please knock off the name-calling and the personal attacks. We do not operate this site to babysit and edit/delete posts.

Please keep in mind the fact that SMU athletes, their families and recruits read this site.

Thank you.

[SMU Football Blog]

I am going to say this again, this guy's recruiting story is so bizaare, I don't buy it. We are relying heavily on what this kid said and I am not sure I believe him. If he turns out to be a worldbeater, then I will be proven wrong, I suppose.

[me@smu]

Completely agree SMU Blog...this kids story sounds like something you would hear about on an elementary school playground.

[SMUguy]

I'll wait for the PF.com Recruiting Roundup.

[I AM]

With regards to Joe Danna and other recruits, remember that the source of 90% of what the recruiting services report comes from 1) the kid's coach, 2) the recruit, or 3) the kid's parents. All the above have one overriding goal, and that is to promote their prospect.

Another bias that can't be overstated is that bigger schools pull better "ratings". The recruiting services are funded from a combination of subscriptions and revenue share from advertising that is based on a site's percentage of the entire network's subscriptions.

Think Heisman voting on a smaller scale. Shameless promoting translates into more interest. Whether they admit it or not, coaches DO read the recruiting services. And they'll check into rising prospects, especially those that express interest in their university. Which of course generates more recruiting news. Of course this is gross oversimplification, but to an extent, this hype-interest-news-ratings cycle can be a self-fulfilling prophesy.

A huge step forward in recent years has been the recruiting services hosting of combines, so at least now they're reporting accurate height/weight/speed measurements.

On the other side of the fence, university coaches spin doctor their own news. It's sort of like a courting ritual. They court, posture and insinuate to keep a kid interested until they make up their minds on how that recruit will or won't fit their needs. They're also always keeping a lookout for that "prettier girl" to come along (i.e. when a better recruit decides that they're interested). In any case, they tend to downplay the fish that got away while signing the praises of the one they landed.

So even without knowing the specifics of the Joe Danna story, it's easy to see the dynamic.

1) We want a JUCO QB, but are on the fence whether Danna is the best available to SMU. 2) SMU coaches start playing the courtship ritual, but also keep their options open. 3) The Danna PR apparatus goes in motion first releasing stories about how much the prospect wants to attend SMU, and then later that other and perhaps more prestigious programs are interested (presumably to some degree in order get SMU off the fence). 4) The recruiting services start posting the player's side of the story while the SMU insiders post what they pick up around campus. It may seem contradictory, but it's really two sides of the same story.

The most salient point here is that getting Danna to commit doesn't make us good recruiters. Nor does having Danna commit elsewhere necessarily make us bad recruiters. By February if we end up with a better QB, then I'll say we did a good job. If Danna is the best of our available options and we let him get away, we did a bad job.

On a final note. We had some big victories this year, but it wasn't until the end of the year that we put together a little winning streak and posted a good (for us) record. I'm happy that we waited until after the season wrapped up to get fully into recruiting, as our position is much stronger now than it was at the beginning of the year. I think we're substantially more attractive to recruits now; they should perceive a program on the upswing. We're better off having waited rather than signing whomever we could have at the beginning of the year.

It's way too early to get worked up about this recruiting class.

[EastStang]

I agree, there was the kid from Maryland who was like a back-up HS safety and padded his stats and sent them to one of the recruiting services and he started getting offers from schools like Miami, Florida, until they called his coach and the coach said "who are you asking about?" All those offers were pulled. Or to use an analogy from Dr. Jackson's investments class. If ten people each called ten stock brokers and simply asked how a certain stock was doing, the stock would go up slightly. I agree we need the best available at each position. Hopefully Bennett has his sights on a better available QB.

[SMUguy]

.... It's way too early to get worked up about this recruiting class.

See, there you go clouding the issue with logic again.

Excellent post, I AM.

[SMU Football Blog]

And another thing, and I mentioned this above, the new mantra that a couple of people are tossing around seems to be that Bennett's staff can't sell the program. Such an argument is fundamentally stupid. There is plenty about Bennett's staff to criticize over the last four years and there are abundant examples. We don't need to start making stuff up.

There will always be examples every year where such and such picked X over SMU. To jump to the conclusion that Bennett can't close the deal, and by that, you mean Bennett can't recruit, is stupid.

The one thing we know Bennett can do is recruit. And we all know it. I really question the sincerity of those that would suggest otherwise. If Bennett can't recruit now, it is because of damn near 20 years of ineptitude running this program into the ground and Bennett's inability to show progress to recruits and a general lack of confidence in the Bennett regime. This would seem odd because he has his most wins as a coach then two years of improvement. Nevertheless, if that is the case, then he ought to be tossed. But I don't think we are there and he ain't going anywhere anyway.

I will rip Bennett any day of the week for any number of things, but one thing I will never say is, "Bennett can't recruit." That is friggin' ridiculous. And those that suggest otherwise know it, too.

That goes up there with the moron that suggested the parents of football players were "temporary fans."

[Stallion]

I think all of you are just plain nutty-willing to make any excuse so you don't have to face up to reality. To people who know what really is going on it really is almost humorous to watch dead fish wiggle.

[Pony Fan]

Which dead fish? Are you now equating us to dead fish?

[giacfsp]

.... To people who know what really is going on it really is almost humorous to watch dead fish wiggle.

Um .... what?!?

[SMU Football Blog]

I think all of you are just plain nutty-willing to make any excuse so you don't have to face up to reality. To people who know what really is going on it really is almost humorous to watch dead fish wiggle.

I love how we are all part of the problem. We are all sunshiners and Stallion is the only one with any sense. I just love that. I think it is cute. You can agree with 99% of what Stallion says, but if you disagree once, you are the dumbest person on the planet; we are all hopelessly naive. He is so blindly obsessed with being right that he can't even stop to look at how the other

The problem can't be Bennett because the problem wasn't Cavan. Maybe we never offered because we were never sure if we could get him qualified so that he could play. And if that were the case, then that isn't Bennett's fault, but the precious "model", and if that is the case, then doesn't that support Stallion's main point?

But it doesn't mesh with Stallion's new bit of saying Bennett is a lowsy recruiter. Which is laughable and even he knows it.

Stallion likes to argue and he likes to win. The only problem we have is we don't have a judge to tell him to shut up.