Per Recruiting and Lists:
http://recruitingbuzz.beloblog.com/?nl
Re: TCU and North Texas
Tim makes a great point about TCU's ability to scout second- and third-tier prospects in the state. I also believe if we ever get an early signing date -- which recruiting writers like yours truly would beg for -- then the Horned Frogs might even get more blue-chip players, because it's my opinion that TCU has excellent talent evaluators.
An example -- St. Mark's Sam Acho. Who was the first team to recognize Acho's talents? TCU. Who offered him first? TCU. And who are two of the schools big time after Acho now? The two teams that played for last year's national championship, Texas and Southern Cal.
I'm not saying an early signing date would have helped TCU with Acho. But I do think an early signing date would place even more of an emphasis on scouting and might reward a program like TCU that identifies a talented player such as Acho before others.
Posted by Todd Wills at 3:57 PM (E-mail this entry) | Comments (0)
Re: TCU and North Texas
Read Todd Wills' recruiting chat with great interest. The big buzz is about OU replacing Rhett Bomar, but I wanted to address questions about TCU and North Texas.
A reader asked if TCU will ever step into the big time as far as recruiting goes. As Todd noted, the Horned Frogs occasionally beat the big boys for state-ranked kids like ATH Jeremy Kerley and SS TeJay Johnson of South Garland. But the key to TCU's recruiting classes is scouting second- and third-tier prospects in the state. TCU has won a lot of games by picking the right prospects that aren't blue-chip recruits. LaDainian Tomlinson wasn't on any top 100 lists, and he turned out OK.
Another reader begged for UNT recruiting news. Yeah, right. UNT coach Darrell Dickey doesn't like offering guys early. He figures it's just advertising a recruit for a big-time program to pick off. So the Mean Green doesn't make recruiting waves until after the holidays, sorting through leftovers. I understand the logic. Still, I see coaches from schools like Wyoming at area high schools more often that guys who can drive from Denton.