TCU Recruiting Could Be Best In 25 Years
Posted: Thu Jan 29, 2009 11:43 amTCU Recruiting Class
By MERCEDES MAYER
[email protected]
With its new facilities, high national ranking, well-paid coach and consistent winning ways, TCU football has the credentials to rank among the college game’s elite programs.
Now the Horned Frogs’ ability to recruit is following suit.
With National Signing Day less than a week away, TCU has an incoming class that’s shaping up to be the highest ranked of Gary Patterson’s eight-year tenure as head coach  and it might be the school’s best class in 25 years.
The Horned Frogs’ list of oral commitments includes four four-star recruits as ranked by Rivals.com. In the last eight years combined, TCU has signed just five four-star recruits.
"We’ve always had great football and great academics," Patterson said. "The addition of all the great facilities has now given us something to push us over the edge.
"You can already tell [it has opened more doors] with the coaches and the level of respect."
Mimicking a trend that several bigger programs have benefited from in the past several years, the Frogs have players willing to enroll early to get a head start on their collegiate careers.
For the first time, the Frogs have three football players who graduated from high school in December and already have enrolled at TCU. They had only one player enroll early in recent years  offensive lineman Spencer Thompson two years ago.
Brownwood quarterback Casey Pachall (pronounced "Paw-hall") and Copperas Cove teammates Tanner Brock and Josh Boyce are taking classes and participating in off-season workouts with the Frogs.
Patterson doesn’t persuade players to enroll early because he doesn’t want them to miss out on half of their senior years, but he knows that it takes a special player to be able to leave early.
Pachall, who is rated as a four-star recruit by Rivals.com, decided to attend TCU during the spring of his junior year. So he took a summer school class and a full course load the fall of his senior year, shunning the off period that most seniors enjoy.
Pachall said the decision to leave early was easy.
"My thinking was that coming out of high school, I wanted to prepare the best I could and get most acquainted with my teammates and also with the system I’d have here at TCU," Pachall said. "One benefit is getting in shape because the workouts here are very tough. They’ll get you where you want to be."
In addition to the extra time in the weight room and at workouts, enrolling in January is beneficial for academic reasons.
Pachall is taking 15 hours in his first semester. And the transition from high school to college should be easier because there are only about eight hours of football work a week instead of the 20 or so in the fall during football season.
Patterson said that players usually enroll early because they think they have a chance to make an impact in the fall, and Pachall, Brock and Boyce fit into that category.
The Frogs will lose starting linebackers Jason Phillips and Robert Henson to graduation, and Brock, younger brother of sophomore-to-be tight end Logan Brock, has an impressive résumé. He is a three-star recruit who was a three-time first-team all-state linebacker with 693 career tackles.
Boyce, a three-star recruit, is an explosive athlete who could contribute on kick and/or punt returns as well as at wide receiver.
The road will be tougher for Pachall at quarterback because starter Andy Dalton will be a junior and his two backups return. But Patterson said the Frogs might move Marcus Jackson to weak safety to help speed the development of Yogi Gallegos and Pachall.
It’s hard to say if early enrollment will continue at TCU, but if the program sustains its momentum it could be just the beginning.
"I’ve been highly impressed with all three of the guys that are here in the short amount of time I’ve worked with them," Patterson said. "If the rest of the class is like these three, then we ended up with a great class, because these three have been unbelievable."
ONLINE: gofrogs.com
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Recruiting grounds Three factors that have boosted TCU’s recent recruiting in football:
Facilities: Last fall, the 40,000-square-foot, $13.3 million Dutch Meyer Athletic Complex and Abe Martin Academic Center opened. It includes a team meeting room, a players-only club, six suites, club-level seating, an academic center and a dining area.
Winning: TCU finished the 2008 season 11-2 and ranked No. 7 in the final Associated Press poll, which was the highest ranking for a two-loss team from a non-automatic qualifying conference since the BCS was established for the 1998 season. It was also TCU’s highest final ranking since 1959. The Frogs have had five 10-win seasons in the past seven years.
Coaching: Gary Patterson has entertained other offers in the past, but he’s always stuck with the Frogs. Entering his ninth season at TCU, Patterson is 73-27 and one win shy of second place on TCU’s all-time victory list. And TCU is committed to keeping him around, signing him to a new contract worth $2 million per year through 2014.
By MERCEDES MAYER
[email protected]
With its new facilities, high national ranking, well-paid coach and consistent winning ways, TCU football has the credentials to rank among the college game’s elite programs.
Now the Horned Frogs’ ability to recruit is following suit.
With National Signing Day less than a week away, TCU has an incoming class that’s shaping up to be the highest ranked of Gary Patterson’s eight-year tenure as head coach  and it might be the school’s best class in 25 years.
The Horned Frogs’ list of oral commitments includes four four-star recruits as ranked by Rivals.com. In the last eight years combined, TCU has signed just five four-star recruits.
"We’ve always had great football and great academics," Patterson said. "The addition of all the great facilities has now given us something to push us over the edge.
"You can already tell [it has opened more doors] with the coaches and the level of respect."
Mimicking a trend that several bigger programs have benefited from in the past several years, the Frogs have players willing to enroll early to get a head start on their collegiate careers.
For the first time, the Frogs have three football players who graduated from high school in December and already have enrolled at TCU. They had only one player enroll early in recent years  offensive lineman Spencer Thompson two years ago.
Brownwood quarterback Casey Pachall (pronounced "Paw-hall") and Copperas Cove teammates Tanner Brock and Josh Boyce are taking classes and participating in off-season workouts with the Frogs.
Patterson doesn’t persuade players to enroll early because he doesn’t want them to miss out on half of their senior years, but he knows that it takes a special player to be able to leave early.
Pachall, who is rated as a four-star recruit by Rivals.com, decided to attend TCU during the spring of his junior year. So he took a summer school class and a full course load the fall of his senior year, shunning the off period that most seniors enjoy.
Pachall said the decision to leave early was easy.
"My thinking was that coming out of high school, I wanted to prepare the best I could and get most acquainted with my teammates and also with the system I’d have here at TCU," Pachall said. "One benefit is getting in shape because the workouts here are very tough. They’ll get you where you want to be."
In addition to the extra time in the weight room and at workouts, enrolling in January is beneficial for academic reasons.
Pachall is taking 15 hours in his first semester. And the transition from high school to college should be easier because there are only about eight hours of football work a week instead of the 20 or so in the fall during football season.
Patterson said that players usually enroll early because they think they have a chance to make an impact in the fall, and Pachall, Brock and Boyce fit into that category.
The Frogs will lose starting linebackers Jason Phillips and Robert Henson to graduation, and Brock, younger brother of sophomore-to-be tight end Logan Brock, has an impressive résumé. He is a three-star recruit who was a three-time first-team all-state linebacker with 693 career tackles.
Boyce, a three-star recruit, is an explosive athlete who could contribute on kick and/or punt returns as well as at wide receiver.
The road will be tougher for Pachall at quarterback because starter Andy Dalton will be a junior and his two backups return. But Patterson said the Frogs might move Marcus Jackson to weak safety to help speed the development of Yogi Gallegos and Pachall.
It’s hard to say if early enrollment will continue at TCU, but if the program sustains its momentum it could be just the beginning.
"I’ve been highly impressed with all three of the guys that are here in the short amount of time I’ve worked with them," Patterson said. "If the rest of the class is like these three, then we ended up with a great class, because these three have been unbelievable."
ONLINE: gofrogs.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Recruiting grounds Three factors that have boosted TCU’s recent recruiting in football:
Facilities: Last fall, the 40,000-square-foot, $13.3 million Dutch Meyer Athletic Complex and Abe Martin Academic Center opened. It includes a team meeting room, a players-only club, six suites, club-level seating, an academic center and a dining area.
Winning: TCU finished the 2008 season 11-2 and ranked No. 7 in the final Associated Press poll, which was the highest ranking for a two-loss team from a non-automatic qualifying conference since the BCS was established for the 1998 season. It was also TCU’s highest final ranking since 1959. The Frogs have had five 10-win seasons in the past seven years.
Coaching: Gary Patterson has entertained other offers in the past, but he’s always stuck with the Frogs. Entering his ninth season at TCU, Patterson is 73-27 and one win shy of second place on TCU’s all-time victory list. And TCU is committed to keeping him around, signing him to a new contract worth $2 million per year through 2014.