Junior Day

[GiddyUp]

Didn't sound all that successful. Anyone know how many showed in previous years?

[goldenstang]

Yeah seems like it was a bigger failure than the Armed Forces Bowl. Hopefully this doesn't cost us too much.

[Mitch McConnell]

Help me understand the "concerns" over something like this.

Ok, somebody throws out a number like 300 and everybody automatically zeroes on this number to think this is gospel. Then it gets worse because a little less than 100 show up and everybody thinks this is a total cluster.

I don't think that at all. First of all, the coaches are probably thinking if they can get 30-40 percent of that number -- IF THAT WAS EVEN THE NUMBER WHICH I DOUBT IT WAS -- they'd be happy with it.

How do we know:
That the coaches only invited a select number?
That if 300 was the number that it was spread out over several junior days and this was just one of them?

Just because you have a junior day doesn't mean that you're automatically offering everybody and needing to hit a certain number of commitments. This is a process where some of the seeds of relationships are being sewn.

RELAX!

Actually, I think about 85-95 is a pretty good number. That's a ton of kids and their families who showed up.

I read the total panic stricken comments on PonyPride and just .

[Stallion]

the total number of recruits attending these things is almost completely irrelevant-you are correct for once. Its the quality of recruits that is more important. So far there hasn't been too many well regarded recruits popping up on the lists I've seen of players attending. There are about 3 that I know of that might be called somewhat highly recruited. Another that is rated high by one service but with no offers.

[Mitch McConnell]

the total number of recruits attending these things is almost completely irrelevant-you are correct for once. Its the quality of recruits that is more important. So far there hasn't been too many well regarded recruits popping up on the lists I've seen of players attending. There are about 3 that I know of that might be called somewhat highly recruited. Another that is rated high by one service but with no offers.

Personally, I think the way some of these schools recruit has been impacted by the recent change in that written offers can't go out until Aug. 1. There's no way to know that, but something tells me there is more to it.

[RE Tycoon]

I think it is a little disconcerting when an assistant posts on Facebook that he's expecting 200 and 100 show up. I am also of the mind that I don't care how many show up as long as they are talented. If 20 kids show up and they are all big time college prospects, I wouldn't mind that.

One other thing to note, the 100 number came from a Rivals reporter, so who knows how accurate that is. I'll take him at his word b/c I'm sure he tried an accurate count for his story, but these are the same guys who make tons of grammatical errors and tend to not proof read their stories, so take it at face value.

I wouldn't be surprised if the truth lies somewhere around 150 kids.

[Stallion]

the written offer thing has had no affect. We are approaching-think we might have hit-50% of the Texas Top 100 who have committed by April 18 which is 10 months before signing date. Every former SWC team has sent out the typical number of offers you'd expect. Rice because of academic standards about 18 to Texans. UT about 30 Texans because of selectivity, TCU about 31 Texans. The rest have offered about 50-75 Texans. SMU has offered 9 Texans.

Texas Tech is an intersting example-they've offered 48 Texans-but that doesn't mean that they haven't tried to expand their recruiting into the Southeast where Tommy Tuberville and assistants have contacts. I bet they have another 30 offers to non-Texans mostly in the Southeast-BUT they didn't just abandon Texas.

[ponyboy]

So that's what this is about.

Wondering out loud whether your criticism of our recruiting strategy holds any water at all. Good players are good players no matter where you get them from. We didn't choose to ignore Texas, but it just turns out we've been successful out of state. So what?

[PonyKai]

So that's what this is about.

Wondering out loud whether your criticism of our recruiting strategy holds any water at all. Good players are good players no matter where you get them from. We didn't choose to ignore Texas, but it just turns out we've been successful out of state. So what?

Perhaps we have not invested enough resources or the proper resources to be successful in this state.

[Mitch McConnell]

Well, the basic thing in recruiting is that you really need to do well at home and get your share -- heaven knows there are plenty of them in Texas -- and then start to go regional/national. Sounds to me that we do OK in California because of connections. Good for us. Texas, California and Flroida usually have the best recruits every year.

The ridiculous comments on PonyPride are pretty much suggesting that the staff is giving up on Texas and Louisiana and that Reinbold actually blows as a recruiter because he can't get anybody in. Well given the sub-standard public school system in Louisiana, it's amazing anybody is getting in anywhere unless they are in a private school.

I would just like to know from those people -- and you know who you are Mr. Doom and Gloom Mexmustang -- is if they actually have a list of ALL OF THE RECRUITS every coach is tracking. That would be news.

All these people are trying to do is just craft some of this stuff together off of what they've read. They have a finite amount of resources. And if they were bored enough to create a chart of every coach and the unreliable number of kids he's recruiting (beware of the Scout/Rivals writer putting the wrong coach down for the recruit by mistake), then they are losers.

I have subscription to Rivals. I'm just not married to it.

[Mexmustang]

Wasn't even part of this board's discussion-on another board I thought I offered a pretty good opinions without panicing about last weekend--you need to grade the quality of recruits (3 star and above) that have come from year to year to judge this year's Junior Day.
Also, i speculated that as we've improved, we have raised the bar on the quality of recruits. We are no longer just recruiting numbers which may have discouraged a number of juniors (one and two stars) just seeking a scholarship.
It is clear that with the number of ex-NFL coaches we don't have many that like to recruit or are from Texas. Hopefully that will change. But. even Reinbolt with all his charm and personality hasn't proven that he can first get kids in school or that they are players when they do get in. June certainly hasn't given up on Texas, but let's face it, last year was a step back, two losses to two service academies, including a loss in a lower tier bowl just wasn't as exciting as the prior year. In the past we seem to spend more time grading recruits (finding them in June's camps) that recruiting (building long-term relatinships with players and coaches) like Klemm. It is time to step up the effort if we want to get to the next level and I believe June is well aware of this.

[One Trick Pony]

Free parking

[ponyboy]

So that's what this is about.

Wondering out loud whether your criticism of our recruiting strategy holds any water at all. Good players are good players no matter where you get them from. We didn't choose to ignore Texas, but it just turns out we've been successful out of state. So what?

Perhaps we have not invested enough resources or the proper resources to be successful in this state.

Success is success is success is success. It's what you aim for. Don't set limits on how we achieve it. If we're successful recruiting Mars, let's recruit Mars and not wish were were on Pluto.

[PonyKai]

Please don't mistake concern for an underlying issue with whining about the ratio of California to Texas players. I'm extremely happy with the quality of players we've landed from California. I'm extremely happy with how solid a recruiter Klemm is. I'm extremely happy with the success he has had building inroads, making contacts, and developing relationships. He's been an outstanding hire, and great on the trail. What's most important is that he is selling SMU to kids through individual relationships, because SMU as a football school doesn't sell itself.

Having said that, in my opinion, while Klemm has had great success, it's been too much of a one man show.

[Mitch McConnell]

This Klemm business started when he landed Devon Moreland and everybody has been up his tailpipe ever since. It's a little silly.

I'm not speaking ill of Klemm. People on this board have a tendency to single out one recruiter among the rest and then get swept up in INSERT COACH HERE-mania.

The fans are probably not being fair to him or the other coaches.

As for recruiting Texas, I'm going to see how passive aggressive this staff is going to be with the May evaluation period, how active they are going to be at HS spring ball and to what extent they are going after more in this state. That will give me the temperature I need on how this staff values Texas.

Sorry, Ponyboy, you need to have a philosophy of building a base in Texas and working from there. It's recruiting 101. Those are the people you have the quickest access too. The connections in Califonia are nice, but they're also finite.

Obviously, June has a national name so he can get QBs from Missouri and California, but I'm wondering to what extent he and his staff are really pursuing those in the Lone Star state.