Trying to put things in perspectve
Posted: Sat Aug 20, 2011 9:12 pmFirst things first, I don't like TCU and I don't obsess over everything they do in Fort Worth. They have built a successful football program at a small private school in the DFW metroplex and they should be applauded for that. We should be encouraged by the fact that if they did it, so can we.
That being said, some suggest we should already be out recruiting TCU. That belief is just unrealistic. In 1997, TCU won one game. The following year Fran came in as head coach. I will assume that this was year one of their rebuilding process. I went back and looked at their 2002 recruiting class per Scout. This represents year four of their rebuild. That year, TCU signed 10 players who had a total of 20 Division 1 offers and eight offers from AQ schools. In 2010, TCU played in its first BCS bowl game. That February they signed 18 players who held a total of 52 Division 1 offers with 22 of those offers coming from schools in AQ conferences.
In contrast, in year three of SMU's rebuild SMU signed 27 players. Those players had 103 Division 1 offers with 43 offers from schools in AQ conferences. Irrespective of who or how many coaches are recruiting or from where these players come, the simple fact is, we are ahead of where TCU was 10 years ago. In fact, our 2011 class was comparable to if not better than TCU's 2010 class--the class they signed within weeks of a trip to the Fiesta Bowl.
This staff has signed 78 players in the last three years--12 players from California, seven from Louisiana, and one player each from Missouri, Oklahoma, and America Somoa. That leaves us with 56 good ole', homegrown, corn-fed Texas boys. I say all of this to point out our foundation is and will always be Texas. Klemm is doing a great job in California, Reinbold is picking up the pace in Texas and Louisiana, and Odum seems to be making inroads into Florida.
The staff is comprised of humans; thus rendering them imperfect. We can be critical of how or when they do things, but we should at least acknowledge their successes.
That being said, some suggest we should already be out recruiting TCU. That belief is just unrealistic. In 1997, TCU won one game. The following year Fran came in as head coach. I will assume that this was year one of their rebuilding process. I went back and looked at their 2002 recruiting class per Scout. This represents year four of their rebuild. That year, TCU signed 10 players who had a total of 20 Division 1 offers and eight offers from AQ schools. In 2010, TCU played in its first BCS bowl game. That February they signed 18 players who held a total of 52 Division 1 offers with 22 of those offers coming from schools in AQ conferences.
In contrast, in year three of SMU's rebuild SMU signed 27 players. Those players had 103 Division 1 offers with 43 offers from schools in AQ conferences. Irrespective of who or how many coaches are recruiting or from where these players come, the simple fact is, we are ahead of where TCU was 10 years ago. In fact, our 2011 class was comparable to if not better than TCU's 2010 class--the class they signed within weeks of a trip to the Fiesta Bowl.
This staff has signed 78 players in the last three years--12 players from California, seven from Louisiana, and one player each from Missouri, Oklahoma, and America Somoa. That leaves us with 56 good ole', homegrown, corn-fed Texas boys. I say all of this to point out our foundation is and will always be Texas. Klemm is doing a great job in California, Reinbold is picking up the pace in Texas and Louisiana, and Odum seems to be making inroads into Florida.
The staff is comprised of humans; thus rendering them imperfect. We can be critical of how or when they do things, but we should at least acknowledge their successes.