Recruiting update and summary so far.

[MaroonFrog]

I heard LSU is Donald Massey's favorite, but that they haven't offered him.

DT Tommy Daniels out of Ennis has apparently committed to Tulsa.

[Johnny Rock]

Way too optimistic on your analysis. How can this recruiting class be view as a success when we did not get several JUCO QBs we wanted and we did not sign (as of yet) one OL or DL player? SMU'S biggest problem when we play top 25 caliber teams is that we get pushed around on the lines. This season would have been perfect to sign a few JUCO OL and DL to fill immediate gaps. I give this class a C- rating and it will be an average WAC/C-USA class at best. Hopefully, I will be proven wrong.

[Hoop Fan]

I gotta agree with Johnny. Its staggering that we have no commits from linemen. We don't just get pushed around in the trenches, we get whipped very badly most of the time. Even if there are some good up and coming guys, SMU cant stop there and really needed some Juco line help.

[Stallion]

I'd pretty much agree with you but, based on your rating standards, I would lower Romo and Eckert to about a D+ instead of C- because I can't see that they really had any other options. Could be wrong but I think they will just be fillers. I'd lower McKinney to about a C+ instead of a B-. He has a nice frame but he'll be making a big jump-he maybe hard to judge since he committed so early. I think I would raise Martin to a solid B maybe higher based on one of the best performances in Texas in the HS Playoffs and the recruiting buzz he's gotten since then including making a respected Texas Top 100 by Ketchum. I hope we hold on to him. I also, think McCray and Lowery look like good solid WAC players so you might raise them to as C instead of C-. I'd also agree that we get a BIG FAT F for our offensive and defensive linemen recruits-you can not tell me that SMU has sufficient quality, quality depth or even outstanding youth in either line. I'm sure the cheerleaders will gloss over this failure to recruit linemen but it my mind it is now the single biggest obstacle that Bennett faces in turning this program around.

<small>[ 01-09-2004, 01:56 PM: Message edited by: Stallion ]</small>

[JasonB]

Yeah, I had a hard time rating Romo and Eckert. They weren't recruitied heavily, but at least they bring experience to the program, that is the only reason I gave them the bump up.

McKinney from what I remember was pretty well regarded early on. He hasn't been talked about much because of the early commit though.

McCray and Lowery I would rather leave lower ranked just because they came out of nowhere from a recruiting standpoint; they are unknowns in my view, so I can't justify a higher ranking.

I am concerned about the lines as well. I do think, however, that part of the reason for the lack of recruiting there is that there is a good class of linemen for next year, and we already have a ton of young players on the team. A JC recruit on both sides of the line is really what was needed.

[BigEasyPony]

It is startling to me that we have no commits from any lineman. My only guess is that all the linemen we targeted committed elsewhere leaving us with our 2nd and 3rd tier recruits. Now they're not so excited about us b/c the Tulsa's and Houston's have been on them from the beginning. Bennett is having some restless nights with no committed linemen. MAYBE, this is why Ringo is no longer on the staff. Just a guess, but if I'm the HC and I've missed on all my Linemen I've been after than I'm upset at my recruiting director.

I think you'll see Bennett try and focus on JUCO and HS lineman next year in a big way!

[dandyfan]

this is THE big weekend. who have we brought in this weekend? does anyone have a list of names of recruits on campus?

[Sic_em]

Is this really the big weekend? I thought the coaches were just getting back from the coaching convention. I would think that Jan 16th would be much bigger than this weekend.

[MUSTANGFOREVER69]

I'M SORRY, BUT YOU'RE FULL OF S___T! FIRST, THIS IS NOT THE WEEKEND TO BE POSTING CRAP LIKE YOU JUST DID. WE HAVE ON CAMPUS NOT ONLY SOME RECRUITS WHOM WE ARE INTERESTED IN BUT ALSO SEVERAL RECRUITS WHO HAVE ALREADY VERBALLY COMMITTED TO OUR SCHOOL. YOUR COMMENTS CERTAINLY GO A LONG WAYS TOWARDS ACCOMPLISHING THAT WHICH YOU DESIRE.

NAMING OUR RECRUITS AND ASSIGNING YOUR INNANE VALUES TO THEM AT THIS TIME IN THE RECRUITING PROCESS IS INSANE!

EITHER YOU'RE A "TROLL", OR YOU'RE THE BIGGEST DUMBASSS I'VE EVER ENCOUNTERED!

STAY OFF OF THIS BOARD UNTIL AFTER THE SIGNING DATE UNLESS YOU HAVE SOMETHING POSSATIVE TO SAY!

AS FAR AS YOUR SELF-SERVING VALUES ARE CONCERNED REGARDING THE FINE YOUNG MEN WHO HAVE VERBALLY COMMITTED TO PLAY AT SMU ARE CONCERNED, I WILL ONLY POINT YOU TO WILTON MCCRAY AND REMIND YOU OF ANOTHER "UNKNOWN" WHOSE NAME IS "CRIS BORDANNO". WATCH AND BELIEVE, YOU SORRY SOB!!!
HE'LL MAKE YOU FORGET BORDANNO. BUT, THE POINT IS WELL TAKEN. NOBODDY ON THIS BOARD INCLUDING "STALLION"- HAD A CLUE WHO CHRIS BORDANNO WAS. BUT, ONE OR MORE OF OUR COACHES DID. AND THEY WERE RIGHT.

THE SAME THING WILL HAPPEN WITH THE PLAYERS COACHING STAFF ARE RECRUITING NOW, EXCEPT THAT WE'LL ENJOY WATCHING THEIR EFFORTS RESULT IN PUTTING TOGETHER A NEW SMU FOOTBALL TEAM WHICH WE'LL ENJOY WATCHING AS THEY KICK [deleted]! BUT, DON'T FORGET THE YOUNG MEN WHO CAME BEFORE THEM AND PAVED THE WAY!

WE'RE ALL CAUGHT UP IN NEW RECRUITING CLASSES AND WE'VE FORTETTEN ABOUT THE "MEN" WHO WORE OUR COLORS FOR US SINCE '89. REBOUNDING FROM THE UNSPOKENEN WORD/PHRASE ("THE DEATH PENALTY"), HAS NOT BEEN EASY TO SAY THE LEAST. BUT, WE DON'T HELP OURSELVES IN OVERCOMING THE BLASTHEMY BY BLAMING ADMINISTRATIONS AND ATHLETIC DEPARTMENTS EITHER. I DON'T AGREE WITH THOSE OF YOU WHO DESIRE TO "BLAME" OUR WOES UPON OUR
CURRENT ADMINISTRATION - EITHER IN ATHLETICS OR IN ACADEMICS OR OVERALL. WE'RE VERY-MUCH IMPROVED OVER WHAT WE WERE IN YEARS PAST - WHETHER VIEWED FROM AN ATHLETIC STANDARD OR AN ACADEMIC STANDARD. FOR ALL OF THOSE OF YOU WHO WEAR AN SMU GRADUATE RING, THAT RING OF YOURSE HAS INCREASED IMMENSELY IN VALUE. AN SMU DEGREE IS WORTH FAR MORE THAN IT WAS WHEN I GRADUATED IN 1969. BUT, IT'S WORTH A LOT MORE TO ME NOW THAN IT WAS THEN IN DOLLARS! I LOVE MY SCHOOL AND I ALWAYS WILL! AND, I DON'T GIVE A DAMN WHICH "MODEL" WE ADAPT. WITH ALL DUE RESPECT, "STALLION" AND ALL OF THOSE WHO LOVE TO ACCLAIM THAT SMU IS SINKING INTO THE SUNSET BECAUSE OF SOME PREDESCRIBED "MODEL", I SAY TO YOU "PHLJKLTTTTT!!!!"

WE ARE FORTUNATE TO HAVE GERALD TURNER AND JIM COPELAND TO LEAD US THROUGH THE MINEFIELDS WHICH WE ARE GOING THROUGH TODAY. I PERSONALLY WILL HITCH MY WAGON TO THEIRS AND I'M CONFIDENT THAT OUR COACHES WILL DO THE SAME AND THAT WE WILL EVENTUALLY RISE OUT OF THE MINEFIELD INTACT AND VICTORIOUS! SO- THERE!!!!!

[RGV Pony]

What a mean-spirited post. Not without certain valid points, but certainly lacking in diplomacy. I, on the other hand, will maintain a level of diplomacy. By doing so, I won't make a comment like, "forget about Bordanno?" [sic] I never knew Bordanno [sic]; now, Bordano, on the other hand...Thanks to all the posters on this thread for creating a dialogue-that's what it's about, right?

[Stallion]

I thought the Model that I've been pushing for 15 years has now been adopted by the school-at least that is what GoRedGoBlue and the Commitment would have you believe. As for Bordano how many games did Bordano University win? how many bowl games? how many winning seasons? There was very little of SMU KICKIN' [deleted] even while Bordano was here. Hitting on a couple of sleepers every year ain't going to get it done. Its really STUPID to think that the vast majority of these recruits don't know exactly where they are rated by recruiting services throughout the state. They are given ratings by every major newspaper in the state and numerous recruiting services.MOST of them attend and use camps hosted by Rivals, the Insiders and others to get their names known. They stay in contact with the recruiting services throughout the year to announce interest, visits and commitments. The recruiting services have correctly pegged SMU's pathetic recruiting and eventually pathetic football seasons without fail over the last 15 years I might add. I've readily conceded the uptick in recruiting at SMU since the new administration has made changes-there is no one on this board who has posted 1/5 of the positive, factual posts I have on top recruits considering SMU-but that's the thing about posting this kinda information-if you don't get balanced, complete information then you are IGNORANT of the truth. That being said the scale used in our ratings might be a little unfair to the coaching staff for the reason it was based on a national scale. A=quality National recruit; B=quality Big 12 recruit, C=quality WAC recruit and so forth. Its a little unfair because we don't play in a BCS conference or the Big 12 and that limits Bennett. In that spirit, I would give Bennett an A for gettin Chase, Lindley, Martin, B+ for Henderson, a B for Munlin, Haynes, B- for Mckinney, C+ for Lowery, C for Blackmon, C- for Eckert and Romo. Prospects like Rollman would be about a B+ and Massey an A. SMU still gets an F in lineman recruiting but hey it ain't over yer-Rollman would be a huge commitment and I heard from a little birdie that there is an intriquing long-term sleeper prospect visiting this weekend at OLM that looks interesting-hopefully more on him later. Not too bad-several top players but in a small class. I said the other day that at this point I might rate SMU's FRESHMAN class(only) with the FRESHMAN(only) class of TCU, UH, Rice and Baylor. However, we are being trounced in JC recruiting by schools like TCU, TEch and even Baylor. That is a fair analysis-BUT JUCO have and will continue to play and teams with JUCO will continue to beat SMU in both FB and BB in that scenario and if you don't understand that then you are a FOOL. As I've said many times Bennett knows this and has recruited JUCOs at every coaching job he has had over the last 20 years. I say turn him loose and let him recruit a significant slice of the JC talent pool and sign the 3-4 JUCOs per year he wants. BTW we may have had another scholarship open up recently-so if you were correct that we had 3 to give-we may have 4 now-not sure on the that number though.

<small>[ 01-10-2004, 07:47 AM: Message edited by: Stallion ]</small>

[CoxSMU]

MustangForever69....It's called a Caps Lock.

[GoRedGoBlue]

I tend to agree with you

Originally posted by MUSTANGFOREVER69:
I'M SORRY, BUT YOU'RE FULL OF S___T! FIRST, THIS IS NOT THE WEEKEND TO BE POSTING CRAP LIKE YOU JUST DID. WE HAVE ON CAMPUS NOT ONLY SOME RECRUITS WHOM WE ARE INTERESTED IN BUT ALSO SEVERAL RECRUITS WHO HAVE ALREADY VERBALLY COMMITTED TO OUR SCHOOL. YOUR COMMENTS CERTAINLY GO A LONG WAYS TOWARDS ACCOMPLISHING THAT WHICH YOU DESIRE.

NAMING OUR RECRUITS AND ASSIGNING YOUR INNANE VALUES TO THEM AT THIS TIME IN THE RECRUITING PROCESS IS INSANE!

EITHER YOU'RE A "TROLL", OR YOU'RE THE BIGGEST DUMBASSS I'VE EVER ENCOUNTERED!

STAY OFF OF THIS BOARD UNTIL AFTER THE SIGNING DATE UNLESS YOU HAVE SOMETHING POSSATIVE TO SAY!

AS FAR AS YOUR SELF-SERVING VALUES ARE CONCERNED REGARDING THE FINE YOUNG MEN WHO HAVE VERBALLY COMMITTED TO PLAY AT SMU ARE CONCERNED, I WILL ONLY POINT YOU TO WILTON MCCRAY AND REMIND YOU OF ANOTHER "UNKNOWN" WHOSE NAME IS "CRIS BORDANNO". WATCH AND BELIEVE, YOU SORRY SOB!!!
HE'LL MAKE YOU FORGET BORDANNO. BUT, THE POINT IS WELL TAKEN. NOBODDY ON THIS BOARD INCLUDING "STALLION"- HAD A CLUE WHO CHRIS BORDANNO WAS. BUT, ONE OR MORE OF OUR COACHES DID. AND THEY WERE RIGHT.

THE SAME THING WILL HAPPEN WITH THE PLAYERS COACHING STAFF ARE RECRUITING NOW, EXCEPT THAT WE'LL ENJOY WATCHING THEIR EFFORTS RESULT IN PUTTING TOGETHER A NEW SMU FOOTBALL TEAM WHICH WE'LL ENJOY WATCHING AS THEY KICK [deleted]! BUT, DON'T FORGET THE YOUNG MEN WHO CAME BEFORE THEM AND PAVED THE WAY!

WE'RE ALL CAUGHT UP IN NEW RECRUITING CLASSES AND WE'VE FORTETTEN ABOUT THE "MEN" WHO WORE OUR COLORS FOR US SINCE '89. REBOUNDING FROM THE UNSPOKENEN WORD/PHRASE ("THE DEATH PENALTY"), HAS NOT BEEN EASY TO SAY THE LEAST. BUT, WE DON'T HELP OURSELVES IN OVERCOMING THE BLASTHEMY BY BLAMING ADMINISTRATIONS AND ATHLETIC DEPARTMENTS EITHER. I DON'T AGREE WITH THOSE OF YOU WHO DESIRE TO "BLAME" OUR WOES UPON OUR
CURRENT ADMINISTRATION - EITHER IN ATHLETICS OR IN ACADEMICS OR OVERALL. WE'RE VERY-MUCH IMPROVED OVER WHAT WE WERE IN YEARS PAST - WHETHER VIEWED FROM AN ATHLETIC STANDARD OR AN ACADEMIC STANDARD. FOR ALL OF THOSE OF YOU WHO WEAR AN SMU GRADUATE RING, THAT RING OF YOURSE HAS INCREASED IMMENSELY IN VALUE. AN SMU DEGREE IS WORTH FAR MORE THAN IT WAS WHEN I GRADUATED IN 1969. BUT, IT'S WORTH A LOT MORE TO ME NOW THAN IT WAS THEN IN DOLLARS! I LOVE MY SCHOOL AND I ALWAYS WILL! AND, I DON'T GIVE A DAMN WHICH "MODEL" WE ADAPT. WITH ALL DUE RESPECT, "STALLION" AND ALL OF THOSE WHO LOVE TO ACCLAIM THAT SMU IS SINKING INTO THE SUNSET BECAUSE OF SOME PREDESCRIBED "MODEL", I SAY TO YOU "PHLJKLTTTTT!!!!"

WE ARE FORTUNATE TO HAVE GERALD TURNER AND JIM COPELAND TO LEAD US THROUGH THE MINEFIELDS WHICH WE ARE GOING THROUGH TODAY. I PERSONALLY WILL HITCH MY WAGON TO THEIRS AND I'M CONFIDENT THAT OUR COACHES WILL DO THE SAME AND THAT WE WILL EVENTUALLY RISE OUT OF THE MINEFIELD INTACT AND VICTORIOUS! SO- THERE!!!!!

[ClassOf81]

I have to laugh at fans like us assigning grades to players we've never seen before. We are not coaches, and neither are the guys at Rivals, Insiders, etc.

I have seen a few of these guys play.

Vincent Chase is an A -- he already blocks like a college lineman, simply dominating his man (while playing next to future Stang Chris Hall, who's now about 6-5, 285, and another exceptional blocker.)

Bobby Chase is probably a B or so -- he's not a 4.3 burner, but he's pretty fast. He's also a big target who's very good at fighting through DBs who press him at the line and he uses his body very well to shield the ball from the defender. And if you get the ball near him, he'll make the catch -- he has terrific hands. If he was a step faster, he'd be off the charts.

Jonathan Lindley should be close to an A -- I've seen him twice, and he simply takes the other team's best receiver and removes him from the game. You can't ask more than that from a CB.

Wilton McCray -- I've only seen him on TV, and given the fact that he's going to switch positions, it's impossible to give him a grade. But he's a very smart player who always seems to be around the ball, and he's fast and hits extremely hard. Maybe a B with a chance to improve his grade?

I saw DeMyron Martin once, and everything Stallion and Recruiting Guru has said about this guy is true. He's a tall RB who runs very hard and has deceptive acceleration. All I saw was a bunch of defenders grasping at air or sliding off after he ran through tackles. He's an extremely impressive RB.

Those are the only players I've ever seen, so I have no business offering a grade for the others -- just like everyone else here. I do know, however, that the guys the coaches identified last year earned rave reviews from other coaches, and I have faith they've targeted talented guys again. They've shown they're not going to offer a guy just to get numbers up -- they want quality over quantity. This is a very sensitive time for recruiting, and Coach Bennett and his staff are going to do a great job. For us to sit here and bad-mouth his recruits, who we've never seen before, is simply adding to the hurdles he needs to overcome. Recruits read this board, and such comments do not help and often are not accurate.

[Vitale]

Originally posted by dandyfan:
this is THE big weekend. who have we brought in this weekend? does anyone have a list of names of recruits on campus?

A lot of the guys on campus are guys who already have committed to SMU. But I hear that the guy from Skyline -- Penelton -- is one of the guys who's visiting this weekend. I'm still trying to find out some more names.