Lack of early commits

[SMUSportsTalkNow101]

Is there anything to look into the fact that many(most) of our direct competition and other regional schools have more early commits than us in football? We only have one and just lost an offered athlete to Baylor. What say the experts- Were we not somewhat expecting a bump in early and quality commits this year?

[GrapevineMustang]

Means nothing. Our coaches have shown they can evaluate and identify talent, and get those players to Dallas. Don't lose a minute's sleep.

[SMUfiji43]

I would have thought by this point in JJ's time here that we would be getting more early commits. Last year was a great step up, but given the year we had and the bowl win, I was hoping it would help elevate us to the next level in recruiting. It's still early so I'm not worried, but I really hope it picks up soon.

[ClickClack]

Look at the early commits last year....outside of O'Guin....Swope-basically told he was not going to play here and he would be better off elsewhere, Canyon-same sort of thing/wanted to play qb and could not do that here...Greenbauer-probably would not have gotten an offer if we had the same traction & success in recruiting later in the year after some wins as we did early in the year...

We are recruiting a higher caliber athelete than we were last year for the most part (in terms of realistic recruits)..do not be worried

[Alaric]

We are recruiting a higher caliber athelete than we were last year for the most part (in terms of realistic recruits)..do not be worried

true. just being much more selective. don't worry, it's going in the right direction.

[RGV Pony]

I don't know, I think there may be more cause to have concern than some let on. Sure we've offered and possibly have chances at some higher profile athletes. I just wonder if, one by one, they don't commit elsewhere (see the DT from Trinity), and after much ado about nothing, wind up with roughly the same caliber class that we got last year. Not to say that's bad, because I like our class.

Just consider bball. Who all were we reportedly in on, that would have changed things drastically? Eaton, Arthur, Flowers, Odufuwa, Roberson to name a few. What if two of those had come to SMU? Instead, they didnt, and we got what/who we got.

I will now duck for calling into concern the possibility that perhaps everything isnt perfect. But, that's what message boards are for.

[davidpaul123]

I'm not ready to panick about early commits yet. We have offered top notch talent and are competing with bigger programs in BCS conferences.

We should see more action following the camps this summer.

[mrydel]

I don't know, I think there may be more cause to have concern than some let on. Sure we've offered and possibly have chances at some higher profile athletes. I just wonder if, one by one, they don't commit elsewhere (see the DT from Trinity), and after much ado about nothing, wind up with roughly the same caliber class that we got last year. Not to say that's bad, because I like our class.

Just consider bball. Who all were we reportedly in on, that would have changed things drastically? Eaton, Arthur, Flowers, Odufuwa, Roberson to name a few. What if two of those had come to SMU? Instead, they didnt, and we got what/who we got.

I will now duck for calling into concern the possibility that perhaps everything isnt perfect. But, that's what message boards are for.

I understand we still have a chance at gettng Darrell Arthur.

[PoconoPony]

Also note that we have made very few offers to date. Seems like we are going after real top talent, very selective in whom we are targeting and very position selective thus far. Looks like the first priority is filling the 1 QB position available as soon as possible. Both O and D line are next in order and at least 1 RB fill out the priority list. Obviously, they will continue to review all positions; however, it seems the targeting is very specific this year with high pressure on those in the target sights. Difficulty is that everyone of the kids we really need are also in the sights of 8-10 BSC schools and TCU. This is the year recruiting will be especially tough and we just need to rely on JJ and his staff to to pull off some upsets and miracles.

[Mexmustang]

I believe you are right. Can't possibly get qb commitments if we haven't made any offers. Second, higher ranked players have a multitude of offers to consider, not just one or two, their commitments to any school will be a longer process. I just hope we can score on a couple of big names to raise our profile with other recruits.

[Charleston Pony]

let's also remember that "top" recruits who have accepted the fact they will not be playing for a national championship contender are generally looking for early, if not immediate playing time. Padron's performance last year and the fact he could be back for 3 more seasons may have some impact

[PoconoPony]

let's also remember that "top" recruits who have accepted the fact they will not be playing for a national championship contender are generally looking for early, if not immediate playing time. Padron's performance last year and the fact he could be back for 3 more seasons may have some impact

I would like to think your logic is right for most kids; however, so many kids are blinded by the glare of the big name schools and blindly sign up and sit on the bench for a career. For example, the last 12 years USC has had, at any one time, 3-5 of the top 5 rated HS QBs sitting on the bench and never see playing time. Some like Cassell ( Patriots 2008 and currently KC) some how still make it into the pros and have careers. The old Nebraska programs played mainly seniors and 5th year red shirts while recruits lined up to sign up knowing they would not play the first 3 years. Programs like Texas and Florida get what ever they want and it would be interesting to have a study done the number of kids who get buried forever behind an existing 5 star and another 5 star who arrives several years later. I still think a winning tradition and program's reputation have the most psychological impact on decisions for most kids. It takes some mighty good recruiting to overcome those preconceived inclinations. Some obviously will think realistically and logically and give programs like SMU, Wake Forest and Duke a shot.

[SMU21TCU10]

It seems to me like our best commits (as far as offers) came way later. Such as Darryl Fields, Kyle Guinyard, Anthony Beard and Ben Gottschalk. I am a big Kenneth Acker fan as well

[westexSMU]

Right now SMU has Eight 4 Star recruits and Twenty One 3 Star recruits showing interest in SMU in the 2011 recruiting class according to a major recruiting service. It is not Rivals so it should be easy to figure out. This alone shows possible major recruiting improvement with interests from all the 4 Stars and this list may not show all recruits potentially interested.