Two DT's out of Florida

[bystander]

@Tejas - Well maybe... I don't know that to be true one way or another.

@notanative - It's unfortunate to the extent that the incoming excitement is gone and to date has yielded nothing in the way of a buzz. That to me is unfortunate. I thought it was clear what I said. Now, if you dispute that it was unfortunate then that's another argument. I would be surprised if you didn't expect some bump. Are you saying that an elite coach such as Meyer or Saban would have the same results we have seen in the past two weeks?

 

[jayakris]

I expected no bump at all. I also did not expect Saban, Harbaugh, Gruden, Meyer, Jimbo or Malzahn to be the new coach (nor did I want the first 4) - and they were probably the only ones who could have created a buzz and a bump. Remember that we are talking about a bump from an already decent class that was ranked around #10 to #12 when Mack was canned. And remember that we were replacing a legend who had landed those guys mostly on the basis of his name, and the comfort-level the guys had with him, rather than any great results from him lately. [Also remember that guys like Akina are taken as semi-legends too, the same way]. How could we have expected a bump? I didn't.

But if we were sitting with a class not really in the top-20 when Charlie came in, like in the PennState case, I would have expected a bump to where the class is now (in the 13th to 16th range in the country).

When there was a post here asking "should Charlie honor the schols" (perhaps hinting at the "terrible class" Mack had put together), I had replied that the best thing Charlie could do was to call all of them to confirm the schols and hang on to as many as he could. That was the more realistic scenario. It would have been the case, had we had say a Franklin or a Mora, as well. Briles and Gundy were probably the only one who could have created a Texas buzz - but I certainly didn't want either as our coach.

This is all quite fine, really, if Charlie can land those two DTs. So far he has hung on to most of the top O recruits (Heard, Lorenzo, etc) - and that was more of a concern for me earlier. So, that's good. But we still need Poona and Nelson, the topic of this thread

.. He just needs to somehow close the deal on them.

 

[dillohorn]

If a Meyer, Saben, Gruden had been hired, I would always have the feeling in the back of my mind that they would only be here a very short time before they bolted for another gig. I'm very happy that a coach was hired that seems to be in it for the long haul. I guess some of the same thoughts can be said about the commited recruits that have already bolted.

 

[jayakris]

^^^ Precisely. Yes, they would have created a buzz, but I would not have had the same kind of long-term excitement about a program going the right way, doing the right things, and creating a reputation for our doing things in our own classy way and getting results with flat-out coaching. That is what I have with Charlie as the coach.

 

[bystander]

I never thought Meyer would come here; things are going great for him and he's from Ohio (right?). I really thought we had a great shot at Saban for two reasons: 1) The money 2) His wanderlust. Ok, 3) The money...

I didn't think Fisher would leave the situation at FSU. He's on top of the world; it would have purely been about the money for him. Similar with Maltzahn.

So that left Gruden or Harbaugh as the big splash hires maybe.... Harbaugh seemed available because of some rumored contract negotiation hiccups but was it real? That left Gruden. Of Saban and Gruden I would not have worried about them leaving early. I would have bet that Saban would have finished his career here given his age (maybe that would have been a concern) and as for Gruden, who knows? He's been out a long time; maybe he would be ready to build a real program.

In the end I think Strong had plenty of credentials to merit the job. I was just hoping the recruits would want to buy in on a penny stock (based upon where Mack left us) but maybe they need to see us jump from the pink sheets to a being listed on a real exchange. So that comes back to CS building relationships. I'm not worried; just disappointed that the reality of the matter is that we have to be patient and hunker down especially if the QB situation doesn't pan out. It may be that we miss Case if you can believe that.

 

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[jayakris]

Charlie Strong and Brian Jean-Mary were in Hilton Head SC this morning to visit Poona Ford, as per reports in pay sites. Apparently he was really excited that his father and especially grandmother got to meet Charlie. Sources apparently say that Poona is very well aware of the depth situation at DT and is leaning to us again, though Purdue came out of nowhere to get in the mix, and may even have had a slightly lead earlier this week, after the terrific visit he had there last weekend. It seems we look good again after a 3 hour visit by Charlie and Brian today.

It seems Poona has a visit to Mizzou this weekend and will announce only on National signing day next Wednesday, on ESPNU.

Chris Nelson (FL) also is reportedly still leaning to us, but has visit to UCF or USF this weekend...

I'm anxious on these two, for depth reasons. Hope we get them.

 

[dukesteer]

With Jayakris, who needs the pay sites? You are D'Man. Keep it coming, but preferably only good news.

 

[jayakris]

^^^ I don't want to steal stuff from the pay sites though (as that wouldn't be fair). I only post some key info, that too only once it is out from a paysite and is discussed in other non-pay sites.

By the way, the paysite that I go to, with the "numbers of hours in a day and days in a week" in their name, is a good one, if any of you want to try it out. Just skip the myriad other posts there with people having silly fights/arguments, but follow the material posted by the staff -- which is pretty good. Like one update every half hour these days, tracking exactly what each of our coaches are doing in their recruiting trips, and all that. They (and probably other sites too) have one-week type free trial membership, which will get you through the signing day next week. So, it's worth a try, if you want to. This is the last week of fun in recruiting, after all.

 

[jayakris]

Here is an article in Orlando Sentinel, who caught Chris Nelson inadvertently giving a hint that he may be coming our way.
The Link

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