re: SI re-ranks the 2012 recruiting classes...

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? I think Pinkel consistently outperforms his recruiting rankings by recruiting in their blind spots At the risk of oversimplifying, I think the services have two major blind spots. A strong prototypicality bias. That blind spot really riles the fan base. (What do you mean Chase Daniel is too small to play QB!?!) Players without a clear position. Services don’t like it when they don’t know what you are. There’s not really a category for that. And to be fair, it’s harder to evaluate what you can’t categorize. Even the Rivals/247/ESPN "athlete" category is overwhelmingly "slash" type dual threat QBs/WRs/DBs, where the skill set is fundamentally similar across the positions. They are rarely linemen or even linebackers. Pinkel has made a living exploiting that second blind spot. A bunch of guys who have been all-conference for Pinkel either didn’t have a set position at signing, changed positions on campus, and/or played multiple positions. Without thinking hard, I can name Weatherspoon, Ealy, Golden, Hoch, Marcus Murphy, Levi Coppelin, and recently Charles Harris as guys who have at least been contributing role players. All 3-stars or less (iirc). That’s not even counting the offensive linemen who all cross train. The recruiting services, by definition, cannot have that kind of foresight. I recall the question on Brantley was, well what is he? Services must rate based on what a guy is right now, and if they don’t know they knock a guy down. Pinkel’s staff, by contrast, excels at development. So he can recruit for a broad athletic profile, almost irrespective of position constraints, with the knowledge that he can grow and develop guys. I don’t know if Pinkel is a Nike SPARQ guy, but he undoubtedly uses something like that. He’s not just getting lucky. His development strategy is REALLY difficult to implement. You need an uncommon degree of stability in staff. "Those who fear disorder more than injustice inevitably produce more of both." -- Rev. William Coffin by dcrockett17 on 09.17.14 12:16pm

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