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Blending Blue Chippers with Blue Collars for just the right chemistry ...
Posted on 5/22/13 at 11:56 am
Posted on 5/22/13 at 11:56 am
Teams that have too many blue chippers and not enough blue collar guys never work. Bad joo joo. You gotta have just the right blend to build good chemistry.
Saban is the master of doing this IMHO.
Mark Richt, on the other hand, is not and that is made evident by Georgia's recruiting haul each season, which has been historically in the Top Ten under Richt, but where he hasn't had enough of the old time hard working blue collar players on his squads.
You can also have too many blue collar players and not enough blue chippers.
So who are your solid blue chippers, and who are your blue collar guys?
(Forget the star ratings and go-off of pure football acumen.)
Blue Chippers = could play for anybody. Truly special athletes. Gifted.
Blue Collar = hard workers, extra effort guys. Leaders. Usually good on the field and in the classroom.
For SCAR, this season, I would submit:
Blue Chippers
Jadeveon Clowney (DE)
Mike Davis (RB)
Bruce Ellington (WR)
Chaz Sutton (DE)
Kelcey Quarles (DT)
Victor Hampton (CB)
Shaq Roland (WR)
Jerell Adams (TE)
Brandon Shell (OT)
Phillip Dukes (DT)
Chaz Elder (S)
Blue Collar
Connor Shaw (QB)
Brandon Wilds (HB)
Dylan Thompson (QB)
Buster Anderson (TE)
AJ Cann (OG)
Cody Waldrop (C)
JT Surratt (DT)
Brison Williams (S)
... and honestly, most of the rest of the roster appears to be simple Blue Collar guys for the Gamecocks this season, not counting some of the new guys that are coming in July who are not on the roster yet, who I have yet to see actually play.
Bama, LSU, Florida and even UGA, I almost expect you to have many many more Blue Chippers and less Blue Collar guys, but I'm not sure. A&M I sort of expect you to be about the same as SC if you're honest about it.
Very very few teams in the country are as loaded with Blue Chippers as are Bama and even LSU.
So Cal is a good example of a team with too many Blue Chippers and not enough Blue Collar guys, so is Texas usually IMHO. Looks good on paper but does not translate into good chemistry on the field. FSU is another example of the same IMHO.
Saban is the master of doing this IMHO.
Mark Richt, on the other hand, is not and that is made evident by Georgia's recruiting haul each season, which has been historically in the Top Ten under Richt, but where he hasn't had enough of the old time hard working blue collar players on his squads.
You can also have too many blue collar players and not enough blue chippers.
So who are your solid blue chippers, and who are your blue collar guys?
(Forget the star ratings and go-off of pure football acumen.)
Blue Chippers = could play for anybody. Truly special athletes. Gifted.
Blue Collar = hard workers, extra effort guys. Leaders. Usually good on the field and in the classroom.
For SCAR, this season, I would submit:
Blue Chippers
Jadeveon Clowney (DE)
Mike Davis (RB)
Bruce Ellington (WR)
Chaz Sutton (DE)
Kelcey Quarles (DT)
Victor Hampton (CB)
Shaq Roland (WR)
Jerell Adams (TE)
Brandon Shell (OT)
Phillip Dukes (DT)
Chaz Elder (S)
Blue Collar
Connor Shaw (QB)
Brandon Wilds (HB)
Dylan Thompson (QB)
Buster Anderson (TE)
AJ Cann (OG)
Cody Waldrop (C)
JT Surratt (DT)
Brison Williams (S)
... and honestly, most of the rest of the roster appears to be simple Blue Collar guys for the Gamecocks this season, not counting some of the new guys that are coming in July who are not on the roster yet, who I have yet to see actually play.
Bama, LSU, Florida and even UGA, I almost expect you to have many many more Blue Chippers and less Blue Collar guys, but I'm not sure. A&M I sort of expect you to be about the same as SC if you're honest about it.
Very very few teams in the country are as loaded with Blue Chippers as are Bama and even LSU.
So Cal is a good example of a team with too many Blue Chippers and not enough Blue Collar guys, so is Texas usually IMHO. Looks good on paper but does not translate into good chemistry on the field. FSU is another example of the same IMHO.
2
Posted on 5/22/13 at 11:57 am to scrooster
UA has always had one or two. Rashaad Johnson, Nick Gentry, Robert Lester...
Posted on 5/22/13 at 11:59 am to scrooster
You'd think beating us 3 years in a row would quell some of the jealousy. 
Posted on 5/22/13 at 12:25 pm to ugasickem
quote:
You'd think beating us 3 years in a row would quell some of the jealousy.
There is no jealousy whatsoever. It only proves my point. If you manage to get the right mix of blue chippers and blue collar and you coach'em-up, then you have a good chance of being good.
Before you get all defensive and snarky, let's be honest, shall we? Richt, until just recently surpassed by Saban at Bama, consistently averaged the highest recruiting ranking in the conference, and for many years the country, yet he have very little to show for it over the same period of time. I attribute that to not having a proper sampling of blue collar players to go with all the blue chippers, and also to the fact that UGA had injury issues along the OLine for a few years that may have cost you some on the field. You had great running backs and QBs, but you didn't have the complete offensive lines like, say, Bama has had under Saban most years. That's been the difference. Yet your OLines have been full of 4 and 5 star guys, whereas you needed some blue collar 3 and 4 star guys mixed-in.
Just MHO fwis, which combined with a dollar might buy you a cup of coffee.
Posted on 5/22/13 at 12:37 pm to scrooster
Teams that win national championships are loaded with blue chippers.
No one has an entire team of 5 and 4 star rated players.
No one has an entire team of 5 and 4 star rated players.
Posted on 5/22/13 at 12:43 pm to roadGator
quote:
Teams that win national championships are loaded with blue chippers.
This; Auburn 2010 may have been the exception to this general rule.
Posted on 5/22/13 at 12:45 pm to Buckeye06
We were a senior heavy team with two once-every-decade type players.
Posted on 5/22/13 at 12:50 pm to 15sammy34
quote:
We were a senior heavy team with two once-every-decade type players.
Agreed but were your seniors highly rated or kind of grinders who had worked their way up the depth chart?
Posted on 5/22/13 at 12:50 pm to roadGator
quote:
Teams that win national championships are loaded with blue chippers.
No one has an entire team of 5 and 4 star rated players.
Well, blue chippers can be blue collar. Saban has a good track record for recruiting blue chippers with a good head on their shoulders and are willing to work.
There's also a strong correlation between teams that have a good mix of in-state, homegrown talent and out-of-state studs. Making sure you have local boys helps keep the character of the team consistent.
Posted on 5/22/13 at 12:53 pm to Buckeye06
quote:
Agreed but were your seniors highly rated or kind of grinders who had worked their way up the depth chart?
A lot of them were pretty highly rated (four star types). Josh Bynes, Lee Ziemba, Ryan Pugh, Terrell Zachary, Mike Berry, Mike McNeil (felony four), OMac, and of course Dyer was 5*.
Posted on 5/22/13 at 12:53 pm to scrooster
quote:
Richt, until just recently surpassed by Saban at Bama, consistently averaged the highest recruiting ranking in the conference, and for many years the country, yet he have very little to show for it over the same period of time.
That is pure mythology. It is a mythology that you will hear a lot from Georgia Tech fans, but false nonetheless.
Here is where UGA ranked in SEC recruiting ranking from 2002-2013 (that is where their rankings archive started) according to scout:
4th
6th
2nd
7th
3rd
2nd
6th
2nd
2nd
2nd
4th
2nd
The average for that period is 3.5 again this is SEC ranking only not national ranking
I agree with your broader point about needing a mix of blue chip prospects and blue collar prospects, but to say Richt is the best recruiter before Saban doesn't appear true based on the above data.
Posted on 5/22/13 at 12:54 pm to Buckeye06
quote:
Agreed but were your seniors highly rated or kind of grinders who had worked their way up the depth chart?
A mix of both, I'm sure. And knowing that Tubby recruited them, there were probably some diamonds in the rough as well. Guys that blew up once they got on campus, but wouldn't be considered either highly rated or grinders.
Posted on 5/22/13 at 1:05 pm to ProjectP2294
quote:Tubs and his staff knew how to train, teach, and fundamentally develop players, period.
A mix of both, I'm sure. And knowing that Tubby recruited them, there were probably some diamonds in the rough as well. Guys that blew up once they got on campus, but wouldn't be considered either highly rated or grinders.
That 2010 AU team had a good amount of blue-collar players that knew how to work and were leaders. It also had a few really good blue-chip players mixed in, i.e. Dyer/Newton. It helped tremendously that Cam was a seasoned QB that had the physical and mental abilites to absorb Gus' offense in a relatively short period of time and was effective once Gus tweeked the offense to Cam's strengths.
Still, that 2010 team was not a dominating team on offense or defense, IMO. There were some really close games, that took AU gutting it out to win.
It still amazes me at how Chizik was able to keep that whole staff and team grounded and focused on the task at hand when there were constant outside distractions. When GC said it was a God thing, he was being serious.
Posted on 5/22/13 at 1:08 pm to RT1941
quote:
It still amazes me at how Chizik was able to keep that whole staff and team grounded and focused on the task at hand when there were constant outside distractions. When GC said it was a God thing, he was being serious.
That's the hardest thing to figure out for me. How in the hell can someone lead a team to a MNC after that shitstorm, and then completely lose control? All I can figure out is that Cam and the seniors really had their shite together in the locker room.
Posted on 5/22/13 at 1:32 pm to RT1941
quote:
Tubs and his staff knew how to train, teach, and fundamentally develop players, period.
I agree. We had a small discussion on the SECRB about some of the players he brought in, specifically on defense, that weren't highly regarded out of HS, but developed into NFL talents.
Posted on 5/22/13 at 2:09 pm to Dawg in Beaumont
quote:
I agree with your broader point about needing a mix of blue chip prospects and blue collar prospects, but to say Richt is the best recruiter before Saban doesn't appear true based on the above data.
I never typed that. Just the opposite ... I typed, "until just recently with what Saban has done at Bama."
No one is out-recruiting Saban. Even when Saban does not have the top ranked class, he still does imho.
Saban is the master of filling holes with quality talent.
Too often we see, especially these days and Clemson is a good example, where they have highly rated classes full of skill players but seriously lacking in quality, and quantity, trench guys.
Posted on 5/22/13 at 2:11 pm to 15sammy34
quote:
That's the hardest thing to figure out for me. How in the hell can someone lead a team to a MNC after that shitstorm, and then completely lose control? All I can figure out is that Cam and the seniors really had their shite together in the locker room.
One superstar player on offense, and one superstar player on defense, can really make a difference imho. They are the ones you go-to when you absolutely have to have something that will make a difference in a game.
Posted on 5/22/13 at 2:13 pm to ugasickem
quote:
You'd think beating us 3 years in a row
insert OleMiss fan with Vandy's foot in his/her arse.
Posted on 5/22/13 at 2:56 pm to scrooster
quote:
Richt, until just recently surpassed by Saban at Bama, consistently averaged the highest recruiting ranking in the conference, and for many years the country, yet he have very little to show for it
How is that not saying Richt was the best recruiter before Saban? It sure looks like that is what you were saying
It's not a crazy opinion, just a little off-base when you look at the data. Richt's best recruiting class ever was ranked 4th in the country (his average nationally is around 10th). I'm probably just a little more sensitive on this debate since I hear from ignorant Georgia Tech fans all the time who say things like "Richt gets the #1 class every year and can't win shite!"
Richt has the same number of SEC titles as he does top 4 national classes.
This post was edited on 5/22/13 at 3:08 pm
Posted on 5/22/13 at 7:29 pm to Dawg in Beaumont
quote:
Richt, until just recently surpassed by Saban at Bama, consistently averaged the highest recruiting ranking in the conference,
quote:
Dawg in Beaumont asked:
How is that not saying Richt was the best recruiter before Saban? It sure looks like that is what you were saying
Seriously?
Do I need to give you a lesson on sentence structure and syntaxual interpretation?
(Mark) Richt, UNTIL (HE) WAS JUST RECENTLY SURPASSED BY (NICK) SABAN AT BAMA, consistently averaged the highest recruiting ranking in the conference and for many years the (entire) country (of the U.S. of A.), yet he has very little to show for it.
Here's let's do it this way - take out the part about Saban and Bama ...
Richt consistently averaged the highest recruiting ranking in the conference and for many years the country, yet he has very little to show for it.
Had I left that statement as it is above I would have been patently incorrect.
Now, insert this part, about Saban and Bama, in it's proper placement within the sentence as I did.
"... until just recently SURPASSED by SABAN at BAMA."
Do you still not see it - seriously?
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