2013 Recruiting

A few points:

1) We may finish w/ a top 20 class, as we have for many years. However, we don't seem to be making progress in recruiting that matches our progress on the field. Back to back 11-2 seasons should, to my mind, result in more interest from elite out of state recruits.

2) Your point a/b Boise and Clemson is well taken, however, this isn't an either-or proposition. Can't we recruit elite talent AND develop talent well? I'd rather have 3*'s and fantastic coaches instead of 4*'s and guys who don't have a clue.. but why not both excellent talent AND great coaching? Our goal is to win a conference championship in the toughest conference in arguably its toughest era. You must have game-changing talent to do that.

3) I appreciate your response but it didn't address the main point I was trying to make which is that in the past few months we have lost recruits, been unable to close on others, and seem to be the lone top flight SEC program not generating interest amongst the elite talent.

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However, we don't seem to be making progress in recruiting that matches our progress on the field. Back to back 11-2 seasons should, to my mind, result in more interest from elite out of state recruits.

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Recruiting is pretty subjective. Everybody and their brother tells you they run a 4.4, and then they get laser timed at a 4.7 Everybody has decent 5 minute highlight reels, but they don't show you the 10 loaf plays a game. Why I'm saying this is, don't put too much in the whole star rankings. Pharoh Cooper is a 3 star, but he was the best Sr football player in the state of NC this year.

I think our coaches are doing fine with recruiting.

...and if we're getting real...we lost Rolin, a kid with a late season busted ACL to the Florida Gators...who have one of the deepest LB corps in the NCAA. He showed poor judgement by thinking that was a bright/right move, so it's better that he's not here and we now have a shot with higher ranked, non-busted LB's that can contribute immediately, b/c that's what we need.

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Can't we recruit elite talent AND develop talent well?

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Yes, that's what we've been doing. Ingram wasn't a 5 star, but he went the 1st round. Clowney is a 5 star and he'll be the #1 pick.

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I'd rather have 3*'s and fantastic coaches instead of 4*'s and guys who don't have a clue.

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Good, b/c that 4 star thing would make us clemson!!!

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You must have game-changing talent to do that.

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Yes, but coaching is important too. Ask clemson and allbarn about their game changing talent and 5 star recruits. Does anyone still remember who Tony Steward is (hint: not a NASCAR driver.)

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Coaching turnover, we lost just 6 last year.

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It's weird though, Bama seems to not lose any of their coaches when they've been elite. How are they able to hold on to their coaches so easily? Main example is Kirby Smart.

Perhaps I just don't follow them closely enough to notice their coaches leaving so take that fwiw.

I will have to see if i can find the article to link it here... But until then there was a article in the Charleston paper awhile back about why USC doesn't rank higher in recruiting classes. It basically goes on to say that SS and Ward looks specifically for guys that fit the scheme and who have not yet reached there full potential, that way they can "coach em up" without having to break bad habits from the "elite" attitudes you develope when you are shizznit in high school. Heck even Ward said Clowney was getting by on size and talent alone in High school.

Guys like Swearinger who have a fire inside of them and willingness to compete will always be chosen over guys who think the stars beside there name will get them through the SEC.

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I will have to see if i can find the article to link it here... But until then there was a article in the Charleston paper awhile back about why USC doesn't rank higher in recruiting classes. It basically goes on to say that SS and Ward looks specifically for guys that fit the scheme and who have not yet reached there full potential, that way they can "coach em up" without having to break bad habits from the "elite" attitudes you develope when you are shizznit in high school. Heck even Ward said Clowney was getting by on size and talent alone in High school.

Guys like Swearinger who have a fire inside of them and willingness to compete will always be chosen over guys who think the stars beside there name will get them through the SEC.

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That's an interesting point that I hadn't heard yet, thanks for posting it. However, in several cases this year I've heard of us going after those elite players (Lawson, Foster) even though they have a reputation for loafing (Foster, for sure).

Maybe this cycle is an aberration in that we don't seem to be on the radar for ANY top 50 guys. I have only been following recruiting for a couple of years. But it seems to me that now, at this point in our program, w/ our recent SEC success and draft success, and w/ one of our players enjoying non-stop media attention, that we would be in the running for some elite talent at positions of need.

And while I do trust the talent evals of our staff, I also have been very impressed w/ the talent evals of 247sports. Their top 247, especially towards the top end, has a pretty high hit rate going back 4-5 years. I admire our staff for finding diamonds in the rough (at least as graded by these scouting services), but I don't entirely believe that our staff thinks we pull the top guys at each position each year and its the talent rating services that are entirely wrong.

Come at me and tell me how stupid you are after NSD. We are going to land Skia Moore, Deadrin Senat, and maybe a few other more. Prob have 9 or 10 4 stars for Carolina. Everyone misses on targets.

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We're likely to finish w/ the 8th or 9th best recruiting class in the SEC.

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Ain't gonna cut it. Next year's class has the opportunity to be top 10 if we keep the in-state talent home and away from clemmy. Coaches HAVE to close though. Clearly not doing it now. I highly doubt we get Ngakoue or Walton. My prediction is we finish with Moore and maybe Bryant.

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^ Senat committed to USF.

And if we land every single guy left on our board (Walton, Moore, Bryant, Ngakoue) we'll have AT MOST SIX 4*'s as rated by the 247 Composite, putting us at prob the #20 class. We're likely to finish w/ the 8th or 9th best recruiting class in the SEC.

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I don't get the doom and gloom regarding this class...

We have brought in the majority of the guys who the coaches wanted. Our needed position, LB, is being filled by the four players we have already (Bryant, Camara and Turner with Johnson probably being included in that position at the next level) so anything we brought in during the home stretch was just insurance. We loaded up our lines, as we have done each of the last two years. We got the QB and both running backs that they wanted along with some special talent in Cooper and Sasser. Cooper was one of our lowest rated, star wise, before the all star games and he killed it on the field (much more relevant than how many stars a random guy on the internet decides he deserves...).

As far as the players we "lost" (Langley and Rollin in particular) none of them was an absolute need. Rollin was coming in at the same position as Larenz, who is more talented and has a higher ceiling. I would have liked to have Rollin (his tape was fun to watch), but not having him isn't going to dictate where we are going to be as a program. Langley was a bonus from the moment he declared here, and from then on out he was courting UGA, so not a big loss by any stretch of the imagination. We also are pretty set at CB with what we have in Hampton, Legree as the starters and very talented young guys backing them up (McWilliams, Moody and Elder in particular).


I would much rather we sign the 20 we have now and leave room on the roster for next year's prospects (who look to be much deeper and even more talented at the positions we would be replacing...), than sign these guys just to fill out this years roster. If we get a Keith Bryant or Ngakoue then it's a nice bonus, but I don't think it will kill us if they go elsewhere.

Recruiting is mildly entertaining compared to the class-5 hurricane force drama our fans ooze each year when we talk about a bunch of 18-year-olds wanting to pick a damn school to play for. Why do we, year after year, waste our time drooling over the star-rankings and 40 times of players who may/may not play for us, and instead place our trust in professionally-hired coaches who know WAYYYYY more about these players than we (or any "pundit") do?

Sure, we're going to lose some players. Happens every year, and the coaches plan for that. Sure, we're going to have some busts. Happens every year, and our coaches are prepared for that as well.

South Carolina high schools aren't going to have 5-star, world-beating talent EVERY year like those in, say, Immokalee, FL, and because we aren't a national brand like Alabama, we have to ride the wave. Some years we're recruiting where we're thin, and some years we're chasing the Gilmores, Clowneys, and Lattimores. Our coaches hit the recruiting trail just as hard this year as they did in 2008, and they know best how to navigate it.

Instead of us worrying about why we're losing THIS guy, know and understand why we recruited THAT guy and see where he's going to fit in the overall coach's scheme.


In other words... Shut up, sit down, trust the coaches, and GO COCKS!!!