re: Maybe Smart wasn't ready for a head coaching job

More the a few O-linemen from the MAC in the NFL.Highly doubt any of them
were in the "top 300"

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Lots of O-linemen from the MAC conference in the NFL.Highly doubt any of them
were in the "top 300"

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Do the math yourself:

"About 25% five-star recruits like No. 1 pick Jameis Winston goes on to become a first-rounder, but only about 1% of three-star recruits like No. 2 Marcus Mariota does. "

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Wazzu was 9-40 in the 4 years prior to his arrival for an 18% winning %.
Wazzu is 15-6 in their past 21 games for a 71% winning %.

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Jesus,AGAIN with the cherry picking of the numbers and OF COURSE only judge em
on his last 21 games when he's been there since '12. So he came behind a shitty
coach.WGAS? Point is,2 coaches proved you could be succesful there and you could
maybe call Erickson a great coach and not so sure about Price. Oh,BTW are you
including the Portland State and Eastern Washington games in his losses?
You think both those schools had more talent?

Texas Tech has finished ranked 12 times in their history.
Texas Tech finished ranked 5 times in a 6 year period from 2004-2009 and hasn't finished ranked since then. [/quote]

And his best team (2008) was beat by OU by 45 points and an above average Ole Miss
team by 2 TD's.

So why hasn't a "great coach" like Leach been offered a big time job?Plenty of openings
last year and the year before.

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Never once did I say 5 star players don't have better NFL odds...OF course they do.
Just said it was idoitic to rank HS players into the 400's and 500's especailly
O-lineman.

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The math supports such rankings:



Its clearly not idiotic to give less talented recruits 2 or 3 stars.

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And his best team (2008) was beat by OU by 45 points and an above average Ole Miss
team by 2 TD's.

So why hasn't a "great coach" like Leach been offered a big time job?Plenty of openings
last year and the year before.

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Do you not know anything about his persona? He is a lighting rod. Only desperate programs who have horrid histories take chances on lightning rods. Thats not a knock on coaching ability as you incorrectly assert.

No honest and educated CFB fan disregards the significance of an 83% ranked rate from 2004-2009 at a program that only finishes ranked 9% the rest of the time.

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Its clearly not idiotic to give less talented recruits 2 or 3 stars.

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No, it's not, but using your logic we should have better talent at WR and OL. We have recruited six 4* talent or above at the OL and six 4* talent or above at WR since 2014. Why are they not playing better?

Is it talent? Not according to you.
S&C? We got an ex Alabama guy there, and he worked out pretty good for them.
Coaching? About the only thing that is left.

People are all over the place with their arguments. Some want to go by stars, saying it is accurate, while saying our WR's and OLinemen are horrible. yet we have recruited $8 and above the last three years that can compare with pretty much anybody outside of Alabama in the SEC.

Take a look at Auburn, since they are a major rival.
They have recruited six WR's 4* or above and 5 OL 4* or above since 2014.

Florida has recruited four 4* WR's and two 4* (Or above) OL

So, either our players are in the wrong scheme, not being coached properly, or well...you tell us. I honestly don't know.

I do not think you will see the same curve with lineman. I wouldn't argue a correlation between star ratings and success in College at Oline, but then we are talking about UGA having 3/4 and a few 5 star lineman, they are not taking any projects on per say. If you use star rankings, I think we have seen that they typically end up playing on average within the same level as players one star above or below. You have the occasional busts and 2 stars who are 1st draft picks. You tend to see more of those on the line.

I think when you start breaking out actual rankings of HS players, you just get too far outside the realm of the tangible. Especially when you look at things like matching up to schemes...

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So are you saying he had better or worse personnel than Portland State and
Eastern Washington?

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He has taken the worst Big 5 program at the time of his hire to the top 25 this week with his 2nd class of seniors. It takes more than "good" to pull that off. Again, the math just isn't on your side.

This is a link from an article about the most difficult HS players to evaluate



1. Offensive linemen
Scarcity: Every offense is designed to involve at least five players from one of the world's smallest gene pools: the tall, heavy, and quick-footed.

Defensive linemen are often more athletic and sometimes similarly sized, but their responsibilities on the football field are considerably different. An offensive lineman has to have the agility to get in front of blitzing linebackers along with the powerful base necessary to stand his ground when facing a defensive tackle with an explosive first step and 310-pound frame.

Every offense is designed to involve at least five players from one of the world's smallest gene pools.
Work on the offensive line is generally very technical and involved, requiring the ability to learn and master skills. While defensive linemen needn't necessarily be the brightest players on the field to understand how they fit into a scheme, offensive linemen have to work carefully in tandem with great awareness of their pre-snap plan along with how that will change when the bullets start flying.

You also need a portion of nastiness. When the action gets heavy, it's helpful if the offensive linemen are scrappers who like to intimidate the smaller defenders paired across from them.

The huge, powerful, tall, quick, crafty, and cruel athlete is not one of the more common varieties. And he'll probably need long arms and a wide butt, too.

NO. 1 OFFENSIVE LINEMAN
Cameron Robinson, Alabama commit
Evaluation: Most offensive linemen are not 6'5, 300 pounds coming out of high school. Among 2014's 25 blue-chip tackles on the 247Sports Composite, only 10 are already listed at 300, and lesser prospects are likely to be smaller.

That means projecting the future frames of 16- to 18-year-olds and those players' willingness to pack on the needed weight and power (if that sounds easy, consider that 2013 No. 1 NFL Draft pick Eric Fisher gained 70 pounds in college after weighing 250 as a two-star prospect). And that takes time. The instances of freshmen starting on offensive lines are particularly rare, as a good line is usually built with upperclassmen. Coaches hope most linemen will emerge ready to contribute after two or three years in the program.

Like on the defensive line, it's not uncommon to find players with necessary size who were happy to bully smaller players in high school, but less wiling to embrace the massive amount of discipline, energy commitment, and threshold for pain necessary to find success. Much like Andrew Bynum on the hardwood, some kids play football in high school because they are 6'4, 280 pounds and it comes easily, not because they particularly love the game. Coaches have to be able to tell the difference.

Other kids struggle to keep on the needed weight to withstand power rush moves or drive back determined defenders. In addition to training, class, film, and games, linemen have to eat about 5,000 calories per day. If they suffer injuries, it can be hard to keep the needed weight on while rehabbing. Injuries are not at all uncommon for offensive linemen who have to navigate both the chaos in the trenches along with the risks that come from their own girth. It's simply very hard to be both a healthy person and a 300-pounder.

Evaluating kids for injury risk, the willingness to face hard coaching and challenging scenarios, and the ability to master the techniques and assignments on the line with rebuilt bodies is one of the more challenging tasks in recruiting. Given how few of these massive kids with truly exceptional athleticism exist, offensive line is the most challenging position to recruit.

As you watch and hope for your team to snag that prize, five-star running back, keep in mind the real prizes in a recruiting class. The ones that don't come so easily.

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He has taken the worst Big 5 program at the time of his hire to the top 25 this week with his 2nd class of seniors. It takes more than "good" t

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And the same could be said for Bill Curry at GT or Franklin at Vandy. Both "great coaches"
right?I believe both those guys did it with their 1st sr class...not sure.