Yep, couple calls didn't go our way and a kid made a mistake in coverage, was a tough one to take. Talent wise we are better this season, but we won't have the sr leaders on this team we had in 17. Nick Chubb,Sony Michel, Lorenzo Carter and jr Roquan Smith provided great leadership on and off the field for us and that is what we will have trouble replacing. All are great guys and represented the football program and university very well and will be missed. Nick wants to buy a farm and start growing vegtables with his NFL money when his career is over, now that's country.
Recruiting
- Thread starter bratboy
- Start date
Yep, couple calls didn't go our way and a kid made a mistake in coverage, was a tough one to take. Talent wise we are better this season, but we won't have the sr leaders on this team we had in 17. Nick Chubb,Sony Michel, Lorenzo Carter and jr Roquan Smith provided great leadership on and off the field for us and that is what we will have trouble replacing. All are great guys and represented the football program and university very well and will be missed. Nick wants to buy a farm and start growing vegtables with his NFL money when his career is over, now that's country.
I agree. I characterize the Stoops era this way. He has worked successfully with our school to lay the right foundation and infrastructure. The stadium has been renovated. Our practice facility is elite now. Recruiting scope has been expanded. Recruiting budget and staff budget have been increased, while Stoops has fostered cohesiveness. Hanging onto Vince Marrow was emblematic of this. Most of Stoops’ decisions have been successful. He was slow to recognize importance of having a dedicated special teams coordinator and quarterback coach, but he eventually recognized these needs. With all of these things generally going well, Stoops has created an environment that is attracting players and gradually improving the won-lost record. It’s a process. We don’t win every game, and we don’t sign every player we want. But the program is clean, the news is usually good, and things gradually get better. So here we are. As you correctly described, Stoops has now reached a sort of litmus test. With 17 starters and most of his depth coming back, this is the year he “should” break through, reach a better bowl game, and then win it. And, then, sign a breakout class. It’s that time.
LOL! It’s fairly normal for 1 poster to respond to another after being directly addressed. Let’s call this what it is. Lots of people make long posts here from time to time. You can see several others above. You arbitrarily picked out mine, and in so doing you diverted a recruiting thread. Let’s discuss recruiting.
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You make some good points,there are layers to recruiting that go beyond the individual player.Elam was more important because of what he represented than he was because of the player he turned out to be.Harris was the same.The two players turned out differently,and UK got the short end of the stick both ways.I don't think you can blame Stoops directly because as someone pointed out in another post the football situation is the opposite ot UK and Alabama basketball,maybe even more pronounced.
We need to sign the lion's share of what home grown talent there is to be had but if that talent is perceived to be elite we are going to battle elite programs.The latest example is the Bowles kid,he is from a 2 AA school and is a long shot to be SEC level but he may turn out to be very good.Where would you rather go,to a national championship contender or a school fighting to make a bowl game.
Stoops is better at identifying talent and getting it than Joker was,he is probably not as good as Brooks in the area of talent identification but he is better at landing higher rated players.
This season Stoops has a lot on the line ,6 wins are a must but he needs 7 or more to signal he is on the rise.We have enough players(particularly on defense) to line up and play,we should be in every game with a chance to win in the 4th quarter.We moved in that direction last year but fell short to some degree. We have 4 games that should be over by halftime,we have to get to the point that we control the games we should control.Struggling into the 4th quarter to beat a team we should put away in two quarters can't happen.Those are games where 2nd stringers get experience and you find 3rd stringers that can help when you need them.
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Bowl games are always a crap shoot. Teams look at them differently. Some teams come into them looking to put an stamp on their season and some come into them looking at them as a weekend get away. It's crazy the way teams have to spend to be on par with recruiting. UGA's facilities were some of the worst in the conference 4 years ago, no usable indoor facility, small weight room, stadium dressing rooms were small, recruits had nowhere to lounge around. Last Jan we opened our new indoor faciilty, one of the nicer ones in the country now, this year one end of the stadium is being redone, new suits, new recruiting lounge for recruits and parents, new weight rooms,new dressing rooms at the stadium, all adding up to near 150m. When recruits come on officials each family is driven around in new black Tahoes. Richt didn't do things like that. He has also increased the size of our support staff, I am not sure how many we have now, but it rivals Bama's in numbers with several former college coaches on it and a couple of coordinators who help with game plans and film study./
I don't know how we will do this season, I expect a pretty good year, maybe not playoff good, but I don't think our defense takes as big a stop backwards as I was expecting, we are going to be very fast, but our next really good team won't be until 19. But 19 I expect the division to be a good bit tougher too,I think we will start pushing the West for best division in the SEC. I am think the East will have the best collection of coaches from top to bottom. After Saban even with the new hires the west has Saban and not much else. JImbo was about to be fired before Jamis showed up at FSU and after he left, A&M did FSU a favor, Gus is good for 4-5 losses and would have been fired this year if he hadn't beat UGA and Bama, now AU is stuck with a 7.5M contract for the next 7 years or so. He loses 3 in a row to UGA and Bama again, they will be looking to fire him again, their fans were after the bowl game this year.
Grumpy we are in a position that every time we line up we should be gunning for a win,regular season,bowl game or sandlot pick-up game.
Those with an agenda don’t want people to be reminded that Stoops has won recruiting battles with Saban and Meyer and Harbaugh. They want only to focus on those negatives that bait people into negative thinking. If UK surprises people on the field this year, Stoops could take his good recruiting to the next level. Placing UK players in the 2019 NFL draft will also send a big message. If you don’t like UK, there is a legit reason for concern. Nothing is more scary to other programs than a staff who can recruit showing wins on the field and developing 3 star players into NFL draft picks.
Agree that Paschal's mover to DE will be huge for us. Not only gets more athleticism and pressure on the front line but opens up a spot for other athletic guys like Boogie Watson to get on the field. Kinda like when Pete Rose moved to third so George Foster could get in the lineup in left. Except Paschal will thrive at DE where Pete wasn't really made for third but got by.
I think it tells you the condition of the sec east when the most tenured HC has a losing record and in 5 years has put zero HS recruits in the nfl with one recruit overall. Now that's scary!
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Your "No NFL recruits" is getting old and tired, it has been explained to you numerous times.
But I can understand that it is hard to find things to pick at Stoops about.
Replace Boogie's name with Jordan Wright and you'll be on a hot scent on that one. Boogie wasn't stuck behind Paschal but Jordan would've been.
Just for you , sir...like all your BS "facts" about MB ruining UK FOOTBALL and the salivating all over MS when yes there is plenty to pick about MS...Man is in way over his head just like you!!!
Most interesting to learn from JR’s post this morning that Vince Marrow has taken over instate recruiting. No details on overall changes in recruiting responsibilities, I’m sure Vince still will cover Ohio.
Yes, plenty for you and Blue Decade to discuss, JR hinted he got that information from instate recruits he phoned last night.
Funny how you (or anyone else) have NEVER disputed any of those "disputed" FACTS-----because you can't. The dismal "recruiting room" was in use for about 12 years under mitch, while NO money was available but he gets a ton of credit for the MILLIONS he spent on HIS minor sports. And that wasn't the worst part, just the most obvious, with the picture available to everyone-----the picture that oddly enough seems to have just disappeared.
I support our coach as long as he is our coach, the way you scan every article to find something to throw dirt on him is ridiculous. Just a couple of days ago I saw where one of the recruits we were after, think it was an in state one, said the most important thing to him was having the coaching staff he committed to there while he was playing, anyone else remember that? The FACT is that Stoops isn't going anywhere anytime soon, partly due to the ridiculous buyout (which should be outlawed) and taking pot shots him at EVERY opportunity isn't going to change that, just maybe it might be the straw that sends some recruit we want somewhere else.
What?
Are you trying to say that if a receiver isn't covered it isn't necessarily the head coaches fault?
Geez, you must have been a coach at one time or another. LOL
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I hope he can turn it around, certainly our best recruiter IMO and Kentucky offers some opportunities this year. Sounds like Stoops isn't as brain dead as some posters like to claim he is.
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I gave you all I know on the topic for now. I don’t know the instate NCAA travel rules, but perhaps Coach Stoops, Mitch, F Maggard, the new Recruiting Director, etc, could attend a few golf tourneys and other charities around the state, shake a few hands of fans and HS coaches, hug a few babies, give a few speeches, maybe promote ticket sales and recruiting a tad. I read a lot of that going on here in west Tn in the spring and summer by coaches from UT, Memphis, and Ole Miss, even Saban came up to give a highly attended local college fund raising speech a few years ago.
Maybe Grumpy could share types of events that Ga coaches attend.
Happy to see acknowledgement of the problem and a plan to address it. I’m not expecting young men who already have committed elsewhere to magically flip to UK but hopefully this will stop the bleeding so to speak.
I am not sure if I get this post. Stoops first full class was 2014. Quite of few guys from that draft have a good shot to be drafted. After this year we will have at the minimum 3 guys drafted in Edwards Conrad and Allen. I would say 6 or 7 other guys have great shots. Snell a guarantee if he leaves early.
Here are some, Kirby is a native Georgian, his dad was a well liked HS coach in the state so he has a good many connections built in around the state. But on top of that he makes a visit to every HS in Georgia at some point during the year regardless if they have a prospect that year or not. This past month he hosted a 2 day coaching clinic that was attended by over 1000 HS coaches that included a practice, and the key speakers were the head coaches of the Patriots, Falcons and Rams. That's tripled the number of coaches we use to get. He does the normal Bulldog club meetings around the state. Another thing that helps is Dell McGee was a HS coach in Georgia until about 5 years ago, he was a founding member of the AA Georgia coaches Association and is well liked by the coaching community around the state. He was the lead recruiter for Zamire White, James Cook and Justin Fields last year and was national recruiter of the year.
To be on Kirby's staff you have to be a top recruiter, he fired Tracy Rocker because he was a lazy recruiter, didn't try to keep Shane Beamer who left for a lateral position or Kevin Sherer who left to be UT's DC. But offered a new title, co OC and QB coach, and 400K raise to James Coley to stay, which he did, when Jimbo Fisher offered him the OC job at A&M, of course Mrs Coley loving her some Athens didn't hurt there.
He isn't a fan of the big Jr days with huge numbers of kids being on campus, he rather have 12-18 on multiple weekends so he can spend an hour of so with each kid and their parents and doesn't make it feel rushed. But the biggest thing ishe is relentless, it's an everyday thing with him and that is something he demands of the entire staff.
Some areas we have recruited for years, Florida of course, usually target 3-4 players in both Carolinas, but went to the northeast in 18 and pulled 3, 2 from Pennsylvania and 1 from New York of all places but 15 were from Georgia when we got 8 of the top 10. The 2 we didn't get was number 1 Trevor Lawrence, but Justin Fields wasn't a bad backup option and number 10 JJ Peterson who we didn't recruit, you can only take so many LB in a class and we got the top 5 on our board which seldom happens, but 1 will likely end up at DE, he is already 255, and another at nickle back. He wasn't ranked as high, but the one moving to nickle was the best defensive player in the state, imo, flipped him from Mich on signing day too which made it even better.
Jordan can fill in fine but like think Boogie is the better athlete currently looking for a permanent spot on the field regardless of who was on the depth chart behind Josh, that's sort of where I was going with that. Point was moving Josh up displaces but it opens up a lot of other possibilities DE and LB to mover around.
And also developing 2 star players Josh Allen and Quinton Bohanna into NFL draft picks.
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Paschal weighed 260 last year, weighs 280 now. Josh has elite skills, but has always been a defensive lineman in terms of projection. He played outside linebacker last year because of need, and probably because he was promised a shot to play there. It won't surprise me if Paschal adds more good weight and inherits Adrian Middleton's defensive tackle job a year from now because I suspect Calvin Taylor and Davoan Hawkins will press hard for quality playing time at defensive end. And there are so many young, projectable linebackers on UK's roster with long frames - Wright, Whittaker, King, Davis, Oats. When these guys grow into their frames and fill out, most will still be linebackers but some will need to move like Paschal has.
