With the 2018 recruiting cycle winding down, it's a good time to take a look back over the past year and what has transpired.
Last year one of the more popular recruiting content items to appear at Cats Illustrated was a "behind the scenes" curtain-pulling exercise - read that here from February, 2017, if you'd like.
Now for this year's edition.
UK Athletics
Musical quarterbacks
It wouldn't be Kentucky football without a little quarterback recruiting drama.
Kentucky offered Lawrenceville (Ga.) Central Gwinnett dual-threat Jarren Williams in the spring of 2016. I was happy to have the opportunity to watch him in Lexington at a camp shortly after that. It was obvious to me at the time that because of Williams' quickness in the pocket, his natural attributes and potential for improvement, and his coachable personality, he was bound for big things in the prospect world. He built a rapport with Darin Hinshaw that was obvious right away, but I was surprised when Williams committed to Kentucky over the summer.
At that first camp at Kentucky, Williams' father told me that they were loving it at Kentucky. I also spoke with him about Florida State's early interest, because Williams had a verbal offer from the Seminoles at the time. They had been to Tallahassee once and I got the distinct vibe that Fisher's track record with quarterbacks was a huge positive. His father never told me FSU was the school to beat, but I came away feeling that was the case.
I did not get the impression that Williams' father was pushing him away from Kentucky. I did get the impression that some at Central Gwinnett wanted to see him end up elsewhere.
Actually, I sensed a real disconnect between Williams' camp and the staff at Central Gwinnett. On multiple occasions, someone close to Williams would ask me what the staff at Central Gwinnett was saying about his recruitment, why he picked Kentucky, or other schools. It seemed clear at the time that there was a level of mistrust, and if "mistrust" is too strong then at least a lack of familiarity that would prompt them to want to glean information from me almost as a passive intermediary.
So why did Williams' commit? The first time around I got the impression it was because the opportunity to play at one of the nation's more prestigious programs kind of pulled him gradually in that direction. I do think there were people around him in more than one place that were encouraging him to explore. This was after the round of offers from Tennessee, Florida, Florida State, LSU, etc.
The second time he decommitted, I got the impression that there was some of that (with the verbal offers from Alabama, Ohio State, Miami, etc), but this was also during the football season and I don't think the people around Williams liked the direction of the offense. There was a quarterback coach from the area who responded to one of my tweets on Williams with something to the effect of, "You have to run an offense that's going to make guys want to go there." Central Gwinnett head coach Todd Wofford "liked" the tweet, so in my mind there's little doubt about where he stood on the matter.
Long after Williams had committed to Miami, his father called me up out of the blue to thank me, because he thought I had been very fair to his son throughout his recruitment. I do pride myself on going out of my way to cultivate real relationships with prospects and their families that don't hinge on where they end up, and the same has been true with Mac Jones.
His father didn't call to talk recruiting, but he did pretty much say (paraphrasing here), "I knew when he got the offer from Miami it was going to be hard to pass up." Mark Richt's track record with QB's brought the same punch that Jimbo's had with FSU and, paired with the Hurricanes' 2017 season (reaching the ACC championship) and putting together one of the nation's top classes, that was what they went with. He told me that he never tried to sway his son from Kentucky. He addressed his appearance on Kentucky Sports Radio. Remember, Williams had gone on that program to reiterate that nothing had changed as regarded his son's status with Kentucky. On that point a lot of readers will probably roll their eyes. I would say two things: One, I think it was a mistake to make that appearance if there was still a possibility that Williams would flip, because it was bound to come back and reflect poorly if he did. But two, I don't think he was lying. I think it was true, that nothing had changed with Williams' status at that time.
The elephant in the room and the great unanswered question is whether Williams was really angsting about his decision or whether he was always holding a spot with Kentucky and just waiting for a supposedly "better" option to come along. I am convinced that, at least for him, it was the former. I don't think his father was aggressively pushing a decommitment throughout his recruitment, but I also don't think he was going to put up much resistance, especially later. And the staff at Central Gwinnett, I believe, was happy to see him flip.
Kevin Doyle
Other quarterback notes
Darin Hinshaw stayed in contact with three-star Washington D.C. quarterback Kevin Doyle throughout much of the recruiting process, to varying degrees based on what was going on with Jarren Williams at any given time.
To be honest, this is a case of a kid becoming more popular with fans on a website than he probably was in recruiting circles. Many Cats Illustrated readers were tired of the Williams' saga (and perhaps quarterback drama period) and the opportunity to lock down a quarterback with offers and a solid ranking, who apparently wouldn't flip, was enticing. That said, I spoke with a number of people who saw Doyle as an "OK" prospect with limited upside.
Doyle committed to Michigan so that gave the appearance that Kentucky had slept on someone who was going to star in the Big Ten. I don't think that's the case. He is no longer committed to Michigan and has tweeted he will sign with a new school on February 7th. Weeks ago, his father called me and essentially made a long case that he should have a spot with Kentucky. He didn't want to acknowledge that his spot with UM was in peril, but at one point he did finally say, "I don't know if that's going to be an opportunity." Of course, I have no say-so whatsoever when it comes to who Kentucky takes. But his father seemed to believe I did and was quite perturbed at his perception that UK was underrating him. He felt that Kentucky was overrating the athleticism factor with Terry Wilson and sleeping on his own son's athleticism - something I would certainly disagree with.
Doyle's father told me that Hinshaw had said time and again that his son was his preferred quarterback option, but at the end of the day Kentucky did not move in that direction. With the Cats ultimately landing Terry Wilson, a player with a much higher upside, I think it definitely worked out for the best. Former Kentucky commitment Mac Jones didn't think too highly of Doyle's game, for what that's worth. They competed at one or two events together.
On Wilson and his recruitment, as with Williams before I got the distinct impression that his junior college coaching staff wanted him elsewhere, particularly if a spot were to have opened up at Texas. One person at Garden City even straight up told me, after Wilson's commitment, "We were surprised when he committed to Kentucky. They definitely did a good job of recruiting him but Texas is a really big program and it's right down the road from us." (It's not right down the road, but it is a big program with more of a regional footprint). There are a lot of good, selfless coaches in the process, and there are some who want to leverage a player for their own gain.
Tyler Bentley
Last year one of the more popular recruiting content items to appear at Cats Illustrated was a "behind the scenes" curtain-pulling exercise - read that here from February, 2017, if you'd like.
Now for this year's edition.
UK Athletics
Musical quarterbacks
It wouldn't be Kentucky football without a little quarterback recruiting drama.
Kentucky offered Lawrenceville (Ga.) Central Gwinnett dual-threat Jarren Williams in the spring of 2016. I was happy to have the opportunity to watch him in Lexington at a camp shortly after that. It was obvious to me at the time that because of Williams' quickness in the pocket, his natural attributes and potential for improvement, and his coachable personality, he was bound for big things in the prospect world. He built a rapport with Darin Hinshaw that was obvious right away, but I was surprised when Williams committed to Kentucky over the summer.
At that first camp at Kentucky, Williams' father told me that they were loving it at Kentucky. I also spoke with him about Florida State's early interest, because Williams had a verbal offer from the Seminoles at the time. They had been to Tallahassee once and I got the distinct vibe that Fisher's track record with quarterbacks was a huge positive. His father never told me FSU was the school to beat, but I came away feeling that was the case.
I did not get the impression that Williams' father was pushing him away from Kentucky. I did get the impression that some at Central Gwinnett wanted to see him end up elsewhere.
Actually, I sensed a real disconnect between Williams' camp and the staff at Central Gwinnett. On multiple occasions, someone close to Williams would ask me what the staff at Central Gwinnett was saying about his recruitment, why he picked Kentucky, or other schools. It seemed clear at the time that there was a level of mistrust, and if "mistrust" is too strong then at least a lack of familiarity that would prompt them to want to glean information from me almost as a passive intermediary.
So why did Williams' commit? The first time around I got the impression it was because the opportunity to play at one of the nation's more prestigious programs kind of pulled him gradually in that direction. I do think there were people around him in more than one place that were encouraging him to explore. This was after the round of offers from Tennessee, Florida, Florida State, LSU, etc.
The second time he decommitted, I got the impression that there was some of that (with the verbal offers from Alabama, Ohio State, Miami, etc), but this was also during the football season and I don't think the people around Williams liked the direction of the offense. There was a quarterback coach from the area who responded to one of my tweets on Williams with something to the effect of, "You have to run an offense that's going to make guys want to go there." Central Gwinnett head coach Todd Wofford "liked" the tweet, so in my mind there's little doubt about where he stood on the matter.
Long after Williams had committed to Miami, his father called me up out of the blue to thank me, because he thought I had been very fair to his son throughout his recruitment. I do pride myself on going out of my way to cultivate real relationships with prospects and their families that don't hinge on where they end up, and the same has been true with Mac Jones.
His father didn't call to talk recruiting, but he did pretty much say (paraphrasing here), "I knew when he got the offer from Miami it was going to be hard to pass up." Mark Richt's track record with QB's brought the same punch that Jimbo's had with FSU and, paired with the Hurricanes' 2017 season (reaching the ACC championship) and putting together one of the nation's top classes, that was what they went with. He told me that he never tried to sway his son from Kentucky. He addressed his appearance on Kentucky Sports Radio. Remember, Williams had gone on that program to reiterate that nothing had changed as regarded his son's status with Kentucky. On that point a lot of readers will probably roll their eyes. I would say two things: One, I think it was a mistake to make that appearance if there was still a possibility that Williams would flip, because it was bound to come back and reflect poorly if he did. But two, I don't think he was lying. I think it was true, that nothing had changed with Williams' status at that time.
The elephant in the room and the great unanswered question is whether Williams was really angsting about his decision or whether he was always holding a spot with Kentucky and just waiting for a supposedly "better" option to come along. I am convinced that, at least for him, it was the former. I don't think his father was aggressively pushing a decommitment throughout his recruitment, but I also don't think he was going to put up much resistance, especially later. And the staff at Central Gwinnett, I believe, was happy to see him flip.
Kevin Doyle
Other quarterback notes
Darin Hinshaw stayed in contact with three-star Washington D.C. quarterback Kevin Doyle throughout much of the recruiting process, to varying degrees based on what was going on with Jarren Williams at any given time.
To be honest, this is a case of a kid becoming more popular with fans on a website than he probably was in recruiting circles. Many Cats Illustrated readers were tired of the Williams' saga (and perhaps quarterback drama period) and the opportunity to lock down a quarterback with offers and a solid ranking, who apparently wouldn't flip, was enticing. That said, I spoke with a number of people who saw Doyle as an "OK" prospect with limited upside.
Doyle committed to Michigan so that gave the appearance that Kentucky had slept on someone who was going to star in the Big Ten. I don't think that's the case. He is no longer committed to Michigan and has tweeted he will sign with a new school on February 7th. Weeks ago, his father called me and essentially made a long case that he should have a spot with Kentucky. He didn't want to acknowledge that his spot with UM was in peril, but at one point he did finally say, "I don't know if that's going to be an opportunity." Of course, I have no say-so whatsoever when it comes to who Kentucky takes. But his father seemed to believe I did and was quite perturbed at his perception that UK was underrating him. He felt that Kentucky was overrating the athleticism factor with Terry Wilson and sleeping on his own son's athleticism - something I would certainly disagree with.
Doyle's father told me that Hinshaw had said time and again that his son was his preferred quarterback option, but at the end of the day Kentucky did not move in that direction. With the Cats ultimately landing Terry Wilson, a player with a much higher upside, I think it definitely worked out for the best. Former Kentucky commitment Mac Jones didn't think too highly of Doyle's game, for what that's worth. They competed at one or two events together.
On Wilson and his recruitment, as with Williams before I got the distinct impression that his junior college coaching staff wanted him elsewhere, particularly if a spot were to have opened up at Texas. One person at Garden City even straight up told me, after Wilson's commitment, "We were surprised when he committed to Kentucky. They definitely did a good job of recruiting him but Texas is a really big program and it's right down the road from us." (It's not right down the road, but it is a big program with more of a regional footprint). There are a lot of good, selfless coaches in the process, and there are some who want to leverage a player for their own gain.
Tyler Bentley
