15 Comments

  1. System Poster

    This is a great write up and great summation of the recruiting challenges at every school. The one thing I would take issue with is OSU’s superior access to the metroplex. Stillwater is surprisingly far from DFW. Like, just about Lubbock far. From some quick google mapping, even from the far north Dallas suburbs, you’re still looking at a four hour drive (versus about a five hour drive to Lubbock). And the driving times get closer together the further south and west you get in the metroplex. I also assume it’s a lot easier to fly into Lubbock than Stillwater. OSU’s recruiting advantage, such as it’s been, has mostly been just because they’ve won a lot more football games.

    • Travis

      Eh, the thing is, a 4 hour drive is nothing for most Texans. I would say a lot of Texan students move ~4 hours away for wherever they go to school. And a 4 hour drive is nothing for a family to come to 6 or 7 home games per year. Flying isn’t a part of the equation at that amount of time.

      I mean, think about the options that a DFW recruit has within reaching distance. ~30 mins for TCU. 1.5 hours for Baylor. 3 Hours for Oklahoma. 3.5 hours for Texas. 4 Hours for OK State. Those are pretty much negligible when considering “close to home” arguments for families.

      • System Poster

        Yeah, not a huge deal to make a 4 to 5 hour drive, depending on what part of the metroplex you’re coming from. My point was more about how Lubbock is considered so far and Stillwater is considered close when in reality there’s not much of a difference.

    • ianaboyd

      That’s probably right, I should have checked the map. The only with Lubbock is that it’s a particularly tough drive…not that Oklahoma is filled with must-see country.

      • Tough drive?? 75-80mph only one place you have to slow down to 40mph(Post) Lot more to look at than the back end of 18 wheelers going down 35, making the trip to Austin 4-5 hours from the DFW area with traffic.

        • ianaboyd

          It’s the most interminable drive in the world. Just a straight line through a sea of nothing.

  2. Travis

    Great work Ian. Really well organized. Though my brain is craving the top 5 guys in each class. Those are always fun to look back on in a few years time.

    • ianaboyd

      Oh yeah, I got on a roll with the other stuff and didn’t consider doing that. Maybe I’ll circle back later.

  3. Matt

    Can you explain how transfers are different now because of the transfer portal? How is the process of transferring/acquiring a transfer any different than before?

    • ianaboyd

      If a player enters the portal than any school can recruit him without going through the school. It makes transfers more easy, and what’s more the trends and movement in the game is also towards granting waivers and encouraging player movement.

  4. Will

    Thanks, Ian.

    I think that chart shows just how effective Holgo was as a coach. 6th in recruiting, tied for 3rd in conference wins with Oklahoma State (which has a great coach in Gundy). If they had replaced him with anyone but Brown, I would still be stewing.

    As I noted in your WVU-specific breakdown, WVU’s recruiting had been ticking upwards under Holgo. As you note above, it was an .8578 last year and .8640 the year before vs. an 84ish average the last 5 years. I think Brown has a lot to work with, even if those classes were a bit light on freshmen.

    WVU has obviously struggled against top 25 teams under Holgo, I’m interested to see if the apparent upgrade in raw talent allows the team to compete more consistently with the top of the league and the insane OOC schedules coming up in the future.

    One last thing to note is that WV seems to be churning out more FBS talent than it had in the past. It did not help WVU this year with the two big time local recruits going out of state. But it might make recruiting a bit easier for Brown if he has some success early.

    • ianaboyd

      I don’t know that WV can produce enough players to make much of a difference, although you’d have thought that true of Nebraska as well and that hasn’t borne out. I dunno, it’d be interesting to learn what WV has to offer.

      Looking back through the years, Holgs was truly a master of spread-iso ball. They got a ton out of their talent on that side, year to year they kept finding ways to set up their best players in space, were just inconsistent on defense.

      I think that Brown’s play will be to rely less on creativity and more on roster depth, toughness, and defense. We’ll see though.

      • Will

        Having read your thoughts on Nebraska in the past, I think it can be similar. Local guys who want to be there and bring a local toughness that sets the tone for the program. Develop for a few years and contribute. They’ve had recent success with WV kids at FB, DL, LB and now TE with Wesco with local guys. Those seem like ideal “hard nose kids” positions. If they can keep that streak going and maybe keep some of the high end OL prospects from the Huntington area, it’s just one less spot they need to shop nationally for.

        I think you are spot on with the distinction between Brown and Holgo. The reason I like Brown’s upside is that folks keep talking about his attention to detail. He reminds me of Houston-era Herman in that way in interviews.

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