I totally agree huge disappointment there because that’s the one area on defense you cannot afford to fail… I just hope we can pick up two or three different makers in the portal.
This is an area that will have to improve dramatically if we’re going to make a move up the ladder because everybody else seems to be getting good DL and we will have to as well.
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Are they still growing? Yes I know coaches who look at a young Junior with two taller parents and snap them up.
Dave Van Horn committed Heston Kjerstad as a tiny shortstop. About 5-10. He looked at a 6-4 dad and an older brother just as tall and thought Heston would fill out. He did.
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Comments like these are always interesting to me. You have no way of knowing whether this class is bad.
You’re basing it on rankings, some better than others. I’m sure the 2019 class that was just re-ranked as a Top 10 class was similarly lowly-rated.
That’s not to say this class will develop, similarly. We don’t know yet. But getting your drawers in a ringer over a class ranking that doesn’t include several additions that, if we had signed them out of HS would have been some of the best in modern history, seems really weird.
I’ve said it for years—both when we have been good and bad. The rankings are subjective and we don’t know what we have until they’re assembled, coached and developed.
Petrino’s rankings were meh and he won big. Morris had many more wins in recruiting than on the field and he ended up being the worst hire in school history.
So, forgive me for not gnashing my teeth about a ranking that you would be a lot happier about with the addition of a player who (for reasons we don’t know) had to take an offer from Campbell (not the soup).
I know you’ll respond with how we have always done poorly and the results reflect it. This is both true and false.
But, I’m not going to hand-wring over a subjective ranking that is set up in such a way that it’s virtually impossible for any Hog class to be near the Top of the SEC.
It’s silly, self-fulfilling prophecy, inferiority complex stuff.
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Would I LOVE to have a class ranked in the top 5? Of course. Do I have any doubt that those ranked in the top 5 to 10 have better classes than we have? No, they do. I do think, considering the subjectivity of recruiting rankings, that there probably isn’t any substantial difference between #15 and #30.
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Very good posts Adam and Greg!
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Pitiful. You can’t build a championship team from the portal…you must achieve repeated years of successful recruitment across the board, particularly on the Defensive Line. We have a great start on the backend but we have yet to demonstrate a program that attracts SEC DL sufficiency to be competitive year after year. You can’t “wish” it to happen or have a few specialists to fall into your lap. It is beyond time, to find a High Quality Co Defensive Coordinator to match Odom quality on the backend. Place a bonus on results while there’s still an open field in the surrounding states.
That is about the worst conclusion on recruiting I have read in 20 years… Look at a group of apples to compare with apples and you will find we are not even on the wagon with Defensive Linemen to be SEC competitive. You can’t scheme 6’5", long-bodied, agile, pass rushers that have a natural trait of vicious meaness that only a Mother would tolerate. No, there is a big difference between a 3 star tuba player with a 5.0 speed 5 star raw recruit that can tackle deer by the horns.
Good point Clay. I recall Dave Van Horn built this baseball program by staying with a balanced vision that we have not yet achieved on the football side. It is much more difficult for Pittman but as with Muss in three years it can be done.
Not at all actually. I’m just listening to Sam Pittman.
If Sam Pittman thought we were recruiting well enough, he would not have made the coaching changes he has.
This 2019 class everyone is citing - You have to be on this top 10 reranking list consistently to be highly competitive. Maybe they can do it. But do you honestly think that would be easier with mostly 3 stars or with 4 and 5 stars? Look who they singled out in the article: KJ Jefferson and Treylon Burks. Two of the four star recruits in the class.
There are always exceptions. But generally the teams that consistently finish highest in recruiting also consistently win at the highest level.
Anyway, my post wasn’t meant to be negative at all. Sam knows we’re not recruiting at an elite level. He is making the moves to get us there. 2023 will be a very good one.
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Did you even read the post? Wow. Where did I say there was no difference between a tuba player and a 5 star recruit? What I said was, there is not much substantial difference in a class ranked #15 and a class ranked #30. In watching the outcomes years later, year after year, that appears to be the truth. I top 10 class? BIG difference.
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Our 2023 class is currently rated in the top 5. Knowledgeable recruiting folks will tell you it takes several years to develop relationships with top rated players. It appears that’s the case with Sam’s third class.
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I do NOT think it as easy to turn it around in football as basketball. Only one coach has DONE it at Arkansas but it can be done. You have around 40 that “play” in football. Musselman plays about seven. Others have played more.
It does come down to leadership. But remember that most of Sam’s recruiting has been done in Covid with no visits on campus or very few.
I like the look of the next few classes.
I think pass rushers like Sanders and Jackson are extremely big gets. They have been hampered by injuries but they are huge recruits by this staff. Huge.
Agree with you on DL. Only big need we still have in my opinion. Ridgeway made a huge difference in allowing linebackers to run free and make plays.
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Redpig, I don’t know that you would know the difference between a 3-star tuba player and a 5-star tuba player, so you probably aren’t qualified to make those comments.
Numerous people I trust told me that a UA legacy was getting a scholarship just because he was a legacy. A wasted scholarship. Kid wound up being pretty good, Jake Bequette. Not sure if that relates, or not, but its a good story.
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I would say that generally the teams that consistently win at the highest level finish highest in recruiting. Go back and look at EOEk’s rankings this century. At one point they had 5 top 10 classes in a row and had a losing season. Look at Clemson’s recruiting rankings the last 5 years and the record they had last year. It is amazing how much a kid’s ranking can jump if a top team starts recruiting them.
What would the class be ranked if they rated the punter from Australia and rated the deep snapper both are very highly thought of.
I’m disappointed that we didn’t get any defensive linemen-YET, but I’m happy with this class. We got alot of good OLinemen, WR, LB’s and solid players all the way around. Now it’s all about how they get coached up. I’m not about to mail the National Championship trophy to Texas A&M just because they got the #1 recruiting class, games are won on the field. If it were just about signing day, we shouldn’t even be close to programs like Texas, Alabama, or even A&M. We shouldn’t even be able to beat their 2nd teams if it’s just about recruiting rankings. Size, weight, speed and competition are great indicators when judging a player, not just looking at their star levels and of course the amount of effort or “buy-in” once they get on campus.
I think Luke Jackson and Drew Sanders are rush ends. I consider them linemen. Sanders may get a look at inside linebacker, but he was an outside linebacker or rush end at Alabama. Jackson is a pass rusher, too. I could be wrong on how Sam Pittman intends to play them. That’s one of the things I want to discuss later in the spring.
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Jackson didn’t do much at LSU. Mostly special teams. Guess he had some injuries but LSU had a few DL injuries as well and he didn’t crack the lineup.
Hoping for better things from him here.
I have hopes that Isaiah Nichols, Eric Gregory, and Cam Ball will all take a big step forward with another off season and spring practice. And then if we can add another Ridgeway type via the portal, all the better.
I think we have enough options returning and coming in to help at DE