New emphasis on local recruiting

[btowngopher]

I was always in the camp of not really caring where we got kids from and never minded passing on some MN kids if the coaches didn’t deem them a fit. BUT I think it may be important to change philosophy on that now with the current transfer rules. I think an emphasis needs to be placed on the local kids and maybe taking more gambles on developmental types locally. It feels like they are far less likely to transfer. Still go for the highly rated guys across the nation, but it sure seems like they are less willing to sit on the bench when they have no real connections to the state, and if we don’t have NIL bucks to keep them around. Can always the portal for talent from all over. The one possible negative is having local guys that don’t pop eating up schollies on the bench. It seems that Fleck is kind of going more in this direction compared to earlier years.

 

[A_Slab_of_Bacon]

Guy is down on the depth chart and not going to play… is he more likely to stay?

I’m not so sure.

 

[MaxyJR1]

It comes down to playing time. Fill with kids that want to be Gophers and have talent. You won't win with all developmental lower rated MN kids. You have to mix it all together. I don't care if people transfer because in 2022 it is about best fit, playing time, and winning. Fleck will always be able to fill spots. He's shown that he can find starters to drop right into the line-up and contribute.

Annexstads (Simply to play)
Mann (Don't think he plays anywhere)
Seth Green (Simply to play TE and make the NFL)
All local guys that transferred out.

Fleck seems to do well in the PWO area in MN. Those guys get 1-2 years to make it happen or most move on or continue to walk-on and be Gophers.

 

[60's Guy]

You don't want guys on scholarship who don't play to stick around. Working out well that PJ coaxes 10-15 guys per year to transfer so we can gamble on 25 new recruits every year. All of our recruits are developmental...how often do we have a true freshman make a splash on the Gophers?

 

[Bob_Loblaw]

You don't want guys on scholarship who don't play to stick around. Working out well that PJ coaxes 10-15 guys per year to transfer so we can gamble on 25 new recruits every year. All of our recruits are developmental...how often do we have a true freshman make a splash on the Gophers?

That depends upon the guy.

Axel Ruschmayer was buried on the depth chart and turned into a All Conference guard.
Terrell Smith was buried on the depth chart at times and turned into a big part of our defense.

There are guys who give depth and could definitely get PT in their JR/SR seasons, we don't want them transferring out. Then there are guys who will never play, yes, we want them to transfer out.

It depends on the guy.

 

[Bob_Loblaw]

It comes down to playing time. Fill with kids that want to be Gophers and have talent. You won't win with all developmental lower rated MN kids. You have to mix it all together. I don't care if people transfer because in 2022 it is about best fit, playing time, and winning. Fleck will always be able to fill spots. He's shown that he can find starters to drop right into the line-up and contribute.

Annexstads (Simply to play)
Mann (Don't think he plays anywhere)
Seth Green (Simply to play TE and make the NFL)
All local guys that transferred out.

Fleck seems to do well in the PWO area in MN. Those guys get 1-2 years to make it happen or most move on or continue to walk-on and be Gophers.

Mann was never going to play a snap here, I think that was made pretty clear to him.

As far as Annexstad and Seth Green, absolutely they transferred out, but I don't think they would have stayed here 4 years if they weren't local.

 

[btowngopher]

It comes down to playing time. Fill with kids that want to be Gophers and have talent. You won't win with all developmental lower rated MN kids. You have to mix it all together. I don't care if people transfer because in 2022 it is about best fit, playing time, and winning. Fleck will always be able to fill spots. He's shown that he can find starters to drop right into the line-up and contribute.

Annexstads (Simply to play)
Mann (Don't think he plays anywhere)
Seth Green (Simply to play TE and make the NFL)
All local guys that transferred out.

Fleck seems to do well in the PWO area in MN. Those guys get 1-2 years to make it happen or most move on or continue to walk-on and be Gophers.

Other than Mann those are all local guys that had already shown a willingness to go play elsewhere before college. Also Green did contribute and only transferred for his last year. Just seems like guys like Boe and Kramer would already be gone if they weren’t from here. Or even Green may have left earlier.

 

[btowngopher]

That depends upon the guy.

Axel Ruschmayer was buried on the depth chart and turned into a All Conference guard.
Terrell Smith was buried on the depth chart at times and turned into a big part of our defense.

There are guys who give depth and could definitely get PT in their JR/SR seasons, we don't want them transferring out. Then there are guys who will never play, yes, we want them to transfer out.

It depends on the guy.

Right the guys that will never play you want to transfer, but the guys that play sparingly could still have important roles that at any moment could become even more important.

 

[A_Slab_of_Bacon]

It comes down to playing time. Fill with kids that want to be Gophers and have talent. You won't win with all developmental lower rated MN kids. You have to mix it all together. I don't care if people transfer because in 2022 it is about best fit, playing time, and winning. Fleck will always be able to fill spots. He's shown that he can find starters to drop right into the line-up and contribute.

Annexstads (Simply to play)
Mann (Don't think he plays anywhere)
Seth Green (Simply to play TE and make the NFL)
All local guys that transferred out.

Fleck seems to do well in the PWO area in MN. Those guys get 1-2 years to make it happen or most move on or continue to walk-on and be Gophers.

I like this response a lot.

MN tallent seems like more dimond in the rough type talent, and we've done well there.

And Annexstad, and Green. They both contributed a lot. Yeah they transfered out but we got a lot out of them / they did well. I don't think that is necessarily a bad outcome.

 

[Gophers1992]

Other than Mann those are all local guys that had already shown a willingness to go play elsewhere before college. Also Green did contribute and only transferred for his last year. Just seems like guys like Boe and Kramer would already be gone if they weren’t from here. Or even Green may have left earlier.

Kramer is still here because the only way he’d get a starting QB job is if he went down to D2.

 

[Goldmember]

I think the FCS schools will become the new JUCOs for marginal FBS-recruits that want to play college football at the highest level.

 

[Panthadad2]

Maybe a little off topic, but...

The State of Minnesota has similar high school football participant numbers as Wisconsin and way more than Iowa, yet both UW and UI carry twice as many in-state players on their rosters (MN in the 20s, WI and IA near 40-50ish). Plus, Iowa shares with Iowa State. The quality gap in recruits can't be that different in reality, can it? I've never understood that in-state roster disparity.

 

[tjgopher]

There has already been a bit of shift to giving outstate players more scholarship offers.

Alexandria, Kasson, Detroit Lakes, Tracy, Hutchinson, Fargo all represented with scholarship players either already on campus or committed to be on campus in the future.

 

[gopherbadgerman]

You don't want guys on scholarship who don't play to stick around. Working out well that PJ coaxes 10-15 guys per year to transfer so we can gamble on 25 new recruits every year. All of our recruits are developmental...how often do we have a true freshman make a splash on the Gophers?

Bucky and Bateman did but few and far between

 

[UpAndUnder43]

Bucky and Bateman did but few and far between

Walley, Winfield Jr.

 

[btowngopher]

Looks like Fleck has taken 12 Minnesota kids the last two years (assuming no one decommits), compared to 12 over the previous years four years. Also interesting that Purcell was the lowest rated of the three olinemen from the 21 class, but is the only one left as the two out of staters have left.

 

[MaxyJR1]

Kramer is still here because the only way he’d get a starting QB job is if he went down to D2.

Some people know their role and are ok with it. That's what makes team sports unique.

 

[MaxyJR1]

Mann was never going to play a snap here, I think that was made pretty clear to him.

As far as Annexstad and Seth Green, absolutely they transferred out, but I don't think they would have stayed here 4 years if they weren't local.

You're probably right, and Annexstad only transferred when he was healthy and Morgan announced he was coming back. Green was playing a ton but wanted to be a TE for NFL exposure.

 

[PMWinSTP]

I was always in the camp of not really caring where we got kids from and never minded passing on some MN kids if the coaches didn’t deem them a fit. BUT I think it may be important to change philosophy on that now with the current transfer rules. I think an emphasis needs to be placed on the local kids and maybe taking more gambles on developmental types locally. It feels like they are far less likely to transfer. Still go for the highly rated guys across the nation, but it sure seems like they are less willing to sit on the bench when they have no real connections to the state, and if we don’t have NIL bucks to keep them around. Can always the portal for talent from all over. The one possible negative is having local guys that don’t pop eating up schollies on the bench. It seems that Fleck is kind of going more in this direction compared to earlier years.

The pool of talent in MN beyond the top 3-5 recruits drops off pretty quickly.

 

[GopherPoke]

Maybe a little off topic, but...

The State of Minnesota has similar high school football participant numbers as Wisconsin and way more than Iowa, yet both UW and UI carry twice as many in-state players on their rosters (MN in the 20s, WI and IA near 40-50ish). Plus, Iowa shares with Iowa State. The quality gap in recruits can't be that different in reality, can it? I've never understood that in-state roster disparity.

I think you'd have to look into how many kids those states have on other P5 rosters compared to how many MN kids are out there playing on P5 teams. Is the # disparity still there? I bet it is, but I do not know that for sure.

 

[MaxyJR1]

The pool of talent in MN beyond the top 3-5 recruits drops off pretty quikly.

I would say that about the slam dunk P5 guys, but I think there are 10 legit guys nearly every year that if they get in the right spot, at the right school, have legit P5/NFL talent.

 

[MaxyJR1]

Maybe a little off topic, but...

The State of Minnesota has similar high school football participant numbers as Wisconsin and way more than Iowa, yet both UW and UI carry twice as many in-state players on their rosters (MN in the 20s, WI and IA near 40-50ish). Plus, Iowa shares with Iowa State. The quality gap in recruits can't be that different in reality, can it? I've never understood that in-state roster disparity.

Part of it is a sport called Hockey.

 

[MNVCGUY]

Part of it is a sport called Hockey.

Did a quick search for fun and came across this college hockey media kit. Some interesting info. But in response you the part about athletes there is a spot that looks at the # of D1 hockey players that come from each state.

For the 21-22 season there were 206 hockey players from Minnesota playing D1 hockey. That was #1 by a lot. #2 was Michigan with 158 players and although Wisconsin was in the top 10 they were all the way down at #8 with just 44 players.

https://collegehockeyinc.com/images/2021-22_CHI_Media_Kit.pdf

 

[Panthadad2]

Part of it is a sport called Hockey.

Once you get to D1 level football and hockey, they are totally different animals athletically and body type. There's no question youth hockey could take some youth football numbers, but I just don't see it at the high levels. Would there be a significant number of MN hockey players that could play high level Power 5 football? Doubtful. Plus, even with hockey, Minnesota gets more high school football participation than Wisconsin (very close) and Iowa (much more).

 

[Panthadad2]

I think you'd have to look into how many kids those states have on other P5 rosters compared to how many MN kids are out there playing on P5 teams. Is the # disparity still there? I bet it is, but I do not know that for sure.

True.

 

[PMWinSTP]

I would say that about the slam dunk P5 guys, but I think there are 10 legit guys nearly every year that if they get in the right spot, at the right school, have legit P5/NFL talent.

Gophs have commits from five of the top seven ranked players in the state for 2023 according to 247. I can't see Fleck taking many scholarship chances beyond those top 10-12. PWO? Yes, I can see him doing that, and I think he does that pretty well.

 

[MaxyJR1]

Once you get to D1 level football and hockey, they are totally different animals athletically and body type. There's no question youth hockey could take some youth football numbers, but I just don't see it at the high levels. Would there be a significant number of MN hockey players that could play high level Power 5 football? Doubtful. Plus, even with hockey, Minnesota gets more high school football participation than Wisconsin (very close) and Iowa (much more).

I've seen many D1 hockey guys that were also D1 LB, WR, QB, S types. Football has just been treated differently in MN than many of the surrounding states. I also think with MN having many more D2 programs, cuts into walk-on programs at the D1 level. Additionally Iowa has a large connection between Football and Wrestling culture.

247 for 2023

WI lists 4 guys on Composite List and 1 P5 commitment
MN lists 13 and 11 with P5 commitments
IA lists 19 and 17 with P5 commitments (Having 2 P5 programs, you have more opportunities dream about playing D1 and being part of the 2 programs.)

Not all are scholarship commitments, some are PWO

P5 is special. You can just walk on a field and tell if there are any P5 players. They stick out in body type alone.

 

[Word]

I've seen many D1 hockey guys that were also D1 LB, WR, QB, S types. Football has just been treated differently in MN than many of the surrounding states. I also think with MN having many more D2 programs, cuts into walk-on programs at the D1 level. Additionally Iowa has a large connection between Football and Wrestling culture.

247 for 2023

WI lists 4 guys on Composite List and 1 P5 commitment
MN lists 13 and 11 with P5 commitments
IA lists 19 and 17 with P5 commitments (Having 2 P5 programs, you have more opportunities dream about playing D1 and being part of the 2 programs.)

Not all are scholarship commitments, some are PWO

P5 is special. You can just walk on a field and tell if there are any P5 players. They stick out in body type alone.

Hockey also basically doesn't exist in Iowa and as you mentioned, barely exists in Wisconsin. I think people here take hockey seriously and just play football "for fun" (so to speak). Whereas in Wisconsin and Iowa there are more players taking high school football a lot more seriously.
Active NHL players by state:
Minnesota: 45
Michigan: 31
Mass.: 24
NY: 23
NJ: 11
WI: 10
IA: 2

 

[Bayfieldgopher]

It seems as if NDSU always has 2-3 OL starters from MN, ND or SD and at other positions. Same with the other Dakota schools. The latest was Cordell Volson from a tiny ND town drafted 4th round by the Bengals. Nash Jensen from Maple Grove has been a four year starter. Cody Mauch, again from a tiny ND town, has been another standout OL gaining AA honors last season. I'm sure there are others who have done well and likely not a sniff from MN. We all know about the two NDSU QB's that made it big. Going into 2022 NFL season, there were up to 15 NDSU players on rosters.

I know, I know. You can't get them all and some are difficult to find. But NDSU finds them. But if these guys are doing great at smaller schools why can't they be serviceable at MN?

 

[Word]

It seems as if NDSU always has 2-3 OL starters from MN, ND or SD and at other positions. Same with the other Dakota schools. The latest was Cordell Volson from a tiny ND town drafted 4th round by the Bengals. Nash Jensen from Maple Grove has been a four year starter. Cody Mauch, again from a tiny ND town, has been another standout OL gaining AA honors last season. I'm sure there are others who have done well and likely not a sniff from MN. We all know about the two NDSU QB's that made it big. Going into 2022 NFL season, there were up to 15 NDSU players on rosters.

I know, I know. You can't get them all and some are difficult to find. But NDSU finds them. But if these guys are doing great at smaller schools why can't they be serviceable at MN?

11 Gophers in NFL and 7 from NDSU.
The problem with trying to take all the NDSU players in hopes you would find those few that turn out, is there is a huge percentage that would be complete garbage as Big Ten players. It would just be a very risky recruiting strategy.