BleedGopher
Well-known member
- Joined
- Nov 11, 2008
- Messages
- 61,974
- Reaction score
- 18,168
- Points
- 113
per the Albert Lea Tribune:
One of the first steps Gophers head coach Jerry Kill needed to make when he took over in 2011 was to convince the best high school players in the state to stay home. While he’s done a solid job at that so far, in a state where the culture of high school football is much different than that of the South, it will continue to make the program only marginally better. In order to make leaps and bounds towards the top of the conference and, eventually, nation, Kill would have to go into states like Tennessee and steal the top players from teams like the Volunteers.
That’s a tall order.
To put into perspective the advantage schools like Tennessee, a middle-of-the-road SEC program, have over Minnesota and other Big Ten schools, you can simply look at the talent they have in their backyards.
The state of Tennessee is home to 42 recruits rated three stars of higher by ESPN in the 2015 class. Minnesota has just nine. Tennessee also has nine four-star recruits in its high school programs this year. That’s as many as Minnesota has had the past five years combined. Gophers running back commit Jeff Jones, for example, was ranked a four-star recruit.
But even Tennessee’s talent pales in comparison to Texas, which has an astounding 239 three-star recruits within its borders.
http://www.albertleatribune.com/201...ntage-over-gophers-with-more-rated-prospects/
Go Gophers!!
One of the first steps Gophers head coach Jerry Kill needed to make when he took over in 2011 was to convince the best high school players in the state to stay home. While he’s done a solid job at that so far, in a state where the culture of high school football is much different than that of the South, it will continue to make the program only marginally better. In order to make leaps and bounds towards the top of the conference and, eventually, nation, Kill would have to go into states like Tennessee and steal the top players from teams like the Volunteers.
That’s a tall order.
To put into perspective the advantage schools like Tennessee, a middle-of-the-road SEC program, have over Minnesota and other Big Ten schools, you can simply look at the talent they have in their backyards.
The state of Tennessee is home to 42 recruits rated three stars of higher by ESPN in the 2015 class. Minnesota has just nine. Tennessee also has nine four-star recruits in its high school programs this year. That’s as many as Minnesota has had the past five years combined. Gophers running back commit Jeff Jones, for example, was ranked a four-star recruit.
But even Tennessee’s talent pales in comparison to Texas, which has an astounding 239 three-star recruits within its borders.
http://www.albertleatribune.com/201...ntage-over-gophers-with-more-rated-prospects/
Go Gophers!!