Carey Woods - Bemidji

[NoDakGopher]

I'd say the same thing about Southern Minnesota. Lot of big guys down here that are STRONG. Heck most football players here are strong. I was talking to a guy in my class that played football about the lifting numbers that were released over the off-season and our RB had similar lifting stats to Bennett.

exactly, many of the big guys up here are big farm kids too. So you know they're hard working as well, figured Kill would love kids like that on the team.

Edit: There was also a running back from International Falls about 5 years ago that was being recruited by schools like Notre Dame...Minnesota was nowhere to be seen there either. He ended up going to a junior college up here because he got a girl prego and needed to work to pay child support.

 

[Bob_Loblaw]

I will agree with one thing bemidjifan said, most of the fans on Gopherhole are absolutely ridiculous, and I too am embarassed by a lot of the people on here. That is including many of the people in this thread. I will, however, remain a fan. And he is correct about the out-state thing as well. I'm from out-state and the U is VERY RARELY up here for recruiting (believe me, you hear that kind of stuff up here, it's much more close knit than the metro). There are quite a few lineman up north that could make far more of an impact on Minnesota than the sad ones we have right now. Almost all of UMDuluths OL is from northern MN and some of them are far better than our sorry excuse of an OL.

After watching the Prep Bowl today, Minnesota needs to give more thought to Woods. He would definitely make more of an impact than some of the receivers we had this year. I wouldn't say he's a true freshman type player, but you could redshirt him and let him bulk up a little more and the kid could be a major player in Kill's offense. I have a feeling the one thing that might be holding the U back about bringing him in is his height, a 6 foot even receiver in the B1G isn't normal. But even after that, I think this kid has the ability to be a clutch receiver for the U.

No offense, but to have that opinion this year is absolutely in contrast with reality.
This will be the 5th time I post this on this thread, but how can someone argue that Kill doesn't recruit outstate MN when you look at our commits this season.
Jonah Pirsig - Blue Earth
Phil Nelson - Mankato
Maxx Williams - Waconia - (borderline suburb I suppose, but no one would consider it a "metro school")
Isaac Fruechte - Caledonia (by way of RCC)

Your opinion that the U doesn't recruit outside of the Metro is simply inconsistant with reality. Three of the most decorated football players, on the premier football programs in the state don't have Gopher offers (Harden, Larson, Michaelson) and they've dominated better competition than the outstate kids. It happens, you can't offer every talented kid in the state and when a kid doesn't get an offer, they don't get missed because of going to Bemidji (maybe the really small schools, but not Bemidji).

In fact, the kids who the U has missed most on have been Metro kids....
Marcus Williams - NDSU - Hopkins
Billy Turner - NDSU - Mounds View
Carleton Littlejohn - NDSU - Minneapolis North
Trevor Olson - Northern Illinois - Richfield
Tim Sauer - Northern Iowa - Rosemount
Waiwaoile - Air Force - Spring Lake Park

Those are the kids that the U has overlooked that just about every fan would say are the best MN kids who weren't offered by the U (and almost forsure would have came) and EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM is from the Cities.

(You could also throw in a few other Metro guys who weren't offered till too late, AJ Tarpley, James Farrow and Anthony Hayes)

 

[NoDakGopher]

No offense, but to have that opinion this year is absolutely in contrast with reality.
This will be the 5th time I post this on this thread, but how can someone argue that Kill doesn't recruit outstate MN when you look at our commits this season.
Jonah Pirsig - Blue Earth
Phil Nelson - Mankato
Maxx Williams - Waconia - (borderline suburb I suppose, but no one would consider it a "metro school")
Isaac Fruechte - Caledonia (by way of RCC)

Your opinion that the U doesn't recruit outside of the Metro is simply inconsistant with reality. Three of the most decorated football players, on the premier football programs in the state don't have Gopher offers (Harden, Larson, Michaelson) and they've dominated better competition than the outstate kids. It happens, you can't offer every talented kid in the state and when a kid doesn't get an offer, they don't get missed because of going to Bemidji (maybe the really small schools, but not Bemidji).

In fact, the kids who the U has missed most on have been Metro kids....
Marcus Williams - NDSU - Hopkins
Billy Turner - NDSU - Mounds View
Carleton Littlejohn - NDSU - Minneapolis North
Trevor Olson - Northern Illinois - Richfield
Tim Sauer - Northern Iowa - Rosemount
Waiwaoile - Air Force - Spring Lake Park

Those are the kids that the U has overlooked that just about every fan would say are the best MN kids who weren't offered by the U (and almost forsure would have came) and EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM is from the Cities.

(You could also throw in a few other Metro guys who weren't offered till too late, AJ Tarpley, James Farrow and Anthony Hayes)

Duluth has won 2 DII national titles in the past 3 years, you don't think a lot of those kids from northern MN are better than some of the kids we have now? Like I said, there isn't much B1G caliber athletes, i(.e.-WR, RB, etc.) up here, but as for linemen, you could find kids up north that are better than what we've had in recent years. Duluth has many skilled players from other parts of the country, but look where most of their linemen are from. And believe me, some of them are FAR better than what we have. The problem is just that most of them are from small schools the U has no interest in.

Edit: I take that back, most of their skilled players are from MN and WI

 

[Bob_Loblaw]

Duluth has won 2 DII national titles in the past 3 years, you don't think a lot of those kids from northern MN are better than some of the kids we have now? Like I said, there isn't much B1G caliber athletes, i(.e.-WR, RB, etc.) up here, but as for linemen, you could find kids up north that are better than what we've had in recent years. Duluth has many skilled players from other parts of the country, but look where most of their linemen are from. And believe me, some of them are FAR better than what we have.

I'm not saying that the U doesn't miss on some kids from up north. What I am saying is that the U doesn't miss on kids because of some bias against looking for talent outstate. We obviously look for talent outstate, as you can see by the number of outstate kids who have offers from the U this season. You can't say that the U doesn't recruit outstate when they have a handful of outstate recruits who have committed.

I'm saying that missing on potential prospects happens because it is an inexact science. There are going to be talented players who are overlooked. There are about 10 players playing D1 football at other schools who could REALLY help the U who are from the Metro (who weren't offered).

So my point is that the "missing on kids" is not because they are from Up North.

 

[Bob_Loblaw]

Duluth has won 2 DII national titles in the past 3 years, you don't think a lot of those kids from northern MN are better than some of the kids we have now? Like I said, there isn't much B1G caliber athletes, i(.e.-WR, RB, etc.) up here, but as for linemen, you could find kids up north that are better than what we've had in recent years. Duluth has many skilled players from other parts of the country, but look where most of their linemen are from. And believe me, some of them are FAR better than what we have. The problem is just that most of them are from small schools the U has no interest in.

Edit: I take that back, most of their skilled players are from MN and WI

Also...if you look at UMD's offensive lineman, more of them are from the Metro than are from Northern MN and even the kids from outstate are from big schools (Duluth East, St. Cloud)

 

[NoDakGopher]

I'm not saying that the U doesn't miss on some kids from up north. What I am saying is that the U doesn't miss on kids because of some bias against looking for talent outstate. We obviously look for talent outstate, as you can see by the number of outstate kids who have offers from the U this season. You can't say that the U doesn't recruit outstate when they have a handful of outstate recruits who have committed.

I'm saying that missing on potential prospects happens because it is an inexact science. There are going to be talented players who are overlooked. There are about 10 players playing D1 football at other schools who could REALLY help the U who are from the Metro (who weren't offered).

So my point is that the "missing on kids" is not because they are from Up North.

Definitely get what you're saying, Bemidji is one place I wouldn't consider overlooked because it's one of the largest northern schools, bemidjifan is crazy for thinking that. It is possible but not likely. Most of the out-state bias is considered against the rest of the northern schools. Those schools are all overlooked because they're smaller. It's understandable because there isn't an abundance of FBS talent, but they really should consider looking a little bit for linemen

 

[Bob_Loblaw]

Definitely get what you're saying, Bemidji is one place I wouldn't consider overlooked because it's one of the largest northern schools, bemidjifan is crazy for thinking that. It is possible but not likely. Most of the out-state bias is considered against the rest of the northern schools. Those schools are all overlooked because they're smaller. It's understandable because there isn't an abundance of FBS talent, but they really should consider looking a little bit for linemen

Yeah, I agree with that. I think it's hard for a kid from class A or AA to make a name for himself. I wish more of those kids would go to the U as walk ons and earn scholarships. That's what you see at WI a lot, they have a bunch of kids from small schools in WI who walk on at Madison and eventually earn a scholarship (Leonard, Abredaris (still not on scholarship), they had a S a couple of years ago that I can't remember his name, Burke a few years ago, Ewing, etc.).

 

[WHB Brewer]

Duluth has won 2 DII national titles in the past 3 years, you don't think a lot of those kids from northern MN are better than some of the kids we have now? Like I said, there isn't much B1G caliber athletes, i(.e.-WR, RB, etc.) up here, but as for linemen, you could find kids up north that are better than what we've had in recent years. Duluth has many skilled players from other parts of the country, but look where most of their linemen are from. And believe me, some of them are FAR better than what we have. The problem is just that most of them are from small schools the U has no interest in.

Edit: I take that back, most of their skilled players are from MN and WI

I'm not sure that is a fair statement to make. While it may be true for the past regime, it's not fair to make a blanket statement like that. You need to give Coach Kill time before you write him off too. I'm sure he is aware of the success at UMD, and will make note of where they get all their size up front. He talks often about Wisconsin, and they have a home-grown OLine as well.

Part of it has to be building a relationship with the coaches, who will tip off the U's staff to come take a look. They can't find guys they don't even know about. I've heard many stories about Brew not building any relationship with the HS coaches in the state, and thus no HS coach would send a player to Brew. From what I have heard, Coach Kill is working to re-establish a relationship among the HS coaches, which should lead to more of the in-state big boys wind up at the U.

Greg Eslinger is probably the greatest o-lineman the U has ever had, and he was from Bismark, NDak. Not exactly a metro hotbed of D1 prospects. But coaches will bring in players who they see potential. It does not if they are from the big bad metro, or timbuktu.

 

[WHB Brewer]

Yeah, I agree with that. I think it's hard for a kid from class A or AA to make a name for himself. I wish more of those kids would go to the U as walk ons and earn scholarships. That's what you see at WI a lot, they have a bunch of kids from small schools in WI who walk on at Madison and eventually earn a scholarship (Leonard, Abredaris (still not on scholarship), they had a S a couple of years ago that I can't remember his name, Burke a few years ago, Ewing, etc.).

No doubt about that. But a kid CAN make a name from himself by going to camps and making a direct impression in front of the coaches. If they think they have the talent, then they need to have the heart and belief in themselves to go and try to make it at the highest possible level. If they "settle" for D2, then they probably wouldn't success at the B10 level anyway. There is more to playing than just size and speed. You gotta have the heart to play at that level and have success. Coach Kill has talked about that frequently. He wants players who want to be here. A walk on who can prove himself will be given the opportunity.

 

[50PoundHead]

I don't know a lot of football coaches or athletic directors, but the ones I do know do talk to other coaches throughout the state and there's a pretty good idea of who's who throughout the state, both metro and non-metro. Kids are missed, most likely underestimated, but there is ample word-of-mouth on prospects.

Bob's point about camps is pertinent as well. Problem is they cost money and maybe some kids can't foot the bill.

 

[NoDakGopher]

Yeah, I agree with that. I think it's hard for a kid from class A or AA to make a name for himself. I wish more of those kids would go to the U as walk ons and earn scholarships. That's what you see at WI a lot, they have a bunch of kids from small schools in WI who walk on at Madison and eventually earn a scholarship (Leonard, Abredaris (still not on scholarship), they had a S a couple of years ago that I can't remember his name, Burke a few years ago, Ewing, etc.).

The worst part is that since the U doesn't make itself known up here most kids don't want to walk on there. The U isn't popular at all in northern MN. Believe it or not, at least in the Northwestern/Northern area of the state, UND and NDSU are far more popular than the U is. It's not even close.

 

[MaxyJR1]

Yeah, I agree with that. I think it's hard for a kid from class A or AA to make a name for himself. I wish more of those kids would go to the U as walk ons and earn scholarships. That's what you see at WI a lot, they have a bunch of kids from small schools in WI who walk on at Madison.

Also remember that in Wisconsin there are no other scholarship offering schools. We have 10 D2 schools.

 

[tap]

The worst part is that since the U doesn't make itself known up here most kids don't want to walk on there. The U isn't popular at all in northern MN. Believe it or not, at least in the Northwestern/Northern area of the state, UND and NDSU are far more popular than the U is. It's not even close.

I Live in Northern MN. UND and NDSU are considered second class schools and people make fun of them ALL the time.

 

[NoDakGopher]

I Live in Northern MN. UND and NDSU are considered second class schools and people make fun of them ALL the time.

Where do you live? Everywhere i've been between Moorhead and Warroad is all UND and NDSU with Gophers fans sprinkled in.

 

[zambam]

I have no idea about the size of almost all the schools up north but I did see Barnesville last year, and while I'm told their line was strong, one thing about them was they weren't very big. I'm not sure if that's a theme across all of Northern MN but that's the only experience I have with them.

 

[NoDakGopher]

I have no idea about the size of almost all the schools up north but I did see Barnesville last year, and while I'm told their line was strong, one thing about them was they weren't very big. I'm not sure if that's a theme across all of Northern MN but that's the only experience I have with them.

I also wasn't too keen on Barnesville. Many of them are small up here, but there are plenty of guys that are 6-4 or bigger.

 

[Bob_Loblaw]

I'm not sure that is a fair statement to make. .

It's actually not true either. If you look at UMD's roster, their lineman almost all come from big schools as well. There are a couple kids from small schools (Proctor, Deerwood and Perham) but they are all from pretty decent sized schools (mostly metro, but the non-metro kids are from Duluth East, St. Cloud Apollo, East Grand Forks).

I think there is a misconception that NDSU and UMD are filled with outstate kids who never got a sniff from the U. When, in fact, they are filled with mostly Metro players who never got a sniff from the U. Maybe not mostly, but their best players seem to always be from the Metro.

 

[gopher1more]

I went to school in Bemidji but was a gopher fan. most of the guys I knew from the area thought the U was the prime school unless you played hockey. At that time it was split 50/50 for UND and MN. Roseau was a big Gopher area in both sports. So was Fergus Falls and Detroit Lakes.

 

[NoDakGopher]

It's actually not true either. If you look at UMD's roster, their lineman almost all come from big schools as well. There are a couple kids from small schools (Proctor, Deerwood and Perham) but they are all from pretty decent sized schools (mostly metro, but the non-metro kids are from Duluth East, St. Cloud Apollo, East Grand Forks).

I think there is a misconception that NDSU and UMD are filled with outstate kids who never got a sniff from the U. When, in fact, they are filled with mostly Metro players who never got a sniff from the U. Maybe not mostly, but their best players seem to always be from the Metro.

The kid from East Grand Forks didn't go to a big school, he went to one of the smallest schools in the entire state. I'm very good friends with him. He was from South Dakota and moved up here. We were team mates when he was a freshmen and he was pretty good. We both went to Sacred Heart and the total enrollment from 9-12 is consistently around 85 kids.

 

[rjbenny]

NoDakGopher, i grew up in Moorhead and me and my friends were not fans of MOO U in Fargo, and in football nobody ever even thought about UND up in the Scandinavian ghetto known as Grand Forks.

 

[NoDakGopher]

NoDakGopher, i grew up in Moorhead and me and my friends were not fans of MOO U in Fargo, and in football nobody ever even thought about UND up in the Scandinavian ghetto known as Grand Forks.

haha yeah, Moorhead is mostly Minnesota fans, but most everything north of there is UND and NDSU. Mostly because, A.) People like UND because of hockey so they consider themselves football fans and B.) UND and especially NDSU recruit a decent number of kids from the very small schools in the northwestern part of the state. The places where Minnesota fans are prevalent are the "big" northern towns. Not that there's many lol

 

[lakesgopher]

ndsu fans enjoy telling the world how much they dominate the football world in the fargo/moorhead area and it simply not the case. its a cute story though

 

[Bob_Loblaw]

haha yeah, Moorhead is mostly Minnesota fans, but most everything north of there is UND and NDSU. Mostly because, A.) People like UND because of hockey so they consider themselves football fans and B.) UND and especially NDSU recruit a decent number of kids from the very small schools in the northwestern part of the state. The places where Minnesota fans are prevalent are the "big" northern towns. Not that there's many lol

Granted there are some kids on NDSU that are from the small towns "Up North". NDSU's best players are from the Metro, North Dakota, and other states. I think they are popular in that neck of the woods because they are closer and the perception that it's a bunch of kids from Northern MN.

None of their best skill players on offense are from northern MN.
McNorton and Holloway - TX
Ojuri - IL
Ryan Smith - One of the Dakotas
Jensen - WI
Veldman - Metro

And none of their best defensive players are from Northern MN.
Williams, Littlejohn, Perry - Metro
Jurek - Northfield (just south of the Cities)
Willson - Utah
Heagle- WI
Boyer - South Dakota
Evans - South Dakota
Dudzick - Nebraska

There are a few more northern MN kids on the NDSU roster, but not many of them are difference makers in that program, but MN has four kids from your neck of the woods on their roster this year (Campion (Fergus Falls), Heifort (Bemidji), Haviland (TRF), and Paffrath (Alex)). I imagine you will see a decent amount of the first three next season.

 

[alchemy2u]

What a joke. I went to NDSU quite a few years ago and it has a decent program with DII history, but it is not anywhere in the same level of popularity as the U.

Just ask yourself, what kids would still be going to one of the Dakota schools if they had a scholarship offer from the U? none!

Yeah it is closer to the northwestern part of the state and they have had more success at "their" level lately than the U, but once the U starts to win again most of the Minnesota residents will drop the dakota schools like a bad habit.

So what is the deal about Woods, does the U have an interest?

 

[btowngopher]

We might as well only recruit Minnesota if people are so mad that Kill isn't offering this kid. Kill could field a whole class of players who MIGHT be able to play for the gophers. You don't offer guys who MIGHT be able to contribute at some point on a 3 win team. You offer guys who you think will make the team better. I hate when people argue that he could easily play on the lowly gophers, ok maybe he could, but can he make them not so lowly? Would Iowa or Wisconsin offer this kid? No they wouldn't, so why should Kill settle for him? If Kill offered a mirror image of this kid from Florida, no offers or anything, people would rip on him. You try to recruit kids who could crack the depth chart on teams more talented then your own.

 

[bemidjigopher]

woods is a decent player, but for someone his size, he needs to get faster to play in the big ten, I wouldn't have a problem with him walking on, but I wouldn't offer a scholly

 

[bemidjifan]

I'm not saying that the U doesn't miss on some kids from up north. What I am saying is that the U doesn't miss on kids because of some bias against looking for talent outstate. We obviously look for talent outstate, as you can see by the number of outstate kids who have offers from the U this season. You can't say that the U doesn't recruit outstate when they have a handful of outstate recruits who have committed.

I'm saying that missing on potential prospects happens because it is an inexact science. There are going to be talented players who are overlooked. There are about 10 players playing D1 football at other schools who could REALLY help the U who are from the Metro (who weren't offered).

So my point is that the "missing on kids" is not because they are from Up North.

I don't think they're necessarily "biased" against northern kids. I'd chalk it up more to "laziness" than bias.. It takes a little more effort and time to scout up here. I don't think I ever mentioned bias.

 

[Gopherprof]

I don't think they're necessarily "biased" against northern kids. I'd chalk it up more to "laziness" than bias.. It takes a little more effort and time to scout up here. I don't think I ever mentioned bias.

And money, and personal, etc.

And for what? A few guys that can contribute at the FCS/DII level?

As has already been beaten into the ground by myself and others, the in-state recruits we've missed out on are almost entirely from the metro. If anything, we should be offering more there.

 

[bemidjifan]

I Live in Northern MN. UND and NDSU are considered second class schools and people make fun of them ALL the time.

Man, I don't agree with that. I've never heard people make fun of UND and NDSU. I've heard they are the best value (tuition-wise) for Minnesota kids because college is so much more expensive in Minnesota, even at the smaller MN schools. I wouldn't have a problem sending my kid to either school. U of M is cost prohibitive for a public school.

 

[bemidjifan]

And money, and personal, etc.

And for what? A few guys that can contribute at the FCS/DII level?

As has already been beaten into the ground by myself and others, the in-state recruits we've missed out on are almost entirely from the metro. If anything, we should be offering more there.

Why not just change the name to "University of the Twin Cities". That's what it feels like now anyway. I don't see the connection between the U and outstate MN anymore.