December 8 2017 - Official Visitors / Walk-Ons List

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MnplsGopher said:
And neither of them were particularly great players of the game themselves.
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One of the most ridiculous comments/qualifications for a coach I've ever seen! You would be surprised how many great players are not students of the game!!! Not only that, they have trouble telling others how to do something b/c their talent level simply allowed them to do it w/o really knowing how.

Quick, tell me without looking it up, where Kirby Smart, Dabo Sweeney, Nick Saban, and Lincoln Riley played. If you don't seem to remember nor care, why would a hs kid know that or care?
 

For official visits, I would think that family members &/or significant others of players are included. This is about solidifying the current commitments in addition to adding new commitments.

It will be great to include them especially in this weekends eLITe18Palooza. What better way to recruit en masse than to have a festive celebration and tours. All I can say is that PJ Fleck can sell the program like no other.

Hopefully ,we will snatch a commitment or two.

This is a very positive weekend for the Gopher Football.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
it gets back to the old argument about 'taking the next step.' Mason had really good players in Barber and Maroney - he had a 10-win season - but it didn't move the program past WI or IA in the long run.

I'm not saying they have to land the top kid in the country - but something has to happen to change the status quo for this program. I'm just putting out a theory that - if the program is going to make that jump, and accomplish what WI has done, then something dramatic needs to happen. Landing an All-American type of player - a dominant player - might give the program the jumpstart it needs. That puts MN on the national conversation - on the highlight shows - and grabs attention for the program. Attention that could lead to more recruits or better recruits who are at least willing to consider MN on their short list. Talent attracts talent. Talent leads to winning. Winning attracts more talent. And boosters. And Money. And fans in the seats. And everything else we talk about on this board all year round.

Otherwise, I have a feeling that it's going to be more of the same until eternity - a 7-win season here, an 8-win season there, and maybe a 10-win season once in a blue moon. That does not elevate MN into the conversation with the big boys.

Maybe it all starts with one recruit. that's what I'm saying. that one guy who comes in here and changes the perception of the program.
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Well here you go -- right back to my same old argument ............. how did Wisconsin change the status quo???

If they can do it .... damnit, Minnesota can do it.


(IMO, it comes down to coaching, more so than recruiting for the sake of recruiting ... ie, what happens after they get in the door is just as important if not more important than just getting them through the door)
 

OddStack said:
One of the most ridiculous comments/qualifications for a coach I've ever seen!
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You misunderstood what I said, which is not my fault.

I never said that a head coach can't be good at his job if he never played the game (or never played it at a high level). That's a pretty atrocious lack of reading comprehension on your part, frankly.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
it gets back to the old argument about 'taking the next step.' Mason had really good players in Barber and Maroney - he had a 10-win season - but it didn't move the program past WI or IA in the long run.

I'm not saying they have to land the top kid in the country - but something has to happen to change the status quo for this program. I'm just putting out a theory that - if the program is going to make that jump, and accomplish what WI has done, then something dramatic needs to happen. Landing an All-American type of player - a dominant player - might give the program the jumpstart it needs. That puts MN on the national conversation - on the highlight shows - and grabs attention for the program. Attention that could lead to more recruits or better recruits who are at least willing to consider MN on their short list. Talent attracts talent. Talent leads to winning. Winning attracts more talent. And boosters. And Money. And fans in the seats. And everything else we talk about on this board all year round.

Otherwise, I have a feeling that it's going to be more of the same until eternity - a 7-win season here, an 8-win season there, and maybe a 10-win season once in a blue moon. That does not elevate MN into the conversation with the big boys.

Maybe it all starts with one recruit. that's what I'm saying. that one guy who comes in here and changes the perception of the program.
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You said we need a "transformational, I mean a player who is so bleeping good that he changes the program with his presence - a potential All-American, 1st-round NFL draft choice type of player." Hate to tell you, there aren't many of those guys out there and they aren't coming to MN unless they're from here or have some tie here. Wisconsin and Iowa aren't getting a ton of them either. They have been better at finding what fits what they do, playing smart and sticking to their formula way better than us.
 


MnplsGopher said:
You misunderstood what I said, which is not my fault.

I never said that a head coach can't be good at his job if he never played the game (or never played it at a high level). That's a pretty atrocious lack of reading comprehension on your part, frankly.
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What did you mean then, when you said players only respect those that have played the game?
Recruits want to go where they have a chance to play, be a part of a winning team and possibly improve enough to have a chance at the NFL. I don't think they give a rats a55 if the coach has played the game before if that coach has had a history of being successful.
 

RatherBeGolfing said:
Wisconsin and Iowa aren't getting a ton of them either. They have been better at finding what fits what they do, playing smart and sticking to their formula way better than us.
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Yep, 100% correct in my opinion. They find guys, and develop them.

Chris Borland. Josey Jewell ..... not guys that the recruit-nicks give a darn about.
 

GFBfan said:
What did you mean then, when you said players only respect those that have played the game?
Recruits want to go where they have a chance to play, be a part of a winning team and possibly improve enough to have a chance at the NFL. I don't think they give a rats a55 if the coach has played the game before if that coach has had a history of being successful.
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I did not say only!! Again, not my fault that you inserted the word only in there, when I did not say that.


Now you turn around and say that every football recruit cares 0% if the coach played. Lot of absolutes being thrown around here, for no good reason!
 

Has anyone spotted the recruits around town? Faalele would not be too difficult to spot in a crowd.
 



Spoofin said:
NE has the 14th ranked class in the B1G in December. We all assume it wouldn't have got better with Riley, right?
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Nebraska's new coach has a great start to his recruiting. Not sure how he'll finish, but he has 8 recruits, 4 of which are rated 4 stars. The average talent so far for Nebraska is 88.26 points, which is by far the best in the B1G West.

If you look at us, we have 23 recruits, which gives us the highest point total, but the average talent is 85.59, putting us in a near tie for 5th place with Northwestern. If we finish off with a couple of the higher ranked recruits visiting, we'll have made good progress in recruiting.
 

RatherBeGolfing said:
You said we need a "transformational, I mean a player who is so bleeping good that he changes the program with his presence - a potential All-American, 1st-round NFL draft choice type of player." Hate to tell you, there aren't many of those guys out there and they aren't coming to MN unless they're from here or have some tie here. Wisconsin and Iowa aren't getting a ton of them either. They have been better at finding what fits what they do, playing smart and sticking to their formula way better than us.
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Unlike football, basketball teams can get that one transformational player to turn a program around.
With football it has to come from more than just one guy, I think there needs to be a few of them that just have that ability to make plays at crucial times and turn the game in favor of their team. You also need to have them on both offense and defense. Offensively that is usually going to be a QB, especially in this day and age, but it could be a WR or RB as well. On defense, it could be from any position. As a great DE or LB or DB who can just dominate no matter the circumstances. It could even be a position group that becomes the transformational group
I don't believe that those players have to be 5* or even 4* players. They just need to be the player who develops into a complete nightmare for teams to handle on either side of the ball. The chances of getting a player like that increase if you have 4 and 5 star players.
As an example, the LB class of Coughlin, Barber, Martin could develop into that transformational unit for the Def., not sure anybody we have on offense can fill that role yet.
 

WAGopher said:
Nebraska's new coach has a great start to his recruiting. Not sure how he'll finish, but he has 8 recruits, 4 of which are rated 4 stars. The average talent so far for Nebraska is 88.26 points, which is by far the best in the B1G West.

If you look at us, we have 23 recruits, which gives us the highest point total, but the average talent is 85.59, putting us in a near tie for 5th place with Northwestern. If we finish off with a couple of the higher ranked recruits visiting, we'll have made good progress in recruiting.
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I get it. They are still going to add players between now and February which will change their team ranking from where it is in December. That makes sense. Huh, seems team rankings in December are pretty useless to base any assumptions on.


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MnplsGopher said:
I did not say only!! Again, not my fault that you inserted the word only in there, when I did not say that.


Now you turn around and say that every football recruit cares 0% if the coach played. Lot of absolutes being thrown around here, for no good reason!
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So sorry.
How about this.
You really think a player has any idea if the coach who is recruiting them has played and at what level they played at?
I would guess that a recruit is looking for a place that they can play, be a part of a winning team and have a chance to make it to the NFL. On a recruits check list of things to be concerned about, a coaches playing career has minimal impact on their decision to pick that school. I would also be willing to bet that a majority of all recruits wouldn't know where the coach recruiting them had played prior to becoming a coach.
 



Spoofin said:
NE has the 14th ranked class in the B1G in December. We all assume it wouldn't have got better with Riley, right?


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Mike Riley weighs a lot less than Tracy Claeys.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
As a general rule of thumb, higher-rated recruits are preferable to lower-rated recruits.

I know I am way out of the mainstream on these recruiting discussions. But, I just can't get excited - or I don't let myself get excited - in these discussions about whether Recruit A or Recruit B is going to sign with the Gophers.

In general, as I understand the ratings, we are talking about good players here. And you need good players. But are any of these candidates a transformational player?

by transformational, I mean a player who is so bleeping good that he changes the program with his presence - a potential All-American, 1st-round NFL draft choice type of player.

Again, I'm not knocking any of the current recruits. They seem to have potential, but whether that potential is realized remains to be seen.

I just think that the Gophers, to really move the needle and make that jump that people want, need to bring in a transformational player. Not just good, or better than average - a "holy bleep, did you see that" kind of player. A SportsCenter Top 10 plays of the day player.

Granted, the Gophers have not had that type of a player in a long time. They have had a lot of good players - some really good. But it hasn't been enough to really change the status quo.

So - the ultimate question - can Fleck bring in the type of player I'm talking about. Remains to be seen.
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When you say "transformational players" I can think of the following throughout college football.

Cam Newton
Tim Tebow
Percy Harvin
Lamar Jackson
Bo Jackson
Herschell Walker.


I wouldn't even put half the guys on this list as "transformational".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Heisman_Trophy_winners




Your chances of getting a transformational player one are 1 in thousands.
 

GFBfan said:
So sorry.
How about this.
You really think a player has any idea if the coach who is recruiting them has played and at what level they played at?
I would guess that a recruit is looking for a place that they can play, be a part of a winning team and have a chance to make it to the NFL. On a recruits check list of things to be concerned about, a coaches playing career has minimal impact on their decision to pick that school. I would also be willing to bet that a majority of all recruits wouldn't know where the coach recruiting them had played prior to becoming a coach.
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Now that we're no longer throwing around absolutes ... your post and viewpoint are of course valid and reasonable.

I may have stepped over the line too far, fir implying that some recruits may not have respected Kill/Claeys as much as some recruits respect Fleck because of playing career (or lack of it). But that was also the least important of the points I was making.

At the end of the day, I think Kill and Claeys could be great coordinators. I think coordinator is the right position for them, in a high level football program. Not the main salesman and figure head of the program (head coach), not the main recruiting salesman (recruiting coordinator), and not as a position coach. But the guy who creates the game plan each week for how to attack the opponents offense/defense and calls the plays during the game.


Wouldn't it be something if we had this??

Head Coach - Fleck
OC - Kill
DC - Claeys
RC (and TE position coach) - Brewster



It's so crazy, it might just work! :cool:
 

MnplsGopher said:
Now that we're no longer throwing around absolutes ... your post and viewpoint are of course valid and reasonable.

I may have stepped over the line too far, fir implying that some recruits may not have respected Kill/Claeys as much as some recruits respect Fleck because of playing career (or lack of it). But that was also the least important of the points I was making.

At the end of the day, I think Kill and Claeys could be great coordinators. I think coordinator is the right position for them, in a high level football program. Not the main salesman and figure head of the program (head coach), not the main recruiting salesman (recruiting coordinator), and not as a position coach. But the guy who creates the game plan each week for how to attack the opponents offense/defense and calls the plays during the game.


Wouldn't it be something if we had this??

Head Coach - Fleck
OC - Kill
DC - Claeys
RC (and TE position coach) - Brewster



It's so crazy, it might just work! :cool:
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I'd rather have Kill as my head coach than have him be my OC. Definitely would take Claeys or Sawvel as DC.
 

MnplsGopher said:
You misunderstood what I said, which is not my fault.

I never said that a head coach can't be good at his job if he never played the game (or never played it at a high level). That's a pretty atrocious lack of reading comprehension on your part, frankly.
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You said, "And neither of them were particularly great players of the game themselves. [speaking of Kill/Claeys]

Recruits, at least these days, seem to love attitude and flash. And I think a huge aspect is that they have respect for when a head coach was a former player himself."

Sounds to me like that's a qualification you desire. Thus, I asked you to tell me what "playing career" the playoff coaches have.

wait.....I know, that's probably why we beat Wazu in the bowl game last year. Mike Leach didn't get enough highly recruited players because HE NEVER PLAYED COLLEGE FOOTBALL!!!!

Ridiculous take!!!!!
 


I supposed with that many visitors all at once that it may take after this weekend visit to see receive any new commitments.

Unless they get a hallelujah moment when PJ Fleck rile them up into a RTB frenzy! Mind as well grab them here while the bodies are still fresh. Is PJ Fleck going to give an evangelist like speech to stir up the crowd during the celebration?
 

hungan1 said:
I supposed with that many visitors all at once that it may take after this weekend visit to see receive any new commitments.

Unless they get a hallelujah moment when PJ Fleck rile them up into a RTB frenzy! Mind as well grab them here while the bodies are still fresh. Is PJ Fleck going to give an evangelist like speech to stir up the crowd during the celebration?
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Odds are good that he will.
 

hungan1 said:
I supposed with that many visitors all at once that it may take after this weekend visit to see receive any new commitments.

Unless they get a hallelujah moment when PJ Fleck rile them up into a RTB frenzy! Mind as well grab them here while the bodies are still fresh. Is PJ Fleck going to give an evangelist like speech to stir up the crowd during the celebration?
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My guess is PJ will remain pretty quiet to keep the spotlight off of him.


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Did they fly the IMG Academy contingents first class? Otherwise, they will have to buy a whole row of seats for just one person.
 

If they have the big catered meal (by several caters) inside the TCF Bank Stadium, it will be considerably cheaper and more football focused. The Saturday events must include all the current players and coaching staff and family.

Sunday at Manny's would probably be the recruits and their entourage and the coaches.

Even with PJ Fleck's flexible spending account, I don't think the U want to foot the bill for over a hundred folks at Fogo De Chao. The last time I ate there, it cost $48 per person and it doesn't include drinks yet.It ended up costing close to $500 for six of us after drinks, taxes, and tips.

Having all the OVs (most of them) in town all at once would actually be cheaper in the long run and more fun for the participants.
 

OddStack said:
Sounds to me like that's a qualification you desire.
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Would encourage you to: a) calm down, b) read the posts I already had with the other poster on the exact same subject.

Have a nice day!
 


Do we know who the 2 mystery visitors are? Craig Williams and ...?
 

John Galt said:
Do we know who the 2 mystery visitors are? Craig Williams and ...?
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Verdis Brown is the running rumor. I don't know if it is correct.


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Spoofin said:
Verdis Brown is the running rumor. I don't know if it is correct.


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Thanks. I had heard rumblings it was a defensive player committed to another school.
 

Here are the current commitments:

Nathan Boe - Lakeville MN, OC , 6'4", 250 lbs, 0.8235
Austin Beier - St, John's Jesuit Toledo OH, 6'5" 285 lbs, 0.8594
Grant Norton - Camdenton MO, OT, 6'8", 255 lbs, 0.8431
Jack York - 1st Baptist, Dallas TX, OT, 6'5", 270 lbs, 0.8405

Current Recruiting Targets:

Verdis Brown, IMG Bradenton FLA, OC, 6'3", 294 lbs, 0.8960 (If rumors are true)
Curtis Dunlop, IMG Bradenton FLA, OG, 6'4", 368 lbs, 0.9220
Daniel Faalele, IMG Bradenton FLA, OT, 6'8", 400 lbs, 0.8858
Jason Dickson, Diablo Valley JC Pleasant Hill CA, OT, 6'7", 295 lbs, 0.8528
Randon Haynes, Tyler JC Tyler TX, OT, 6'4", 330 lbs, 0.8400 (Dec. 15 OV)

Will it be possible that we will have six or seven OLs? Maybe some are either from 2016 attrition, or gray shirt?
 

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