gerry dinardo tweet on gophs recruiting

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he tweeted that the gophs have the 93rd best class in the nation and the 12th best class in the big ten.

marcus then just tweeted a kill quote that said that you need 3-4 recruiting classes to build a program.
 


Can't argue with that assessment. Last year the Gophers had 4 star recruits Jonah Pirsig, Isaac Hayes, James Harbison and Andre MacDonald. They also had all the best in-state players save 1 and a big class. This year not so much. I realize they have less scholarships but there is no obvious star in this bunch. Hopefully they have some 4 star recruits leaning their way.
 

gopherMD said:
Can't argue with that assessment. Last year the Gophers had 4 star recruits Jonah Pirsig, Isaac Hayes, James Harbison and Andre MacDonald. They also had all the best in-state players save 1 and a big class. This year not so much. I realize they have less scholarships but there is no obvious star in this bunch. Hopefully they have some 4 star recruits leaning their way.
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They don't, but it doesn't really matter. Last year they got Pirsig, Hayes, McDonald, and Nelson because they were all Minnesota kids. The only non-Minnesota player they got with much buzz was Harbison.

The fact is that the class of seniors in Minnesota this year is weak, and that is going to sink any star ratings for the Gophers. I think they've done a good job of identifying role players with potential to fill out the lack of depth on the team in key areas. What I'm more encouraged by in this class, barring any obvious elite players, is the lack of any obvious reaches either. The lack of scholarships has required them to be more selective with their offers, and I think that will result in fewer "misses" overall. In total, if we only take about 14-16 kids this year, that's less than 20% of the total roster next year.

In other words, to use a baseball metaphor, a safe double in this class will be fine. There are plenty of ways to score runs without going for the longball every time.
 

Ekpe, Cochran, Wells, Maye, Johnson, Thompson, Balthazar, Shabbazz, Plesk, etc were all extremely lightly recruited guys that have shown in their 1st or 2nd year that they can play in the Big 10. Its great to have highly rated classes but you can still have success without it. Now you won't be winning any championships without elite players but you can compete.
 


Gopherprof said:
They don't, but it doesn't really matter. Last year they got Pirsig, Hayes, McDonald, and Nelson because they were all Minnesota kids. The only non-Minnesota player they got with much buzz was Harbison.

The fact is that the class of seniors in Minnesota this year is weak, and that is going to sink any star ratings for the Gophers. I think they've done a good job of identifying role players with potential to fill out the lack of depth on the team in key areas. What I'm more encouraged by in this class, barring any obvious elite players, is the lack of any obvious reaches either. The lack of scholarships has required them to be more selective with their offers, and I think that will result in fewer "misses" overall. In total, if we only take about 14-16 kids this year, that's less than 20% of the total roster next year.

In other words, to use a baseball metaphor, a safe double in this class will be fine. There are plenty of ways to score runs without going for the longball every time.
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Only a MN Twins fan would use a baseball analogy like that. I do agree with your assessment overall however it would be nice to see a few potential power hitter or ace caliber pitchers in the class each year. Having those good solid depth guys helps you on the field but you need the superstars to take you to the next level.

Back to your baseball thing it is what has plagued the Twins for years. They have enough talent to get to the playoffs and win games in the regular season but as soon as they run up against the teams with star power they fold and go quietly.
 

MNVCGUY said:
Only a MN Twins fan would use a baseball analogy like that.
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Sadly, as an Ohio native, I'm an Indians fan. Even worse.

I think last year was about getting some of those core elite players to build around. This year is about filling in depth and not taking many chances with our limited scholarships. That's not to say that, of course, we wouldn't take those players, but it's hard to convince players with options from the helmet schools to come here if they aren't Minnesotans who grew up rooting for the Gophers.

Edit: Jalen Myrick does strike me a bit more as a boom-bust type player in the mold of guys like Cockran, Wells, Marcus Jones, and K.J. Maye are/were. With more scholarships in the first two years, Kill threw a lot more of them around, looking for guys who didn't necessarily fit the physical prototype and who came from smaller programs. I think this class has been a little more conventional in that regard, because they simply can't afford to "risk" many scholarships.
 

Look at Northern illinois' QB Jordan Lynch. 2 star recruit coming out of high school with only offer being from NIU. Now look at him... He's a stud. I do believe Kill knows what he's doing and I'd rather have that than Brewster's good recruiting classes that didn't mesh together well and got into trouble a lot. That is also a big recruiting factor also that people don't realize
 

I actually really like Streveler. Not sure if he will be a QB (I've only seen his film from last year, but his motion looked jacked), but he would fit the mold of our WSR arsenal - good size and athletic, with decent speed.
 



goldenman: "...I'd rather have that than Brewster's good recruiting classes that didn't mesh together well and got into trouble a lot."

Well-told.
 

Worth saying again

So I will reply with quotation. Nicely said.

goldenman said:
Look at Northern illinois' QB Jordan Lynch. 2 star recruit coming out of high school with only offer being from NIU. Now look at him... He's a stud. I do believe Kill knows what he's doing and I'd rather have that than Brewster's good recruiting classes that didn't mesh together well and got into trouble a lot. That is also a big recruiting factor also that people don't realize
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Do we really care what his opinion is about the strength of our class?

He was a HC for 12 years and had a winning percentage of .434. He won 3 Bowl Games in his first 3 years at LSU (read: prior coach's recruits) and followed that up with 4-7 and 2-8 while getting fired during the 2-8 campaign. It appears he may have struggled evaluating players adequately (or coaching them up) when it was very, very lucrative for him.

Now, don't get me wrong, he's forgotten more football than any of us know. However, I have a hard time swallowing his opinion of any HS kids he may have seen a 5 min video of!
 

OddStack said:
Do we really care what his opinion is about the strength of our class?

He was a HC for 12 years and had a winning percentage of .434. He won 3 Bowl Games in his first 3 years at LSU (read: prior coach's recruits) and followed that up with 4-7 and 2-8 while getting fired during the 2-8 campaign. It appears he may have struggled evaluating players adequately (or coaching them up) when it was very, very lucrative for him.

Now, don't get me wrong, he's forgotten more football than any of us know. However, I have a hard time swallowing his opinion of any HS kids he may have seen a 5 min video of!
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Point well taken. That being said I think he was just regurgitating national recruiting rankings not doing the rankings himself.
 



MNVCGUY said:
Point well taken. That being said I think he was just regurgitating national recruiting rankings not doing the rankings himself.
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There is a lot of that going on around the GopherHole. :)
 

goldenman said:
Look at Northern illinois' QB Jordan Lynch. 2 star recruit coming out of high school with only offer being from NIU. Now look at him... He's a stud. I do believe Kill knows what he's doing and I'd rather have that than Brewster's good recruiting classes that didn't mesh together well and got into trouble a lot. That is also a big recruiting factor also that people don't realize
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To be a little fair to Brew's classes, they were jerked around like crazy during their time here. Guys like Gray, Coop, Troy, McKnight, etc....stability was not the name of the game during their tenure here until Kill got here, which meant another change anyway. We're very likely to see Kill's classes outperform Brew's just from the standpoint of stability alone, let alone any of the trouble and lack of admission some of them had.

It's a lot easier when you walk on campus and you hear something, and then 4/5 years later, you're still getting that same teaching and just building each and every year. Rather than tearing down and then having to start over year after year. That aspect is why I'm curious how things turn out for Kill here, we just haven't seen that type of stability and consistency around here since I can recall.
 

We have a small class ( 14-17) recruits. If you look at the prospects currently on both Rivals and Scout we don't have a shot at any 4 star recruits. My guess is the remainder of the class will be filled with 2-3 star recruits which is totally acceptable at this stage of the program. Moving forward,
I would hope to see a higher ranked class next year.
 

oleboy41 said:
Ekpe, Cochran, Wells, Maye, Johnson, Thompson, Balthazar, Shabbazz, Plesk, etc were all extremely lightly recruited guys that have shown in their 1st or 2nd year that they can play in the Big 10. Its great to have highly rated classes but you can still have success without it. Now you won't be winning any championships without elite players but you can compete.
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I am not sure if the guys you are listing strengthen your argument. Wells has played well at times and seems to be a good tackler. The rest of them are really not making that big of an impact, or are playing and might be part of the reason the team is 1-5 in the Big Ten. Time will tell.
 

3399 said:
I am not sure if the guys you are listing strengthen your argument. Wells has played well at times and seems to be a good tackler. The rest of them are really not making that big of an impact, or are playing and might be part of the reason the team is 1-5 in the Big Ten. Time will tell.
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Ekpe, Cochran, and Johnson have all done good work on the line. Plsek is a true freshman that hasn't played a whole lot but looks to have a bright future.
 

That's exactly what's going to be a big difference. With Kill he does a lot of team building and camaraderie kind of stuff. I've heard plenty of stories of the team being completely segregated when Brew was here now it is such a different story and players are putting the team first rather than themselves.
 

It baffles me how Indiana is out recruiting Minnesota, I know they have a deeper pool of talent in state but it's Indiana football.
 

Ron Johnson Super Fan said:
Ekpe, Cochran, and Johnson have all done good work on the line. Plsek is a true freshman that hasn't played a whole lot but looks to have a bright future.
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I agree they have played well at times. But none has shown that they are impact guys yet. The Gophers are 1-5. They need impact guys, not just guys who do good work. They need to start bringing in some guys that are impact players early in their careers. I think what sometimes happens is fans get tricked into thinking that because you are playing young guys, the future is rosy. Reality is, if other schools are redshirting guys better than the guys you are playing, it probably won't mean much down the road. The players from other schools are not getting experience right now, but they will, and they are more talented, they will surpass quickly. As I said, time will tell.
 

Coach Kill is slowly building some better depth which is something that has been lacking in the past.

Kill likes to play lots of guys on D. Not so much of O other than WR's and a bit at TE and HBack. There are a number of players on the D side who have contributed and are gaining valuable experience. Some of the youngsters actually look fairly decent and should get better.. Like last year, the OL has had to put players out there due to the injury factor. Even though the results haven't been the best, the playing time gained bodes well for the future.

The question from the start has been the ability of Jerry to upgrade the level of recruits. So far, he hasn't made significant progress to match the OSU's, Michigan and Nebraska.

But, I am one who believes that he and his staff have a knack of finding kids who may be late bloomers and "under the radar" types. The concern is, can he bring in enough of these kids who can develop into average BIG players and get us to bowl games?

Lets face it. We will not be able to compete with the name programs for the top 3*'s and 4*. Forget about the 5's.

Coach Kill has told us that this will be a grind and, at best, a gradual slope that shows improvement and put the Gophers in a position to be competitive. The question is how long will that take? And how much patience will the brass have. Year 5 of his tenure will be significant.
 

Rankings aren't all they're cracked up to be. I'm not concerned at all!!!!!

I know they have a bunch of Juco's but.....
Kansas State: (zero 4 or 5 star recruits)
2008 45th ranked class (5, 3 star recruits)
2009 112th ranked class (1, 3 star recruits)
2010 99th ranked class (5, 3 star recruits)
2011 61st ranked class (13, 3 star recruits)
2012 85th ranked class (5, 3 star recruits)

Kind of fun to look at. You can sort by a number of different categories: http://recruiting.scout.com/a.z?s=73&p=9&c=14&yr=2012
 

OddStack said:
Rankings aren't all they're cracked up to be. I'm not concerned at all!!!!!

I know they have a bunch of Juco's but.....
Kansas State: (zero 4 or 5 star recruits)
2008 45th ranked class (5, 3 star recruits)
2009 112th ranked class (1, 3 star recruits)
2010 99th ranked class (5, 3 star recruits)
2011 61st ranked class (13, 3 star recruits)
2012 85th ranked class (5, 3 star recruits)

Kind of fun to look at. You can sort by a number of different categories: http://recruiting.scout.com/a.z?s=73&p=9&c=14&yr=2012
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I dunno what site you used for those rankings, but rivals ranked KSU higher every year but 2011. They also had them getting at least 1 four star player in 3 of those years. They are however outperforming their rankings to a high degree. You can always find exceptions, but generally at least 75% of the bcs teams that finish in the top 25 have at least 1 top 25 recruiting class in the past 5 years.
 

Bayfieldgopher said:
Coach Kill is slowly building some better depth which is something that has been lacking in the past.

Kill likes to play lots of guys on D. Not so much of O other than WR's and a bit at TE and HBack. There are a number of players on the D side who have contributed and are gaining valuable experience. Some of the youngsters actually look fairly decent and should get better.. Like last year, the OL has had to put players out there due to the injury factor. Even though the results haven't been the best, the playing time gained bodes well for the future.

The question from the start has been the ability of Jerry to upgrade the level of recruits. So far, he hasn't made significant progress to match the OSU's, Michigan and Nebraska.

But, I am one who believes that he and his staff have a knack of finding kids who may be late bloomers and "under the radar" types. The concern is, can he bring in enough of these kids who can develop into average BIG players and get us to bowl games?

Lets face it. We will not be able to compete with the name programs for the top 3*'s and 4*. Forget about the 5's.

Coach Kill has told us that this will be a grind and, at best, a gradual slope that shows improvement and put the Gophers in a position to be competitive. The question is how long will that take? And how much patience will the brass have. Year 5 of his tenure will be significant.
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As to the first bolded part, I agree with you if you are talking about Coach Kill: He won't compete for highly regarded 3* and 4* players, but it is possible to do so at Minnesota (even without success) as Tim Brewster proved. Kill may be a better coach than Brewster, but he's not the same level of recruiter.

What do you expect in year 5? Is that 5-3 in the B1G? 6-2? The brass has been extraordinarily patient so far with Coach Kill as nary a bad word has been said and praise has been over the top for a guy who hasn't had much success in the B1G.
 

btowngopher said:
I dunno what site you used for those rankings, but rivals ranked KSU higher every year but 2011. They also had them getting at least 1 four star player in 3 of those years. They are however outperforming their rankings to a high degree. You can always find exceptions, but generally at least 75% of the bcs teams that finish in the top 25 have at least 1 top 25 recruiting class in the past 5 years.
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the site is the link
 

GoldenHerbs said:
It baffles me how Indiana is out recruiting Minnesota, I know they have a deeper pool of talent in state but it's Indiana football.
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They have a nice new football facility in the stadium. From the pictures I've seen it's pretty sweet.
 

3399 said:
I agree they have played well at times. But none has shown that they are impact guys yet. The Gophers are 1-5. They need impact guys, not just guys who do good work. They need to start bringing in some guys that are impact players early in their careers. I think what sometimes happens is fans get tricked into thinking that because you are playing young guys, the future is rosy. Reality is, if other schools are redshirting guys better than the guys you are playing, it probably won't mean much down the road. The players from other schools are not getting experience right now, but they will, and they are more talented, they will surpass quickly. As I said, time will tell.
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As you said time will tell. Few players, especially lineman, are able to step right into the lineup and dominate. How much those guys improve in the next couple of years is the big unknown.
 

What I'm curious about is why the troll keeps saying "we" are 1-5. Already chalking the Illinois game up as a loss?
 

Recruiting experts are just failed weatherman. I think I will take a chance with Kill's track record of building programs. Brewster had some really high rated recruits and that did us very well. No team trying to build a program gets really solid nationally rated recruits. Ask Barry Alvarez if he was getting 4 star Rivals 150 recruits when he took over Wisconsin. I know it seems like the company line but you gotta go under the radar and coach em.
 

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