Not securing the borders?

[scools12]

Though it is a convenient go to for those on that side of the debate the caliber of the class as has been point out a few times already is not the issue.

 

[Dr.Don]

Coach Kill: "You are expected to become a Gopher. We have erected fences around the State of Minnesota keeping all of you here."

Recruit: "But what if I am interested in going to another college out of state to play football?"

Coach Kill: "We have to keep all of you here, and you will have apply amnesty to another state, because GopherHolers say all of you must stay."

Recruit: "I guess I am gonna haffta try become an illegal resident to another state then."

Coach Kill: "Go ahead and try it. Have you ever heard of the Berlin Wall?"

Recruit: "Well, how much playing time will you guarantee me?"

Coach Kill: "I will only guarantee you an opportunity, and given the circumstances of some injuries and eventually some of our guys graduate from the University, spots do open up a year or two down the line."

Recruit: "Well, would $800,000 be asking too much then?"

Coach Kill: "You don't have to pay us a penny. In fact, we will give you a free education."

Recruit: "OK, count me in."

 

[GVBadger]

Getting the kids in state that you want is critical building a program. Getting kids from in state to walk on and then have a few of them become significant contributors is also very important.

It is not that you can't win without getting them, but if the core of your team is made up of kids who grew up dying to play for the University of Minnesota, that attitude and feeling is going to rub off on the entire team. It is the backbone of what you build on. For whatever reason, the Gophers have not been able to keep the best players in State and it has clearly hurt the program.

 

[lakesgopher]

Coach Kill: "You are expected to become a Gopher. We have erected fences around the State of Minnesota keeping all of you here."

Recruit: "But what if I am interested in going to another college out of state to play football?"

Coach Kill: "We have to keep all of you here, and you will have apply amnesty to another state, because GopherHolers say all of you must stay."

Recruit: "I guess I am gonna haffta try become an illegal resident to another state then."

Coach Kill: "Go ahead and try it. Have you ever heard of the Berlin Wall?"

Recruit: "Well, how much playing time will you guarantee me?"

Coach Kill: "I will only guarantee you an opportunity, and given the circumstances of some injuries and eventually some of our guys graduate from the University, spots do open up a year or two down the line."

Recruit: "Well, would $800,000 be asking too much then?"

Coach Kill: "You don't have to pay us a penny. In fact, we will give you a free education."

Recruit: "OK, count me in."

This made me laugh. But the point is, if we have a tough time getting kids to play for the U that grew up here, it's going to make it hard to get kids that are from Florida or Texas or wherever to come here. We will never get every kid and we will probably lose the top kid like Floyd or Henderson but if we offer Johnny 3* and he says no and goes to the univ of Ohio we have a problem. We shouldn't lose any kid we offer a scholly to a Mac school or worse IMO. Thanks for the laugh though that was funny

 

[Dr.Don]

Let's not forget that the mentality of any level football player is "what's in it for me?"

Would I rather fight for a 2 or 3 spot on the depth chart at the University of Minnesota, or be at the top of the depth chart at a Missouri Valley Conference school?

It gets back to Instant Gratification, Big Fish in a small pond, or Small fish in a big pond. Lots of things for these kids of today to consider.

And if the kid makes his choice that is different from what WE as fans want, is it the Coaching Staff's fault?

 

[lakesgopher]

Let's not forget that the mentality of any level football player is "what's in it for me?"

Would I rather fight for a 2 or 3 spot on the depth chart at the University of Minnesota, or be at the top of the depth chart at a Missouri Valley Conference school?

It gets back to Instant Gratification, Big Fish in a small pond, or Small fish in a big pond. Lots of things for these kids of today to consider.

And if the kid makes his choice that is different from what WE as fans want, is it the Coaching Staff's fault?

If we ever offer a kid a scholarship and he decides to go play for ndsu, sdsu, or any other mvc team, we might as well shut football down! If we can't make a kid want to come here over the Dakota's we sure as hell aren't keeping kids from wisky or Iowa

 

[Bob_Loblaw]

How does someone who spends so much time on the Internet find time to attend so many Wayzata and Eden Prairie games?

Well, I have a lot of posts, I work in another state and I STILL have been able to pencil in enough time to see quite a few local HS football games. It's a couple hours on a Friday night.

I've seen them both play and GopherProf is 100% right. I actually posted about this around the Prep Bowl last year that I thought they were both better last year than Drake Michaelson (EP LBer who I believe is at Wyoming but had a Gopher PWO).

They are completely different kinds of LBers, I think Cottrell is a bit more impressive. It's tough to say though, Wipson is good, he deserved an offer and I am ecstatic he is going to be a Gopher. However, Cottrell is a really good football.

I'm sure I am talking to someone who has never seen either of them play, why else would you attack him rather than defend your position. But FWIW to the other posters. . .

 

[Bob_Loblaw]

Hayes, Pirsig, Nelson, Lauer, McDonald > Onwualu, Rucker, Brookins, Cottrell.

This has nothing to do with anything. They aren't mutually exclusive, we can recruit well in the State of MN every year. Good programs do.

Wipson is way better than Cottrell

Why do you think that?

[QUOTE Brookins injury probably ends his career. [/QUOTE]

I know, no one comes back from an ACL injury. However, again, it has nothing to do with anything. The point is that we offered a kid in state (Rucker) and he chose elsewhere. That's a problem that we have to fix.

That leave Rucker whose father has some vendetta against the U

? Weird.

Onwualu who goes to a school that pushes its kids to Notre Dame.

No, no they don't. Why is this BS so often cited? CDH doesn't push kids towards Notre Dame. The draw of Notre Dame is a similar to draw as CDH, but at a college level. Kids who attend and have success at Catholic/Private schools often attend private/Catholic schools in college. UST is full of Cretin grads. Why? Do you think maybe the same parents that want their kid to go to private HS want their kids to go to a private college?

So we lost this round.

Yep, it's something we need to fix. It's not the end of the world, but to dismiss it as "meh" is nonsense.