Official 2018 Recruiting Updates Thread: Links, Tweets, Videos, Stories, Rumors, etc.

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btowngopher said:
Kind of surprised Fleck hasn't offered. He also has offers from Harvard and Yale. Clearly looks like one of the best instate prospects to me. Top 3 in my eyes.
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I'll trust Fleck.


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I think it's incredibly interesting to see the states and regions which we put our recruiting emphasis on, especially as compared to some of our rivals. One very long-term trend which Fleck and staff are at this point continuing is that we pretty much forgo recruiting the state of California altogether, a recruiting philosophy which has always been a bit surprising to me, as there is a mother lode of football talent in the Golden State. We've extended 1 offer to a California kid so far (and that's the only player we've offered west of the Colorado River), meanwhile Nebraska (which has always mined the western United States, Hawaii/American Samoa, and especially California very, very hard) has so far offered 23 Californians and 35 players west of the river. So basically we just write off recruiting about 1/3 of the country while pouring focus into the talent rich beds of Texas, Ohio, Georgia, Florida, Michigan, Missouri, Illinois, and etc.

It's fascinating to me to see these different philosophies regarding recruiting. It's really, really cool.
 

Seany said:
I think it's incredibly interesting to see the states and regions which we put our recruiting emphasis on, especially as compared to some of our rivals. One very long-term trend which Fleck and staff are at this point continuing is that we pretty much forgo recruiting the state of California altogether, a recruiting philosophy which has always been a bit surprising to me, as there is a mother lode of football talent in the Golden State. We've extended 1 offer to a California kid so far (and that's the only player we've offered west of the Colorado River), meanwhile Nebraska (which has always mined the western United States, Hawaii/American Samoa, and especially California very, very hard) has so far offered 23 Californians and 35 players west of the river. So basically we just write off recruiting about 1/3 of the country while pouring focus into the talent rich beds of Texas, Ohio, Georgia, Florida, Michigan, Missouri, Illinois, and etc.

It's fascinating to me to see these different philosophies regarding recruiting. It's really, really cool.
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I wouldn't call it a "philosophy." The staff probably just doesn't have any connections out there and isn't familiar with the lay of the land.
 




Ya but,

btowngopher said:
Kind of surprised Fleck hasn't offered. He also has offers from Harvard and Yale. Clearly looks like one of the best instate prospects to me. Top 3 in my eyes.
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David Alston might be top 3 in Minnesota but he does not look impressive to me. He doesn't appear to be very athletic. He runs very flat footed. He has size and academics but he does not have a quick burst off the line to me. Maybe he had blisters, plantar faschitis, or a bad ankle? I dunno just a 2 minute opinion but it seems like what the Gophers also see.
 

die hard gopher said:
I wouldn't call it a "philosophy." The staff probably just doesn't have any connections out there and isn't familiar with the lay of the land.
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I'd go with philosophy. We have offered like 200 kids. Zero chance we have connections to each one. With all the offers we have out there and just 1 to a CA kid? Seems to me the staff has decided not to put effort there. Not saying they should.


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Seany said:
I think it's incredibly interesting to see the states and regions which we put our recruiting emphasis on, especially as compared to some of our rivals. One very long-term trend which Fleck and staff are at this point continuing is that we pretty much forgo recruiting the state of California altogether, a recruiting philosophy which has always been a bit surprising to me, as there is a mother lode of football talent in the Golden State. We've extended 1 offer to a California kid so far (and that's the only player we've offered west of the Colorado River), meanwhile Nebraska (which has always mined the western United States, Hawaii/American Samoa, and especially California very, very hard) has so far offered 23 Californians and 35 players west of the river. So basically we just write off recruiting about 1/3 of the country while pouring focus into the talent rich beds of Texas, Ohio, Georgia, Florida, Michigan, Missouri, Illinois, and etc.

It's fascinating to me to see these different philosophies regarding recruiting. It's really, really cool.
Click to expand...

Riley coached at Oregon St forever, he was San Diego Chargers head coach. He has years (decades?) of contact with California coaches. That is why Nebraska is all about California. Also Fleck's philosophy, per his comments is to get kids on campus as many times as possible for visits. Hard to do that with California kids.
 



Seany said:
I think it's incredibly interesting to see the states and regions which we put our recruiting emphasis on, especially as compared to some of our rivals. One very long-term trend which Fleck and staff are at this point continuing is that we pretty much forgo recruiting the state of California altogether, a recruiting philosophy which has always been a bit surprising to me, as there is a mother lode of football talent in the Golden State. We've extended 1 offer to a California kid so far (and that's the only player we've offered west of the Colorado River), meanwhile Nebraska (which has always mined the western United States, Hawaii/American Samoa, and especially California very, very hard) has so far offered 23 Californians and 35 players west of the river. So basically we just write off recruiting about 1/3 of the country while pouring focus into the talent rich beds of Texas, Ohio, Georgia, Florida, Michigan, Missouri, Illinois, and etc.

It's fascinating to me to see these different philosophies regarding recruiting. It's really, really cool.
Click to expand...

I'm a lot like you in that I find the geography of recruiting interesting. For the non-helmet schools, they often are relegated to picking specific areas and making hay there. We've seen this within our Big Ten brethren: Nebraska (like you said) is huge in California, Florida, and Texas. Iowa is more just Florida and Texas. They also recruit Illinois and Ohio extremely hard. Wisconsin is just like Iowa except not as much in Texas. You start to see trends develop.

Our last staff hit Texas hard, didn't focus much on California, tried but were inconsistent in Florida (I think that goes more to the many layers of the recruiting game in Florida though) and was huge in the Deep South, specifically Georgia and Alabama. Not saying any of those are right or wrong, just pointing it out. Illinois was a focus as well.

California is interesting because of the talent it produces yet this program as a whole has never recruited it super hard. We had 2 scholarship guys from there during the previous regime I believe? Brew got a couple guys from there as well but I get what you're saying. Never been a major focus. I also don't think we absolutely have to go there. More than anything, it has to do more with our staff probably doesn't have a ton of ties there.

Recruiting far west of here is an interesting question too. To be honest, outside of Cali, there isn't a ton of talent far west of here. I suppose Phoenix, Vegas, Denver, and Seattle are about the only spots I'd argue have talent but there's not absolute quantity.

I think this staff has made it clear: Texas is going to be a priority as is some areas in the south (lots out in Georgia already and I expect more, specifically with DB's and Linquist's ties there). Otherwise, this is going to be all about getting every player we can from Big Ten/rust belt. St. Louis, Chicago, Detroit, Indianapolis, Cleveland, and into Jersey are where they are committed to working. I imagine Pittsburgh will pop up as more of a priority too eventually just because it is in the middle of that region we're targeting and our DC is from that area I believe. Once again, not saying it's right, not saying it's wrong, that's just what their focus appears to be.
 

Ratherbegolfing - excellent take on the recruiting process. Thank you
 


gopherrising said:
Riley coached at Oregon St forever, he was San Diego Chargers head coach. He has years (decades?) of contact with California coaches. That is why Nebraska is all about California. Also Fleck's philosophy, per his comments is to get kids on campus as many times as possible for visits. Hard to do that with California kids.
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Bingo!!
 




gopherrising said:
Riley coached at Oregon St forever, he was San Diego Chargers head coach. He has years (decades?) of contact with California coaches. That is why Nebraska is all about California. Also Fleck's philosophy, per his comments is to get kids on campus as many times as possible for visits. Hard to do that with California kids.
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What about TX and FLA kids...?
 








That's like asking Spoofin' to use a players name instead of initials and number!
 



CBS: St. Louis-area Trio Planning Minnesota Visit

Head Coach of Lutheran North in St. Louis (Mo.), Carl Reed, tells Gopher247 that he'll be bringing three prospects on a visit to Minnesota among other schools in March.

"I will be bringing Ronnie Perkins, Devin Ruffin and Donovan Marshall during spring break," he noted. "I do not know exact date we are coming, but spring break is March 18-25. We will visit a few places during that time."

All three prospects currently hold an offer from the Minnesota Golden Gophers. Since P.J. Fleck took over the program in January, Minnesota has shown a big increased interest in the deep talent from the St. Louis area, landing Rey Estes in the 2017 class for example. It will be an area of focus moving forward under Fleck & Co.

http://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/st-louis-area-trio-planning-minnesota-visit/

Go Gophers!!
 

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Go Gophers!!
 




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