Official 2021 Gophers Football Recruiting Updates Thread: Links, Tweets, Videos etc

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Top 25 is my goal, with top 15-20 as my aspiration this year.
Given numbers already baked in, and historical threshold to squeak into the top 25, I’m thinking somewhere in the 25-30 is a reasonable expectation (if we don’t suffer further decommits)—unless Fleck magically brings in five or six more 4 stars. Fleck likes to find diamonds in the rough (higher 3s who might turn out to develop into 4s). You can win a lot of games with those kind of guys, but you don’t win the recruiting rankings race.
 

I’d worry more about Big Ten recruiting standing than National standing first.
Out recruit Wisconsin, Iowa and Nebraska first, to stay relevant.
We can stay relevant in the West without out-recruiting Nebraska. They chew up and spit out, or coach down, so much “talent” that their recruiting stats are overrated. Now Wisconsin and Iowa on the other hand play at or above their recruiting stats.
 

We can stay relevant in the West without out-recruiting Nebraska. They chew up and spit out, or coach down, so much “talent” that their recruiting stats are overrated. Now Wisconsin and Iowa on the other hand play at or above their recruiting stats.

You can never count on that to continue, though. If the talent is there, it is very possible to put it together and they can still pull off a win. I would rather have the edge of better talent - it tips the scales in our favor!!
 

I’d worry more about Big Ten recruiting standing than National standing first.
Out recruit Wisconsin, Iowa and Nebraska first, to stay relevant.

Small detail, but rankings are so subjective. It really doesn't matter if we out-recruit those teams as long as we are recruiting players that are clearly power 5 targets. In other words, we don't have to finish ahead of them in the rankings but our class should look similar to theirs in terms of the quality of recruits from top to bottom.
 


In football I think having quality depth and scheme fit matters more than landing a few 4 or 5*s. I pay more attention to the number of high 3* and the quality of the “worst” players we pick up when I think about quality of a class. It’s exciting to have those sexy 4*s sprinkled in, but ultimately we need lots of solid talent at all positions.
 

We still have outstanding talent and people with our 2021 committed class so no need to think " Oh no we fell out of the top 10 ranking to date". I'll take what we got and go to war and take our chances with the team we already have intact. Surprises still can happen 2021-2022 recruiting. Bring it on... Lets play some football. Why would you not want to play for coach Fleck and be a part of this winning program within the Gopher Brotherhood.
 

Our in-season/late recruits for the 2020 class also filled out the top end of the group: Burns, Joyner, Emilien, and Logan-Redding all helped pull up the class average significantly. If we have a similarly successful 2020 campaign, it's reasonable to expect that we will have some further late-cycle successes.
 

Another year or two of 9-10+ wins will take care of recruiting in the years to come
 



Our in-season/late recruits for the 2020 class also filled out the top end of the group: Burns, Joyner, Emilien, and Logan-Redding all helped pull up the class average significantly. If we have a similarly successful 2020 campaign, it's reasonable to expect that we will have some further late-cycle successes.
I was trying to figure out what guys we had pulled in during late period. Appreciate the 2020 update here. I feel more confident as recruiting continues to roll on.

Class looking really good for 2021 even without Jackson. Should be a real solid class overall and excited about the potential of adds here in the late Summer/Fall.

I'm just ready for the season to get underway. So much recruiting talk has made me miss real football where guys actually have to do it on the field and what recruiting is really for. We don't know how exactly these kids will play out, but I feel real confident in the developmental ability of this coaching staff no matter what. High recruits=better, but let's just get back on the field.
 

We still have outstanding talent and people with our 2021 committed class so no need to think " Oh no we fell out of the top 10 ranking to date". I'll take what we got and go to war and take our chances with the team we already have intact. Surprises still can happen 2021-2022 recruiting. Bring it on... Lets play some football. Why would you not want to play for coach Fleck and be a part of this winning program within the Gopher Brotherhood.

The simple fact that anyone would even be concerned that our class fell out of the top 10 tells you everything you need to know about the gains we have made in recruiting under Fleck. Prior to Flecks arrival, even sniffing the top 20 at any point in recruiting was an extremely rare occurrence. Most years we were just hoping not to finish near the bottom of the conference in recruiting.
 

With the Iowa story, I wonder if Joe Alt is still a strong Iowa lean. I wonder if Justice Sullivan is still a solid commit for them.
 

How about there highest rated recruit. The OL from Illinois. Would love to flip that kid
 



per Shooter:

In early June, the Gophers ranked No. 9 in national football recruiting by 247Sports, and despite getting commitments from five 4-star players, have no five-stars among its 17 pledges. No. 1 Ohio State has four five-star commitments and 11 four-stars among 18
commitments. No. 5 Michigan has seven four-stars and one five-star among its 16 commitments.


Go Gophers!!
 




If he wants to go play for Jeff Brohm, let him. Brohm is a big-time jerk. Does no coaching on the sidlines, just yells and screams at his players. I would not want to be a part of that kind of culture.
Hate coaches like that. If that's true, then I hope Purdue falls flat on its face.

Purdue/Brohm at least have made it to bowl games. Better than Nebraska/Frost can claim.
 

You can never count on that to continue, though. If the talent is there, it is very possible to put it together and they can still pull off a win. I would rather have the edge of better talent - it tips the scales in our favor!!
I would say I agree .... but how can you possibly say that about Nebraska now, with how poorly they've done since Pelini left?? Something is broken in Lincoln ... or maybe it was never really good in the first place, but they took advantage of much weaker rules/enforcement back in the day.
 

per Shooter:

In early June, the Gophers ranked No. 9 in national football recruiting by 247Sports, and despite getting commitments from five 4-star players, have no five-stars among its 17 pledges. No. 1 Ohio State has four five-star commitments and 11 four-stars among 18
commitments. No. 5 Michigan has seven four-stars and one five-star among its 16 commitments.


Go Gophers!!

And Shooter's point is.........

We were never going to stay in the top 10 and it will always be difficult for us to keep pace with the Ohio States and Michigans of the world in recruiting. Those are helmet schools in fertile recruiting areas. Anyone that judges our class alongside Ohio State or the other top schools in recruiting right now is just setting themselves up for disappointment.

What matters is that we have closed the gap by a lot and are now recruiting at the same level or better than the teams we are in direct competition with in the West. We aren't going to challenge for a top 5 or top 10 recruiting class anytime in the near future, but it suddenly doesn't seem impossible to think that at some point we might actually be able to get to that level. Which is something I never thought I would write given where our recruiting has been for as long as the rankings have been around.
 

Again, Tennessee ranks #2 right now for the 2021 class, with 11 4* (but no 5*) commits. And that is a shit program. Nebraska of the south. Bunch of wackos fill that stadium every game, hoping that they'll win a national championship again one day. LOL

(and this is 247 ratings only, not composite)
 


And Shooter's point is.........

We were never going to stay in the top 10 and it will always be difficult for us to keep pace with the Ohio States and Michigans of the world in recruiting. Those are helmet schools in fertile recruiting areas. Anyone that judges our class alongside Ohio State or the other top schools in recruiting right now is just setting themselves up for disappointment.

What matters is that we have closed the gap by a lot and are now recruiting at the same level or better than the teams we are in direct competition with in the West. We aren't going to challenge for a top 5 or top 10 recruiting class anytime in the near future, but it suddenly doesn't seem impossible to think that at some point we might actually be able to get to that level. Which is something I never thought I would write given where our recruiting has been for as long as the rankings have been around.
I don't know. I didn't expect the level recruiting we have this year. So if we have another great year we might doing better in recruiting.
 

In terms of recruiting, the Gophers are already in uncharted waters. You would probably have to go back to the early 60's to see a Gopher recruiting class considered one of the best in the country.

So, I am not going to say that Fleck could not theoretically land a top-5 national class, or bring in 5* recruits to MN.

We just don't know. Just because it hasn't happened does not mean that it can't happen.

I'm an older Gopher fan who has gotten used to the "plucky underdogs" status. the "our recruits may not be ranked as high as yours, but we'll coach them up and give you a battle" routine.

So what do we think now? How do we react to a Gopher football team that is considered a top team- not an underdog. How do we react to top-15 National rankings and a recruiting class in the top 20?
What is it like to cheer for a good team - not an underdog that might squeak out a win if they get some breaks?

We are in a whole new world, and there is no GPS or google maps to guide us.
 

In terms of recruiting, the Gophers are already in uncharted waters. You would probably have to go back to the early 60's to see a Gopher recruiting class considered one of the best in the country.

So, I am not going to say that Fleck could not theoretically land a top-5 national class, or bring in 5* recruits to MN.

We just don't know. Just because it hasn't happened does not mean that it can't happen.

I'm an older Gopher fan who has gotten used to the "plucky underdogs" status. the "our recruits may not be ranked as high as yours, but we'll coach them up and give you a battle" routine.

So what do we think now? How do we react to a Gopher football team that is considered a top team- not an underdog. How do we react to top-15 National rankings and a recruiting class in the top 20?
What is it like to cheer for a good team - not an underdog that might squeak out a win if they get some breaks?

We are in a whole new world, and there is no GPS or google maps to guide us.


I think we've got a ways to go until we're in the "top team" category and still "could be a flash in the pan" territory.

But even this flash for now is much much hotter than any recent memory.
 

In terms of recruiting, the Gophers are already in uncharted waters. You would probably have to go back to the early 60's to see a Gopher recruiting class considered one of the best in the country.

So, I am not going to say that Fleck could not theoretically land a top-5 national class, or bring in 5* recruits to MN.

We just don't know. Just because it hasn't happened does not mean that it can't happen.

I'm an older Gopher fan who has gotten used to the "plucky underdogs" status. the "our recruits may not be ranked as high as yours, but we'll coach them up and give you a battle" routine.

So what do we think now? How do we react to a Gopher football team that is considered a top team- not an underdog. How do we react to top-15 National rankings and a recruiting class in the top 20?
What is it like to cheer for a good team - not an underdog that might squeak out a win if they get some breaks?

We are in a whole new world, and there is no GPS or google maps to guide us.
No question the Gophers can land 5-stars in the future. If we put together a string of 1 or 2 more double digit win seasons in a row, and play in these prominent bowl games, we'll be able to create more and more publicity and momentum. PJ would be able to bring a couple in, or at least 1 just for the sake of the argument.
I am highly biased but I truly believe at the U we have the ability to be a powerhouse program with PJ at the helm. We've got great facilities, a downtown area with a lot going on (including all the professional sports teams), and the city will rally around the Gophers more and more as we began to see last year.
Revenue will continue to go up and up, allowing us to pour more into the football program.
We also have the potential to add seats to TCF and I'm sure we will in time with continued success.
Future of Minnesota football is very bright with PJ here. I think he understands how to sell everything that we have to offer in Minnesota.
 

per Shooter:

In early June, the Gophers ranked No. 9 in national football recruiting by 247Sports, and despite getting commitments from five 4-star players, have no five-stars among its 17 pledges. No. 1 Ohio State has four five-star commitments and 11 four-stars among 18
commitments. No. 5 Michigan has seven four-stars and one five-star among its 16 commitments.


Go Gophers!!
Haha this article is one way to put a negative spin on a real solid recruiting class. Give it some time there Shooter...easy
 

IMHO, the folks who say a string of 10-11 wins seasons will garner more attention by high 4-Stars and 5 Stars. More invigorating will be how many players can the Gophers get drafted in the next couple of drafts. They've got 5 players drafted in 2020 and two more signed UDFA contracts. They do this, and the recruiting class ranking will go even higher.

It is hard to dislodge the creme de la creme from the blue blood programs unless you can show them something. Some only come to "play skool" and will be gone as soon as they are draft eligible.
 

I don't know. I didn't expect the level recruiting we have this year. So if we have another great year we might doing better in recruiting.

There is absolutely room for us to keep moving up but with our local recruiting base it is going to be really hard for us to get to the very top because we just don't have those high rated local guys that can really skyrocket a class.

Take Ohio State for example. They currently have 7 recruits in their class from the state of Ohio. 5 of those 7 are rated at .95 and above. The state of Ohio has 10 - 4* recruits, the state of Minnesota has under 10 players ranked 3* and up.

For us to ever keep pace with the Ohio State's of the world in recruiting it will take a spectacular recruiting job on the part of the head coach because they will have to convince a ton of highly rated out of state kids to come on board as opposed to trying to convince kids in their own backyard.
 

There is absolutely room for us to keep moving up but with our local recruiting base it is going to be really hard for us to get to the very top because we just don't have those high rated local guys that can really skyrocket a class.

Take Ohio State for example. They currently have 7 recruits in their class from the state of Ohio. 5 of those 7 are rated at .95 and above. The state of Ohio has 10 - 4* recruits, the state of Minnesota has under 10 players ranked 3* and up.

For us to ever keep pace with the Ohio State's of the world in recruiting it will take a spectacular recruiting job on the part of the head coach because they will have to convince a ton of highly rated out of state kids to come on board as opposed to trying to convince kids in their own backyard.
This will take time as it is a process.
 

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