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

[upnorthkid]

There have been rumors in the south metro since august that it was 50/50 football hockey

MN if hockey
WI if football

WI better fit for his skill set.

When he didn’t go to juniors and instead came back for senior year at Rosemount...everyone in the south metro started to assume he was going to be a badger football player and were proven correct.

yep agreed. word for even longer is that he loved football more than hockey but they thought hockey was perhaps his best chance to play pro. After he wasn't drafted this year, the writing was on the wall that he had shifted to where his passion was and the rest was pretty straightforward. No one is surprised on the hockey recruiting boards with this one

 

[upnorthkid]

His earnings are not in hockey. The fact he went undrafted in the nhl means teams don’t like him. When you’re drafted in the nhl teams have your rights the entire time your are eligible to play college hockey. That means they could own your rights for 5 or 6 years depending on junior hockey and when you enroll in college. The fact no team took a flyer on him I the draft means he has no future in the nhl. There were 217 picks in the draft and not one time wanted his rights.

while this is true to some degree, there are also rumors that he told NHL teams that he had shifted his attention to football and that the writing was on the wall that he wanted that more than to go through to hope for a college to AHL to NHL shot

 

[From the Parkinglot]

while this is true to some degree, there are also rumors that he told NHL teams that he had shifted his attention to football and that the writing was on the wall that he wanted that more than to go through to hope for a college to AHL to NHL shot

Makes sense to me...life of an AHL player is not a lot better than a college football at a power 5 school. The difference being the AHL guy get paid money while the college guy has to live off the cash under the table.

 

[Word]

This has nothing to do with a kid wanting to get away. Ratzlaff was committed to the U for hockey for the past 2 years. If he had been drafted in the NHL, he would be playing hockey for the Gophers next year. Since he wasn’t, he’ll be playing football for the Badgers. This is clearly a case of a recruit liking 2 schools, and feeling that one was a better fit for hockey and the other was a better fit for football.

The irony is he wasn't drafted because teams were worried he'd choose football.

 

[Word]

As is the case at 99% of programs

I know of some coaches that have major biases too. How much they pass that on to their players is hard to say.

 

[Some guy]

The irony is he wasn't drafted because teams were worried he'd choose football.

He likes football better.
Which is another reason not to draft him to play professional hockey

 

[Some guy]

I know of some coaches that have major biases too. How much they pass that on to their players is hard to say.

True. I think most coaches worry more about their kids well being than their own personal bias against programs.

I do feel some bias actually looks after the kids well being. For instance, steering a kid away from a program whose coach isn’t seen as a good person is actually both bias and looking after the kid’s well being. I see this case more happening on the d3 level much of the time.

 

[Word]

He likes football better.
Which is another reason not to draft him to play professional hockey

I bet if he was drafted in the top 3 rounds of the nhl draft he would have "liked" hockey a lot more.

 

[Some guy]

I bet if he was drafted in the top 3 rounds of the nhl draft he would have "liked" hockey a lot more.

Maybe.
But at the same time charlie ward played in the nba instead of the nfl.

Passion is a pretty important thing.

 

[noamfromm]

Do they have a pedigree? They always have had some number of large Wisconsin kids stay home to roadgrade for star running backs. Other than one particular guy (JT), I don't think they're known as any kind of factory for turning out star NFL Olinemen. No more than Iowa. Or plenty of other schools.

How many times have they landed the #1 player from Pennsylvania?

Fine, I'm reaching like hell and no one wants to believe me. That's fine. I still put it out there, because it smells.

Position U: Which schools produce the most talent at each position

Which school is the real QBU? What about DBU? ESPN Stats & Info did the math and broke down which colleges can lay claim to producing the best at each position in the BCS and CFP eras.

www.espn.com

 

[MplsGopher]

Position U: Which schools produce the most talent at each position

Which school is the real QBU? What about DBU? ESPN Stats & Info did the math and broke down which colleges can lay claim to producing the best at each position in the BCS and CFP eras.

www.espn.com

I specifically said JT.

The next three they list were first rounders in 2011, 2012, and 2013. Hey, it's great to be a first rounder. But that doesn't mean you're automatically a star in the NFL. Zeitler and Carimi didn't do anything in the league. Frederick is a 5X pro-bowler. The other two are 3rd and 5th rounders, why are they even "notable"?

JT and Frederick. Neat. Yep, that automatically means you're going to be an NFL star if you go there.


So then why haven't top rated Pennsylvania players been going there since 2012/2013 ????

 

[madison]

This is what I'm talking about: https://www.bannersociety.com/2014/4/10/20703758/bag-man-paying-college-football-players

Excellent article. Absolutely has happened for some time, and continues to happen. Wouldn't surprise me in the slightest if Wisconsin has been building up its network.

The number #1 player in Pennsylvania, and at a position that Wisconsin already has massively, fully stocked .... wants to go to ... Wisconsin to play college football??? No. That's $$$.

That'd be like the top player in Oklahoma going to West Virginia to play.

Nolan Rucci's brother Hayden plays for Wisconsin and that played a big role in Nolan choosing Wisconsin. It's not really that suspicious, but sure. I'm sure Paul Chryst's bagman was out there with the bag of cash for the Ruccis.

 

[madison]

I specifically said JT.

The next three they list were first rounders in 2011, 2012, and 2013. Hey, it's great to be a first rounder. But that doesn't mean you're automatically a star in the NFL. Zeitler and Carimi didn't do anything in the league. Frederick is a 5X pro-bowler. The other two are 3rd and 5th rounders, why are they even "notable"?

JT and Frederick. Neat. Yep, that automatically means you're going to be an NFL star if you go there.

So then why haven't top rated Pennsylvania players been going there since 2012/2013 ????

Zeitler is still in the NFL. He's the starting right guard for the Giants.
Tyler Biadasz is the starting center for the Cowboys.
Ryan Ramczyk is the starting right tackle for the Saints.
David Edwards is a starting guard for the Rams
Rob Havenstein is the starting right tackle for the Rams

Maybe all these players are not first-rounders, but they are solid NFL players. And there are other Badger offensive linemen in the NFL who are decent backups (Michael Deiter, Ricky Wagner). That's not a bad track record of putting players from a certain position in the NFL.

 

[OddStack]

I don't follow it that close obviously (don't pay for premium recruiting content, not saying you do). I just had seen the talk on here that it was hockey all the way.

Good luck to him. Wisconsin's 3-4 bread and butter defense is LB U.

I don't either. This was the talk in coaching circles.

 

[OddStack]

The irony is he wasn't drafted because teams were worried he'd choose football.

Anders Lee??????

 

[BigTenGuy]

This is what I'm talking about: https://www.bannersociety.com/2014/4/10/20703758/bag-man-paying-college-football-players

.

The number #1 player in Pennsylvania, and at a position that Wisconsin already has massively, fully stocked .... wants to go to ... Wisconsin to play college football??? No. That's $$$.

The # 1 (or 2) player in Pennsylvania, Nolan Rucci, has an older brother, Hayden, on the Wisconsin roster. The older brother was not offered a scholly to PSU, and it is hardly surprising the older brother chose to follow the younger brother to Madison.

 

[MplsGopher]

Nolan Rucci's brother Hayden plays for Wisconsin and that played a big role in Nolan choosing Wisconsin. It's not really that suspicious, but sure. I'm sure Paul Chryst's bagman was out there with the bag of cash for the Ruccis.

The # 1 (or 2) player in Pennsylvania, Nolan Rucci, has an older brother, Hayden, on the Wisconsin roster. The older brother was not offered a scholly to PSU, and it is hardly surprising the older brother chose to follow the younger brother to Madison.

Thanks. Makes wayyyyy more sense, then.

If PA top OL actually thought their best path to the NFL was to go to Wisconsin, they'd have done so in droves since 2011-2013.

This is a one-off, because of the brother.


Seems like a really smart play, to offer him in hopes of landing his brother, or a really stupid play by PSU for not offering the older brother.

 

[MplsGopher]

Zeitler is still in the NFL. He's the starting right guard for the Giants.
Tyler Biadasz is the starting center for the Cowboys.
Ryan Ramczyk is the starting right tackle for the Saints.
David Edwards is a starting guard for the Rams
Rob Havenstein is the starting right tackle for the Rams

Maybe all these players are not first-rounders, but they are solid NFL players. And there are other Badger offensive linemen in the NFL who are decent backups (Michael Deiter, Ricky Wagner). That's not a bad track record of putting players from a certain position in the NFL.

Ok. Six starters (including Fredrick) out of 32*5 = 160 is probably top 10 in the P5. Laughable that the ESPN link doesn't even show Ramczyk, who is a pro-bowler. Guess that's not "notable".

Nonetheless, my point was made in the post above.

Thanks for the summary and info!

 

[madison]

Thanks. Makes wayyyyy more sense, then.

If PA top OL actually thought their best path to the NFL was to go to Wisconsin, they'd have done so in droves since 2011-2013.

This is a one-off, because of the brother.

Seems like a really smart play, to offer him in hopes of landing his brother, or a really stupid play by PSU for not offering the older brother.

When Hayden was being recruited, no one knew that Nolan would blow up like he did. Nolan was only in eighth grade when Hayden made his first recruiting visit to Wisconsin; the offensive line coach took Nolan into his office and had a chat with him. Penn State had two higher-rated tight ends already committed in the class, so it's hard to blame PSU for not offering Hayden. At the same time, it has to sting for PSU because the Ruccis straight-up said that if PSU had offered, Hayden would have taken the offer and not looked around (their dad, Todd Rucci, played offensive line for PSU and played in the NFL as well). They enjoyed the recruiting process and that caused Nolan to look around too.

As for Ratzlaff, it's been well-known for awhile that he was trying to decide between hockey and football, and if it was hockey, it was Minnesota, and if it was football it was going to be Wisconsin.

 

[MplsGopher]

When Hayden was being recruited, no one knew that Nolan would blow up like he did. Nolan was only in eighth grade when Hayden made his first recruiting visit to Wisconsin; the offensive line coach took Nolan into his office and had a chat with him. Penn State had two higher-rated tight ends already committed in the class, so it's hard to blame PSU for not offering Hayden. At the same time, it has to sting for PSU because the Ruccis straight-up said that if PSU had offered, Hayden would have taken the offer and not looked around (their dad, Todd Rucci, played offensive line for PSU and played in the NFL as well). They enjoyed the recruiting process and that caused Nolan to look around too.

As for Ratzlaff, it's been well-known for awhile that he was trying to decide between hockey and football, and if it was hockey, it was Minnesota, and if it was football it was going to be Wisconsin.

Thanks again, great info!

 

[#2Gopher]

Zeitler is still in the NFL. He's the starting right guard for the Giants.
Tyler Biadasz is the starting center for the Cowboys.
Ryan Ramczyk is the starting right tackle for the Saints.
David Edwards is a starting guard for the Rams
Rob Havenstein is the starting right tackle for the Rams

Maybe all these players are not first-rounders, but they are solid NFL players. And there are other Badger offensive linemen in the NFL who are decent backups (Michael Deiter, Ricky Wagner). That's not a bad track record of putting players from a certain position in the NFL.

What does this have to do with Minnesota's recruiting site?

 

[btowngopher]

Ru'Quan Buckley is announcing on Saturday.

I guess his decision may have an impact on, or may be impacted behind the scenes by, Townley's decision?

Luther McCoy also has an upcoming commitment scheduled for the 9th. Gophers also have a new target in Dylan Rollins an offensive tackle and number one player in Montana.

 

[Word]

Maybe.
But at the same time charlie ward played in the nba instead of the nfl.

Passion is a pretty important thing.

I can see choosing baseball/basketball over hockey/football due to longevity and sparing your body from concussions, etc.

Choosing football vs hockey is probably a toss up in terms of physical toll though.

 

[Some guy]

I can see choosing baseball/basketball over hockey/football due to longevity and sparing your body from concussions, etc.

Choosing football vs hockey is probably a toss up in terms of physical toll though.

Yeah.

but if you love going to football practice every day but you see hockey practice as something you do because you’re good at...it’d probably be an easy choice which one to pursue at the next level given opportunity to pursue either

 

[USAF]

The # 1 (or 2) player in Pennsylvania, Nolan Rucci, has an older brother, Hayden, on the Wisconsin roster. The older brother was not offered a scholly to PSU, and it is hardly surprising the older brother chose to follow the younger brother to Madison.

Michael and Matthew Hurt say hi.

 

[MNVCGUY]

I can see choosing baseball/basketball over hockey/football due to longevity and sparing your body from concussions, etc.

Choosing football vs hockey is probably a toss up in terms of physical toll though.

Actually according to the quick search info I could find the average NHL career is 5.5 years vs. 3.5 for football and the NHL compares very favorably with MLB and NBA for career length. There is zero doubt that football is the toughest sport to have a long career in.

I don't think those numbers factor in minor league time as well though. For example in football and basketball for the most part the pro clock starts right away after college. Whereas in baseball and hockey there is usually going to be multiple years of minor league time factored in there as well. So the total length of your sports career is probably way longer in baseball and hockey if you make it to the top level, but I don't have any actual data to back that up.

 

[UpAndUnder43]

NDSU, Iowa, SJU, Mankato, UST, Duluth, Wisconsin,UMD, White Water, have all had success with there football programs, many of them winning National Championships, most of them with Minnesota athletes. I looked at NDSU's roster and the top athletes from central Minnesota, Becker, St. Cloud, Buffalo, Monticello, Royalton, Crosby, Marshall. This does not include the Metro kids. SJU has become the winning-est Div. III program by recruiting basically in an hour radius over the years. There is enough talent in Minnesota. You have to create an winning culture in which all these kids are recruited either scholarship or walk- on, on a consistent basis until Jim and all his buddies want to go play and win in their state. The University attempts to be so elite that non of them either get recruited or want to play in the program. Really simple, just look at their record for the last 35 years.

The kid from St Cloud worked out for the Gophers. They offered him a walk on spot. He chose free college. He comes from a family of like 11 kids and lost his father years ago. He had Ivy League offers, just like his brothers. Chose to play football and is having a nice career in Fargo. I’m happy for him.
But to act as if these kids are ignored by the Gophers is silly. You just don’t know so you assume

 

[tmvander]

NDSU, Iowa, SJU, Mankato, UST, Duluth, Wisconsin,UMD, White Water, have all had success with there football programs, many of them winning National Championships, most of them with Minnesota athletes. I looked at NDSU's roster and the top athletes from central Minnesota, Becker, St. Cloud, Buffalo, Monticello, Royalton, Crosby, Marshall. This does not include the Metro kids. SJU has become the winning-est Div. III program by recruiting basically in an hour radius over the years. There is enough talent in Minnesota. You have to create an winning culture in which all these kids are recruited either scholarship or walk- on, on a consistent basis until Jim and all his buddies want to go play and win in their state. The University attempts to be so elite that non of them either get recruited or want to play in the program. Really simple, just look at their record for the last 35 years.

Maybe I'm miss reading into your point here but are you saying that you want the Gophers to essentially have St. John's roster and expect them to compete in the Big Ten? Again, maybe you're pointing out that the state has talented enough players for THOSE levels of competition and they do well.

 

[btowngopher]

Maybe I'm miss reading into your point here but are you saying that you want the Gophers to essentially have St. John's roster and expect them to compete in the Big Ten? Again, maybe you're pointing out that the state has talented enough players for THOSE levels of competition and they do well.

It’s easy to point out kids that turn out great that the gophers missed on. But unless someone can identify those kids at a high rate when they are high school seniors it doesn’t matter. Casting a wider net will get you more of those kids, but will also get you kids that might not be able to start for NDSU.

 

[btowngopher]

Ru'Quan Buckley is announcing on Saturday.

I guess his decision may have an impact on, or may be impacted behind the scenes by, Townley's decision?

Looks like Buckley is no longer listed as a top target. Speaks well for Townley I would think. McCoy, Rollins and McNeill now listed as top targets with Townley.