Osunde Commits

[GopherFan75]

Hiring a recruiter got us in this mess in the first place. I am more than willing to give Kill a chance. If he can coach them up, who cares? Marion Barber wasn't highly recruited either, and I think he turned out ok with good coaching.

I thought we banned the Decker/Barber argument? So Jerry Kill is such a better coach than Jim Tressel and Nick Saban etc. that we don't need talented players and he will turn them all into superstars? Hearing the phrase "coach them up" really makes me sick.

 

[RodentRampage]

We all care about the results on the field, and more talented players tend to produce better results. Why is that so hard for people to understand?

I thought we banned the Decker/Barber argument? So Jerry Kill is such a better coach than Jim Tressel and Nick Saban etc. that we don't need talented players and he will turn them all into superstars? Hearing the phrase "coach them up" really makes me sick.

Take some Pepto-Bismol, because it really shouldn't make you sick. No one is saying that recruiting is unimportant. But we've seen the results that you get from too much emphasis on recruiting. I bet that Tressel's recruiting classes at Youngstown State were not Earth-shattering.

Coming in late in the recruiting period, and coming off a 3-9 season, it's not reasonable that anyone would have a fantastic recruiting class. But there is no reason to think that Kill will not be able to recruit, it would have been truly amazing for any MAC school to have a top recruiting class.

Winning is the best recruiter of all. Good coaching gets the maximum out of your available talent.

 

[alchemy2u]

Don't some of these Juco players back fill into this year's scholarships, something you can not do with a high school player. It is like getting free players to fill in the holes.

 

[Bob_Loblaw]

Don't some of these Juco players back fill into this year's scholarships, something you can not do with a high school player. It is like getting free players to fill in the holes.

Yep, but some people would rather have those spots sit vacant that filled with guys who only got offers from MAC schools.

 

[Bayfieldgopher]

We all care about the results on the field, and more talented players tend to produce better results. Why is that so hard for people to understand?

Makes sense to me.

In the meantime, please tell us how Coach Kill can get the "more talented players" when previous Gopher coaches haven't. I suppose we can ask the NCAA to instititue a college draft just for the Gophers.

Yep! That would probably work.

 

[Unregistered User]

Is he Milt Sunde's Irish kid?

Get it...Junior Osunde...O'sunde...O'sunde Jr...aw, never mind.

 

[GopherFan75]

Makes sense to me.

In the meantime, please tell us how Coach Kill can get the "more talented players" when previous Gopher coaches haven't. I suppose we can ask the NCAA to instititue a college draft just for the Gophers.

Yep! That would probably work.

I wasn't criticizing his current recruiting this was intended for the people who insist that recruiting rankings are meaningless.

 

[sanowai]

High ranked recruiting classes don't mean you will have success, nor middle of the pack classes doom you to failure. If you let me handpick former 3 star and lower kids who have went on to have huge careers I could make one hell of a team. The trick for us is finding that coach who can pick those kids out before those careers and build a program out of it. What should Kill do? Chase all the blue chippers and be left out in the cold on all these other kids he feels might be those underrated kids?

 

[MaxyJR1]

Scout now lists him as a soft verbal. ???

 

[50PoundHead]

Is he Milt Sunde's Irish kid?

Get it...Junior Osunde...O'sunde...O'sunde Jr...aw, never mind.

You stole my joke! LOL. I've been thinking the same thing.

As per the soft verbal, he may have run into a snag with credits for something. That is just speculation on my part, but it seems that a lot of December JC grads face that hurdle (and not just at Minnesota).

 

[Mustang Mountain Man]

Kill's first year recruiting looks better than Brewster's. I bet more will qualify, enroll, and graduate than Brewsters first year. This is shaping up to be a better transition than under Brewster. Keeping the kids is just as important as recruiting them to come. Just look at the senior class for 2012 with 9 seniors. That is horrible! I don't mind the JC kids. They, at least, have college experience. Hopefully, the Carpenters of this world graduate and make their moms and dads proud.

 

[gophmeister]

High ranked recruiting classes don't mean you will have success, nor middle of the pack classes doom you to failure. If you let me handpick former 3 star and lower kids who have went on to have huge careers I could make one hell of a team. The trick for us is finding that coach who can pick those kids out before those careers and build a program out of it. What should Kill do? Chase all the blue chippers and be left out in the cold on all these other kids he feels might be those underrated kids?

Recruiting is important, but for us it's entertainment. I like following recruiting even when we're not pulling in 4 star guys every other day. Especially nowadays with YouTube we get to use our brains to see if we can figure why the coaches offered the kid. Is he a diamond in the rough? Does he fit our system? What are the coaches thinking!?! Most recruiting rankings are based on a kids junior year. If player x had to sit behind player y for two years he may have gone unnoticed. I think the smart coach is the one who recruits the guys he has a reasonable shot at. Brew beat his head against the wall trying to recruit Seantrel Henderson. Even if he had signed him, he'd probably still be out of a job since Henderson's impact would have been limited this fall. Becoming a slave to rankings like Brewster was isn't going to help you win on Saturday. Kill should stick to his guns and recruit based who he thinks can succeed here. Winning has to come first. The elite kids will come if he can replicate his success at previous jobs.

 

[northerngopher]

Texas Tech was was visiting with Junior on Tues!!

 

[Too Long in the Wasteland]

I agree JC's are almost as much a crapshoot as HS kids. I just don't see Kill saying stupid things about recruits.

I remember Brewster touting Hayo at that recruiting social 3 years ago. You'd think Carpenter was going to win the Heisman, and then go win an Olympic gold medal in the 50yd sprint in his spare time.

 

[GopherFan75]

I remember Brewster touting Hayo at that recruiting social 3 years ago. You'd think Carpenter was going to win the Heisman, and then go win an Olympic gold medal in the 50yd sprint in his spare time.

I don't see the issue with supporting your players and saying good things about them.

 

[Sparlimb]

I don't see the issue with supporting your players and saying good things about them.

True, but the other side of the coin is that if you talk out the side of your mouth and tell flat out lies every time you speak, people stop listening. Players stop listening. Recruits stop listening.

We stopped listening...

 

[dpodoll68]

if you talk out the side of your mouth and tell flat out lies every time you speak

Please cite one "flat-out lie" spoken by Brewster.

I'll be waiting.

 

[Monty519]

Virtually every single sign pointed to Hayo being a stud, or at least a very solid starter. I know, "stars mean nothing", but both Rivals and Scout had this dude very highly rated, he had some really good offers from schools like Florida, he had the stats to back him up, and his film made him look brilliant. I still can't blame Brewster for being hyped about the kid, he looked like an absolute Grade A get.

Then he got to campus....kinda shows that even when lots of people are in agreement that a kid is a stud, they can all still be wrong about him.

 

[GophersInIowa]

But there is no reason to be going after these kinds of players a month and a half before signing day. He could offer the type of guys he is getting a four days before signing day and they would come. He is beating out the likes of Wagner, Milberry, North Texas, Florida International, Northern Illinois, Eastern Michigan for players. Why not aim big now and go after this type of recruit if you HAVE to? He needs to recognize that many of the commits prior to his arrival also do not look to be elite prospects. There was hardly any competition for them either. Put that together with last year's class, which contained a lot of fill-ins after 11 de-committed, and you just have to do better.

Or maybe we are just going with the blind faith again like so many did with Brewster.............. (it's okay to be critical, you know).

I know this is old but it's the first time I've read most of this thread.

The first few lines are completely false. That may be the case for some, but it certainly is not a sure thing. Players want to feel wanted and needed. If you don't offer until a few days before signings start, they know they look at you as a backup. It's not out of the question for a guy to sign at a N. Illinois type school who's shown "the love" for a long period of time.

I have a friend who is now playing double-a baseball. Before his senior season in high school, he got no interest from D-I schools. But one local D-II school was on him hard for a long time. Then he had a monster senior season and several D-I schools then wanted him. He said no thanks and signed at the D-II school who had shown interest the whole time. You just can't assume.

 

[Ole]

A few points IMO on the setting the bar low angle:

-It is late in the process, most top rated recruits require previous relationships to commit somewhere, sometimes even 3-4 years of relationships.

-Local recruits like Levine get offers from new coaches to gain favor and goodwill with in-state HS programs. No doubt a slow play could still nab an in state kid if a big fish doesn't come through, but it's a bad precedent to start out with. wisky does this with success because they have a long standing relationship with the HS coaches and a popular instate following, we have a new coach and a mixed loyalty local population.

-We still can get some higher rated/desired recruits: Sankey, Carter, Butler all have good programs after them.

-Kill is recruiting for HIS system, he see's what he needs right now, what pieces he is missing, etc. The WR's, TE's and Hbacks are lacking quality depth on offense, see Rohr and Bush's position changes combined with the the signing of Rabe, Campion and Harris as immediate help.
Our DB depth and quality is very shaky as well, see Crawford/Osunde/Jones

-3399- The one thing I see as a big difference between Kill and other coaches who climbed the ranks with success at lower levels and failed at the top is this:
Kill has beaten/hung tough with several Big Ten programs including victories against Indiana(while at SIU), Purdue, us, and tough games against Illinois, wisky, and even Tennessee. All on the road, all with inferior talent. To me, that shows he can get the job done his way and have success.

-This class and the last will lay a foundation of success for the next 4 years if they indeed stick around(a real concern). Highly rated quality and quantity of offensive linemen and runningbacks paired with a large amount of DB's and LB/TE's of varying quality and skills will help to ensure our running game is solid, and our defense is flexible and multidimensional. I forsee several of our linebacker recruits to end up as pass rushing DE's(1 or more of Mitchell/Moore/Matilus) and several of our DB's to find niche roles that can be used to hide coverages and add wrinkles.

-Bottom line, I see that this class isn't flashy, neither was last year's, but the types of players Kill is bringing in will allow for future speedy skill players to have success in his system.

 

[GopherFan75]

Please cite one "flat-out lie" spoken by Brewster.

I'll be waiting.

Agreed, lets hear this. Saying that he told flat-out lies is a flat-out lie if you ask me.

 

[corcoran1]

It's a complete mystery that adults who would understand any other people related process takes time to master, think you just show up at a kid's door and tell him we have a spot for him that will cause to to walk away from relationships with coaches from other teams he has built for 9-18 months.
It is not a draft! If it was we could forget the issue; it is about selling a school, a community, and a coaching staff in comparison to other schools. You don't do it in an evening when kids already have offers from BCS programs that did not fire their coach this year. Successful teams build relationships with high school staffs that allow kids to get endorsements from their high school coaches that they can trust the program. If it was not for kill's relationships, we would not even have the late kids we are getting.
It is actually not that different than trying to pursue a girl that has a boyfriend. Given enough time you may have a shot, but if she wants to get married on Feb 4, 2011 and you want to convince her she should dump her boyfriend and marry you on that day, either you better be the biggest hunk in town, he better be a real loser, or you have to find a different girl.
Nobody is going to walk in here and take kids away from winning programs at the last minute. Not even Harbaugh would out recruit good programs at the last minute. He doe not do that at Stanford, they built relationships over time with the class they are getting this year.
In fact, we have catch up work to do for next year.

 

[dpodoll68]

Please cite one "flat-out lie" spoken by Brewster.

I'll be waiting.

Not surprisingly, I continue to wait for this exhaustive list...

 

[Silvio]

Not surprisingly, I continue to wait for this exhaustive list...

Sparlimb will tell you it is when he said the gophers could someday go to the Rosebowl. Glen Mason accurately told us that is not possible.