Recruiting Dry Spell

[Deleted_User]

I am not worried about the outcome of recruiting. I even expect improvement. Up from 12/11th to 9/8th. That said, I am more worried about the process of recruiting. That said, things will turn out just fine. All of the recruits will academically qualify. All will attend class and finish in their 4th or 5th year. And, they will help the program turn around to pick up one or more victories in their 1st 3 years of play. The 4th year will be rougher because we will be short senior leaders. That will work itself out over time. Angst will come and go with time, but the drinks can only be poured by people with steady hands, or some such B.S.

 

[Gopherprof]

We should be expecting more "if" we hope to compete with Iowa and Wisconsin 3-4 years from now.

Why would that happen now? I feel like some of you aren't even reading what's being written (still waiting on OutHouseTroll's response on why we should panic).

What about the state of Gopher football right now says that we should be pulling in the same quality of recruits as Iowa and Wisconsin? You're identifying a problem that is so painfully obvious that I'm still not sure what point you're trying to make. Our program isn't currently at the level of Wisconsin and Iowa? Welcome to the last 20 years.

 

[John Galt]

Why would that happen now? I feel like some of you aren't even reading what's being written (still waiting on OutHouseTroll's response on why we should panic).

What about the state of Gopher football right now says that we should be pulling in the same quality of recruits as Iowa and Wisconsin? You're identifying a problem that is so painfully obvious that I'm still not sure what point you're trying to make. Our program isn't currently at the level of Wisconsin and Iowa? Welcome to the last 20 years.

You're selling the program short. Kill has a staff that has been together for a long time and won everywhere they've been. That will appeal to kids. It's same reason that people in Minnesota have warmed to him. Wisconsin just lost pretty much their entire coaching staff, and Iowa lost their defensive coordinator and I believe a few other assistants. A lot of high school players would rather live in a metropolitan area like Minneapolis as opposed to being in the middle of nowhere in Iowa or Wisky. We've got an amazing stadium. There's a chance to play early. Ultimately, the coaches have to get recruits to buy into their vision of what the program is going to be.

 

[Bob_Loblaw]

I know we are all probably going to get sick of this kind of speak in a political year, but I kind of think you both are right.

GopherProf is 100% right, we can't expect to recruit to the level of IA or WI. Unfortunately for us, those programs are in considerably better shape.

However, I also do agree with John Gault, I like the direction of the program and I really feel good about our chances in closing that gap. I think a large portion of that positivity comes from my belief that Kill has a specific eye for talent (he's not the only one, but so far I believe his ability to evaluate talent has been good). So if we couple that with the ability to get the most out of our players, I like the direction of the program.

 

[Gopherprof]

You're selling the program short. Kill has a staff that has been together for a long time and won everywhere they've been. That will appeal to kids.

Most people don't have a clue about that. Even when Kill came here, most of the current players didn't know who he was, and he had just beaten the Gophers THAT YEAR. Ferentz and Bielema have both won in the Big Ten, a MUCH bigger platform.

It's same reason that people in Minnesota have warmed to him.

Gopher fans in Minnesota and recruits in Texas and Florida aren't even remotely the same thing. We want him to succeed because we are invested in the program. They are invested in themselves and potentially one or two schools they grew up liking (which isn't the Gophers)

Wisconsin just lost pretty much their entire coaching staff, and Iowa lost their defensive coordinator and I believe a few other assistants.

That's totally peripheral to the fact that we won 3 games last year, and Wisconsin won the Big Ten. I know this is a Gopher board, but come on. I'm actually a little surprised at the recruiting success that Iowa has had the last two seasons, because they aren't in the same class as Wisconsin, but they do have a very impressive record of sending kids to the NFL, and that matters to recruits.

A lot of high school players would rather live in a metropolitan area like Minneapolis as opposed to being in the middle of nowhere in Iowa or Wisky.

Some, probably. But if you look at recruiting patters, there's nothing really to suggest that metropolitan teams have an advantage in recruiting.

Also, if you're a Chicago kid (and many of these recruits in question are), Iowa and Wisconsin have a potential geographic advantage by being in closer proximity.

We've got an amazing stadium. There's a chance to play early. Ultimately, the coaches have to get recruits to buy into their vision of what the program is going to be.

Yes, all of this is true, but it's still secondary to the fact that we have been historical losers for decades, and the coaching staff is made up primarily of guys who made their names in DII and the FCS. Not to mention that these things don't exist in a vacuum. Programs like Iowa and Wisconsin, as much as we may hate to admit it or not see it, have a lot to offer as well.


As I said before, Brewster was an exceptional recruiter, and people really fail to appreciate that by thinking we should consistently be beating other BCS programs for players. We are in the Purdue/Indiana range in the Big Ten until we can prove otherwise.

 

[Bob_Loblaw]

As I said before, Brewster was an exceptional recruiter, and people really fail to appreciate that by thinking we should consistently be beating other BCS programs for players. We are in the Purdue/Indiana range in the Big Ten until we can prove otherwise.

There really is something to this statement. I am not saying it's the basis for John Galt's opinion, but there are a large percentage of people who really started following recruiting right at the time that Brew took over. That gave people the impression that outrecruiting Iowa and being in the middle of the Big 10 in recruiting is a realistic goal for a bottom dwelling team (for years) like the U. Brewster's failures left many people to argue that Brew was a huge failure at everything and therefore some people thought that automatically meant that Kill should recruit as well or better than Brew.

 

[GoAUpher]

Brewster's failures left many people to argue that Brew was a huge failure at everything and therefore some people thought that automatically meant that Kill should recruit as well or better than Brew.

There are also folks who look at Brew and see failure despite the recruiting. From that they feel that Kill must recruit at Brew's level (minimum) if he is to succeed at Minnesota.

 

[Deleted_User]

There really is something to this statement. I am not saying it's the basis for John Galt's opinion, but there are a large percentage of people who really started following recruiting right at the time that Brew took over. That gave people the impression that outrecruiting Iowa and being in the middle of the Big 10 in recruiting is a realistic goal for a bottom dwelling team (for years) like the U. Brewster's failures left many people to argue that Brew was a huge failure at everything and therefore some people thought that automatically meant that Kill should recruit as well or better than Brew.

This is a winner!

 

[Deleted_User]

There are also folks who look at Brew and see failure despite the recruiting. From that they feel that Kill must recruit at Brew's level (minimum) if he is to succeed at Minnesota.

This is another winner! I hate it when you are right!

 

[Bob_Loblaw]

There are also folks who look at Brew and see failure despite the recruiting. From that they feel that Kill must recruit at Brew's level (minimum) if he is to succeed at Minnesota.

I totally agree! That's sort of what I was getting at with my tirade about looking at Brew's failures.

 

[GoAUpher]

I totally agree! That's sort of what I was getting at with my tirade about looking at Brew's failures.

I thought yours was spot on too (sorry, realized I never said as much in my other post). I meant this as an addendum to your good comment.

 

[EG#9]

From 2004-2007, the Gophers were never better than 9th out of 11 in the Big Ten in the Rivals recruiting rankings (if you go by average stars, they stand up even worse to their peers ). The only Gopher from those classes drafted in the first 3 rounds of the NFL draft was Eric Decker. The results on the field of those four particular classes speak for themselves. It can be argued that Jerry Kill might be able to do "more with less", but how much more? We have a lot of prior evidence of poor recruiting classes producing poor results and very little experience with solid recruiting classes. The Gophers are now back in the position of having 2 really poor (in regards to rankings) classes in a row and I would think most of us would be hoping to avoid a 3rd.

 

[vames]

I was going to echo, Kill and company have handed out well over a 100 offers. The majority going to players in Ohio and Florida - states that make sense for a pipeline. Not sure what the latest count was but we had a number of offers going out to players in North Carolina and Indiana as well. Not sure if building pipelines there make sense, but then again I am not the coach. It is probably safe to say that most players receiving offers from Minnesota have mild to no interest in playing for Minnesota as many have multiple BCS offers.

Only 3 have been handed out to players from the state.

 

[MspHawk]

Player Development 2012: Grading the Journey from High-school Recruit to the NFL http://www.blackheartgoldpants.com/2012/5/15/3018727/player-development-2012-grading-the-journey-from-high-school-recruit#storyjump

"Conforming more closely to expectations is the linemen category where Iowa and Wisconsin lead the field. Iowa's performance in particularly is rather remarkable, Captain Kirk and company have sent 2 and a half linemen into the draft for every 1 the average BCS program would have produced, a stunning 254% development ratio. If you are a linemen offered by Iowa, can you afford to say no?"...

The other side of the coin-Iowa should win more games then. As for MN, they are going to need to start with a few guys that pan out and over the years they are bound to improve and I think they will. Does everyone have the staying power to live through it based on the history that got them to this point? It would be tough on anyone and Captain Kirk didnt look so hot his first couple of years either. Recruiting does matter and having some patience does too.

 

[GoAUpher]

From 2004-2007, the Gophers were never better than 9th out of 11 in the Big Ten in the Rivals recruiting rankings (if you go by average stars, they stand up even worse to their peers ). The only Gopher from those classes drafted in the first 3 rounds of the NFL draft was Eric Decker. The results on the field of those four particular classes speak for themselves. It can be argued that Jerry Kill might be able to do "more with less", but how much more? We have a lot of prior evidence of poor recruiting classes producing poor results and very little experience with solid recruiting classes. The Gophers are now back in the position of having 2 really poor (in regards to rankings) classes in a row and I would think most of us would be hoping to avoid a 3rd.

Oddly enough, those classes also coincided with Brewster's tenure (the 2004 class would be redshirt juniors when Brew started). I'm sure that had no bearing on anything though.

Recruiting definitely matters. But expecting recruiting to be better "just because it needs to be" while ignoring every other factor playing in to why the Gophers are where they are is ridiculous.

 

[dpodoll68]

I've posted my theory on Kill's recruiting strategy before, but I'll do it here again. The single biggest on-field problem for the Gophers the last few years (among many) is the inability to keep most players here for their 4th and 5th years, for a litany of reasons. Kill is smart, and recognizes that. His focus his first 2 classes (counting the abbreviated 2011 class) was recruiting "good citizens", guys who are likely to stay here for their entire college career, grow and develop within the program, and, at minimum, be solid, smart, dependable football players. His goal has been to raise the floor of the program by making the depth chart deeper and older in years 4 and 5 here. He has gone after players he likes and has had a good chance of getting, rather than taking a risk by waiting on higher-rated and more highly-sought-after prospects. The risk in waiting on guys like that is creating holes in your depth chart, which, again, is the primary thing he wants to avoid. Where he has taken risks in the first two years is going after in-state guys who would have a more natural inclination than others to stay with the Gophers (guys like McDonald and Pirsig), and that has worked swimmingly, particularly with the 2012 class. In my theory, what I didn't know is how long he would proceed with this strategy - it could be anywhere from 2-4 years. When he felt comfortable that he had elevated the floor to where he wanted it, he would proceed to working on raising the ceiling. I think he has now reached that point - the point where he feels comfortable enough with his projections of the depth chart in years 4-5 to start taking risks and waiting on higher-rated players. If we have a mostly full class by the end of the season (i.e., 10-12 commits), and we have 6-8 guys with multiple BCS offers among those 10-12, I think Kill will be right where he wants to be. If we only have 4-6 commits by the end of the season, and only 1-2 have multiple BCS offers, that is the point at which to begin getting worried. If that's the case, we will be scrambling for low-end recruits in Jan and Feb, which is a place where no BCS coach going into his 3rd year wants to be.

 

[mplsbadger]

I've posted my theory on Kill's recruiting strategy before, but I'll do it here again. The single biggest on-field problem for the Gophers the last few years (among many) is the inability to keep most players here for their 4th and 5th years, for a litany of reasons. Kill is smart, and recognizes that. His focus his first 2 classes (counting the abbreviated 2011 class) was recruiting "good citizens", guys who are likely to stay here for their entire college career, grow and develop within the program, and, at minimum, be solid, smart, dependable football players. His goal has been to raise the floor of the program by making the depth chart deeper and older in years 4 and 5 here. He has gone after players he likes and has had a good chance of getting, rather than taking a risk by waiting on higher-rated and more highly-sought-after prospects. The risk in waiting on guys like that is creating holes in your depth chart, which, again, is the primary thing he wants to avoid. Where he has taken risks in the first two years is going after in-state guys who would have a more natural inclination than others to stay with the Gophers (guys like McDonald and Pirsig), and that has worked swimmingly, particularly with the 2012 class. In my theory, what I didn't know is how long he would proceed with this strategy - it could be anywhere from 2-4 years. When he felt comfortable that he had elevated the floor to where he wanted it, he would proceed to working on raising the ceiling. I think he has now reached that point - the point where he feels comfortable enough with his projections of the depth chart in years 4-5 to start taking risks and waiting on higher-rated players. If we have a mostly full class by the end of the season (i.e., 10-12 commits), and we have 6-8 guys with multiple BCS offers among those 10-12, I think Kill will be right where he wants to be. If we only have 4-6 commits by the end of the season, and only 1-2 have multiple BCS offers, that is the point at which to begin getting worried. If that's the case, we will be scrambling for low-end recruits in Jan and Feb, which is a place where no BCS coach going into his 3rd year wants to be.

I think your analysis is spot on, except I don't believe there will be any sort of formal change in strategy to raise the ceiling. I think he'll continue to raise the floor without compromising on those core tenets you outlined.

As an aside, I once read that Barry Alvarez tried to recruit against OSU and Michigan after the first RB win and he said it really backfired on him. That was probably a bit of hubris as BA has that kind of personality. Kill doesn't seem to have an ego, so even success is unlikely to change his approach IMHO.

 

[dpodoll68]

I think he'll continue to raise the floor without compromising on those core tenets you outlined.

Correct. I intended to convey that in my post, but looking back, I did not do so very clearly. I think that his core strategy will always be to keep elevating the floor (which makes for a much more consistent football team), but I also think that as he becomes more and more comfortable with where the floor is and will be, he will be willing to more frequently stick his neck out and take a risk by entering recruiting battles more often.

 

[John Galt]

I've posted my theory on Kill's recruiting strategy before, but I'll do it here again. The single biggest on-field problem for the Gophers the last few years (among many) is the inability to keep most players here for their 4th and 5th years, for a litany of reasons. Kill is smart, and recognizes that. His focus his first 2 classes (counting the abbreviated 2011 class) was recruiting "good citizens", guys who are likely to stay here for their entire college career, grow and develop within the program, and, at minimum, be solid, smart, dependable football players. His goal has been to raise the floor of the program by making the depth chart deeper and older in years 4 and 5 here. He has gone after players he likes and has had a good chance of getting, rather than taking a risk by waiting on higher-rated and more highly-sought-after prospects. The risk in waiting on guys like that is creating holes in your depth chart, which, again, is the primary thing he wants to avoid. Where he has taken risks in the first two years is going after in-state guys who would have a more natural inclination than others to stay with the Gophers (guys like McDonald and Pirsig), and that has worked swimmingly, particularly with the 2012 class. In my theory, what I didn't know is how long he would proceed with this strategy - it could be anywhere from 2-4 years. When he felt comfortable that he had elevated the floor to where he wanted it, he would proceed to working on raising the ceiling. I think he has now reached that point - the point where he feels comfortable enough with his projections of the depth chart in years 4-5 to start taking risks and waiting on higher-rated players. If we have a mostly full class by the end of the season (i.e., 10-12 commits), and we have 6-8 guys with multiple BCS offers among those 10-12, I think Kill will be right where he wants to be. If we only have 4-6 commits by the end of the season, and only 1-2 have multiple BCS offers, that is the point at which to begin getting worried. If that's the case, we will be scrambling for low-end recruits in Jan and Feb, which is a place where no BCS coach going into his 3rd year wants to be.

Excellent post. The attrition has hurt us, no question about it. But at the end of the day, I still think the attrition is the difference between the 3 win seasons we've experienced the last few years and what otherwise would have been mediocre 5-6 win seasons. The talent level needs to improve for us to become a good football team. Brewster swung for the fences and was able to land some top flight recruits, but it also hurt him when they said "no" late in the process and we were forced to sign some guys that had no business being on a Big Ten football team.

 

[John Galt]

Most people don't have a clue about that. Even when Kill came here, most of the current players didn't know who he was, and he had just beaten the Gophers THAT YEAR. Ferentz and Bielema have both won in the Big Ten, a MUCH bigger platform.


Gopher fans in Minnesota and recruits in Texas and Florida aren't even remotely the same thing. We want him to succeed because we are invested in the program. They are invested in themselves and potentially one or two schools they grew up liking (which isn't the Gophers)


That's totally peripheral to the fact that we won 3 games last year, and Wisconsin won the Big Ten. I know this is a Gopher board, but come on. I'm actually a little surprised at the recruiting success that Iowa has had the last two seasons, because they aren't in the same class as Wisconsin, but they do have a very impressive record of sending kids to the NFL, and that matters to recruits.


Some, probably. But if you look at recruiting patters, there's nothing really to suggest that metropolitan teams have an advantage in recruiting.

Also, if you're a Chicago kid (and many of these recruits in question are), Iowa and Wisconsin have a potential geographic advantage by being in closer proximity.


Yes, all of this is true, but it's still secondary to the fact that we have been historical losers for decades, and the coaching staff is made up primarily of guys who made their names in DII and the FCS. Not to mention that these things don't exist in a vacuum. Programs like Iowa and Wisconsin, as much as we may hate to admit it or not see it, have a lot to offer as well.


As I said before, Brewster was an exceptional recruiter, and people really fail to appreciate that by thinking we should consistently be beating other BCS programs for players. We are in the Purdue/Indiana range in the Big Ten until we can prove otherwise.

I agree with pretty much everything you wrote. My point being, eventually we will need to start winning "some" of the recruiting battles if we're going to be successful and compete. It's unrealistic to think that we can finish 10-12 in recruiting each year and finish in the top 1/2 of the Big Ten.

 

[howieramone]

I've posted my theory on Kill's recruiting strategy before, but I'll do it here again. The single biggest on-field problem for the Gophers the last few years (among many) is the inability to keep most players here for their 4th and 5th years, for a litany of reasons. Kill is smart, and recognizes that. His focus his first 2 classes (counting the abbreviated 2011 class) was recruiting "good citizens", guys who are likely to stay here for their entire college career, grow and develop within the program, and, at minimum, be solid, smart, dependable football players. His goal has been to raise the floor of the program by making the depth chart deeper and older in years 4 and 5 here. He has gone after players he likes and has had a good chance of getting, rather than taking a risk by waiting on higher-rated and more highly-sought-after prospects. The risk in waiting on guys like that is creating holes in your depth chart, which, again, is the primary thing he wants to avoid. Where he has taken risks in the first two years is going after in-state guys who would have a more natural inclination than others to stay with the Gophers (guys like McDonald and Pirsig), and that has worked swimmingly, particularly with the 2012 class. In my theory, what I didn't know is how long he would proceed with this strategy - it could be anywhere from 2-4 years. When he felt comfortable that he had elevated the floor to where he wanted it, he would proceed to working on raising the ceiling. I think he has now reached that point - the point where he feels comfortable enough with his projections of the depth chart in years 4-5 to start taking risks and waiting on higher-rated players. If we have a mostly full class by the end of the season (i.e., 10-12 commits), and we have 6-8 guys with multiple BCS offers among those 10-12, I think Kill will be right where he wants to be. If we only have 4-6 commits by the end of the season, and only 1-2 have multiple BCS offers, that is the point at which to begin getting worried. If that's the case, we will be scrambling for low-end recruits in Jan and Feb, which is a place where no BCS coach going into his 3rd year wants to be.

+1

 

[ruppertflywheel]

With the limited scholarships ( 14 or so) it would have been nice if the state had a good group prospects this year. Tom Lemming rated it a down year in his early rankings in the Midwest. I believe Kill has offered only three Minnesota kids so far. Tough when you can't pull in several kids from your own backyard.

 

[Ole]

I've posted my theory on Kill's recruiting strategy before, but I'll do it here again. The single biggest on-field problem for the Gophers the last few years (among many) is the inability to keep most players here for their 4th and 5th years, for a litany of reasons. Kill is smart, and recognizes that. His focus his first 2 classes (counting the abbreviated 2011 class) was recruiting "good citizens", guys who are likely to stay here for their entire college career, grow and develop within the program, and, at minimum, be solid, smart, dependable football players. His goal has been to raise the floor of the program by making the depth chart deeper and older in years 4 and 5 here. He has gone after players he likes and has had a good chance of getting, rather than taking a risk by waiting on higher-rated and more highly-sought-after prospects. The risk in waiting on guys like that is creating holes in your depth chart, which, again, is the primary thing he wants to avoid. Where he has taken risks in the first two years is going after in-state guys who would have a more natural inclination than others to stay with the Gophers (guys like McDonald and Pirsig), and that has worked swimmingly, particularly with the 2012 class. In my theory, what I didn't know is how long he would proceed with this strategy - it could be anywhere from 2-4 years. When he felt comfortable that he had elevated the floor to where he wanted it, he would proceed to working on raising the ceiling. I think he has now reached that point - the point where he feels comfortable enough with his projections of the depth chart in years 4-5 to start taking risks and waiting on higher-rated players. If we have a mostly full class by the end of the season (i.e., 10-12 commits), and we have 6-8 guys with multiple BCS offers among those 10-12, I think Kill will be right where he wants to be. If we only have 4-6 commits by the end of the season, and only 1-2 have multiple BCS offers, that is the point at which to begin getting worried. If that's the case, we will be scrambling for low-end recruits in Jan and Feb, which is a place where no BCS coach going into his 3rd year wants to be.

Great analysis and theory!
I also think his tendency to offer position flexible players in his first 2 classes who could end up at multiple spots gives him some cushion to wait on some other kids now, and his JUCO ties seem to be able to fill in impact spots late, should he miss on a few kids.
He's been very thoughtful and methodical to this point, if we grab half our class from the group that's been offered now(alot of highly rated/sought after) we'll be ok, if not Kill can still fall back on guys he see's being 4th or 5th year contributors.

 

[50PoundHead]

I don't care what the staff member said. There is no possible way that they had an in-person evaluation of everyone they offered prior to spring camps. The timeline does not work. Meeting and talking with someone in person (which is what I assume you meant) is not an "in-person evaluation" in a football sense (i.e., going to a HS football game or watching a player at a camp), which is clearly what Galt is referring to in the post you quoted.

You've answered your own question. I'm sure they catch a lot of fall ball.

 

[CrocShots]

I've posted my theory on Kill's recruiting strategy before, but I'll do it here again. The single biggest on-field problem for the Gophers the last few years (among many) is the inability to keep most players here for their 4th and 5th years, for a litany of reasons. Kill is smart, and recognizes that. His focus his first 2 classes (counting the abbreviated 2011 class) was recruiting "good citizens", guys who are likely to stay here for their entire college career, grow and develop within the program, and, at minimum, be solid, smart, dependable football players. His goal has been to raise the floor of the program by making the depth chart deeper and older in years 4 and 5 here. He has gone after players he likes and has had a good chance of getting, rather than taking a risk by waiting on higher-rated and more highly-sought-after prospects. The risk in waiting on guys like that is creating holes in your depth chart, which, again, is the primary thing he wants to avoid. Where he has taken risks in the first two years is going after in-state guys who would have a more natural inclination than others to stay with the Gophers (guys like McDonald and Pirsig), and that has worked swimmingly, particularly with the 2012 class. In my theory, what I didn't know is how long he would proceed with this strategy - it could be anywhere from 2-4 years. When he felt comfortable that he had elevated the floor to where he wanted it, he would proceed to working on raising the ceiling. I think he has now reached that point - the point where he feels comfortable enough with his projections of the depth chart in years 4-5 to start taking risks and waiting on higher-rated players. If we have a mostly full class by the end of the season (i.e., 10-12 commits), and we have 6-8 guys with multiple BCS offers among those 10-12, I think Kill will be right where he wants to be. If we only have 4-6 commits by the end of the season, and only 1-2 have multiple BCS offers, that is the point at which to begin getting worried. If that's the case, we will be scrambling for low-end recruits in Jan and Feb, which is a place where no BCS coach going into his 3rd year wants to be.

Thank you. Now these thread types need to just die.

 

[dpodoll68]

You've answered your own question. I'm sure they catch a lot of fall ball.

That would work except, as I've already stated, they were still coaching at NIU during these players' junior years and didn't come to Minnesota until after the season was complete.

 

[John Galt]

We aren't Wisconsin and Iowa. This isn't news. Right now, with this staff, we're in the Purdue and Indiana range. Purdue has 1 commit. Indiana has 0.

Just for the record, Purdue has 2 commits and one is a 4-star QB:

http://rivals.yahoo.com/purdue/football/recruiting/player-Danny-Etling-129322

Illinois, which hired a new coach 6 months ago, has 10 commits including the #4 rated QB in the country.

 

[OutHouseGopher]

Just for the record, Purdue has 2 commits and one is a 4-star QB:

http://rivals.yahoo.com/purdue/football/recruiting/player-Danny-Etling-129322

Illinois, which hired a new coach 6 months ago, has 10 commits including the #4 rated QB in the country.

But that's all different.

 

[Parski1]

It's too early to be getting your panties in a bundle over this - chill y'all. Kill will go into Beast Mode on recruiting in a few months.

 

[Gopherprof]

Just for the record, Purdue has 2 commits and one is a 4-star QB

Oh, well, stop the presses.

Illinois, which hired a new coach 6 months ago, has 10 commits including the #4 rated QB in the country.

Illinois filled their staff with guys known for their recruiting. It's the Brewster approach, we'll see if it works for them. It certainly didn't with Zook.