Tom Lemming compliments Gophers incoming class; "Jerry Kill’s a very good recruiter"

[BleedGopher]

Tom Lemming compliments Gophers incoming class; "Jerry Kill’s a very good recruiter"

per Joe Christensen:

On Wayzata LB Chris Wipson being the Gophers' only in-state scholarship commit

"Jerry Kill’s a very good recruiter," Lemming said. "That’s why Northern Illinois did so well this year; all those guys were his starters. And I think he knows where to get talent. If it’s not in Minnesota -- I know he’ll go there first, but the fact is, if it’s not Minnesota, it’s Illinois or Florida or something.

"The key is to go to the best talent, and if you win, nobody’s going to care. The only time they care is if you’re losing, and you’re not getting the top players in the state."

http://www.startribune.com/sports/gophers/blogs/Gridiron_Gold.html

Go Gophers!!

 

[dinkything]

per Joe Christensen:

On Wayzata LB Chris Wipson being the Gophers' only in-state scholarship commit

"Jerry Kill’s a very good recruiter," Lemming said. "That’s why Northern Illinois did so well this year; all those guys were his starters. And I think he knows where to get talent. If it’s not in Minnesota -- I know he’ll go there first, but the fact is, if it’s not Minnesota, it’s Illinois or Florida or something.

"The key is to go to the best talent, and if you win, nobody’s going to care. The only time they care is if you’re losing, and you’re not getting the top players in the state."

http://www.startribune.com/sports/gophers/blogs/Gridiron_Gold.html

Go Gophers!!

it wasn't too long ago when lemming was a lap dog for former gopher head coach tim brewster.....

 

[John Galt]

I don't care about Lemming's opinion, but I do think Kill is a better recruiter than people give him credit for. IMO, good recruiting is made up of the following traits:

1. Identifying talent
2. Building the relationships
3. Targeting good students that can succeed in college
4. Finding players that are the right fit (attitude, skill set) for your program
5. Sealing the deal and getting their signature on signing day

All of these aspects make up good recruiting, and it seems that Kill is especially good at 1, 3, and 4, while Brewster excelled at #2 and #5.

For all the "coach em up" speak, from what I can tell, Kill is getting a lot of the players that he wants. I realize the staff made a lot of offers and shot for the legit 4-star recruits last winter for the class of 2013 and didn't get a lot of hits right away, but most of our commits right now are players the staff has been targeting since last spring/early summer. Carter, Dixon, Edwards, Ekpe, Mayes, Peppers, and Wolitarsky have all been on their radar for a long time. Salzwedel, Streveler, and Wipson were all guys they offered right away after camp. I get the feeling the only guys they are probably really disappointed that they didn't end up with are a CB like Andrews and Jarmon.

 

[MNVCGUY]

I don't care about Lemming's opinion, but I do think Kill is a better recruiter than people give him credit for. IMO, good recruiting is made up of the following traits:

1. Identifying talent
2. Building the relationships
3. Targeting good students that can succeed in college
4. Finding players that are the right fit (attitude, skill set) for your program
5. Sealing the deal and getting their signature on signing day

All of these aspects make up good recruiting, and it seems that Kill is especially good at 1, 3, and 4, while Brewster excelled at #2 and #5.

For all the "coach em up" speak, from what I can tell, Kill is getting a lot of the players that he wants. I realize the staff made a lot of offers and shot for the legit 4-star recruits last winter for the class of 2013 and didn't get a lot of hits right away, but most of our commits right now are players the staff has been targeting since last spring/early summer. Carter, Dixon, Edwards, Ekpe, Mayes, Peppers, and Wolitarsky have all been on their radar for a long time. Salzwedel, Streveler, and Wipson were all guys they offered right away after camp. I get the feeling the only guys they are probably really disappointed that they didn't end up with are a CB like Andrews and Jarmon.

There is no doubt Kill is getting players he wants and probably even some guys that will turn out to be pretty good. The question is, is he getting enough difference makers to make the team competitive at the Big Ten level? Right now on paper his players look comparable to the back half of the conference and well below the top teams. That means if the rankings are even close to right Kill and his staff have to be significantly better than all the other coaching staffs in the conference if they are going to make the Gophers into contenders.

You are 100% correct when you say Kill is getting the players he wants. However that ignores the fact that I am sure there are a ton of higher ranked players they would also love to have but are not getting.

 

[John Galt]

If the Gophers become a really good football team under Kill, everyone is going to say that we won in spite of our poor recruiting and that Kill "coached them up." The reality might be that we won because of our recruiting and that he was getting exatly the type of players that he wanted.

 

[Killjoy]

If the Gophers become a really good football team under Kill, everyone is going to say that we won in spite of our poor recruiting and that Kill "coached them up." The reality might be that we won because of our recruiting and that he was getting exatly the type of players that he wanted.

It has always amazed how certain beliefs can become "facts". I think you have identified one of those potential "facts" but I also believe your bold statement may be the real reality.

 

[GopherGod]

If the Gophers become a really good football team under Kill, everyone is going to say that we won in spite of our poor recruiting and that Kill "coached them up." The reality might be that we won because of our recruiting and that he was getting exatly the type of players that he wanted.

He is getting the type of players he wants that he can get, largely because it doesn't appear recruiting appears to be a strength of his up to this point in his tenure at Minnesota so beggars can't be chosers. . Don't think for a second that he wouldn't trade his class for that of any of the higher ranked teams in the Big Ten in a second if he could.

 

[John Galt]

He is getting the type of players he wants that he can get, largely because it doesn't appear recruiting appears to be a strength of his up to this point in his tenure at Minnesota so beggars can't be chosers. . Don't think for a second that he wouldn't trade his class for that of any of the higher ranked teams in the Big Ten in a second if he could.

Your response sums up my point perfectly. You assume recruiting isn't going well because we aren't rated high by Rivals and other sources. But the reality is that half of our commits we've been recruiting for almost a year and are players the staff targeted early on.

 

[GopherGod]

Your response sums up my point perfectly. You assume recruiting isn't going well because we aren't rated high by Rivals and other sources. But the reality is that half of our commits we've been recruiting for almost a year and are players the staff targeted early on.

They target so many lower ranked players early because they can't get the higher ranked players, it isn't a strength of this staff. However, they still send out plenty of offers to higher ranked players, you just don't hear much about them because they won't even give this staff the time of day. These players that the "staff likes" (the one's they can get) will never compete for a division championship, much less a Big 10 championship. They need to get some true recruiters on the staff to compete at that level.

 

[nc2mn]

When Killer gets a signature win or two in the coming season (like Wisconsin), he'll be able to get better recruits. It'll also help that the next MN recruiting class will have some higher rated players (Jones, Ragnow, et al)

 

[btowngopher]

They target so many lower ranked players early because they can't get the higher ranked players, it isn't a strength of this staff. However, they still send out plenty of offers to higher ranked players, you just don't hear much about them because they won't even give this staff the time of day. These players that the "staff likes" (the one's they can get) will never compete for a division championship, much less a Big 10 championship. They need to get some true recruiters on the staff to compete at that level.

I wouldn't say never. I am stars matter guy, but a team does occasionally rise up without star power. I'm not going to go on a limb and say Kill is a guy who can do that. I know it's rare to finish in the top 25 without a top 25 class on the roster, because I've researched that myself. But to say never like it's impossible is not right either.

 

[John Galt]

They target so many lower ranked players early because they can't get the higher ranked players, it isn't a strength of this staff. However, they still send out plenty of offers to higher ranked players, you just don't hear much about them because they won't even give this staff the time of day. These players that the "staff likes" (the one's they can get) will never compete for a division championship, much less a Big 10 championship. They need to get some true recruiters on the staff to compete at that level.

Any team in the country would trade 75% of their recruits if they could simply select anyone they wanted. This goes for Alabama, USC, and LSU as well. Obviously there needs to be some initial interest on the part of the recruit, which should improve with time. I've heard many coaches say that recruiting is based off of how a team did the previous year, which would mean that the 2013 class is primarily built up of guys who we established relationships with coming off a 3-9 season in 2011. Given the improvement that was made this year and the strong MN class of 2014, the ranking should be higher next year. But my point still stands for this year. Take Berkley Edwards, we started recruiting him last winter and his dad made the comment that we chose him and recruited him like he was the #1 back in the country. Our commitment list is filled with players we've been recruiting for an extended period of time. I would be concerned if we got 4-5 commits in January from guys that we hadn't heard about and had no other offers. But that's not what we're seeing.

 

[Wouldn't You like to Know]

They target so many lower ranked players early because they can't get the higher ranked players, it isn't a strength of this staff. However, they still send out plenty of offers to higher ranked players, you just don't hear much about them because they won't even give this staff the time of day. These players that the "staff likes" (the one's they can get) will never compete for a division championship, much less a Big 10 championship. They need to get some true recruiters on the staff to compete at that level.

How do you figure! IMO they get on under-the-radar guys before they gain interest and we get commitment i.e. Nelson, Max Williams, and Eric Murphy last year and this year Salzwedel and Streveler.

These kids shut down their recruitment entirely even though other programs gain interest later on.

 

[Iceland12]

Tony Dungy told Mac Boston back in '95 that he wouldn't want his career based on the decisions "of 17 and 18 year olds". Can't imagine following them to close either. Far more concerned about how the team plays next season. Will worry about 3-4 years down the line when the time comes.

Here's one way to evaluate Kill's recruiting class. Would you be happy with the class if Mason or Brewster were the Head Coach? Better yet, how would you feel if Wisconsin, Iowa or Michigan had Kill's class rather than their own?

I'd be pretty happy, but again, I'm not an expert..

 

[counselor]

How do you figure! IMO they get on under-the-radar guys before they gain interest and we get commitment i.e. Nelson, Max Williams, and Eric Murphy last year and this year Salzwedel and Streveler.

These kids shut down their recruitment entirely even though other programs gain interest later on.

If Nate Andrews doesn't play in that All-Star game, he's still golden. This staff can evaluate talent.

 

[gopherdiehard]

il believe it when i see it on the field i want 10 win seasons and to be competitive at the top of the conference just like any other fan.... Win and Win more often dammit!!

 

[4four4]

il believe it when i see it on the field i want 10 win seasons and to be competitive at the top of the conference just like any other fan.... Win and Win more often dammit!!

Maybe you should be following Manchester United you would fit in real well with them.

 

[Killjoy]

il believe it when i see it on the field i want 10 win seasons and to be competitive at the top of the conference just like any other fan.... Win and Win more often dammit!!

I can see you are from the "I demand" school of recruiting. I have a granddaughter who has recently learned that the "demand school" doesn't always work. It is nice to see that she is starting to grow up and acting more mature.

 

[GophersInIowa]

He is getting the type of players he wants that he can get, largely because it doesn't appear recruiting appears to be a strength of his up to this point in his tenure at Minnesota so beggars can't be chosers. . Don't think for a second that he wouldn't trade his class for that of any of the higher ranked teams in the Big Ten in a second if he could.

Some of them, yeah. But I'd bet it's not even close to all of them. It wouldn't make any sense to trade for a class that doesn't fit your needs, style of play, etc.