Top Recruiting Factors - Rank the Gophers

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GoAUpher

GoAUpher

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A week ago I issued a friendly challenge to Goldy 74's (see previous thread here). Thus far I've failed to post my response to his list which I'm quoting below...my bad! :) But, here are my thoughts on where the Gopher's stand on various areas of recruiting. I want to hear other people's thoughts too. My list is a little different than 74's as I tried to shorten things up a bit. So first, 74's response:

Goldy74s said:
In no particular order and I have put my Big Eleven rank from top =10 to last =0 (subjective), for FUN:

1. Gameday. 2

2. Recent reputation of the program. 2

3. Weather and the perception of the weather. 0

4. NFL connection 6

5. Big name coach 0

6. Natural recruiter. 4

7. Mountains, oceans and beaches. 3

8. Local media support. 0

9. Sound coaching 2

10. BCA 9 (not SEC)

11. Big money budget 5

12. Fans who travel 1

13. Alumni who support, encourage and facilitate legal recruiting. 2

14. Alumni who will support, encourage and facilitate illegal recruiting. ? 1

15. Football mentality throughout the campus community. 1

16. Ability to get any player in. 4

17. Willingness of the administration, media, etc. to accept "special" football standards (Swahili at U Washington with auto 'A' for football players). 1

18. Linebacker U, Running back U, Quarterback U, etc. 3

19. National media love. 0

20. National reputation of the university as good or cool place for the recruits you are actually trying to get. 1

21. Uniforms, mascot, colors, sex appeal. 2

22. The Cal Stoll recruiting circles. Where are you, where are the recruits? 0
Click to expand...

My thoughts in the next post...
 

My take...

Here are the factors I'm ranking...no particular order to these (following 74's where I agree). 10 is the best, 0 is the worst.

1) Gameday - Metrodome = 3 TCF: Going to guestimate an 8-10 depending on the game...our fans won't suddenly be more likely to cheer overnight. Hopefully the on field product/experience will change that fast.

2) Overall FB facilities = 8. TCF will add a lot to this and will help bring up the fact that we are pretty average in other respects.

3) Recent Program Reputation = 4. Not great, but we are known for being "decent" with a penchant for losing big games in excruciating ways.

4) Weather = 5 (no worse than anyone else in the B10). Perception of weather = 2 (for Southern recruits), 5 (for anyone above the Mason Dixon line).

5) NFL Connection = 7 (9 if you look at RB's)

6) Big Name Coach = 3. I don't think Brewster is a name but he has the potential to get buzz quick (as the rumors for the TN job back when we were 7-1 showed).

7) Natural recruiter = 9. Brewster lives recruiting.

8) Local media support = 3. The 2 writers on the Gopher beat should get higher marks at about a 6 I'd say.

9) Head Coaching = 4. Room to grow here.

10) Assistant Coaching = 6. Roof made this better. Where we are now remains to be seen.

11) Budget = 5. This is much better than it used to be.

12) Traveling fan base = 2

13) Football atmosphere on campus = 4. This should jump to a 9ish with TCF.

14) Admin support for recruiting (aka "How easy is it to get a marginal student in") = 2

15) Historical Tradition = 6. It'd be better but it's been awhile since the glory days.

16) Playing Time = 6. Not as many immediate open spots as their used to be.

17) Things to Do Off Campus = 10. It's a major metro area...you couldn't ask for more.

18) Reputation of School Academically = 9 (depends on major). Great school with quality ties to Fortune 500, etc.

19) Support Systems for Players (academically, training, etc) = ??? I really don't know how we rank here.

20) Scandal factor = 9. Clean program for FB with no historical issues since Holtz.

I know I'm not thinking of some categories. What would others add?

Looking over my list simply reinforced my opinion that TCF will be HUGE for the program. Gameday atmosphere, campus atmosphere, facilities...the whole general experience for a recruit will get WAY better.
 

10 is the best, 0 is the worst.

1) Gameday - Metrodome = 3 TCF: 7-8? It still won't match the 100,000 seat stadiums in Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Louissiana, etc.

2) Overall FB facilities = 7 Stadium quality is on par with anyone, stadium size is smallish, Gibson-Nagurski is fine but if you compare our weight room to someone like Nebraska you can see a difference.

3) Recent Program Reputation = 5-6. In the last ten years we have been mediocre. We've been to 8 bowls in 10 years but not one has been a New Years Day Bowl. Programs below a 5 don't go to bowl games regularly and programs above 5 go to bowl games that matter.

4) Weather = 4 It really depends on who you are comparing it to and what time of year. It's comparable to Big Ten schools during the football season.

5) NFL Connection = 4 (8 if you look at RB's) Most Minnesota fans think that we have a lot of players in the NFL but compared to most BCS programs we have very few. At RB we have the second most starters in the league behind only Miami (but Miami has twice as many).

6) Big Name Coach = 4 When he was hired Brewster was a 1 but with his colorful personality he has gotten pretty good publicity.

7) Natural recruiter = 9

8) Local media support = 3 This isn't an important factor to recruits outside of the local market.

9) Head Coaching = 5 We're still finding out what we have

10) Assistant Coaching = N/A Too much turnover this year to know what we have. Fisch comes in with high accolades from the NFL people at ESPN that called him one of the hottest young coaches. Davis has a great resume with experience at USC, Miami Dolphins & Alabama. Cosgrove has a checkered past with Rose Bowl success and he was thrown out of town in Lincoln.

11) Budget = 5 It still doesn't compare to the OSU's of the conference or most of the SEC but

12) Traveling fan base = 3 I go to at least one road game a year and Gopher fans deserve more credit than they get. Most of the reason our fan base gets more marks on travel has nothing to do with bowl games but rather is because we didn't sell out every game in the dome and that is what bowls judge fan base on.

13) Football atmosphere on campus = 3 in Dome. N/A with TCF

14) Admin support for recruiting (aka "How easy is it to get a marginal student in") = 4..They clamp down on Juco's or prep school but the standards for freshman are pretty consistent..This shouldn't be on the list.

15) Historical Tradition = 6 A long time ago: 8-10, 1970-1998: 2, Mason years: 5

16) Playing Time = 6. Even if starting spots are generally filled, there are opportunities in the two deep

17) Things to Do Off Campus = 10

18) Reputation of School Academically = 7 (I would rank Stanford, Northwestern, etc: 10; Cal, Michigan, UCLA, etc: 9; schools that fall 30-50 in the US News & World Report: 8, schools that fall 51-70 in the US News & World Report: 7; Minnesota ranks: 61)

19) Support Systems for Players (academically, training, etc) = 8 This should be split in to two categories: Strength & Conditioning which is a corollary to assistant coaches and Academic Suport. Our S&C coach has a phenomenal resume of NFL players he has worked with (he was at Oklahomoa). Judging from 26 academic all Big Ten or whatever that list was this fall, and 42 players or whatever the number was with GPA over 3.0 this past semester we rank very highly within the conference & country.

20) Scandal factor = 6 Nothing with the NCAA and our players have kept their noses clean this past year but we did have the problems in 2007 when 3 players were kicked off the team. A coach needs to look a mother in the eyes and tell her he will look out for her son and when you have a problem like that it takes a while to get your image back. It wasn't Brewster's fault but it hurts nonetheless.

Categories I would add: Overall National Prestige (without going through a list like this a recruit may instantly say I'm more interested in Oklahoma than Minnesota), National Media Exposure (this is way more important than local media), Conference perception (players want to play against the best), Campus appearance, Campus atmoshphere (some want college town, some want metro area), and diversity. I just brainstormed quickly so I may add more factors later.
 


Here is my take with the rating being our rank in the Big Ten. 10 best- 0 worst.

1) Gameday @ TCF: 3 - Too much "gameday inertia" already going for other schools to catch up much here at this point in time. I would put us ahead of Indiana, Illinois, Northwestern.

2) Overall FB facilities = 6

3) Recent Program Reputation = 3. No marquee bowl wins hurts this as does the 1-11 season. Ahead of Indiana, NW, Purdue

4) Weather = Even. Most B10 schools have similar weather.

5) NFL Connection = 7. Super Bowl was a nice showcase of former Gophs

6) Big Name Coach = 3

7) Natural recruiter = 8 Needs to start getting the biggest fish to rise above Tressel, Zooker

8) Local media support = 0. Awful.

9) Head Coaching = 2

10) Assistant Coaching = 6. Roof made this better. Where we are now remains to be seen.

11) Budget = 2 This is much better than it used to be.

12) Traveling fan base = 1

13) Football atmosphere on campus = 4 Remains to be seen. I would def put us ahead of IN, ILL, PU, NW

14) Admin support for recruiting (aka "How easy is it to get a marginal student in") = 2, however I think the lower this ranking the better for the institution.

15) Historical Tradition = 6. Could be less dusty

16) Playing Time = 6. Not as many immediate open spots as their used to be.

17) Things to Do Off Campus = 10 It's an actual city, not some podunk town like Happy Valley.

18) Reputation of School Academically = 7 one of the finest in the country.

19) Support Systems for Players (academically, training, etc) = 7 or 8.

20) Scandal factor = 9 clean as a whistle outside the sexual assault incident.
 


If you put the gophs at say a 4 shouldn't you then be able to says that these 7 teams are better and those three are worse. I think if you actually ranked against the other big ten schools we'd come out just fine.
 

I think everyone is using different scoring criteria...at least I think I was. I was rating on a "terrible to great" zero to ten scale, not a "where are we versus other B10 school" 0-10 criteria. :) This is the fun of a "challenge" this subjective I guess!

Like seeing other opinions on this though!
 

I think this is a great topic, and I would expect most of the scores per category will be fairly tightly clustered. What I would find interesting are ideas on what we can do (if anything!) to IMPROVE in each category. Some things, like the weather, we're just stuck with. But what can we do to turn 4's and 5's into 7's and 8's, making the 'U' a more appealing destination for the top recruits?
 

MilesTones said:
I think this is a great topic, and I would expect most of the scores per category will be fairly tightly clustered. What I would find interesting are ideas on what we can do (if anything!) to IMPROVE in each category. Some things, like the weather, we're just stuck with. But what can we do to turn 4's and 5's into 7's and 8's, making the 'U' a more appealing destination for the top recruits?
Click to expand...

That's the attitude I wish more people had. So many people don't understand what power fans can have if they do certain things. I walked past people carrying signs for recruits last year and thought that was GREAT (keep it up and get more people doing it!). I mean, even though every recruit is not going to sign with us, I think it gives us a better chance if they get the impression that the fans WANT them there. A little bit of effort can go a long way. The only question is, will you do it?
 



I don't think we're stuck with a low ranking in weather. It's the perception of the weather that is the problem. We can affect that. I personally believe as far as playing weather we have the best in the country for the college football season. The winters are a great time to hunker down and pad the GPA. Springs are glorious IMHO. And the summers if they opt to stay here aren't too shabby when compared to a lot of places where the big recruits come from. We all stay here for some reason.

I think we tend to compare our teams and athletes against a mythical beast. We think we should get a better QB but there aren't any better out there but ours is the second or third best in the B10, Joe mauer sucks.... That kind of thinking really stops us from embracing what we do have and forces us to focus on what we don't. When we start comparing against real life choices we really do pretty well.
 

Schnoodler said:
I don't think we're stuck with a low ranking in weather. It's the perception of the weather that is the problem. We can affect that. I personally believe as far as playing weather we have the best in the country for the college football season. The winters are a great time to hunker down and pad the GPA. Springs are glorious IMHO. And the summers if they opt to stay here aren't too shabby when compared to a lot of places where the big recruits come from. We all stay here for some reason.
Click to expand...

This is another area I think TCF might actually help us. Right now if you watch a Gopher home game on TV you would have no idea what the weather is. Maybe the broadcast team runs a quick clip of some U or Minneapolis scenery, but all you really see is the sterile environment in the Dome. Moving forward everyone will see what the weather is truly like in MN during FB season. Sometimes that won’t be pretty, but more often than not it will be good and even the “bad” Saturdays will look the same as any other B10 team.
 

Another big plus is the alumni. There are many former gophers from all sports that stay in the city and are really good to "M" men. More job opportunity than many other cities. Probably 8-9
 

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