I can’t stand it anymore. This whole obsession with recruiting has gotten completely out of hand. Like you, I log on to the recruiting sites to see how our beloved Canes are doing and instantly realize those are precious moments of my life that I’ll never get back.
Other than a few televised games I’ve caught, I haven’t seen much high school football as of late and I’ll guess that most of you are in that same boat. For the most part, all we know about what these kids is what we read online – which is the equivalent of reading a bunch of medical journals and telling your doctor that his diagnosis is off.
The art and science of recruiting athletes goes way beyond those fabricated and dreaded stars.
Crazy to think we once ripped Larry Coker for just recruiting off of lists – chastising him and his staff for not doing their homework and just taking those four- and five-star guys. Now after a few decommitments (Teddy Bridgewater and Albert Louis-Jean) and some verbals from guys that are “only” three-star players, the sky is suddenly falling … again.
For those keeping score, remember that Ed Reed, Santana Moss, Dan Morgan and guys of that ilk were NOT five-star players.
How often do you find yourself watching other teams, amazed at how their great offense or defense is playing, yet you don’t recognize many names from those revered recruiting lists? That’s because if given time, players blossom. You don’t want a five-star recruit that leaves as a three-star player. (Lance Leggett, anyone?) You want a three-star that works his way up to a five-star.
The problem with many of the overhyped five-star athletes is that they waltz into town with an ego the size of Texas and a sense of entitlement. They’ve been given five-star treatment their entire lives and often times look at college as a holding grounds before making the leap to the NFL. Sure, some highly-touted players live up to the hype, the the Scout or Rivals ranking is hardly a ‘guarantee’.
Looking back at Miami’s highly-rated 2008 recruiting class, Arthur Brown and Marcus Forston were the only five-star kids in that class. Brown never saw the field and eventually transferred, so we’ll leave him out, but what about Forston? Has the junior defensive tackle lived up to his pre-college ranking? He’s certainly a solid player, but has he proven elite?
Meanwhile fullback Pat Hill was a two-star player that year, but has absolutely become the unsung hero on offense. Go ask anyone on that side of the ball who their MVP would be this season and they’ll tell you it’s No. 30, who’s proven invaluable as a blocker. Miami absolutely got more from Hill than you’d expect out of a two-star.
I’ve spoken with no less than a dozen people this past week regarding Al Golden and everyone comes back to one thing; that this is one of the best recruiters in the nation. You add Brennan Carroll into the mix, as well as his guys from the northeast and the South Florida guys retained an in time this staff will get the job done.
IN OTHER NEWS: I just received conformation that a few old school Canes will be joining us at our Sun Bowl watch party this Friday at the Titanic Brewery & Restaurant, next door to allCanes. Former tight end Gerard Daphnis will be my co-host and he’ll have Earl Little and Duane Starks on board, as well.
U Family members in tow and a ‘buy one, get one half off’ sale next door at allCanes during and after the game? Can’t think of a better way to watch Miami / Notre Dame on New Years Eve.
Before we get to Friday, we have this year’s final Wednesday night edition of allCanes Radio, live from allCanes. Tonight’s show will feature former UM athletic director Sam Jankovich – who had some very “interesting” things to say about Miami’s rivalry with Notre Dame. We’ll also have Malcolm Grant, Tamara James, Krystal Saunders, Aubrey Hill and former nose tackle Tony Fitzpatrick.
Tune in at 7pm ET, log on through the iPhone app or listen live via allCanes.com.
It's not my fault Kyle couldn't throw me the ball!! smh
Why are Bridgewater and Louis-Jean overrated? Because they de-committed? You said yourself you don't even watch high school games.
This senseless bashing of these guys is ridiculous. God forbid a 17-year-old change his mind or want to play somewhere outside of his home town.
Looks like Golden is recruiting in positions of need which is great. Got a much needed punter, and targeting QBs and CBs right now among other positions. Recruiting is the lifeblood of a program so it IS important, but as you said, it's not a science. I know Golden is said to be a great recruiter, but just as important as we all know here, is player development.
Columbus Cane
He never said Bridgewater and Louis-Jean are overrated. The photo is of Arthur and Bryce Brown. Chill out.
Couldn't agree with you more. What rank or how many "stars" is next to a recruit's name is meaningless. We've all witnessed countless "four and five star" recruits flop and 2 and 3 star recruits shine in the college game and NFL. It's all about how well a coaching staff can develop these players and it's also how hard these kids are willing to work to better themselves at this level. That, accompanied by how quickly and how well they can adjust to the speed of the game, is what makes great players. Not a ranking, not stars, not basing how good a player will be in college by his numbers in HIGH SCHOOL. You have decent coaches who know how to develop talent and have kids willing to learn and put in hard work, you will have great players down the line. Those self absorbed, egotistical, know it all players are destined to flop. In Miami's case, we need players who expect to work hard, WANT to be here and welcome competition. Not kids who expect a free ride, have a big head and feel entitled. Reguardless of rating
I've been preaching this for years!! Now the Golden bashing is that he's only gonna fill the roster with players from the NE!
Golden realizes the recruiting game is global and IMO, has done a tremendous job in covering the hot beds of high school football.
People want to preach recruting the "state of Miami", I swear it's like they watch the U and start babbling about how to recruit! It's like installing MS DOS, on an iPhone 4! It aint the 80's people! If you look back the past 20 years alot of our best players aren't from south Florida! With the amount of clinics and camps there are for high school players out there, kids in Maine have as much exposure as kids in South Florida to quality coaching and training!
And to mister "Im so tough I post as anonymous", where in this article did Beast say TB and ALJ were over rated!??
Anonymous said…
"Why are Bridgewater and Louis-Jean overrated? Because they de-committed? You said yourself you don't even watch high school games.
This senseless bashing of these guys is ridiculous. God forbid a 17-year-old change his mind or want to play somewhere outside of his home town."
These 2 guys might and let me re-state might be good or even great players but, who cares. Cry over what you don't have or work with what you do have. Instill in your kids the ultimate desire to achieve GREATNESS and settle for nothing else.
That is what Lombardi did and countless other Great Coaches have done.
I'll leave you with this last little bit about coaching. Bum Phillips once said of Don Shula.
"He'll beat you with hissin, and if you switch sides he'll beat you with yourin."
I think Golden is like Shula. He OVERACHIEVED with hissin (Temple) Can't wait to see what he does with our-in
Beast,
I couldn't agree with you more. Frankly I hate the whole star system…lets be honest, its based purely on evaluating them against their competition in high school. How many high school districts have 1 elite football program school, 1 good program school and 8 other crappy ones. How many times have you heard talk of XYZ have 50+ TDs and 1500+ yards, etc, etc, only to see him struggle to even come close to the type of hype that garners.
This is high school we are talking about..College is a whole nother animal entirely. I think it should be more like the NFL combine…forget where you came from, let me see what your individual skills are and how hard you work to show me what you can do.
Plus, I'd much rather have a 2 to 3 star skill guy, hungry to learn and prove himself and be competitive. He'll have the burden to continually want to prove that he's better than some "expert" told him he was, he'll be hungry. The 5 star will likely feel the opposite, like the world should fold to him. A coach, much like a boss, needs someone who is confident but is willing to admit he needs to be molded and learn more to strive and is willing to put in the hard work to do it. In this, i think Golden will prove to be an absolute genius in the years ahead…Temple was proof enough of that.
1. That is Bryce and Arthur Brown in the photo.
2. Nowhere in this piece did Beast state that Bridgewater, Rogers or Louis-Jean are overrated.
3. Some of you need to really work on your comprehension skills.
couldn't agree more. Just get good, hard working players that are willing to learn. I hope that TE he stole from Nebraska turns out or he gets good freshman TE. Asante Cleveland looked good the second half of the year which could help too. But IMO the biggest need on our offense is the growth of a stud TE. All our great teams had a good one, and last year when Jacory looked a little better he threw to Graham and Epps a ton. It would give us more options besides running or a bomb. TE are some of the most effective weapons in play action too. Even if Asante keeps improving it is a position you can never be too deep at.
Also awesome about the party! wish I lived in Miami by other Canes instead of stupid TN.
Oh. Also….funny about Lance haha. I used to get pissed how much of a flop he was.
I like following recruiting for two reasons. 1) I love college football and It's a way for me to get my college football fix in the off season; 2) I like seeing where the kids go and where they came from. So-and-so from my high school is at Duke now…awesome! So-and-so from Oregon is from South FLA…great! Other than that, if you aren't taking recruiting with a grain of salt than you're taking it too seriously. For every Seantrel Henderson and Adrian Person there is a Sam Bradford (3-star) and a Matt Ryan (2-star).
I think one of the reasons many Miami fans "rip" the coaches in recruiting is b/c we haven't been that good the last few years (by Miami standards at least) Recruiting is a tangible way the fans see things getting fixed. Get the "best" players possible in order to have the best team. Had we gone 14-0, 13-1 or 12-2 this year along with Kelvin Cain being named ACC rookie of the year, no one would be ripping the coaches over recruiting b/c they would believe in their player development skills. Look at Wisconsin. They're full of 3 and 2 star athletes yet no one complains. Why? Because they're 11-1 and on their way to the Rose Bowl.
For the record I think Kelvin Cain is awesome and is going to be something special one day
818'CaneinLA – I hear ya. You're correct when you say people watch The U documentary and think they know how to recruit. Yet they don't take into account how many of those coaches are now with other programs and that information is much easier to come by these days so there are no more hidden gems, if you will.
However, and I don't take recruiting too seriously but…I wish more kids from South FLA (South of I-4) came to UM. There is A LOT of talent in the area and if we got all the best kids from that part, there would be no stopping us. The school could probably save a lot of money if we got the best 20-25 kids from there every year 🙂 Unfortunately this goes beyond recruiting and more into brand marketing. Which unfortunately is something UM does not do as well as other schools. Don't get me wrong, I know we have a strong brand but there are things we can do to make it even stronger.
Go Canes!
In Golden We Trust