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The importance of building and maintaining relationships in recruiting

Duff Man

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Yesterday, Alex Jackson and Khalil Pettway both committed to new coaching staff at Washington State. There is nothing particularly noteworthy about two teammates heading to same school to play college football. Also not surprising that a WR like Jackson would jump at the opportunity to play in Mike Leach's pass-happy system. What is noteworthy about these two teammates committing to Washington State is the relationship between Culver City High School's program and the Cougars over the years. Consider the following note from ESPN:

http://insider.espn.go.com/blog/ncfrecruiting/west/post?id=1443

Culver City, Calif., has been very good to the Washington State football program over the years. Since 1997, there has been at least one player from the Centaur program on the roster, so it shouldn’t have been too surprising when a pair of players from Culver City committed to the Cougars on Wednesday.

...

Jackson and Pettway join a long list of Centaur players who went to Washington State headlined by Michael Bumpus and Carl Paymah, who played in the NFL. Bumpus was a three time all Pac 10 selection and was signed by the Seattle Seahawks in 2008 and Paymah was a third round draft pick by the Denver Broncos in 2005.

We are talking about a school in LA County regularly sending players to Pullman, Washington to play college ball. Let that sink in for a minute. Relationships in recruiting are essential.
 
yesterday, alex jackson and khalil pettway both committed to new coaching staff at washington state. There is nothing particularly noteworthy about two teammates heading to same school to play college football. Also not surprising that a wr like jackson would jump at the opportunity to play in mike leach's pass-happy system. What is noteworthy about these two teammates committing to washington state is the relationship between culver city high school's program and the cougars over the years. Consider the following note from espn:

http://insider.espn.go.com/blog/ncfrecruiting/west/post?id=1443



we are talking about a school in la county regularly sending players to pullman, washington to play college ball. Let that sink in for a minute. Relationships in recruiting are essential.

True! True! True!
 
This is what I, and I assume others, have been saying about Embree. This recruiting cycle is also about either establishing new or re-establishing old relationships. Especially in Texas, where we have not recruiting in several years. A big part of that is establising relationships with the HS coaching staff. To do that, Embree has to, first, show interest, second, develop trust, and third, maybe even go out on a limb and take a lesser rated player.
 
Certainly, there is a big political dimension to recruiting, as the relationships and perceptions between high-school coaches, parents, and college coaches interact and feed of one another.

I would also add that the CU coaches are demonstrating their eye for talent. CU's system of talent evaluation could become a brand in itself. When we are consistently identifying athletes who are relatively unknown, and they proceed to become stars, that builds a strong reputation. That becomes something both high school coaches and athletes can trust.

It is such a relief to have coaches who understand this long-term perspective. Once the current crop of players develop, we will have the results to bring back to their schools to demonstrate how well we coached them, and what they can expect for new recruits.

Finally, having coaches who are committed to CU gives us a comparative advantage over other schools, that will, over time, give us big recruiting gains
 
Certainly, there is a big political dimension to recruiting, as the relationships and perceptions between high-school coaches, parents, and college coaches interact and feed of one another.

I would also add that the CU coaches are demonstrating their eye for talent. CU's system of talent evaluation could become a brand in itself. When we are consistently identifying athletes who are relatively unknown, and they proceed to become stars, that builds a strong reputation. That becomes something both high school coaches and athletes can trust.

It is such a relief to have coaches who understand this long-term perspective. Once the current crop of players develop, we will have the results to bring back to their schools to demonstrate how well we coached them, and what they can expect for new recruits.

Finally, having coaches who are committed to CU gives us a comparative advantage over other schools, that will, over time, give us big recruiting gains


Good post but, cu coaches need to prove they can develop players and get them to reach their max potential. Other than stewart, hasn't been a lot of coaching up at cu for awhile.
 
Good post but, cu coaches need to prove they can develop players and get them to reach their max potential. Other than stewart, hasn't been a lot of coaching up at cu for awhile.

Nate Solder and Jimmy Smith. Neither would have projected them as eventual 1st round draft picks at the time they signed with CU. There have been a bunch of others (Hartigan comes to mind) who were also a lot more productive than people would have expected.

I agree with your general point, I just think you went a bit too far.
 
I agree with you Syko. That is actually the point I was making. Now that Embree is coaching and has put a solid game system in place, we will see more development and success from the athletes. (if we don't then, my theory will be disproven).

There are already encouraging signs:

According to draft.com Greg hendersen is considered to be the #11 cornerback in his class. Up slightly, from his initial ranking of #144 by rivals as a senior.
 
Yesterday, Alex Jackson and Khalil Pettway both committed to new coaching staff at Washington State. There is nothing particularly noteworthy about two teammates heading to same school to play college football. Also not surprising that a WR like Jackson would jump at the opportunity to play in Mike Leach's pass-happy system. What is noteworthy about these two teammates committing to Washington State is the relationship between Culver City High School's program and the Cougars over the years.

We are talking about a school in LA County regularly sending players to Pullman, Washington to play college ball. Let that sink in for a minute. Relationships in recruiting are essential.

Serious questions...when CU was in the BIG was the primary recruiting focus in California and Texas? Was it in the foot print of your old conference? I would imagine that with membership to the PAC and t.v. deals and whatnot that your recruiting in California will pick up. I'm not sure how that would affect CU's old recruiting grounds (if they were in the BIG) due to new t.v. coverage areas though. I was going to point out coaching continuity generally favors schools when recruiting but obviously, Leach and staff (and others nationwide) are new on staff so your relationship angle with feeder schools and particular Universities rings true. That said, which high schools are considered feeder schools to CU? Which ones would you hope to target moving forward?
 
Serious questions...when CU was in the BIG was the primary recruiting focus in California and Texas? Was it in the foot print of your old conference? I would imagine that with membership to the PAC and t.v. deals and whatnot that your recruiting in California will pick up. I'm not sure how that would affect CU's old recruiting grounds (if they were in the BIG) due to new t.v. coverage areas though. I was going to point out coaching continuity generally favors schools when recruiting but obviously, Leach and staff (and others nationwide) are new on staff so your relationship angle with feeder schools and particular Universities rings true. That said, which high schools are considered feeder schools to CU? Which ones would you hope to target moving forward?

We have always gotten about twice as many players from CA than TX.

We lost a lot of our TX recruiting under Hawkins. Traditionally, we've been stronger in Houston than Dallas. Having Bobby Kennedy on staff has delivered Dallas a lot more than ever, so that's a big reason for having so many TX recruits in this class.

In CA, we are focusing a lot on the Inland Empire and trying to build SD and the OC. We've also given specific assignments in NoCal for Sac, San Jose, Fresno/Visalia/Stockton and some specific programs in SF/Oak. Traditionally, we always pulled a lot from Compton and downtown LA in the glory days.
 
We have always gotten about twice as many players from CA than TX.

We lost a lot of our TX recruiting under Hawkins. Traditionally, we've been stronger in Houston than Dallas. Having Bobby Kennedy on staff has delivered Dallas a lot more than ever, so that's a big reason for having so many TX recruits in this class.

In CA, we are focusing a lot on the Inland Empire and trying to build SD and the OC. We've also given specific assignments in NoCal for Sac, San Jose, Fresno/Visalia/Stockton and some specific programs in SF/Oak. Traditionally, we always pulled a lot from Compton and downtown LA in the glory days.
What 'Nik said, but we're also coming into your house. Your house. Now.
 
Yep. Seems like a smart thing to do is build relationships with certain high schools/coaches
 
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Westlake HS has been good to us the last couple years. Hopefully we can keep that up
 
I like what our staff is doing, it reminds me of what we used to do. We hit Cali, especially so-cal, hard, get some from Htown and Dallas, spring out and get dc kids or east coast, sometimes a louisiana kid or two, then get some local guys. Local guys should come first but ya get it. Fellas, when and if we start winning, recruiting will take off. This staff can recruit pretty well now, make a bowl and get some bigger wins, sky is the limit.
 
School to target

I'd love to target Don Bosco and keep up the connections there. I know it's in New Jersey, which isn't an ideal target area for Embree, but I'd love to keep the connections going there. If we were to take a flier on a "developmental" player, I'd love for it to be from Don Bosco in order to keep up connections.
 
I'd love to target Don Bosco and keep up the connections there. I know it's in New Jersey, which isn't an ideal target area for Embree, but I'd love to keep the connections going there. If we were to take a flier on a "developmental" player, I'd love for it to be from Don Bosco in order to keep up connections.
CU should have Cal and Texas as their one and two target areas. But CU also needs to have its eyes open nationally. Mac had pretty good success in places like Michigan and Louisiana, for instance. Why not New Jersey? I'd bet Colorado, location wise, is really appealing to kids back east. Look at the general student population. CU is big getting kids from places like Mass.
 
Mac was a HS coach in Michigan. Had we not recruited even decently from MI then he never would have never been at UM or been offered a HC position.

How we got into LA ill never know.
 
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Having lived in Houston and Dallas, I'm surprised we do better in Houston than Dallas. Houston is a little more blue collar and seem to gravitate toward the SEC and and other schools in the south, whereas Dallas has more of an upscale cosmopolitan feel similar to Denver.

Of course I'm biased here, but i'd like to see a continued pipeline into Southlake Carroll- home of Justin Drescher, Peyton williams, Chase Daniel, Greg McElroy - perrenial 5A powerhouse with smart kids... Plano and Allen would be my other two targets in the Dallas area
 
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Yesterday, Alex Jackson and Khalil Pettway both committed to new coaching staff at Washington State. There is nothing particularly noteworthy about two teammates heading to same school to play college football. Also not surprising that a WR like Jackson would jump at the opportunity to play in Mike Leach's pass-happy system. What is noteworthy about these two teammates committing to Washington State is the relationship between Culver City High School's program and the Cougars over the years. Consider the following note from ESPN:

http://insider.espn.go.com/blog/ncfrecruiting/west/post?id=1443



We are talking about a school in LA County regularly sending players to Pullman, Washington to play college ball. Let that sink in for a minute. Relationships in recruiting are essential.

The interesting thing there is that Wazzu has had at least half a dozen head coaches since that streak started in 1997. So the relationship seems to be with the school, not any specific coach. I assume they've turned over administrators a few times since then too. I wonder if Culver City might have a wazzu alum involved somewhere?
 
Having lived in Houston and Dallas, I'm surprised we do better in Houston than Dallas. Houston is a little more blue collar and seem to gravitate toward the SEC and and other schools in the south, whereas Dallas has more of an upscale cosmopolitan feel similar to Denver.

Of course I'm biased here, but i'd like to see a continued pipeline into Southlake Carroll- home of Justin Drescher, Peyton williams, Chase Daniel, Greg McElroy - perrenial 5A powerhouse with smart kids... Plano and Allen would be my other two targets in the Dallas area

I think a lot of it had to do with Mac being fearless about going into the 5th Ward to recruit, even doing in-homes in the projects. Same reason we were strong in Compton when everyone else shied away. Mac was smart enough to recognize that the folks raising their kids in those tough situations are just like everyone else, want the same things, and are probably hungrier for it. Thankfully, we're getting back to that.
 
Having lived in Houston and Dallas, I'm surprised we do better in Houston than Dallas. Houston is a little more blue collar and seem to gravitate toward the SEC and and other schools in the south, whereas Dallas has more of an upscale cosmopolitan feel similar to Denver.

Of course I'm biased here, but i'd like to see a continued pipeline into Southlake Carroll- home of Justin Drescher, Peyton williams, Chase Daniel, Greg McElroy - perrenial 5A powerhouse with smart kids... Plano and Allen would be my other two targets in the Dallas area


 
Many have touched on the topic very well. So many people say "oh we aren't in CA or TX and are a couple states removed, it's hard to get kids here." No it's not. You just need to focus on it and sell the attributes of the school. Hawkins didn't have a CLUE about doing that and to be completely honest, his birdbrain, backroads Norcal roots and ideas didn't float in Texas. It's one of the reasons why we finished with big 12 low, 4 players from the state of Texas by the time we were finally rid of him. He wanted worldly people... no need to make being successful at football tougher than it already is. In regards to Socal, he didn't really seem to fit that personality either and the talent from the area dived. We got some solid kids from there but not near the talent we're taking this season. CU is in the strategic position of being equal distances from CA and TX so we just need to use that to our advantage. We need to recruit Texas better than everybody else, something Chip Kelly has made his MO in the Pac. We need to keep getting our share of Socal kids and i'm sure Embree and co. are going to do it. Inland Empire and the OC area are definitely getting work from this staff. We don't need to get the best players out of Texas and Socal, we just need to get our share and catch the one's others are sleeping on. I think many will agree, a 3* in TX and Socal is probably as good or better as some of the 4* kids CO sends out. On that note, we need to be aware and try to capture the top 5 from the state of CO every year as long as they fit our bill of goods. There are a few other states i'd like to see us hone in on like LA, AZ, WA, UT, NV, and maybe stay within the MO/IL/OH area occasionally.
 
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