Observations on early offers

[Duff Man]

First, the standard disclaimer that "reported offers" means what is being reported on the recruiting sites. Does not mean that every reported offer is legitimate. It does generally give an idea of players the coaches have likely offered or are strongly considering though.

That said, some cursory notes:

1. As was the case in 2014, the coaches have not been liberal with QB offers. They clearly like the guys they have offered (five in total) and they are definitely setting their sights high.

2. With the newest WR offer out to A.D. Miller out of Dallas, the coaches have now offered three WRs over 6'3" and are looking at others with similar builds. Not surprising considering we lack bigger players at the position, but good to see nonetheless.

3. Coaches seem to be hitting the Inland Empire and Hawaii harder than last year. May be a product of better players, coaches having better footholds in both areas now, or a combination of both.

4. The early OL offers are out to some massive players. Interestingly, interior OL seems to be just as big a priority as OT in the early going.

5. DT seems to be a big priority as well. Seems like the coaches are hoping to land a prep player who can play early here (again, not really a surprise).

Will be interesting to see what other trends develop going forward.

 

[buffaholic]

Good observations above.

I've got a few contacts that are tight with the Polynesian community and as I've posted elsewhere, they think that Sefo's leadership could really make an impact in recruiting within the Poly community in the short term. Are we seeing more offers in that way, or is it just me?

There have been few Polynesian QBs and with Sefo being a starter as a Frosh, I think he's now the face of the program going forward and I hope coaches are bringing that up in every living room. Sefo was trained by his Uncle, Jack Thompson, the famous Throwin' Samoan. Jack is a legend in the Samoan community.

 

[boydbuff]

As many have said it also appears we are going for a higher caliber player. Not really sure why this would be a surprise to anyone.

I posted something in a thread last year where I read that Cutcliffe learned the recipe from some other big name coach that the way to rebuild a program in part is through gradually improving the quality of athletes one class at a time. I am convinced this is the blueprint HCMM is following.

 

[Duff Man]

Good observations above.

I've got a few contacts that are tight with the Polynesian community and as I've posted elsewhere, they think that Sefo's leadership could really make an impact in recruiting within the Poly community in the short term. Are we seeing more offers in that way, or is it just me?

There have been few Polynesian QBs and with Sefo being a starter as a Frosh, I think he's now the face of the program going forward and I hope coaches are bringing that up in every living room. Sefo was trained by his Uncle, Jack Thompson, the famous Throwin' Samoan. Jack is a legend in the Samoan community.

Agree. It does seem like we are seeing more offers to Polynesian kids. Definitely one of the more important story lines to follow all the way to February.

 

[patebuff]

Good observations above.

I've got a few contacts that are tight with the Polynesian community and as I've posted elsewhere, they think that Sefo's leadership could really make an impact in recruiting within the Poly community in the short term. Are we seeing more offers in that way, or is it just me?

There have been few Polynesian QBs and with Sefo being a starter as a Frosh, I think he's now the face of the program going forward and I hope coaches are bringing that up in every living room. Sefo was trained by his Uncle, Jack Thompson, the famous Throwin' Samoan. Jack is a legend in the Samoan community.

CU's best teams have been heavy Polynesian. Love the effort here.

 

[Buffnik]

I'm seeing much more focus on quarterbacks that can make things happen with their legs. Not only in the guys being recruited purely at QB, but also with an interest in bringing in athletes who could play some QB if injuries hit or for situational packages.

 

[patebuff]

I'm seeing much more focus on quarterbacks that can make things happen with their legs. Not only in the guys being recruited purely at QB, but also with an interest in bringing in athletes who could play some QB if injuries hit or for situational packages.

Last year the staff seemed to covet the accurate QB over everything else. As you mentioned, this year they seem to be going after the athletic QB who is more able with their legs than arm. Not a bad situation to have when you have different QB's who all give you different tangibles. No doubt this staff is going after the functional athlete over anything else.

 

[fatbuff]

As many have said it also appears we are going for a higher caliber player. Not really sure why this would be a surprise to anyone.

I posted something in a thread last year where I read that Cutcliffe learned the recipe from some other big name coach that the way to rebuild a program in part is through gradually improving the quality of athletes one class at a time. I am convinced this is the blueprint HCMM is following.

They offered highly regarded kids last year. But, that's as far as it went.

 

[DiggerBuffs]

Andy LaRussa was in HI often and went to America Samoa amongst other places. They realize the importance there and many years of connection to the Islands.

Sam Taulealea is DC at St Louis (only '14 HI commit Jaisen Sanchez) and a former Buff. I assume the new staff figured this out and Sam talks well about Boulder. Sam is a great guy, it's unfortunate how he was handled and treated by Barnett.

On the subject of talent: Mike Mac and Co are going to go after the best and then work down from there. I am sure they have heard no often but set their sights high and then work down to the diamonds in the rough they built SJSU and the '14 years class with.


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[stretch]

Poor Andy LaRussa, having to recruit in Hawaii. I love the Polynesian connections, we have had great Polynesian players in the past and it was something that I feared losing with the loss of Cabral. Hopefully we can maintain those connections and continue to get great players.

I think it speaks to what Boydbuff mentioned that we have offered larger receivers. Mac, at the skill positions, doesn't seem to want to sacrifice athleticism which is great to see. In the '14 class that resulted in smaller than desired players because we were left with those who upper tier programs had lower on their list. So even though they might have the athleticism and production against worthwhile competition (Donovan Lee) they were docked for, or not pursued as hard due to, their small stature. Now that Mac has had a chance to get his bearings, show some improvement, and get ahead in the classes it seems that those athletes will gradually (or hopefully not so gradually) progress in size, while maintaining the athleticism, to a more desired size. I think that we will see 6' plus receivers in this class and then eventually (as much as I hope, not sure things will progress quite fast enough for it to be this class) we will start seeing 6'3" 6'4" athletic receivers (you're not cutting it McCulloch).

 

[stretch]

Its great that we are still heavily pursuing linemen on both sides of the ball. That is the fulcrum of the team, and allows all of the other players to show off their strengths, or potentially get away with being more one dimensional. I think that is where our team has suffered the most through the coaching changes and attrition.

We need to establish a rhythm of being able to RS these players and let them grow into their bodies. It is very difficult to be expected to play early when your position puts such a premium on functional strength and size. I was really happy that we were able to stay healthy along the offensive line this past year (thank you Dave Forman), which allowed us to RS four scholarship OL plus the greyshirt (Lisella, who has put on 40+ pounds) that is coming in. If we can continue this trend and RS our young linemen while playing upperclassmen it will pay dividends for our program, and allow the skill position players to do their jobs.

It wasn't too long ago that we had to have a spring scrimmage rather than a spring game because we didn't have enough OL on our roster. It's hard to be successful in a situation like that even if you are riddled with 5* talent.

 

[stretch]

This is something that we can't tell from watching tape of the prospects, but I hope Mac continues to highly value character in his recruits. I think he realizes he is better off with a two star recruit that is playing a number of years from now as a redshirt senior than he is with a 4 or 5 star recruit who sees some action early before getting kicked off the team or arrested. To drive this point home, another of Embree's recruits (Jeffrey Hall) was just arrested and suspended indefinitely for choking a woman and fighting the cops. It seems as though Mac recruits with staying power in mind and that will be very helpful moving forward as we can limit our attrition.

It seems as though every highly ranked player we have acquired over the last half dozen years has flamed out. Just from memory the one that I can remember contributing late into his time as an upperclassman is Nick Kasa, and that was after a number of position changes throughout the years. I am fine with continuing to get "no-name" classes full of two and three star recruits as long as they stay in the program and follow a reasonable curve of progression. This is without taking into account what appears to be an ability by the coaching staff to find diamonds in the rough.

That being said, I hope that Mac, and I don't expect him to, isn't sacrificing his values while pursuing these higher regarded prospects.

 

[lawdogg]

You don't have to sacrifice athletic talent to find quality kids, the two are not mutually exclusive. Moreover, some guys who seem like model citizens in high school end up doing some pretty stupid stuff in college. It's not always something that you can forecast.

 

[BlackNGold]

This is something that we can't tell from watching tape of the prospects, but I hope Mac continues to highly value character in his recruits. I think he realizes he is better off with a two star recruit that is playing a number of years from now as a redshirt senior than he is with a 4 or 5 star recruit who sees some action early before getting kicked off the team or arrested. To drive this point home, another of Embree's recruits (Jeffrey Hall) was just arrested and suspended indefinitely for choking a woman and fighting the cops. It seems as though Mac recruits with staying power in mind and that will be very helpful moving forward as we can limit our attrition.

It seems as though every highly ranked player we have acquired over the last half dozen years has flamed out. Just from memory the one that I can remember contributing late into his time as an upperclassman is Nick Kasa, and that was after a number of position changes throughout the years. I am fine with continuing to get "no-name" classes full of two and three star recruits as long as they stay in the program and follow a reasonable curve of progression. This is without taking into account what appears to be an ability by the coaching staff to find diamonds in the rough.

That being said, I hope that Mac, and I don't expect him to, isn't sacrificing his values while pursuing these higher regarded prospects.

You mean you don't want a 4 star like Paul Richardson.