10.CUBuffs.com: How would you respond to those recruiting analysts who say you're dangerously short on four- and five-star prospects?
JE: "That's all right, it doesn't bother me. To get elite playmakers we have to continue to improve ourselves. You can go around all day about stars. Greg Henderson (freshman corner) did pretty well for us and he wasn't a five-star guy. I just want football players. That (star rating) stuff is for barrooms and the Internet. You can point to five stars that bust and one stars that become stars. I'm just trying to get the best players. But again, we won three games . . . I don't think people realize how hard it was for us (CU) in the mid-90s. We'd won a lot of games, we had guys who had won the Heisman, the Thorpe Award and the Butkus. People have to realize we're not a logo school . . . Ohio State and USC have great classes every year. They've got 50 or 60 years of tradition, huge national fan bases. But that doesn't mean we can't do it here. That's what we're shooting for."
11.CUBuffs.com: So, from that answer on the star system, I'm guessing your opinion of those ratings hasn't changed?
JE: "How many of these people really see kids play? A kid commits to Texas and goes from no stars to three, or from three to five. Explain that to me. I'm not down on these (recruiting) sites; they give fans good reason to go them, but it's like being in a sports bar. I'm not down on Rivals.com and Scout.com . . . I know they've helped kids get noticed. But their rating systems are different from coaches. Look at Michigan State, what was their senior class rated? You get a transfer in, you get some guys who pan out that weren't five-star guys . . . We - and I'm talking about coaches - have to be able to develop guys to give yourself a chance. That's just my take on it."
