Early observations on offers

[Duff Man]

-Overall, the staff is being pretty selective with offers, as expected.

-The staff is really hitting Orange County and New Orleans hard. May not pay off this year, but something to watch develop over the next few years.

-Linebacker is clearly a priority for the staff this cycle. Not a surprise to any of us, but still nice to see. Also, with offering guys like Thomas Duarte and Connor O'Brien as linebackers, pretty clear the staff is trying to upgrade the athleticism there.

-With only two offers at TE, seems the staff is going Parsons or bust right now. Do not disagree with that strategy either.

-One thing I hope to see change soon is the number of offers in Arizona. We only have three there right now (for reference, we have six in New Orleans).

 

[sackman]

Not to:dead-horse-fast2: but I'm not seeing a lot of OL offers. Color me concerned.

 

[Swish]

It is difficult to even articulate how much happier I am with Embree and Staff's approach to recruiting compared to the ex-coach.
Embree doesn't seem to be the least bit intimidated by who else might be after the kid or if it is an area where we haven't done much in the past. If the staff sees someone they like they go after them regardless and I like that.

He is putting forth an effort to establish a "pipeline" or long term recruiting presence in some of these football factories and I like that too.

And the fact that they target specific needs as aggressively as they do tells me they do know what they are doing and what it takes to build a successful program.

I always hate it when we miss out on an awesome talent but I'd sure rather have the staff at least in there fighting for it. I do believe the Buffs are in much better hands than they were before.

 

[Duff Man]

I think people forget that Hawkins offered elite prospects all over the place. One of the major problems with his recruiting was failing to offer the next level of prospects after you get through the national recruits that everyone knows about.

For example, I am pretty sure he would not have offered players like Samson Kafovalu, Kisima Jagne, or Davien Payne early enough. Those are the type of players that should be the core of any class. Not necessarily elite, but players who have several options.

 

[Swish]

I think people forget that Hawkins offered elite prospects all over the place.

My perception of this always was that he started out that way but then quickly retreated when he saw he was outclassed, to his strategies from BSU. It always seemed to me that he got to the point where he seldom even took a sniff at many four and five star players
Guess I'll have to reassess my thinking on this

 

[Duff Man]

My perception of this always was that he started out that way but then quickly retreated when he saw he was outclassed, to his strategies from BSU. It always seemed to me that he got to the point where he seldom even took a sniff at many four and five star players
Guess I'll have to reassess my thinking on this

Nah, he offered all the players everyone else did. Honestly, just about any BCS coach out there does it. You have to have the second-level players in your back pocket though. Hawkins did not and that is why he was left scrounging for marginal players far too often.

 

[Buffnik]

My perception of this always was that he started out that way but then quickly retreated when he saw he was outclassed, to his strategies from BSU. It always seemed to me that he got to the point where he seldom even took a sniff at many four and five star players
Guess I'll have to reassess my thinking on this

It was more like he offered a ton of top guys then told them to take their time deciding, see what else is out there, and then if CU feels like the right fit to make a firm commitment to us. (Results in a lot of late commitments.)

That strategy can work pretty well when the program has momentum because CU and Boulder certainly leave a big impression when recruits visit.

Unfortunately, HaLk didn't do a good job with backup plans and this also screwed up our in-state recruiting. He didn't show much attention to the Plan B guys until the ship had sailed on the Plan A offers. In-state players and coaches felt like they weren't given much attention and were always offered late (when the in-state school should be among the first to offer). Out of state, we were often left scrambling in December/January to find "sleepers" once the Plan A's moved on and the Plan B's were cool to us over us not giving much attention for the previous 10 months of the recruiting cycle.

Even the good HaLk classes were top-heavy for this reason.

 

[Swish]

You mean like the rugby player from Canada? :lol:

Thanks for the clarification guys - guess you're good for something after all. :devil:

No seriously I think Embree and staff are light years ahead of Ex-coach Hawkins and have overall a positive view of the direction recruiting is going save for the continued frustrations with local kids

 

[TimmyDUBs]

It was more like he offered a ton of top guys then told them to take their time deciding, see what else is out there, and then if CU feels like the right fit to make a firm commitment to us. (Results in a lot of late commitments.)

Recruitingis just sales. My experience, and just about everythign you read, is that you need to seize the opportunity while the excitment exists. You have to pump them up and push them to give some kind of commitment IMMEDIATELY.

It is really nice and idealistic to lay off the pressure and hope the recruits like you the best after all is said and done, but 90% of the time, the client/recruit is going to get exccited about something/somewhere else and they'll get him to commit in some form or another while psychologically is more binding than Hawk probably understood.

The minority of elite athletes that he ended up getting were not really mentally up to the task of meeting their own expectations which is another story.

 

[somebody]

It is difficult to even articulate how much happier I am with Embree and Staff's approach to recruiting compared to the ex-coach.
Embree doesn't seem to be the least bit intimidated by who else might be after the kid or if it is an area where we haven't done much in the past. If the staff sees someone they like they go after them regardless and I like that.

He is putting forth an effort to establish a "pipeline" or long term recruiting presence in some of these football factories and I like that too.

And the fact that they target specific needs as aggressively as they do tells me they do know what they are doing and what it takes to build a successful program.

I always hate it when we miss out on an awesome talent but I'd sure rather have the staff at least in there fighting for it. I do believe the Buffs are in much better hands than they were before.

I want to believe, I really do. There is some positive evidence, but there are also setbacks, like losing Asiata and the OL in general - targets are one thing, but we need to win more in-conference recruiting battles. We really need results on the field, like now, and the competition is only getting better. Top to bottom, the PAC will soon run circles around the old Big 12.