I was watching the Arkansas-Texas bowl game last night and one of the announcers was waxing on about how Bielema was building things from the inside out as a team that can win in the trenches. The point that was made was about how the philosophy is the better approach for long-term success as opposed to the Petrino approach Arkansas had before where the success of a season really came down to the QB and skill guys.
After reading that, I figured I'd look at CU recruiting for the 3 years under MacIntyre (2015 class so far) and compare it with the 3 years prior to get a count on OL/DL, TE/LB/FB and Other as a percentage of the class. I'm curious if there's been a different emphasis. I'm not including transfers, but those would seem to bump HCMM's emphasis to the interior due to Callahan on the OL and then Rippy & Talianko at LB. I'm also going by what position the player actually fit on the roster (i.e., Gilbert at DE rather than LB).
Certainly not definitive. Too few years to really determine whether there is a philosophy at work or simply a response to depth chart issues on the interior. But one thing that is clear is that the interior is being addressed. Also, that 2015 is not as out of balance as the impression of it that a lot of folks seem to have. It's missing a TE and WR, though, to finish it off. Maybe another DB and/or a third LB.
After reading that, I figured I'd look at CU recruiting for the 3 years under MacIntyre (2015 class so far) and compare it with the 3 years prior to get a count on OL/DL, TE/LB/FB and Other as a percentage of the class. I'm curious if there's been a different emphasis. I'm not including transfers, but those would seem to bump HCMM's emphasis to the interior due to Callahan on the OL and then Rippy & Talianko at LB. I'm also going by what position the player actually fit on the roster (i.e., Gilbert at DE rather than LB).
YEAR | OL/DL | TE/LB/FB | OTHER |
2010 | 7 (29%) | 6 (25%) | 11 (46%) |
2011 | 6 (17%) | 2 (9%) | 14 (64%) |
2012 | 10 (37%) | 3 (11%) | 14 (52%) |
2013 | 8 (38%) | 4 (19%) | 9 (43%) |
2014 | 12 (53%) | 4 (17%) | 7 (30%) |
2015 | 11 (55%) | 2 (10%) | 7 (35%) |
Certainly not definitive. Too few years to really determine whether there is a philosophy at work or simply a response to depth chart issues on the interior. But one thing that is clear is that the interior is being addressed. Also, that 2015 is not as out of balance as the impression of it that a lot of folks seem to have. It's missing a TE and WR, though, to finish it off. Maybe another DB and/or a third LB.