How do the top Team keep their recruiting numbers in check?

[Lonster]

Not sure if this belongs in the recruiting thread, but, I have to assume that every team makes way more offers than they expect to sign. And, the top teams like Alabama offer mostly 4's and 5's with a few 3's.

If I was one of the lower star number recruits for Alabama with an offer I would be waiting for 11:59 the night before to sign my letter of intent.

How do these teams manage this so that all the lower starred players don't take up all their available slots and they don't have any more room for the higher rated recruits who may chose to wait a bit?

Another way of saying it. There are still a lot of un signed blue chippers. Did they miss the boat to go to a Blue chip school?

There must be a way but is seems like a signed commitment must be honored by both parties.

 

[Darian3Hagan]

They bury them out back.

 

[Tatanka™]

Not sure if this belongs in the recruiting thread, but, I have to assume that every team makes way more offers than they expect to sign. And, the top teams like Alabama offer mostly 4's and 5's with a few 3's.

If I was one of the lower star number recruits for Alabama with an offer I would be waiting for 11:59 the night before to sign my letter of intent.

How do these teams manage this so that all the lower starred players don't take up all their available slots and they don't have any more room for the higher rated recruits who may chose to wait a bit?

Another way of saying it. There are still a lot of un signed blue chippers. Did they miss the boat to go to a Blue chip school?

There must be a way but is seems like a signed commitment must be honored by both parties.

Well, you see Billy, when a team and a player love each other very much they give each other a special kind of hug.

 

[Buffnik]

Not sure if this belongs in the recruiting thread, but, I have to assume that every team makes way more offers than they expect to sign. And, the top teams like Alabama offer mostly 4's and 5's with a few 3's.

If I was one of the lower star number recruits for Alabama with an offer I would be waiting for 11:59 the night before to sign my letter of intent.

How do these teams manage this so that all the lower starred players don't take up all their available slots and they don't have any more room for the higher rated recruits who may chose to wait a bit?

Another way of saying it. There are still a lot of un signed blue chippers. Did they miss the boat to go to a Blue chip school?

There must be a way but is seems like a signed commitment must be honored by both parties.

One way is that they don't redshirt guys who they don't think will be good enough to start there. So they move the busts through the program more quickly rather than having a bunch of 5th year senior depth & special teams pieces. They also encourage transfers of those guys.

 

[4BienemyTDs]

Curious as well on the ability to balance these classes when these big time late flips and signings occur. I have heard it gets pretty brutal in terms of Blue Shirts and Gray Shirts and other sneaky tricks.

The recruiting results that the top programs like Alabama and Georgia are currently getting is unreal in terms of the quality and depth of players and their ratings and measurements. I love listening to Coach Tucker and really feel that he will get us into the top 3-4 of the PAC12 and will start to pull record numbers of 4 star kids. I am also looking forward to keeping the borders of Colorado way more closed than ever. I get that kids will always want to leave home, but now that we have a coach with this attitude and swagger, I think that we will start keeping the lions share of the top 10 kids in Colorado, and preferably 3 or 4 of the top 5.

 

[Duff Man]

One way is that they don't redshirt guys who they don't think will be good enough to start there. So they move the busts through the program more quickly rather than having a bunch of 5th year senior depth & special teams pieces. They also encourage transfers of those guys.

This is the most overlooked part of it. 5th year seniors in big numbers is not really a good sign.

 

[Lonster]

Thanks to those that tried to explain. Makes sense why they can take more players each year. But I’m not sure waiting around to sign late is a good thing. Seems like some of the doors get closed early

 

[Buffnik]

Thanks to those that tried to explain. Makes sense why they can take more players each year. But I’m not sure waiting around to sign late is a good thing. Seems like some of the doors get closed early

I think around 80 of the ESPN 300 are unsigned. So it’s like 20-30% of the good recruits are probably left. Yes, you’d normally want almost all of your class done on ESD.

 

[Agent Dave Kujan]

I think around 80 of the ESPN 300 are unsigned. So it’s like 20-30% of the good recruits are probably left. Yes, you’d normally want almost all of your class done on ESD.

I wonder what that number was a year ago? It seems that more players waited until the February signing Day this year which makes complete sense to me. If I was a player I think I would wait.

 

[patebuff]

This is the most overlooked part of it. 5th year seniors in big numbers is not really a good sign.

Mike Macintyre would like a word with you

 

[Medford M.]

This is the most overlooked part of it. 5th year seniors in big numbers is not really a good sign.

Unless you're a G-5 program.

 

[BuffNut]

Heard last year it was about 70 - 75% that signed early. I like the confidence of the guys that feel it is ok to wait til February as they feel they will find a good spot regardless of classes "filling up".

Every school has attrition so imagine the blue bloods find ways to manage numbers to ensure they have space for guys they really WANT......and they probably dont worey too much about lower star rated players as they wouldnt offer of they disnt initially expect them to compete.

 

[Creebuzz]

Up until a player can sign a letter of intent, the coaching staff stays in regular communication with all of the players verbally committed. They know who is solid and who is wavering among their blue chips.

Lower rated guys may try to commit but the staff may not accept it. They may also slow play them, saying that they are still being evaluated. These guys can be plan B types in case one of the aforementioned blue chips happens to flip to another school at the last minute. It’s a numbers game and every year a few tier two players do lose their spots at every school.

Once a player signs, there are ways to manage the roster. This can be done by not allowing weaker players to redshirt, medically retiring them so they can keep their scholarship but not impact the roster, and chasing them out by letting them know they will never play.

Nick Saban is a master of roster management. MacIntyre was ok in some regards, but terrible in other aspects. CU carries way too much dead weight on its roster, but that’s really the result of poor recruiting and poor talent evaluation than roster management.

 

[skibum]

One other side of it is the idea of "committable" offers vs non - committable offers.

Alabama may "offer" a kid who really is a backup plan in April, but if he tries to "commit" to them on the spot, they'll tell him they won't accept his commitment "until _____." That blank might be a date, it might be "your official visit," etc, etc.

What they won't tell him is the truth: "we won't accept your commitment until we get a final decision from X who we'd prefer to have over you."

If X doesn't commit until NSD in February, all at once the backup plan's offer turns into a "blue shirt" or "gray shirt" or even PWO. And if he and his family have been telling all their friends and family that he's going to Alabama on a football scholarship, it's hard for the family to not shell out the money for "just one year of school, then it will be paid for."

Once he's on campus, they can then use all the other tools at their disposal to either move him through (or not, if the 5* is a busy, or the "back up plan" turns into the star).

 

[goalline]

I’ve felt that this whole problem could be avoided by making every scholarship offer have a time limit for acceptance like most contracts or offers of employment. Obviously, signing “day” would have to be a wider window of time than it is now.
Proposal:
Teams can only have as many offers out as they actually are prepared to honor. Each offer gives the student a reasonable, but not excessive, period of time to decide before it expires. Once it expires, the team can offer someone else, or re-offer if they want to. Then, the classes fill over a month or two, rather than in one day.

It would make the legal offers match better to the verbal commitment given now.

The drawback, which could be handled via a clause in the offer would be if either party wants out of the offer due to major changes, like a coach change.

 

[Lonster]

Up until a player can sign a letter of intent, the coaching staff stays in regular communication with all of the players verbally committed. They know who is solid and who is wavering among their blue chips.

Lower rated guys may try to commit but the staff may not accept it. They may also slow play them, saying that they are still being evaluated. These guys can be plan B types in case one of the aforementioned blue chips happens to flip to another school at the last minute. It’s a numbers game and every year a few tier two players do lose their spots at every school.

This explains a lot. Just because a team offers a kid a shcolly doesn't mean they are obligated to honor it. I suppose each team has its difficulties trying to balance their own class. That makes sense, because if all the WR's accepted that they offered, they might not be able to balance out the other positions

 

[buffaholic]

nm