*****Signing Day 2011 Thread*****

[Unleash Hell]

Willingham too.

nope

 

[Mick Ronson]

To start with I am amazed that Embree and staff were able to put together this solid a class in the short time they had. This shows that they are willing to work as hard as it takes to be successfull. It also shows that they know how to recruit and that they are able to communicate a message to these young men that they can believe and be enthusiastic about.

Next observation is that we are seeing a huge step up in athletic ability. A number of the players are guys who were late developers or played in systems that didn't emphasize their abilities but we have a bunch of guys who can run and hit. Not to put down anybody who signed here in the past few years but we seemed to be bringing in more and more guys who were one step slow or 20lbs light or both to play in a BCS conference. A lot of these guys will end up playing new positions but at least they have the athletic ability to compete.

I am not a believer in a herd mentality but you can often tell about a kid by who else wants him. I am seeing kids with offers from multiple PAC12 schools including Oregon, the Arizonas, Washington, etc. as well as serious programs from other conferences like Iowa, Michigan, Arkansas, etc.

Hawk also made a lot of noise about academics and the "right" kind of kids but as his time went on we saw more guys who couldn't or didn't make the grade in the classroom and off the field. I am seeing a number of kids with offers from the Air Force, Northwestern, Wake Forest, and other schools that are considered to be be quality academic schools. If the AFA thinks a kid can handle the academics then I expect him to be able to handle CU (or just about anywhere else.)

I am also seeing a focus on big bodies that that can compete at the LOS. I am looking forword to a Buffs team that fires off the ball on offense and that stands up the line on defense. A consistent running game, no more jailbreak pass blocking, and a lot less "gashers" on defense and more 2nd and 3rd and longs on defense will move us towards the direction of being a winning program.

i agree with all this. good post MTN. i had the same thoughts about our competitors for these guys....nearly all (i went through and looked yesterday) had offers from at least one other BCS school. that's obviously not saying all that much compared to a top class, but it's better than where we've been even since Barney's last class or two. hawk had some 4 star targets and a sackful of "sleepers" while these guys are nearly all 2-3 star guys which is about as high as you could expect given the late transition and dead periods. and it's across the board. some guys won't play, won't graduate, but most are legit D-1 players who can either see the field or give you depth....you expect.

i like that a lot of our guys we were competing with other Pac schools for. got to start "competing" right away. I think JE and EB's west coast, UCLA, NFL cred played dividends there that the former Boise in the WAC coach wasn't going to give us.

 

[SpacemanSpiff]

Sounds like the Willingham ship has sailed...to UCF. I thought I saw where Adam said his LOI was signed.

 

[SpacemanSpiff]

Well now, I see that some say that the LOI has not been signed. So, who knows..

 

[SpacemanSpiff]

How about the OT, Martin, the USC verbal? Any chance there?

 

[Buffskier]

Apparently Martin ruled us out last night? I think I read that somewhere this morning... Maybe I'm just hallucinating things...

 

[LaserDeathHawk]

Loving this presser with Embo. He seems more loose than he has, getting the feel for it. Also not afraid to rub it in on the programs we edged out.

 

[Duff Man]

With Lucien going to UCLA, I think WR just became a very big need in the 2012 class.

 

[buffsyko]

Embree mentioned wr and DL. Those two positions should be priority next year.

 

[Nor Cal Buff]

QB should also be a big priority IMO. But yeah, WR and DL will be big.

 

[BuffaloChuck]

Embree did a solid job with what he had. I know he'll coach these up with even better results.