As we ponder whether to gnash our teeth or triumphantly celebrate OUr new recruits...

[soonerboy_odanorth]

might I just remind all concerned that I don't believe Boise bleepin' State has ever had a Top 50 recruiting class, much less Top 15, 10, 5... whatever.

Not sayin'...

Just, you know....

sayin'...

I don't know when I, Captain Obvious, clued in, but it's apparent to me these rankings and star ratings are pretty much a bunch of potboiler b.s.

At the end of the day what matters is:

Did we fill needs both immediate and for depth?
Did we recruit speed?
Are we capably developing the players that we are recruiting... both between the ears and physically?

And the answer with Bob Stoops at the helm has been an emphatic "Yes!" on all counts for the last 8 years.

Let the unwashed and slightly dazed orange-clad UT's of the world crow all they want about their recruiting rankings and bevy of 4 and 5 star players.

If Bob Stoops says that's the guy we want, then that's the guy.

And I, for one, am celebrating these kids that want to play for OU.

[Widescreen]

Good points, all.

One thing I found curious about this year's class is that it seems we didn't go head-to-head against the Horns for any recruit. I'm not sure that's ever happened before.

[landrun]

I think we wanted Scott didn't we?

[setem]

What the hell happened to the "I'm upset with our recruiting" thread?

I made an awesome post in it and now it is gone!

[Jello Biafra]

might I just remind all concerned that I don't believe Boise bleepin' State has ever had a Top 50 recruiting class, much less Top 15, 10, 5... whatever.

Not sayin'...

Just, you know....

sayin'...

I don't know when I, Captain Obvious, clued in, but it's apparent to me these rankings and star ratings are pretty much a bunch of potboiler b.s.

At the end of the day what matters is:

Did we fill needs both immediate and for depth?
Did we recruit speed?
Are we capably developing the players that we are recruiting... both between the ears and physically?

And the answer with Bob Stoops at the helm has been an emphatic "Yes!" on all counts for the last 8 years.

Let the unwashed and slightly dazed orange-clad UT's of the world crow all they want about their recruiting rankings and bevy of 4 and 5 star players.

If Bob Stoops says that's the guy we want, then that's the guy.

And I, for one, am celebrating these kids that want to play for OU.



all good points but, i'm going to play devil's advocate or something.....

something can't be quite right. I've been thinking about this for 3 or 4 years now. I played for 12 years through college (most of those as a lineman)and can't for the life of me figure out what is wrong with our freaking line recruits...

can anyone else think of what it may be? even in college, it wasn't that big of a deal to workout as a lineman. it's nearly the same intensity and nearly the same amount of pain as any other year you play that position but we have continued to lose lineman after lineman to injury, transfer and lack of interest. not saying these guys don't know how to recruit, im just saying maybe the people who are evaluating the talent aren't exactly understanding the team's mission statement. some of these kids have been playing the same game at the same position since 1st or 2nd grade. if they were not enjoying football, why would they even take a sholarship offer? i know the S&C coaching issues have been talked about at length for the last couple of years but jeez......how many have we lost???? in one particular year, we lost one to a junior college and then was seen on the colorado roster the following year. the other kid on that very same line said something to the affect of wanting to go to work instead of going to school. Akim Millington was a starter and walks off the team in the middle of two-a-days and is now the best olineman on Illinois' roster. now we have two just flat out leaving to undisclosed injuries i think i read?

I'm at a loss. either these guys are being run off or they have little to no talent or they are not able to be taught......

[toast]

I played for 12 years through college (most of those as a lineman)and can't for the life of me figure out what is wrong with our freaking line recruits...



that is a lot of eligibility, how many degrees did you earn? ;)

[Jello Biafra]

that is a lot of eligibility, how many degrees did you earn? ;)

rofl.....i was *ahem* asked to leave my freshman year. i still have 3 years left but very little desire ;)

[AzianSooner]

I am sure this class is a good class because there are more Oklahoman in that group.

[OSUAggie]

One thing I found curious about this year's class is that it seems we didn't go head-to-head against the Horns for any recruit. I'm not sure that's ever happened before.

It's hard to go head-to-head with Texas when they have 23 commits by June.

[Boomer.....]

Aggie's right. It's hard to recruit against Texass, especially since their MNC.

[snp]

I think this has been brought up 40000 times


Good points, all.

One thing I found curious about this year's class is that it seems we didn't go head-to-head against the Horns for any recruit. I'm not sure that's ever happened before.

Um, no. We actually lost every heads up battle against Texas this year.

Christian Scott
Tray Allen
James Kirkendoll
John Chiles

And several other guys we offered but committed to Texas so early the coaches didn't really pursue them.

[footballfanatic]

might I just remind all concerned that I don't believe Boise bleepin' State has ever had a Top 50 recruiting class, much less Top 15, 10, 5... whatever.

Not sayin'...

Just, you know....

sayin'...

I don't know when I, Captain Obvious, clued in, but it's apparent to me these rankings and star ratings are pretty much a bunch of potboiler b.s.

At the end of the day what matters is:

Did we fill needs both immediate and for depth?
Did we recruit speed?
Are we capably developing the players that we are recruiting... both between the ears and physically?

And the answer with Bob Stoops at the helm has been an emphatic "Yes!" on all counts for the last 8 years.

Let the unwashed and slightly dazed orange-clad UT's of the world crow all they want about their recruiting rankings and bevy of 4 and 5 star players.

If Bob Stoops says that's the guy we want, then that's the guy.

And I, for one, am celebrating these kids that want to play for OU.

As a Horn, I agree with this post. Yes, it's great to get lots of 4- star players, but too much is made of what recruits did in HS, and not what they will do in college. It's a whole different game, and so few of them ever pan out, and so many no-names rise and become the true stars. It's all about the coaching, and physical development you get later. So many of those stars are already forgotten about come the next year--the new wave of superstars already steal their thunder. USC had a whole bevy of can't-miss backs last year, but they didn't exactly set the wolrd on fire. Every so often, a true HS superstar lives up the hype. VY and AD come to mind. For every one of them, there are seventeen who don't. So no, I will wait and see what happens in October, thank you very much.

The same has to be said for the NFL draft.

One more thought--maybe every you-tube highlight reel should have a matching one with all their screw-ups.

[Widescreen]

I think this has been brought up 40000 times



Um, no. We actually lost every heads up battle against Texas this year.

Christian Scott
Tray Allen
James Kirkendoll
John Chiles

And several other guys we offered but committed to Texas so early the coaches didn't really pursue them.
Yeah, that makes sense. Sorry, I missed the 40000 other threads.

[utex74]

I think this has been brought up 40000 times



Um, no. We actually lost every heads up battle against Texas this year.

Christian Scott
Tray Allen
James Kirkendoll
John Chiles

And several other guys we offered but committed to Texas so early the coaches didn't really pursue them.

Schools are allowed up to 56 official visits by recruits. Mack invited 28 and all 28 committed. Three of those later decommitted. Yes, it was tough to recruit against Texas this year. That said, OU, Texas and all successful programs survive by recruiting to their needs. Stoops went after and signed who he thinks fills those needs and his record gives no reason to doubt his results. Your class is much better than was being predicted only a week before signing. Stoops also has shown remarkable ablility to get the most out of his players. Aside from wondering why so many OL recruits have left the last few years I can see no weakness in your program.

We'll get to watch these players compete against each other in Dallas for the next 4-5 years. That's where everything is eventually decided between us and where it should be fun to watch.

That being said....
Hook 'Em.

[Jello Biafra]

all good points but, i'm going to play devil's advocate or something.....

something can't be quite right. I've been thinking about this for 3 or 4 years now. I played for 12 years through college (most of those as a lineman)and can't for the life of me figure out what is wrong with our freaking line recruits...

can anyone else think of what it may be? even in college, it wasn't that big of a deal to workout as a lineman. it's nearly the same intensity and nearly the same amount of pain as any other year you play that position but we have continued to lose lineman after lineman to injury, transfer and lack of interest. not saying these guys don't know how to recruit, im just saying maybe the people who are evaluating the talent aren't exactly understanding the team's mission statement. some of these kids have been playing the same game at the same position since 1st or 2nd grade. if they were not enjoying football, why would they even take a sholarship offer? i know the S&C coaching issues have been talked about at length for the last couple of years but jeez......how many have we lost???? in one particular year, we lost one to a junior college and then was seen on the colorado roster the following year. the other kid on that very same line said something to the affect of wanting to go to work instead of going to school. Akim Millington was a starter and walks off the team in the middle of two-a-days and is now the best olineman on Illinois' roster. now we have two just flat out leaving to undisclosed injuries i think i read?

I'm at a loss. either these guys are being run off or they have little to no talent or they are not able to be taught......



* crickets chirping *


wow....lack of interest or no insight?

i am the unltimate post killer :)

[snp]

Yeah, that makes sense. Sorry, I missed the 40000 other threads.

It's also common sense. Don't think you need multiple threads to pick up on it. It was discussed before the game, during the game, and after the game ad nauseam. But now you're detracting away from your other statement which was dead wrong.

[PLaw]

all good points but, i'm going to play devil's advocate or something.....

something can't be quite right. I've been thinking about this for 3 or 4 years now. I played for 12 years through college (most of those as a lineman)and can't for the life of me figure out what is wrong with our freaking line recruits...

I'm at a loss. either these guys are being run off or they have little to no talent or they are not able to be taught......


The OU O-line situation is truly strange. On one hand, we have an Outland winner plus several others that made it to NFL rosters. On the other hand, we have way, way too many kids leaving the team at this most critical position.

The only conclusions that I can reach are: 1) the demands by the coaches are so high that it weeds out any character or mental toughness defficiencies 2) OU was not a good fit for whatever reason or 3) the position coach is/was unable to inspire and only destroyed a few good kids.

BOOMER SOONER
PLaw

[Widescreen]

It's also common sense. Don't think you need multiple threads to pick up on it. It was discussed before the game, during the game, and after the game ad nauseam. But now you're detracting away from your other statement which was dead wrong.
I wonder how hard it would be to find an incorrect statement by you. There's a thing called tact. You might want to look into it.

[soonerloyal]

Schools are allowed up to 56 official visits by recruits. Mack invited 28 and all 28 committed. Three of those later decommitted. Yes, it was tough to recruit against Texas this year. That said, OU, Texas and all successful programs survive by recruiting to their needs. Stoops went after and signed who he thinks fills those needs and his record gives no reason to doubt his results. Your class is much better than was being predicted only a week before signing. Stoops also has shown remarkable ablility to get the most out of his players. Aside from wondering why so many OL recruits have left the last few years I can see no weakness in your program.

We'll get to watch these players compete against each other in Dallas for the next 4-5 years. That's where everything is eventually decided between us and where it should be fun to watch.

That being said....
Hook 'Em.


The above is a well-written, unbiased, informed, fair and reasonable post. From a 'horn. Thanks. It's what I love to see from fans of ANY team.

That being said....
Hook 'em
:D

[snp]

I wonder how hard it would be to find an incorrect statement by you. There's a thing called tact. You might want to look into it.

Not hard at all. I constantly talk outta my ***. Like Ace Ventura.

[LesNessman]

What about this last year? An extremely young and inexperienced O-line performs well above expectations, even with a rash of injuries.
I think it has a lot to do with the new line coach, James Patton. Seems he sure did a good job in '06.

[Widescreen]

Well, yes and no. They looked like they were overachieving until the B12 championship. From then on, they looked pretty mediocre.

[snp]

Second half of OSU was pretty terrible as well.

[OSUAggie]

Come on... the guy did an unbelievable job with your line this year. Many people were suggesting that the loss of Quinn might have a bigger impact on the team than the loss of "the idiot" due to the lack of depth up front... The line played well above expectations and you have to give Patton a lot of credit for that.

[Widescreen]

I thought Patton did a good job. I was just saying that I got sucked into the whole "our OL is really great now" thing. Turns out the DL's we were playing sucked. UNL's DL pretty much handled our OL. Still I'm somewhat optimistic about next seasons given the extra year in the strength program and an extra year of experience and practice.

[snp]

Come on... the guy did an unbelievable job with your line this year. Many people were suggesting that the loss of Quinn might have a bigger impact on the team than the loss of "the idiot" due to the lack of depth up front... The line played well above expectations and you have to give Patton a lot of credit for that.

The people that were suggesting the loss of Quinn would be worse are foolish. But anyways, it looks like Patton did do a good job with the OL for most of the year. But than the second half of OSU, Nebraska, and then the Boise State game they weren't that impressive. Maybe they were too young and not fully ready to handle a full year. No one here is discrediting Patton but it's naive to believe that they didn't crap out at the end.

I'm really excited to see what he can do with all the depth and youth right now. I'm psyched.

[Jello Biafra]

i talked with a guy last night that independently trained Sam Bradford in high school. The word he hears constantly out of norman is the reason we lose out on some of these lineman are they they are "lazy fuggers". The way he put it was if weight lifting is suppose to be at 6 am and you are there at 6:01 you DO NOT want to be the one who has to beat on the door and have schmidt open the door. if it happens too much, more times than not, you are on a "list". apparently this "list" means "more face to face" time with the training staff and a few extra incentives.........the training staff wants to see 110 percent effort on training and when it doesn't happen, you will pay dearly.

basically like the army.....

formation is at 6:00 am
if you are there at 5:50 am you are early
if you are there at 5:55 am you are on time
if you are there at 6:00 am you are late

he says the unspoken team philosophy for the line is they would rather have a hard working 290 lb rock eater than a soft 320 dough boy. (understandable) you work hard and know your job, you become an nfl lineman. you don't, you either leave the team or you loaf around on the depth chart.

you give max effort all the time
you show up early (5 minutes prior)
when you mess up...give max effort to get back in good graces

all is well.....


*sidenote*
he says peterson pretty much works out on his own because when they have paired him with other players to try and "push" the other player, they have injured themselves lifting....lol i think that is unbelievable

[picasso]

The Boise loss was a one shot deal. No way they go through the Big 12 like that.

We need good recruiting classes.

[Shneeg11]

i talked with a guy last night that independently trained Sam Bradford in high school. The word he hears constantly out of norman is the reason we lose out on some of these lineman are they they are "lazy fuggers". The way he put it was if weight lifting is suppose to be at 6 am and you are there at 6:01 you DO NOT want to be the one who has to beat on the door and have schmidt open the door. if it happens too much, more times than not, you are on a "list". apparently this "list" means "more face to face" time with the training staff and a few extra incentives.........the training staff wants to see 110 percent effort on training and when it doesn't happen, you will pay dearly.

basically like the army.....

formation is at 6:00 am
if you are there at 5:50 am you are early
if you are there at 5:55 am you are on time
if you are there at 6:00 am you are late

he says the unspoken team philosophy for the line is they would rather have a hard working 290 lb rock eater than a soft 320 dough boy. (understandable) you work hard and know your job, you become an nfl lineman. you don't, you either leave the team or you loaf around on the depth chart.

you give max effort all the time
you show up early (5 minutes prior)
when you mess up...give max effort to get back in good graces

all is well.....


*sidenote*
he says peterson pretty much works out on his own because when they have paired him with other players to try and "push" the other player, they have injured themselves lifting....lol i think that is unbelievable


Did it happen to be Jack Pugh?

[CobraKai]

might I just remind all concerned that I don't believe Boise bleepin' State has ever had a Top 50 recruiting class, much less Top 15, 10, 5... whatever.

Not sayin'...

Just, you know....

sayin'...

I don't know when I, Captain Obvious, clued in, but it's apparent to me these rankings and star ratings are pretty much a bunch of potboiler b.s.

True, but to play devil's advocate, North Texas State has also never had a top 10, 15, 25, or 50 class. Vandy typically brings up the rear in SEC recruiting. Baylor does in the Big 12. Oklahoma, Texas, USC, LSU, Ohio State, and Florida have great classes every year. See any trends?

Boise State is the exception that proves the rule. The fact that they won the game without the superstars and made front page news, and will likely get a movie deal out of it...Just goes to show that 9 times out of 10 the teams at the top of the standings year-in and year-out are the teams that had strongly rated recruiting classes. That does not mean that #1 recruiting class = should be MNC 4 years later, but it does mean that all other things considered most coaches would much rather have 25 guys that everyone wanted over 25 sleepers that may all turn out to be Quentin Griffins. At least that is my opinion.

[Jello Biafra]

Did it happen to be Jack Pugh?



:cool:

[Shneeg11]

Does cool mean yes? no? b/c it could have been him or coach frank