Monday, December 15, 2014

What to do during the recruiting Dead Period

This year's recruiting Dead Period started Monday December 15. For a recruiting focused staff, that might seem like a hindrance or maybe even an excuse to stop thinking about recruiting for two weeks. Not for Addazio. They will certainly use this week for bowl prep, but they are also still doing plenty of recruiting work.

1. Find 5th years. You can't reach out to players on other teams, but you can do homework. The obvious targets are guys the coaches have worked with before (Florida, UConn, etc.). However, as the Addazio staff spends more time at BC, there are fewer candidates at those schools. You can also look at rosters at schools where there have been coaching changes. Players at those programs might rather roll the dice with Addazio than deal with whatever the new guy is selling at their current program. Our coaches can also talk to high school coaches and hear about former players they coached who might be unhappy at their current college.

2. Find poachable verbals. This is similar to finding 5th years, only the staff is looking at commitments at places like Michigan, Nebraska, etc. At places like Nebraska, the new staff is already talking to the verbals, but that doesn't mean all the guys will be on board. Any potential target needs to get a call the day the dead period ends.

3. Find a couple more under the radar guys. The coaches cannot talk to recruits, but they can certainly watch video. Find the late bloomers. Find the guys who are still new to football. Find the good players who just fell through the cracks. There are still plenty of guys who dreamed of playing big time football. During this dead period they are going to think there dream is slipping away. If BC comes with an offer after the dead period, the guys will be thrilled.

Addazio's first full class produced a lot of immediate impact players. This class looks strong but we cannot let up -- even during a dead period.

9 comments:

JBQ said...

Cool Hand Luke continues to lead the league in tackles. Mattie Ice is 4th in passing yards and only 32 behind Peyton Manning. Just think if Atlanta had a defense.

CT said...

How about getting some guys who don't fall through the cracks?

Like, you know, some diamonds not in the rough.

But let's just keep that fifth place graduation rate going!

Not even a bronze medal for really really trying.

Hoib said...

Find a kicker!

BCDisco said...

CT, I agree with you, but you're barking up the wrong tree. Daz runs a clean program, wins more than he loses and most importantly, his players graduate on time. To the BC admin, he's actually overachieving.

Tim said...

CT-

BJ Raji and Anthony Castonzo were 2-star recruits. Matt Ryan, Gosder Cherilus, Mark Herzlich, Luke Kuechly, and Andre Williams were 3-star recruits. They all moved on to the NFL after BC.

I'll stick with the diamonds in the rough, thanks.

CT said...

Good players.
All seven of them.
And they won?

The above average award the program is so desirous of?

They were great. And those are outliers.

Again, BC won...?

Tim said...

Notre Dame is loaded with 4- and 5-star players, and they finished with the same record as BC.

Simply put, these recruiting rankings are not useful indicators of future success.

GP11 said...

Is there any real talk about Braxton Miller yet? It would be a long shot and I guess the new kid's injury may give him the upper hand if he stays at Ohio St but it seems like our style would be the perfect fit for him. And boy would that be a coup for Daz.

Eagle Esquire said...

What about UAB? Now that their roster has been obliterated, is there any chance we poach some of their talent?