Wednesday is nation Letter of Intent day a.k.a. Signing Day in college football. Traditionally at BC that has meant a press release with player bios and a short press conference at the end of the day. While that probably seemed fine and appropriate to most of us, it wasn't what the big boys of college football were doing. This year the school is taking it up a notch and hosting a live show online starting at 7:30 a.m. ET. Meter and Cronan will host and break news while Mutryn and Jamie Parker field questions and interview coaches.
These sorts of events may seem a little much, but there is a plan to it all. A small minority of BC fans follow recruiting closely. Events like this appease them, but they also start to fan the flames for other BC fans who traditionally don't pay attention to recruiting. By making a big deal out of it all, the hope is that it becomes a bigger deal and that passion translates into better support and that translates into better recruiting. I don't know if it will work but it is nice to see BC trying something new and stepping out of the Dark Ages with regards to marketing recruiting. Watch the show Wednesday morning and enjoy.
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16 comments:
Hope Daz recruited a good class. I see we are ranked at about 9/14 in ACC. Ok-ish.
But looks like Daz did not sell well in BC's key recruiting grounds of NJ, PA and OH.
Some stats per Rivals database (took a quick look so #s might be off):
New Jersey: BC got 2 of 47 active NJ prosepcts. Went 0-11 in NJ for Oline players
PA: BC got 0 of 28 active PA prospects. Went 0-9 in PA for Oline players
OH: BC got 2 of 25 of active OH prospects. Went 0-8 in OH for Oline players
Nationally, BC got 5-47 OL, 3-53 DL, and 3-50 LB
Overall, BC reeled in 25 of 350 prospects.
Unfortunately, I think these low success rates are typical of BC's recruiting over the last several years. (post TOB).
Where's the magic touch Daz?
Mod -
The Ohio thing was a big topic of conversation earlier in the recruiting cycle. Generally speaking, it is a down year for the state. At one point, Daz made a passing comment on the criticism to the effect of don't worry, we're not turning our back on it, we just didn't see the kind of player we wanted in this class. The 2 we got, people were very happy with, especially Glines, as he kept our St. X. pipeline active.
PA isn't actually as fertile of ground (FOR BC) as you may think. Last year we only had 2 kids; 2013-0, 2012 - 1, 2011 - 3... So while down, it isn't unheard of to get 0 from there.
NJ I do find a little bit odd, but who we got filled big needs. I'm surprised not to see a St. Peters or Don Bosco flyer on here, as those are big pipelines for us and ties to current big players. That being said, in 2013 we only had 1 NJ kid, and then struck gold last year. Just disconcerting to see how big of a chunk PSU took out of the state.
Thanks for the insight 1331.
Also, close to half of the class of 2015 did not have another offer from a P5 school? Daz finds diamonds in the ruff? What's the story there?
We seem to be recruitig 50% of our players against MAC schools, and lower-than-that schools. Not going toe-to-toe and winning against ACC school for many (any?) recruits.
Obvioulsy, BC needs to rebuild its rep, get more quality wins, more quality bowls to improve its recruiting.
I will never understand the interest in recruiting. Lets ask Ross Applegate and Josh Haden what they think of this year's heralded recruits.
The average star rating of a player in this year's Super Bowl - 2.4. Go back and look at Malcolm Butler's rating. I could give a crap about recruiting rankings.
BC is never going to get the star players. Why would they go to BC when they can play for Alabama or Ohio State and compete for national titles? BC is a pro sports town with a very weak following. We are going to get players that are from the area and grew up as BC fans and players that appreciate BC's quality academics. We will also get the occasional overlooked guy with a chip on his shoulders. We are not going to get 4 and 5 star players. Just not going to happen. And that is OK. You can build and develop a great team that can compete for ACC Championships with 2 and 3 star players.
Heck, you can develop a team of Super Bowl Champions with 2 and 3 star players. Just ask the New England Patriots.
Christian Wilkins was re-ranked from a 4-star to a 5-star upon committing to Clemson. that's how recruiting "rankings" go - they are totally self-reinforcing. not to say Wilkins wouldn't have been a great get, he would have, but obsessing over the rankings and the stars is silly.
BC appears to have a deep and well-rounded class. hopefully some guys are able to contribute next year.
Yes stars and ranks are not very reliable, I agree. But they do provide a general indicator of relative success.
Hard Fact: going 4 for 100 in NJ, PA and OH is concerning.
Likewise, when half our recruits were not sought after by our competitors suggests that many recruits may be of lower quality than those of our competition.
I thought Daz's big skill was recruiting.??? I think Spaz was more successful than Daz in year 2 in recruiting.
Mod -
To try and answer some of your questions...
A lot of our class verbally committed very early this year, so a lot of the non-brand-name programs wouldn't have wasted time recruiting them unless they had some special advantage (home state school, legacy, etc.). It is just the way recruiting works.
I get that your concerned about NJ/PA/OH, but I think you're putting the emphasis in the wrong place (figuratively & literally). Not only are our numbers there generally consistent with the past, we've made bigger dents in more fertile grounds than we have before (see: Florida).
Stars are so arbitrary it is silly to argue them. They're a factor of whose recruiting you, who you play against, where you're from, etc. Look at the heralded QB commit going to Michigan from New Mexico. By all local reports, there is another QB in NM that is better than him, more of a true prospect, and has beaten him head to head... but he isn't even ranked as a recruit because nobody offered him.
The only other point is that you are judging these kids on the surface by stars and states. Look at some of their videos. Some of these kids are true beasts. The QB out of NJ won the HS Maxwell Award (Matt Ryan won the college version). We got 2 of the top 5; 4 of the top 10 kids from CT. 7 of the top 10 kids from Mass. These kids are almost always poorly ranked in recruiting because historically they haven't produced, but you can tell by the increased interest from outside schools, that isn't the case any more. Daz said his focus was to build a fence around New England, and he did just that.
This isn't a Alabama or OSU highly ranked class, but I think this is much more of an old school, TOB, blue collar grind it out high potential group of kids that are going to be really exciting to watch.
No need to be a pessimist today. 212 days til kickoff. Go BC.
1331 - Thanks. Good points to ponder.
1331
You seem to be really up on this. Any insights on the DB signees? I think that is a crucial position in Brown's blitz happy system, and one that needs a major upgrade in man to man coverage ability.
Hoib -
I'll take that as a compliment! Haha I spent some time with BC Athletics so always enjoyed knowing who I'd be encountering... I'm not there anymore, but I can tell you what know from following it..
Denis is our annual Everett Mass corner. He's got some speed, but is basically in the mold of every Everett kid we've gotten. Hard worker, plays tough, well coached, but will definitely red shirt
El Attrach is probably the most likely to receive early playing time and who I'm most excited to see. He put up good numbers against very good competition in Florida.A lot of teams tried to poach him throughout his senior year. 3 star kid, but probably a 4 star athlete...
William Harris was a local boy. Didn't play too great of competition and his stats won't jump out at you. Got the impression he was more of a late bloomer. Big key on him is speed. Kid is supposed to be a burner.
Davon Jones is a Mass kid. I don't know too much about him, to be honest. The thing that stuck out to me was he seems like a bruiser.. packs a big hit. Hopefully he learns to wrap up and follow through while red shirting. Also kind of short at 5'9". He also played WR and that may be where he ends up.
With Torres, the important thing to know is he is another kid with the potential to have that "ACC Speed" we've apparently been lacking. He's also on the shorter side for a DB, but he was a gatorade POTY a few times in track.
Michael Walker I would guess eventually gets converted to either Safety or Linebacker. He was the QB on his team as well. Seems like a ball hawk with pretty good instinct. Also played against some great competition in Florida.
Can any of these kids kick a football through a set of uprights?
1331
It was certainly meant as a compliment. Glad to hear about all the speed, but a little disappointed in the size. Fla. St. Always has super tall guys at WR, w/ Clemson and Lville not too far behind.
I'd agree Hoib. I think the tallest is 6'1".
Tim, you won't see it in signing day notes but we also have a preferred walk on coming in who seems fo have a hell of a leg. Is touch back percentage was impressive, he had a few 60+ yard punts and went 100% on extra points! !
eagle - awesome insight. much appreciated.
thoughts on the QB competition? i'd imagine Wade and Flutie (in that order) have a leg up, but both of the QBs we are bringing in have very impressive HS resumes.
agree on El Attrach, his athleticism jumped out the most from all of the video. excited also for Mike Walker; guy just looks the part. fast, plays hard, seemed to have a nose for the ball.
i spoke with some Long Islanders about Gowins. heard he was more of a "track" guy IE that he's a speed and juke RB as opposed to a Hilliman type. one of the gentlemen on the broadcast today described him as a Hilliman type which surprised me; not sure if thats accurate. his tape is pretty much him running away from people. any word on him?
any idea what the plan is for Richard Wilson? assuming all the RBs stick around (wouldn't be surprised if Rouse transferred), i just don't see why we'd keep him at RB. would he switch sides? any talk of him doing so?
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