Wednesday, February 01, 2017

Thoughts on Football's recruiting class

There are many, many times when I feel like Steve Addazio is full of it and the wrong guy. One area where I don't doubt him is recruiting. Wednesday was National Signing Day and Addazio was finally able to discuss his latest recruits.

While the ranking services are killing the class (calling it the worst in the ACC), the coach doesn't seem concerned. I am not concerned either. There seems to be a good mix of highly touted players and under the radar guys who can develop in the system. Here are a few other thoughts.

Addazio recruiting for depth and balance

This will be the first season where the entire roster was recruited by Addazio. This is also the point where he can have the depth chart where he wants it. Over and over in discussing this class, he emphasized that in the first few classes they were fixing holes and starting guys too early. Like last year, I expect most of this class to redshirt. So we won't even know their true value for another season or two.

He brought in three QBs in this class, plus he spoke openly of Darius Wade returning. Wade's Twitter feed indicated he was looking around. Maybe they've got him to buy in for one more season. But regardless, there is now plenty of depth and variety at the QB spot. Brown remains the favorite, but the quality around him will hopefully push him to be better.

Shifting from ACC Country to California

Addazio repeatedly mentioned going into California, especially the Catholic Schools. This is also the first year in a while where we don't have players from the heart of ACC country (Florida, Georgia, the Carolinas). You can't be everywhere at once, so it makes sense to be in places where you can sell your product to quality players. In California we are clearly different. And for such a huge population, there are fewer Power 5 programs out there recruiting certain pockets. Are we going to steal kids from USC? No. But we do have a good pitch to kids with lower level Pac 12 offers. And being so different allows us to really see if a kid is interested.

No one knows anything

I've been following BC recruiting long enough to know that predicting who will pan out is nearly impossible. The only time I get concerned about recruiting is when there is obvious coaching mismanagement (scholarship usage) or when a seemingly perfect fit turns BC down for strange reasons. When that is happening, you can't trust what is going on at Yawkey. Even after some rocky moments that is not happening with Addazio. That tells me the lockerroom still believes in him and the high school coaches do.

BC being so different from other Power 5 schools means that there is a lot of self-selecting going on with the guys we recruit. That has produced quality, committed, motivated players over the years. Let's hope that is true of this class.

BC making a big deal out of National Signing Day

One of the reasons I feel good about the Signing Day is due to all the access BC provided. Addazio and his two coordinators sat down for one-on-ones with Meter. While coaches all love their players, there is a sincerity and a level of detail that allows me to trust their evaluations. Remember a few years ago when players joked that Spaz didn't know their names. That's not a problem now. You can tell just from the interviews.

Addazio also went viral with more videos. When I was at lunch, the restaurant had ESPN on in the background and they were already playing the Addazio Saltbae things. I don't know why his videos catch on and other coaches don't but, hey, do what you can. As long as the kids like it, right?

BC also put the Addazio press conference online and had Addazio, Barry Gallup and Ricky Brown sit down for a podcast with Meter.


46 comments:

Napolean Bonaparte said...

"While the ranking services are killing the class (calling it the worst in the ACC), the coach doesn't seem concerned."

Well of course we won't know until we see how they perform with his other classes as far as ACC wins and losses. You never know what you have until they compete. But you have to look at the rankings of the recruits signed by highly competitive ACC programs over the past few years and compare the results to ours. Glad he doesn't seem concerned - but do you honestly think he'd ever say anything different? While the rankings are no guarantee - I'd rather start out with somebody other than Daz praising the class. It would be different if we had a pattern of ACC success under Daz with his other modestly ranked recruits. Hope springs eternal.

Geezer eagle said...

Year after year of last-place recruiting ,(along with horrid coaching) takes it toll.

mod34b said...

"There are many, many times when I feel like Steve Addazio is full of it and the wrong guy. One area where I don't doubt him is recruiting.".

Really? Look at the recruiting results? Look at the results on field. His recruiting is terrible and he has grossly underperformed compared to expectations when hired. He is worse than Spaz. He is worse than every coach in ACC in recruiting. He is worse than 95% of P5 coaches.

BC deserves better. And must get a coach that can succeed on recruiting trail and gridiron.

Hope is not a plan. And Daz is not a competent coach for BC

Knucklehead said...

The more I think about it the more I believe that Dazzler is doing what he is told, I don't really know who is telling him what to do though.

I think he is being told to recruit decent players who want to go to school and play football but not play football and go to school.

I want players whose priority is football.

From a business point of view the players are there to entertain the students, create pride in the school through success against other schools and being heavily subsidized to accomplish those two things.

Again the focus doesn't seem to be on creating the best team. The standards have been lowered and they haven't been lowered to get better players. They have been lowered to get better people.

JBQ said...

So, how long before he is gone? We now have to wait for Brown to fall flat on his face against nine man fronts. If BC is disorganized, then both MAC schools (No. Il and Cen M) will bang them like a drum.

Knucklehead said...

My point, not explicitly stated, is that he may not be gone after this season.

His contract has not been extended as far as I know. Which isn't good for his future prospects as BC HC but I think he is doing what is being asked of him.

Odd shit going on over there.

I think they are waiting to see what happens with Brian Kelly, not Chip.

Knucklehead said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Knucklehead said...

Ironically my previous comments are confirmed in the Boston Herald article today by Rich Thompson. Dazzler drops the Jags BC man bullshit line and talks up academics.

Geezer eagle said...

Hey, knucklehead. Can you elaborate on your previous comments. You're being rather ambiguous.

Unknown said...

How many top 300 recruits did BC get?

mod34b said...

scram yeast....

bceagle93 said...

Salt bae? With a 24-27 record? Really?

If Daz likes clowning for the camera so much, he really should follow Rex Ryan into broadcasting. He can create a weekly segment on Gameday called "Who's the Dude?", eat pizza and salt bae all he wants.

I'm all for a head coach making things fun, but he is just not a good head coach, especially for the Heights.

I think I speak for a number of alumni when I say: Steve, a little more "Ever to Excel" and a little less "America's Funniest Home Videos" please.

Geezer eagle said...

Hey, Yeast er. How many UNC jocks went to class today?

Unknown said...

You tell me, you're the one servicing all of them.

eagleboston said...

Some of you are so myopic and BC-centered that you know very little about college football. BC is and has always been a mid-tier school. This means we will always have to recruit players that fit best in our system or who are overlooked by the big programs and can be developed. It has worked very well for BC ever since the Flutie era. You absolutely cannot look at recruiting rankings to determine the success of players coming into a program.

Matt Ryan - 3 star
B.J. Raji - 2 star
Anthony Costanzo - 3 star
Montel Harris - 2 star
Luke Kuechley - 3 star

I could go on and on but every one listed above was a flat-out 5-star player for BC and some are among the greatest players in the NFL right now.

BC is always at a disadvantage due to some of the worst facilities in the nation and the academic requirements. Frankly, I'm amazed they are as successful at recruiting as they are. Notre Dame, with the great tradition, facilities and NBC outreach does not get results on the field that are that much better than BC.

You can criticize Addazio's game day coaching. I have many times. But I think he inherited an absolute roster disaster from Spaz and he has done a good job bringing in players that can be developed into winning squads. ATL is correct. Red flags would be roster gaps, etc. I think Addazio has done a great job bringing players into the program despite all of the major, and I mean major disadvantages. What he does with them now is on him.

And I really like that he is recruiting the successful Catholic programs. I have been crying for that for years. They already have the faith and academic component and if they come from a winning Catholic program, they know what it takes to be successful. It's a natural.

Stop whining about the lack of 4 star and 5 star players. We are not going to get them. Period (well we may get a 4 star here and there, but it's pretty rare historically). If you think we are, you are completely ignorant of the modern college football environment.

Unknown said...

Notre Dame doesn't get better results. How many BCS bowl games has BC ever made? Didn't UConn even make one once? Wow, unbelievable.

mod34b said...

Eagleboston, Your critique misses the mark.

In fact, you buy into a lot of BS - like blame Spaz, blame facilities, blame that somehow BC is too small, blame that Daz has 'major' disadvantages; claim that you can't look at recruiting rankings, Absolutely!, . All bs. EB. Just nonsense.

You seem to like excuses and you seem to like making personal remarks toward people who disagree with you (Whiners, ignorant, you know little about college football but I do), even though you pretend to be above that sort of thing.

BC Football has a great and enviable track record of success over several decades (e.g 1982 - 2009). It Ended with Spaz-Daz-era, but can be revived. BC record of success alone should tell you 2 things: 1) BC can do just fine recruiting and performing regardless of your cited excuses and 2) Daz sucks in comparison to prior BC coaching administrations. He is a bozo on the field and impotent on the recruiting trail.

Look at his strengths: Offense and OL. His OL recruiting is a 5-year long disaster (look at our play against winning teams last year on the OL - very bad) and his inability in 5 years to recruit an ACC-level QB. These are clear markers of ineptitude, especially given that OL and O are supposed to be his strengths. That the D did well and recruits decently, is not to be credited to Daz. Credit Brown. and Pasq. Daz did not recruit D players, did not design the D, did not coach the D and knows jack-shit about D. Comparing D players vs O player should tell you more about how bad Daz is.

As for saying "ATL is correct," I do not believe for second that ALT thinks Daz is a competent recruiter. I think he is misleading his readers, as he has done before, in order to curry favor and access to team Daz. No one can possibly believe that Daz is a good recruiter (ATL only implied as much and did not say that Daz is a good recruiter). There are just no facts to support that view. None. Maybe you could argue - as you do - that there are a bunch of lame excuses that prevent Daz from being good and one day he will be good, but you cannot argue that the current results by Daz are good results. They aren't.

eagleboston said...

Mod, What would a successful recruiting class look like? I went to Rivals and looked up the classes all the way back to 2002. They don't look much different from the 2017 class.

I am not arguing that Daz is a great coach. What I am saying is that his recruiting is not terrible by historical standards.

Does success to you mean a top 10 recruiting class? How realistic is that in the modern era? How realistic is it given BC has never had a class in the top 20?

Success to me is getting players who have a chip on their shoulders, are willing to work incredibly hard and buy into the program. Hell, Mod, you should be ripping Belichick for brining in 1 stars like that Hogan guy.

Unknown said...

Why would you want a 4 star recruit when you could get a 1 star recruit with a chip on his shoulder? Good point eagleboston.

Knucklehead said...

Concur eagleboston.

Knucklehead said...

Another stupid question from yeast infection.

Unknown said...

Don't get upset with me just because the BC football program sucks and always will. Not my fault kids.

Napolean Bonaparte said...

Putting aside the stars - just look at Daz's ACC performance with his recruits so far and after next season. Its up to him to do the analysis - regardless of stars - and sell the program. Proof will be in the pudding.

Knucklehead said...

No more questions douche?

eagleboston said...

Yeast, I'll take a 2-star B.J. Raji over any 4-star from his era. I'll take a 2-star Montel Harris over all of the other running backs including 4 star Josh Haden.

I don't know who your team is but BC has already experienced greatness on the gridiron. The Flutie pass is widely regarded as one of the greatest plays in college football history. And Tom Coughlin's early 90's team beat #1 Notre Dame. Most recently, BC was in 2 straight ACC Championship games. The BC program will not "always suck." It will be good again. Even the great programs like Notre Dame, USC, Alabama and Texas have down periods. BC will be back.

Bravesbill said...

Of course Daz is going to go on a press tour to talk up his recruiting. He's all hype and has to build the impression that his recruiting abilities are good. They aren't, but he's gotta spin anyways to keep his job. TOB routinely out-recruited Daz (heck even Spaz and Jags had better classes than this clown). Being in the Top 50 in recruiting and in the middle of the pack for P5 conference teams isn't asking all that much.

eagleboston said...

For some added perspective, the 2004 class was ranked 65th in the nation. On that roster are 3 players that made it to the NFL. And, this class was in 2 ACC Championship games. Don't put a lot of stock in rankings. It's impossible to rank 18 year old kids who are still growing and play in vastly different environments.

Braves, I think top 50 is a reasonable goal.

Interestingly, defending national champion Clemson is ranked #22. Shouldn't they be much higher than that? I think Dabo knows what he is doing. Shows you that getting the right fit is more important than getting highly ranked players.

Max said...

I would say that Daz is not good at this. We can't beat teams we used to or at a minimum played competitively. His ACC record sucks and he is responsible for some very sad and embarrassing losses. He is a clown. Yeaster is right - we suck now. We rant and rave as we all want better.
I hate Daz

Guido said...

I can not believe that many on this Board are now buying into the BS that Atlanta Eagle and Addazio are selling !!! My comment to all of you - do not bitch and complain next year when they go 6-6 and lose games that all of you say that they should have won. The guy is an immature "BOZO" , who melts under the pressure when the game is on the line - HE PANICS . Forget about recruiting for a moment and just answer one question for me - PLEASE. If you were an AD , would you actually hire him as your head coach ????? I now hope that they give him another EXTENSION and let all of you be happy and euphoric that we were able to keep this guy at the "Heights". I am just totally disgusted - I thought that a majority on this forum had some football knowledge - I have given up hope. My entire attention will now be on the hockey program - where Boston College HAS AN INTELLIGENT , MATURE HEAD COACH WHO REPRESENTS THE UNIVERSITY WITH DIGNITY and CLASS !!!!!!

mod34b said...

eagleboston, your argument is poor. YOu ask ithers to focus on 2004 at #65, yet overlook that class of 2003, #25.

And what a class it was: Matt Ryan, Jamie Silva, LV Whitworth, Gosder Cherilius, Jo-Lonn Dunbar, Andre Callendar, Ryan Pole, DeJuan Tribble, Nick Larkin and Ryan Glasper.

the 2003 men were the great team of 2007.

BC should be able to pull in a top 40 class every year.

Look at freakin' Maryland this year: #17 (last year 39). Maryland sucked last year. BC beat them in the bowl 36-30. But Mary beat BC in recruiting 17-66.

EB, Clemson is #22, because they are already loaded with talent and only recruited 14 or so players, whereas other teams recruited 24. Clemson did not need 24. Their recruits are very high quality but due to # of recruits, the overall rank was lower.

JS Ca said...


As a coach at a high profile high school I've seen kids who rating services give high rankings. I'm always amazed. It's usually the kids under the radar that do well. The type of kid BC gets has something to prove. he either didn't have the measurables or didn't put up big numbers because of the program they were in. Marcus Valdez is one of those kids coming in with this class. Keep an eye on him!

John said...

Thanks JS CA.

Guido said...

JS Ca - there is no doubt that there are 2 stars that turn out to be "Solid starters" in D-1 football. No one has ever disputed that !!!! But when a program recruits predominately 3 and 4 stars on a regular basis and HAVE A GOOD STABLE COACH, they are going to be much more successful that a program getting a steady diet of 2 stars. As far as Marcus Valdez , I would state that your high opinion of the young man is correct - Comes from a solid program - offered by 21 schools including Duke, Rutgers, Syracuse , Boston College and the FCS champion James Madison among others. Last , he is a solid physical kid coming into D-1 football at 6'1" and 240lbs. He does not need to rush and gain 30-40 lbs. as some recruits must do to compete physically. I guess that I should retire from this Board since we are going around in circles. I wish BC well , but with this coach, they will never reach their potential as a program.

eagleboston said...

I like to be positive. I want to welcome all of the new recruits to Boston College. You are coming to a very special place. Please know that the people on here denigrating your talent are just frustrated with the lack of succes over the past decade. Hopefully, you all will prove this board wrong and lead BC back to the top of the Atlantic

Max said...

I don't believe anyone here is denigrating any recruit. Rather we are frustrated with the mediacracy, incompetence and flat out stupidly of clowns representing our school; wasting talent; and self self promotion to the detriment of the school, students and program.
Daz is a clown that will never move the program forward. He is in it for himself. Might as well call him Steve Kardashian.
For all the recruits joining the family - enjoy your time. Make the most of it. BC is a special place in a sea strangled with garbage and cast offs of humanity.
I hate Daz!

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Big Ern said...

Thank you atleagle. That is a beautiful silk hat you have crafted and placed on the head this pig of a recruitng class.

mod34b said...

Good one Max and Ern

Unknown said...

eagleboston, could you remind me again how many ACC championship games BC won or how many BCS bowl games they have ever been to and how many top 5 ranked teams they have beaten in the past 15 years?

Knucklehead said...

Yeast Infection,
Another stupid question. The passive aggressive shtick is not original.

As Axel says "Why don't you just FUCK OFF."

Any questions?

Unknown said...

Yeah I got one. Why are you so angry? It's not healthy for someone to be as angry as much as you are.

Knucklehead said...

Yeast infection,
Quoting Axel Rose makes you feel uncomfortable.

Unknown said...

Another question, who is Axel Rose? I know of Axl Rose, but not this Axel Rose person you mention.

Knucklehead said...

Yeast infection,
Good, then you know who I was writing about. Just like you know the answer to every stupid question you ask.

The passive shtick is tapped out, douche.

Unknown said...

If BC goes 6-6 next year or worse, FIRE ADDAZIO AND GIVE CHIP KELLY THE BIGGEST CONTRACT IN BC COACHING HISTORY. The facilities at BC are on the up and up; their new practice facility will be up there with FSU so hopefully it help attract better recruits.

working rich said...

Chris
Yes
Rye , New Hampshire is not far away.
He is a great coach and would be a great coach at BC.