I know it's early but...

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I know it\'s early but...

I know it's early but I have been getting concerned about some things after reading about current football prospects on the Rivals site. Seems most every player seriously considering us is one that is being lightly recruited. Almost every player is waiting on a scholarship offer of significance, if not in some cases that first offer at all. Many of the guys we are after are only being recruited by the weaker teams in D1. The top athletes are loaded with options, but few like that seriously mention Tech.
Are we headed towards another marginal recruiting year? This would be 3 in row, a drought that could set the stage for weakness for a decade or more. Are we simply reaching for low hanging fruit without the ability to compete for talent with the best programs? The gap between our program and our top rivals seems to growing. Does our current recruiting style indicate that we have given up on reaching for the upper tier of college football? Should I just ignore Rivals and enjoy the dream that one day top players will again want to wear the gold and white?
 
Re: I know it\'s early but...

Well, I am no expert by any means, but I am sure there are plenty of people that we are talking to as well but can't offer until we receive test scores...
 
Re: I know it\'s early but...

I had a chance to listen to Geoff Collins and Giff Smith speak at lunch bunch. I got the exact opposite impression. They are light years ahead of where we were last year and are not afraid to go after any player including those from the state of Georgia. Having those two run the recruiting is a major upgrade from what we had.
 
Re: I know it\'s early but...

Who was running it before?
 
Re: I know it\'s early but...

Coach Wilson. Giff is the recruiting coordinator and Geoff is the director of player personnel which is a new position.
 
Re: David Wilson **

Giff is by far our best recruiter and Collins is supposedly a very outgoing people person, so they should do fine in recruiting and only get better as they grow to know coaches around this area better...that being considered we are only 2 months removed from the end of this past recruiting year, so there is a lot that could happen. At this point I doubt anyone really knows who the good players are anyway(except for of course the very best who have been outperforming people older than them for years).

As far recruiting is concerned...Nothing will help our recruiting more than a big season, so lets just hope for that and let the coaches do their jobs and the cards will fall where they may.
 
Re: I know it\'s early but...

That's good to hear, but some of the guys I've read about that don't sound like players that will get us back into the Top 10 include Patrick Hampton, Bobby Rainey, Sa'Coby Carter, Logan Walls, David Duran, Sidney Haynes, Joseph Gilbert, Nicolai Schwarzkopf, and Roddy Jones. Of course we're getting looks from a couple of quality players, such as, Ryan Pugh, but on balance we're heavily involved with guys that either have no offers at all or have offers only from places like Duke and Ball St. These are nice guys I'm sure, but can we get back on top recruiting guys like this? Take a look at the top schools around the country...Most seem to be after athletes that aren't even in our world. What should we do about that?
 
Re: I know it\'s early but...

Not sure where you're coming from...

Do you subscribe to Rivals?

We've got some offers out there for some really solid guys in GA, the Southeast, Teaxs, and the Northeast.

The best part about it is that a chunk of them have interest in GT...
 
Re: David Wilson **

well - we all know that these coaching and recruiting changes have no effect. Remember, its not the coaches, its the Hill that have made us a middle of the road program. So, why even bother with changes like Wilson? Sounds silly doesn't it? Same theory applies when some say Gailey isn't the problem, its the Hill. Now, some in this thread are saying recruiting is doing better this year because of the changes which obviously doesn't involve the Hill. very interesting, huh?
 
Re: I know it\'s early but...

"Where I'm coming from" is what I see when I look at the last 10 or so guys Rivals has profiled for us. No doubt we have many other guys offered and considering us, but as I mentioned earlier, after looking at the Rivals site, I get concerned. Would you say that they are or are not in touch enough with our efforts for their profiles to accurately reflect our efforts?
 
Re: I know it\'s early but...

What service are you looking at? We have about 20 offers out according to Scout and all have multiple offers or interest and most are with major programs. Also remember that most of these kids haven't been ranked or assessed yet and they are just beginning to get offers or hear from programs and it's a little early to get too worked up. We're evidently offering more kids earlier this year and taking them on faith that they should be able to qualify. Everything we're doing is contingent on them having the grades, SAT, etc.
 
Re: I know it\'s early but...

As I've mentioned twice previously, I'm looking at Rivals.
I thought most of you had access to it, but I guess not. In that case, to make my point, I'll list the offers for the guys I mentioned earlier.

Hamilton : Duke, Indiana, Maryland
Rainey: no offers
Carter: no offers
Walls: BYU, GT
Duran: no offers
Haynes: Ball St
Gilbert: GT
Schwarzkopf : No offers
Jones: Duke, GT, Maryland

Ok...We want to be a top tier football team. These are the most recent profiles on Rivals. Tell me where I should be impressed? As I said, yes, it's early. As I questionned, does Rivals have a feel for GT recruiting? Is there another big group of prospects out there, unknown by Rivals, that are among the country's best and are heavily considering Tech? Should I quit reading Rivals if they are in fact missing the boat?
 
Re: I know it\'s early but...

Interesting, Scout doesn't show us as having offered many of those guys. I can't find a Hamilton in the database. They show 2 Raineys as having interest but no offers from anyone although the schools they list are pretty strong. Bobby Rainey is supposed to be hearing from Auburn, Clemson, Miss and Miss St along with Tech. They show Sacoby Carter with no offer but with Tech and Florida as his favorites. It shows a kicker named Duran with no offers from anyone. Syndey Haynes has one offer, Ball State but lists several major programs as schools of interest. Ryan Jordan expects he will be one of the best receivers in GA next year. Not sure who Gilbert is. Schwarzkopf shows no offers. The only Jones I can find with Tech interest is Roddy, a RB with interest from Auburn, LSU, ugag and ND along with the 3 offers he has now.

The point of this is, yes, it is very early in the process. Some of these kids will fall completely off our board. Some will get offers from major schools this fall or after camps. The coaches are taking a different approach this year in that they are offering more kids earlier and waiting to see how things develop. Remember they still have a summer camp season and next fall to show what they can really do.

As to those who we have offered that you should be impressed with that list would include 5 star Josh Nesbitt, and 6 4 star players. Most of the 2007 recruits haven't been ranked yet (that's what 1 star means) so those of us who haven't seen them don't know how they are supposed to stack up yet.
 
Re: I know it\'s early but...

Even though we haven't offered them, doesn't mean we haven't been talking to them.

Alot of these kids came to the Elite Jr. Day, and have expressed an interest in Tech. Gailey has filled out his staff with guys who are pegged as good recruiters. The coaches have been text messaging guys, sending out hand-written letters, making calls, organizing Jr. days etc.

Look at it like this: If a guy has "High" interest in Tech, chances are, we're talking to him alot, feeling him out and pretty much told him that we're going to offer him down the line. If you read the articles written on Rivals, you'll read that alot of the kids who don't have offers but are interested in Tech say "I think they're going to offer me soon." Some guys haven't been offered yet b/c they don't have SAT scores yet - or their scores are too low and they have to retake it.

This is one of the strongest starts I can remember in Tech recruiting. Even if you don't feel the same way, don't sweat it.

Signing Day is 10 months away.
Also, neither Rivals nor Scout reflects every offer that our coaching staff has issued.
 
Re: I know it\'s early but...

Its WAY to early to get excited. Only the "can't miss" blue chips should have been offered at this point.
 
Like JoeCake said

WIN and you get a lot of interest.We 've got to show that talk is cheap and we have a top program.If we don't win we won't get a glance from a top guy.
 
Re: I know it\'s early but...

Nothing personal but this is news to you? We haven't been competing with many of the top D1 programs for many of our athletes. Mostly lower tier D1 and D11 which is where I feel we're heading with our current coaching set-up.
 
Re: I know it\'s early but...

[ QUOTE ]
We haven't been competing with many of the top D1 programs for many of our athletes.

[/ QUOTE ]
So what would you consider our successes to?
i.e. Being one of only 2 teams to beat 2 top 10 teams on the road last year. Southern Cal and GT
I'm convinced the glass half full people push recruits away from GT. Have you seen the ajc blogs? AWFUL.
 
Re: I know it\'s early but...

[ QUOTE ]
Nothing personal but this is news to you? We haven't been competing with many of the top D1 programs for many of our athletes. Mostly lower tier D1 and D11 which is where I feel we're heading with our current coaching set-up.

[/ QUOTE ]

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/greenclap.gif You are so right. Why more people don't see or admit that is beyond me. They'd rather blame the world vs the big problem elephant in the room. GT has had back to back to back to back to back mediocore records since Gailey arrived on the scene, but some are happy as clams bc he'll win one or two games he shouldn't a year..only to lose a host of others he should win. Throw in a little NCAA probation to Gaily's record and a great string of the lowest of the bottom feeder bowls and what do you get? Gailey supporters here that say its everyone's else's fault from GT apparel to the AJC. However, when some coaching changes occur (Wilson) and recruiting for the first time gets some life according to them (anything is life when you get a #50 Rivals an Scout ranking), they praise the coaching change implying coaching and personnel really does make a difference. They want it both ways in the blame game...go figure.
 
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