Recruiting

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romegajacket

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Here is an article on the Darlington kid that I was trying to get our recruiter to take a look at. Luke Hyder is an athlete-athlete-athlete. Man O' Man I wish I could see someone from GT get with this kid. Has tremendous academics, work ethics, etc. To top it off, he is a GT fan.

web page
 
Has his head coach turned in a good tape and made a call to GT about preferred walk-on?
 
From what you described it will never happen. Tech doesn't seem to want to give "his type" footballers scholarships unless they are big linemen. We don't seem to want the ones who want us. Air Force obviously does.
 
Okay, I give...somebody fill me in on why we want a 171 pound wrestler who was "all-region" in football? I'm sure he's a good kid and a hard worker. But how does that translate into a D-1 football player?
 
NC, probably why we wanted Chris Reis. The kid has heart and will grow into his frame. The weight is low because of wrestling and would imagine he can hold another 20-25 pounds.

There are a lot of examples of kids who came to Tech who were told they would never make it and they turned out to be dang good football players.
 
NC, The football play was what got me interested in this kid from gitgo #1. I went to the first game I saw him in just because I have a grand daughter who is a cheerleader at the same school. I had never heard of the kid before. He is the most intensive player I have ever seen in high school. I emphasize EVER !!!!! .
Why am I plugging the guy you may ask? Are we personal friends? Are we related as family?
Not related, never met the family, until I phone called today to see if he had committed to any school yet. Don't really know them from Adam. I have seen the kid play football, that's all. I've never seen him wrestle, just play football. He's good!! He has work ethics that put a bunch of us to shame. Read the link article, it's true.
He plays Fullback on Offense, LB on Defense. He plays the last play of the game just as hard if not harder than the first play of the game. He has a 4.0 GPA, all "A" student, has great leadership qualities. No trouble maker, dynamic Christian athlete.
No sir, he's not a 300+lb lineman. He's just an athlete and a good one too.
Why has his coach not helped place him in college? Dunno, his coach hasn't to my knowledge helped place any player in college. Can't answer that one. His coach never returned my phone call when I called to ask about the kid and to see if I could get any video to send to GT. Neither did the Athletic Director who I went to school with. Beats me why they wouldn't.
GT claims to want good quality athletes with good academic records.
I'm saying here is a GREAT athlete with OUTSTANDING academic records. The last Rhino kid at GT would be hard pressed to beat this kid out for a position. GT can sit on it's proverbial butt and let him slip by or they can at least follow up. The ball is in GT's court. They were given his data earlier before the coaching changes were made, and they did nothing.
Can he make it in Div. 1A football? I don't know but I can't imagine how he couldn't. Why has none of the other schools grabbed him up? Dunno that one either, unless it's because he's not 300 lbs.
 
Like I said, I'm not trying to insult the kid or anyone on here. My question is simply that our staff gets criticized unmercifully because we don't recruit the blue chippers and take too many reaches. But now we're suggesting a kid who isn't even in the database should have gotten a scholarship? I'm sure he's a great kid and would work his butt off. If he was interested in walking on I would think the staff would be happy to talk with him. But a scholarship sounds like a real stretch. I don't have the info on Reis' class anymore, but he was being recruited by other schools besides Tech iirc. Do you even know if the kid is planning on playing football? The article says he's expected to attend Air Force. Is he going as an athlete or is he planning on being a pilot?
 
I understand what you are saying NC, but the reason we can't recruit bluechippers is because 50% or more can't qualify and 30% have their mind made up after there JR/ year. so that leaves about 20% some kids don't want to come because they know they can't handle the work. Listen, i'm not happy with recruiting either but our hands are tied somewhat. Maybe he could come to Tech and walk on at least he won't go out of state I try to be a realist when it comes to recruiting at GT. If you want to get blue chippers then we need to lower the requirements and that's not going to happen.
 
NC, if you are merely playing devil's advocate to all those caught up with recruiting stars, you make a good point.

If not, please mark me down as someone that thinks recruiting stars are BS. At least under 4 and 5 guys. Those at 4 and 5 are blue chippers, and everybody knows about them.
I don't know who this kid is, but he sounds like he has the heart of a lion and I don't think heart gets factored in when these brilliant marketeers are selling subscriptions to starving fans.
Again, I have never seen this kid play ball but I hope that the new look of Jacket football will be about making sure every kid we take is mad dog mean about football regardless of their so called talent level.

Japan just got homered by home plate ump Davidson. I love it. GO USA! Real Baseball 4- Expert Bunters and wannabe's -3. This is better than the Ryder Cup! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/rockon.gif
 
I'm not all about recruiting stars, but even the "hidden gem" guys are normally in the database. Listen, if the coaching staff offered the kid a scholarship I'd be all for him. But when a HS coach won't work for a kid and when it appears that no one is recruiting him, I have to wonder. I mean, there was a kid at our local HS who signed with Oregon as a RB. He's about 5'8" and weighs around 165 or 170 I'd guess. He's a gamer and was the ONLY weapon a two bad teams the past 2 seasons. The kid has more heart and desire than almost anyone I can think of. He gained around 3000 yards IIRC in 2 seasons for a team that won 4 games total. At one time GT was supposedly on his list. But you know what? I don't know what we'd have done with him. He's a small back with good game speed but not outstanding. He'll do anything you want but I'll be surprised if he does that much at Oregon unless it's as a receiver. But at least he was being recruited by major programs.
 
Well I\'ll tell you how we should do it...

If this kid looks decent on film and wants to come to Tech then we get him admitted as a walk on and give him a shot. Its a win-win and doesn't cost us a scholarship. But you have to care to do things like this for legacies and other fans, but Tech doesn't do the little stuff like that. Tremendous opportunity to build grassroots support instead the AA pisses out of upper stories of the Edge building on those who love Tech the most.
 
Re: Well I\'ll tell you how we should do it...

We've got a bunch of walk-ons. Why does this kid mean so much? Has he contacted anyone about walking on? Does he want to? Seems we're assuming a whole lot here. If someone knows, please enlighten me. But why do some of you ALWAYS assume the worst?
 
Re: Well I\'ll tell you how we should do it...

NC,
I appreciate your concern for being very frugal on our schollies and I agree with you 100%. Concerning the Hyder kid I've been watching, there are a couple of links below that I found about him. There are many more, but I've just not tried to dig them out.
I can't answer all of the why's or why not's that can be asked about him or his coach. I can say that from all I have heard, his coach does NOT do much to place these players in college. I don't know for sure why, but that's what I'm hearing. Why is he not on any of the lists in the internet? I have no idea at all, I can't answer that either. All I can tell you or anyone else is this: the kid is tooooooooo impressive to not take a look at. For most of the season he led the team on defense in tackles and on offense he led in yardage gained. He will knock any opponent into next week that gets in his way. I don't know if he has any stars or not. I guess not. What I am saying is, he appears to me to be a great catch for someone and he's flying right straight through under the radar scope. Why has no one from any of the SEC schools been watching him? DUNNO, maybe they just don't know about him. Remember what I said about his HC. Now, question for you:
1) What do you look for in a recruit for GT?
2) Do you believe there is a such thing as a truly great athlete and have him not listed on Rivals or any other source?
3) If you saw him play and you were truly very impressed, what would you do about it?
4) What kind of grades would he need for you to notice him?
5) Would a great home life be a factor?
6) Would his leadership among peers be a factor?
All I'm saying is this; I have seen a football player here in Rome, GA at Darlington School who is one of the finest athletes I have ever seen. He is one who plays with the intensity of maybe Dick Butkus, and I'm not backing down from that statement. He is an all "A" student with a 4.0 GPA. He was benching 345lbs during football season. He has 4.5 speed in the 40 yd. His weight is normally around 190-195 except for his present weight due to wrestling. Their team doctor states that he should be growning more soon. He has just recently been awarded top male athlete for Rome/Floyd Co., with a $1000.00 scholarship gift. Can he be Div 1A material? I believe he'll do very well in Div 1A, whether here at GT or somewhere else. If you liked the last Rhino kid at GT, you should love this guy. Rhino was very impressive to me. Hyder probably does more work on his own time than most do on the field.
If you have doubts or questions about him, please read the links below. Probably have to copy and paste them since I didn't enter them as links. If you still have doubts or questions, feel free to ask me more.
I have heard from a local coach once that great wrestlers seem to make great football players. At least this held true for him. Hyder has just won the Ga State championship and is 49-0 W/L. He beat the reigning state champion this year by 11-1, I am told. He also beat the Tennessee state champion.
What do you do with a kid like this that's not getting any statewide recognition? Beats me, matter of fact, I like it since it should make it easier for GT to get him. BUT, GT better do something soon because he has to make a decision very soon. Besides, he is a GT fan but Air Force is seriously trying to get him presently as well as a couple of lesser schools.
Check these articles below. He is the one with the #2 jersey.
http://news.mywebpal.com/partners/680/public/news673418.html

http://news.mywebpal.com/partners/680/public/news673727.html
 
Re: Well I\'ll tell you how we should do it...

It's like I said Rome, I don't claim to know whether the kid can play or not. The articles do sound impressive, but make it even stranger that seemingly no one is interested. You did say you contacted the coaches so that's really all you can do I suppose.

To your questions.
1) What do you look for in a recruit for GT? - I would hope we're signing kids with who have good grades and character who can play. Simple as that. This guy seems to have 2 of the 3, the play part is what's in question.

2) Do you believe there is a such thing as a truly great athlete and have him not listed on Rivals or any other source? - I don't know about this one. I do agree that the services miss on their rankings on some kids. But it's harder for me to believe that any truly great players are totally missed. Maybe if the HS coach simply doesn't believe in helping his players or the kid doesn't go to any camps etc. But if a kid is that good that his opponents are talking/worried about him I would think someone would pick up on him.

3) If you saw him play and you were truly very impressed, what would you do about it? - I suppose I'd do what you've done...contact thte ocaches and send copies of articles. Maybe even call someone.

4) What kind of grades would he need for you to notice him? - Don't know how I would know someone's grades anyway. But if we're recruiting a football player because of his grades we may have a problem anyway. If you can determine that he's taken enough math and seems to meet our standards, that would be enough.

5) Would a great home life be a factor? - This would never hurt, but I don't know why it would matter that much. What is a gret home life anyway? I think you're question really is whether he's a good kid. What happens if a kid has a bad home life, but he's still an upstanding citizen. Isn't that even better?

) Would his leadership among peers be a factor? - Sure. Being a leader is always a positive.

Like I said, if Tech wants him and he wants to come to Tech I'd be happy for us to get him. But given all the things you've said about him, the articles, his local recognition, ec., why is no one on him? It just seems strange and maybe the reason is college coaches have seen him and there's something missing? I don't know and I don't want to make this about him so much as process. There are kids like this all over. Some may be real players. Some are simply great high school athletes, just as some baseball players are great Triple A players. All we can do is make sure the coaches know about kids we think can help the program. It's their jobs to make the right decisions from there.
 
Got to go with NC

on this probably.
We are in no position to offer a schloarship to a guy with no position and questionable size.A LB in hi school doesn't usually convert well to DB in college .It is a TOUGH position to play and the learning curve is steep.
.He's too small for a RB and hasn't played WR.
So he may be a great STs guy.And how we need them but can we give a scholly for a ST guy?
Would be a great walk-on candidate.
 
Re: Got to go with NC

With grades like he has maybe the Hope would come in to play. What do you think Rome, is that an angle we can persue?
 
Hold on a minute fellows. I'm not going to even try to argue the point about this kid. I'm merely saying that I went to a game because my granddaughter is a cheerleader there. The team I was pulling against had the best player I've seen in years. I would have liked for someone at GT take a look at him. I did NOT bring up the scholarship business. You did, however I do think if someone from GT would have gotten off their butt and seen him there could have been something struck between the two parties. His coach isn't helping a thing. He won't answer his phone or his email.
I am told that the kid came down to GT as a Junior for the Sring game and saw someone on the coaching staff then. He was told to go home and work on his speed and strength. He has done that and more. If GT doesn't care enough to even follow up on a kid of this calibur, it's no mystery why we've been struggling lately. He's all "A's", and 4.0 GPA. No, he's not a specialty player as such, he's an athlete. You can argue the point forever, I don't care. I'm just saying there is a kid here that needs to be looked at.
 
With a wrestling record like that you would think that Iowa would have recruited him because of their prominence in that arena.
 
Rome, I hear you loud and clear. I think all that you are saying is we need hard nosed football players, you saw one and just want to know if our coaches have evaluated this kid.
If so, I agree with you 100%.
It would be nice if every punt/kick returner looked like Rocket or Tim Brown, but the reality is that some inspire the entire team by the effort guys like Kelly Rhino have.
I am not pigeon holing the kid you speak of as a punt returner. What I mean is intangibles are hard to measure on a stop watch.

Maybe this kid will never be a Yellow Jacket, but I sure hope that our coaches don't overlook kids just because of lack of combine type skills.
 
We have 6 coaches responsible for recruiting the state of Georgia. Believe me they are not leaving any stone unturned. There are two people who have the responsibility for your area. Coach D is responsible for northwest Georgia and he reports to Giff the coordinator. The emphasis of recruiting this year is Georgia. If they feel that he is who they are looking for then he will be contacted. It is also the high school coaches responsibility to promote his own players and to see that they get to the various camps where they can become noticed.
 
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