Off-season CFB notes

LSU really got burned this recruiting cycle on QB (and Urban Meyer is a hell of a recruiter):

https://www.seccountry.com/louisiana-state/lsu-qb-target-flips-commitment

LL

LSU fans had crossed their fingers that Dwayne Haskins would flip his commitment.


He did, but it was not to LSU.


The four-star quarterback de-committed from Maryland and announced his commitment to Ohio State on Monday, saying he was following his lifelong dream.


“It has been a dream of mine to play for The Ohio State University. This prestigious university best represents my family values and playing under Coach (Urban) Meyer, Coach (Tim) Beck and the rest of the coaching staff best exampled strong leadership abilities and a people that I can have a relationship with after football was important,” Haskins wrote.


“At the age of eight years old, I went to numerous Ohio State camps, loved watching their games and idolized the university. Finally, my dream to attend Ohio State will come true. It’s a blessing to say that I will be an Ohio State Buckeye. I hope that my story inspires all that took the time to read it.”


The news of Haskins’ flip comes just 72 hours after LSU offensive coordinator Cam Cameron convinced the Maryland native to officially visit LSU this coming week.


Haskins, the nation’s No. 7 pro-style quarterback, was LSU’s No. 1 quarterback priority after losing out on Feleipe Franks to Florida.
LSU was all in on Haskins, especially after three-star Pennsylvania quarterback, Anthony Russo, committed to Temple.
The Tigers do not have a quarterback commit in their 2016 recruiting class, and the odds now suggest that they won’t be able to reel one in.

It's head scratching that a school like LSU can't recruit top tier quarterbacks!

Alabama got more good news yesterday as TE O.J. Howard announced he was coming back for his senior year. Howard was the "most valuable offensive player" in the national championship game. With the announcement of DE Jonathan Allen Saturday that he was coming back...of the draft eligible underclassmen on the two-deep depth chart, only RB Derrick Henry and DL A'Shawn Robinson are leaving. With Allen returning, the players who had 41 of Alabama's nation best 52 sacks will be back next year.

Probable defensive starters heading into spring practice:

DE Jonathan Allen, 6-3/315, Sr.
NG Daron Payne, 6-2/315, So.
DT Dalyin Tomlinson, 6-3/300, Sr.
LB Rashaan Evans, 6-3/230, Jr.
LB Shaun Dion Hamilton, 6-1/230, Jr.
LB Reuben Foster, 6-1/242, Sr.
LB Ryan Anderson, 6-2/250, Sr.
CB Marlon Humphrey, 6-1/196, So.
CB Tony Brown, 6-0/195, Jr.
SS Eddie Jackson, 6-0/198, Sr.
FS Hootie Jones, 6-2/220, Jr.
DB Minkah Fitzpatrick, 6-1/200, So.

Anyone thinking Alabama will not have another dominate defense during 2016 is...misguided!

According to Rivals.com, TEXAS is ranked #42 in recruiting. That's almost unbelievable.
Its almost like Charlie Strong wants to get fired and out of Austin, Texas.

Another eye grabber is TENNESSEE ranked at #30. The Vols are coming off two top-5
classes but are lagging so far this cycle.

Washington State at #44 was kind of shocking. Damn ole Pirate is beginning to bring
in better talent for the Cougars than in the past.

**Only 14 more days until "Signing Day", some schools need to make their push a
strong one.

CL, how the hell is Texas not top 10?

Did anyone see the stupid tweet by the Florida CB, Tabor? What an ungrateful asshole. Compared being a college football player to modern slavery. Most athletic programs operate in the red.

CoachCB said:

CL, how the hell is Texas not top 10?

Did anyone see the stupid tweet by the Florida CB, Tabor? What an ungrateful asshole. Compared being a college football player to modern slavery. Most athletic programs operate in the red.

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the irony is that he did receive money. because of the new "additional cost of attendance" he got about $4k above his free school, meals, and lodging. Other funny thing is that his family tried to play the "hacked twitter" card but, in fact, it was young fella Tabor

cloverleaf said:

DE Jonathan Allen, 6-3/315, Sr.
NG Daron Payne, 6-2/315, So.
DT Dalyin Tomlinson, 6-3/300, Sr.
LB Rashaan Evans, 6-3/230, Jr.
LB Shaun Dion Hamilton, 6-1/230, Jr.
LB Reuben Foster, 6-1/242, Sr.
LB Ryan Anderson, 6-2/250, Sr.
CB Marlon Humphrey, 6-1/196, So.
CB Tony Brown, 6-0/195, Jr.
SS Eddie Jackson, 6-0/198, Sr.
FS Hootie Jones, 6-2/220, Jr.
DB Minkah Fitzpatrick, 6-1/200, So.

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tough to project the dline with Pruitt now at DC. I think Allen is a no-brainer but you also have guys like Tim Williams and DaShawn Hand plus potentially the #1 JUCO player in nation, DE Kongbo, who is visiting this weekend.

not even sure Tony Brown will be on the team let alone starting. Kid has a lot of ego to loose and a very deep doghouse to climb out of before he ever sees the field again. At LB if they get LOI from Mack Wilson and Ben Davis either of them could be in the picture to start as a true freshman

"Probable defensive starters heading into SPRING PRACTICE."

A lot could change before the opening game but most of the guys listed will
be opening day contributors.

Pruiett is a great DC....but has authority issues. Wont be at Bama more than 1 year unless Saban retires.

rolltide said:

the irony is that he did receive money. because of the new "additional cost of attendance" he got about $4k above his free school, meals, and lodging. Other funny thing is that his family tried to play the "hacked twitter" card but, in fact, it was young fella Tabor

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Agree. It's such a crock of shit that these "poor" kids aren't getting anything. He's from DC, so out of state costs at UF are over $40K/year! Plus the "stipend" and since he comes from "the hood" he's getting $5500/year in Pell Grant money...and other grants. I imagine he's getting more than $12,000/year just in cash from the stipend & grants.

Albatross said:

Pruiett is a great DC....but has authority issues. Wont be at Bama more than 1 year unless Saban retires.

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I agree that Pruitt has issues, but he came up in the college ranks under Saban. I'm sure Saban will crack his nuts if he steps out of line. I'd wager he's there more than one year unless he lands a head coaching gig. I bet he won't get a good recommendation from Mark Richt though! I wonder if Jimbo Fisher would give him a good recommendation.

Oregon's new defensive coordinator Brady Hoke (Michigan) will earn $400,000 in the
first year of a three year deal and $700,000 in the final two years. Linebacker coach
and former defensive coordinator Don Pullen will continue to earn $410,000.

The hiring of Hoke as DC still puzzles me...........................

Former Missouri football head coach Gary Pinkel will remain at the University as a
fundraiser and ambassador, earning $950,000 over the length of a three year contract.

This gutless piece of crap got his president and athletic director fired and he gets
a candy ass job for three years. I have ZERO respect for Gary Pinkel!

I like this thread. Alabama looks great coming back defensively which as always will take a lot of pressure off the offense early on and allow them to figure out the new QB and the new RB.

as for lsu, if they go any worse than 9-3 miles is gone. I think miles should've gone on his own anyways, just my two cents. He needs a change of scenery. cam Cameron is the real problem and can't seem to recruit the QBs they need let alone develop them.


I think the hiring of hoke puzzles a lot of people because they thought Oregon was going to go out and throw a million or more at somebody like schoop. I'm not sold on hoke as a guy who can develop talent, but I think he's a top tier recruiter and an undervalued coordinator. I'm fully aware he hasn't been a DC since his high school days but he's always been a defensive minded coach who understands how to do two things very well: 1) recruit the best players in the country 2) stop the run.

when you really break down the situation I think it actually makes sense. Oregon has always done things differently but now they are starting to realize they need outside help to bolster the program. I don't believe they had the right guys out there on the horizon that they were salivating over. Azzinaro is good but nothing amazing, same with Nolan, same with Clancy and sirmon.... Lots of "good" DC but nothing electric that made them want to bring out the bankroll from deep down in the trouser pockets.

instead they realized that if they can get the guy they wanted then they at least need to get the players they MUST HAVE to rebuild the defense. Hoke is that guy. Schematically he will bring back a 4-3 and focus on recruiting big athletic downhill players in the front seven. I'm a big fan of this, hence why I have so much respect for Alabama. I've always thought that playing defense starts with stopping the run. If you can do that you effectively take away a teams ability to control the line of scrimmage and force them to rely on quick passing routes and simple schemes. It allows your DBs to press cover and turns your safeties into more of field generals who are allowed to come downhill and be the athletes they are supposed to be.

for years now Oregon has been atrocious at stopping the run and their entire secondary has been forced to try and play center field the whole time picking off greedy passes or errant throws, but unfortunately that results in a porous defense and a bend but don't break strategy. Giving up 450+ yards every game will result in a lot of points. Always prepare to stop the run/QB scramble first and foremost. Hoke will preach that mentality and bring that type of scheme. Oregon's position coaches are all very good and undervalued nationally and do a phenomenal job turning 2-3 star recruits into big time pac 12 players, some even NFL draft picks. Hoke won't be asked to "develop anyone". He will be asked to work with the highly tenured staff to develop a scheme and gameplan and find the players to bring in to fit that game plan. Say what you want, and I'm not sure of it was dumb luck or not, but as soon as he got to Michigan, they went from being a 100th+ nationally ranked defense giving up 450+ ypg to a top 25 and then top 15 or even top 10 defense in many statistical categories.
he had to have had some major influence on that program from a schematic standpoint, his recruiting classes were also top 10.

Now....... Will that all turnover at Oregon just like it did at Michigan????? I highly doubt it. The pac 12 is a much more electric conference in terms of offenses than the big 10, and Oregon is a very bad and porous defense with a lot of new faces coming in and not a lot of confidence. I would love to see a top 50 defense next year but it's not realistic, both the new players and hoke will need time to adjust and learn. Realistically I'm hoping for a top 75 defense this year that can effectively stop a good rushing attack like Stanford and not give up 300 yards on the ground. In 2017 I expect the ducks to be a top 50 overall defense and maybe even top 30.

we will see how this experiment plays out

Oklahoma just may be the team to watch the first three games. The Sooners open with a hot Houston team coming off a great 2015. The game is in Houston and got to believe the Cougars will be fired up. Oklahoma then gets a breather with La-Monroe followed by a big showdown with Ohio State. If "Big Game" Bob can win the first three...he may just find his team ranked No. 1 in the country.

SOUTHERN MISS head football coach Todd Monken announced his resignation Sunday afternoon to accept the position of offensive coordinator with the Tamp Bay Buccaneers. Monken has been with the Golden Eagles the past three seasons and posted a 13-25 record. Last season he led the Southern Miss to a 9-5 record, a C-USA West Division Crown and the school's first bowl game in four years. Monken earned $700,000 in base pay in 2015 which was 87th nationally and fifth in C-USA. It will be interesting to see if the school increases the money pool to bring in a big name coach.

Crazy about Monken leaving....and the timing is terrible for Southern Miss. But I've said this before; this is what they get for firing Jeff Bower. I can't believe Southern Miss only pays $700K. That's pretty sad, considering head coaching salaries these days.

It was interesting to see Everett Withers leave James Madison for that shit 1A job at Texas State. After the fantastic job he did at James Madison and the solid job he did as interim coach at UNC...then coaching under Urban Meyer for 2 years I figured he'd land somewhere bigger. Texas State is a dead end and if he has ANY sort of success he's gone quicker than he left James Madison. JMU, btw, is exploring moving up to D1.

cloverleaf said:

Oklahoma just may be the team to watch the first three games. The Sooners open with a hot Houston team coming off a great 2015. The game is in Houston and got to believe the Cougars will be fired up. Oklahoma then gets a breather with La-Monroe followed by a big showdown with Ohio State. If "Big Game" Bob can win the first three...he may just find his team ranked No. 1 in the country.

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I'm not seeing it with the Sooners next year Clover. They'll be looking for a new set of receivers and linebackers. I think they'll struggle more on defense. Losing Striker, Tapper and Shepherd will be too much to overcome...

cloverleaf said:

Former Missouri football head coach Gary Pinkel will remain at the University as a
fundraiser and ambassador, earning $950,000 over the length of a three year contract.

This gutless piece of crap got his president and athletic director fired and he gets
a candy ass job for three years. I have ZERO respect for Gary Pinkel!

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+1

CoachCB said:

Crazy about Monken leaving....and the timing is terrible for Southern Miss. But I've said this before; this is what they get for firing Jeff Bower. I can't believe Southern Miss only pays $700K. That's pretty sad, considering head coaching salaries these days.

It was interesting to see Everett Withers leave James Madison for that shit 1A job at Texas State. After the fantastic job he did at James Madison and the solid job he did as interim coach at UNC...then coaching under Urban Meyer for 2 years I figured he'd land somewhere bigger. Texas State is a dead end and if he has ANY sort of success he's gone quicker than he left James Madison. JMU, btw, is exploring moving up to D1.

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Rumor UF OC Nussmeier and Bama DC Pruitt have interest and interviewed for the job.

Pruitt made $1,300,000 at Georgia last year and would assume he is well paid at Alabama. Why would he consider a job that pays him $700,000 to $800,000 like Southern Miss. Pruitt is not interested in the Eagles position.

The Hattiesburg American notes some external names connected to the SM job include Florida's offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier, Alcorn head coach Jay Hopson and North Carolina offensive coordinator Chris Kapilovic.