The New Era of Recruiting

[GeauxSioux]

Football recruiting scene changing fast

Encircled by campers hailing from the areas that he recruited, South Dakota State football assistant Luke Meadows gave a word of caution before dismissal: Don't panic if you don't get a scholarship offer today.

That's where things are right now in the Football Championship Subdivision. Upcoming juniors and seniors in the Upper Midwest expect to get an offer either during an elite camp - which is against NCAA rules - or immediately afterward

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[dlsiouxfan]

The fact NDSU has 35 scholarships extended right now just reeks of desperation.

[Hambone]

The fact NDSU has 35 scholarships extended right now just reeks of desperation.

Umm, I think that we also have around 35 so I'd watch what you say...I know you're going based on the article, but I think the Sioux Football blog said earlier we had about 35....

[Hammersmith]

The fact NDSU has 35 scholarships extended right now just reeks of desperation.

Actually, it reeks of poor retention among the 2007-2008 classes. I forget which, but one of them has dropped below 50%. We also don't expect to get that many of them. Most will accept FBS offers just like most of your 21 offers. Maybe we'll get lucky on a half dozen or so, and then another wave of offers will go out in the fall. That's life in the most aggressive tier of FCS: Snatch a few from the big boys and get the rest before your peers do.

On a side note, I've been meaning to say the following for some time now. In the last six months or so, I've read a lot of comments on here about how great it is that UND has opened up recruiting pipelines in distant parts of the country. Many of these posts are almost word for word from what Bisonville posters were writing three or four years ago. I'm just saying you might want to temper your enthusiasm a bit until you find out whether or not you can avoid our mistakes when it comes to out of region recruiting. Not saying local boys are automatically saints(Bobby Stroup anyone?), but TX, CA, AZ, etc. kids can bring in additional issues that can bite you in the ass if you're not paying attention. I believe our problem was too many, too fast. The large number allowed a subculture to form within the football team, and that was the root of most of the problems. I think we've got that subculture dug out now(hence the large recruiting classes this year and last that are focusing on the Mid-West), but you guys should be wary of a similar thing happening to you.

[star2city]

Actually, it reeks of poor retention among the 2007-2008 classes. I forget which, but one of them has dropped below 50%. We also don't expect to get that many of them. Most will accept FBS offers just like most of your 21 offers. Maybe we'll get lucky on a half dozen or so, and then another wave of offers will go out in the fall. That's life in the most aggressive tier of FCS: Snatch a few from the big boys and get the rest before your peers do.

On a side note, I've been meaning to say the following for some time now. In the last six months or so, I've read a lot of comments on here about how great it is that UND has opened up recruiting pipelines in distant parts of the country. Many of these posts are almost word for word from what Bisonville posters were writing three or four years ago. I'm just saying you might want to temper your enthusiasm a bit until you find out whether or not you can avoid our mistakes when it comes to out of region recruiting. Not saying local boys are automatically saints(Bobby Stroup anyone?), but TX, CA, AZ, etc. kids can bring in additional issues that can bite you in the ass if you're not paying attention. I believe our problem was too many, too fast. The large number allowed a subculture to form within the football team, and that was the root of most of the problems. I think we've got that subculture dug out now(hence the large recruiting classes this year and last that are focusing on the Mid-West), but you guys should be wary of a similar thing happening to you.

Funny how the "Best Buy Boys" - even the walk-on dropouts that weren't "officially" teammates - -were almost entirely midwestern.

SDSU has a number of AZ, CA and "similar" kids, but hasn't had that kind of problem.

Some coaches - usually the ones that have character to begin with - can judge character. Bohl even at Nebraska never had that "gift".

[dlsiouxfan]

If you look at the guys with the arrests for NDSU the majority where from ND,MN, WI. Schultenover, Johnson, Reid, Sczepanski, and Jangula were all from what would be considered the traditional recruiting areas for NDSU and UND. Moeller, Washington, and T. Jackson were from areas outside of the traditional recruiting area.

Furthermore, if you look at what were probably the two most aggregious offenses perpetrated by the players mentioned (Schultenover's drug dealing and the Best Buy theft ring) both were entirely perpetrated by players from the traditional recruiting region.

The issues seen at NDSU would seem to have less to do with where the players are from and a lot more to do with the individuals character themselves.

[Matt]

Bohl knows he hasn't achieved with his recruits and he's taking more risks with the kids he has been recruiting-both locally and nationally. The problem with that is if it doesn't pay off in the short term, the downward spiral tends to accelerate. Babich was a terrible play caller (see the before and after Mauer left as OC), but he could recruit.

The shine is really fading on Bohl's head here in Fargo, and it will be ugly if this team isn't at least two games over .500 this year.