Recruiting a worry

[DaddyChad]

so how many times does a girl have to f*** you over before you start getting skeptical? Fingers crossed, she won't cheat on me this time, she won't fail me this time. Oh look it happened again.

You know that's what battered wives do? He won't beat me again.

When did Pruitt beat you. Who was this girl that cheated on you?

 

[walkenvol]

When did Pruitt beat you. Who was this girl that cheated on you?

You looking for her number?

 

[kbear01]

I remember reading the OP back when it was posted. My thought was you can’t judge a cake before it’s finished baking and Pruitt closed well last year. But I also thought all the troll accusations were a bit of whistling past the graveyard to some extent. We DID swing and miss on a few of our highest rated targets early and it was most certainly due to losses on the field. We DID finish the season on an improbable win streak and that most certainly helped us finish strong with recruiting. But overall I just don’t think anyone should worry if we consistently sign top 12 classes. Even top 15 for the most part. A few points in a made up system separate the top teams and 4 year rerankings show how wrong these can be.

Yes the ranking services are more right than wrong but they are typically ranking athletic ability moreso than FB ability and potential, IMO. In today’s ultra competitive recruiting world the two best options for success are to sign all the highest rated players, or identify ability and potential in lower rated players for which there is less competition. A handful of teams sign almost all the 5* players.

Clemson’s staff is a great example of one which now gobbles up top 100 players but a few years ago they started climbing that ladder thru excellent evaluations. And they are still signing unheralded guys who then develop into great players - b/c they trust their own eyes. This is the model we should hope Pruitt/UT will follow and there are some indications we are.

I agree. Pruitt recruits what he needs. He looks more at the man, than the accomplishments or star ratings.
He has shown that he will recruit, and develop, BIG, NASTY, O-linemen and D-linemen, and have the depth, in the trenches, to compete. Those guys do not always come with a 5* rating. He has to build a team to beat SEC competition. The star rating isn't always going to be a good evaluation tool, for success.
CJP strikes me as a guy who can learn more from a hand-shake, than a recruiting video.

 

[tim]

All you need to ask is: do we look closer to Alabama than we did before Pruitt?

 

[kbear01]

All you need to ask is: do we look closer to Alabama than we did before Pruitt?

Well, Bama has evolved, into a scoring machine. Which makes it appear like a larger gap. I think we are closer, today, than 2016 and 2017. But, Bama was a more ground and pound, and play great defense, kind of team. Which I think Nick is anxious to return to, BTW.
To beat the current Bama team, you have to play complimentary football, with results. As in, score TD's, not FG's. You can't turn it over. You have pin them deep, and make them drive the length of the field. Which is a common formula, for victory, against nearly everyone.
We were inches, and one bad decision, away from making a game of it, in Tuscaloosa, this past year.
We moved the ball, on their defense, and our defense caused some confusion, in the execution of their offense.
Maybe we don't win that game. But, it was going to be alot closer than Nick was hoping for.
The turnover, at the goalline, for a TD, just took all the wind out of our sails. 28-20 is alot different situation, for a shot-caller, than 35-13.
We score there, and get the ball back, and Bama is in real trouble.
CJP will be the first Sabanite to defeat the professor. I really believe that.