I think Heupel is a bright offensive mind and will def improve our lackluster offense but my concern is can he recruit at a high enough level here to succeed. And is it a huge deal even if he can’t recruit to the level of Butch and Pruitt if he does a better job of in game coaching and coaching the kids up. We all know Butch and Pruitt were good recruiters but terrible in game coaches with their recruits especially Pruitt. I do think JH will get 5 full seasons here to turn it around. What are you guys overall expectations for Heupel?
If you can coach guys up then you have a GREAT sell to recruits. The style of play that they seem to have in mind gives offensive skill players and QB's max opportunity to make plays and post stats. On D, players will get the chance to make big plays also.
How good were Pruitt and Jones at recruiting? Jones caught a windfall of homers like Hurd and legacy players that provided the foundation for 3 good classes. When that dried up and it became about him, his "sales pitch", and his demonstrated ability to coach, the recruiting fell off significantly. Pruitt's classes weren't
that great and we now know he was committing serious NCAA violations to get them.... not just run of the mill t-shirts here and steak dinners for Uncle Joe.
I don't think the rules change for Heupel much if at all. He starts behind the 8 ball even worse than the last 4 coaches have considering the NCAA issues. He
REALLY has to prove that he can coach guys up and make them look good on game day. He
MUST be able to point to some 3* guys who are posting 6* stats and tell 4/5* recruits, "that could be you but better". HOWEVER.... the practical truth is that no matter how unfair you think it is a coach cannot be "given" more than 3 seasons before they prove something on the field. If that happens, recruits simply stop listening and rival recruiters make sure that the best players know that you aren't likely to be around much longer and won't succeed even if you are.
There are two pieces of good news for CJH. One, the bar has been set extraordinarily low. If he gets 9 or maybe even 8 wins by year 3 and isn't having bad losses like Pruitt and Jones both made habitual... then both fans and recruits can consider that pretty good progress. Recruits especially can be sold that "I'm doing this with the guys I've inherited. Imagine what we can do together".
Second, he is inheriting a "sneaky" talented team and especially on offense. At Mizzou, he didn't have nearly this much raw talent or a QB room with 4 possible starters with SEC level physical talent in it... and took them from the SEC's worst total O (281 ypg) in the year prior to his arrival to first in his first season with 500 ypg. If you need further proof of his impact, MU was terrible before him. Great with him. Mediocre after he left.
This team has talent and especially at WR. I am anxious to see what Hyatt, Calloway, V Jones, Holiday, Keyton, Tillman, Wideman, Nixon, Merrill, et al can do in an O that gives them real opportunities to make plays. The greatest opportunity is for a TE to emerge. If you are Dee Beckwith... you must have a perma-smile on. Then you take a look at the back field and see more guys with a ton of raw talent.
Not a lot of experience but that also means they don't have to "unteach" very much.
There are a lot of things weighing against him but none of the previous 4 coaches inherited this much offensive depth of talent... and he's reputed as an offensive genius. That to me is his best shot.