Ketch's 10 Thoughts From the Weekend (Recruiting: The past, future and now...)

[meroney04]

The kids are going to have to play and play well.

I saw that stat (youngest team ever fielded) last night on ESPNFC. Crazy what the FA Cup has become (cash has changed a lot in England)....I think it was 7 matches in the next 4 weeks after a busy end to the year. They're going to stretch the roster for sure.

 

[Vinsanity12]

You are missing my points completely to argue something that has nothing to do with the current discussion.

The current discussion is fairly pointless. What matters more? Where someone is drafted or how they performed in college and in the pros?

 

[Ketchum]

I saw that stat (youngest team ever fielded) last night on ESPNFC. Crazy what the FA Cup has become (cash has changed a lot in England)....I think it was 7 matches in the next 4 weeks after a busy end to the year. They're going to stretch the roster for sure.

Klopp probably waited too long to bring in the big guns on Saturday, although Sturridge was close on two shots. I think he wanted to save everyone for Southampton, but they couldn't cash in on all of their possession.

 

[Ketchum]

The current discussion is fairly pointless. What matters more? Where someone is drafted or how they performed in college and in the pros?

How they do in the pros doesn't have anything to do with the conversation taking place.

 

[meroney04]

Klopp probably waited too long to bring in the big guns on Saturday, although Sturridge was close on two shots. I think he wanted to save everyone for Southampton, but they couldn't cash in on all of their possession.

Right on. Thanks for the assessment. I didn't get to watch any games Saturday morning after spending all night at the emergency vet.

 

[Victor St Claire]

Yes, this week. It's playing at the dollar movie theater that used to be the old Draft House on Lakecreek.

Watch out for head lice at that place. Oh never mind you should be good. It is a great movie. One of the best I have seen in a long time. Still have a few on your list that you have seen that I haven't and plan on watching them soon.

 

[Ketchum]

Watch out for head lice at that place. Oh never mind you should be good. It is a great movie. One of the best I have seen in a long time. Still have a few on your list that you have seen that I haven't and plan on watching them soon.

I really didn't know anything about the movie until I saw a promo during the Golden Globes last night. Kind of wish I was going in blind.

 

[dctex]

@Ketchum Great stuff this week. Just wanted to make sure this ask doesn't fall off the wish list.

Maybe once a year I wish the mods would do a two-deep with current college players that are from the state of Texas. I'd be interested to see 1) what a team would look like if we started to lock down the state 2) where some of the studs we lost went on to play and 3) if some of those highly rated guys went on to star/play well at their respective colleges.

Watching these games today I wonder where guys like Tony Brown and Demetrius Knox would rank among the others that played high school ball in the state. Also would like to see where a Connor Williams would be. Is he the best left tackle currently playing college ball from the state?

 

[psychotic_genius]

Indeed.

It's a small world.

 

[Jamaicashane]

Not that I was looking, but you got the big time camel toe in that pic Ketch. Great photo!

 

[86Horn]

Apparently, this popped up on my Facebook page five years ago. This is my national anthem face as a senior at McCallum High School. FYI, the guy standing in front of my is Chris Roberts, who later walked on to the Texas football team. Enjoy.

You did not refuse to stand during the anthem? Shame on you. What kind of social justice warrior stands during eth anthem?

 

[Cure4BizCancer]

I am pretty shocked at Ketch's prediction that Strong will get another Power 5 head coaching job in the next 3 years. CS was brutally bad at UT and is approaching 60 ... no way would I feel he could suddenly become a top notch HC.

At the risk of attempting to paraphrase Ketch's thoughts, his point was that CS has inherited a robust roster, for USF's conference. Based on that, CS will probably win a bunch of games in the next year or two. Power 5 can mean schools like Rutgers, Wake Forest, Vanderbilt, Kansas, ... It wouldn't be a stretch to see CS do ok at USF and land at one of these types of P5 school.

 

[Cure4BizCancer]

I know I'm going to get blasted for saying this, but I guess when you're a great coach, luck has a way of helping you out, and it seems Saban has been a big beneficiary of that:

2003 - Split champion with USC.
2009 - Colt goes out of game early with injury. Still think we win game if he stays healthy.
2011- Shouldn't have even been in game. Should have been OSU. OSU had stronger resume.
2012 - Thought ND was a joke. Should have been Oregon in MNC game. Think they would have made it a better game.

Colt going out in that game was not luck.

 

[MongoLikeTD]

I wanted to like Hell or High Water, but I felt like it was just too heavy handed. Tried a little too hard to be Texas-y or something.

Seemed cheesy to me, but Bridges is always good.

 

[Pudge66]

It doesn't make a lick of sense that 14 of the last 15 national top 40-75 guys that Texas has landed have been misses.

I agree to an extent. But Mack (and his staff) got lazy and seemed to be recruiting 4 and 5 star guys that were easy to get. They were not fighting to get the 4 and 5 stars guys that everyone really wanted. This may be a partial answer to the conundrum.

 

[Enjoying the Ride]

As a point of optimism, I believe the change in coaching staffs will help prevent the under-development of the three and four star talent that plagued the end of the Mack Brown years and continued under Charlie.

I hope that improvement in developing players will improve results more quickly than a total rebuild of the roster happening in groups of 25, one year at a time.

If we develop our existing players better and improve play-calling strategy and game management, I believe we can get to be very competitive in the Big12 very quickly with the talent we have.

To get to be competitive at a national level, we have to do all the above and recruit better as well. That will take longer, but I like the staff we have for that purpose as well.

 

[Ketchum]

@Ketchum Great stuff this week. Just wanted to make sure this ask doesn't fall off the wish list.

Maybe once a year I wish the mods would do a two-deep with current college players that are from the state of Texas. I'd be interested to see 1) what a team would look like if we started to lock down the state 2) where some of the studs we lost went on to play and 3) if some of those highly rated guys went on to star/play well at their respective colleges.

Watching these games today I wonder where guys like Tony Brown and Demetrius Knox would rank among the others that played high school ball in the state. Also would like to see where a Connor Williams would be. Is he the best left tackle currently playing college ball from the state?

I'll make a note to do this next week.

 

[Ketchum]

I agree to an extent. But Mack (and his staff) got lazy and seemed to be recruiting 4 and 5 star guys that were easy to get. They were not fighting to get the 4 and 5 stars guys that everyone really wanted. This may be a partial answer to the conundrum.

The math shouldn't allow for any confirmation bias. Texas is due in a major way.

 

[Ketchum]

It's a small world.

How you know Book?

BTW, are you aware of how good he was?

 

[Ketchum]

Not that I was looking, but you got the big time camel toe in that pic Ketch. Great photo!

I don't even know how to respond.

 

[Ketchum]

You did not refuse to stand during the anthem? Shame on you. What kind of social justice warrior stands during eth anthem?

Front of the line every week.

 

[Ketchum]

At the risk of attempting to paraphrase Ketch's thoughts, his point was that CS has inherited a robust roster, for USF's conference. Based on that, CS will probably win a bunch of games in the next year or two. Power 5 can mean schools like Rutgers, Wake Forest, Vanderbilt, Kansas, ... It wouldn't be a stretch to see CS do ok at USF and land at one of these types of P5 school.

I think Charlie will do almost anything to get back into a chance to redeem himself. South Florida won't completely allow for that. Yeah, he's king of the JV!

 

[EG-man]

Not automatically. It just means that there's a level of over-performing against the national mean that has to occur.

I understand. That's the purpose of statistics. So, my point is that odds are we don't have several 3-stars that over achieve and make us a national power before 3-4 years. Just setting my own expectations. Love to be wrong ....to the good side, of course.

 

[EG-man]

As a point of optimism, I believe the change in coaching staffs will help prevent the under-development of the three and four star talent that plagued the end of the Mack Brown years and continued under Charlie.

I hope that improvement in developing players will improve results more quickly than a total rebuild of the roster happening in groups of 25, one year at a time.

If we develop our existing players better and improve play-calling strategy and game management, I believe we can get to be very competitive in the Big12 very quickly with the talent we have.

To get to be competitive at a national level, we have to do all the above and recruit better as well. That will take longer, but I like the staff we have for that purpose as well.

Your third paragraph.....plus, much better execution are the keys.

 

[Ketchum]

I understand. That's the purpose of statistics. So, my point is that odds are we don't have several 3-stars that over achieve and make us a national power before 3-4 years. Just setting my own expectations. Love to be wrong ....to the good side, of course.

completely fair. The task at hand isn't a tiny one. The good news is that the foundation of 2015 and 2016 classes can offset a lot of heavy lifting if Herman can get those groups to even hit the national mean. Overperforming at the top is the fastest way back.

Like going 4 for 4 and not 2 for 4 (or worse) with Malik Jefferson, Erick Fowler, Devin Duvernay and Patrick Hudson developing into NFL drafted players.

With more time I probably could have put together a diagram of what needs to happen as it relates to Texas taking the step back. Maybe next week.

 

[Ketchum]

Your third paragraph.....plus, much better execution are the keys.

The thing Strong did do was leave an underclassmen pool full of players that should turn out come guys, maybe a lot with the right direction.

 

[EG-man]

The thing Strong did do was leave an underclassmen pool full of players that should turn out come guys, maybe a lot with the right direction.

That's what we're all hopin' for baby!

 

[psychotic_genius]

How you know Book?

BTW, are you aware of how good he was?

Our fathers used to work together back in the day. His pops was a preacher so we would go to his Sunday service from time to time. I also played baseball with several of his cousins.

If I remember correctly we went to see y'all play the ducks in Taylor one night. I found out that night that he was baller.

 

[FTP Horn]

I think w/ D'Onta, a lot of the analysts had caught wind of the fact that he was an extreme longshot to qualify and just didn't dog in on him as much. Just IMO - only way I've been able to justify it in my own thinking.

He was a 3 star on all other sites and a 3 star on the 247 Composite:

http://www.espn.com/college-sports/football/recruiting/player/_/id/168310/donta-foreman
http://247sports.com/Player/DOnta-Foreman-20929?PlayerInstitution=33302
http://www.scout.com/player/172430-d-onta-foreman

Not sure why Rivals was an outlier here.

 

[cagrafft]

Recruiting matters.

No. 5 – Buy or sell …

BUY or SELL: The Austin Metro Area is the 35th most populous area and growing as of July 2015 and is the seconnd largest metro area (Vegas is #1) without a Pro Sports Team. B/S: Austin will gain a MLB, NFL, NHL or NBA team in the next 10 years?

(Sell) The University of Texas is this city’s pro sports franchise.

If Austin ever gets a Pro Sports Team it will be an MLS team imo. I could see the Aztecs being back in a year or two with their own stadium, and the USL and MLS doing a promotion/relegation-type deal. Austin could definitely support a soccer club if they put the stadium in the right spot.