Getting to the 85 Scholarship Limit

New Orleans was the key to any success LSU was to have and as Red said, there was zero chance a manning was coming to LSU except to push an autobiography or katrina photo-op.

I think the talent then in Louisiana was even greater than it is now relative to other areas. Keep half those guys that bailed and LSU is a major player in the top 5 going on 20 years.

 

I guess in a way New Orleans was a lot like the Mobile area in 2007 - '08?

It's been so damn long ago those are just a few names that came up. I do recall reading different viewpoints mentioning schools and players leaving the state.

IF I recall correctly, Saban did a lot to repair the relationship with Evangel, didn't he?

I knew that about Eli and the Cutcliffe relationship. But, I didn't know about an agreement with Peyton and Booty; interesting.

That was along with a shift away from the state of Mississippi. Comparing the two states, kids that can play D1 football are more likely to qualify coming out of the Georgia school system than that of MS. You don't see as many SEC schools dipping into the talent base in MS today as you did seven and eight years ago.

I'm aware of the 7 of 26 in '12. It was around 25% in '11 as well. It's another great example of how recruiting has changed for schools outside of those main pipelines; Georgia, Florida, Texas, and California as a few examples.

I'd have to look to be sure, but I want to say the number is three from MS, and two of those from JUCO ranks during that same time period.

Georgia South, eh? I hadn't heard that one. No doubt 2012 was a great year for high school players in GA. It would be interesting to see the number of D1 players who signed out of GA in '12.

Come to think of it and this is changing the subject slightly...

Do you recall how much TN thrived on out of state talent when they were winning? There's another situation where things have changed. One of the biggest obstacles they have had to endure was a NCAA rule change about flying kids in and out of Knoxville. I don't recall the exact change in the rules other than when it was passed the first school I thought it would hurt was UT. I know it had something to do with flights...

 

quick name two evangel players who panned out at the next level. Ill spot you one jacob hester but the bootys and brock berlin dont count.

 

I usually try to sit on the side that has Ginger and Mary Ann.

 

I believe I'm confusing two schools now. Maybe John Curtis is the one? Is that were McKnight went to school? As soon as I read your question that kid came to mind; Joe? The one that ended up going to USC?

I couldn't name more than came from there IF that's the HS I was thinking about. It's a christian school as well, right?

 

It's a Christian school, in a manner of speaking. However, it is, in reality a football factory. Joe McKnight went to John Curtis, which is in a suburb of New Orleans. Evangel is in Shreveport, but both schools are cut from the same cloth.

Likewise, neither school, in spite of numerous state titles has put out many big-name college players.

 

They take kids from first grade on and start coaching them. By the time these guys are seniors, that's as good as they're ever gonna get. Coaching can't improve them any more.

Also, If they were able to select better athletes to coach up, they'd send more athletes to college, but you can't tell who's who when they're in grammar school. They waste a lot of time making mediocre athletes into good ones in high school instead of finding better athletes to be on the team.

 

Surely you aren't talking seniors in high school?

 

You're giving them too much credit. They recruit kids out of MS. They get around it by saying, "We can recruit YOU but if you come we'll let your brother & sister come for free."