There goes another one!

Discussion in 'The Tiger's Den' started by Hou-duco, Dec 8, 2021.

  1. Herb

    Herb Founding Member

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    That is not entirely true.
    We have 1 week until early signing period, which we will sign the majority of our commitments that want to be early enrollees.
    National signing day is still in February, so that gives the staff time to re-up any guys that have pulled or replace them with people that want to be here.
    Kids can still sign letters of intent AFTER national signing day.

    This sense of extreme urgency over early signing period is a media construct.
     
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  2. MobileBengal

    MobileBengal Founding Member

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    No, it isn't, it's very real. The number of players that sign on early signing day is near 90%, including 89 of the top 100 recruits last year. There will be slim pickings in February. There will be a handful of guys, sure, but maybe none of our targets.
     
    Last edited: Dec 10, 2021
  3. MobileBengal

    MobileBengal Founding Member

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    Brody Miller Athletic Article:

    BATON ROUGE, La. — Trev Faulk didn’t exactly expect Brian Kelly to have a sense of humor. That’s not really in the new LSU coach’s reputation. Faulk — the former All-American LSU linebacker now coaching Lafayette Christian Academy —thought Kelly would be this all-business guy coming in from Notre Dame.

    But when Kelly showed up for his first in-person visit at LCA on Wednesday to meet two recruits, he was impressed. And he was surprised.

    “He was a funny guy,” Faulk said.

    This is Kelly’s first real week of recruiting for his new job following the shocking and risky move to leave Notre Dame for LSU. It’s his first week of hitting the road to introduce himself to some of the biggest recruits and coaches in the state. And it comes with a tight deadline just one week before the early signing period begins in a crucial and talented year for Louisiana recruits.

    This visit at LCA was to see three-star lineman commit Fitzgerald West and three-star defensive back Jordan Allen, who he offered in person Wednesday. It was the fourth of five in-person stops Kelly made Wednesday, with more major visits coming Thursday.

    But Kelly finds himself in a tricky situation. Dating back to summer through this week, LSU already lost commitments from five-star safety Jacoby Mathews, four-star receiver Aaron Anderson and four-star running back TreVonte’ Citizen, among others. Then, earlier this week, starting quarterback Max Johnson announced he’s entering the transfer portal and brother Jake, the No. 2 tight end prospect in the country, announced his decommitment from LSU. It’s a loaded year with 14 top-200 prospects in Louisiana, but it’s also a year in which Kelly could miss out on many due to the tight window.

    For what it’s worth, sources tell The Athletic that Max Johnson was planning on entering the portal well before any LSU head coach hire was made. The timing likely has to do with Jake having to sign in a week and wanting to play together at the next level. Still, LSU already has lost Max Johnson and two former top-150 prospects in freshmen Deion Smith and Landon Jackson to the portal.

    All this combined with the staff reshuffling and it’s made for a rollercoaster week. Kelly pulled off a major coup hiring longtime LSU staffer Frank Wilson away from a head coaching job at McNeese. That gives LSU perhaps the most revered recruiter in Louisiana, and LSU also is retaining offensive line coach Brad Davis who is a Baton Rouge native with good Louisiana recruiting chops. But it comes while LSU lost beloved cornerbacks coach Corey Raymond (one of the men who gets credit for creating “DBU”) to Florida, receivers coach Mickey Joseph to Nebraska and The Athletic reported Thursday Kelly will not be keeping running backs coach Kevin Faulk on the staff. So it means LSU has gained some essential Louisiana recruiters but lost some as well.

    So what has this week looked like?

    Kelly started in town, visiting Baton Rouge’s Catholic High to see four-star offensive lineman Emery Jones. Jones spoke to The Athletic on Tuesday before the visit, but he said of his phone conversations with the new LSU head coach: “(Kelly) was just talking about how he’s an O-line coach, how he put out a couple O-linemen in the draft. We all kinda like him. He’s a cool dude, and everyone’s liking and confident of what he’s gonna do at LSU.”

    Jones also said his relationship with Davis is really important to him. Davis didn’t join LSU until this summer, but he recruited Jones while coaching at Arkansas which was why he was also considering the Razorbacks. When LSU announced Davis is being retained Wednesday, it went even further with Jones, the No. 150 player in the country, per 247Sports. Five-star offensive tackle Will Campbell said the same about Davis.

    After his visit with Jones, Kelly stayed in Baton Rouge to see top-100 defensive lineman Quency Wiggins at Madison Prep. Wiggins is a priority, somebody the LSU staff has been really high on well before he moved up the rankings this year. Wiggins is still undecided, but he’s visiting LSU this weekend, which is crucial with signing day just a week away.

    Kelly later made the drive to Lafayette, La., to see perhaps the crown jewel of the class, five-star quarterback Walker Howard. Howard was essentially between LSU and Notre Dame — and likely staying with LSU regardless — so Kelly coming to LSU all but seals this one up. Howard has also been a key part of trying to recruit other players to join him in the 2022 class.

    While in Lafayette, Kelly saw Faulk, West and Allen at LCA. The last stop — Lake Charles, La. — was to see Citizen, the four-star running back who was committed to LSU until he recently opened up his recruitment right before Kelly was hired. That visit also involved the newly-hired Wilson, which is a big boost since Citizen’s father is a McNeese hall of famer). One source said the meeting went well and that Citizen has decided to wait until February to sign. LSU believes that gives them another full shot at landing him, as there was fear he’d sign elsewhere next week.

    Thursday, Kelly will head north to see Campbell in Monroe, La., and Shreveport athlete Kendrick Law, among others. Then this weekend LSU will have big players like Wiggins, Law, four-star cornerback Austin Ausberry and others on campus.

    It’s been the first chance to see Kelly in action as a recruiter, and though word from Notre Dame has long been that he’s not an overly involved recruiter, the same people say he’s a very good one when he does it.

    One LSU source who was in visits with Kelly said: “He is phenomenal. He lays out a plan and a purpose for each player and is able to engage with everyone. I was impressed. He does a great job honestly.”

    That goes along with what Trev Faulk said about Wednesday’s visit. Trev has been recruited at the highest level himself, and he’s developed major players at LCA like current LSU safety Sage Ryan, a five-star recruit in the 2021 class. He’s seen every type of recruiter.

    “Man, I was impressed,” Trev said. “I think he obviously has been very successful everywhere he’s been. Just listening to him, he has a clear vision of what he wants the program to look like, the types of kids he wants to bring into the program. And he has a plan for developing those kids mentally, physically, emotionally and technically as well.”

    He was particularly pleased with how Kelly encouraged open communication and asked what the players were looking for instead of just explaining LSU’s pitch full-throttle. His pitch was essentially: “’This is who we are. This is what we’re gonna do. This is how we’d aim to develop you. But what are you looking for?’ Just to make sure it’s a fit on both sides.”

    Kelly in his introductory news conference said that his focus these first few weeks would be on keeping the current LSU commitments. Then, he’d focus on the in-state prospects that are considering signing in December (Mathews, for example, won’t decide until February) before eventually branching out to the out-of-state targets (linebackers coach Blake Baker visited with Texas five-star LB Harold Perkins Thursday, though).

    It’s why as of Wednesday, top-100 New Orleans receiver Shazz Preston hadn’t heard from Kelly. Alabama is gaining major steam with Preston, but his father Shawn Preston Sr. said the hiring of Wilson certainly helps LSU’s chances. Preston Sr. is also a Louisiana coach himself who has been in the world of recruiting a long time — plus his older son, Shawn Preston Jr., is a linebacker at Mississippi State — so he understands how this works.

    “I know the first thing he stated — and it seems like he doesn’t let anybody rush him or get him off schedule of anything he’s got planned — so the first thing he made known was he was going to try to assemble his staff, and then touch base with committed players already,” Preston Sr. said. “Which is very fair. If you don’t have a plan, you’re planning to fail.”

    Preston also understands that a head coach isn’t everything to a recruit. He appreciated how much of a priority Ed Orgeron and Mickey Joseph made Shazz, but now both are gone. He pointed out how Shawn Jr. doesn’t interact all that much with Mississippi State head coach Mike Leach, so these choices are often more about position coaches and the programs as a whole. Preston is still waiting to see who LSU hires to run the offense and coach receivers.

    “Our relationship with Brian Kelly probably wouldn’t be a deciding factor,” Preston Sr. said. “The same way our relationship with (Alabama head coach) Nick Saban wouldn’t be a deciding factor. (Georgia head coach) Kirby Smart wouldn’t be a deciding factor. (Texas) coach (Steve Sarkisian) is the only difference in the deal because he’s the head coach and the offensive coordinator.”

    All of this will ultimately be judged by the results. It’s been a chaotic week for Kelly between assembling his staff and recruiting. Even if it’s not his fault, any Louisiana recruit that goes elsewhere in a year like this could be held against Kelly.

    But the Kelly hire is also about the big picture. And that got started this week.
     
    kcal and ROY_LA_CA like this.
  4. shane0911

    shane0911 Helping lost idiots find their village

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    This is 100% true

    https://tigerbait.com/football-recruiting/commits

    We have 11 commits as of this post. 11! That is just unsat! I'm sure we have offers out to lots more but as of right now we have 11 people saying "Yes, I want to be a Tiger" the early signing period is in 5 days. That is a HUGE problem!
     
  5. geaux9

    geaux9 Founding Member

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    I heard Jacoby Mathews and Citizen will wait until February. Perkins announces at all-star game.
     
    Last edited: Dec 10, 2021
  6. Herb

    Herb Founding Member

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    Dude, if your vag is sore, I'm happy to start a positive thought/knitting circle to provide you emotional support in your time of need.

    This happens with pretty much every major program when there is a coaching change and it is almost always a very temporary condition. Many people wanted Napier at LSU, but look at what happened to a significant number of their recruits once he was hired to coach the Gayturds:

    https://www.si.com/college/fsu/recr...of-commitments-following-billy-napiers-hiring

    Go look at the fallout from Cristobal leaving Oregon. Kelly might actually have a line on some of those guys.

    This is all a temporary reshuffle. The Texas Hold Em matches are more than one hand.

    Chillax and put your trust in a higher form of consciousness (known to the rest of us as Brian Kelly).
     
  7. shane0911

    shane0911 Helping lost idiots find their village

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    No!

    Get used to seeing Kayshon Boutte in a gump jersey
     
    Herb likes this.
  8. furduknfish

    furduknfish #ohnowesuckagain

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    While this is true, what it does not acknowledge is the overall calibur of player sigining late generally decreases cept for a handful of primadonnas
     
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  9. Herb

    Herb Founding Member

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    Wake me up when that happens.
     
  10. shane0911

    shane0911 Helping lost idiots find their village

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    Won't be long
     

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