Football Transfer Season, Part 2

[Cornpoke]

It boggles my freakin mind that Wyoming wants to be a development program for P5. Why? Seriously why? Bohl is taking pride in developing players so they can leave and assisting them in that process.

There is only one correct strategy: Recruit players from the portal as they can only use it one time without penalty. I don't care what Bohl prefers, but the bleeding has to stop. I wouldn't waste one minute recruiting high school players given the current environment of CFB

 

[Poke in New England]

It boggles my freakin mind that Wyoming wants to be a development program for P5. Why? Seriously why? Bohl is taking pride in developing players so they can leave and assisting them in that process.

There is only one correct strategy: Recruit players from the portal as they can only use it one time without penalty. I don't care what Bohl prefers, but the bleeding has to stop. I wouldn't waste one minute recruiting high school players given the current environment of CFB

You obviously can't just do one or the other. Basketball and football are obviously different, but the only 3 of the 4 new players on last year's bball team were transfers rather than high school kids. Not only did they suck, but they destroyed the chemistry of the team. Disaster.

The point of development is that a school like Wyoming has access to a recruit like Logan Wilson or Andrew Wingard who end up becoming elite college players. Obviously we are getting bled dry of these players now, and obviously something has to change with the portal rules to level the playing field. But under the current system, while there may be diamonds in the rough, what is the likelihood that Wyoming lands an elite player through the portal? Extremely low. With thousands of names in the portal, think of all the crap you have to sift through (attitude issues, academic/off-field problems) in order to find a guy who is a good fit. All on a much shorter timeline than for a high school recruit.

9 times out of 10, elite players will have to be brought in out of high school and developed rather than picked up through the portal.

 

[OrediggerPoke]

It boggles my freakin mind that Wyoming wants to be a development program for P5. Why? Seriously why? Bohl is taking pride in developing players so they can leave and assisting them in that process.

There is only one correct strategy: Recruit players from the portal as they can only use it one time without penalty. I don't care what Bohl prefers, but the bleeding has to stop. I wouldn't waste one minute recruiting high school players given the current environment of CFB

You obviously can't just do one or the other. Basketball and football are obviously different, but the only 3 of the 4 new players on last year's bball team were transfers rather than high school kids. Not only did they suck, but they destroyed the chemistry of the team. Disaster.

The point of development is that a school like Wyoming has access to a recruit like Logan Wilson or Andrew Wingard who end up becoming elite college players. Obviously we are getting bled dry of these players now, and obviously something has to change with the portal rules to level the playing field. But under the current system, while there may be diamonds in the rough, what is the likelihood that Wyoming lands an elite player through the portal? Extremely low. With thousands of names in the portal, think of all the crap you have to sift through (attitude issues, academic/off-field problems) in order to find a guy who is a good fit. All on a much shorter timeline than for a high school recruit.

9 times out of 10, elite players will have to be brought in out of high school and developed rather than picked up through the portal.

We shouldn't be aiming for elite players. We should aim for a team of hard working players who can come together and work and win as a team. We should be aiming for that hungry player being overlooked by other D1 programs who wants to come in and compete at the highest level. IMO, we should spend MUCH more time evaluating other levels of football JUCO, NAIA, Division 2, FCS, Division 3, Canadian, German, etc.. leagues.

 

[Poke in New England]

You obviously can't just do one or the other. Basketball and football are obviously different, but the only 3 of the 4 new players on last year's bball team were transfers rather than high school kids. Not only did they suck, but they destroyed the chemistry of the team. Disaster.

The point of development is that a school like Wyoming has access to a recruit like Logan Wilson or Andrew Wingard who end up becoming elite college players. Obviously we are getting bled dry of these players now, and obviously something has to change with the portal rules to level the playing field. But under the current system, while there may be diamonds in the rough, what is the likelihood that Wyoming lands an elite player through the portal? Extremely low. With thousands of names in the portal, think of all the crap you have to sift through (attitude issues, academic/off-field problems) in order to find a guy who is a good fit. All on a much shorter timeline than for a high school recruit.

9 times out of 10, elite players will have to be brought in out of high school and developed rather than picked up through the portal.

We shouldn't be aiming for elite players. We should aim for a team of hard working players who can come together and work and win as a team. We should be aiming for that hungry player being overlooked by other D1 programs who wants to come in and compete at the highest level. IMO, we should spend MUCH more time evaluating other levels of football JUCO, NAIA, Division 2, FCS, Division 3, Canadian, German, etc.. leagues.

That is basically my point. Elite may be the wrong word. But it remains true that the largest pool of players who fit the mold you describe are high school prospects.

 

[OrediggerPoke]

We shouldn't be aiming for elite players. We should aim for a team of hard working players who can come together and work and win as a team. We should be aiming for that hungry player being overlooked by other D1 programs who wants to come in and compete at the highest level. IMO, we should spend MUCH more time evaluating other levels of football JUCO, NAIA, Division 2, FCS, Division 3, Canadian, German, etc.. leagues.

That is basically my point. Elite may be the wrong word. But it remains true that the largest pool of players who fit the mold you describe are high school prospects.

Except 9 times out 10, the high school prospect will leave Wyoming if they prove themselves and there is money dangling in front of them. Under current rules, there will probably not be the same abilities and incentives for transfers to leave.

 

[Poke in New England]

That is basically my point. Elite may be the wrong word. But it remains true that the largest pool of players who fit the mold you describe are high school prospects.

Except 9 times out 10, the high school prospect will leave Wyoming if they prove themselves and there is money dangling in front of them. Under current rules, there will probably not be the same abilities and incentives for transfers to leave.

But then again, we may actually prefer them gone once we see what we've signed up for. We just saw this play out in basketball.

I agree with you that the rules have to change. I am just hesitant about over-correction when we start talking about abandoning high school recruiting. Transfer portal certainly is no less of a dice roll and may be an even bigger one.

 

[307bball]

We shouldn't be aiming for elite players. We should aim for a team of hard working players who can come together and work and win as a team. We should be aiming for that hungry player being overlooked by other D1 programs who wants to come in and compete at the highest level. IMO, we should spend MUCH more time evaluating other levels of football JUCO, NAIA, Division 2, FCS, Division 3, Canadian, German, etc.. leagues.

That is basically my point. Elite may be the wrong word. But it remains true that the largest pool of players who fit the mold you describe are high school prospects.

It depends onw what your goal is....if you want to win conference championships...then even in the MWC, you need elite guys. Maybe not a whole teams worth of them but you need a sprinkling of them on both sides of the ball. What we have right now is a team that is pretty high on the blue collar work ethic scale but how many difference makers? Without the difference makers, we are an average to slightly above average MWC team. Get a few difference makers in there and you'll start seeing MWC title game appearances.

Plenty of guys from high school have become difference makers at Wyoming. That seems to be at an end. It will be a very singular MWC all conference level player that will turn down the kind of money that would come with transferring. I don't see the team as it is constituted making a competitive leap with transfers. Anybody in that transfer pool that is considering Wyoming level schools is very unlikely to "work hard" and become the type of difference maker player that leads to conference title game appearances, much less victories.

 

[OrediggerPoke]

Except 9 times out 10, the high school prospect will leave Wyoming if they prove themselves and there is money dangling in front of them. Under current rules, there will probably not be the same abilities and incentives for transfers to leave.

But then again, we may actually prefer them gone once we see what we've signed up for. We just saw this play out in basketball.

I agree with you that the rules have to change. I am just hesitant about over-correction when we start talking about abandoning high school recruiting. Transfer portal certainly is no less of a dice roll and may be an even bigger one.

We saw what happens when you recruit 3 PAC-12 transfer friends from elite AAU teams who thought they were going to a lower level of basketball and would just have playing time gifted to them. Now Linder is going after JUCO, NAIA, D2, etc..

I want that kid with a chip on their shoulder with something to prove. While Bohl has been good at identifying these guys at the high school level, the upside is just no longer there for us. These same guys exist in lower levels of collegiate football, we just need to identify them and further develop them.

 

[doreno5]

But then again, we may actually prefer them gone once we see what we've signed up for. We just saw this play out in basketball.

I agree with you that the rules have to change. I am just hesitant about over-correction when we start talking about abandoning high school recruiting. Transfer portal certainly is no less of a dice roll and may be an even bigger one.

We saw what happens when you recruit 3 PAC-12 transfer friends from elite AAU teams who thought they were going to a lower level of basketball and would just have playing time gifted to them. Now Linder is going after JUCO, NAIA, D2, etc..

I want that kid with a chip on their shoulder with something to prove. While Bohl has been good at identifying these guys at the high school level, the upside is just no longer there for us. These same guys exist in lower levels of collegiate football, we just need to identify them and further develop them.
[
I do think it is different in football than other sports simply because most athletes are still growing and maturing when they first enter college. In basketball you can see incoming freshmen become stars every year, that rarely happens in football.

 

[ragtimejoe1]

Somewhere around 40-50% of portal players go unsigned by anyone. Is that the pool we should be drawing from?

After that, there are x% that signed with g5 programs or lower. Is this our target? Out compete other G5 programs? If so, how many players are in this pool and what are our realistic chances of signing from this pool.

Of course there is the y% that sign p5 but we obviously have no shot at them.

 

[307bball]

Somewhere around 40-50% of portal players go unsigned by anyone. Is that the pool we should be drawing from?

After that, there are x% that signed with g5 programs or lower. Is this our target? Out compete other G5 programs? If so, how many players are in this pool and what are our realistic chances of signing from this pool.

Of course there is the y% that sign p5 but we obviously have no shot at them.

For transfer players...I see it that there are "tiers" forming.

Top Tier:

Guys that are going to places like Michigan, Clemson, Alabama....these guys are pretty much can't miss guys that are uncommon at schools like Wyoming but are not unheard of historically. Players at this level have realistic professional potential. Plenty of standouts at Wyoming would have been in this tier in past years.

Tier two:

This is a big tier....basically it includes the remainder of the P5. Guys in this Tier are probably first/second team MWC caliber. Some borderline pro potential.

Tier three:

Probably also pretty big...this is where the g5 schools slot in. Could probably be split into two sub-tiers with the good schools like BSU, SDSU, UAB....etc, getting the top of this group.

Tier four:

These are the guys that don't get picked up. The largest group. They are either not serious about getting better at football or have been mis-evaluated and are perceived to have very limited upside.

If this is somewhat accurate....it will be like getting hit by a shooting star to have a tier one guy come to Laramie. For the guys at the second tier, it is more possible but still very unlikely to have enough of this level of player come to Wyoming from transfers to make a difference. I think the best we can do is to move up inside of tier three to get the best guys that are considering MW level schools. The answer, IMO, is to be on the recruiting level of the Boise St and SDSU teams. We are not there right now. If we continue to sign guys at the bottom of the third tier and from the fourth, we will not be in the mix for conference championships. That is just the reality. Coaching and scheme can only get you so far...I think Bohl can be frustrating but overall does a pretty good job. You need horses at the end of the day.

 

[Bryoming]

https://twitter.com/AithELITE/status/1649505062526361602
https://twitter.com/AithELITE/status/1649506745331351561

 

[LanderPoke]

https://twitter.com/AithELITE/status/1649505062526361602
https://twitter.com/AithELITE/status/1649506745331351561

Darn, darn

 

[OrediggerPoke]

https://twitter.com/AithELITE/status/1649505062526361602
https://twitter.com/AithELITE/status/1649506745331351561

Wyoming has signed 2 4-star high school athletes ever. Both never played a snap at Wyoming. Not surprising that Woods is gone. Wyoming is now even thinner at an already thin offensive line.

Jordon Vaughn would be buried on the depth chart. Not a big loss.

 

[LanderPoke]

https://twitter.com/AithELITE/status/1649505062526361602
https://twitter.com/AithELITE/status/1649506745331351561

Wyoming has signed 2 4-star high school athletes ever. Both never played a snap at Wyoming. Not surprising that Woods is gone. Wyoming is now even thinner at an already thin offensive line.

Jordon Vaughn would be buried on the depth chart. Not a big loss.

Don’t think woods will ever play anywhere ever. His academics are a mess I’ve heard

 

[Wyovanian]

Wyoming has signed 2 4-star high school athletes ever. Both never played a snap at Wyoming. Not surprising that Woods is gone. Wyoming is now even thinner at an already thin offensive line.

Jordon Vaughn would be buried on the depth chart. Not a big loss.

Don’t think woods will ever play anywhere ever. His academics are a mess I’ve heard

We're going to see quite a bit of this for awhile. Academic ineligibles will jump in hoping to get picked up by someone less, um... "rigorous". After a few seasons, it'll fade...

 

[flyfishwyo]

Don’t think woods will ever play anywhere ever. His academics are a mess I’ve heard

We're going to see quite a bit of this for awhile. Academic ineligibles will jump in hoping to get picked up by someone less, um... "rigorous". After a few seasons, it'll fade...

Yeah, I heard the same thing about his academic ability. It's too bad he didn't get that figured out. He could have been a great player here.

 

[Itsux2beaewe]

It boggles my freakin mind that Wyoming wants to be a development program for P5. Why? Seriously why? Bohl is taking pride in developing players so they can leave and assisting them in that process.

There is only one correct strategy: Recruit players from the portal as they can only use it one time without penalty. I don't care what Bohl prefers, but the bleeding has to stop. I wouldn't waste one minute recruiting high school players given the current environment of CFB

I really doubt that Bohl has put effort into developing players to transfer to P5. It just wouldn’t make sense. Is it happening, sure, but I doubt that was what he had in mind. Thank the transfer rules.

 

[OrediggerPoke]

It boggles my freakin mind that Wyoming wants to be a development program for P5. Why? Seriously why? Bohl is taking pride in developing players so they can leave and assisting them in that process.

There is only one correct strategy: Recruit players from the portal as they can only use it one time without penalty. I don't care what Bohl prefers, but the bleeding has to stop. I wouldn't waste one minute recruiting high school players given the current environment of CFB

I really doubt that Bohl has put effort into developing players to transfer to P5. It just wouldn’t make sense. Is it happening, sure, but I doubt that was what he had in mind. Thank the transfer rules.

Bohl directly acknowledged that he wasn’t going to change his ways and that he understood players were and would continue to be poached. By all accounts, he appears proud of his and his staff’s ability to ‘develop’ players. It’s insanity to me.

 

[Itsux2beaewe]

I really doubt that Bohl has put effort into developing players to transfer to P5. It just wouldn’t make sense. Is it happening, sure, but I doubt that was what he had in mind. Thank the transfer rules.

Bohl directly acknowledged that he wasn’t going to change his ways and that he understood players were and would continue to be poached. By all accounts, he appears proud of his and his staff’s ability to ‘develop’ players. It’s insanity to me.

By change his ways, do you mean not develop players? That would be dumb to recruit them, feed them, educate them and not develop them.