WYO Commits With Other FBS Offers

[JimmyDimes]

I'll say it again, craig Bohl has better wins in the last 5 seasons then wyoming did and did it with kids like the ones he is now recruiting. I would love to have two big 10 wins and the defending big 12 champions win on wyomings mantle right now.

Actually, we're getting all the best FCS recruits. We're beating out the best teams and have had a few flips. Bohl is 7-3 against the FBS...all on the road. He did this with fewer scholarship players. To some fans, it is all about the stars....but most of our highest ranked recruits over the past 10 years have been duds. It is a popularity contest, with most BCS schools filling their allotments with seniors to be. There are plenty of player who are still growing and might not make a splash until their senior years...or beyond. There are very few players who can come in and make a difference right away. Most require additional growth and maturity.

Recruiting rankings, etc don't win games. The proof will be on the field next fall.

 

[WYCowboy]

Reading this thread makes it sound like getting 3+ star recruits to Laramie, WY is easy and that it's just something our previous coaches neglected to do. Wyoming is the perpetual underdog and that is even more true in recruiting than anything else we do. If all of our coaches spent all of their recruiting time on kids with tons of other FBS offers, we would still end up losing out on the vast majority of them. Sounds defeatist, but it's the truth. Until we start consistently winning games, Laramie is only appealing to guys used to that kind of lifestyle, and guys who haven't been given a chance elsewhere (ala Brett Smith, Mitch Unrein, Devin Moore).

What I hope (and think) Bohl is doing is recruiting individuals that have a certain grit and attitude. You can't truly develop players without their buy in. Hopefully we are getting those guys with a desire to develop into a great athlete. Would it be better to already have developed, talented players with the same grit? Of course, those are the ones deciding to take their talents to better schools.

Ultimately, I'll take the less than talented guy with the necessary intangibles than a talented guy with attitude problems.

I agree! Let's give these new recruits and the new coaching staff a chance to see what they can do. I'll take those that are excited to be here any day, and it sounds like we have more of them (recruits & coaches) than we have had for awhile. I can see it already - if we don't have a winning season in Bohl's first year, there will be some on here saying "see, I told you so". I could damn sure see that Dave Christensen and some of his recruits who have already left weren't excited to be here.

 

[POKE FAN]

I'll say it again, craig Bohl has better wins in the last 5 seasons then wyoming did and did it with kids like the ones he is now recruiting. I would love to have two big 10 wins and the defending big 12 champions win on wyomings mantle right now.

2013: 24-21 over KSU
2012: 22-7 over CS-ewe
2011: 37-24 over Minn
2010: 6-3 over KU

Of course, all of those games were road games.

A majority of/most recruits would like to play for winners, if given a choice. If Bohl and his staff can get things rolling where marked improvement is seen over the next couple of years, wouldn't we expect the overall quality of recruit interested in visiting and committing to the Pokes continue to increase in the years ahead? I firmly believe that will be the case. Poke football has a new mentality and toughness coming to a stadium near you.

Today's tweets:

Zachary Duval: Train the Mind and the Body will follow! 4th quarter #cowboytoughWarDaddies #WarDaddyUp

Uso Olivé: S/O to coach @zduval1 for killing me today #WarDaddyUp

 

[fromolwyoming]

I've felt like that before. Though, that was right after I joined wrestling at LHS (had to get knee surgery shortly after, so it was short lived), but wrestling, especially if you're not used to it's rigorous training, makes you feel like you can't move afterwards for qiute awhile. Took me about an hour after the first practice before I could get up and move again.

 

[McPeachy]

I'll say it again, craig Bohl has better wins in the last 5 seasons then wyoming did and did it with kids like the ones he is now recruiting. I would love to have two big 10 wins and the defending big 12 champions win on wyomings mantle right now.

And?

It only took him 5 years to get to that point. The first 5 years he was HC at NDSU, was the same time Wyoming was beating teams like Ole Miss, Tennessee, Virginia, Utah, BYU, TCU, and UCLA with inferior talent and a trainwreck of a coaching staff.

Apples - Oranges

 

[POKE FAN]

Zach Duval, chewin' em up and spittin' em out. (Exhibit B: Richard Bettencourt)

 

[OrediggerPoke]

According to Rivals, I believe this is the first time that we will have failed to sign any "3 star" recruits. I don't really buy into Rivals ratings, but unless something changes it appears that all of our recruits will be Rivals 2 star.

 

[KansasPoke]

In reality it all comes down to development. Stars mean nothing. Comparable offer lists do hold some weight but still in the end you have to develop the talent you have. What Wyoming has failed to do as a whole is develop the vast majority of our roster. Time will tell with the new coaching staff but their track record at NDSU is very impressive in the developmental aspect.

 

[ProudWYOAlum]

I think this class turned out pretty well for the limited amount of time to schedule visits and build relationships. Especially considering the amount of players with other FBS offers.

Some former Wyoming 3-star signees to remember that didn't turn out to be so 3-star:

-James Davis
-Chris Stutzriem
-Dax Crum
-Greg Bolling
-Mark Oliver
-Derrick Mcmahen
-Anthony Wilson
-Orlando Arnold
-Todd Knight
-Robert Benjamin
-Nehemie Kankalongo
-Riley Lange
-Kurt Taufa'asau

Now stop me if I'm wrong but I doubt we will see any of these '3 star' signees with plaques in the UW Hall of Fame. I'll take the kids the coaches think fit the mold.

 

[fromolwyoming]

Wasn't Kurt one of our better and most consistent d-linemen in recent years?

 

[POKE FAN]

Initial list updated to include Cowboy Altitude's (Mitchum's) 2/5 comments.

 

[OrediggerPoke]

I think this class turned out pretty well for the limited amount of time to schedule visits and build relationships. Especially considering the amount of players with other FBS offers.

Some former Wyoming 3-star signees to remember that didn't turn out to be so 3-star:

-James Davis
-Chris Stutzriem
-Dax Crum
-Greg Bolling
-Mark Oliver
-Derrick Mcmahen
-Anthony Wilson
-Orlando Arnold
-Todd Knight
-Robert Benjamin
-Nehemie Kankalongo
-Riley Lange
-Kurt Taufa'asau

Now stop me if I'm wrong but I doubt we will see any of these '3 star' signees with plaques in the UW Hall of Fame. I'll take the kids the coaches think fit the mold.

I already said that I don't buy into Rivals ratings, but your list wrongly gives the impression that all 3* players we have recruited never materialized. On average, I'd say our "3*" players probably performed marginally better than our "2*" players. (understand that we have had far more 2* than 3* players and I am saying "on average")

Recent "3 star" players left off your list:

Eddie Yarbrough
Marqueston Huff
Tashaun Gipson
Gabe Knapton
Josh Doctson
ACS
(yes I understand Doctson and ACS transferred but it is hard to argue they were not good players)

I fully agree that coaching of the talent means far more and that is why I am excited for Bohl and believe we made a HUGE improvement at the HC position.

 

[JohnnySunshine]

Not sure why people are bitching about the lack of hype from recruits. What was the new staff supposed to do? They had, what, 2 months to get something developed with recruits? It's not like the previous staff gave alot of help with high profile names, and they aren't exactly lining up at the front door to come to Laramie. The success of players lies in the development of them throughout year to year, not how high their high school recrutiing rating is.

 

[McPeachy]

Not sure why people are bitching about the lack of hype from recruits. What was the new staff supposed to do? They had, what, 2 months to get something developed with recruits? It's not like the previous staff gave alot of help with high profile names, and they aren't exactly lining up at the front door to come to Laramie. The success of players lies in the development of them throughout year to year, not how high their high school recrutiing rating is.

The extra month Bohl & staff were humping it at NDSU (courtesy of Burman) may have something to do with it.

A little bit at least.

 

[JimmyDimes]

I trust Coach Bohl.

It will be interesting to follow this recruiting class and compare to DC's first class. Out of DC's first class, only 6 players stuck with the program....one is still with the program (Devyn Harris). That is sad.

 

[JohnnySunshine]

Not sure why people are bitching about the lack of hype from recruits. What was the new staff supposed to do? They had, what, 2 months to get something developed with recruits? It's not like the previous staff gave alot of help with high profile names, and they aren't exactly lining up at the front door to come to Laramie. The success of players lies in the development of them throughout year to year, not how high their high school recrutiing rating is.

The extra month Bohl & staff were humping it at NDSU (courtesy of Burman) may have something to do with it.

A little bit at least.

Not sure why it should. Laramie has been a revolving door of coaches for how many years now? It also might be that Coach Bohl isn't impressed at all with Star Ratings considering he's beat the chit out of them the last few years with a bunch of no namers up at NDSU too.

 

[McPeachy]

Not sure why people are bitching about the lack of hype from recruits. What was the new staff supposed to do? They had, what, 2 months to get something developed with recruits? It's not like the previous staff gave alot of help with high profile names, and they aren't exactly lining up at the front door to come to Laramie. The success of players lies in the development of them throughout year to year, not how high their high school recrutiing rating is.

The extra month Bohl & staff were humping it at NDSU (courtesy of Burman) may have something to do with it.

A little bit at least.

Not sure why it should. Laramie has been a revolving door of coaches for how many years now? It also might be that Coach Bohl isn't impressed at all with Star Ratings considering he's beat the chit out of them the last few years with a bunch of no namers up at NDSU too.

Huh? Everywhere is a revolving door of coaches - except maybe Bowden at FSU, Brown at Texas, Paterno at Pedophile State...and a small handful of others maybe.

It isn't about the stars (as I have stated many times). But timing certainly has had an impact on recruiting. How much, we will never know.

 

[YankPoke]

Not sure why people are bitching about the lack of hype from recruits. What was the new staff supposed to do? They had, what, 2 months to get something developed with recruits? It's not like the previous staff gave alot of help with high profile names, and they aren't exactly lining up at the front door to come to Laramie. The success of players lies in the development of them throughout year to year, not how high their high school recrutiing rating is.

The extra month Bohl & staff were humping it at NDSU (courtesy of Burman) may have something to do with it.

A little bit at least.[/quote
That had nothing to do with it at all, if anything him staying on and winning a third national title in a row as well as not ditching a school in the middle of the playoffs probably helped him in recruiting.

 

[POKE FAN]

I trust Coach Bohl.

It will be interesting to follow this recruiting class and compare to DC's first class. Out of DC's first class, only 6 players stuck with the program....one is still with the program (Devyn Harris). That is sad.

I agree. That is sad. That's no way to build a competitive program.

 

[McPeachy]

That had nothing to do with it at all, if anything him staying on and winning a third national title in a row as well as not ditching a school in the middle of the playoffs probably helped him in recruiting.

Disagree. And I will leave it at that.