DeathValleyMike
08-20-2008, 12:59 AM
We all know that in recent years the Clemson coaching / recruiting staff have become some of the best in the country, or at least the south east ! Bowden and company have made progress with the hiring of some energetic young recruiters like Billy Napier and Dabo Swinney. The promise of playing time and location are but a few of the instruments used to persuade young talent to come to Clemson.
At the "Shingle" schools it is much easier to recruit top talent year in and year out . By shinlge schools ,I mean the schools like Michigan, and Southern California where the coaches only need to take the job and hang out their shingle.
This week I have been in Georgia and I have noticed a ploy that has to be instrumented primarily for recruiting for the Peach State Bulldogs . I have seen at least 3 different comercials , and several radio comercials with Mark Richt in them. He is literally on every sign, and other means of publicity. In short he is the equivalent of a rock star in Georgia ! The recruiting prospects in the state see his face and the UGA billboards etc everywhere they turn ! Not a bad idea !
At Duke David Cutcliff has started rounding up a recruiting class fopr 2009 that might surprise you ! He is pulling a few 4 star athletes and several 3 star athletes. ! That is unheard of at Duke !With strict academic standards and the history of Duke being a basketball school, it's somewhat surprising that he can come in ,in his first year and put together such a class. I imagine that his former ties to UT and the fact that he coached Eli Manning are major attributes to his success in the homes of these young football players .
It's easy to understand why a player would want to go to a tradition rich school like Ohio State or Oklahoma , just based on their past .
Getting an athlete on campus for the "gameday experience is a plus as well. But how do the staffs at a school like Duke pull recruits the way they are? What makes a kid that could play at any number of schools choose to go to a smaller school.
I looked at recruiting sites and message boards all over the country while sharing these thoughts with you. The best answer I can come up with is Hype, salespitch, history , tradition and notoriety.
With this in mind lets take a simplified look at Clemson recruiting.
Hype - We have had the hype for a couple of years,and this year it is thick !
Notoriety- I think that our coach's last name gets his foot in the door in alot of homes.
Salespitch - If Clemson can make good on the hype this year we will see recruiting "really" take off !
The history and tradition are already here !
So the next time we get into a discussion about recruiting, stop and look at the big picture ! We are closer than we might think !
At the "Shingle" schools it is much easier to recruit top talent year in and year out . By shinlge schools ,I mean the schools like Michigan, and Southern California where the coaches only need to take the job and hang out their shingle.
This week I have been in Georgia and I have noticed a ploy that has to be instrumented primarily for recruiting for the Peach State Bulldogs . I have seen at least 3 different comercials , and several radio comercials with Mark Richt in them. He is literally on every sign, and other means of publicity. In short he is the equivalent of a rock star in Georgia ! The recruiting prospects in the state see his face and the UGA billboards etc everywhere they turn ! Not a bad idea !
At Duke David Cutcliff has started rounding up a recruiting class fopr 2009 that might surprise you ! He is pulling a few 4 star athletes and several 3 star athletes. ! That is unheard of at Duke !With strict academic standards and the history of Duke being a basketball school, it's somewhat surprising that he can come in ,in his first year and put together such a class. I imagine that his former ties to UT and the fact that he coached Eli Manning are major attributes to his success in the homes of these young football players .
It's easy to understand why a player would want to go to a tradition rich school like Ohio State or Oklahoma , just based on their past .
Getting an athlete on campus for the "gameday experience is a plus as well. But how do the staffs at a school like Duke pull recruits the way they are? What makes a kid that could play at any number of schools choose to go to a smaller school.
I looked at recruiting sites and message boards all over the country while sharing these thoughts with you. The best answer I can come up with is Hype, salespitch, history , tradition and notoriety.
With this in mind lets take a simplified look at Clemson recruiting.
Hype - We have had the hype for a couple of years,and this year it is thick !
Notoriety- I think that our coach's last name gets his foot in the door in alot of homes.
Salespitch - If Clemson can make good on the hype this year we will see recruiting "really" take off !
The history and tradition are already here !
So the next time we get into a discussion about recruiting, stop and look at the big picture ! We are closer than we might think !