2024 Recruiting Thread

[JesuitIvy]

I think this season shows Haf may be better with the portal than with high school recruiting - Kye, Castellanos, the o-line. Until the wheels fell off the season, I was even starting to believe the portal could be a boon for a place like BC - get the guys who end up on the bench or disillusioned with the baby rapist programs but still want to play at levcel that will get them some notice for the next step[

[DomingoOrtiz]

One of them just announced publicly.

6’2” 208 Safety Desman Stephens out of Michigan

Decommitted

To USC

[eagle33]

class is ranked last in the acc. pathetic.

[DomingoOrtiz]

Pape Abdoulaye Sy, OT Senegal

[DomingoOrtiz]

IOL Jadon Lafontant

[eepstein0]

Aside from the kid from Senegal (who's clearly recruited as a project) and Comella (I get he's a legacy, but what are we doing here?) every other recruit has at minimum 1 P5 offer and many G5 offers. Probably not as disastrous as it first appeared.

[claver2010]

hasselbeck is taking an official visit this weekend

[BCSUPERFAN22]

Jonathan Montague committed … 6’2 dual threat qb from NC.

Not sure if this means anything with re: to Henry Hasselbeck but can’t imagine they take 2 QBs in a small class like this unless plan is to move Montague later since he is fairly athletic

[claver2010]

have no idea about the level of play which is probably why we're his only p5 offer but ran for 2600 yards and 41 tds

[HJS]

His highlights show a hansen (that is to say... a man among boys). Way bigger and way faster than everyone else on the field. That said, when it comes to QBs, I find that you can tell arm talent based on their ability to throw balls on a rope. The long, arched throws that flutter softly into an instride WR are INTs at the next level. Unfortunately, I didn't see any slants or outs in the highlights. But, love the idea of bringing in more athletic QBs. It's something we should've been doing annually since PaulPete, Chris Crane and Cesspool.

[DomingoOrtiz]

Any surprises today?

[DomingoOrtiz]

hasselbeck is taking an official visit this weekend

UCLA

[HJS]

Definitely trust Hafley's ability to evaluate QB prospects over Chip Kelly.

[eepstein0]

Sy'air Torrence committed. Bunch of P5 offers.

[eagle33]

[innocentbystander]

Sad.

Just fire him now please.

[DomingoOrtiz]

Omar Thornton, DB from Florida

[eepstein0]

Omar Thornton, DB from Florida

I'm pretty skeptical of kids from really high profile schools who have no P5 offers. Just about every coach in the country has seen him at this point and deemed he can't play at this level of football.

[ATLeagle]

Omar Thornton, DB from Florida

I'm pretty skeptical of kids from really high profile schools who have no P5 offers. Just about every coach in the country has seen him at this point and deemed he can't play at this level of football.

I agree. If you're going to take a high schooler now, make sure it is either a superstar or late bloomer under the radar guy. If you are taking a meh guy from a major high school program in a hotbed, might as well grab another 22 year old portal guy who you know can contribute.

[HJS]

I'm not too sure I agree. I see him just as easily as a player where we all go "How the eff does a program like FAU get these sick athletes?" Or, when they transfer from UAB, we say "Damn, that kid is great, but we have no shot... has SEC written all over him." He was Defensive Player of the Year for his division. So, the production must be there. Probably some sort of measurable that the BabyRapists shied away from. That said, the risk with a kid like this is that he is an obvious transfer candidate as soon as he shows he can play. Kids like Zay are very, very rare.

[DomingoOrtiz]

I'm not too sure I agree. I see him just as easily as a player where we all go "How the eff does a program like FAU get these sick athletes?" Or, when they transfer from UAB, we say "Damn, that kid is great, but we have no shot... has SEC written all over him." He was Defensive Player of the Year for his division. So, the production must be there. Probably some sort of measurable that the BabyRapists shied away from. That said, the risk with a kid like this is that he is an obvious transfer candidate as soon as he shows he can play. Kids like Zay are very, very rare.

He transferred his SR and played LB last season, so that may have had something to do with the lack of interest.

[hansen]

Omar Thornton, DB from Florida

Interesting. At the early signing day press conference, Hafley said they were done recruiting 2024 high schoolers so I’m wondering what changed.

[eepstein0]

I'm not too sure I agree. I see him just as easily as a player where we all go "How the eff does a program like FAU get these sick athletes?" Or, when they transfer from UAB, we say "Damn, that kid is great, but we have no shot... has SEC written all over him." He was Defensive Player of the Year for his division. So, the production must be there. Probably some sort of measurable that the BabyRapists shied away from. That said, the risk with a kid like this is that he is an obvious transfer candidate as soon as he shows he can play. Kids like Zay are very, very rare.

He transferred his SR and played LB last season, so that may have had something to do with the lack of interest.

All the P5 coaches still roll through there it's one of the best football programs in the country. I hope he's awesome (we could certain use some better safeties and LBs) but Hafley has been so bad at player development I have pretty little faith.

[MF73-Eleazar]

ATH from FL.

https://twitter.com/NedrickBoldin/statu ... 8242422236

[OCs_Inner_Eagle]

I'm not too sure I agree. I see him just as easily as a player where we all go "How the eff does a program like FAU get these sick athletes?" Or, when they transfer from UAB, we say "Damn, that kid is great, but we have no shot... has SEC written all over him." He was Defensive Player of the Year for his division. So, the production must be there. Probably some sort of measurable that the BabyRapists shied away from. That said, the risk with a kid like this is that he is an obvious transfer candidate as soon as he shows he can play. Kids like Zay are very, very rare.

NIL helps BC in that it brings the $ out in the open. Where we really need to adjust is the free transferring. Traditionally schools like BC and Wake have been good at developing players. Couple the education and the program's recognition of the player's quality via playing time, and kids who blossomed would often stick it out at BC rather than chance sitting out a year to transfer into a factory where they might fall behind in that year off the field.

BC's biggest gift in the era of free transfers is the ability to give HS recruits an immediate opportunity to prove themselves on the playing field against a Power-4 schedule. BC needs to lean into selling playing time at positions where players are most likely to "transfer up" eventually. Meanwhile they need to recruit for development where players are less likely to take that chance, using NIL $ to "raise the cost" for those players of leaving BC.

The positions where your stats are a shortcut to measuring your value are the easiest ones to prove yourself and then enter the Portal. So QB, WR, RB, CB, pass rushers, (receiving) tight ends, and kicking specialists. We would have the hardest time keeping them after they develop at BC. But HS kids can see playing time immediately available that won't be there at many of the factories offering more NIL $ out of HS. I wouldn't want to trust a new freshman QB each year to be the starter (I'll discuss that below). But the learning curve is shortest for some of these players where they can focus on hitting the hole, taking the top off the defense, or tracking the other team's receiver man-to-man. We'll have a better chance to get gamebreaking talent at these positions. They'll be young and they'll move on after a year or two of production, but I'd rather have a rotation of these kids coming in year after year than no one who can bust the opponent's coverage.

Teams have more technology to help their evaluative process, but I still think linemen, linebackers, safeties and (blocking) tight ends are the players most likely to develop and stay. I'm not sure other coaching staffs take metrics like PFF scores as a given without watching film themselves. I would think these are the players who take the biggest risk in disrupting their education and their development unless they know they are locked into a starting spot at the factory. I tend to think we can compete here financially as the factories dedicate their resources towards skill position players (plus pass rushers and maybe the QB's blindside tackle).

So we build the foundation of the team on the line of scrimmage (as we have with our better teams), and we try to get HS recruits to be our gamebreakers over their freshman and possibly sophomore years. Finally BC needs to patch with players who can take on defined roles that fill in around the rest of the team. I would look to bring in a QB from the Portal, someone who lost out on the starting position at a prominent program or who has proven himself at the FCS or G5 level. Plenty of productive QBs wound up in the Portal this past January; someone like Matthew Sluka (who ended up at UNLV in late January) would be a great choice to run the offense. BC can also look to G5 and FCS transfers looking to prove themselves in P5 to fill in gaps on special teams, as possession receivers, and as players with experience their younger teammates can draw upon.

Teams are now going to be built on a season-by-season basis, so having some sort of system will be more important for establishing continuity and a brand that potential players understand. BC would be selling playing time in the Power-4, an excellent education in a high-end city, and the opportunity to learn from a coaching staff who knows how to succeed in the NFL. I think that will be attractive and raise the ceiling for us.