It’s disappointing that they didn’t get a commit or two from the 2027 class after the Jr Day visits. That seemed to be pretty predictable in years past and it felt like they had some momentum with a few.
2027 Recruiting Thread
- Thread starter Tom McAndrew
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In years past the staff had a relationship with the visitors for 1-3 years prior to the JR Days. Apples to Oranges.
I’m not sure any of these guys that have kept Penn State out of their top five or whatever in the last few days would’ve had them in the top five even with the old coaching staff.
I think we were in the top 10, but for a lot of these kids I think that their top two or three were made up a long time ago
I think we were in the top 10, but for a lot of these kids I think that their top two or three were made up a long time ago
Yes and no. Relationships can transfer also. Did this staff not have any relationships with 2027 recruits at ISU? Plus, again, where’s the recruiting bump. Are you telling me that it hasn’t at least crept into your mind that they should have a few 2027 guys on board by now? I realize it is still early, but I will say that it concerns me that they don’t have a proven lead recruiter for the DMV, which is our recruiting bread and butter. Plus, Pauley leaving hurts a lot in recruiting offensive skill players, specifically WRs. I hope I eat crow. I am perfectly willing to. I hope they knock it out of the park between now and Dec 2026 when the 2027 class signs, but this is not a good start. The question when Campbell was hired was, could he recruit at a level to succeed in the B1G. He can coach, for sure, but you need players to win. Maybe PSU doesn’t recruit itself as some still think.
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The LB has VT in his top 6. Coincidence? Doubtful. Therefore, PSU probably would have been squarely in his top 6 previously.
The problem is that the guys our staff had a relationship with are mostly Midwestern kids. If not for the distance, I think we'd have 3 commits for 2027 for sure. Then you factor in the recruits that were committed to the previous staff. Those kids are going to wait before they recommit just because of the experience they had with decommitting.
I think what we're going to see is kids who would have committed on JR Day, committing during Spring Practice and kids who may have been Spring commits become early Summer commits just because of the circumstances.
I hope you are right. Weren’t you pretty optimistic during Jr Day visits?
Yes and I still think we'll get the kid I expected to commit but perhaps I was hasty in thinking he would commit on his first visit.
Look for JR Day visitors returning for Spring visits.
False. The current staff should have had relationships with kids for 1-3 years also. Were they not recruiting at ISU?
Dont use distance as an excuse for 2027 class. Campbell had half his team follow from ISU. Isnt't Indiana and Cignetti the model? He did not move across town.
We see plenty of coaches move long distances and have kids follow.
Transferring to a new school when you already played for the coach and recruiting a HS kid who has never played for you are 2 different things.
In the recruiting world now, national recruiting and NIL may have largely neutralized location being as big of a factor as it once was. The BIG ranges the entire country now. PSU has been recruiting nationwide for years. Sure, our footprint has largely been the mid Atlantic and east coast, but PSU has recruited as far as California and Washington. The new staff should be able to continue that. Any midwestern kid that was interested in playing for this staff at ISU, I would think, would jump at the chance to play for them now at PSU. Unfortunately, we haven’t seen that yet. With that said, I hope there are bigger fish to catch than the ones that were being recruited to ISU. Time will tell.
Layton Von Brandt - Appoquinimink - Offensive Tackle
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PSU could really use this one.
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Its clearly too early to tell, but just a really broad thought re Campbell and recruiting. The things I think I like about him as a coach aren't necessarily aligned with big recruiting splashes. Disciplined, earnest, honest....nobody is bigger than the team. I feel like these recruits want "LOVE" and attention, just feels like a square peg round hole thing with Campbell and his staff. Not the types to promote themselves or overvalue pomp and social media clicks. Dare I say, they may appear "boring" to a recruit. I think it's the exact type of coach we need(why so many said it was such a great fit culturally) and one I'd want to play for, but I'm a fat white guy in his 40's. I think winning will fix any personality gaps in our recruiting process, but that's gonna take some time. 9 wins next year will get recruits attention, 10 wins and maybe we'll see a real bounce in top talent acquisition. This staff is just currently an unknown from a midwestern school recruits don't associate with and they seem to lack some of the bravado and splash that our previous staff had in living-rooms. Just my random thoughts, lol
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I seem to be a contrarian who thinks it's going to be difficult to complete against players like Jeremiah Smith and Caleb Downs by recruiting a bunch of 3* kids and coaching them up.
PSU's recent success came on the heels of the 2022 recruiting class that was ranked #6 with players like Allar, Singleton, DDS, Allen, Carter, Nelson, Durant, and Ioane. Then fill holes in the portal.
PSU's recent success came on the heels of the 2022 recruiting class that was ranked #6 with players like Allar, Singleton, DDS, Allen, Carter, Nelson, Durant, and Ioane. Then fill holes in the portal.
No offense, but PSU has been dominated by OSU with BGJ’s four stars! What did you see in BGJ’s future that the rest of us missed?
I will give the new coach a chance to prove his worth before I whine about his recruiting after 2 months
Did that stop you from.picking psu to win a natty and beat osu every year?
Which schools loaded with 3 stars were consistently beating osu? Indiana had 0 wins the last 30 years vs osu before this year. Is that your model?
Campbell averaged 6.9 wins a season at isu.
The theory that Campbell will win more at psu because he will get better players goes out the window if he does not actually get better players.
I think there is merit to what you are saying. It is really early so the next 6 months will tell us a lot about 2027. Campbell and staff need to get settled so I anticipate '27 not being as strong as future classes.
Campbell will need to pick up some 4 star guys and ideally keep us in in the top 15 for recruiting rankings on an annual basis. I think that is an achievable goal but the '27 class will struggle to hit that metric
Back to your point about the staff not being as flashy. I am fine with this. We are recruiting a certain type of player and if they want the flashy glitz then go somewhere else. One of the things that always bothered me about Franklin was he came across as more style than substance. He was not necessarily flashy but he was "salesy" yet he rarely delivered in big moments and games. I would rather have a guy who is not as much into the PR and social media but builds a culture of physical and mental toughness which translates into winning close big games.
I didn’t say anything about BGJ. To me it's more about PSU's inability to retain players or land new players in the portal other than ISU transfers. Some of the blame goes to Kraft for the bad timing of Franklin's firing along with a long shaky process to get a replacement.
I think we have enough to win 9 games this fall but I don't think the foundation is strong enough to compete with the top teams the next couple of years.
There is no need to compare Campbell to Franklin. Franklin did very well with recruiting, less so with in game management and coordinator hires. Before Penn State can consistently compete for top-tier prospects there first has to be a "proof of concept" at Penn State; how will Campbell and his staff perform at PSU with better talent. The 2027 class was going to be a wash in any event, as past relationships were severed and needed to be rebuilt. To Campbell's credit he realized that he needs a better class of recruit to compete in the B10 so he 1. only brought his top end talent from ISU and 2. only continued to recruit players established before his move if he believed they could compete. To a large extent it is a program reset.
People need to take him seriously when he says "character over talent." As should be clear to everyone, Campbell is very intentional. He is dead serious when he says he will take his time to build the right foundation for the program going forward. This means he will pass or be lukewarm on some recruits that other people are in a lather over and be all in on recruits that people will not appreciate. Good news is that next year's schedule is weak, so the floor is much higher than I would expect in a reset.
I am reserving judgement until I see the product on the field.
The firing of Franklin had to happen when it did. He publicly disrespected the university and the AD. I'll give you the search was amateurish and the Campbell hire bailed Kraft out. It remains to be seen how that plays out long term.
I think with our schedule our floor in the 26 season is at least 8-4 and 10-2 at best.
Campbell was losing to Ohio Bobcats, WVU, Cincinnati, Northern Iowa, Louisiana Lafayette.
How will he improve?
How will Campbell improve his ISU results if he does not improve on ISU recruiting?
All good points, but will he be given the time to establish the foundation he wishes to establish? How long will he get? It’s a multibillion dollar business now with big money donors having a lot of influence on decisions. People get real impatient, real fast when the product is substandard and the coach is making a lot of money. I’m not sure any coach nowadays is afforded much time if the results aren’t there. His old school approach will only work if the results follow. I hope next year produces 9+ wins. Even though the schedule appears weak, I think most games will be a dogfight.
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Lots to like about this kid as a RB good speed vision strength one step cuts.
Here is the deal. If they are impatient and do not give Campbell the latitude to implement his vision of the program (ostensibly the reason you hired him) they will pay dearly for it (financially at the very least). My sense is they will. His strategy to bridge to the past is one way to create a support structure that will provide him with exactly this latitude. Will there be disgruntled voices if he does not win x games? Sure, but these will likely be whiners on message boards whose opinion means little in the eyes of those with the wallets supporting the program.
I have no expectations on how many games he will win. Year three will be the tell.
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Year one is schedule friendly and with a SR QB. Year two will be the tough one. Dont know the schedule, plenty of his ISU guys will be gone, some strong PSU guys gone as well and then a small, not high level recruits in the 26 class and breaking in a new QB. Unless they get a ton of big time guys/QB in the portal, I would assume 8 wins would be good.
Year three though could be very good if this current group of RS Fresh/Sophs/RS Sophs are seniors. Manske's 2nd year as QB, Howard still at WR, Martin at RB, some solid young OT, Dixson, Joseph, granville, Ford, Lavar, etc on D. The 27 recruiting class is huge.