Blades hasnt made it yet
- Thread starter suhnami_rivals
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Schaefer said this morning that Blades was not looking good at all and that Watts was worse off. But notvto run with it because something might change. He didn't sound confident that it had a chance of changing, so I am running with it. Hope I am wrong.
2017 recruiting class really went to crap early. I guess all 3 could still end up at Nebraska, but I know I was hard on Bo for his recruiting classes not sticking past their sophomore years.
I'm not gonna hammer on Riley yet but I hope we start getting this figured out.
I'm not gonna hammer on Riley yet but I hope we start getting this figured out.
Coach's job is to get players to say yes, he has no control of kids getting the necessary grades or test scores.
Keyshawn, you could put on Riley. Not Blades or Watts.
Nebraska has always lived on the edge with quality athletes that have had acedemics issues. Sometimes things turn out well. Sometimes you don't. Always suspicious of late flips coming Huskers way that have seemed destined for other programs. Can't remember having two in the same year that were this highly regarded.
They were already undersigning in that class, so they were playing with fire by not going after sure qualifiers. This is really going to hurt.
Maybe not so much on the DB as we seem to be stirring a lot of interest with quality individuals this recruiting cycles. This might cause us to jump back in on some defensive line recruits. Hope we can make up for lost ground.
What's to spin? Either he makes it here or he doesn't. I don't know how spin might be applied here...
Disagree 100%. Getting kids who you know are actually going to make it to campus to say yes is the coach's job. I hope nobody is giving Bo credit for signing Bubba Starling and Monte Harrison.
Could go either way with that. Coach 100% has the ability to know how a kid is doing in class. If it were 6 or 7 guys instead of 1 or 2 we'd be singing a different tune.
But of course every kid is gonna say, "Oh yeah, I'll get my grades up, I'm sorry about that, I'll work harder, I'll definitely qualify, don't worry." So it's not like the staff has a crystal ball to see which ones will actually follow through on that.
Just another reason why I advocate taking more recruits and finding a place for them rather than the other way around.
Yeah you have to take some risks for elite guys but when they don't make it you don't get to say "how could I have known?" Ultimately it's on the kid to get qualified but coaches know way more about these kids than we ever will. You don't get credit for guys who say yes that can't reach minimum requirements to be admitted.
Coach's job is to recruit players who can qualify.
Exactly. These coaches had to know that he was an academic risk. But they probably thought he was worth the risk.
Blades situation is/was a tough one...3-4 high schools attended, gathering information, credits, curriculums, etc. Top 5 CB in the country, you go ahead and roll the dice. Stewart and Banker had completely failed in getting Nebraska in line for DBs last cycle.
Sure they do and did. And they hoped both would pick football but they didn't. They both took spots on the signing day class and were included in the 85 until they didn't enroll.
If Watts and Blades had said they wanted to come to Nebraska and we didn't get the commitments everyone would be saying you have to take a chance on guys like this. It's typical Monday morning QBing.
+1. This was a classic Pelini move (same with Watts). Go after talented recruits that are high academic risks after the other high profile programs have backed off because they have other options that are as equally talented. Sign them and have the fan base go all ga-ga over recruits that aren't going to get on campus. Do your homework and quit going after this low hanging fruit because the competition has backed off
Evidently, he's only worth the risk if he makes it. Haven't you been paying attention in this thread?
I agree 100% and there is a difference between players transferring early or getting kicked off the team vs recruits not making it on campus.
I just remember myself and many others being frustrated with Bo counting on Monte Harrison and Bubba Starling to come to Nebraska when it was pretty well known early they were going to pursue baseball.
So I guess is Watts and Blades not qualifying (potentially) a surpise to our staff or did they know this was coming the entire time?
If not a surprise then why didn't we full their spots (unless we're hoping they stick with us after going the Juco route). If surprised then I'd still leave a tiny bit of blame on our coaches for not staying on top of these kids and double/triple checking the kids' status.
I get its the recruits responsibility but if you want a stud player you go the extra mile to ensure he can make it here.
When it comes to attitude I have to put that on the kid.
I'm am 100% into self accountability. So I personally don't put KJJ on Riley.
I can however see how someone could say that Riley could have been more proactive in ensuring he was doing what he needed to do before it got to him leaving.
Good points and I agree with you.
Maybe Riley did everything he could to help KJJ before it was decided that KJJ needed a "break" because of his actions. There are three individuals that truly know the answers to all of the questions regarding this situation...Coach Riley, KJ Sr. and KJJ. Everything else is pure speculation.
If he can indeed enroll and take a redshirt academic year, then yes, he was worth the risk. Is that the case for sure? If so, then I stand corrected. But taking kids that are academic risks in an already small class is really setting yourself up for depth issues. This definitely takes the luster off of this class if Blades and Watts don't make it in as academic redshirts.
I don't disagree that if we lose Blades and Watts this class looks totally different. I do think it is telling that other big name programs continued to pursue these talents to the very end as well, so in our coaches' eyes, it was worth the risk.
Blades was also salve for the wounds left by Jamire Calvin... we were burned there as well.
It begs the question, should we have not gone after these guys and gone a safer route? Maybe, but sometimes the potential reward outweighs the risk. If you've got a top 5 DB ready to sign, you take it. I can't see other top schools in need of DBs saying no if they were in a similar situation...
It's a slippery slope though, and it would appear to have impacted our depth under BP.
Any news on him still qualifying for an academic redshirt?
Definitely a slippery slope. You can't formulate a class this way. You take a chance on a few at most... it seems to me that we have said no to more than one high profile recruit already due to grades... the coaches must have felt the risk was worth it with Blades and Watts...
Maybe we're getting to the place where we don't have to take a chance anymore... recruiting keeps getting better.
I agree but I can't help but wonder what MR did behind the scenes. For all we know he may have done a lotto help the kid and gave him a couple chances, especially knowing the relationship with KJ.
I have zero problem with taking these guys, we should continue to take risks on guys this good. But if they dont make it we can't laud the staff and say great job, not your fault. They knew the risks and took them anyways, if they never get in that's a failure on the staff as well as the kids.
I disagree that these guys were being pursued aggressively to the end. Just because the schollie offer wasn't officially pulled doesn't mean that programs didn't back way off in favor of less risky prospects
You may be right, I'm not connected to be able to say.
I just know that we did stop pursuing some when grades were an issue, but not these guys. The coaches must have figured the risk was worth taking, and felt like there was a decent chance they make the grades.
With Blades you are talking about potentially the fastest football player in the country. With DB skills. With the prototypical frame you are looking for. You stay on that guy no matter what.