Big Ten West Recruiting

[OmaHawk13]

With a closer look you can also see that some real differences lie with recruiting success at the skill positions when comparing IA, WI, and NE in recent history. We all know our limitations at WR but the RB position is an enigma. Think I read recently that Ferentz has had only two RB's drafted during his entire career as HC at Iowa.

Yeah I agree with this too. It seems like Iowa and Wisconsin have been more of a factory for OL and DL to the NFL. Nebraska has put a solid number of RB's and WR's in the NFL as of late.

I don't know if there is necessarily an advantage of either. But I would definitely like to see an improvement of the skill positions at Iowa. I feel like Ferentz's teams just have found ways to be successful even when the talent on the other side of the ball was greater in certain instances.

 

[ohhawk]

Skill position players drafted by NFL in last 5 years as an example.......WI (7), NE (6), and IA (2).......Stanzi & McNutt. Of the 13 skill position players that have been drafted between WI & NE, 7 are at the RB position.

 

[thefizz]

At running back, I think our numbers have been hurt by AIRBHG. Coker has one solid year before leaving after his sophomore year. Wegher would have been a star had he not had his personal issues. Jewel Hampton has some promise but couldn't stay healthy. Adam Robinson was a steady all around back that had health concerns and off field issues of his own. McCall I feel could have been a solid back had he stayed. Greg Garmon was a 3-4 star recruit that never took any meaningful snaps. And those are just the backs between 2009-2014. I'm sure if all of those guys had a full career, one or maybe two get drafted in the later rounds of the draft which would make our total look better.

 

[MoseSchrute]

It is pretty simple. Iowa recruits better when they win, in that they get higher recruiting service ranked kids. If Iowa can win 9+ games again this year, recruiting will be better for '17 and '18. Same with Wisconsin, they recruit better when they win. Nebraska has a much better tradition and name and will recruit better than either Iowa or Wisconsin for the foreseeable future.

Why any kid would want to play for coach lickspittle is beyond me.

 

[OmaHawk13]

Why any kid would want to play for coach lickspittle is beyond me.

lickspittle?

 

[OmaHawk13]

Another sign of our irrelevance on the recruiting trail:

SAN ANTONIO – The 2016 U.S. Army All-American players were polled this week by 247Sports on a number of topics, including which school they think has the best stadium and which school has the best game-day atmosphere.
Ohio State ranked high in the minds of the future college stars in the anonymous poll.
The players were asked which college stadium was their favorite of the ones they had been to, and OSU’s Ohio Stadium and Michigan’s Michigan Stadium came out on top with eight total votes each. The Horseshoe and The Big House edged out Tennessee’s Neyland Stadium with seven votes.
Ohio State came out on top again in the best game-day atmosphere category with 10 total votes when players were asked to name the best they had ever experienced. Alabama got nine votes, while Clemson and Texas A&M each received six.
The impression made on these star players by the schools has paid off on the recruiting trail. Ohio State currently has the No. 2-ranked recruiting class in the country according to the 247Sports team recruiting rankings and is positioned for a strong close.
The rest of the schools finishing in the top group mentioned above also currently have top-25 recruiting classes, led by No. 4 Alabama. Michigan (5), Clemson (10), Texas A&M (19) and Tennessee (24) have also been able to sell their facilities and atmosphere well to top recruits.
See the full results of the poll questions below.

Favorite College Stadium:
8 votes: Michigan, Ohio State
7: Tennessee
6: Alabama, Texas A&M
5: LSU, Notre Dame
4: Georgia
3: Clemson, Florida State, Michigan State, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Penn State, UCLA
2: BYU, Florida, Oregon, USC, Washington
1: Auburn, Baylor, Kentucky, Minnesota, Utah, Oklahoma State, Ole Miss, TCU, Virginia Tech, Wisconsin

Best Game-day Atmosphere:
10 votes: Ohio State
9: Alabama
6: Clemson, Texas A&M
5: LSU
4: Florida, Florida State, Michigan, Michigan State, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Ole Miss, Penn State
3: Auburn, Georgia, Oklahoma, Tennessee
2: Miami, Oregon, TCU, UCLA, USC, Wisconsin
1: Baylor, BYU, Kentucky, Utah, South Carolina, Stanford, Utah, Washington

Not even a mention of the word "Iowa" by a single recruit at that camp.

Sidenote**: Matt Farniok, 4-star O-Lineman (Top Iowa target) from South Dakota is at that camp. Has Iowa, Nebraska, and MSU in his finalists. Have to believe he said Nebraska or MSU for both of those questions considering Iowa doesn't have a single mention. I realize "favorite stadium" and "best gameday atmosphere" isn't everything for a recruit. But it can't be a great sign and its definitely something to look at.

 

[g11]

Skill position players drafted by NFL in last 5 years as an example.......WI (7), NE (6), and IA (2).......Stanzi & McNutt. Of the 13 skill position players that have been drafted between WI & NE, 7 are at the RB position.

annnnd 6 of them were busts?

 

[MoseSchrute]

lickspittle?

It refers to the irritating way he speaks.

 

[HawkeyeWalker]

A few thoughts.

1) I think we all agree recruiting, especially at a couple key positions, need to improve. That said, and I may be completely wrong, but I don't think we are that far away from where we need to be.

2) our focus on recruiting speed and skill positions absolutely effected our Lines recruiting in '12, '13', '14. which is why we had young guys and little less experienced depth.

3) AIRBHG, without question, has had a massive negative impact in overall skill and depth at RB, going all the way back to '09, prior to that, we had a pretty good tradition at RB (minus '04, which was crazy). This year may have finally been a turning point. I strongly believe really high, and abnormal, attrition in '9,'10,'11 directly led to a couple of really poor years in the last 5, namely '12.

4) 3.7* vs. 4.1*(just an example, put any +/- 4/10th camparison).....means a ton in "recruiting ranking", but I would contend, given the subjective nature of it and the "recruiting bump" given to players recruited by certain schools, there's negligible difference.

5) ^ like #4 above, once you get out of the top 15-20 ranked classes, I believe there is little to no difference between, say the 22nd and 30th ranked classes, or 32nd and 40th. That said, yes, we absolutely need to be getting into the top 40 more (with the caveat that a 40th ranked Iowa recruits would be the equivalent to a 30th ranked, say, Michigan recruits - see "recruiting bump".

6) I am liking our '16 class, not much "star" power, but it seems to be filling a number of holes, and I think it will produce well above its "rank". Finding a QB to replace CJ is the ???, along with continuing to limit attrition. '17, especially with a good/great '16 season, looks like it could be a top 25 class...again, gotta find a special QB.

It's an ultimate team game, maybe more so at Iowa, but 1-2 players, at key positions, make all the difference. CJ and and overall group performance by our RB core, turned a 6-8 win season into a 12 win season.

None of this is to say talent doesn't matter and that we don't need more of it.

I usually hate the "what if" game, but with last years O line....I think there is a chance we might still be playing, or would have at very least seen the Hawks in the CFP, with a B1G title.

 

[uihawk82]

I say the US ARmy all star group is a bit of a skewed group to worry about survey results. first off arent they almost all 4-5 star recruits. If so then a lot of them never visisted Iowa. first you need to get top athletes interested in your program, then you need to get them to visit. I expect the recruiting gurus on this site would say Iowa doesnt get a lot of 4-5 star visits in comparison to the top programs.

And lastly a lot of these 4-5 star recruits think college in the NFL proving grounds for them, the minor leagues for pro football, so they are focusing on game day experience, workout facilities, coaches, big game potential, etc rather than maybe focusing on the educational value. Iowa is a very good educational institution but not elite so the school might not have a program these top kids want to enroll in.