Football recruiting rankings: Comparative data

Good data. I've never gone that deep, but pretty much have been saying the same things for a decade; low population state, not in the sun belt, without a rich history of titles and competing against Mich, OSU, PSU who are in huge population states and do have such histories....if you have a history of winning and are the one stop shop in your state (like Nebraska) you can overcome some things.

Iowa's dark era from 1962-1980, and losing Evy, set them back in ways they may not ever overcome.

We all want Iowa to do great every year...but there are obstacles in place that Iowa can do next to nothing about that are always going to be there.
 
This is why Iowa should go with a system that is an "equalizer" of sorts-kind of how teams have beaten Iowa in the past, even in years when Iowa had outstanding talent--that is a system that keeps defenses off-balance and scores a lot of points...see: N'western/IU/Oregon (although now they have tons of talent, it wasn't always the case)/Boise St./

THis proves that Iowa cannot just line up and run off tackle, run post routes, and the occasional down and out,,,and expect to overcome the talent differences. That said, Iowa has a head coach who does not know how to implement an offense like that (IMO) and seems to dislike that style to his core (this is on record).
 
The flipside to the argument is that Iowa SHOULD, in theory, have an easier time attracting pro-style recruits here because so few of their peer schools run a similar system and shouldn't be recruiting the same players. If we turn into just another crappy mid-level spread team we will become Northwestern, Purdue, Illinois, etc.The most interesting point to be gleaned from the OP is how closely recruiting rank withing the conference matches up to winning percentage. In other words, recruiting rankings matter and are extremely important in most cases.
 
Well I guess we should just be happy with what we've been seeing out of this staff on the recruiting front because rankings mean little and we can never overcome all the inherent obstacles that surround us.

Persoanally I subscribe to the school that believes a good head coach who surrounds himself with a good staff is capable of turning programs around and achieving good things regardless of most obstacles..........numerous coaches and staffs prove this each year.

People make the difference.
 
ohhawk said:
Well I guess we should just be happy with what we've been seeing out of this staff on the recruiting front because rankings mean little and we can never overcome all the inherent obstacles that surround us.

Persoanally I subscribe to the school that believes a good head coach who surrounds himself with a good staff is capable of turning programs around and achieving good things regardless of most obstacles..........numerous coaches and staffs prove this each year.

People make the difference.
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i agree--the fact that it happens in Boise is pretty remarkable. The fact that Illinois cannot find that guy is somewhat frightening. I'm not sure that Barta has the ability to find that guy at Iowa and KF does not have the incentive to recapture the stuff needed to make a diff.
 
GoHawks76 said:
The flipside to the argument is that Iowa SHOULD, in theory, have an easier time attracting pro-style recruits here because so few of their peer schools run a similar system and shouldn't be recruiting the same players. If we turn into just another crappy mid-level spread team we will become Northwestern, Purdue, Illinois, etc.The most interesting point to be gleaned from the OP is how closely recruiting rank withing the conference matches up to winning percentage. In other words, recruiting rankings matter and are extremely important in most cases.
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I agree with this, however it seems many kids aren't really looking to be in a traditional pro-style offense unless it is at Alabama or a top tier team.
 
Really superior work, HawkinGoferland. I'd really like to see this cross referenced against the numbers of five and four star players in the Midwest. The vast bulk of the elite talent is found in the south(including Texas) and California. The pie that all the schools in the conference have been sharing has been shrunk and that particularly has hurt the non-national recruiters in the conference. Part of the way the conference has compensated for this is superior player development at places like Iowa and UW, and to some lesser extent MSU. Hopefully with conference expansion richer recruiting states like Maryland/DC, and New Jersey(both of these states are pretty deep in quality preps) and other likely expansion states(VA, NC, GA). The conference needs to use added TV revenue to upgrade facilities to compete with the SEC. We'll have more money(TV contracts) and a better recruiting profile from expansion, but will we fully utilize those advantages? There's no "sugar daddy" ala Phil Knight or T. Boone Pickens for Iowa, but we should have enhanced revenues we need to take advantage of that.
 
dave3912 said:
I agree with this, however it seems many kids aren't really looking to be in a traditional pro-style offense unless it is at Alabama or a top tier team.
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A lot of kids don't have a choice in what type of offense they want to play in. If a kid is 6-5 with a rocket arm, he's not going to be running the read option. Not saying we can get that kid at Iowa, per se, but we should be able to find a reasonable facsimile among all of the players that don't fit the spread mold, and there are a ton of them out there. Shonn Greene for example would have been completely wasted in a spread O. OL should theoretically prefer to play at a school like Iowa than for most spread teams. I can't believe those big guys enjoy running 80 or 90 plays a game and sprinting down the field after every big play.

This also extends to defense as most of these spread teams have their D on the field for an inordinate amount of time and that often results in some pretty bad stats. I cannot fathom why any decent defensive player would want to play on one of these spread teams unless it's their local team or a national power like Oregon.
 
GoHawks76 said:
A lot of kids don't have a choice in what type of offense they want to play in. If a kid is 6-5 with a rocket arm, he's not going to be running the read option. Not saying we can get that kid at Iowa, per se, but we should be able to find a reasonable facsimile among all of the players that don't fit the spread mold, and there are a ton of them out there. Shonn Greene for example would have been completely wasted in a spread O. OL should theoretically prefer to play at a school like Iowa than for most spread teams. I can't believe those big guys enjoy running 80 or 90 plays a game and sprinting down the field after every big play.

This also extends to defense as most of these spread teams have their D on the field for an inordinate amount of time and that often results in some pretty bad stats. I cannot fathom why any decent defensive player would want to play on one of these spread teams unless it's their local team or a national power like Oregon.
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I get what you are saying, but a 6-5 kid with a rocket arm is going to go to a place like Okie State. He is going to go to a school where is allowed to use his rocket arm all the time. Iowa isn't that place, Iowa is traditionally a run first offense. That really hurts big time QBs from coming here. Iowa is a run first between the tackles RB but yet Iowa struggles to get a top 10-15 national RB recruit. That blows me away more than QBs I understand why they can't get a really good QB but I would think that RB's and OL's national ranked would love Iowa. Not saying that Iowa hasn't gotten good OL recruits but not as good as other schools that put less in the NFL.

Shonn Greene is a once in a decade RB at Iowa. Agreed he is useless in the spread but because he can't catch the ball out of the backfield worth a crap.

Iowa doesn't recruit well, I think that is a downfall of KF, not the location or the state population.
 
dave3912 said:
I get what you are saying, but a 6-5 kid with a rocket arm is going to go to a place like Okie State. He is going to go to a school where is allowed to use his rocket arm all the time. Iowa isn't that place, Iowa is traditionally a run first offense. That really hurts big time QBs from coming here. Iowa is a run first between the tackles RB but yet Iowa struggles to get a top 10-15 national RB recruit. That blows me away more than QBs I understand why they can't get a really good QB but I would think that RB's and OL's national ranked would love Iowa. Not saying that Iowa hasn't gotten good OL recruits but not as good as other schools that put less in the NFL.

Shonn Greene is a once in a decade RB at Iowa. Agreed he is useless in the spread but because he can't catch the ball out of the backfield worth a crap.

Iowa doesn't recruit well, I think that is a downfall of KF, not the location or the state population.
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I don't recall Iowa ever recruiting particularly well Hayden got one "big time" QB in Maguire transferred. There was a short period when Hayden recruited well with Harmon, Station and those guys but he still got smoked in the Rose Bowl.

The data above show that the conference as a whole gets fewer than average top level recruits and that the big two dominate what the Bigten does get.
I don't really give a crap if Iowa fires Ferentz. It won't make any difference. I've given up on the myth that there is real competition in the NCAA. The playing field is terribly unlevel and getting more so for northern teams. I don't see Iowa ever breaking out (regularly) of its traditional mediocrity.
 
kmurp said:
I don't recall Iowa ever recruiting particularly well Hayden got one "big time" QB in Maguire transferred. There was a short period when Hayden recruited well with Harmon, Station and those guys but he still got smoked in the Rose Bowl.

The data above show that the conference as a whole gets fewer than average top level recruits and that the big two dominate what the Bigten does get.
I don't really give a crap if Iowa fires Ferentz. It won't make any difference. I've given up on the myth that there is real competition in the NCAA. The playing field is terribly unlevel and getting more so for northern teams. I don't see Iowa ever breaking out (regularly) of its traditional mediocrity.
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Hayden actually got two "big time" QBs. Parade ranked Matt Rodgers as the #2 QB recruit in the nation as a senior in high school.
 
Interesting to note, that High Schools in the B1G footprint and in particular, Iowa and its border states (aka Iowa's main recruiting grounds) are producing very few NFL 1st Round talent.

Over the past 4 NFL drafts 2013-10, IA, IL, MN, MO, and NE have only produced 8 of 128 NFL 1st Rounders (Iowa none). B1G states have only produced 25 1st Rounders over same time period. In contrast FL (17), TX (12) , CA (8), GA (10), SC (5) and AL (8) produced 60 such players.

Compare that to previous 4-yr cycle 2009-06. IA, IL, MN, MO and NE only produced 5 1st Rounders as compared to B1G states producing 21 1st Rounders (9 from OH). FL (15), TX, (14), CA (13), VA (7), AL (5) produced 54 top draftees.

Over past 8 years then, B1G footprint has produced just 41 NFL 1st Rounders which is 16% of total.

Not surprising, but the 4 states of FL, TX, CA, and AL produced 92 NFL 1st Rounders which is 36% of total.

Where is the top football talent? A state-by-state breakdown


B1G country producing fewer top NFL picks - Big Ten Blog - ESPN
 
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Also according to this report, from 2014-2011 86 of the 133 5-star rated recruits played high school ball in 6 states: FL (28), TX (19), CA (13), GA (10), AL (8), LA (8). That is 2/3 of them in just 5 southern states plus CA. Kids we are absolutely not going to get.

There were only 6 Blue Chippers from Iowa and bordering states in those 4 classes and only 12 overall in B1G states....adding Maryland and Rutgers to mix, states of NJ and MA add 9 more 5-stars to footprint.
 
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HawkinGoferLand said:
Interesting to note, that High Schools in the B1G footprint and in particular, Iowa and its border states (aka Iowa's main recruiting grounds) are producing very few NFL 1st Round talent.

Over the past 4 NFL drafts 2013-10, IA, IL, MN, MO, and NE have only produced 8 of 128 NFL 1st Rounders (Iowa none). B1G states have only produced 25 1st Rounders over same time period. In contrast FL (17), TX (12) , CA (8), GA (10), SC (5) and AL (8) produced 60 such players.

Compare that to previous 4-yr cycle 2009-06. IA, IL, MN, MO and NE only produced 5 1st Rounders as compared to B1G states producing 21 1st Rounders (9 from OH). FL (15), TX, (14), CA (13), VA (7), AL (5) produced 54 top draftees.

Over past 8 years then, B1G footprint has produced just 41 NFL 1st Rounders which is 16% of total.

Not surprising, but the 4 states of FL, TX, CA, and AL produced 92 NFL 1st Rounders which is 36% of total.

Where is the top football talent? A state-by-state breakdown


B1G country producing fewer top NFL picks - Big Ten Blog - ESPN
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The clowns sure seem to be hitting FL hard for recruits. Wonder what kind of effect this will have on the program. Their 2013 class has 9 kids from FL and 6 kids from TX. Not going to lie, wish our recruiting focused more in those areas.
 
Current rosters with players from either FL, TX, or CA.................ISU has nearly 40 and Iowa has approximately 10. ISU has been recruiting these states for several years not just the upcoming class. They've shown more team speed and quickness on the field than ourselves in recent games between the two programs as well. Like Iowa, they rarely get the top tier player with speed and size though.
 
ohhawk said:
Current rosters with players from either FL, TX, or CA.................ISU has nearly 40 and Iowa has approximately 10. ISU has been recruiting these states for several years not just the upcoming class. They've shown more team speed and quickness on the field than ourselves in recent games between the two programs as well. Like Iowa, they rarely get the top tier player with speed and size though.
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And yet their best players over the last 4 years were two Midwestern LB, and a big OL (granted from Texas, but not speedy) You don't see any of the vaunted "speed" going anywhere. It is like ISU fan that really thinks they have so much talent at the RB position.....it is comical really.
 
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