Recruiting Trends Podcast

[ArvadaHawk]

Jon, I just listened to your "Recruiting Trends" podcast with Deace. Deace threw out some interesting facts and a couple that are alarming:

* The NCAA allows (currently) a school to have an unlimited quantity of "support staff" when it comes to recruiting.
* Iowa is the only B1G school that has had declining recruiting class player rankings in each of the last 4 years.
* Iowa's average recruiting class player rankings is lower than Northwestern's.

So, I need to ask. Do you know, or can you determine, the scope of Iowa's current "support staff" when it comes to recruiting? I don't know that I've ever read or heard this defined. Who are they? What are their backgrounds/experience? With the new coaching assignments, recently announced, I was dubious to see that our "recruiting coordinator" had duties and responsibilities that are not recruiting related.

Is this a topic you could research and post information on? I just get the feeling Iowa is living in the recruiting dark ages. Iowa needs to become innovative, in recruiting, now. Thanks in advance.

 

[Hawknick]

A couple of points I would like to make about recruiting.

This recruiting class for Iowa is undervalued. The Paulsens would have been 4*s had they went to camps and signed later. I also see a few 2*s that should have been 3* such as Graham (too late) and Falconer (too early).

I also believe that the NCAA needs to step in and do something to stop oversigning. It is unethical and can seriously hurt players academically and athletically. More programs are being forced to do it and that is not a good thing because more kids will be hurt. It should be stopped so that no school is put in a position where they have to be unethical.

 

[ArvadaHawk]

A couple of points I would like to make about recruiting.

This recruiting class for Iowa is undervalued. The Paulsens would have been 4*s had they went to camps and signed later. I also see a few 2*s that should have been 3* such as Graham (too late) and Falconer (too early).

I also believe that the NCAA needs to step in and do something to stop oversigning. It is unethical and can seriously hurt players academically and athletically. More programs are being forced to do it and that is not a good thing because more kids will be hurt. It should be stopped so that no school is put in a position where they have to be unethical.

I can't disagree with you, Nick. But Iowa needs to be playing the game under the same allowable conditions as everyone else. UM is considered an elite academic school, in some circles, yet the recruit at a high level. I am not saying Iowa can recruit at UM's level, but we can certainly improve our recruiting, a great deal, without sacrificing our academic quality. You don't have to choose between the two.

 

[DDThompson]

I am unconvinced that migration of people out of big ten footprint has anything to do with the SEC dominating college football the last decade or that the northern states are severely disadvantaged by the migration.

1. What is the total net migration in/out of those footprints. It would need to be in the multiple millions to have a huge effect. If Iowa and Nebraska with 5 million puts out 7-10 DI players then it stands to reason that a loss of 5 million to the south equals a similiar loss in DI talent.

2. How much of the population migration out of the north are baby boomers moving south to retire to a warmer climate vs. Post-boomers looking for jobs? Cuz one thing I do know: baby boomers ain't making babies no more and if they ard then the 2nd round of babies are not college age yet.

3. If Jim Delaney really believed that the big ten needed to follow the population south then why did he move the big ten east into states that are "draining" population points? I'm thinking baif--
N-switch at the time of expansion.

It's cyclical. Big ten just hasn't produced good coaching lately. MAC coaches fail and old coaches not innovative.

 

[knighthawk13]

I am unconvinced that migration of people out of big ten footprint has anything to do with the SEC dominating college football the last decade or that the northern states are severely disadvantaged by the migration.

1. What is the total net migration in/out of those footprints. It would need to be in the multiple millions to have a huge effect. If Iowa and Nebraska with 5 million puts out 7-10 DI players then it stands to reason that a loss of 5 million to the south equals a similiar loss in DI talent.

2. How much of the population migration out of the north are baby boomers moving south to retire to a warmer climate vs. Post-boomers looking for jobs? Cuz one thing I do know: baby boomers ain't making babies no more and if they ard then the 2nd round of babies are not college age yet.

3. If Jim Delaney really believed that the big ten needed to follow the population south then why did he move the big ten east into states that are "draining" population points? I'm thinking baif--
N-switch at the time of expansion.

It's cyclical. Big ten just hasn't produced good coaching lately. MAC coaches fail and old coaches not innovative.

The migration isn't an Iowa or Nebraska issue. The vast majority of people leaving the north were from the rust belt. This started happening in the 80's.

 

[DDThompson]

The migration isn't an Iowa or Nebraska issue. The vast majority of people leaving the north were from the rust belt. This started happening in the 80's.

I didn't say it was an iowa-nebraska issue. I used those states as an base example that if the net loss of population is 5 million the net loss of home grown DI in all the north is 7-10 recruits. That's not a dirth of talent loss that would put bigten schools at recruiting disadvantage to explain the separation of bigten - sec.

The census from 2010 was I believe. Not migration from 1980.

 

[knighthawk13]

I didn't say it was an iowa-nebraska issue. I used those states as an base example that if the net loss of population is 5 million the net loss of home grown DI in all the north is 7-10 recruits. That's not a dirth of talent loss that would put bigten schools at recruiting disadvantage to explain the separation of bigten - sec.

The census from 2010 was I believe. Not migration from 1980.

My point was that since it's not an Iowa/Nebraska issue, why use those two states as an example? Also, if you look at the population growth rates in the south over the last 3 decades compared to the midwest and northeast, it'll show you the trend I'm talking about. The reason I used the 1980's is because that is when the trend likely started. The kids that moved with their parents during that era are the ones that had kids who were recruited over the last decade. Think about how many people left cities like Cleveland, Detroit, Erie, etc. Those were typically recruiting hot beds and when their economies soured, people moved their families south looking for work.

 

[ArvadaHawk]

Maybe it's just me, but the worst statistics were that Iowa's recruiting class player rankings have fallen the past 4 seasons and that we're behind jNW.

 

[Caddy]

Maybe it's just me, but the worst statistics were that Iowa's recruiting class player rankings have fallen the past 4 seasons and that we're behind jNW.

Its not just you. There is no excuse for our recruiting to be this bad, none.

 

[ihawkeye]

For as much as KF and staff talk about working hard and never give up attitude they sure don't apply it to recruiting. KF should be out wining and dining these 4-5* guys if he truly wants to get them. The way he's doing it isn't working.

 

[DBAHawkFan]

This is what happens when you lose your better recruiters and then hire guys with no experience.

lester and Wilson were decent to good recruiters (average coaches).

The replacements really haven't done much and it shows

 

[tksirius]

For as much as KF and staff talk about working hard and never give up attitude they sure don't apply it to recruiting. KF should be out wining and dining these 4-5* guys if he truly wants to get them. The way he's doing it isn't working.

He gets paid the same either way....

 

[thetrza]

We're still getting the same share of our top targets from the local area, the shelf is just barren and thin compared to decades past.

When you look at high school enrollment and age curves, the difference between the Midwest and the South is even bigger.

 

[ArvadaHawk]

We're still getting the same share of our top targets from the local area, the shelf is just barren and thin compared to decades past.

When you look at high school enrollment and age curves, the difference between the Midwest and the South is even bigger.

Okay, but jNW is out recruiting us.