My breakout player this year

[takethepoints]

So even if a kid has a great GPA and just hasn't taken the SAT yet we move on? That would be an awful move for us. In fact several of out commits now wouldn't be commits if we went by that rule.

What gets me about this is that everybody and his brother knows that SAT/ACT scores do a lousy job of predicting college success. What it boils down to is that schools use them as a way to wash extra applicants out.

The best predictor is (duh) how well the kid did in high school. Better grades = better success rates. I would guess that this is why the Ones Above decided to let Coach have a freer hand at recruiting. If a kid has good work habits in high school, then he/she'll have them in college. True, they may not be Phi Betas, but they'll at least give the effort and, with proper assistance, they'll probably graduate.

Admittedly, Tech makes even these kinds of predictions hard to make. Still, I'll take the kid with the high GPA any day of the week.

 

[dressedcheeseside]

I said we can't wait that late to offer kids...Someone who doesn't have a good SAT score (or has no score at all due to not taking it) hasn't passed the hill yet. So kids we offer and take commits from during the Junior year and rising to Senior year a lot of times haven't evem taken the SAT yet...My point is just because someone hasn't passed the hill yet due to a test score they haven't taken is no reason not to offer...we go off of if we think that person can make it once they get into Tech.

How many times have we taken someone and have them not get in after NSD? A SMALL number.

Neither Autry or Custis had great GPA's...but neither did Dywer, Morgan Burnett, Bay Bay, etc.

I see your point, but there has to be a point in time where we pull a kid's offer if they haven't met the SAT score, certainly before NSD. And in such cases we have to have somebody waiting in the wings to take the spot. If that last part is unrealistic then we need to move on when we still have a good shot at filling the spot with our second choice.

All of this applies to kids who are borderline students not kids who excelled in high school but just haven't taken the SAT yet. That's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about the Custises and Autries.

 

[Eric]

I see your point, but there has to be a point in time where we pull a kid's offer if they haven't met the SAT score, certainly before NSD. And in such cases we have to have somebody waiting in the wings to take the spot. If that last part is unrealistic then we need to move on when we still have a good shot at filling the spot with our second choice.

All good points...there is a point and time for that...and we offer kids early who they think will get the needed test score when they take it....

In fact I will give you a example of it in this years class...Rocky Reid. We have recruited him the whole cycle but he doesn't have a score that we feel is good enough and we are worried that if we take him that he wouldn't make it...so we moved on to Quaide.

It's a tough job to have...lot of things to figure out..which is why the longer someone is at Tech the better recruiting usually get IMO.

 

[dressedcheeseside]

All good points...there is a point and time for that...and we offer kids early who they think will get the needed test score when they take it....

In fact I will give you a example of it in this years class...Rocky Reid. We have recruited him the whole cycle but he doesn't have a score that we feel is good enough and we are worried that if we take him that he wouldn't make it...so we moved on to Quaide.

It's a tough job to have...lot of things to figure out..which is why the longer someone is at Tech the better recruiting usually get IMO.

Interesting story on Reid. Makes it hard to believe the Douglas kid met our criteria.

Man, people who say academics don't hurt recruiting have no freakin' clue.

 

[Eric]

Interesting story on Reid. Makes it hard to believe the Douglas kid met our criteria.

Man, people who say academics don't hurt recruiting have no freakin' clue.

We can get a few players in of that caliber but you can't take too many...you need a good mix. Have to know the kids are willing to put in the needed work once you get here...If you are willing to put in the time you can get it done here.

A good example of someone with poor grades is Tre Jackson who flipped to FSU...He didn't have good grades but we felt that he would do the work needed to make it here so we offered.

Like I said you just have to balance it out and decide where you want to take those risks at.

I have also noticed that the kids with lower grades are the ones that usually flip away from us.

Academics hurt us but they also can be a big help to us...we have to do a better job of appealing to the smart kids.

 

[dressedcheeseside]

We can get a few players in of that caliber but you can't take too many...you need a good mix. Have to know the kids are willing to put in the needed work once you get here...If you are willing to put in the time you can get it done here.

A good example of someone with poor grades is Tre Jackson who flipped to FSU...He didn't have good grades but we felt that he would do the work needed to make it here so we offered.

Like I said you just have to balance it out and decide where you want to take those risks at.

I have also noticed that the kids with lower grades are the ones that usually flip away from us.

Academics hurt us but they also can be a big help to us...we have to do a better job of appealing to the smart kids.

This is where I think we have made strides in the last class and the one pending. I keep hearing the academic card in interviews, a lot more than in past classes. Our coaches are really selling the "best mix of football and academics" angle, but it has to be to kids who really care about both or it falls on deaf ears. I think the targeting of our message has improved lately, but there's still more work to do.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

I have also noticed that the kids with lower grades are the ones that usually flip away from us.

I have always thought this was largely true but the way recruiting is covered it is hard to tell. A flipper rarely ever tells you that they decided to head to a school that would be easier for them in the classroom. Douglas was a rare exception in being honest about that but of course UGA got that comment by him squelched fast.

I do think it actually should be hard to tell this is the case in the sense that it is not our business to know any specific details about any high school kids' academic standing, grades, etc. But I appreciate it when "insiders" like a Quinlan or like Eric just now point blank let the fanbase know that "yes, the overall academic situation of a recruit is a huge factor in whether they end up at Tech." Useful for keeping perspective (and sanity).

 

[InsideLB]

Many flips are really about grades such as devines teammate who went to USF.

 

[33jacket]

For Me the biggest jumps:
Joe
Burden
Perkins
Freeman
PJ Davis
Had the staff put Gamble at SDE from day one...we would all be saying him.

 

[Ggee87]

For Me the biggest jumps:
Joe
Burden
Perkins
Freeman
PJ Davis
Had the staff put Gamble at SDE from day one...we would all be saying him.

I agree wholeheartedly with you on this. Ive been saying since the get-go that we needed to move a DT over to DE and make due for this season. Freeman can handle being our WDE... I just figured putting Gotsis at SDE and letting the others rotate at DT was a no-brainer after JHD and whiteheads situations occured. My breakout players so far are Perkins on offense and Freeman on Green on Defense. I figured Green had it in him, just hadnt got a chance to see it. He has way exceeded expectations for this year.

 

[Declinometer]

Burden has been a beast! "My back is broad but it's a hurtin"

But really, I think he has been key to the offense success this year.

 

[alaguy]

Burden has been a beast! "My back is broad but it's a hurtin"

But really, I think he has been key to the offense success this year.

you just might be right, CTR is very important in this OFF esp

 

[TechnicalPossum]

We can get a few players in of that caliber but you can't take too many...you need a good mix. Have to know the kids are willing to put in the needed work once you get here...If you are willing to put in the time you can get it done here.

A good example of someone with poor grades is Tre Jackson who flipped to FSU...He didn't have good grades but we felt that he would do the work needed to make it here so we offered.

Like I said you just have to balance it out and decide where you want to take those risks at.

I have also noticed that the kids with lower grades are the ones that usually flip away from us.

Academics hurt us but they also can be a big help to us...we have to do a better job of appealing to the smart kids.

Tre Jackson flipped?

 

[johncu]

Tre Jackson flipped?

Yep, and he was an All-American. That one really hurt. I still remember when people were bashing PJ for offering "FCS talent" when we went after him and Trey Flowers. Now he's an All-American and Flowers is an All-SEC player at Arkansas.

 

[Eric]

Tre Jackson flipped?

The OL/DL Tre Jackson...not the LB currently on our roster.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

Yep, and he was an All-American. That one really hurt. I still remember when people were bashing PJ for offering "FCS talent" when we went after him and Trey Flowers. Now he's an All-American and Flowers is an All-SEC player at Arkansas.

The Tech coaches have had a real good eye for talent under CPJ, I think that much is clear.

 

[TechnicalPossum]

The OL/DL Tre Jackson...not the LB currently on our roster.

Well that makes more sense.

 

[nod]

Tre Jackson flipped?

He was one that took late visit to FSU when committed to GT, Paul Johnson and staff moved on to someone else.