Recruiting: staff is not the problem

[jacob]

Our most heralded recruit, 4 star Jordan Woods chose GT over two SEC factories: Florida and Tennessee. GT wasn't even on his radar at first. Our staff found him, vetted him to our profile, and sold him our message.

For those of you convinced that the problem with GT recruiting is with the recruiters, you need to read this:

http://georgiatech.blog.ajc.com/2016/02/04/quotable-tech-signee-jordan-woods-on-his-recruitment/

"Woods said he was first contacted during his junior year by A-backs coach Lamar Owens, who recruits north Florida. He admitted he was just “playing around” and feigned interest. He was still playing around when he met Owens in person and he gave Woods a packet of information about Tech.

“I consider it, consider it, but I’m still playing around,” he said. “Me and him are getting closer. I say I’m considering Georgia Tech. Not playing around anymore. Then I start looking at toys, looking at what big schools can offer you. They’re getting pushed out of the way, pushed out of the way, but they’re still hanging by a thread.”

Then he went on his visit, he said, “and it blows my mind.”

Said Woods, “God planted that, because I had no idea I’d be going to Georgia Tech. No idea.”
​

His recruitment is the perfect example of what our recruiters do day in and day out: finding kids who meet our needs on the field and unique parameters off of it and selling them our message. Our message resonates with certain kids and not others. Our challenge is finding the former and ignoring the latter. The message is on point and works and our coaches are genuine. I'm proud of our staff, but they need more help and I hope we give it to them.

​

Yes the staff is the problem. Don't act like your happy with 1, 4 star recruit. I shouldnt have to remind you but GT is in Atlanta.

 

[jacob]

Right now we stink at recruitng. I can't justify you as a rational person if you defend our recruiting classes

 

[dressedcheeseside]

Yes the staff is the problem. Don't act like your happy with 1, 4 star recruit. I shouldnt have to remind you but GT is in Atlanta.

So is Ga State.

Btw, I'll take all 2 stars if they can play.

 

[Supersizethatorder-mutt]

It's not the quality of the recruiting staff or the effort that they put in doing their job --- it's the size of the recruiting staff that I think is the problem. At least under MBob that size has increased, but DRad wouldn't allow it. Other schools have many more recruiting staff members than Tech has ever had.

 

[croberts]

Right now we stink at recruitng. I can't justify you as a rational person if you defend our recruiting classes

I am always on the edge of my seat to see what you justify! Crack me up.

 

[AE 87]

While I appreciate the thoughtful give and take, I think that we should be honest about a few pieces of speculation:
1) Whether, all other things being equal, a different staff could regularly bring in significantly better recruiting classes.
- against this proposal stands the fact that it hasn't happened; we've had classes that brought in better players but few that brought in regularly better classes as a whole; we had a string of better classes before APR was instituted, but iirc, our graduation rate suggests that APR would've been a problem
- for this proposal stands the fact that our classes are so bad, worse than UVA most years and now even Duke, that it's hard to believe that our academic reputation and expectation can carry all the blame

2) Whether our recruiting has reached a limit with our current coaching staff
- against this proposal stands the appearance of improvement over the last few years
- for this proposal stands the fact that our recruiting has still been somewhat stagnant and below par

FWIW, I think that our biggest need to improve recruiting is a succession of 9+ win seasons with some signature victories in each year, whether georgie or highly rated CU team etc

Right now, I think that we don't really get the first look from a lot of possibles because of our academic reputation etc Most of the teams that recruit well have lots of guys wanting to attend there before they hear boo from a coach. That's the place where the biggest change needs to take place, imo.

 

[Milwaukee]

Good post AE. I just think we need to find that special recruiter, that closer, that monster out there, and it would make a world of difference.

We need Glengarry Glen Ross to come through and give our recruiting staff this motivational speech:

 

[33jacket]

What are you basing your opinion on about our defensive staff?

just look at the d talent. Its not much. Which for me means we are not great at recruiting as a staff. Our d talent today is a step or three back from what johnson inherited. Roof is a great recruiter? Ok not any better than anyone prior imo. What has speed done? Mccollum is ok. Pelton is ok. No one on that staff is knocking it out of the park. Its just ok.

I do agree with the poster on more AA support staff. Mentioned alot in the past.

 

[Boss Ross]

That's a rhetorical question, correct? That's absolutely what I believe. Cheese made a comparison, so give it some thought for a few minutes: (I'm reversing the question back to you) - Do you think Dabo Swinney or Mario Cristobal could recruit better than the current staff?

If you honestly don't think they could, then I got nothin.

Dabo Sweeney would not last 3yrs at GT. Evidently you must not know how recruiting works and the fringe benefits that schools give players. I know GT use to not do this and I do not think they do now.

 

[dressedcheeseside]

just look at the d talent. Its not much. Which for me means we are not great at recruiting as a staff. Our d talent today is a step or three back from what johnson inherited. Roof is a great recruiter? Ok not any better than anyone prior imo. What has speed done? Mccollum is ok. Pelton is ok. No one on that staff is knocking it out of the park. Its just ok.

I do agree with the poster on more AA support staff. Mentioned alot in the past.

Who was knocking it out of the park before this staff and were they working under the same constraints (APR, post flunkgate, post probation, competing against SECSPN...)?

I can think of one season: '07 and that was an anomaly, a fluke. Those kids all bonded on the recruiting trail and the stars aligned in our favor. Gailey gets credit for having an eye for talent, but he brought in a lot of dead weight, too. A handful of star players to go with a whole lot of names on a roster. That doesn't win many games, either.

 

[PBR549]

just look at the d talent. Its not much. Which for me means we are not great at recruiting as a staff. Our d talent today is a step or three back from what johnson inherited. Roof is a great recruiter? Ok not any better than anyone prior imo. What has speed done? Mccollum is ok. Pelton is ok. No one on that staff is knocking it out of the park. Its just ok.

I do agree with the poster on more AA support staff. Mentioned alot in the past.

Nobody has done a consistent job in recruiting at Tech in recent history. This will be what Ted's third year here this time? I've dealt with Ted for over 25 years in a professional capacity and I have never seen a better recruiter, period. Andy I've known longer and he has a great rapport with HS coaches and players. Dabo is a great guy but it takes a special person to deal with the limitations of recruiting at Tech. He's been at Clemson and Alabama, let's face it anybody can recruit at those schools. Could he be better than what we have? I seriously doubt it especially doubt he would be better than Ted who understands better than anyone in coaching what it takes to be a successful SA at Tech.
My advise is to go all in with these guys and try to pressure the hill to make the changes they need to be successful. It's very difficult to recruit at Tech that's for sure but I think we have a great group of recruiters who need a little help from the top.

 

[Milwaukee]

Dabo Sweeney would not last 3yrs at GT. Evidently you must not know how recruiting works and the fringe benefits that schools give players. I know GT use to not do this and I do not think they do now.

That makes absolutely no sense, but ok. If you think Dabo couldn't recruit better at Tech than what we are currently recruiting then I got nothin.

Guys, Dabo Swinney (dork or no dork, dancer or no dancer, corny or not corny) is a PHENOMENAL recruiter. Do you not follow college football. Nobody is saying he could pull Clemson classes and get them admitted into Tech, but the guy is great at recruiting. That's his niche. He'd pull much better hauls than we are currently getting. He'd get more of the studs that do qualify and do fit our unique school than what we're getting now.

I don't understand any of the logic in this thread anymore. I guess Georgia Tech is a friggin recruiting machine, and our recruiting staff are just all home-run hitters that we are just so blessed to have. Dabo couldn't do squat at Tech. Cristobal couldn't do squat at Tech. THWG. We're getting the players we want, and we aren't NOT getting any of those studs (that do actually qualify) because, by God, we cherry pick only certain types of student athletes here at The Georgia Institute of Technology.

There are super talented studs out there that do care about education, that do care about life after football, and we simply aren't getting enough of those kids.


Jesus Christ, where's the Tylenol? #ClarkGrisold

 

[ATL1]

Not only is Dabo a great recruiter of players, he's a great recruiter and has a eye for recognizing great coaching talent.

 

[4shotB]

Not only is Dabo a great recruiter of players, he's a great recruiter and has a eye for recognizing great coaching talent.

those 2 things (recruiting players AND great coaching talent) are at the very top of the list of things you would want in a head FB coach imo. Not saying anything about our staff here, just that I don't get why Dabo is not more respected amongst the GT community.

 

[PBR549]

those 2 things (recruiting players AND great coaching talent) are at the very top of the list of things you would want in a head FB coach imo. Not saying anything about our staff here, just that I don't get why Dabo is not more respected amongst the GT community.

I like Dabo but the person who used the Jordan Spieth analogy had it a little backwards. I can beat Spieth if he has to play with wiffle balls. At Tech we're recruiting with wiffle balls and everyone else is using pro v 1s. It's comparing apples to oranges.

 

[JacketFromUGA]

Milwaukee the biggest reason people are pushing back on you is not from the thought that GT is a recruiting machine its from your lack of substance.

You're argument is "We need to do better" then when someone asks you how we do better your response is anger/throwing your hands up saying "How can you not see it??"

 

[jandrews]

I agree Dabo is a great recruiter but he is working with a lot more than tech has. I live in the upstate and its all Clemson. Clemson even has a dedicated radio station. They are the dominate player here. When I lived in Atlanta it was very seldom I ran into a tech fan that wasn't an alum or a child of an alum. That is not the case here. I'm not saying he wouldn't do great at Tech as a recruiter but it's definitely an uphill climb.

 

[Boss Ross]

That makes absolutely no sense, but ok. If you think Dabo couldn't recruit better at Tech than what we are currently recruiting then I got nothin.

Guys, Dabo Swinney (dork or no dork, dancer or no dancer, corny or not corny) is a PHENOMENAL recruiter. Do you not follow college football. Nobody is saying he could pull Clemson classes and get them admitted into Tech, but the guy is great at recruiting. That's his niche. He'd pull much better hauls than we are currently getting. He'd get more of the studs that do qualify and do fit our unique school than what we're getting now.

I don't understand any of the logic in this thread anymore. I guess Georgia Tech is a friggin recruiting machine, and our recruiting staff are just all home-run hitters that we are just so blessed to have. Dabo couldn't do squat at Tech. Cristobal couldn't do squat at Tech. THWG. We're getting the players we want, and we aren't NOT getting any of those studs (that do actually qualify) because, by God, we cherry pick only certain types of student athletes here at The Georgia Institute of Technology.

There are super talented studs out there that do care about education, that do care about life after football, and we simply aren't getting enough of those kids.


Jesus Christ, where's the Tylenol? #ClarkGrisold

No Dabo would not recruit at tech half of his players are special admits they put them in lake houses they are furnished boats cars and anything else they want . This goes on at all these so called football factories. If you think it don't you need to talk to coaches and players that's been involved in it. Hell I had a x ugag player tell me that after games some players would have several 100.00 in their lockers . I know a player that signed with Clemson and 2 weeks later he had a new pickup. GT does not operate like this and most GT fans would not want them to. Go ask Bill Curry about the illegal recruting and thing that he's seen over the years and you might have a different opinion of TECH recruting!

 

[Northeast Stinger]

Wish there was a way to say this statement is telling and explains a lot about the challenges of recruiting against factory schools without clicking that I actually "like" the comment.

 

[croberts]

Not only is Dabo a great recruiter of players, he's a great recruiter and has a eye for recognizing great coaching talent.

I give him credit. No one has a better personal story. I would say that a lot of coaches recognize talent but are not given the financial tools to go and pay 1 plus mil to his coordinators. Those guys were known all around but it took the bucs to get them. To his credit, he has created an environment that keeps these guys happy.