Trouble Recruiting Legacies?

[Yomanser]

I was just browsing some old recruiting info about Tech, when I came across this: http://auburn.247sports.com/Article/Passion-dedication-drive-Auburns-Carl-Lawson-to-excel-39028751

The recent success we had with the Swillings and Roof surprised me at the comments Lawson Sr. had about the team, most notably these:

Nothing irked Lawson Sr. more than the lack of contact from his alma mater. Georgia Tech, he says, never reached out about attending its game versus Georgia.

"It bothered me, bothered all my teammates. It really just left a sour taste," Lawson Sr. says. "Georgia Tech right now, with a lot of the guys I played with, the irony is that I know four or five guys whose kids are playing college football and none are playing for Tech. And they all live in the area."

Apparently, he really wanted Georgia Tech to reach out, but they never did, which is super surprising since this guy was the number 2 overall recruit in the nation (behind Nkemdiche), was a legacy (dad played fullback on the 1990 NC team), and had stellar academics. When Pelton joined Roof after Groh got sacked, Pelton reached out but it was far too late (Pelton had recruited him and convinced him to commit at Auburn).

We also missed out on 3/4 star recruit Chad Clay last year, and although I know that GT has in the past struggled in recruiting highly-rated legacies, Lawson's comments make it sound not only more of a problem than I thought, but also like most of the blame for that needs to be placed on Tech and their recruiting efforts rather than other factors. Does anyone have any insight on this? Thoughts, comments, anything else?

 

[ATL1]

I've heard this story before from GT football alum about them being very selective and unresponsive to former players. I've heard these things from former players.
That's their perspective.

 

[TheSilasSonRising]

FridgeMover might have some insight.

Bigger picture is it seems CPJ has changed "outlook" on recruiting. CCG changed but way too late. Hope not the case this time.

 

[33jacket]

Ah the chicken and the egg. I cant tell you how many times in the gtaa we reached out to former SA that were successful and they ignored us.

Then when they had a kid of age all of a sudden they expect immediate scholarship and a red carpet

Let me tell you folks something. We remember. Some ex SA should get used to the fact perhaps gt just doesnt want you or your kids around.

Playing ball at gt on gts dime doesnt entitle you to crap once you leave. You better be supportful too

 

[Yomanser]

FridgeMover might have some insight.

What happened with John Davis?

 

[Cam]

Double post

 

[Cam]

I remember Chris Martin saying something about how if he were 2 inches taller, our coaches said they wouldn't have even tried recruiting him. Because with his skill set, he would have been too highly rated for us to even have a chance. There's a possibility we saw this player as the same. He might not have even been looking our way, despite the legacy.

 

[kg01]

We only ever hear one side of this. I tend to doubt Lawson chose against coming here due to the staff inexplicably refusing to contact him. Could we have done a better job? Probably. It's not like the prior defensive staff were recruiting demons out there. However, I find it very hard to believe it came down to us not reaching out to the kid. It would be more feasible to me that we lost out due to refusing to cow-tow (sp?) to dad.

I was not a fan of the Roof hiring but it seems his popularity with the former players has been a positive for us. I'm just not ready to just take the Lawson dad's comments and run too far with them. As 33 alluded to, there are a lot of behind-scenes things that go on that we know nothing about.

Also, seeming missing out on the Clay kid was a bullet dodged? Hope he gets his life together.

 

[InsideLB]

Was om Rivals when Lawson was recruited. What I recall is we tried hard to get him, but Auburn led throughout his recruitment. Was Roof Auburn's DC at the time?