Should Mullen chase Stars..

[SpeckTaker]

or continue to chase underappreciated 2 stars that are hungry and become program players? I love the way our guys play for each other and State. I don't see any primaddonas out there. I am affraid if you start landing alot of 4 and 5 stars the chemistry would change and the program gets dirty like most of the other recruiting war winning schools have.

 

[was21]

Not necessarily. This staff doesn't seem to put emphasis on stars one way or the other. They work hard to identify the qualities they look for in a player. If he has stars on his head, so be it. If not, that's ok as well.

 

[MaronMatters]

If it's a recruit willing to work, then yes, he should. If it's some egotistical rube expecting to be handed e everything, then no. I'm pretty sure Mullen has a way of clearing that up before he pursues a high-profile recruit though. So far it seems like he's done a good job of avoiding the basket cases.

 

[msstatelp1]

I don't think our staff will chase stars just to get a higher recruiting ranking. If there's a 5 star that fits their profile then I think they will go after him.

 

[HammerOfTheDogs]

How about 5-* who are hungry and become program players?

 

[Philly Dawg]

He should continue doing what got us here. With more success, you'd expect to win more of the recruiting battles with other teams where players choose to go elsewhere.

 

[Southern Law Dawg]

Pretty sure he will continue to chase the best available guys every year, like always. Dan doesn't care about stars.

 

[thatsbaseball]

Needs to always chase the right QB no matter how many stars

 

[SpeckTaker]

How about 5-* who are hungry and become program players?

Unicorn**

 

[patdog]

He should chase the players he has evaluated the highest, including talent, potential & character. Whether they have 2 stars or 5 is irrelevant.

 

[dawgstudent]

At some point - you just don't question what they are doing.

 

[esplanade91]

Needs to always chase the right QB no matter how many stars

Bingo. That's the difference in this year and '10. It's the difference in Auburn being a 6-6 team last year instead of a 13-1 team.

This Texas kid in the boat is awesome.

 

[aTotal360]

You need to reach out to him via twitter and let him know this. **

 

[Dawgzilla]

^^^^^THIS is precisely why I didn't want us to sign Cam Newton....

Bear with me here; obviously I didn't know just how good Cam was during recruiting. I knew he was better than Relf and Russell, but I didn't know he was a Heisman trophy just waiting to be awarded. My fear was that he was a prima donna who would destroy the locker room chemistry. I thought he would play 1 year, and that he would destroy the development of Relf and Russell, leaving us worse off when he left. (I also don't think we would have won the West Division with Cam, although he would have added a couple of wins to that season).

I'm glad that Mullen has generally avoided - or just not been able to land - those types of players. But, I certainly think our staff would like to land some players that are diamonds who aren't quite so rough. I have never said this before about MSU's coaching staff, but I now trust these coaches to evaluate both the potential and character of the guys they are going after. If some of those guys are being recruited by other big schools and wind up getting 4 or 5 stars, that's great, but they still need to have the proper work ethic. Stay away from the guys who think they are doing us a favor by showing up on campus.

I don't really follow recruiting, but I was always disappointed with the 2010 and 2011 recruiting classes. Those classes came after Mullen's best season and the big Gator Bowl win, and they were ranked so low, and there just weren't many standout names. Then we got the coach speak answers that we were "recruiting for need" and looking for "players who fit our system." For once it looks like the coachspeak was accurate.

 

[DawgatAuburn]

A couple more wins might have won the West that year. Auburn was 8-0 but take away Cam and they were probably .500 or worse. Everyone else in the West had two or more losses.

 

[KurtRambis4]

121joSEy17staRS11!!!1!

*

 

[CookieMonster.sixpack]

Marlon Humphrey and Chris Jones weren't 2 stars. Neither were Elijah Staley or CJ Johnson. We already go after good players. It's not like we don't try and land guys if they get 4 or 5 stars. Hopefully our success means we land more of our targets.

Regardless, Mullen and the staff have shown they can develop players. It's just as important as recruiting, if not more so. Ask the guys who recruited Snoop Brassell or Michael Dyer.

 

[Dawgzilla]

Yes, but Alabama and LSU would have beaten Auburn. LSU wins the division.

 

[Coast Dawg]

Not necessarily. This staff doesn't seem to put emphasis on stars one way or the other. They work hard to identify the qualities they look for in a player. If he has stars on his head, so be it. If not, that's ok as well.

I agree. I would think they identify, evaluate & recruit based on their own criteria. Stars are just a by-product

 

[DawgatAuburn]

With Cam, I don't think you could automatically chalk up Bama and LSU as losses. But you're probably right, down there, given our history, not sure even the rented mule would have gotten it done against that team.

 

[ckDOG]

Mullen can do whatever he wants.

Whatever he's doing is working.

 

[Jdog.sixpack]

As great as it is 6 games does not a season make, but I think that it high time that the coaching staff gets the benefit of the doubt regarding their recruiting.