Northwestern
“I was super interested in the (new Northwestern offensive coordinator) Chip Kelly move. Just from a personnel-meeting-scheme standpoint, I just imagine their personnel department was like, ‘What the f— do we do now?’ Everything they’ve built with that team is like this ground-and-pound, man-zone running scheme that you have some play-action of it.”“I thought they had a couple of good young players. I don’t think they evaluate like Minnesota or Illinois, but I wouldn’t say they’re poor at it.”
“Kelly is run-heavy, and there’s this misconception that he’s been someone who throws it all over the yard. He’s not, he’s just a tempo guy, and that’s not their game at all. I don’t think it was a shocking move, but I think it raised some eyebrows.”
Illinois
“They evaluate great. They know what fits for them. They do a great job of not swinging for a home run every time they recruit only to lose guys to Ohio State in some one-on-one battle. They have no business doing that. They’re super aware of that. They don’t spend a lot of useless time, and they evaluate really well. It’s not surprising in any aspect that they’re this good.”“Their defensive line was outrageously good the last two years. In our evaluation, it was every bit as good as Penn State’s, Michigan’s and Ohio State’s. But I know most of that group has left, so it’ll be interesting to see who they replace them with.”
Michigan State
“Their entire staff of position coaches made me go, ‘Oh, s—. Interesting.’ They brought in a lot of good coaches, so I think they’ll be a good team this year.”“I don’t think they added a lot of players that change the game for them, but you could tell from the outside that the culture wasn’t great. Maybe them losing a bunch of players and talent and completely hitting the reset button is actually a good thing. I’m pretty bullish on them.”
“I thought picking up (offensive line coach) Nick Tabacca was really smart. And (safeties coach) James Adams, he is absolutely unbelievable. He’s the best I’ve ever been around in terms of a coach, an evaluator, a recruiter; he makes his guys want to run through a brick well every day. Any staff that he’s on, stock up big time.”
