I was being sarcastic but it wasn't directed at you. It was in regards to having our committed recruits poached. It would be nice to be the poacher every now and then.
2027 Recruiting Thread
- Thread starter Tom McAndrew
- Start date
I was being sarcastic but it wasn't directed at you. It was in regards to having our committed recruits poached. It would be nice to be the poacher every now and then.
I think these big cash grab deals throw off their original projections like a Taylor essentially "flipping" to Nebraska or at least we all think this now. I think they are in the know with that and change the Crystal Ball. Dohn just did this for Taylor so they know what is up. Are you upset because they had him going to PSU earlier and changed?
Taylor has always wanted to go to PSU. If PSU, NU and Colorado all offered the same NIL package, he would choose PSU. No doubt in my mind.
We have fallen to the lower half of the B10 in HS recruiting? Where do you come up with that? I see OSU, Oregon, USC, Michigan, maybe UCLA this year with the Chesney bump, Washington maybe all ahead of us. That is six at most. What am I missing?
Only info I found on a quick search re the 2026 class pre-Franklin-firing was a mention that it was 16th in the nation ... but I don't know if that was the same source you're using, or if that was a cumulative ranking, rather than average stars. For some reason, I thought we were higher in the average star rankings than the cumulative ... I see some mention of still having 10 4-stars committed days after Franklin was canned, and after some top prospects had already decommitted. That, of course, quickly changed, with the class purging itself shortly thereafter. But it looks like the 2026 class was shaping up to be, at least, on the same general level as Franklin had been pulling before NIL concerns took over entirely.
Cumulative, per 247 Composite:
8 Oregon
10 OSU
11 UMich
14 UCLA
15 USC
16 Nebraska
22 PSU
24 UWash
25 Wisky
27 Minny
31 Indiana
39 Northwestern
41 Rutgers
46 Maryland
51 Purdue
56 MSU
57 Iowa
61 Illinois
So we're currently 7th out of 18. We're also 7th in average rankings.
Case Alexander is brother of current Lion Cooper Alexander, who transferred from ISU. Their father, Steve is an Oklahoma product and 10 year NFL TE. The Alexander Family (reportedly) had issues with how Cooper's recruitment at Oklahoma was handled and perhaps then Coach Joe Jon Finley.
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No proof but something to consider. Perhaps Campbell and staff are merely cashing in on players they were already recruiting and had relationships with from ISU. That source will dry up over time and the Pa. and DelMarVa area will be critical for success.
No matter how many times someone predicts that every PSU 3 star will magically become a 4 star (this only happens here?), there is no realistic reason to see PSU gaining ground on Ohio State or Oregon in this recruiting cycle so far.
PS everyone shops in the portal and money is just as or more important there.
PSU is incredibly lucky to have CMC, especially the way Kraft gummed up his search. Think of some of the names that people here were trying to sell after the "Cignetti, Elko, DeBoer" fiction ended.
Purely from a fan perspective, I was intrigued with Bob Chesney. Pa. boy, actually played against his father in HS.
I hope Kraft finds some of the "elite resources" he apparently has hidden so CMC can land some big play talent.
PSU isn't just losing ground OSU & Oregon. We seem to be losing ground to Michigan, USC, Nebraska, and a couple others. That's not just because of this class. It's because it's on the heels of last year's high school class that was ranked 65th in the country. We did get some good players from the portal but most of them will only be here for a year.
I think most schools try to build a base with high school recruits then fill in some of gaps by adding a few through the portal. PSU is going to have to get a much larger percentage through the portal if they hope to remain competitive the next few seasons.
That’s very interesting news about the 20%. It makes me question whether some teams are taking a much different approach, maybe an undisciplined approach.
Outside of a couple nearly blank check schools, every school has a strategy and goal with recruiting in terms of how they emphasize it vs portal and what kind of players they will pay for. OSU, Georgia and ND have a methodology backed by big wallets ($10m or so more than our total payroll means they have at least a few mill more for HS recruiting.) A school like Neb wants to make a few big money splashes at an OSU or Oregon level to generate excitement after years of mediocrity but still feast on 3 s. Schools like Rutgers, Maryland and Pitt will go for mostly lower to mid 3s but occasionally stretch financially for a couple high 3s low 4s they can keep away from the wealthier schools. We sit in between an ND and Pitt and will stretch for the solid lower to mid 4s we really want, feast on the upper 3s that have the traits we want, and moneyball elsewhere. Our strategy may be very different in 2028 class. Supposedly it’s going to be different each year as they rebuild the roster. The 5 year rule complicates the strategy for any school.
Below is the 247 average based on average ranking per recruit. The only thing I'll say is the gap between 4th and 9th is smaller than the gap between 3rd and 4th. What this truly shows is the USC, OSU and Oregon are a step ahead of everyone but the gap is nothing like OSU held over everyone in the conference 5 years ago when they were consistently pulling a rating around 94. The 247 composite has PSU currently ranked 13th overall in recruiting and 14th overall in ranking per recruit (both are 4th in conference). You just want to try and act like the sky is falling. Does that make you feel good?
This year is the first time PSU has been within 2 of OSU, since 2015, and that had everything to do with OSU being down, not PSU being up. Our average ranking per recruit was lower (but basically the same) in 2015 as it is this year (89.10 versus 89.05)
Unlike you, I will supply a link so people can see it.
91.57 - USC
90.94 - OSU
90.45 - Oregon
89.10 - PSU
89.00 - Michigan
88.62 - Nebraska
88.55 - UCLA
88.16 - Washington
88.04 - Wisconsin
87.69 - Iowa
87.63 - Indiana
87.21 - Minnesota
87.06 - Purdue
86.93 – Michigan St.
86.85 - Illinois
86.80 - Northwestern
86.67 - Rutgers
86.39 - Maryland
That's 247's rankings only ... not the composite. I'd rather use an index that compiles more sources than fewer (i.e. one), since they're all very flawed, and a wider breadth of information and opinions is more relevant than one particular source ... but you do you. And the "unlike you" comment? I manually typed that late at night ... oh noes! I didn't provide a link to something that everyone should be familiar with and can easily access on their own! I would have rather you just said thank you, and been on your way.
Here's your link ...
ND seems to be the noticeable spender, itching for a NC. Surprised to see UCLA, and Nebraska.
Advantage ND with being an independent and having their own TV contract. Shame on the Big for
scheduling them.
The pressure on Alumni at blue blood schools seems to intensify. Again it's the balance between
recruiting and NIL. The failures equal the success stories.
Advantage ND with being an independent and having their own TV contract. Shame on the Big for
scheduling them.
The pressure on Alumni at blue blood schools seems to intensify. Again it's the balance between
recruiting and NIL. The failures equal the success stories.
I've always used the one that when you click on rankings, it comes up.
Either way it all shows that USC, OSU and Oregon are a step ahead of a second group that PSU is in. More important is shows that the recruiting disparity between OSU and PSU has decline massively. I think that is a good thing if you want to win this conference.
I'll say it over and over, recruiting is only half the picture and might even be as little as a third of it now. Do we keep our good players (because we are going to have to pay them if they produce) and can we bring in portal players that fill the gaps?
Its a new world. Dominance in recruiting does not cut it anymore. I assume you've noticed what Indiana has done. With the new system, there is a lot less likely to be the Bamas, UGas and OSUs that you know are going to be right there in the end every season because of recruiting dominance. That has come and gone, and you guys that get so hung up on getting this recruit and losing that recruit are just giving yourself aggravation. IU has shown that rating 50th in recruiting can win a national title, but you better get the other parts right.
What I really like about his class. Every recruit in it had a really nice offer list. Its not is like we are getting some kids that flew under the radar and had a majority of MAC offers. In the last week, McGhee could have gone to Texas, Alexander could have gone to Oklahoma, and that list goes on and on. Its a solid class.
Either way it all shows that USC, OSU and Oregon are a step ahead of a second group that PSU is in. More important is shows that the recruiting disparity between OSU and PSU has decline massively. I think that is a good thing if you want to win this conference.
I'll say it over and over, recruiting is only half the picture and might even be as little as a third of it now. Do we keep our good players (because we are going to have to pay them if they produce) and can we bring in portal players that fill the gaps?
Its a new world. Dominance in recruiting does not cut it anymore. I assume you've noticed what Indiana has done. With the new system, there is a lot less likely to be the Bamas, UGas and OSUs that you know are going to be right there in the end every season because of recruiting dominance. That has come and gone, and you guys that get so hung up on getting this recruit and losing that recruit are just giving yourself aggravation. IU has shown that rating 50th in recruiting can win a national title, but you better get the other parts right.
What I really like about his class. Every recruit in it had a really nice offer list. Its not is like we are getting some kids that flew under the radar and had a majority of MAC offers. In the last week, McGhee could have gone to Texas, Alexander could have gone to Oklahoma, and that list goes on and on. Its a solid class.
I couldn't agree more. There is time, but most here refuse to acknowledge how bad things could be 2027 and beyond without a significant upgrade in talent acquisition. Simply suggesting this leads to all sorts of wild accusations, :
Not bad for Dear Old State. Hopefully the Adidas money can get PSU at same level as OSU, USC and Oregon.
I don't see that happening, but I see us being close enough that if Campbell coaches them up just a little better than Franklin, we will have our chances at a national level.
I agree about 2027, but recruiting this year has absolutely nothing to do with it. 2027 is a portal problem, or do you expect freshman to be a lot of the key players on a good team.I couldn't agree more. There is time, but most here refuse to acknowledge how bad things could be 2027 and beyond without a significant upgrade in talent acquisition. Simply suggesting this leads to all sorts of wild accusations, :
To be good in 2027, PSU will have to be aggressive in the portal and bring in... (JMO, I'd say at least 10 two deep contributors) or we are going to struggle in conference 2027. One thing that helped. With the 5th year deal, some guys that we were going to lose will still be here.
2026, PSU could be really good, but we are going to lose a lot of talent, and maybe more important, experience off this team.
I agree about the B1G scheduling ND. Shouldn't be happening.
I doubt that it gets us close to OSU & Oregon.
I don't know how much of that is going towards NIL but the whole things starts July 1st. I have to believe that recruiting up until now already took into consideration the NIL dollars that will be coming. I guess it's possible that we told recruits that we think we'll be able to offer $x but we can't make it official until after 7/1.
ND makes less from their TV contract than B1G schools make from theirs.
And the B1G is now on NBC too, along with ND, so they don’t have their own contract.
ND is just very smart with how they handle their money. They own part of UA, which is more valuable to them than just a simple payment, they own their own license (why you see the Golden Dome on the back of stuff, and they have an endowment that is top 10 nationally, despite only having 8,000 students.
They also do 18 month NIL deals with recruits, instead of the traditional 1 year, which allows for more money to a recruit up front.
Freeman is a phenomenal recruiter, but now he can actually compete with SEC schools, Oregon, Miami, etc… with NIL to even the field.
That’s why you aren’t an AD, conference commissioner or school president.
They know how much money ND makes them on the schedule.
For example, (and the ACC have verified these numbers), the ACC sells out around 20% of ACC vs ACC games. They sell out over 90% of ND vs ACC games.
The B1G has sold out every game against ND in the current conference setting.
It also benefits teams challenging for the CFP to win a game vs ND.
Four teams who made the CFP since 2021 had their best win vs ND.
Under the new 5 year rule, Hansen, Tracy, Brahmer, and Ebel may all come back in 2027. If Rojas is not up to full strength coming off acl, maybe he is back too. Heck, Donkoh could come back too. We may not have quite the loss as we think for 2027. That all figures into recruiting and portal planning.
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Why no doubt in your mind? Everything I've read says that PSU has slightly more NIL money than Nebraska. If Nebraska is offering more money it could be because they see Taylor as critical to their program than PSU does. It could also be because Nebraska got a commitment from the #1 rated 5* QB Trae Taylor compared to PSU with the #29 rated 38 QB Will Wood.
It benefits ND more than the B1G with their strength of schedule and helps them toward their guaranteed CFP birth if they are ranked in the top 12. That is not beneficial for the B1G when rankings are taken into considetation. So takevthe money and hurt the B1G teams CFP slots? No thanks.
Does Trey Taylor sign with Nebby in December? Word is several SEC teams are trying to flip him.
For some of them, it may make financial sense to take college NIL in a fifth season, even if they have an NFL draft projection. I also think the 2026 team is going to be sneaky good. Some of them may feel like they have unfinished business from a 2026 playoff run and return for 2027.
Certainly a consideration they have to weigh, NIL vs NFL rookie salary and another year to wait for an NFL contract
It's been reported that Cignetti at Indiana uses a 45% retain -45% portal and 10% high school.
So take most of the top B1G team who typically sell out their stadium regardless of opponent. How does scheduling ND benefit them or the B1G?
TV contracts are negotiated years in advance, no impact to ticket sales to the university. Only ones who benefit are ND as they probably demand a much nigher payout than a MAC school and the networks.
I believe my post was written to indicate concern in "2027 and beyond." 2027 would be the initial impact of the 2026 recruiting debacle. While most 2027 incoming freshman would not be expected to make an impact in '27, elite recruits could.
Many 2027 holes may be filled via the portal. However, unless there is "gold in them thar hills," required quantity will impact quality.