Recruiting is a thing of the past??? Why are you here?
Still need to RECRUIT all the players. Now the teams have to recruit the same players every year. Proven transfers will cost more than high school players.
2027 Recruiting Thread
- Thread starter Tom McAndrew
- Start date
Recruiting is a thing of the past??? Why are you here?
Still need to RECRUIT all the players. Now the teams have to recruit the same players every year. Proven transfers will cost more than high school players.
So you are saying this years class of Sassic, Rielly, Robbins, Terawallie and whomever else they get is down class. Really, thats one heck of a statement without seeing them ever play a down of college football. Oline is the one place you can recruit a boatload of 3 stars and be fine. Projections on olineman are just all over the place. Donkah was 4th rated olineman in his class in 2023. He blew by the other 3 his freshman year. So much for those boderline 5 star guys in Williams and Birchmeier, what good do that rating do for PSU.
I get that we only brought in two last year, though Campbell brought three redshirt freshman transfers with him, and if all of the sudden if this class has 6 olineman that is a lot of numbers that are young. Will they pan out. I bet a couple of them will. Will they need to portal in some guys. Maybe, maybe not. Maybe the portal need to be some other position were everybody flops. You have to trust that the staff will look at the holes and see where the gaps are going to be, but they sure as heck aren't going to do it with guys who have yet to take a single rep in a college practice
Bo Schembechler knew O line recruiting was very tough to predict. He said that he wanted to bring in a lot of O lineman in each class and some would turn out good. I think PSU is fine.
Good points and I hope I look like a fool in a few years. I really do. I hope I eat crow and they all pan out. Time will tell. Donkoh was a four star and the 9th rated player in VA, by the way. Not a big reach or major project by any means.
It is your perogative to do whatever. If you enjoy arguing with uninformed people who gain enjoyment bashing PSU and specifically here Campbell and recruiting then have at it. They are not supporters of the program at the time you need the fan base to come together and support the program. They don't cheer for PSU.
If they had interesting comments that would be one thing but their useless drivel about star ratings and then their 10 years ago mentality that the portal and approaches like Indiana will never work despite it producing a national champion just proves how pathetically ignorant they are.
Was a 3*. Moved up to 4*. 4 offers. VT, Duke, psu and wvu. Probably less impressive offer sheet than any of the current ol commits.
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4 star. Top 10 player in his state. You are correct on the offer list, which was surprising.
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As an elderly man, my sleep habits are erratic. My initial thought every morning is to get to the bathroom. Then, I desperately need a cup of coffee. I generally check the sports scores etc and then Google News. I enjoy Google News because it has a variety of sources on the same topic..... and looking at various slants on what's happening helps me to form my own opinion.
If you are among those who insist that PSU is doing just fine in 6th or 7th place in the conference. Rivals rates Ohio State, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, USC and Miami as recruiting players with an average rating of 93. PSU is at 88.43. Hell, VT is at 88.70!
Again, I think PSU will be fine in 2026. I fail to see any cause for optimism when the 2027 and 28 seasons unfold unless there is a change in trajectory. Sorry that's such a polarizing viewpoint. LOL
I don’t remember Donkoh’s situation, but overall star rating does not finalize until December. Our own current commits can go up and down before then. Donkoh could have been a late riser with a great senior year in hs.
Seems like a lot guys have their star rating improve but it doesn’t seem like have them drop. Am I wrong about this?
Some go up and some go down. More go up because the ratings services increase the number of 4s and 5s along the way. I think martin was originally a 5*.
I'm old too, my friend. So I empathize with your eractic sleep habits. You make a good argument for not being optimistic for '27 and '28. But I'm not an expert and not even as knowledgeable as you seem about recruiting etc. So, from my perspective, and as an eternal optimist, I will give Matt Campbell and his staff some latitude until I see the results on the field. In my heart, I do believe he knows what he is doing and has a plan. Even if it doesn't seem obvious. I really do like his philosophy of developing players. I remember an old ball coach who loved to teach the game. I am hoping Matt can duplicate the same success. I remain optimistic.
Like I said the recruiting services expand the number of 4s and 5s which creates more upward movement but there are downs.
I think Devyn ford, Ricky Slade, Shane Simmons, sterling Jenkins, and Lamont wade were early 5s.
I remember a poster on this board that said their kid played against Sterling Jenkins in HS and this is while he was being recruited. The guy was going on about in no way is Jenkins a division one player and that he wasn't even the best lineman on his own team. Said his kid felt better lining up against Jenkins than some kid on the other side of the line that was just way better, and had zero offers.
Turns out the guy knew what he was talking about. Lineman are a real crapshoot, I've never paid a lot of attention to the star ranking on them. They miss a lot and low level kids often become the guys that get drafted. There is a lot of projection involved. More than about any other postion not called QB. The one thing I will say about the lineman Campbell is bringing in. There is no Jenkins projection. Look at the videos of these kids. They are just mean football players. Based on the videos, I'd say boderline dirty football players. They are burying kids often away from the play and in cases times that would have to be close to after the whistle.
Nastiness best trait for OL. Could go on and on about hits and misses, but just look at last year. Where was Vega out of HS compared to Birchmeier and Williams? One just drafted in first round, the others now at Liberty and Charlotte. What?? Stargazers are funny.
Really deep question. You really want me to try to explain all of that? I don't think so.
Anyway, yeah...as it was, a thing of the past. New 'recruiting' (if you insist on using outdated concepts) has much more to do with the size of the 'bag' a 17 YO (and his family) wants. You really think these guys or their families are impressed with Patee or whatever these days? How about the quality of the education? Uh huh.
Nah, for the higher ranked HS players it's cold, hard cash now. Recruiting was a part of college football. College football as we all knew it is gone.
First off, let me say that I generally appreciate your comments and agree with a lot of what you say - specifically re: the fickleness of fans, etc. There's no doubt that for most fans what determines whether or not going for it on 4th down was a good or bad call depends almost solely on whether or not the team picked up the first down, etc. etc.
But lately it seems the general gist of a lot of what you're saying is either the coach has no impact on the outcome of games because there's no such thing as actually "coaching kids up" or game day coaching, etc., or all the coaches are so good that they basically cancel each other out - and everything just comes down to the talent of the 11 guys on the field which is almost entirely determined by there high school recruiting star ratings and the overall NIL spend of the team. Is this what you're actually saying?
I have to believe certain coaches have better personalities for recruiting - higher EQs to connect with players/families, salesmen, etc. And some coaches are likely better at seeing past the star ratings to predict which kids can actually play football, fit into positions of need, have the right attitudes to enhance the culture of the team, etc. And some coaches must be better than others at putting together the optimal staffs, putting kids in the best positions, doing the best pre-game preparations, etc. And some rare coaches might even be better at in-game adjustments, play-calling strategies, etc. no? Wasn't Paterno amazing coming off of bye weeks and in bowl games because ostensibly he was better than other coaches at breaking down an opponents weaknesses and coming up with ways to exploit them?
If the coach doesn't actually have any real influence on the wins and losses, why are the best ones paid 8-figure salaries while others are stuck in division III?
According to Rivals. PSU's average recruit is rated 88.6 . Ohio State's average recruit is rated 93. Will Ohio State's coaching staff go fishing for the next 3 years or will they, like PSU be "coaching their players up?"
All things equal, talent wins. Others can put their money on the exceptions to the rule. Ohio State beats PSU because they have a receiver no one can cover and a Dlineman or LB that we can't block (usually more than one actually). Speaking of "the standard." The standard for PSU is it's record over the past 30 years. You are what your record says you are.
Until PSU attracts playmakers, they will struggle vs the Oregons and Ohio States.
You omitted YOUR previous point about recruits picking their personal choice of the 3-4 highest bidders. Personal choice = the best recruiter.
Is that what we did here with CJF? All the negative stuff started last fall?Not before? LOL
Also, my criticism isn't aimed at Coach Campbell directly. It's more a concern about the seeming inability to attract game changers. This, I believe is more a consequence of "top 5 appetite" with a top 20 wallet. Campbell is recruiting as "in the past." I maintain that this does not foreshadow improved results. He apparently doesn't have the NIL funds to land the big fish. That isn't his fault. That's on Kraft being hard headed and insisting on a 750 million dollar luxury box addition when the monies were better served building a NC type roster.
Why do you insist on referring to the former coach as CJF. This accords him a degree of respect that he does not deserve. He is BGJ, a moniker that expresses the disdain and lack of respect that he fully earned.
You haven't been paying attention to the fan base perspective. There has been a negative element existent with regard to BGJ since the day he arrived at PSU. It grew over time for a variety of reasons. For me personally, I grew tired of his schtick of there was never enough and he always needed more. There may have been some truth to it, but don't take it public and lobby the fan base. It did not bother me initially but over time it gave credence to the early detractors who labeled him a carnival barker.
With regard to recruiting, yes, I would like the warm fuzzy feeling that comes with recruiting high four stars and five stars. Does recruiting these players make a difference? Absolutely, in the case of tOSU who recruits 3 to 5 five stars every year, it shows up in the draft when they have 2 or more first round picks almost every year in addition to another 6 to 10 who get drafted, plus there is the 2024 national championship.
To get to that level will require performance on the field better than the recruiting rankings. We are in a new age of college football where recruiting is not necessarily the lifeblood of a program. It is one piece of what has turned into a game of talent accumulation and retention. NIL is the new variable and quite frankly, how it changes that game long term is anybody's guess. When I see over the last 3 years where roster expenditures for the top programs have gone from 20 million to 30 million to now the number being thrown out is 50 million, one has to question whether this is sustainable. Perhaps it is, perhaps it is not. A little patience on the front end may prove to be a better strategy long term. Then again, maybe it will not. I do think that PSU has more monetary resources than what it has shown so far. They have just taken a different path then most with regard to deployment.
On the subject of recruiting, there does appear to be a difference between the type of players being recruited by CMC in comparison to BGJ. This was noted by TFrank in a recent podcast. BGJ seemed to prioritize measurables while CMC is looking at more at the instinctual characteristics. Even though the results are similar (I would also stipulate that BGJ was producing classes that were rated high than CMC's current iteration), CMC does appear to have a different priority set in the evaluation process.
Lastly does CMC have a demonstrable ability to evaluate players that will outperform their ratings? If we look at his last class at ISU (2025), his class ranked number 58 (according to On3 / Rivals) in the country. This was near the bottom of P4 teams. This was historically similar to his other ISU recruiting classes. He clearly has a track record of outperforming what the recruiting rankings project
When people note (complain) about the number of 3 stars, I would hypothesize that not all 3 stars are the same. The 2025 ISU recruiting class had 21 commits. Twenty of them received national rankings by Rivals / On3 with one unranked recruit. Focusing on the national ranking of the 20 ranked recruits, the average national ranking was 1,151. The current average national ranking for the current 20 PSU recruits is 482. The ranking of every current PSU recruit is better than the average ranking of ISUs 2025 class. This would indicate that he is attracting a substantially better recruit at PSU than he was at ISU. Will this result in the success desired by PSU and their fan base? That remains to be seen. At least we won't have to listen to whinny BGJ anymore.
What kids are left that we are realistically getting? Not being negative just curious what everybody’s thoughts are.
You haven't been paying attention to the fan base perspective. There has been a negative element existent with regard to BGJ since the day he arrived at PSU.
And there it is. Finally someone has pointed it out. Before he coached a game there was an element that hated him. Before he won the Big Ten. Before he went 13-3, more wins than any coach in Penn State history, before he established himself as the second best coach in Penn State history, some fans hated him. And It was clear racism.
It i
it is racism to point out he was one blocked FG away from 0-19 against top 10 teams? Go sell that shiiit elsewhere
Not racist. Just dumb.
Your point isn't even accurate. Psu won two playoff games in 2024.
You could probably list one play in most losses to give Franklin a win.
You haven't been paying attention to the fan base perspective. There has been a negative element existent with regard to BGJ CMC since the day he arrived at PSU.
^^^This is still true.^^^
^^^This is still true.^^^
Neither of those teams were top 10, nor were we close in point spread. Please tell me you are not claiming BGJ was a great coach because he beat Boise and SMU?
Correct me if I'm wrong here but which coach prior to Franklin had the opportunity to win 13 games? I'm a Franklin fan but I'm not sure that's an incredible accomplishment when they play so many additional games now.
FALSE! Boise was top 10 in both ap and coaches poll. Smu was 11. Maybe you should just make up facts and say osu wasn't top 10 either.
Only 12 teams made the playoffs.
I think wisconsin Was also too 10 when psu played them in the big10 championship.
This is certainly a coach to be proud of...
James Franklin holds a career record of 4-21 against Associated Press Top-10 opponents. Two of those four signature victories came during the 2016 season against No. 2 Ohio State and No. 6 Wisconsin. [1, 2, 3]
A complete breakdown of his top-10 matchups highlights these performance trends:
- The Record: 4-21 overall.
- vs. Ohio State & Michigan: 1-14 against these two Big Ten rivals when they are ranked in the top 10.
- At Beaver Stadium: 1-8 at home against top-10 opponents
I just remember being so happy when he was hired that he wasn't asian or native american, but moreso I'm glad I'm not a racist.
I'm sure there was a small faction that didn't like Franklin from day one, but I'm also sure that a lot of those people were not going to be happy with anyone not named Tom Bradley or Jay Paterno. That makes them stupid, not racist.
Exactly. Playing the race card is pathetic. No fanbase loves any coach universally. Paterno got death threats during his prime. That said playing the race card is a way of life in this country anymore. It's way to remove accountability and shut people up. The good part is most people are sick and tired of that bs.
James had a very good run here. He was instrumental in upgrading the facilities and infusing some much needed energy. But IMHO he was a bad game day coach and couldn't beat anyone with equal of better talent. 12 years was enough. And I'm sure he'll turn around VTech quickly.
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This season can’t come soon enough.