re: Keeping In State Talent

CRob, Willis, Speedy and Young were legit


Speedy and Young would have made this class A++

Ya I agree with Salmon....

Its not just about if they have an offer. Its about the guys we actively had offered and recruited for over a year. And each prospect had a diff situation.

After Hootie decommitted from Bama, we basically told him he can come to LSU, but will be as an OLB. He had his chance to be with us and chose Bama and we moved on from him. And upgraded with Adams. Ill take Adams > Hootie every day of the week and twice on sundays.

McDowell and Palelei were basically "back up plans" type of guys. Especially McDowell. We never really pursued McDowell that hard. And I understand why. Hes a good interior pass rusher, but is an undersized DT that will have issues stopping the run in the SEC. Thats not what I want in a DT for us. And I dont think he will be able to play DE.

Palelei was a weird situation. Moved to LA his freshman year, so not really a born and raised LA guy. We didnt offer him early on because we werent sure about him. He worked his butt off, got his weight up, and had a great camp at LSU. We offered, he committed. But I really think the idea of PT started to eat away at him. LF, Magee, Hilliard is next year. Then you have Brossette and most likely Guice coming in next year. I would take all of them over Palelei. Guice is a Paleleli type back(change of pace), but is just bigger and better. And then we started looking at Williams harder too, and gave him an offer. Palelei took a visit to Okie St, where he has a friend at IIRC. And he would be able to play and possibly start there. So he decommitted and is going to Okie St.

Have no issues with any of those guys either. I wanted Palelei to be a part of this class. But he wasnt. In 3 years from now I dont think im going to be sitting here thinking.... damn how did we miss of McDowell or Palelei.

CRob, Willis, Speedy, and Young were the ones that got away IMO.

Well like I said before give instate recruits time to commit to LSU after that time has expired go OOS.

LSU was lucky this time because other OOS schools either fired the coach or the coach was entertaining another school. However, they need to move on the ball much quicker instead of waiting on instate recruits. We do not want another Willis committing to Florida in Nov and not telling LSU until January.

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And while we did miss on some in state guys, you gotta look at the out of state prospects we got from around the country.

Jama Adams and Ed Paris - 2 of the top 5 recruits from Texas

Voorhies - best player in MS

Clark - Top 2 player in Oklahoma

CG - #1 player from Illinois

Valentine - Top 10 player from FL.

So yea some in state guys got away. Thats fine, they didnt want to be here. Guys from other states did. And in some spots we upgraded over an in state player.

Plus you gotta look at what we did get from the state. We got the big fish in LF, #1 player in country and considered a "once in a lifetime" prospect. Dupre, #1 WR in the country. Harris, Quinn, Brumfield, Godchaux, Williams, Clapp, etc, etc, are all great prospects too.

We cleaned up this year.

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Let's not try a polish a turd here by comparing us to what UT is doing. The facts are we did an incredible job of recruiting despite the problems we had recruiting in-state talent.

That being said we definitely had problems with recruiting in-state and the fence that LSU had around the state has major holes in it and the issues need to be addressed and done so immediately.

Lets not try and sugar coat things, we had issue this year recruiting in-state and those issues need to be fixed so that this is not a recurring problem going forward.

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LSU is pulling in more top OOS recruits than ever before

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Out of State kids don't hear constantly how stupid our HC is.

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Keeping In State Talent

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is a thing of the past

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Out of State kids don't hear constantly how stupid our HC is.

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True, but in the end, results matter. When a kid in West Monroe or N.O. sees Les and Co. just got a verbal from the top recruit in TX, IL or where ever; when they see guys like Jackson and Carter talk about how they almost left their home state to play for LSU, it makes an impression. This kind of stuff makes these kids give LSU another look and means a heck of a lot more than what a fan writes on a message board or blog.

Also, by casting a wider net we are forcing other programs to protect their own back yards. It may not have secured the state this year, but I guarantee other programs have taken notice.

And we are getting onto a national level as a program and school.

There are kids from all across the country that want to come to LSU now.

Theres a "cycle" when it comes to football programs turning into a national brand IMO:

1st, team starts out getting some players from home state and win some games. Then more local guys take interest. Win some more games. That gets the $$$ rolling in and a buzz surrounding a program.

2nd, build up facilities and upgrade coaching staff. That gets the majority of in state players coming in, and in a state like LA getting a lot of in state players = getting a lot of talent. With an upgraded coaching staff and facilities, a lot of talent turns into more wins and success. You start battling for conference championships and going to big bowl games. And start sending more players to the NFL. All of that help builds up your reputation as a program.

3rd, you steady the ship. Coaches and players wont be around forever. They always come and go. And facilities / equipment gets outdated, so you make minor tweaks and upgrades to things. But being able to consistently be in the hunt for conference championships and sending players to the NFL, regardless who the coach is, shows that the program is as steady as any in the country. And the entire country takes notice, which results in more kids from across the US wanting to come to that school.

Yea its not a simple 1,2,3, step thing, and its harder said than done. But thats the "steps" Ive seen teams take in becoming a national brand type team. Some teams overachieve some years and have the opportunity to turn into more of a national level program, but due to issues with coaching, $$$ to upgrade facilities and recruiting, they dont always reach that level.

But no matter what, every program needs 1 of 2 things. That program either needs to have a great coach that stays there, or it has to be located in a part of the country that sends out major prospects each year. Without 1 of those things, the program wont last.