re: ***[as of 7/30/09 - SEE NEW POST]***

I guessing Illinois will be 1-1 (Mizzou & Illinois St.) entering their off week.
Thoughts on Coach Zook?
'05: 2-9
'06: 2-10
'07: 9-4 (looked promising)
'08: 5-7
[18-30 at Illinois, 10-22 in the Big 10]

***Tulane Football's 9th 2010 Commitment***

Georgia defensive tackle Jamel Dobbs commits to Tulane - Times-Picayune
- Dobbs, 6-feet-1, 255 pounds, with 4.65 speed in the 40, was a first-team All-District and All-County selection as a junior for a Cedar Grove team that posted a 6-4 record while competing in Georgia’s Class 3A division.
- ...also had official offers from Maryland, Navy, Toledo and West Carolina. Additionally, Dobbs attracted recruiting interest from Auburn, Stanford, Vanderbilt, Western Kentucky and Harvard. He made unofficial visits to Auburn and Vanderbilt.
- He is fully qualified academically as an honors student with a SAT score of 1,430 and a 4.2 grade-point-average compiled in an advanced placement curriculum.
- Dobbs: “I feel that they’re more about education and academics and athletics rather than just athletics. They have a real high graduation rate. I’ve talked to the coaches a lot. ... I’m interested in becoming a doctor and they have a real good medical school. They’ve got some real smart people there and I enjoy being surrounded by smart people.’’

Jamel Dobbs Commits to Tulane - neworleans.com
- Dobbs has played four different positions in high school. He is quite fast for his size, having been clocked consistently in the 4.65 to 4.7 range in the forty-yard dash.

Junior defensive football prospects, and more - The Auburn Villager
- Jamel Dobbs from Cedar Grove High in Ellenwood, Ga., the same high school that produced former Auburn offensive linemen Marcus McNeil and Jonathan Palmer;...


Rivals.com - DT Jamel Dobbs
ESPN.com - DE Jamel Dobbs

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DollaChoppa

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R.I.P.

It's great to get guys with good academic backgrounds but I am getting sick of seeing Tulane get recruits who had other offers from bottom tier programs. Tulane is obviously not going to get kids over USC, LSU, UF, Texas, etc but it would be nice to see them getting players who were looking at at least midlevel programs.
I mean look at the current class he is working on:
Taylor Bullock (no stars): no other offers
Brent Comardelle (2 stars): no other offers
Cameron Dejean (no stars): ULL is only other offer
Jamel Dobbs (no stars): offers from Navy, Toledo, Western Carolina, Maryland
Ben Stone (no stars): no other offers
Michael Strauus (3 stars!!): offers from Akron, Buffalo, FIU, Western Michigan
Jamar Thomas (2 stars): other offer from ULM
Kenny Welcome (no stars): no other offers

Now I understand that occasionally you will have a recruit who flies under the radar and performs better than his star rating or offers would indicate. However, when the bulk of your first 2 (and now third) signing classes consist of guys that nobody else really wanted then how can you view that as progress? Scelfo wasn't great by any means but occasionally under his tenure Tulane would get a guy who was a bigtime recruit. It just seems like Toledo's classes are the same type of classes that Tulane has brought in for years. I've always said that if they get the second tier of Louisiana players then they could compete in CUSA. The problem is that right now those kids are going to Texas A&M, USM, La Tech Tulsa, etc.

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toledo is recruiting way better than scelfo did. the last class had either 6 or 7 three stars, which equals the total from tulane's 4 previous classes combined. at least i think that's what it was. it's something similar to that

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Huh? Toledo's last class ranked 9th out of 12 CUSA teams. The class before that ranked dead last out of 12 teams.
Scelfo brought in the conference's 3rd ranked class in 2004. His other classes were nothing to write home about (usually falling in around 8th best in the conference) but they were still a bit better than Toledo's (when compared to the rest of CUSA).
I'm not trying to be negative but I don't understand some of the Green Wave fans (mainly the idiots over at YOGWF) getting so excited about Toledo. A younger, more exciting coach would have been a much better choice over a coach who had 1 or 2 good seasons 10 years ago at UCLA. Obviously the problem with a young, up-and-comer would be that he would use the Tulane job as a stepping stone. However I'd rather enjoy success for a few years (like with Bowden)) than mediocrity for several (like with Scelfo and probably Toledo).

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Huh? Toledo's last class ranked 9th out of 12 CUSA teams. The class before that ranked dead last out of 12 teams.

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comparatively when looking at the rest of CUSA that may be true, but my original statement isn't erroneous. toledo's class last year had better, more highly rated athletes than any of scelfo's. i don't think you can fault him for CUSA improving. tulane's football program is in a position where baby steps are acceptable. i don't think you can realistically expect to go from the hurricane fallout to competing in both recruiting and on the field with the types of teams you referenced in your other post so quickly. i expect that much of toledo's fan support will start to dwindle if improvements don't start to show this season

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comparatively when looking at the rest of CUSA that may be true, but my original statement isn't erroneous. toledo's class last year had better, more highly rated athletes than any of scelfo's. i don't think you can fault him for CUSA improving.

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I agree with that. The problem is that if you don't have a coach who can 'coach them up' then you are going to at least have to have talent that is on par with the top teams in the conference. Toledo hasn't really shown an ability to coach up his players. He doesn't strike me as a guy who can take your talent and beat you with it. So ultimately Tulane's football success will be determined by how they recruit when compared to the rest of the conference. Looking at Tulane's out of conference schedules you're obviously going to end up with L's vs teams like Bama, LSU, BYU, Ole Miss etc. Thus what will make or break Toledo is going to be how he does vs the rest of CUSA. He may very well have recruited better players than Scelfo did. But if the rest of the conference is recruiting better players than Toledo is and Toledo really hasn't shown the ability to outcoach the opposition (yes i understand that he loses to teams with superior talent but he also hasn't performed well vs teams with inferior talent-ie Army) then that doesn't leave me (or most other Tulane fans) with much hope. I personally think that Tulane needs to start going after young assistants with upside. I understand that they will use Tulane to further their careers but I'm personally okay with that. I'd prefer coaches that are going to command attention from other programs vs coaches who are at Tulane because that's the best job they could get (ie Scelfo and Toledo-who came from OC at New Mexico St. if I remember correctly). Charlie Strong is a guy who seemed like a good fit for Tulane when they hired Toledo. Did Tulane interview him?

UPDATE: Tulane Commit QB Michael Strauss
Tide offers Fla. QB - Rivals - BamaOnLine.com
- "Coach (Bobby) Williams and I were talking today and he told me that I needed to call Coach Saban up because he had some news for me. I gave him a call and he told me that he had been evaluating quarterbacks at their summer camps, but I was the top guy they had in there all summer. He said he wanted me to be a part of my class and he extended a scholarship offer to me," said Strauss...
- It was a big honor because I like Alabama a lot. No matter what happens it is a pretty big deal when Alabama offers you."
- "I am still committed to Tulane and that is a pretty firm commitment. The Alabama offer gives me something to think about," said Strauss.
- "This just happened today so I am taking it all in, but I am still committed to Tulane. Nothing has changed in that regard."


***Tulane Football's 3rd 2010 Commitment***
Florida prep quarterback commits to Tulane - neworleans.com
Miami quarterback Michael Strauss commits to Tulane - Times-Picayune
- Strauss, 6 feet 3, 205 pounds, who also was considering Akron, Florida International, Western Michigan and Buffalo, said Tulane offered him in March.
- Strauss said he plans to graduate in December and enroll at Tulane in January.
- As a junior, Strauss led Gulliver to the Florida Class 2A state championship game, which the school lost to Bolles Academy of Jacksonville 49-20. Gulliver Prep finished 11-2.