◊ The BigTen Bloggers–well, a bunch of them–were motivated enough to tackle a post-signing day roundtable. I threw them some questions, they answered. Here's what we got.
(Download the .pdf version of this post!)
Signing Day edition participants:
Lake the Posts (Northwestern)
Bucky's 5th Quarter (Wisconsin)
Our Honor Defend (Ohio State)
Off the Tracks (Purdue)
Maize 'n Brew (Michigan)
Maize & Blue Nation (Michigan)
Nittany White Out (Penn State)
The Nittany Line (Penn State)
Happy Hour Valley (Penn State)
1. Were you pleased with this year's recruiting class? Where did your team excel? Where did they fall short?
I figured on starting with a predictable, boring question. My guess is that I achieved my goal. But there were some interesting story lines emerging from this year's recruiting battles. Like, is there a growing war over the State of Illinois? With Illinois admittedly underachieving last year, Northwestern's seemed to pounce on the opportunity, says LTP: "I would say we excelled in putting the proverbial flag in the Chicagoland ground as we inked three of the areas most highly touted players… NU has seemingly had a blue chip back in the lineup since Darnell Autry and this coming year, with Simmons the heir apparent, is the most questionable we've been at the RB spot in a long time."
Ok, so Chicago is only a small part of the state, but it's a major hub of talent. Then there's the land of polka and brats, a.k.a. Weeskansin, where B5Q is upbeat about UW's slim pickin's this year, yet with a warning: "This year's class has the making of any other Wisconsin recruiting class. Bret Bielema grabbed the second tier players and now the goal is to make sure they don't become the "sloppy seconds." Most fans are disappointed in the class, but I'm actually somewhat surprised the class is as good as it is after such a bad season."
But if there was one team that made a real impression this recruiting season, it was Purdue, under new head man Danny "Sunshine" Hope. OTT welcomed the relocation of the Boilers' efforts: "Purdue needed to go in a different direction and we did by cleaning upt he leftovers in the state of Florida. I say leftovers because you are rarely going to pry the top players away from Miami, Florida, and Florida State. Getting even anyone marginally good out of Miami-Dade county is impressive because Randy Shannon has a headlock on the talent down there, but fortunately there is so much talent in the state that those three schools can't possibly take all of it."
Michigan had some holes to fill on defense, even if some of them (cToRuEgNhT) might not be bad holes to have right now. MBN liked what the Wolves did this year, but was left looking for a bit more immediate results: "We probably fell short in shoring up were linebacker and defensive back. We did get some guys that I think could end up making an impact in 3 years, but no standout playmakers."
Ah, then there's Penn State. You know, that team that fielded the first-team All BigTen quarterback? Well, TNL wants more of the same the next few years, and wants to see it happen in next year's class: "Penn State landed 5 guys listed as wide receivers and four of them are of the 6 foot 2 inch or taller variety, so yeah they did their job there. Star recruit and dual-threat QB Kevin Newsome aside, the coaches fell a little short at quarterback but already have a verbal for 2010 so things aren't all bleak."
2. Name one or two players you want to see get on the field ASAP, and where you think they will fit in.
Sick of Ohio State fielding NFL talent every year? Well, it's not over, says OHD: "James comes to Ohio State by way of Grand Ledge, Michigan and runs a reported 4.31 40. I'll go ahead and downplay the significance of that measure, but there's still plenty of reason to want to see James Jackson get on the field. He's a vertical threat when the last season seemed to have no receiver capable of meeting that need."
And for Northwestern, LTP is looking forward to the Cats' newest signal caller, even if he may not play (LTP said redshirts are very common at NW) in 2009: "We're all anxious to see what QB Evan Watkins can do - his 6-6 size is of course appealing and he seems to be the guy we're betting the next four years on."
MNB forgot what decade we're in: "I'd like to see Charles Woodson at Corner and Tom Brady at QB. I think, especially given their work with NFL teams, they could compete to start immediately."
While MBN looks for the defensive line to field some very highly touted freshmen: "William Campbell, the 5-star DT from Detroit, will probably be an instant starter at defensive tackle. He will fill the massive hole left by departing senior Terrance Taylor."
However, don't think that because Penn State loses Derrick Williams & Co., that the speed factor will fade in Happy Valley, as HHV explains: "I'd like to see the coaching staff utilize Devon Smith and his Usain Bolt-like speed (4.19 40-yard dash) as a kick/punt returner or on bubble screens. Give that kid just a little bit of open space to create and the sky's the limit… Although, I would like to see the coaching staff feed him something because he's only a racing singlet and a haircut away from being mistaken for a Kenyan marathoner."
3. This one's purely for the sake of argument. Much has been made about the SEC's recruiting 'dominance' over the BigTen, particularly this year. Either validate that claim, or try to prove it wrong. At least vent a little bit. You know you want to.
You had to know I was going to ask some question about the SEC. After all, are we BigTen Bloggers, or not? But first, we here at ZN and across the BigTen community, must express our deepest sympathies to OHD, for: "...being a resident of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, [yet] I try to advance my days without acknowledging the SEC."
He did answer the question, though: "Important for Ohio State's sake — and indeed, anyone else in the Big Ten — is that recruiting, while invariably important, is but half the battle. Getting top flight athletes to come to Ohio State is one thing, but they obviously have to be much better by time they leave."
NWO looks at the situation as a problem with the BigTen's image nationally, but isn't helping itself: "I think that the media dictates this perception, but the Big Ten does need to show up, with, at the very least, a BCS bowl win next year."
And MBN points out that the whole "Southern Speed" thing might not have too much weight behind it anymore: "Michigan did it's part to help refute the notion that only fast guys from Florida go to SEC schools. 8 of Michigan's 22-member class are from the state of Florida, and all of them are skill-position players."
MNB is looking to start a blog war: "SEC country has always been better at tracking sub-18 year old kid's every movements via facebook and internet chat-rooms."
While OTT throws a little gas on the flame... in fantastically blunt fashion: "You know what, screw the SEC."
Could it be that there's another reason for the SEC's grip on recruiting? TNL had some suggestions: "Let's just put it this way, with the last three national championship teams sitting in the SEC conference it's not a difficult sell to young kids. That and it just reached 40 degrees today in central PA for the first time in oh…. 3 months."
Hmm... he may have a point there. So might HHV: "It's undoubtedly frustrating but honestly, do you expect the majority of that "southern speed" to agree to play in the cold/wind/rain/snow up in Big Ten country during the latter half of the college football season? They all would rather play in a climate where the temperatures never dip below the 50s and rain is the only element that ever causes a hinderance."
Weather have an impact on where 18-year-old boys want to go to school? No way. I mean seriously. Who wants to go to a place like Florida, with all those girls laying around dressed only in... oh, wait...
4. Going into next year (already), where does your team need to focus its efforts? How about the BigTen as a whole? What can the conference/ your team do better to attract more highly-regarded recruits, or is it even an issue?
Ha! You thought we were don't blaming the BigTen's troubles on weather? Think again! "Global Warming! Global Warming!"
Proclaimed B5Q... "We need warmer weather to compete with the SEC… Flashier teams on primetime national television sounds more appealing than playing Toledo on the Big Ten Network. Just saying."
But enough with that already. NWO wants to see Penn State (and the BigTen overall) recruit more defensive speed, along with the schemes to utilize that speed: "The spread offense seems to have finally hit the midwest, with at least Penn State, Ohio State, Michigan, Purdue, Minnesota, Illinois, and Northwestern running some variation on it. Speed on offense needs to be countered with speed on defense. I think Joe Paterno stepping down isn't as big an issue as others seem to, but maybe if (when) Tom Bradley takes over, he'll have a more hands-on approach."
And HHV added to the defensive talk for Penn State, specifically the quickly-thinning defensive front: "Since the D-line took a harder-than-expected hit with the departures of Gaines, Evans, and Maybin, and with Jared Odrick entering into his senior year, that should be our main concern for 2010."
And now for some easy stuff...
One word/number answers...
How many freshmen (in your class) redshirt in 2009?
LTP: 15 of 18.
OHD: 10
OTT: Half
MNB: All of them. Rodriguez believes he can win with last year's team given a 2nd opportunity.
MBN: 16
NWO: 19
TNL: 15
HHV: 10
Did you watch live TV coverage on signing day? If not, how many times did you hit 'refresh' on your browser on signing day?
I don't think anyone actually watched it on TV. So figure the internet in some form was the predominant medium used.
Are you going to your spring game?
Yes: LTP, OTT, MBN, NWO, TNL, HHV
No: B5Q, MNB, OHD
...and so it ends.
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