We have a 3* JUCO DT coming in to visit this week, seems like a back-up plan if we miss on Eason. Feels like any kid who is committed and doesn't sign in the early period should just be assumed to be a soft commit at best.

Why any recruit would want to go to UT after the embarrassing offseason they're having is beyond me. Also don't understand wanting to go to ND when they had some significant staff turnover and their HC just interviewed for a NFL gig a few weeks ago.

1/31/2018 9:19:38 AM

Quote :

"Also don't understand wanting to go to ND"

Really?

1/31/2018 10:02:56 AM

I mean, their HC just interviewed for a NFL gig and the fans were calling for his head the year before. I understand the history around ND, and it's a beautiful campus/stadium, but I'd be a bit leery of committing to that staff for 4 years. Our HC just turned down money to get an extension here, Kelly was actively trying to get out for the NFL. Not to mention ND just replaced their DC and quite a bit of their staff.

It's not about the school, it's completely about the state of the program and the coaching staff.

1/31/2018 10:45:52 AM

Quote :

" It's not about the school, it's completely about the state of the program and the coaching staff."

No it isn't for a school like Notre Dame. You are pretty nuts if you think "why would a kid consider Notre Dame over NC State?" Staff and coaches matter but there are still a handful of schools that it is about the history, stadium, and lore even if Notre Dame has fallen some, it is still Notre Dame. You look silly questioning a kid looking at Notre Dame because they had some staff turnover... common. It isn't like the program is in shambles either, or facing sanctions.

1/31/2018 11:25:57 AM

From going up from for the game this season I can say with full confidence South Bend is one of the most boring places in America. The whole of NW Indiana was one of the most depressing drives I've taken really. There's nothing there but the school itself. For life outside of football it has to be miserable.

1/31/2018 11:47:56 AM

That is true about a lot of schools. Do you think the kid is going to commute to practice from North Carolina?

1/31/2018 12:13:43 PM

Quote :

"I mean, their HC just interviewed for a NFL gig and the fans were calling for his head the year before"

Our HC just interviewed for an SEC job and was almost fired last year

Also ND just finished 11th in the country

[Edited on January 31, 2018 at 12:44 PM. Reason : Also ]

1/31/2018 12:43:28 PM

^So, a team finishing top 15 and the coach actively pursuing NFL jobs and losing his DC in a lateral move to TAMU, is equivalent to our coach turning down the opportunity to be poached by a SEC team and instead getting raises for his entire staff?

Doeren was on the hot seat, had a big season, secured an extension.
Kelly was on the hot seat, had a big season, tried to land a NFL job(didn't get it).

I agree ND has the prestige factor by a mile over us, but I'm not convinced last year wasn't an anomaly. Woudln't be surprised to see them out of the top 25 this year given the losses and how their schedule was beautifully setup for them last year(nice run of big games at home and then the wheels fell of the bus when they had to actually go on the road).

I still think too many people are caught up in 20 years ago. ND is a special/historic place, but in today's college football, you want to go to a program where you can trust the coach and can at least expect to play for them for 3-4 years. Kelly was actively trying to get out and he has a history of ruffling feathers and throwing his players under the bus.

2/1/2018 8:04:47 AM

Too many people are caught up in a fictional movie.

2/1/2018 9:08:13 AM

^Uh no the football player that made everyone love Notre Dame is not fictional

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzDECTB4Jiw

2/1/2018 9:28:14 AM

I get what Luda is saying. And he’s not completely wrong about why State might be more appealing than ND to a recruit. That said, ND > NC State.

2/1/2018 9:47:22 AM

Yup, all day every day and twice on Sunday.

Just from a national TV broadcast perspective alone. If you're trying to get eyes on you, ND is way better a place to do that than NCSU.

2/1/2018 10:31:20 AM

I'm moving on can't believe there would even be a slight thought to this topic, talk about reinforcing the delusional fanbase stereotype.

2/1/2018 12:11:55 PM

A recruit wants what is best for them right now; this is typically perceived as - 'who can get me to the nfl?' It's fair to say that state will do just as a good job as ND.

2/1/2018 12:22:04 PM

^i'm sure somebody here can look at which program has more draft picks over the last, say, 5 years. i'm willing to bet it's ND easily.

hell, i did it. ND draft picks in the last 5 years - 24. NC State - 10. and i'm sure if you factor in which round those guys were taken in, it would also favor ND. and yes...that's because ND gets higher rated recruits than State. not because they magically develop talent better than we do. but that raises the question "if player x had gone to State rather than ND, wouldn't he have still been drafted?" and the answer is probably yes. but then we've circled back to...well if they get better talent than we do, doesn't that mean recruits find ND more attractive than State? pretty much any way you slice it, ND is going to be able to out-recruit us and have much better appeal to recruits than State.

edit: yes, if you're nc state you can give a recruit the pitch that Luda posted. and it's not inaccurate. it's a solid sales pitch for State vs ND. but ND has a hell of a pitch themselves.

[Edited on February 1, 2018 at 12:36 PM. Reason : f]

2/1/2018 12:27:04 PM

I understand WHY a recruit would pick State. I understand what NC State has to offer.

The point was there should be no confusion as to why a recruit would look at Notre Dame and pick Notre Dame over NC State, which was what the original post that started this implied, a confusion as to why would anyone pick Notre Dame when they could come to NC State?

2/1/2018 1:19:19 PM

I think a better argument is, based solely on game tape, Brian Kelly seems like one of the worst coaches to play for. Just constantly red in the face yelling at and attempting to embarrass his players. Who would want that?

2/1/2018 3:28:45 PM

^This was more of my argument.

It's not about playing for ND, it's about playing for Brian Kelly, for at least a year or so. He's had staff turnover, thrown players under the bus, been an asshat to the media, shit on his players that left early, etc. I understand the guy can coach(except in fucking hurricanes apparently), but his team has had a lot of talent the last few years and hasn't really lived up to the expectations.

Eason is flipping, best hope now is to land the JUCO visiting this weekend and land 4* Palmer. Our staff has a good eye for talent on the OL and DL, so I imagine Eason is going to end up being a solid player in a few years at ND(he was going to take a year or two here as well).

2/1/2018 4:02:51 PM

^^I think the same thing of Dabo Sweeney yet that prick pulls in top classes every year

2/1/2018 9:31:23 PM

Dabo has Jesus on his side. And not that lame touchdown Jesus either.

2/1/2018 11:13:42 PM

Saban looks like a ball of joy all the time.

2/2/2018 8:51:55 AM

Val Martin is a juco DT deciding between us, Wazzu, and FAU. Sounds like we’ll likely get him.

[Edited on February 2, 2018 at 9:10 AM. Reason : This is the juco guy Luda referenced previously ]

2/2/2018 9:09:47 AM

Quote :

"Saban looks like a ball of joy all the time."

Especially when he's dancing.

2/2/2018 10:00:00 AM

A ‘18 long snapper just committed to us. Guess Carolina stole the other kid.

2/3/2018 8:18:17 PM

Quote :

"Val Martin is a juco DT "

Committed. Eligible this fall, I think

2/3/2018 9:57:20 PM

Quote :

"A ‘18 long snapper just committed to us. Guess Carolina stole the other kid."

lol. well...go them

2/3/2018 11:25:13 PM

The LS commit might be preferred walkon. Maybe Little insurance but not necessarily replacement

2/4/2018 9:09:09 AM

#rumors #sources Eason may not flip to ND after all

2/6/2018 7:04:42 PM

the source is the lead ND writer for 247sports.com. Says that location is the biggest factor. Says hes not 100% sure it will be NC State, but he knows it won't be ND. Our coaching staff sent Eason an LOI to sign but have not been actively recruiting him for weeks.

2/6/2018 11:02:17 PM

Yea I guess the expectation is for him to sign with us...but it’ll be interesting since we had backed off and knew he was gonna go to ND.

The TE transfer (immediately eligible I think) from USC has signed and so has the JUCO DL. Palmer is signing at 2:30 this afternoon. Not sure when Eason’s decision will come.

2/7/2018 8:49:30 AM

Eason might not even decide today, could always wait if he isn't feeling ND or NCSU.

2/7/2018 8:57:22 AM

Eason commits to State

[Edited on February 7, 2018 at 9:31 AM. Reason : Or remains committed. Whatever. ]

2/7/2018 9:30:19 AM

The entire Eason story is so weird, hopefully he'll do an interview and shed some light on what happened. ND insiders on their 247 board seemed shocked last night when the news started coming out.

Now just waiting on Palmer to decide, think he's announcing at 2:30.

2/7/2018 11:01:21 AM

He's 17/18, he changed his mind. Not sure why its shocking in any way.

2/7/2018 11:07:35 AM

Didn't think Notre Dame made sense for him in the first place. I get the allure of a big-time program...but he was still a 3-star kid who would have been buried on their depth chart and recruited over. And it's a long ways from home.

The shine probably started to fade and he realized that he could develop here with a lower threat of being completely recruited over, would be closer to his family, and he already had a relationship with our coaches. That and rumors that Brian Kelly was looking around probably helped.

2/7/2018 11:18:06 AM

I think, what most likely happened, is he saw a local not-NC State-affiliated website where people questioned whether ND was still relevant nationally

2/7/2018 11:36:59 AM

^^^it's not weird that he changed his mind. it is weird that we had basically quit recruiting him and he still committed here. at least that's what it sounds like happened. he never de-committed so that makes it less weird, but usually a staff would be recruiting to the end in that situation and it sounds like our staff knew he wasn't coming here so they quit recruiting. but i totally get having second thoughts about moving that far from home at that age.

[Edited on February 7, 2018 at 11:37 AM. Reason : also, i just saw tom savage's name on page 1 and lol'd]

2/7/2018 11:37:17 AM

Eh, I mean, let's look at what has been leaked so far regarding his recruitment...

Committed for months to NC State.
Elects not to sign on early signing day because his school is doing an event today.
Says he is 100% committed to NC State.
Gets an offer from ND.
Decides to take an OV to ND.
Our staff is annoyed but still wants him.
He takes his OV to ND.
Reports come out, including ND insiders, saying he's a silent commit.
Our coaches stop recruiting. To the point they didn't bother using their in-home with him.
24 hours before NSD, word leaks he's had a change of heart and ND is completely out of it.
NSD he signs with NC State despite not being recruited by the staff for a couple of weeks.

I'm sorry, that is just weird, even for a 17/18 year old kid. He cited distance as the biggest obstacle, but he visited and he plenty of time to digest the distance to ND, so curious what will come out later to help explain it.

And get out of here with that "he's only a 3*, he'd be buried on the depth chart at ND".
ND DE recruiting:
2018 - 1 3*
2017 - 3 3*
2016 - 2 4*, 1 3*
2015 - 1 3*

Let's not act like ND is just flush with high-ranked DL players and that the depth chart scared him away.

2/7/2018 2:33:47 PM

Sweet, Palmer committed

2/7/2018 3:07:05 PM

After this Palmer add, I wonder where this class stacks up with our past best

2/7/2018 3:10:25 PM

Sweet. Can never have enough good db's

That makes six 4-star commits for this year. How many did DD have his entire career before this year? ( too lazy to check Pack Pride, but I'm thinking it's 6 or less)

2/7/2018 3:11:22 PM

Here's some write-ups on today's signees:

http://www.wralsportsfan.com/nc-state-flips-georgia-db-from-duke-finishes-2018-class-with-25-signees/17320550/

2/7/2018 3:53:55 PM

Quote :

" That makes six 4-star commits for this year. How many did DD have his entire career before this year? ( too lazy to check Pack Pride, but I'm thinking it's 6 or less)"

off the top of my head - Nyheim Hines, McGirt, Roseboro, Street, Thad Moss (i think), Johnny Frasier, Kelvin Harmon, Reggie Gallaspy II...i think were all 4* on one site or another...maybe not all on the same Rivals/Scout/whatever service though. and i may be missing one or two. it all depends what service you wanna look at, i guess. but yeah, this is easily DD's best class. and one of the best we've had here in a long time.

2/7/2018 4:08:08 PM

Heard a good interview with DD on Primetime today. He, like all the coaches they interviewed, basically scoffed at star rankings, without trying to demean the people who rank players for a living. The host brought up 3-star Bradley Chubb and how he was the 600 and something highest rated player in his high school class.

2/7/2018 6:07:05 PM

The man clearly has a great eye for talent but i do expect more 4 stars would result in more hineses. Probably a separate discussion but for every how many hineses do you get a frasier? for every how many normal 3 stars do you get a chubb? duh right?

2/7/2018 6:48:37 PM

https://www.sbnation.com/college-football-recruiting/2015/5/5/8547409/nfl-draft-recruiting-rating-ranking
And https://www.sbnation.com/college-football-recruiting/2014/5/12/5696710/nfl-draft-recruits-five-stars-two-stars

Partially answers that question. Although it’s impossible to answer it perfectly since there’s so many variables at play.

But this is pretty good here

Quote :

"The chance of a lesser-rated recruit being drafted in the first round is nowhere close to what it is for a blue-chipper. Consider this: While four- and five-star recruits made up just 9.4 percent of all recruits, they accounted for 55 percent of the first and second round. Any blue-chip prospect has an excellent shot of going on to be a top pick, if he stays healthy and out of trouble."

Basically there’s way more 2-3* recruits, so on sheer numbers there will be a lot of “success stories”. And because 5* recruits are more known it’ll be more obvious when one fails. You don’t think about all the 2-3* guys that simply turn out to be role players, essentially living up to their ranking.

[Edited on February 7, 2018 at 7:20 PM. Reason : A]

2/7/2018 7:15:52 PM

Quote :

"off the top of my head - Nyheim Hines, McGirt, Roseboro, Street, Thad Moss (i think), Johnny Frasier, Kelvin Harmon, Reggie Gallaspy II...i think were all 4* on one site or another...maybe not all on the same Rivals/Scout/whatever service though. and i may be missing one or two. it all depends what service you wanna look at, i guess. but yeah, this is easily DD's best class. and one of the best we've had here in a long time."

per packpride/247 hes had:

2014 - Street, McClendon. Street played all 4 years, starter for 3. Will prolly get drafted. mcclendon never played really meaningful time. Transferred before senior year.

2015 - Hines, Roseboro, McGirt, Frasier - Hines played first 2 seasons as WR/ST. Starting RB junior year and >1,000 yds rushing. Left early for NFL. Roseboro coming back for senior year. McGirt will be a junior and has not seen field yet. Frasier burned out and transferred.

So of the 6 hes had so far, 3 have seen actual playing time. 2 have transferred, 1 has a chance to get some playing time his final 2 seasons.

2/8/2018 1:25:34 AM

^interesting. and just for the hell of it, because i've got some time rn. here's the rivals rankings

2013: 0
2014: Street, Jones, Pratt all 4*. Jones and Street will both be drafted. Pratt looked really good last year and I expect a big year from him this year.
2015: Roseboro, Hines, Gallaspy, Johnny Frasier, Emanuel McGirt. All 4*. Chance for Gallaspy to break out this year. As you said, McGirt has had little to no impact, but he has had a few injuries to battle too i believe.
2016: Harmon, Thad Moss both 4*. Harmon has been a beast. Moss transferred.
2017: Antoine Thompson, Grant Gibson both 4*. Gibson ought to have a chance to see the field this year on the DL. Thompson was one of the guys suspended last year - unsure if he's on the roster or what his deal is.
2018: Payton Wilson, Leary, Alim McNeil, Person, DeVon Graves. Palmer not a 4* here, fwiw.

[Edited on February 8, 2018 at 7:12 AM. Reason : so that's 12 total on rivals. kinda interesting to see the difference in ranking i guess]

2/8/2018 7:11:54 AM

I think Thompson was one of the ones kicked off the team

2/8/2018 7:28:47 AM

yup he was dismissed from the team. tried to look and see if he had transferred or what he was doing now...couldn't find anything.

2/8/2018 7:52:40 AM