Ruh-Roh! Washington's Recruiting Class is WORSE than Vanderbilt's?

[Charles Fischer]

Yes, they could do well in the portal, and they better because they suck at high school recruiting.  Washington is No. 45, with only six of the 4/5-Star players, while Oregon is No. 7 with 19 of the coveted 4/5-Star players on Rivals.com. 

 

So who is out-recruiting them?

 

Vanderbilt, Pittsburg, Maryland, Illinois, Rutgers, Minnesota....gadfry!  A recruiting wall-of-shame....

 

2024 Washington Huskies football commitment list

WASHINGTON.RIVALS.COM

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The definitive source for all Washington news.

 

[Krsmqn]

Novus ordo seclorum!

 

You know those little dogs that shake all the time, and squat and pee when you approach them?

 

DL and Co. are killing it. We know they can catch fish, ... now let's hope they learn to be 5* chefs! 

 

2024 - Redemption >

 

 

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[Haywarduck]

Hey, Vanderbilt has 12 conference titles and 6 national championships in football. I know they were all over a 100 years ago, but still the dawgs should be proud being mentioned in the same sentence as the commodores. 

 

Who really wants to go to Seattle as DeBoer is most likely gone sooner than later, much like their last great coach. I mean a guy who can coach that well and can't recruit seems destined for the NFL.

[AnotherOD]

I used to follow recruiting a bit more closely; but, I still keep an eye on it.

 

It appears we are seeing with NIL and the portal a lot of programs choosing to essentially step back a bit from high school recruiting in favor of focusing on the portal, and the remaining teams appear to be really benefitting.

 

It looks like Oregon is in a great spot to finish top 5, right behind a few of only the biggest recruiters (Georgia, Alabama, OSU), ahead of the likes of Texas, Oklahoma, LSU, Florida, Notre Dame, Michigan, Penn State.

 

There always has been a concentration of top 80 and top 300 players at the top of the recruiting rankings; but, I don't know if I've ever seen such a huge concentration at the very top, that is, essentially the top schools (who also appear to be aggressive in NIL). With high school recruiting, Oregon appears to be swimming in what appears to be a pretty small pool.

 

Kids once choosing among 3 or 4 favorites are now essentially all looking for their best offers among there favorites and adding in NIL as a final deciding factor and, it's hard to suggest it's a bad strategy (even though collage football fans almost universally decry recruits "taking the bag"). Free school and graduating with possibly a nice chunk of change, even if the NFL doesn't happen (or is only a few years), puts a kid in a nice situation to start life. A car, money to rent or buy a home, a degree, no debt.

 

Oregon, a program that goes back to the Bellotti years often having a hat on the table but ultimately finishing #2 or #3 for a lot of top kids, is now landing more and more of them.

 

Despite two very good seasons, history with the program, good academics, Washington rarely gets mentioned from the top kids on the West Coast. UCLA doesn't have a top 500 kid (and it's two highest rated players are two state of Washington kids that Washington didn't appear to be too interested in). UCLA can't get a top 500 kid?

 

Even USC fans are suggesting Riley is portal focused and NIL dollars aren't generally being focused on high school kids. What a strange college football world where a blue blood like USC appears so far to not be running aggressively with those top schools who have seen the landscape (and potential advantages for those programs best situated).

 

With the current rules, Oregon is in a great spot; and, possibly oddly, maybe Oregon fans should be pulling for the much suggested future changes to the rules take a while to kick in.

 

Edited December 21, 2023 by AnotherOD

[Duckster]

Charles, your joy at seeing the Dawgs struggle is infectious. But somehow this stuff never seems to translate to the field. DeBoer ... now reigning CFB Coach of the Year ... is just too damn good at his job. He fits players to scheme better than anyone, and I'm certain he'll do just fine in the portal. 

 

But hey, I'm all for enjoying the moment. Keep rolling DL!

[CalBear95]

Jonathan Smith is case in point that it’s what you do with the talent you recruit

 

And if I am not mistaken, the Huskies have won the last three games against the Ducks despite the recruiting gap.  
 

I think that between DL and the staff’s ability to develop the people in the program, this discrepancy in recruiting will probably really start to show up in 2 years or so.  A lagging indicator, if you will.  
 

But DeBoer can really coach and he gets the most out of the talent he has.  Those Dawgs still have some bite.  

[Charles Fischer]

On 12/20/2023 at 5:15 PM, CalBear95 said:

Jonathan Smith is case in point that it’s what you do with the talent you recruit

 

And if I am not mistaken, the Huskies have won the last three games against the Ducks despite the recruiting gap.  
 

I think that between DL and the staff’s ability to develop the people in the program, this discrepancy in recruiting will probably really start to show up in 2 years or so.  A lagging indicator, if you will.  
 

But DeBoer can really coach and he gets the most out of the talent he has.  Those Dawgs still have some bite.  

No kidding.  Think I don't know any of that?

 

But let's take a moment to enjoy all the little victories...like beating Cal...

 

[Duckhart2]

Kalen just won coach of the year....and could very well win a national Championship. Im a Duck to the Bone but I always admired his coaching and how he got a lot from his players.

[Jon Joseph]

2 years in. DeBoer scored with Penix and signed him based on the prior relationship at Indiana. Did a terrific job convincing stud players who could have gone pro to come back for the 2023 season. He is a heck of a coach with good assistants. But if you do not score in recruiting and today, in the portal your success is not sustainable. 

[Geoduck]

Ok, this may not be a popular opinion here, but Deboer is one hell of a coach who does much more with much less. The fact of the matter is he almost beat Oregon with Fresno State, granted with a Cristobal team. He is currently 3-0 against OBD with lesser talent. I wouldn’t count the guy out in the future regardless of where his classes may rank. The guy is a schemer.  

[Pocketchange]

He’s a great coach with horrific, really horrific taste in schools.  However next year he will be beaten by a mountain of Oregon talent. 

[CalBear95]

@Charles Fischer Treating a victory over the Bears as an accomplishment is akin to patting yourself for a job well done for brushing one’s teeth.  Categorizing that win as a small victory is an insult to small victories 

 

My uber point wasn’t to denigrate the Ducks’ great recruiting relative to the Huskies nor to suggest the Huskies will be OK with a string of classes like this year’s.  It was to highlight that the Ducks have out-recruited the Huskies for several years now but that hasn’t translated to victories as yet.  
 

To be scrupulously fair, DeBoer is for all intents and purposes playing with Petersen’s team.  As those last classes age out it will be interesting to see what the Huskies look like.  

[Steven A]

On 12/20/2023 at 5:15 PM, CalBear95 said:

despite the recruiting gap.

I think Penix neutralized a recruting gap.  Now that he is gone, I hoping the gap will widen.

[1Ducker1]

DL needs to have his players ready to play for 4 quarters, once that happens we beat the Fuskies over and over.

[cartm25]

I will hold off making fun of the Huskies’ recruiting until the Ducks end their 3-game losing streak to UW.

[AnotherOD]

I'm not going to suggest it isn't about "scoreboard"; but, 3 wins by 3 points over two seasons can change in a heartbeat.

 

Give me either a slight coaching advantage going forward, or give me a mess of kids that Washington would (very) happily have accepted commits from, where instead the UW has to fill from "developing" consistently lower rated kids that themselves felt were lower on their "board" and a high % of portal successes? I'll take the bringing in the kids.

 

I respect the DeBoer "love"; but, give me the players and odds -- absolutely statistically favoring those having the better players -- will reduce significantly those standard deviations from the norm that do happen. Doing "more" with "less" just isn't supported by the data over time.

 

Suggesting having a mass of highly rated kids over a smart and (slightly) ahead coaching staff tend to yield results over time isn't especially supported by the data (and Oregon is a place where doing "more" with "less" should be understood).

 

Roll with the better players with a slight coaching disadvantage over time IMO is a safe bet. Oregon made a living at it for a number of years but what has been the solution when it hasn't happened? Largely get more dudes (and who is to say the coaching "advantage" won't get figured out?, it usually is).

 

It isn't a lock but it is a solid play. And yeah, who is to say over time the "DeBoer Magic" might look a bit more ordinary and the coaching not entirely the same when the pieces just don't come together quite the same. I guess we will see. I'm not recruiting expert; but, I would imagine the UW coaching staff would be much more happy looking forward with commits like Ayden Breland and Elijah Rushing I stead of Ratumana Bulabalava and Keona Wilhite? Obviously I guess we will see.

 

Who knows, maybe 3 years from now Bulabalava or Wilhite might be top NFL picks picks but I can say I will roll with the odds?

 

Edited December 21, 2023 by AnotherOD

[Charles Fischer]

On 12/20/2023 at 10:28 PM, cartm25 said:

I will hold off making fun of the Huskies’ recruiting until the Ducks end their 3-game losing streak to UW.

Gotta celebrate every advantage until the victory comes.

 

Instead of everyone “Bowing Down” to the Huskies, I wish others would appreciate that Lanning’s recruiting difference with the most important players is not by a nod, or twice as much.

 

It is three times more of the most valuable recruits.  This is important for someone to point out to everyone else, for us all to take note of, and is important to offer hope for the future.

 

You’re welcome.

[woundedknees]

The odds against multiple CFB programs having generational stud quarterbacks at the helm, as we witnessed in the penultimate season of the PAC, are massive.

We may never witness something like this again.

[cartm25]

On 12/20/2023 at 11:49 PM, Charles Fischer said:

Gotta celebrate every advantage until the victory comes.

 

Instead of everyone “Bowing Down” to the Huskies, I wish others would appreciate that Lanning’s recruiting difference with the most important players is not by a nod, or twice as much.

 

It is three times more of the most valuable recruits.  This is important for someone to point out to everyone else, for us all to take note of, and is important to offer hope for the future.

 

You’re welcome.

Totally agree, and I am really excited about the recruiting class.

 

I wouldn't characterize myself as "bowing" to UW, but rather not mocking a team that won the final P12 Championship and is participating in the coveted CFP.

 

But that's my position, and for those that want to mock UW at every opportunity . . . I totally get it.

[Charles Fischer]

On 12/21/2023 at 10:45 AM, cartm25 said:

I wouldn't characterize myself as "bowing" to UW,

That was directed at everyone above who had to tell me of the obvious about Washington and DeBoer.  Just a week ago I wrote how, "that Bastard DeBoer is a damn good coach."

 

I don't need any reminders of what the Huskies have done, but again--NOBODY ELSE HERE is pointing out something to celebrate that could have a big impact on the future of the rivalry.  Instead I get suck-up to Washington type of responses.

 

Oh well.

[Jon Joseph]

To wit:

 

https://athlonsports.com/college-football/college-football-playoff-team-washington-huskies-land-underwhelming-recruiting

[kirklandduck]

On 12/21/2023 at 11:15 AM, Jon Joseph said:

To wit:

 

https://athlonsports.com/college-football/college-football-playoff-team-washington-huskies-land-underwhelming-recruiting

I get a 404 error when trying to read the article. Is the URL correct?

[Steven A]

On 12/21/2023 at 1:20 PM, kirklandduck said:

I get a 404 error when trying to read the article. Is the URL correct?

I got the same error.  So I clicked on athlon sports on the error message and the website came up.  I then clicked on college football at the top menu and all the article came up.

[Steven A]

Best takeaway from the athlon site is "To make a long story short, Washington lacks the overall roster quality compared to the likes of Big Ten programs like Oregon, Ohio State, Michigan and Penn State. Unless the Huskies dominate the transfer portal, it's tough to imagine them keeping pace with the top college football powerhouses in the coming seasons. "

[Charles Fischer]

On 12/21/2023 at 1:38 PM, Steven A said:

Best takeaway from the Athlon site is "To make a long story short, Washington lacks the overall roster quality compared to the likes of Big Ten programs like Oregon, Ohio State, Michigan and Penn State. Unless the Huskies dominate the transfer portal, it's tough to imagine them keeping pace with the top college football powerhouses in the coming seasons. "

[Solar]

By the numbers it certainly appears that KD has a similar approach to Chip Kelly to be very particular about who he signs.

 

One can argue that he has a strong bias towards the portal is the reason. As of now he only has 4 transfers to go with the 15 recruits. Perhaps he likes to take his time to sort through the portal and find the diamonds in the rough, but other people can grab diamonds while you're analyzing them.

 

Whatever it is he is playing with fire from a talent acquisition perspective.

 

Maybe he is banking on a lot of people sticking around for senior seasons.

[Dr Hilarius]

Was everyone clamoring for Penix from Indiana?

 

I don’t remember hearing about it if they were.

 

KD was masterful w the portal at Fresno St, when it was waaaaaaaaay more difficult to use.

 

Maybe other coaches have caught up to him w the portal, but I wouldn’t doubt any team KD put on the field until I see it.

[Jon Joseph]

On 12/21/2023 at 4:20 PM, kirklandduck said:

I get a 404 error when trying to read the article. Is the URL correct?

With me at the

 

On 12/21/2023 at 7:16 PM, Solar said:

By the numbers it certainly appears that KD has a similar approach to Chip Kelly to be very particular about who he signs.

 

One can argue that he has a strong bias towards the portal is the reason. As of now he only has 4 transfers to go with the 15 recruits. Perhaps he likes to take his time to sort through the portal and find the diamonds in the rough, but other people can grab diamonds while you're analyzing them.

 

Whatever it is he is playing with fire from a talent acquisition perspective.

 

Maybe he is banking on a lot of people sticking around for senior seasons.

wheel, this is likely on me.