Charles Fischer Administrator No. 1 Share Posted January 14 First let's look at how Washington finished up with recruiting... Wowsa. No. 63 in the nation with only four of the 4/5-Star recruits? Mr. FishDuck Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles Fischer Author Administrator No. 2 Share Posted January 14 Now, let's look at Arizona under Fisch this last year... Yikes! No. 46 in the nation with only two of the 4/5-Star recruits? Looks like he'll fit right in! 2 Mr. FishDuck Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles Fischer Author Administrator No. 3 Share Posted January 14 BTW....Oregon was No. 6 in the nation with 20 of the 4/5-Star recruits... 2024 Oregon Ducks football commitment list OREGON.RIVALS.COM The definitive source for all Oregon news. Mr. FishDuck Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JabbaNoBargain No. 4 Share Posted January 14 He got pretty lucky with a QB injury. Fun thing is we’re now spiritually bringing along OSU and Arizona to our new conference, just with different costumes lol Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AllOregon No. 5 Share Posted January 15 (edited) Using 247’s recruiting rankings Arizona’s average individual High School recruit rating (not total recruiting points which factors # of signees), here is how Arizona ranked in the Pac12. 2022: 6th of 12 2023: 11th of 12 (beat the Cougs) 2024: 10th of 12 (beat the Cougs and Beavs) Not great. Edited January 15 by AllOregon Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AllOregon No. 6 Share Posted January 15 (edited) Similar analysis of 247’s average individual Transfer Portal recruiting rank in Pac12. Arizona is: 2022: 9th of 12 2023: 9th of 12 2024: 8th of 11 (Stanford has no portal transfers so excluded them). This is barely above UCLA, Beavs, and Cougs. And a tad below ASU. Not great. Edited January 15 by AllOregon 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Haywarduck Moderator No. 7 Share Posted January 15 I remember back when that was Oregon, and we played with a chip on our shoulder. I love the recruiting we are doing, but that doesn't win games. I do like piling on the dawgs, so I suppose keep these kind of things coming! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Joseph Moderator No. 8 Share Posted January 15 OK, but the man was recruiting to a basketball school with ZERO football accolades. The flip side of this analysis is that he took a group of lesser-recruited players, to No. 11 in the country, and defeated Oklahoma, a team with a much deeper roster in the Alamo Bowl. AZ lost in OT at Miss St. with de Laura turning it over 4 times. Lost in OT at SC. Gave UW all that it could handle, and fairly easily dispatched Oregon State. This team had a legit shot at finishing 11-2. I reiterate I am very happy Oregon played in Tempe this season and not in Tucson. Recruiting remains a critical element in CFB but the composite ranking, including transfers, is also critical. UW's roster last season from a recruiting point of view was far better than the recruiting rankings with Penix, among others, coming to UW as a 3*. The Joe Moore Award-winning OL did not have a starter ranked above No. 170 coming out of high school. As to the QB injury, where would the 49ers be today if injuries had not moved Brock Purdy up the starting position? The great Nick Saban could not figure out his permanent starter at QB before game No. 3. When was the last time that UW out-recruited Oregon? UW today is a development program and not a Blue Chip Roster program. Fisch did a heck of a job coaching up development players at Arizona and when the portal dust settles I think he will have a better roster at UW than he did in Tucson. I'll take Dan Lanning all day long over Fisch but I don't think the guy at UW will be a pushover by any means. 2 1 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles Fischer Author Administrator No. 9 Share Posted January 15 Fisch developed players, as Smith did at Oregon State, and both were good at talent analysis when taking the unheralded player. The success of both coaches considering where both began is simply astounding. Both would at Washington would be scary at worst, and troublesome for Oregon at best. But Rich-Rod was more fun... 2 Mr. FishDuck Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tee duke No. 10 Share Posted January 15 Fisch is a low-key coach compared to so many others who seem to fly toward the spotlight. His team certainly played hard for him. And I have great respect for Noah Fifita, his QB, who outperformed so many others. There's nothing quite like the feeling of having opponents you can respect, even as you thrash them. 1 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JabbaNoBargain No. 11 Share Posted January 15 (edited) I think both OSU and Arizona stepped into a vacuum during a season that saw the conference getting too much credit overall nationally, but who I was to argue with everyone thinking the conference was awesome for once? OSU felt like “Penn State West” to me. Seriously, who in the conference was any good outside the top 2? Who did Arizona actually beat outside of OSU and an Oklahoma team without a ton of starters playing? They gave USC a run for their money, but in fact lost to a relatively terrible USC team. They looked good, and probably were pretty good at the end, but just about every team outside the top 4 had a disappointing season in conference. Both UA and OSU definitely stepped up and were solid, but I think they got a wee bit inflated. I realize in some way you could say the same thing about us. The difference is we man-handled most teams we played. Interesting that coaches of the #1 #3 and #4 teams all cashed in from a year the conference was finally perceived as strong, despite USC and UCLA being horrible. Edited January 15 by JabbaNoBargain 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AllOregon No. 12 Share Posted January 15 Yah. My point was he is not a great recruiter. I agree he has shown he can get the most out of his players (if one 2023 season is a proper sample size). That said, before 2023 his head coaching record was 7-22. It was not a deep Oklahoma roster they beat. Top 2 QBs opted out (including Gabriel), RB, key Oline, S. Arizona was missing zero starters. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Sousa No. 13 Share Posted January 15 If Fisch would have staid committed to AZ, he would no doubt be recruiting much better in the next two cycles. Who would have wanted to go to AZ the last couple of years??? That said, I doubt he will have much problem bringing people to UW. He was a QB coach in the NFL. Look what he did with freshman Fifita. What overlooked but talented high school QB wouldn't want to learn under Fisch. OL guys want to protect good QBs. WRs and TEs want to run routs for good QBs. You get the point. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Joseph Moderator No. 14 Share Posted January 16 On 1/15/2024 at 1:08 PM, JabbaNoBargain said: I think both OSU and Arizona stepped into a vacuum during a season that saw the conference getting too much credit overall nationally, but who I was to argue with everyone thinking the conference was awesome for once? OSU felt like “Penn State West” to me. Seriously, who in the conference was any good outside the top 2? Who did Arizona actually beat outside of OSU and an Oklahoma team without a ton of starters playing? They gave USC a run for their money, but in fact lost to a relatively terrible USC team. They looked good, and probably were pretty good at the end, but just about every team outside the top 4 had a disappointing season in conference. Both UA and OSU definitely stepped up and were solid, but I think they got a wee bit inflated. I realize in some way you could say the same thing about us. The difference is we man-handled most teams we played. Interesting that coaches of the #1 #3 and #4 teams all cashed in from a year the conference was finally perceived as strong, despite USC and UCLA being horrible. Yet again, with a 9 game conference schedule, the Pac-12 beat itself up. Many of the teams the Ducks defeated were ranked and finished unranked. What conference was better? The Pac-12 won the bowl series. A team from the Pac-12 played a B1G team for the title. USC defeated the team that finished second in the ACC with a backup QB. UCLA defeated the Mountain West champion. Oregon blew out a 13-0 team that led the nation in rush yards. Weak? I don't see it. If the Pac-12 was weak, what conference in 2023 was not weak? And while not really on point the Michigan vs. UW game drew the most viewers in the last 5 seasons. I humbly disagree with you, my friend. IMO the Pac-12 in 2023 was the leader of the P5 pack. 1 3 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Haywarduck Moderator No. 15 Share Posted January 16 I think the point on Fisch being suspect is a good one. He had one winning season and turned that into 7 year $54 million dollar contract. Fisch could be on a beach in a couple years getting paid bank to not coach. The last guy I can remember doing something like that was Mel Tucker at Michigan State. That didn't end well, not just talking about his firing, and Fisch could be in for the same kind of reality check. One winning season and a suspect ability to recruit and you're headed to the BIG, good luck. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
KCDuck1 No. 16 Share Posted January 16 On 1/15/2024 at 11:01 AM, Jon Joseph said: "Recruiting remains a critical element in CFB but the composite ranking, including transfers, is also critical. UW's roster last season from a recruiting point of view was far better than the recruiting rankings with Penix, among others, coming to UW as a 3*. The Joe Moore Award-winning OL did not have a starter ranked above No. 170 coming out of high school." "I'll take Dan Lanning all day long over Fisch but I don't think the guy at UW will be a pushover by any means." John, I rarely disagree with you, but I did disagree with one of four sentences above, specifically the Joe Moore award sentence. UW's roster from a recruiting point of view was far better than their recruiting rankings: Phil Steele cited the following players as UW O-Line starters with their recruiting rankings in parentheses: Center: Matteo Mele, Sr. (#55) Right Guard: Nate Kalepo, Jr. (#49) Left Guard: Julius Buelow, Jr. (#44) Right Tackle: Roger Rosengarten, So. (#22) (RR liked the Ducks, but chose Huskies). Left Tackle: Troy Fautanu, Jr. (#87). When we played them, I watched this O-Lineman; he moved very well, and was an excellent blocker. Were these players the only O-linemen that played? Don't think so. For example, Culp was listed as TE started, but I recall Westover played a lot - terrific receiver. Using leadership, UW pulled their folks together to form a coherent and cohesive team that was tough to beat. I would like to beat these guys again 10 straight. VR, KCDuck1 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Joseph Moderator No. 17 Share Posted January 16 On 1/15/2024 at 8:35 PM, KCDuck1 said: John, I rarely disagree with you, but I did disagree with one of four sentences above, specifically the Joe Moore award sentence. UW's roster from a recruiting point of view was far better than their recruiting rankings: Phil Steele cited the following players as UW O-Line starters with their recruiting rankings in parentheses: Center: Matteo Mele, Sr. (#55) Right Guard: Nate Kalepo, Jr. (#49) Left Guard: Julius Buelow, Jr. (#44) Right Tackle: Roger Rosengarten, So. (#22) (RR liked the Ducks, but chose Huskies). Left Tackle: Troy Fautanu, Jr. (#87). When we played them, I watched this O-Lineman; he moved very well, and was an excellent blocker. Were these players the only O-linemen that played? Don't think so. For example, Culp was listed as TE started, but I recall Westover played a lot - terrific receiver. Using leadership, UW pulled their folks together to form a coherent and cohesive team that was tough to beat. I would like to beat these guys again 10 straight. VR, KCDuck1 Great post. Buy none of these guys were in the top 170 recruits regardless of position. My bad for not expressing the message correctly and good on you for a terrific deep dive. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
