Illinois Football Recruiting Thread

Status
Not open for further replies.
#131      
we are officially due for a commitment
Serious question for anyoneā€¦

Is it ā€œnormalā€ to get commitments during spring ball, when, in theory, our coaches are more focused on the current team? I know recruiting never stops, but the amount their efforts are split in each direction changes at the different points of the year.
 
#132      

illini80

Forgottonia
Serious question for anyoneā€¦

Is it ā€œnormalā€ to get commitments during spring ball, when, in theory, our coaches are more focused on the current team? I know recruiting never stops, but the amount their efforts are split in each direction changes at the different points of the year.
I believe the staff has a pretty coordinated effort on the timeline they want for commits. Iā€™m not saying they wouldnā€™t take one now, but the last few years it seemed they pushed hard for commits during the summer official visits in an attempt to create momentum for guys they really wanted.
 
#133      
Serious question for anyoneā€¦

Is it ā€œnormalā€ to get commitments during spring ball, when, in theory, our coaches are more focused on the current team? I know recruiting never stops, but the amount their efforts are split in each direction changes at the different points of the year.
Probably yes. Other teams are getting commits.
Guessing if you are a more established staff, been there a few years, have identified and recruited younger players. Once it is their cycle, close it down.
Staffs plan could be to invite a lot of players, get to know them better, show them around. Iā€™m sure there are some priorities and others to watch for- keep close depending how class committs shake out.
 
#134      

Joel Goodson

respect my decisionā„¢
Serious question for anyoneā€¦

Is it ā€œnormalā€ to get commitments during spring ball, when, in theory, our coaches are more focused on the current team? I know recruiting never stops, but the amount their efforts are split in each direction changes at the different points of the year.

Top of the board kids, sure, whenever they're ready to pop. As you move down the board, the calculus becomes more complicated. I'm just glad that our staff doesn't resort to used car salesmen tactics.
 
#135      

Mr. Tibbs

southeast DuPage
Top of the board kids, sure, whenever they're ready to pop. As you move down the board, the calculus becomes more complicated. I'm just glad that our staff doesn't resort to used car salesmen tactics.
yea , PJ Fleck says hi .

gives you an offer, but if you donā€™t commit there & then , he rescinds it
 
#143      

mhuml32

Cincinnati, OH
we are officially due for a commitment
Serious question for anyoneā€¦

Is it ā€œnormalā€ to get commitments during spring ball, when, in theory, our coaches are more focused on the current team? I know recruiting never stops, but the amount their efforts are split in each direction changes at the different points of the year.

To blend these comments together: why are "we" supposed to get the first commitment and/or seeing commitments rolling in consistently?

Lots of factors at play:

(1) college head coach and coaching staffs have their own style. Patty Fitz prefers the earlier, the better. When things were rolling up in Evanston, he would have a week every year in April or May where Northwestern would be ranked in the top five for national recruiting rankings. About 15 years ago, Mack Brown would get 7+ commitments on the first day you could officially offer juniors (looked it up on Rivals, he had nine commitments two days into the offer period for the 2010 class). On the opposite end was someone like Lovie (well documented on here), coaches at elite programs (they can wait on making offers knowing they can offer a four-star recruit late in the process and still win the recruitment), and coaches on the hot seat (need to hope for better results early in the season so they can take that message into homes).

(2) some coaching staffs, especially at non-elite programs, want a bellwether recruit to kick off their class. Whether true or not, there's a belief that a higher ranked recruit builds buzz, they can act as a bonafide recruiter of others, and can create an anchor effect to ward off others from defecting to another program. This initial recruit also may not be the highest ranked, but has some degree of moxie or geographical-political benefit based on their location (i.e., let's get an in-state recruit first!), or both.

(3) Illinois just had their best season in years. Does that mean more recruits are willing to consider your program? visit? post social media propaganda? Maybe Illinois wants to be in bigger recruitment battles this year and, therefore, is going to pump the brakes on recruits they would have instantly taken last year but now view as solid plan B options. This stretches things out as the staff hopes to snag a couple recruits they wouldn't have been able to secure in past years. Maybe you think your season could be rocky due to roster turnover (Indiana) or a grueling upcoming schedule (Minnesota), so you'd prefer locking in those commitments now and spending your energy later trying to hold onto them. These decisions can include PR, confidence, and game theory considerations.

(4) Newer coaching staffs seem to want to completely blow out their recruiting PR earlier in the offseason (February and March), while completely focusing on their current roster through March and April. Strategy here is to build buzz with the new coaching staff (Rhule and his staff visited every Nebraska high school early on, if I'm remembering correctly. Bielema did something similar), followed by assessing how many players you plan on culling from the roster in the Spring before balancing your plans on the transfer portal and fall recruitment.

(5) Social media! I mentioned Mack Brown getting a gazillion recruits on day 1 at Texas. That would never happen now. Every recruit wants that time to bask in the attention and positivity. Websites like 247 want to build content on each commitment to get the clicks. The entire industry is incentivized on spreading things out.

There are many others that could be mentioned (an in-state or conference rival is on the ropes, so you want to recruit hard in their traditional areas/coaching turnover/transfer attrition), but you get the idea that everyone program has their own style and yearly choices on how to build their class
 
#146      

217sports

Springfield
Certainly a wide cast of 2025 QBs which is good. 2025 for QBs is basically like recruiting 2024 for all other positions with how early they commit so hopefully we can get one locked up before HS season (if not earlier).
 
Status
Not open for further replies.