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Post by mavsman53 on Feb 6, 2020 13:40:37 GMT -6
Fargason just signed. I'm fairly confident they didn't have school yesterday so he was unable to sign
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Post by acutrackfan on Feb 6, 2020 13:59:54 GMT -6
Was Will Fargason signing an actual NLI (which I hope is the case) or a Wildcat Letter?
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Post by mavsman53 on Feb 6, 2020 14:00:54 GMT -6
Not sure Trackfan. There was a picture of him signing a document with ACU gear on.
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Post by acutrackfan on Feb 6, 2020 14:19:06 GMT -6
Yep, just saw it as well. If there is some kind of a late release from ACU, it will be official in my book.
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Post by Outsider on Feb 6, 2020 14:26:05 GMT -6
One thing that I am really excited about is the role of Enrique Davis. I think he will be able to really help the staff pinpoint excellent talent. I also think Coach Ellington will bring a lot to the table too. It will be interesting if we continue to recruit in Arizona, being that we had no success this year. I hope we don't give up on AZ, there is a lot of really good talent out there.
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Post by Cap'n Cattitude on Feb 6, 2020 15:17:28 GMT -6
We also discussed Cole McDowell, from Nashville Lipscomb Acad, on the board. His Father is the VP of Student Life at ACU. Cole moved to Abilene with his family when his Father got the ACU job, but when Trent Dilfer got the HC job at Lipscomb, he moved back to Nashville for his HS senior year. I see on the Murray State site that Cole signed with the Racers -- listed as a TE at 6-5, 223 pounds. I am still a little surprised that ACU did not make an offer to him of any kind. One thing that I’ve been told by the coaches is that there are always two sides to these kinds of stories. They are not inclined to ignore players that have been referred to them. As I understand, they were contacted about Cole and invited him to submit paperwork. At the time I asked, he had not turned anything back to ACU. They are very adamant about wanting prospects to show some initiative and demonstrate an interest. Why didn’t ACU pursue him? Well, they seem to have a plethora of 6’5” tight ends on scholarship right now with another on the way. He came on their radar late and the position is fully stocked. My guess is that family wanted him here but young Cole was less interested than they.
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Post by OscarWildeCat, Admin on Feb 6, 2020 15:55:45 GMT -6
One thing that I am really excited about is the role of Enrique Davis. I think he will be able to really help the staff pinpoint excellent talent. I also think Coach Ellington will bring a lot to the table too. It will be interesting if we continue to recruit in Arizona, being that we had no success this year. I hope we don't give up on AZ, there is a lot of really good talent out there. SFA pulled a recruit from Peoria so the SLC made inroads in the State. I wish we had a staff member who played or coached in Texas high schools.
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Post by acutrackfan on Feb 6, 2020 17:48:20 GMT -6
I am glad to see ACU getting some kids who would be influenced by the large number of ACU alums in coaching positions. The head coach at Hamlin (Austin Lozano is from there) is Russell Lucas, who is an ACU alum from the late 80's and former ACU player and team manager. Russell and Rosie have had 3 children go to ACU in the past decade -- Tucker just graduated last year. A lot of our coaches who are from other places can work the ACU network to help them in-state and beyond.
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Post by bogeyman on Feb 6, 2020 20:31:37 GMT -6
Wildcatter's point is heard (we need to recruit better). But what is better? We've had some great players in the past, where did they come from? Large schools, small schools, private schools? The private school scene has changed dramatically over the years where some have almost unlimited budgets to develop their sports programs. Do we neglect those kids for the big school recruit. How many 3, 4, 5 star recruits do other FCS schools get. Is a 2nd team all district player from Katy or Allen or Guyer (whatever big school you choose) better than the 1st team all-state from Hamlin or Jim Ned? Where would any of us recruit to get "better?" I'm not defending our current practices just wanting to know how we get better. Are we being outrecruited by our peers? Do we have restrictions they don't ( tuition costs, education levels, moral stipulations). Is the recruiting playing field even for us or is development of young players off the radar and higher rated dropdowns the best we can hope for? What is our staff philosophy and what are our coaches best at (developing hard working average players or working with higher calibre athletes? All this comes into play. Where can we get better?
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Post by wildcatter on Feb 6, 2020 21:47:45 GMT -6
Better is more athletic and better is, well better. You yourself have asked for speed that is game changing for example.
Recruiting can be a crapshoot I know...just like 4 years ago signing the WR Dunn that had P5 offers then never played a down here and reportedly had a terrible attitude whereas Kobe Clark was a local walk-on and he was solid this year as a true sophomore. But should we assume every recognizable recruit will bust and every unknown small school kid should thrive??
Winning in a recruiting battle isn’t any different than winning in a football game, but it seems like we signed a lot of high school kids that we didn’t have to compete against other Southland teams for. Maybe it’s that our coaches have the best eye for under the radar talent known to Texas football. Maybe the coaches are banking on long term growth with partial scholarship kids and full scholarship transfers. I have no idea. But I’m still waiting for our staff to prove themselves with results and with the coaching turnover we’ve had the past years and the lack of familiarity with Texas concerns me.
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Post by jCat on Feb 6, 2020 21:54:17 GMT -6
Wildcatter's point is heard (we need to recruit better). But what is better? We've had some great players in the past, where did they come from? Large schools, small schools, private schools? The private school scene has changed dramatically over the years where some have almost unlimited budgets to develop their sports programs. Do we neglect those kids for the big school recruit. How many 3, 4, 5 star recruits do other FCS schools get. Is a 2nd team all district player from Katy or Allen or Guyer (whatever big school you choose) better than the 1st team all-state from Hamlin or Jim Ned? Where would any of us recruit to get "better?" I'm not defending our current practices just wanting to know how we get better. Are we being outrecruited by our peers? Do we have restrictions they don't ( tuition costs, education levels, moral stipulations). Is the recruiting playing field even for us or is development of young players off the radar and higher rated dropdowns the best we can hope for? What is our staff philosophy and what are our coaches best at (developing hard working average players or working with higher calibre athletes? All this comes into play. Where can we get better? These are great questions. Here's my quick answer to some basic improvements that I've seen: - Better at the portal. We look committed to finding players in the transfer market to upgrade talent. I think we did that with some key wins.
- Better speed. While we proven that we can project and develop players upfront, especially in our front seven on defense, we have needed more playmakers in the secondary and other skill position slots. We've added players that can help here.
- Better at the QB position. Last season, when injuries came our way, we did not have many options. Minimally, more receivers will get work in practice simply because there are more people to throw the ball. If Mansell's game translates as it should, we'll be very competitive.
We've checked these boxes and gathered up a class that will excel in the classroom, eliminating any worries about grades or eligibility. In fact, they should anchor our program to be at the top of the NCAA charts for scholar athletes.
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Post by bogeyman on Feb 6, 2020 22:24:15 GMT -6
There should be some standards for each position and one that I look for is speed. That's one reason Lozano and Byrom looked so good to me. Even though they weren't heavily recruited they were fast for their size. Not every position has to be fast but it doesn't hurt. Fast is a quality that transcends how large your school was. Do we think the youth of our coaching staff is a detriment? Some have mentioned that none have Texas HS coaching experience. Are we able to overcome the lack of networking experience with a pretty good ACU coaching pipeline? Do we have "known alumni" who are helping get the word out about ACU to successful HS coaches and schools? How do we get in the door with "better" athletes? And when we do, are they buying he ACU story we're putting out?
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Post by OscarWildeCat, Admin on Feb 7, 2020 6:25:53 GMT -6
I like this site, Bogey, It provides measurable s for every position at different levels of play— P5, G5/High FCS, Low FCS/High D2. www.gobigrecruiting.com/recruiting101/football/positional_guidelines/guidelines_can_be_brokenThe measurables are beginning points, of course. Exceptions are common place. Still, it’s a good rough gauge. I understand the shortcomings of things like stars and offers from other schools, but these, too, provide some basis for comparison. Everyone has a story about turning up a diamond in the rough that all the other schools missed or the three or four star guy who disappoints. In the the aggregate though guys with three plus stars and multiple offers are going to make it more often than those who don’t fit the measurable requirements and have been completely overlooked bY other schools.
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Post by acuwildcat86 on Feb 7, 2020 6:38:12 GMT -6
I want to try to watch a little bit of these kids. I started with Mansell. There are plenty to watch on him. My short summary on him is that he is quite possibly the best quarterback we have ever signed. Is that too much? The coaches rave about his IQ, which is something that is hard to see on film. But you can see him occasionally go through his progressions until he finds the open receiver. Is he actually reading the defense or is he setting up the defense? Hard to tell, either is good. A couple things stand out about his passing. Most importantly, he has good footwork. He sets his feet quickly when he moves around and always seems to get balanced before he throws the balls. Throwing motion also looks good. Cannon of an arm, too. I don’t see any throw he can’t make. Keep in mind, Mitchell Gale fit that last description too. If he had a flaw it was lack of touch at times. This one is also hard to tell, but Mansell seems to have it, especially on the deep throws. You can also see some touch when he’s on the move. The limited highlights show a good deep ball (accuracy), another thing Gale lacked.
What makes Mansell a complete QB in today’s game is his running ability. He’s a phenomenal runner. Big, tough, fast, quick, vision. Everything you want in a runner, plus the passing attributes. Sema’J Davis will always be a better runner, because that guy has elite level running abilities, and not just for a QB. He’s elite for any position. I actually thought I was going to look forward to what Davis could put together as the full time starter. But just a little bit of film from Mansell and you see it’s not really close. Davis can’t throw the ball like Mansell. Slight drop off running the ball from Davis, much better passer (strength and accuracy) than Anthony. I think we have a major impact starter at the most important position in sports.
If we got nothing else right, we got this one right, and it should give us all hope for big things to come this fall.
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Post by OscarWildeCat, Admin on Feb 7, 2020 6:48:08 GMT -6
Wildcatter's point is heard (we need to recruit better). But what is better? We've had some great players in the past, where did they come from? Large schools, small schools, private schools? The private school scene has changed dramatically over the years where some have almost unlimited budgets to develop their sports programs. Do we neglect those kids for the big school recruit. How many 3, 4, 5 star recruits do other FCS schools get. Is a 2nd team all district player from Katy or Allen or Guyer (whatever big school you choose) better than the 1st team all-state from Hamlin or Jim Ned? Where would any of us recruit to get "better?" I'm not defending our current practices just wanting to know how we get better. Are we being outrecruited by our peers? Do we have restrictions they don't ( tuition costs, education levels, moral stipulations). Is the recruiting playing field even for us or is development of young players off the radar and higher rated dropdowns the best we can hope for? What is our staff philosophy and what are our coaches best at (developing hard working average players or working with higher calibre athletes? All this comes into play. Where can we get better? These are great questions. Here's my quick answer to some basic improvements that I've seen: - Better at the portal. We look committed to finding players in the transfer market to upgrade talent. I think we did that with some key wins.
- Better speed. While we proven that we can project and develop players upfront, especially in our front seven on defense, we have needed more playmakers in the secondary and other skill position slots. We've added players that can help here.
- Better at the QB position. Last season, when injuries came our way, we did not have many options. Minimally, more receivers will get work in practice simply because there are more people to throw the ball. If Mansell's game translates as it should, we'll be very competitive.
We've checked these boxes and gathered up a class that will excel in the classroom, eliminating any worries about grades or eligibility. In fact, they should anchor our program to be at the top of the NCAA charts for scholar athletes. I’d add that we have done a very good job of recruiting the Big Country and West Texas.
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