A Look Into Gunner Kiel's Recruitment
Story from the World Wide Leader. Points of interest:
- Father Kip is a big Indiana fan, though it's unclear if this emerged solely due to his son Dusty's place on the team or if it's a lifelong affair
- The question was not 'Why Indiana?' - Instead, "Kiel and the people close to him prefer a different question: Why not Indiana?"
- Creating a legacy of upturn for the program is one appealing point
- Family of QBs who have yet to transfer
- Counting other older family members "this fall marks the 13th year since 1977 with a Kiel as the QB at the high school."
- Gunner felt right about the Hoosiers by mid-July
- The choice came down to Indiana over Alabama. Oklahoma and Missouri followed closely.
Kind of shows to choose your rumors carefully.
August 10th, 2011 at 7:40 AM ^
August 10th, 2011 at 6:25 PM ^
I hope he can help their new coaching staff, and make Indiana foofball a contender. I love the underdog sry.
August 10th, 2011 at 7:59 AM ^
Alabama doesn't need to be rewarded yet again for all of their current shenanigans.
August 10th, 2011 at 8:02 AM ^
...for him.
August 10th, 2011 at 8:28 AM ^
Bama, Oklahoma and Mizzou ahead of us? Sounds like we were never really in danger of signing him. Oh well, and I'm glad he went to Indiana.
August 10th, 2011 at 8:29 AM ^
Since Indiana is Sparty's protected cross over rival, I wouldn't mind seeing the Hoosiers become a little more competitive. This is a good start.
August 10th, 2011 at 8:29 AM ^
I think it shows a lot of character for a kid as highly rated and sought after as he to play for the lower-regarded hometown team. Good for him, good for Indiana.
August 10th, 2011 at 8:41 AM ^
That is what I was thinking also. Nice get for the hoosiers, it will help them be a better team and make the league more competitive.
August 10th, 2011 at 11:01 AM ^
It takes a lot for a kid to go where his heart is when it's not flashy and "cool". I'll probably root for him when he plays and is not lining up against the winged helmet.
August 10th, 2011 at 8:43 AM ^
Choose your rumors carefully? Huh?
What was that in reference to? I thought it was pretty obvious it was Indiana v. Alabama, because OU and Mizzou had taken 4-star QB's. Michigan presumably was fifth.
[Edit: As an aside there is an ad on the left side of my page right now for Indiana football. It reads, "YOUNG ALUMNI AND KID'S SEASON TICKETS ONLY $30". Why NOT Indiana? That's why. Right there, Gunner.]
August 10th, 2011 at 9:05 AM ^
Why don't you search the site for the word 'gunner' and read the top, I dunno, 5-10 threads. Indiana is cited as not being in the mix in mid-June. further, tweets were sent out consistently that excluded Indiana from the mix and put it down to Michigan vs. (insert team). Hell, the commitment watch thread says it's between Alabama and Oklahoma.
too many people talked like they knew something when they were merely using their own deductive reasoning/conventional wisdom. in the end, this kid was sold on Indiana for a while and the delays were not indicative to any sort of 'new kink in the system.'
August 10th, 2011 at 11:16 AM ^
too many people talked like they knew something
I think that was only Chet... I sure have missed his insider knowledge recently.
August 10th, 2011 at 12:56 PM ^
I am going to avoid the search, but thanks. You're probably right on timing, but the argument is ridiculously stupid.
We all know recruiting is like herding cats. Only go with the most recent information you have. And up to him picking Indiana, it was clear the home state had a really good shot.
It started with the "Michigan v. Indiana" thread, and then every other thread had "some school v. Indiana" for his services. It should have been pretty freaking obvious that he could choose Indiana - up to probably a month before he picked.
August 10th, 2011 at 8:45 AM ^
"Kind of shows you to choose your rumours carefully."
What does this mean? The rumours all along were Indiana, Alabama, Oklahoma, and Missou, with some wishful thinking from M fans. These rumours turned out to be true.
EDIT: beaten to the punch by 1 minute.
August 10th, 2011 at 9:10 AM ^
in which rumor you chose to claim was valid. in fact, you took the broadest, and not even most popular. the most popular had Indiana completely out of your list.
August 10th, 2011 at 9:09 AM ^
Alabama vs. Indiana then Gunner made the right choice. His long term goal has to be the NFL and IU will build an offense around him. No way does Saban change his run first philosophy (which I am not arguing with) if Kiel goes to the Crimson Tide. Alabama may produce NFL backup QB's but who is the last NFL star from Alabama .... Joe Namath?
Go Blue!
August 10th, 2011 at 10:15 AM ^
I think that's the better question. No, Alabama hasn't produced a lot of NFL quarterbacks recently, but that almost certainly has to do with the coaches and the coaching philosphy they've had for the last half century than anything else.
As to the effect a coach can have on NFL quarterbacks produced, let's look at Michigan in the Bo era. How many NFL quarterbacks did Bo produce in over twenty years as head coach at Michigan? Jim Harbaugh. You could make a case for Grbac, but he only played as a freshman in Bo's last year because of Michael Taylor's injury. This is not a slight on Bo, but merely a reflection on his offensive philosophy for most of his tenure.
Under Moeller and Carr, however, the offensive philosophy of the program changed and Michigan sent quarterbacks to the NFL on a regular basis (Grbac, Collins, Griese, Brady, etc.). Not all of them succeeded but some of them did and many of them at least played in the NFL.
August 10th, 2011 at 3:45 PM ^
You forgot Scott Dreisbach. That 1995 game against Virginia is the 1st game I ever remember going to (I was 7) making me a big Dreisbach fan. He was in NFL for 3 years and amazingly played some special teams for Oakland on kickoff coverage.
I was looking back at his career and wow, it must have been ridiculously frustrating. Redshirts in 1994, 1st ever game is Virginia comeback and becomes team hero, then is hurt and misses most of the season, comes back starts in 1996 but misses the bowl game due to injury, watches Brian Griese lead undefeated team in 1997, and then expects to start in 1998 and gets beat out by redshirt junior Tom Brady.
Talk about dealing with adversity.
August 10th, 2011 at 4:10 PM ^
at a Grand Rapids Rampage game. He was the opposing team's QB, and my dad and I were sitting right next to their bench. My dad was also at the UV game, and Dreisbach talked to us for a few minutes while his defense was on the field. He's a classy guy.
August 10th, 2011 at 12:09 PM ^
Indeed. And Kevin Wilson's last draft eligible QB went #1 overall. He was a very good hire for Indiana when they made it. This just makes it look that much better.
August 10th, 2011 at 12:20 PM ^
I agree - I see Wilson as a guy with a good professional pedigree as well as a personality that kids want to play for. Things are looking up for Indiana.
August 10th, 2011 at 9:18 AM ^
Good article, still a huge get for IU but good on the kid for choosing a school he's comfortable with and not the sexy pick just to end up transferring.
August 10th, 2011 at 9:33 AM ^
C'mon, Gunner. You know exactly why not Indiana.
Glad he's content with his choice but I got a chuckle out of that.
August 10th, 2011 at 9:46 AM ^
"Family of QBs who have yet to transfer"
Love that is a point of pride for the Kiels. They are the anti-Forciers.
August 10th, 2011 at 9:47 AM ^
Football aside... the kid has a pretty cool name.
August 10th, 2011 at 9:59 AM ^
But if we put Morris in the NFL, we wont have any trouble getting Shane Morris/Gunner Kiels every year. I'm glad the days of the 5-star QBs are back!
August 10th, 2011 at 10:02 AM ^
sounds like the Kiel family is the anti-Forcier family.
August 10th, 2011 at 10:18 AM ^
I am glad he stayed in the BigTen, personally I want to see this conference strong.
Anyways, why would he want to go to UofM where he would red shirt his first year guaranteed, then compete with Devin Gardner for 3 years (if he gets his medical red shirt) and then have Shane Morris to compete with for all 4 of his eligible years.
August 10th, 2011 at 11:38 AM ^
August 10th, 2011 at 3:02 PM ^
IU is going to leave the bottom tier during his tenure IMO. He's doing good work (not as good as Hoke thank you very much) with less to sell. He gives good interviews as well...
http://www.solidverbal.com/2011/06/14/kevin-wilson-614/
Take home here is this guy is a leader of men. He's not going to need to spit his gum to get his team ready. He is going to take Kiel and run.
Bloomington is beautiful for many reasons.