OT: Rutgers suffers its 11(!!)th de-commitment
I'm not sure if this is OT because Rutgers is technically, in the Big Ten. But a future opponement just took another major hit. They lost their last 4 star recruit to PSU, Saeed Blacknall. This is their 11th decommitment this recruiting season.
http://www.nj.com/rutgersfootball/index.ssf/2014/01/saeed_blacknall_fli…;
January 26th, 2014 at 11:59 PM ^
Sucks for Rutgers, but that is a very good pick-up for Penn State. Penn State is going to finish with a pretty darn good class.
January 27th, 2014 at 12:01 AM ^
BIG TEHHHHNNNN!!!!
January 27th, 2014 at 12:03 AM ^
Nice work for that fraud James Franklin.
Too bad he won't be able to schedule Elon at Penn State.
January 27th, 2014 at 2:38 AM ^
January 27th, 2014 at 12:04 AM ^
January 27th, 2014 at 1:13 AM ^
It should be a UM win but the real impact of most of these decommits won't be felt for a couple years when they should have been upperclassmen. Kind of like the lack of oline recruiting in UM's 2010 class. The true impact of that really just started to be felt last year and will still be felt this year.
January 27th, 2014 at 12:14 AM ^
They still have 23 commits somehow.
January 27th, 2014 at 12:15 AM ^
They got 2 commitments today and one was a QB places, Shane Morris's backup.
January 27th, 2014 at 12:16 AM ^
Kind of random, but has anyone else noticed that the backdrop in the Big Ten Network studio that has the names of all of the nicknames of all of the schools already includes "Scarlet Knights" and "Terrapins"? The next time you are watching Big Ten Finale, look closely at the backdrop.
January 27th, 2014 at 12:16 AM ^
the NY market is worth the pig in a poke.
January 27th, 2014 at 12:46 AM ^
Believe it or not but football wise the state of NY is mostly Big Ten. I grew up in upstate, ny outside of rochester. Growing up I saw a number of Michigan and Ohio fans throughout my life. There is even a pro Michigan bar in a small town called Victor. I think people from NY were already watching the Big Ten so I'm sure the better upswing in ratings will be from the DC area.
January 27th, 2014 at 1:33 AM ^
January 27th, 2014 at 7:27 AM ^
Anything from New York is gravy.
January 27th, 2014 at 12:24 AM ^
Gopher QB Philip Nelson is considering Rutgers as a landing spot.
Not quite sure how that will work eligibility-wise, but according to NJ.com, the Big Ten's strict rules about transferring in-conference don't apply because Rutgers doesn't technically join until July 1. That, and they don't play Minnesota until 2016.
January 27th, 2014 at 12:26 AM ^
January 27th, 2014 at 12:42 AM ^
January 27th, 2014 at 9:51 AM ^
January 27th, 2014 at 12:22 PM ^
That's how I'd put it.
On the one hand, he took Vanderbilt to three straight bowl games. Vandy has historically been terrible; they've only been to three bowl games in their entire history before Franklin. On the other hand, his best wins were over an injury-ravaged 8-5 Georgia team and 8-5 Houston in their bowl game.
Having said that, based purely on his record as a football coach I think he deserves a shot at the next level. (I still think Penn State was crazy to hire him, largely because of his alleged involvement in an apparent rape coverup. He should be radioactive in State College.)
January 27th, 2014 at 12:45 AM ^
January 27th, 2014 at 12:58 AM ^
January 27th, 2014 at 1:07 AM ^
Yeah, instead they got a dude who tread water for a while at Vandy, never rising higher than some mediocre bowl games. I get the "look what he did at Vanderbilt, give him better talent and he'll own!!!!" thing, but that's always a dicey proposition. He's never lost fewer than 4 games.
Did he beat a single top SEC team once in his tenure?
January 27th, 2014 at 1:45 AM ^
it doesn't look like he beat any of the top teams in the SEC. They beat UGA this year in October - not sure to what extent UGA was banged up then.
Who knows how he'll do at PSU, but what he did at Vandy was unparralled in the last 50-60 years of Vandy football.
January 27th, 2014 at 9:47 AM ^
January 27th, 2014 at 6:27 AM ^
January 27th, 2014 at 8:30 AM ^
Ball State Football Results
2000 Bill Lynch 5-6
2001 Bill Lynch 5-6
2002 Bill Lynch 6-6
Then Lynch was fired.
2003 Brady Hoke 4-8
2004 Brady Hoke 2-9
2005 Brady Hoke 4-7
2006 Brady Hoke 5-7
2007 Brady Hoke 7-6
2008 Brady Hoke 12-2
Then Hoke bolted his alma-mater for the greener pastures of SDSU.
Closer inspection indicates you've been doing a little myth-mongering, Salvatore.
Hoke cratered an average program at Ball State, taking five years to improve upon the results of the year immediately before he arrived - and then only by one game.
He then parlayed a senior QB coached by Stan Parrish (who just happened to be the guy who coached/developed a guy named Tom Brady) to a 12-2 season and a $600k contract at SDSU.
To the extent that Hoke was the architect of Ball State's resounding success, it's clear that the recovery was from a hole that Hoke dug for himself.
January 27th, 2014 at 10:16 AM ^
January 27th, 2014 at 2:21 PM ^
I didn’t say that “Hoke receives no credit” for 2008.
I responded to a post which said: “Ball State was pretty bad when he [Hoke] took over. Your post was a classic example of misuse of statistics.” The poster was referring to a comment that [correctly] claimed that Hoke had a losing record in the MAC.
I merely pointed out the facts. Hoke’s record for EACH of his first four years at Ball State was WORSE than the three years prior to his arrival. It was only in Hoke’s fifth year that he exceeded Bill Lynch’s results for the three years before Hoke arrived – and then only by the narrowest of margins.
I have no idea what Hoke inherited when he arrived at Ball State, but I think that Lynch’s last three years with 5-6, 5-6, and 6-6 records indicate that Hoke inherited an average, mid-level MAC team. It doesn’t matter whether you characterize that record as “pretty good”, “pretty bad”, or “pretty average”. What does matter is what followed for the next four years – under Hoke – was demonstrably worse than Lynch’s final three years.
That’s not one or two bad years on the way to recovery under Hoke – that’s FOUR bad years, one year back to average, and then a SINGLE very good year. Was Ball State’s 2008 season a trend or an aberration? We’ll never know.
And while we’re on the topic of facts, here are a few more:
1. 2008 under Hoke was not Ball State’s “best season ever”. It was close, but Ball State had slightly better records in 1965 and 1978. So, 2008 was “one of Ball State’s best seasons ever” or “Ball State’s best year in 30 years”, but it’s not actually their “best season ever”.
2. Hoke did not take SDSU “to their first bowl game in fifty years”. Hoke did take them to their first bowl game in 12 years, so you’re way, way off with that statistic. SDSU had been to 7 bowl games in the 50 years prior to Hoke’s arrival. By way of comparison, Michigan State had been to 14 bowl games in the 50 years prior to Dantonio’s arrival – and MSU tries to take their football seriously, where SDSU doesn't (didn't).
I’m sure there was a reason Stan Parrish was “canned” at Michigan – despite being the QB coach for Driesbach, Griese, Brady, Henson, and Navarre. I’m just wondering why, given that Hoke was on the U-M coaching staff at time and must have know the reasons behind the "canning", Hoke later decided to hire Parrish as Ball State's QB coach in 2005, and OC in 2006-2008. Could it be that Hoke is a genius at identifying previously-overlooked assistant coaching talent - or is it just the old-boy network at work (again)?
And, while no one will ever accuse Stan Parrish of being a good head coach, I’m also wondering if there could be any connection between his arrival at Ball State as an offensive coach in 2005 and their steady improvement leading up to 2008. Probably not, but maybe?
Remember, Google is your friend.
January 27th, 2014 at 8:38 AM ^
January 27th, 2014 at 1:29 AM ^
When we hired Hoke Franklin's resume consisted of a good year as Maryland's OC. Not to short his resume, which, despite the naysayers in here, is quite impressive, but I doubt Brandon even remotely considered him.
January 27th, 2014 at 6:27 AM ^
If there is any coach I regret not getting it was Harbaugh. Sure he was still unproven in 2008 (When we hired RR) but you could already tell that he was starting to build something and his coaching style fits perfectly, with the traditional Michigan offenses and defenses. However, I am still in the corner that believes Hoke can turn it around and it should start this season.
I must admit though, Franklin does have a KILLER serious face!
January 27th, 2014 at 12:36 AM ^
January 27th, 2014 at 12:43 AM ^
Gotta really feel bad for them. I wonder if all 11 were just soft commits all along or was there something that specifically led to this inside the program? Gotta think with a number as high as 11 something has gotta be slightly ajar in NJ
January 27th, 2014 at 1:01 AM ^
There IS something ajar. They still have yet to hire both a replacement OC and a replacement DC.
January 27th, 2014 at 1:06 AM ^
vs Ohio State, Michigan and Penn State every year.
smh
January 27th, 2014 at 7:47 AM ^
January 27th, 2014 at 8:11 AM ^
According to everything that I had read, the official countersuit does not name the two schools in the Big Ten, but does mention that it was indeed representatives of Wake Forest and Pitt that were among those attempting to make the pitch. As for Penn State, geographically that would make sense, but then again, now that the ACC is connected to Indiana (except for football) via the Kentucky Land Bridge (thanks to Louisville), why not a school in the Chicago area?
January 27th, 2014 at 9:17 AM ^
End up being a thread on Brady Hoke?
January 27th, 2014 at 9:26 AM ^
It's a tire fire as far as Rutgers goes in NJ right now. The new President doesn't care about sports. The new AD is handcuffed. Most of the fanbase feels that Coach Flood is incompetent and in way over his head. Recruits have noticed it and the 4 star guys have all jumped ship. The OC and DC jobs haven't been filled. Word is the AD wanted to fire Flood and had a list of 3 guys that the doners would pony up to hire as well as buy Flood out. The names were Franklin, Mullin from Miss St. and and Al Golden. She couldn't get any of them so she was stuck with Flood for another year. Everyone expects Flood to be fired after a dismal season in the Big 10 next year. Another reason why recruits and coordinators don't want to come on board. This recruiting class will set RU back a couple years and then add on the rebuilding the new coach will have next year after what will be a lost '14 season and it probably won't be until '18 to see RU somewhat pointing in the right direction again. If they're lucky.
January 27th, 2014 at 12:23 PM ^
If Rutgers is anything less than deadweight in both football and basketball I will be shocked. Aside from Schiano's brief work at Rutgers, that program has been horrendous for decades and I don't think basketball is much better.
As someone above said, I hope we make a lot of money from that NY market because that's about the only pro of having that school in our conference
January 27th, 2014 at 3:18 PM ^
They are pretty bad at basketball too. I don't think they'll be able to hang with most teams in the Big Ten. Although I think Eddie Jordan can change the program around a bit, but it'll take awhile. The football team will probably be bad year in and year out. No one really cares though, everyone is just excited to see Michigan, Ohio State, MSU, Wiscy, etc, play which is sad.
January 27th, 2014 at 10:10 AM ^
Rutgers is going to turn into an embarrasment for the Big Ten athletic programs.
January 27th, 2014 at 10:13 AM ^
January 27th, 2014 at 10:25 AM ^
You expect to see a bunch of decommittments when you have a coaching change (Hi Vanderbilt!), but I don't think I've seen anything like this in a while. Seems like the off-the-field and on-the-field stuff has caught up to them.
January 27th, 2014 at 10:27 AM ^
Actually when the announcement was made Rutgers was doing fairly well.
January 27th, 2014 at 11:43 AM ^
sorry, You're right,
January 27th, 2014 at 1:13 PM ^
Theory: everyone thinks that Jersey Girls is cool until they have sex for the first time and realize it doesn't require you to be either dumb or promiscuous. Perhaps this effect explains why 17-year-olds commit to Rutgers then decommit when they're 18.
January 27th, 2014 at 1:18 PM ^