Tate or Joepa whom do you believe?
Tate said in the presser that it was a close decision between UM and PSU when he was recruited.
Joepa on the other hand said in his presser they didn't really recuit Tate.
http://www.gopsusports.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/102009aae.html
I am inclined to believe Joepa is just not that much in the loop when it comes to recruiting, given that he stopped remembering players name (even those on his team) around 1970..
What do you guys think?
October 21st, 2009 at 12:50 PM ^
QBForce.com is fucking weird but it has the empirical evidence.
http://qbforce.com/tate/offers/Penn_State.htm
October 21st, 2009 at 1:18 PM ^
Yeah it is a bit of a creepy website in its own way.
But getting an offer is not always a sign of how strong a prospect is being recruited. A couple examples: ND does not offer as many recruits as most schools (normally 75-90) at least 10% of those will not be heard from again after getting their offer. There just isn't interest from the recruit so the staff moves on. The opposite of ND is Tennessee who has something around 250 offers (last I knew) out to prospects. There is no way each of those recruits get the same amount of attention, or are recruited as hard as the next.
The OP's original point on JoePa being out of the loop last year is really good as well. The old guy said the same thing himself in the preseason, that he basically wasn't involved in the team or recruiting last year as much as he was previously. At the same time Tate is going to be respectful in the media to whoever the opponent is.
October 21st, 2009 at 1:20 PM ^
but i doubt tate would've flown out to penn state for this game if there wasn't some sort of mutual interest.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrugzsJZQpA
October 21st, 2009 at 1:50 PM ^
I am sure the actual interest was somewhere between "we didn't recruit him very hard" and "it was a close decision between the two".
Media did something similar with Clausen and the poodle at usc. The poodle said Clausen didn't come to sc because of the depth chart, and when the media asked Clausen the same question he said it was because of the ND coaching staff and some other fluff. I am absolutely sure a favorable depth chart helped ND's case to get his LOI, but it wasn't the deal breaker between the 2 schools.
You can't take either as the "correct answer" it is somewhere in between
October 21st, 2009 at 2:38 PM ^
but who's "the poodle"? Pete Carroll? If so, where does that come from?
October 21st, 2009 at 3:17 PM ^
Yeah poodle = carroll not sure where it came from but it fits.
hmmm maybe I need to fire up some photoshop......
October 21st, 2009 at 3:43 PM ^
other HC's to animals when...you know...Charlie...you get my drift.
October 21st, 2009 at 4:28 PM ^
Your team has lost its last eight games to his team.
Doberman, Rottweiler: yeah; Poodle: not so much. Your dogma has been run over by his karma ...
Doberman, Rottweiler: yeah; Poodle: not so much. Your dogma has been run over by his karma ...
October 21st, 2009 at 5:28 PM ^
meh before that we won 15 straight or something like that, we're just letting them even up the series a bit :)
Seriously, you put a headset on a blond poodle and you can't tell the difference between them
October 21st, 2009 at 11:24 PM ^
"poodle" wasn't there for that part, was he? That'd be like calling Tressel poodle for Cooper getting owned.
October 21st, 2009 at 11:35 PM ^
Not really sure if he was "the poodle" before coming to SC or after..... but he is now :)
Either way, its not just ND's nickname for him, it is pretty common all across the Pac10. Especially across town at UCLA.
October 21st, 2009 at 5:31 PM ^
But Rottweilers don't have the impeccably groomed hair... my dad despises Pete Carroll and always brings up his perfectly feathered hair so I see where this is coming from.
October 21st, 2009 at 4:34 PM ^
but getting an offer letter that has a hand-written note on it from Jo Pa... is pretty strong evidence of an actual recruitment.....is it not?
October 21st, 2009 at 2:41 PM ^
This site had a major impact in recruiting. It's not easy to get a top QB prospect to leave the west coast and fly across the country but if my dad made a website like that I'd be doing the same. The family cars licence plate also reads "QBFORCE".
October 21st, 2009 at 12:52 PM ^
Nevermind: Boutros beat me.
October 21st, 2009 at 12:58 PM ^
The evidence compels me to believe Tate. I know that Joe Pa hasn't been to a prom since the MIllard Fillmore administration, but he is acting like a jilted kid after being rejected by the prom queen. "I, uh, never asked her to dance." Sure ya didn't...
October 21st, 2009 at 1:01 PM ^
The stories aren't mutually exclusive. From Paterno's view, he didn't recruit Forcier really hard. From Forcier's view, PSU was the second most attactive school to UM if he hadn't been a lock.
Sounds like they are both telling the truth to me. It's not like signing a recruiting letter takes a lot of energy or thought.
October 21st, 2009 at 2:20 PM ^
I think PSU may have been slightly put-off by the self-promotional aspect of the Forcier clan, but there was mutual interest for quite a while there.
Worked out for both parties, I'd say.
October 21st, 2009 at 1:14 PM ^
TheTruth
Until he weighs in, I am undecided.
October 21st, 2009 at 1:33 PM ^
you mean
...
TheKnowledge.
October 21st, 2009 at 1:38 PM ^
I meant, TheTruth (http://mgoblog.com/users/thetruth)
But TheKnowledge is also wise.
October 21st, 2009 at 8:17 PM ^
They both are telling the truth. Tate was recruited heavily by nittany lions. Evidence to this fact is Tate's admittance of high interest in Penn State and an offer with Joe Pa's hand written note to him hoping that Tate has interest in his program. Now, Joe Pa can be telling the truth just based on the fact that the old ball coach is just that, too old to remember that he actually recruited Tate. In which case, he to is telling the truth about interst.
October 21st, 2009 at 1:15 PM ^
is dead. just like in weekend at bernies. they are keeping him around so they dont loose their jobs
October 21st, 2009 at 1:20 PM ^
"That kid at quarterback moves around a lot, and then against Iowa they stuck the other kid in there (Denard Robinson), the kid from Florida who took 'em on the last drive and made the one mistake when he overthrew the kid when they only needed a field goal to win the game."
October 21st, 2009 at 1:30 PM ^
is that of a first grader, I guess it makes the letter more personal........
October 21st, 2009 at 1:44 PM ^
JoePa has awesome old school penmanship.
October 21st, 2009 at 2:00 PM ^
USA TODAY Top 25 Coaches' Poll thinks JoePa has great writing!!
October 21st, 2009 at 1:50 PM ^
What Tater said. Also, what I said earlier: that Forcier in the article was probably asked specifically about how he had thought about Penn State during his recruitment and was trying his hardest not to provide bulletin-board material.
October 21st, 2009 at 1:57 PM ^
when you don't capitalize the 'P' in 'Joepa' it looks weird.
"Tate or Joepa who do you believe?"
sounds like our quarterback is contradicting one of our nigerian linebackers... Joepa Ndah-Owomoyela?
October 21st, 2009 at 5:22 PM ^
I completely read the post wrong. --edited--
October 21st, 2009 at 1:55 PM ^
I'm a homer so its an easy choice. A senile old man? or our Jedi? You have to believe the Force.
October 21st, 2009 at 1:57 PM ^
He's ours and he's awesome.
October 21st, 2009 at 1:59 PM ^
good point, i've always thought of Joe Pa as being one of the Michigan family ever since he.. oh wait. you mean TATE.. right..
October 21st, 2009 at 1:58 PM ^
tate taking an official to Penn State. seems like interest to me.
October 21st, 2009 at 3:32 PM ^
I remember when Henne was at UM one of the announcers made the coment that that since Chad was from Pennsylvania that he wanted to go to PSU at first and was even considered a heavy PSU lean. For some reason Joe Pa never even went to his house to try to recruit him and when Lloyd came to his house it impressed him enough that he decided to go Blue. Does anyone else out ther get the idea that Joe Pa does not get involved in PSU recruiting as much as maybe some other coaches do.
October 21st, 2009 at 4:00 PM ^
I think it's fairly obvious JoePa isn't nearly as involved with recruiting as he used to be. After all -- how else can he fit in his midday nap and diaper change?
October 21st, 2009 at 4:17 PM ^
Wowie! What COMEDY! Old guys and naps & depends jokes! HAHAHALOLZ! And right here on MgoBlog! No wonder this is the most visited college football blog! Where else can you score such original and intelligent humor? OMG I justspitup an entre week's worth of food and beverages all over my computer screen! LOLZ
To the OP: This is what I consider a "teachable moment." To wit:
It is not "who do you believe?"--it is in fact "WHOM do you believe?" now let me tell you why:
If you can answer the question with "him" or "her" or "them"--use WHOM. If it is "he" "she" or "they"--use WHO.
In this case: I believe Tate (him)--he had an offer and I believe Joe Pa offered Tate over $85,000.00 to go to Penn State.
So, we now know how and when to use "who" or "whom"--and we have the craptastic humor of Sommy and his Old Guy Wears Diapers and Sleeps joke book to not just educate, but entertain us.
We are so fortunate to have this blog. Spend ten minutes here, and you are a better person because of it.
October 21st, 2009 at 4:25 PM ^
you are indeed correct. Typo corrected.
October 22nd, 2009 at 12:32 PM ^
because I had heard that during the Henne recruitment JoePa was all over him and even said something to the effect of "I want one more national championship before I retire and you're the QB thats going to get me there"
but that ultimately Henne was swayed by the Tom Brady/history of NFL QBs at Michigan and Loeffler.
October 21st, 2009 at 3:54 PM ^
pry not as a close second but i am much more inclined to believe him than joepa ... after all he had an offer
October 21st, 2009 at 3:57 PM ^
I only care about coaches that weren't born during Chester A Arthur's administration.