December 2nd, 2008 at 12:11 PM ^
Certainly still a good idea to recruit California. SC does a good job out here, but not every kid wants to go to SC. There is a big Michigan following out here, and even during the Pete Carroll era at SC we've gotten good players from LA, see Jonas Mouton and Donovan Warren.
December 2nd, 2008 at 12:18 PM ^
CA is pretty talent rich. Even with USC and UCLA there is enough to go around. USC overloads with high level talent at every position from all over the country that if you're a top flight kid from California, you may be looking at 3 years behind a future pro at USC where you might compete for playing time in year 1 and start in year 2 at another school.
December 2nd, 2008 at 12:22 PM ^
So does the current staff (Tate Forcier).
December 2nd, 2008 at 12:28 PM ^
Tate Forcier is coming in, so we haven't left the state completely. Question for you all: Have you ever seen a family have 3 QB's at 3 different programs at the same time? That seems pretty impressive. Stanford, UCLA, and Michigan all Forcier's.
December 2nd, 2008 at 12:32 PM ^
That is a great question. These don't compare to the Forcier's, but of course you have the Mannings. Also the Clausens? Is Jimmah related to the Tennessee Clausens? How about that dude that played for the Lions a few years ago.....WTF was his name? He kind of looked like the Russian in Rocky IV. Anyway, his brother plays in the NFL too. Oh, and the Hasselbecks.
December 2nd, 2008 at 12:34 PM ^
that the Tennessee Clausen's are Jimmah's brothers
December 2nd, 2008 at 12:39 PM ^
Now, naturally they all weren't in College at the same time, and neither were the Mannings. But, it is a great question, have any other families had 3 QB's on 3 different teams?
December 2nd, 2008 at 12:41 PM ^
They are indeed brothers. There were articles galore when Jimmy was being recruited by ND on how he was the most ready quarterback of his class because of his two brothers that played for Tennessee. From what I remember, Tennessee tried pretty hard to get Clausen there, but it didn't work out.
I think Tennessee got the better part of the deal.
December 2nd, 2008 at 1:17 PM ^
"These don't compare to the Forcier's"
I know you meant compare in the college sense, but 2 QB brothers with Superbowl rings is mighty impressive.
December 2nd, 2008 at 1:20 PM ^
Yeah that's just a bit misleading. I meant they don't compare in terms of the number of kids in college at the same time, not in terms of talent.
December 2nd, 2008 at 12:31 PM ^
The problem with California is that literally every school n the Pac 10 relies on their talent pool due to their own depleted pools in-state. Throw in all the other big players and USCs dominance - and I'd say pulling 2 or 3 good recruits out of California is the most you could ask for.
With our Florida prominence and increased presence in the south in general, there are no worries.
December 2nd, 2008 at 12:43 PM ^
California offers perhaps the greatest talent pool in the country. So yes, I think the should continue to dedicate resources there.
December 2nd, 2008 at 1:06 PM ^
Since we already have inroads in Florida, I think it would be a waste of time to put too much effort into recruiting California. That doesn't mean we should ignore it completely, but I think having a heavy footprint in one or two talent-rich states (Florida, Texas) is enough, plus the natural recruiting areas of Michigan, Ohio, Illinois, and Pennsylvania.
December 2nd, 2008 at 1:08 PM ^
Losing Ron English hurt our California efforts. He was starting to do some good things there...he was the one who recruited Warren, Williams and Mouton among others. Hopefully one of the new coaches can continue those efforts.
OT:Whenever I think of California recruiting, I think of that scene from Boys in the Hood when the USC? coaches visit the house. That is a great scene and makes you think if Pete Carroll has to deal with similar situations.
December 2nd, 2008 at 1:12 PM ^
If we are going to drop either CA or TX I would vote for dropping TX. They are pretty similar in terms of talent, but Texas kids don't like to leave. So many TX parents push the in-state schools like UT or A&M really hard. So many of the CA kids' families aren't from CA or they have extended family elsewhere, often times in the midwest.
I may be way off base here, but from following recruiting it seems as though a lot more kids leave CA than leave TX.
December 2nd, 2008 at 1:21 PM ^
This may be true in general - the Longhorns get much of the in-state talent while USC seems to be farther reaching - but Michigan has had more recent success in Texas than California. With the exception of Donovan Warren and Zion Babb being from CA, we've got a bunch of kids from Texas (Mallett, Stonum, Robinson, Herron, Woolfolk, Ortmann).
December 2nd, 2008 at 1:31 PM ^
+ McGuffie, - Mallett.
December 2nd, 2008 at 1:37 PM ^
Well, you are forgetting Avery Horn, Mouton and Michael Williams, which makes it about even if you take out either Mallett who immediately bailed or Woolfolk who would have come here no matter where he was from because he's Butch's kid.
Either way it's close, and I think one of the great things about UM is that we recruit from everywhere. Why stop?
December 2nd, 2008 at 1:48 PM ^
I did forget about them. You're right.
December 2nd, 2008 at 2:24 PM ^
Huge Michigan alumni presence in both Southern and Northern California. I suspect the new staff will continue to bring 'em in.
December 2nd, 2008 at 3:00 PM ^
I don't know how RR plans to work the state as a whole, but I do know that Michigan is pretty interested Forcier's teammate, 2010 RB Brennan Clay (http://creighton.scout.com/a.z?s=456&p=8&c=1&nid=3145695). I've seen him play live a couple times and he's a very impressive prospect. He runs very hard, has pretty good speed (a little under a 4.5 40, IIRC), is versatile out of the backfield, and has good vision. In the games I've seen, he has been just as impressive (if not more so in some cases as Tate Forcier.
Here is a video I found on youtube of Scripps Ranch v Poway from earlier this season. I believe SR ended up losing the game. However, you can see several impressive plays by both Forcier and Clay (he's number 24). Please note this is some of the worst camera work, ever.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RgqtSUCMvsg&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6OX7otdfwA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-vXcFzV-tg&feature=related
Here's another clip froma local highlight show
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RgqtSUCMvsg&feature=related
This Friday, Scripps Ranch plays local power Oceanside in the Semifinals.
December 2nd, 2008 at 3:12 PM ^
So I assume you've seen Tate play live as well, since they're on the same team and all. Can you tell us a little about his game (arm, speed, decision making, etc.)?
December 2nd, 2008 at 3:33 PM ^
Tate is very accurate and has a pretty quick delivery. Last week, they played Westview, a team that, like SR, throws the ball all over the field. Tate's delivery time made the other kid (who threw for over 2,700 yards this year) look ridiculously slow.
I've noticed Tate has the tendency to sometimes underthrow long balls. I don't think that has anything to do with arm strength, though. He throws a lot of deep balls on the run/off his back foot, and he seems to be accurate enough, although many of those passes would be picked off against quicker safeties.
Tate is also very good at moving in and out of the pocket and very creative when scrambling. He has good vision as a qb, and I've noticed that he has the ability to look at both his first, second, and third level receivers. However, he relies on his scrambling ability a bit too much at times. That's obviously fine in HS because he's very athletically gifted, but it could, potentially, be a habit that takes the new coaching staff some time to break.
Tate has some very good offensive complimentary players. In addition to Clay, his tight end (name escapes me) is a big, 6'6 kid who is committed to Nebraska.
Watching these games, I was a bit taken back by how small these kids, in general, look. Tate isn't that big of a kid. I'm sure he'll grow (his brothers are a bit bigger), though. That may be one of the reasons I was so impressed with Clay: the kid is a young junior (he's like 16) and looks like a beast.
I'm not in any position to really evaluate talent, but my overall perception is that Tate is a mobile, accurate kid who is a bit small. He's a playmaker though and always seems to be looking for the big play. He's fun to watch. I watched Beaver's game on ESPN2 earlier this year, and they seem to have similar games. Should be good competition.
December 2nd, 2008 at 3:55 PM ^
Thanks
December 2nd, 2008 at 3:21 PM ^
I don't think we should stop recruiting anywhere. Each kid is different on who they like, and why they choose their school. California just happens to have a lot of options for them right in their backyard, so yea it's a little harder, but if we pick a couple good ones out of there I think it's worth it.