Mack is Back

[HereBeforeCoachK]

Mack made a habit of locking up his recruiting class as juniors, which was a somewhat groundbreaking tactic at the time (early to mid aughts), and generated some stellar classes (the VY class may be a top 3 class of all time). But then, I think, this tactic made him lazy in recruiting. He would only give offers if he was certain he was going to get a commitment, and this led to a lot of scholarships to guys that peaked in high school (the Texas O-Line draft drought is testament to that). Honestly, it also was less work to recruit, outside the 3 or 4 4-5 stars you knew from outset were going to hold out until signing day. Mack and his staff weren't finding the kids that peak senior year because the class was filled out. They weren't offering a ton of out of state talent because (1) there was an assumption Texas HS football was sufficient (it wasn't, especially at the non-skill positions), and (2) that would lead to offers that weren't committed to, which Mack didn't like.

So in my view, the recruiting tactics that gave Texas an advantage early in Mack's reign created a complacency and laziness near the end. The talent development and the draft results in Mack's last several years bear that out.

I think he'll have a lot of energy early on, but UNC's success under MB will have more to do with who Mack hires than Mack.

Interesting run down and thanks for the local knowledge.

From where I sit, recruiting to Texas, in any sport, but especially football, should be easy. You can offer what is literally the largest built in fan base of any school, great weather, great city, lots of gorgeous women, and money and facilities out the ying yang. In addition, you have a massive state full of great athletes, and many grew up Longhorn fans by default. A lot of schools have that built in "University of" advantage, but Texas arguably has the biggest of those advantages...given it's a massive state with a lot of pride in the name of Texas to boot.

Texas should pretty much be a power in every sport every year.

[A-Tex Devil]

Interesting run down and thanks for the local knowledge.

From where I sit, recruiting to Texas, in any sport, but especially football, should be easy. You can offer what is literally the largest built in fan base of any school, great weather, great city, lots of gorgeous women, and money and facilities out the ying yang. In addition, you have a massive state full of great athletes, and many grew up Longhorn fans by default. A lot of schools have that built in "University of" advantage, but Texas arguably has the biggest of those advantages...given it's a massive state with a lot of pride in the name of Texas to boot.

Texas should pretty much be a power in every sport every year.

In football, I think 7 on 7 and the spread has created a talent gap in Texas at the non-skill positions.

Generally speaking, I'll be honest, I think being in Austin and all that comes with it is a distraction in all sports. People get to Texas and stop working. But I also think Texas had ultra-successful coaches lose their way in the end for one reason or another, and they were let go 2-3 years too late. Mack Brown got lazy, Rick Barnes browbeat his players mercilessly (look at Avery Bradley and Myles Turner in the NBA vs. their one year at Texas), Augie (RIP) wouldn't move away from small ball. All three of these guys are in the top two coaches Texas has ever had in these sports. All three failed at the end and put their teams in a hole.

[sagegrouse]

Pretty good column in The Washington Post by Barry Svrluga about the Mack Brown hiring.

Here's the link. Svrluga, of course, is a Duke alum.

Message: "know who you are in football; don't fire your coach in an unrealistic move to get better." Examples: Cal, LSU, Maryland.

[AtlDuke72]

Here's the link. Svrluga, of course, is a Duke alum.

Message: "know who you are in football; don't fire your coach in an unrealistic move to get better." Examples: Cal, LSU, Maryland.

Add Tennessee to that list.

[75Crazie]

Add Tennessee to that list.

There is practically nothing about Vol Nation that is "realistic". I know, because I'm married to a member (who admittedly gets very upset at some of the antics of that nation).

[PackMan97]

Brown killing it on the recruiting trail!

Three 2019 recruits have decommitted to the Heels since Brown's hiring.
Brendan Harrington
Jerrod Means
Allen Smith

[Dr. Rosenrosen]

Brown killing it on the recruiting trail!

Three 2019 recruits have decommitted to the Heels since Brown's hiring.
Brendan Harrington
Jerrod Means
Allen Smith

2-9 helps, too.

[HereBeforeCoachK]

Brown killing it on the recruiting trail!

Three 2019 recruits have decommitted to the Heels since Brown's hiring.
Brendan Harrington
Jerrod Means
Allen Smith

Was that since Fedora was fired, or since Brown was hired....my guess is they wanted the hat, and are not necessarily fleeing Mack.

[Stray Gator]

Was that since Fedora was fired, or since Brown was hired...my guess is they wanted the hat, and are not necessarily fleeing Mack.

It's not uncommon to see a few kids decommit and "open up their recruitment" immediately following the announcement of a coaching change. Sometimes, of course, those recruits end up switching to other programs. In many cases, however, the prospect just wants to be "re-recruited" by the new staff -- usually to make sure that any prior understanding about the player's anticipated role and development schedule remains unchanged, and that the mutual attraction is still strong -- and ultimately we see a number of these kids re-commit to the same school.

[JasonEvans]

Three 2019 recruits have decommitted to the Heels since Brown's hiring.
Brendan Harrington
Jerrod Means
Allen Smith

Harrington is a safety who is not all that highly regarded. He largely only got smaller college offers (App State, Army, Charlotte) aside from the Heels.The only other P5 team to offer him was Syracuse.

WR Means is about the same. Most of his offers are from smaller schools, but he did have offers from Tennessee, Virginia, and Rutgers.

LB Smith is better recruit, a guy who probably would not play much his first couple years on campus but would be expected to be a fairly significant contributor down the line. He had committed to UNC back in April, fairly early in the cycle, so he did not have as many offers from the big boys, but he already had picked up offers from Maryland, Minnesota, Nebraska, Louisville, and Oregon.

-Jason "none of these guys were connected to Duke at all" Evans

[PackMan97]

Coleman Reich has also decommitted.


Is Mack Brown cutting Fedora's worst recruits to make room for all the 5* players he's going to land?

[SamHouston]

Typical UNC: Front Man (Mack), Sales Man (Generic Recruiters X, Y, Z), Law Man (Third Party Lawyers), Ad Man (Third Party PR)

Where are the coaches and players, again?

[JasonEvans]

Coleman Reich has also decommitted.


Is Mack Brown cutting Fedora's worst recruits to make room for all the 5* players he's going to land?

Duke had apparently at least kicked the tires on Reich. Will be interesting to see if we get involved again on this speedy 3-star safety.

[jimsumner]

Keep in mind that back in the good ole days, a new coach had until February to poach some recruits. But with the new signing date, most of the top talent will be off the board in a couple of weeks.

And the guys who are de-committing are looking at a universe where most teams have allocated most of their scholarships.