Neuheisel on recruiting
I've talked about how much recruiting changed since UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel was last in the college game, and recently he said so when he discussed today's recruiting compared to when he was at Washington earlier this decade.
"Recruiting is crazy now,'' he said. "Guys are committing way early. It's bizarre. All the information out there, which you can't combat because you can't call (a prospect at certain times) is maddening. The guy hears this, the guy hears that, and you want to get on the phone and say, 'hey, let me tell you,' and you can't get on the phone. You have to hope he'll call you.
"And then if you miss the call, you have to wait for him to call you back. You gotta have your cell phone strapped to you at all times."
Are players being offered earlier than what you were used to?
"Offered indiscriminantly, and I think (schools) come from far away and offer indiscriminantly, knowing that they can always back out. Just to get in the game, they throw offers out there. As I said to (former coach) Karl (Dorrell), you have to be careful because of who you didn't get. You lose because you get players that can't play. Because you're not going to lose them once you get here. Who wants to leave UCLA?"
Under NCAA rules, head coaches can begin calling recruits again Sept. 1.
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About Inside UCLA
This is Brian Dohn's sixth season covering UCLA after spending 4 1/2 years covering the Dodgers for the Daily News and other Los Angeles Newspaper Group papers. He graduated from Rutgers, where the first college football game was played in 1869. Sure, the Scarlet Knights suffered for a long time, but now RU is doing what Jerseyans always thought was possible. Winning at Rutgers also proves winning is possible everywhere else in the nation, so underachieving coaches better be careful. Now, if only men's hoops can turn it around.
"Because you're not going to lose them once you get here. Who wants to leave UCLA?"
Well, apparently there are a few recruits from this years class want to leave UCLA. What is the exact number on the recruits who have verballed and then backed out so far?
Hey Brian,
I thought we rid ourselves of the anonymous posters
and exactly how many of those verbals "got here" and then left UCLA, anonymous? oh thats right, 0. because none of them arrived. thats why they were verbals.
Anonymous (what a unique name!)
How many football players have shown up at UCLA and then tranferred to play elsewhere? I also think you are taking what RickN said out of context. What he is saying is if you offer too early, you may end up taking players who can't play and the coach can't get rid of.
Rick Neuheisel is very intelligent man. Brian, why do you quote him with malapropisms? I'd bet my house that he said INDISCRIMINATELY ... not "indiscriminantly", which you wrote down, not once but twice.
Not cool at all.
"and exactly how many of those verbals "got here" and then left UCLA, anonymous? oh thats right, 0. because none of them arrived. thats why they were verbals."
Actually, they visited the campus before they committed. They then decommitted, meaning they had been there, and then decided they didn't want to be there for the rest of their collegiate career.
Oh, boy, here I go again with my anti-ucla sentiment a.k.a we are ucla so that means we are smarter than you. Can anybody blame me for hating on ucla?-- No offense, but the entire USofA does not think too highly of ucla people.
Ol' 'Rich' chastises our hero Brian for using the incorrect spelling of the word "indiscriminatley," and states that Neuheiel would not have said it with that spelling. Huh? I know I am an idiot, but what is this guy talking about? Does Neu talk in spelling language?
I don't like Brian's midwest holier than thou persona (I don't care if he went to Rutgers, he still is a dye-in-the wool midwesterner), but he does try hard to give so-called rational sports' commentary.
"Ol' 'Rich' chastises our hero Brian for using the incorrect spelling of the word "indiscriminatley..."
Which, sadly enough TRUTH, you also spelled incorrectly. Can you spell 'ironic'?
Do be careful old chum. It's a long fall from the top of the soapbox.
Only the truth,
If you're saying most of America doesn't like UCLA, that's debatable based on the fact it receives the most college applications yearly.
Other than that, yeah, the comment was uncalled for. I think it was good insight being shared by Brian on how recruiting has changed. I also agree with Hiero on what Coach is saying. The 'sign 'em early' strategy will come back to hurt teams that don't draw the top talent. They'll run out of scholarships before they have the chance to evaluate the h.s. seniors and will have to run with the guys they offered early. Pete Carroll can do it because they recruit at the highest level...UCLA needs to take time to figure out who the key targets are. Unfortunately, many are gone before a game is played in high school.
It's hard to disagree with what Neuheisel is saying and yet so many of the current freshmen class was brought in that way. Why? Because UCLA had to cast a wider net trying to develop relationships with recruits. And the hope being, the coaches guessed right more than wrong. Dorrell had to do something to try to offset the huge pull of the SC brand. So he offered early.
Karl's first few years, he tried playing the waiting game and how often did it come with disappointment on LOI day? It was sad watching FSN prep LOI show only to see highly recruited players being spotlighted and going elsewhere. Last year was the first year, FSN was all over UCLA's recruiting. It was hope for the first time in 4 years.
Rick better re-evaluate his strategy, because UCLA is far from being the big dog on the block. Better to gamble than lose, than waiting until it's too late and getting JC kids or walkons.
so "got here" now means took an unofficial visit, anonymous? (which can you even confirm that? while i'd assume they did, i have no proof that all those who backed out even saw the campus)
i highly doubt that what RN was trying to say was "well basically if we get any recruit to take an unofficial visit to our school we've got them in the bag and they will never leave." also considering that they were all high school juniors, 'the rest of their collegiate careers' is a long ways away
haha and TRUTH, as far of the USA's thoughts on UCLA, i can only give you one fact. ncaa football '09 gives us an "elite" in recruiting for campus lifestyle. and if you can't believe video games these days, what can you believe?
To Fan4Life:
Be careful using Neuheisel and gamble in your response!