Answers, Take 5

Q: Could you give a rundown on the Pac 10 and how you feel the teams will finish. (Standings wise) and the teams you believe will go to bowl games.

A: I'd say USC and Arizona State at the top, with Oregon/Cal/Washington in the next cluster and if they can regroup from heavy defensive losses, Oregon State might also be a factor. The wild card is UCLA. First seasons are always tough especially with their quarterback injuries. So they should be part of the 3-7 group, but I never discount a DeWayne Walker defense. And Washington must crack the top four with Jake Locker at QB or Ty Willingham will probably be gone. I think 7-8 teams will go to bowl games. Stanford is also going to be better, although USC might think they were good enough last year.

Q: Can you describe the process for us for what happens with a recruit after signing on national letter of intent day? Basically from how the coaches work with them to what happens over the summer (do they come to campus?) to fall camp and so forth? I'm asking because I remember hearing Coach Ruel talk about how it usually takes a year or two to 'lay the foundation' for a new recruit so I was wondering what that process is like.

A: A lot depends on where the recruit lives. If they are from the East or the South, there's not much they can do other than talk to the coaches and maybe come visit at Spring Break and pickup some type of Spring Break. If the recruit lives locally, they can visit frequently and study schemes and go over plays with coaches. For example, Winston Justice spent a lot of time visiting USC before his freshman year to study the offense because he wanted to play as a true freshman.
They also can show up on their own and work out.
The truth is that no matter how much of this is actually done, unless you are a wide receiver it's a pretty difficult early transition. Especially for quarterbacks, middle linebackers and offensive linemen.
Some recruits enroll early like Brandon Hancock or Matt Meyer, but I think it's debatable how much it helps and whether it's worth skipping out on the memories of your last high school semester.