HS Recruiting is Close to Flopping

[AdamOnFirst]

Recent positive progress on at least filling out a class with passable players still has us sitting on a Big Ten bottom dweller class permanently. Meanwhile, even Stanford, who is a financial and NIL train wreck, is managing to pull a more competitive class that includes higher end talent NU hasn’t sniffed in several years. Stanford is flipping for stars from Baylor, meanwhile we’re losing three stars to friggin Tulane



I appreciate that we had a step forward in the football transfer portal this offseason- though it was more to merely achieving baseline adequacy and not remotely being a big fish our power conference status and rich alumni base would indicate it could be - but I am mostly out of confidence in Braun’s ability to competitively recruit in the Big Ten at this point in his career and I continue to not understand our overall institutional commitment or strategy to competing in modern power 2 football.

 

[CMcCat]

Recent positive progress on at least filling out a class with passable players still has us sitting on a Big Ten bottom dweller class permanently. Meanwhile, even Stanford, who is a financial and NIL train wreck, is managing to pull a more competitive class that includes higher end talent NU hasn’t sniffed in several years. Stanford is flipping for stars from Baylor, meanwhile we’re losing three stars to friggin Tulane

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I appreciate that we had a step forward in the football transfer portal this offseason- though it was more to merely achieving baseline adequacy and not remotely being a big fish our power conference status and rich alumni base would indicate it could be - but I am mostly out of confidence in Braun’s ability to competitively recruit in the Big Ten at this point in his career and I continue to not understand our overall institutional commitment or strategy to competing in modern power 2 football.

You gotta give NU a couple years with the new facility to establish consistently good concert lineups. Then it will start getting commits who appreciate music. I think that is a key strategy.

 

[JimStarr777]

Recruiting is literally a bidding war. We’re not paying out of our ears for top recruits, so we have to be happy with borderline guys who hopefully don’t transfer before they can develop. And if they DO develop, we have to hope another school doesn’t poach them with more money. It’s probably not a winning strategy these days.

 

[AdamOnFirst]

Recruiting is literally a bidding war. We’re not paying out of our ears for top recruits, so we have to be happy with borderline guys who hopefully don’t transfer before they can develop. And if they DO develop, we have to hope another school doesn’t poach them with more money. It’s probably not a winning strategy these days.

Well we’re losing out to far poorer programs in less prestigious, poorer conferences, so we’re doing a bad job of leveraging our power 2 status we mostly lucked into. The Big Ten isn’t winning the money wars because of NU, we’re lucky to be here.

 

[gocatsgo2003]

Recent positive progress on at least filling out a class with passable players still has us sitting on a Big Ten bottom dweller class permanently. Meanwhile, even Stanford, who is a financial and NIL train wreck, is managing to pull a more competitive class that includes higher end talent NU hasn’t sniffed in several years. Stanford is flipping for stars from Baylor, meanwhile we’re losing three stars to friggin Tulane

View embedded media

I appreciate that we had a step forward in the football transfer portal this offseason- though it was more to merely achieving baseline adequacy and not remotely being a big fish our power conference status and rich alumni base would indicate it could be - but I am mostly out of confidence in Braun’s ability to competitively recruit in the Big Ten at this point in his career and I continue to not understand our overall institutional commitment or strategy to competing in modern power 2 football.

1) NU didn’t “lose” Sims to Tulane. He wanted to reclassify to 2025 and we couldn’t accommodate due to both scholarship limitations and admissions.

2) Stanford’s class is materially similar to ours.

3) The House Settlement being implemented would/will be very helpful for NU.

 

[AdamOnFirst]

1) NU didn’t “lose” Sims to Tulane. He wanted to reclassify to 2025 and we couldn’t accommodate due to both scholarship limitations and admissions.

2) Stanford’s class is materially similar to ours.

3) The House Settlement being implemented would/will be very helpful for NU.

Are we not currently recruiting based on the house settlement? I’d be shocked if most other programs aren’t, it would be absurd not to tell guys what their figures will be in a matter of weeks.

 

[Rebel II]

1) NU didn’t “lose” Sims to Tulane. He wanted to reclassify to 2025 and we couldn’t accommodate due to both scholarship limitations and admissions.

2) Stanford’s class is materially similar to ours.

3) The House Settlement being implemented would/will be very helpful for NU.

The nattering nabobs of negativity still abound! Think positive until it's proven to be a failing situation, please.

 

[gocatsgo2003]

Are we not currently recruiting based on the house settlement? I’d be shocked if most other programs aren’t, it would be absurd not to tell guys what their figures will be in a matter of weeks.

I’m saying it should at least being some teams “back to the pack” a bit if they can’t really make multi-million dollar promises to many guys.

 

[JimStarr777]

The nattering nabobs of negativity still abound! Think positive until it's proven to be a failing situation, please.

What would you call the last five seasons?

 

[Rebel II]

What would you call the last five seasons?

Right now I'm more concerned about the last two of this staff! 8-5 and 4-8. Better than most. so don't crucify them quite yet. Positivity has its' good qualities.

 

[Purple Pile Driver]

1) NU didn’t “lose” Sims to Tulane. He wanted to reclassify to 2025 and we couldn’t accommodate due to both scholarship limitations and admissions.

2) Stanford’s class is materially similar to ours.

3) The House Settlement being implemented would/will be very helpful for NU.

1) why would admissions be a factor? I thought all recruits had to pass admissions before being offered and if he graduated early while meeting that criteria why is it an issue? If we hanging our hat on scholarship limitations because exceed the 85 after what has occurred to this program the last 2 years it is really dumb.

2) No it’s not. When are we going to expect to be able to beat Stanford in recruiting classes? They fired their Head Coach in March and the new HC has been there less than 2 months. Couple this with the fact that they are in the ACC despite being on the West Coast and NU is in the Power 2, we should be spanking them.

3) Yes, now the program will be tested to see if the new AD and his hires are equipped to take advantage of NU’s position as a P2 program.

 

[hdhntr1]

Right now I'm more concerned about the last two of this staff! 8-5 and 4-8. Better than most. so don't crucify them quite yet. Positivity has its' good qualities.

The 2023 team was set up to be successful by Fitz and company and Braun and company held serve. But after last year it is harder to count it, At this point focus needs to be on last season (4-8) and this season because now it is all on Braun and company and while they have upped the game in the portal recruiting, the same cannot be said of HS recruiting where a substantial number of recruits don't have another P4 offer. While I am sure that they will find some diamonds in the rough, and develop some players, it is harder to find enough to get the job done on the field. And with the new rules, if they do develop to be impact players, they could just as well be gone to the highest bidder for their most productive years, Hard to build and sustain a program that way

 

[hdhntr1]

The nattering nabobs of negativity still abound! Think positive until it's proven to be a failing situation, please.

Let us just say that there is some concern. Fitz earned some slack. Braun burned through much of his last year

 

[gocatsgo2003]

1) why would admissions be a factor? I thought all recruits had to pass admissions before being offered and if he graduated early while meeting that criteria why is it an issue? If we hanging our hat on scholarship limitations because exceed the 85 after what has occurred to this program the last 2 years it is really dumb.

2) No it’s not. When are we going to expect to be able to beat Stanford in recruiting classes? They fired their Head Coach in March and the new HC has been there less than 2 months. Couple this with the fact that they are in the ACC despite being on the West Coast and NU is in the Power 2, we should be spanking them.

3) Yes, now the program will be tested to see if the new AD and his hires are equipped to take advantage of NU’s position as a P2 program.

1) I don’t have details, but NU has a certain number of core courses that are required. My guess is that Tulane accepted some that we wouldn’t.

2) The rankings are pretty similar. That’s as far as I went. I hate rankings, but am told repeatedly that they matter so… [shrug]

 

[CoralSpringsCat]

1) I don’t have details, but NU has a certain number of core courses that are required. My guess is that Tulane accepted some that we wouldn’t.

2) The rankings are pretty similar. That’s as far as I went. I hate rankings, but am told repeatedly that they matter so… [shrug]

I’m pretty confident Sims would have remained a Cat ifthe re-classification issue hadn’t come into play.

 

[phatcat]

What would you call the last five seasons?

I would call 2 of the 5 "good", 2 of them unacceptable, and one a disaster. I am not optimistic for 2025, but a t least we (probably) have a QB. That's a start. Of course, I've fallen for the siren song of transfer QBs again and again. Sometimes it is sweet music (20, 23) other times, my ship is dashed on the rocks.

 

[chicagocatfan24]

I would call 2 of the 5 "good", 2 of them unacceptable, and one a disaster. I am not optimistic for 2025, but a t least we (probably) have a QB. That's a start. Of course, I've fallen for the siren song of transfer QBs again and again. Sometimes it is sweet music (20, 23) other times, my ship is dashed on the rocks.

We have a QB

 

[Zazzy]

Agree that people are overly negative. Most of our commits do have other P4 offers (O’Brien committed so early that he would have had offers).

I agree too that you have to give someone 2-3 years. Braun had to deal with fallout from scandal, mass defections of recruiting class and not permanent head coach until end of first season. And Gragg.

Let’s see how it goes this year on the field and recruiting. We tend to be around 60 in ratings of commitments for past 20 years, even during good years. Yes, things are different now and will be again probably after July 1 rulings.

FWIW, Brsun’s record after two seasons is better than Fitz. I’m cautiously optimistic.

 

[Figrating]

Like complaining about a surgery patient facing a life threatening illness not recovering fast enough.

 

[corbi296]

Agree that people are overly negative. Most of our commits do have other P4 offers (O’Brien committed so early that he would have had offers).

I agree too that you have to give someone 2-3 years. Braun had to deal with fallout from scandal, mass defections of recruiting class and not permanent head coach until end of first season. And Gragg.

Let’s see how it goes this year on the field and recruiting. We tend to be around 60 in ratings of commitments for past 20 years, even during good years. Yes, things are different now and will be again probably after July 1 rulings.

FWIW, Brsun’s record after two seasons is better than Fitz. I’m cautiously optimistic.

Agree. This class is shaping up to be decent. Not great but better than last year and better than I expected. If we pull a few late rabbits out of the hat with some of our remaining recruits, I think this class will turn out to be a good one. Very bullish on the QB, which is the most important position.

 

[Purple Pile Driver]

Agree. This class is shaping up to be decent. Not great but better than last year and better than I expected. If we pull a few late rabbits out of the hat with some of our remaining recruits and I think this class will turn out to be good. Very bullish on the QB, which is the most important position.

As CGC likes to state, we don’t know how recruiting will turn out right away. If you want any credibility, I think you should state your opinion before the events unfold. It’s easy 3 years down the road. Being called overly negative has a flip side called a homer. So, at the risk of being completely wrong, here is my take:

PRO’s
Strong closing rate on OV’s.
Similar developmental prospects as NU typically gets.
Excellent and focused Portal recruiting to plug holes.
Best HS QB recruit since CT.

CON’s
Nothing is a for sure, but class lacks high end talent that is likely to see early playing time.
NU continues to struggle with recruiting at certain positional groups like OL and TE.
Poor pull through rate on initial targets, with many dropping out early.

In summary, my OPINION is NU needs to do much better. I feel this is a well below average B1G class. Some recruits will be excellent players, but will there be enough to be a contender? We shouldn’t have an entire class of developmental prospects, even if that is our bread and butter.

Next year is the real test as the house settlement puts NU in a much better position to snag some higher potential talent. The results on the field this season shouldn’t be confused with this years HS recruiting class. I expect a six win or better this year on the field! So hardly overly negative on everything! It should be ok to express an opinion that isn’t full of flower blooms on NU without being casted as a negative Nancy (not directly this to you or anyone else specifically).

 

[KramerCat91]

Stanford has on paper had better talent for a long time, but we've been better than Stanford for most of that time. Similarly, we've been in the bottom tier of the B10 for talent. Let's give Braun a chance!

 

[AdamOnFirst]

2) The rankings are pretty similar. That’s as far as I went. I hate rankings, but am told repeatedly that they matter so… [shrug]

"Similar" is generous given their superior high-upside talent that we have non of, and it's also unacceptable for us to be struggling with the likes of Stanford. If we're recruiting against lower tier non P2 Power 4 teams, we're going to get our asses kicked in the Big Ten.

Agree that people are overly negative. Most of our commits do have other P4 offers (O’Brien committed so early that he would have had offers).

Part of my broader point here is that a few other P4 offers isn't acceptable. This would have been an aggressively mediocre class even in the power 5 days. The reality is NU isn't just a P4 team, NU is a P2 team, competing in a P2 conference. If we aren't smoking much of the ACC/Big 12, we're going to be a bottom feeder in the Big Ten, which is what this current class is.

I hope Braun wins 7-8 games this year and we do a better job leveraging the House resources and things pick up, but right now we have a coach who did a genuinely AMAZING job keeping an existing team together two years ago but then flopped pretty horrifically on the field in year two and has back to back pretty awful (if you object to a term like "pretty awful," please substitute "uncompetitive in our conference," or "conference bottom dweller"). I like him a lot as a guy and a DC, but I'm not sold on him as a Big Ten head guy, which is a very hard job, and things aren't going well.

 

[gocatsgo2003]

"Similar" is generous given their superior high-upside talent that we have non of, and it's also unacceptable for us to be struggling with the likes of Stanford. If we're recruiting against lower tier non P2 Power 4 teams, we're going to get our asses kicked in the Big Ten.

Part of my broader point here is that a few other P4 offers isn't acceptable. This would have been an aggressively mediocre class even in the power 5 days. The reality is NU isn't just a P4 team, NU is a P2 team, competing in a P2 conference. If we aren't smoking much of the ACC/Big 12, we're going to be a bottom feeder in the Big Ten, which is what this current class is.

I hope Braun wins 7-8 games this year and we do a better job leveraging the House resources and things pick up, but right now we have a coach who did a genuinely AMAZING job keeping an existing team together two years ago but then flopped pretty horrifically on the field in year two and has back to back pretty awful (if you object to a term like "pretty awful," please substitute "uncompetitive in our conference," or "conference bottom dweller"). I like him a lot as a guy and a DC, but I'm not sold on him as a Big Ten head guy, which is a very hard job, and things aren't going well.

Counterpoint: this is really Braun’s first “normal” offseason with his full staff in place. We showed somewhat surprisingly nimble adjustments in portal recruiting, hopefully can do the same on the HS recruiting side.

 

[CatManTrue]

The nattering nabobs of negativity still abound! Think positive until it's proven to be a failing situation, please.

Blast from the past! Fun to have you back Coach @Rebel II .

Don’t let those negative nattering nabobs abound!

There is power in positivity.

 

[AdamOnFirst]

Counterpoint: this is really Braun’s first “normal” offseason with his full staff in place. We showed somewhat surprisingly nimble adjustments in portal recruiting, hopefully can do the same on the HS recruiting side.

That is a fair optimistic take

 

[Purple Pile Driver]

Anonymous Big Ten coach compares Northwestern to rising SEC team

.

www.on3.com

Nothing all that new, just speaks to NU has to get serious about NIL to succeed.

 

[AdamOnFirst]

Anonymous Big Ten coach compares Northwestern to rising SEC team

.

www.on3.com

Nothing all that new, just speaks to NU has to get serious about NIL to succeed.

Echoes my concerns exactly. We can debate how much is the coach vs the lack of resources (which is absurd and shouldn't exist) and how much is institutional opposition, but pretending a bad recruiting class isn't bad and it's not a huge problem is silly. Our school needs to do a better job.

 

[hdhntr1]

Agree that people are overly negative. Most of our commits do have other P4 offers (O’Brien committed so early that he would have had offers).

I agree too that you have to give someone 2-3 years. Braun had to deal with fallout from scandal, mass defections of recruiting class and not permanent head coach until end of first season. And Gragg.

Let’s see how it goes this year on the field and recruiting. We tend to be around 60 in ratings of commitments for past 20 years, even during good years. Yes, things are different now and will be again probably after July 1 rulings.

FWIW, Brsun’s record after two seasons is better than Fitz. I’m cautiously optimistic.

Counterpoint: this is really Braun’s first “normal” offseason with his full staff in place. We showed somewhat surprisingly nimble adjustments in portal recruiting, hopefully can do the same on the HS recruiting side.

Maybe but better find footing pretty quick because having a couple uncompetitive classes in a row in the BIG can take years to overcome. Yes, maybe we can offset some of the shortcomings through the portal but it is hard to build any continuity that way

 

[JimStarr777]

Anonymous Big Ten coach compares Northwestern to rising SEC team

.

www.on3.com

Nothing all that new, just speaks to NU has to get serious about NIL to succeed.

“Anonymous source” usually means some guy just made stuff up.

 

[gocatsgo2003]

Maybe but better find footing pretty quick because having a couple uncompetitive classes in a row in the BIG can take years to overcome. Yes, maybe we can offset some of the shortcomings through the portal but it is hard to build any continuity that way

I don’t think we will be “uncompetitive” this year.

 

[hdhntr1]

I don’t think we will be “uncompetitive” this year.

This thread is about HS recruiting. So are you talking being competitive in HS recruiting vs the rest of the BIG, (maybe but how do you define competitive cause even though it looks like it may have a bit better talent than last year it still looks like we are still falling behind our bretheren) or on the field where hopefully the influx of new guys coming through the portal can help us this year?

 

[gocatsgo2003]

This thread is about HS recruiting. So are you talking being competitive in HS recruiting vs the rest of the BIG, (maybe but how do you define competitive cause even though it looks like it may have a bit better talent than last year it still looks like we are still falling behind our bretheren) or on the field where hopefully the influx of new guys coming through the portal can help us this year?

Both

 

[phatcat]

I don’t think we will be “uncompetitive” this year.

GCG, 🤞that you have it right. We've had 2 good years since 2018. This is getting old. I have a low expectation of success, just give me 6+ wins 3 out of 4 years and I'm good. But these bad years have been...wow

 

[Mr Wickerpark]

Agree that people are overly negative. Most of our commits do have other P4 offers (O’Brien committed so early that he would have had offers).

I agree too that you have to give someone 2-3 years. Braun had to deal with fallout from scandal, mass defections of recruiting class and not permanent head coach until end of first season. And Gragg.

Let’s see how it goes this year on the field and recruiting. We tend to be around 60 in ratings of commitments for past 20 years, even during good years. Yes, things are different now and will be again probably after July 1 rulings.

FWIW, Brsun’s record after two seasons is better than Fitz. I’m cautiously optimistic.

I think we will end up just fine. Achieving bowl status should be our focus. Everything really depends upon QB play. We have struggled with that position lately but we have reason to be hopeful with two QBs that have experience.

 

[hdhntr1]

I think we will end up just fine. Achieving bowl status should be our focus. Everything really depends upon QB play. We have struggled with that position lately but we have reason to be hopeful with two QBs that have experience.

Two? Lausch has been playing baseball and missed the Spring practice so who is the second? Boe?

 

[hdhntr1]

Both

Sure about that? Sure seems we will be at or near the bottom of the BT again this year in HS recruiting. After the last couple classes, we need a lot more than that

 

[gocatsgo2003]

Sure about that? Sure seems we will be at or near the bottom of the BT again this year in HS recruiting. After the last couple classes, we need a lot more than that

I don’t give a shit about recruiting rankings.

 

[JimStarr777]

I don’t give a shit about recruiting rankings.

What do you give a shit about? Anything?

 

[gocatsgo2003]

What do you give a shit about? Anything?

Tape. And, minimally, competing offers.