I thought it must be a misprint when they gave his HS statistics — more than 13,000 yards passing and 161 TD passes vs. 21 INTs. It would probably take QBs at my local high school about 12 years to accumulate those stats, and I'm pretty sure they'd have a lot more than 21 interceptions. Any kid that can start be the starting QB at age 14 for any decent HS program is something of a freak of nature, and Lawrence seems to be a freak among freaks.
OT: Lawrence
- Thread starter NJCat
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I thought it must be a misprint when they gave his HS statistics — more than 13,000 yards passing and 161 TD passes vs. 21 INTs. It would probably take QBs at my local high school about 12 years to accumulate those stats, and I'm pretty sure they'd have a lot more than 21 interceptions. Any kid that can start be the starting QB at age 14 for any decent HS program is something of a freak of nature, and Lawrence seems to be a freak among freaks.
And this post is why I think Dabo Swinney handled the Johnson situation so well with letting him go and paying him every compliment as he left Clemson. Lawrence is a crazy special talent and some coaches might have pretended there would be a competition ... Dabo apparently did not play that game.
Hunter is, right now, a likely future NFL QB. Best recruit in NU history. He knows it, his family knows it, Fitz knows it. McCall wasting his talent can’t — and I’m guessing won’t — be tolerated.
The good news is that his decision to transfer has already yielded three wide receivers (Kirtz and GHP in 2019, Yaseen in 2020) that NU may not have gotten otherwise. That’ll help.
It's fun to count chickens before they hatch! We've got some nice eggs, too.
Dabo also switched to Lawrence before game 5 of the season which gave Kelly Bryant the opportunity to transfer without burning a year of eligibility by playing more than 4 games. He was very upfront with Bryant. I don’t think many of the Blue Blood coaches would have done that, especially with Hunter already gone. If Lawrence went down, Clemson is not winning the Natty.
I gotta agree with this. He showed real character as a coach who cares for his players. That shouldn't hurt his recruiting but where does he find a back up QB for Lawrence now?
As long as Clemson keeps bringing in top OLs and WRs, they'll never have an issue bringing in top QBs.
Yeah, they may have to deal with significant transfers at the position, but it sounds like they can still keep going through the process of signing a top QB almost every year.
How many of those 4-5 stars will actually stick around in a loaded QB room? Maybe 2-3 out of 5. That's the reality when you sign that many top dogs.
They got a top dual-threat QB in the 2019 class, and they're after the top 2020 QB.
If that 2020 QB goes with Clemson, how likely is it that the 2019 guy sticks around given you'd go straight from Lawrence to the 2020 QB. So yeah, this is Dabo's system, and he can keep riding it.
If it were legal for him to leave right now, he'd be the No.1 choice in the draft (or at least the first choice by a team looking for a QB)
I heard a great quote the other night (might have been Klatt) comparing the two programs:
“Alabama is a Football Factory while Clemson is a Football Family”
Pretty telling. Where would you want to play?
“Alabama is a Football Factory while Clemson is a Football Family”
Pretty telling. Where would you want to play?
While Lawrence played well (very well for a true frosh), the fact that Clemson's O-line handled 'Bama's D-line, Lawrence's targets were getting open and pulling in passes w/ their wide catch radius (including one-handed) and the Clemson coaching staff having out--gameplanned 'Bama staff, made Lawrence's job a lot easier.
On FTF, Klatt mentions NU and Barnett.
6:35 mark
On FTF, Klatt mentions NU and Barnett.
6:35 mark
Come on! What Dabo has done has been done before, even at Clemson! No comparison to the program turnaround by Barnett at NU or Snyder at KSU, IMO.
Northwestern! Was that a trick question?
Yeah, that feels way too forced of a comparison.
NU and KSU were programs that were left for dead; just assumed to be teams doomed to 0-5 win seasons with maybe a fluke 6-7 win season here or there over a long period of time.
Clemson is a team that's been ranked nearly every year for the past 40 years and has gone to bowl games most years; with lots of 8-9 win seasons the past 20 years.
For them to take a step up and become like a blue-blood is not that big of a stretch given their location, support, and recruiting grounds.
It really isn't all that different from what LSU did after Saban got there or Florida when Spurrier got there. All of those programs had built-in advantages with decades of ranked teams/bowl games and needed a coach to take them to the championship level.
What happened with NU and KSU is on another scale.
Absolutely no comparison.
Wasn't Clemson pretty good in the 1980s? Winning a national and some ACC championships?
They've also had tons of players drafted into the NFL over the years. The most memorable to me was Steve Fuller whose Superbowl Shuffle lines I can still recite today.
"They say Jimbo is our man. If Jimmy can't do it, I sure can....."
Year-by-year results here: https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/schools/clemson/index.html
Moral of the story: Yeah, they've been a pretty darn solid program since the 1980s, but even then Dabo has kicked that up a notch.
Dabo kicked it up a notch. Barnett and Snyder kicked NU and KSU up about a half dozen notches.
I'm with GCG here. I think Dabo's work has been pretty incredible. Barnett brought us from awful to a couple of incredible seasons, top 10 teams, but didn't sustain it. Snyder brought a decrepit program up to being a consistently competitive and ~low top 25 team on average. Both are incredible turnarounds.
Dabo took over a program from Bowden that was a fringe top 25 team (in 9 years, Bowden ranged from 6-9 wins, and had 4 top 25 finishes (18,21,22,25, never consecutive) and over the last 10 years Dabo has transformed them into a total powerhouse the likes of which is rarely seen. They've made CFP 4 straight years, and 10+ wins 8 straight years going back before that. There haven't been many coaches that have achieved and sustained that level of excellence in CFB history.. Saban, Osborne, Rockne, Bear Bryant? Guys like Urban Meyer, Spurrier, Bowden, Paterno, Hayes... all got to consistently very good and had plenty of excellent years mixed in, but sustaining this peak level that Dabo has for the last 4 years straight is very difficult.
I'd prob put Barnett's turnaround, catching lightning in a bottle at NU but then not sustaining it, as slightly above what Dabo has done to-date, but not by much. I certainly think they are worth comparing in terms of impressive coaching performances.
IMO, Clemson had a significant degree of tradition and support (they were regularly a top-10 team for a decade), though. To me, Clemson was a power program that had regressed a bit. Kinda like muscle memory in that everything was in place except for the right coach...Dabo. I admit I have a prejudice against Clemson for being a corrupt 'football factory' in the '80's. University of Georgia as well.
How about Howard Schnellenberger and what he created at Miami, Wilkerson at Oklahoma, John McKay at USC? There are more. There aren't many program resurrections as dramatic as Barnett winning the Big Ten in 1995 and 1996 or Snyder's work at KSU.
I don't think Barnett would have had any difficulty rebounding and sustaining a highly successful program if he had stayed at NU. He was recruiting well when he left. He did an excellent job coaching at CU until bogus scandals, self-imposed recruiting restrictions, and a new AD who wanted his own coach sent Gary packing.
While all the recent excitement has revolved around HJ, (looking ahead) been very excited about AA.
3,952 passing yards, 55 touchdowns and just 7 INTs
Could have added to his stats even more, but Aidan missed the post-season due to injury.
In comparison, HJ passed for 6,657 yds, 69 touchdowns and 36 INTs for his entire HS career.
Unlike HJ (who played some), AA didn't see any action his frosh year, but in his 2 yrs starting has put up - 7,357 yds, 78 touchdowns and just 11 INTs.
Maybe it's the level of competition, but can't fathom a good reason why AA isn't a 4*, if not a 5* recruit (guess he has a season to improve his recruiting profile).
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It's all about projections. I'm not sure how AA projects - does he have the size (too lazy to look it up), does he have the arm? But, I'm huge on productivity regardless of stars.
That is until Gladeskat reminds me of 28 ypc Kevin Lawrence.
And also it's much easier to sustain that level of recruiting at Clemson and many other places. than it is at Northwestern.
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