I’ve been closely following the recruiting since Walt Bell came in, and studied Whipple prior recruiting. My take has been that UMass has been recruiting low 3 star guys over this period of time. I did also conclude that low 3 star recruiting doesn’t get anyone besides Army consistently over 500 in FBS. However, it is a fact that good coaches can achieve significantly better results with the same talent. I’m fired up about the investment that has been made in the new staff and I am confident that if the university and alumni want it, we can compete with BC keep instate 4 stars away from Michigan and other P4s that recruit NE. It’s a new landscape out there.
I still think they need to improve their recruiting footprint in MA and CT. I fear they are too hyper focused in NJ. There are defensive backs in MA who are being very under recruited and they've only got to one of them.
Good they were able to tap into SC and to Get out west for Dino though.
To be very honest? New Jersey and Maryland make up a huge chunk of any New England football or basketball team and have for decades. Those states are givens.
You don't neccesarilly need a NJ based coach to double down on that.
and obviously, they need to start bringing in more 3 star players on a consistent basis, not out of the transfer ortal but out of high school. That will take years— But it will have to happen you cannot rely on people who had fallen off the radar and people who have been overlooked in perpetuity.
Oh yeah, you're right that it will take some time to consistently land 3-star prospects out of high school. And given UMass' current spot, for now they will need to rely heavily (but not solely) on prospects who slip through the cracks or are overlooked. The goal should never be to do that forever, but it certainly has to be a focus for now. In a sense, it can actually be very helpful for a staff to have such a focus because it will prevent them from wasting resources elsewhere.
I would say that I don't think all of the prospects they've been in touch with in Mass/CT or anywhere is known by anybody outside of those prospects and the staff. Some of that is intentional and some of it is just a byproduct of media coverage or lack thereof.
I’ve been closely following the recruiting since Walt Bell came in, and studied Whipple prior recruiting. My take has been that UMass has been recruiting low 3 star guys over this period of time. I did also conclude that low 3 star recruiting doesn’t get anyone besides Army consistently over 500 in FBS. However, it is a fact that good coaches can achieve significantly better results with the same talent. I’m fired up about the investment that has been made in the new staff and I am confident that if the university and alumni want it, we can compete with BC keep instate 4 stars away from Michigan and other P4s that recruit NE. It’s a new landscape out there.
I still think they need to improve their recruiting footprint in MA and CT. I fear they are too hyper focused in NJ. There are defensive backs in MA who are being very under recruited and they've only got to one of them.
Good they were able to tap into SC and to Get out west for Dino though.
To be very honest? New Jersey and Maryland make up a huge chunk of any New England football or basketball team and have for decades. Those states are givens.
You don't neccesarilly need a NJ based coach to double down on that.
and obviously, they need to start bringing in more 3 star players on a consistent basis, not out of the transfer ortal but out of high school. That will take years— But it will have to happen you cannot rely on people who had fallen off the radar and people who have been overlooked in perpetuity.
Oh yeah, you're right that it will take some time to consistently land 3-star prospects out of high school. And given UMass' current spot, for now they will need to rely heavily (but not solely) on prospects who slip through the cracks or are overlooked. The goal should never be to do that forever, but it certainly has to be a focus for now. In a sense, it can actually be very helpful for a staff to have such a focus because it will prevent them from wasting resources elsewhere.
I would say that I don't think all of the prospects they've been in touch with in Mass/CT or anywhere is known by anybody outside of those prospects and the staff. Some of that is intentional and some of it is just a byproduct of media coverage or lack thereof.