Thankful for the way our staff attacked it both our full-time coaches and our young staff and our recruiting staff as well leading the charge there and our millions of interns and what it takes to put a class of 25 together. How many people it takes to put together a class and the evaluation of HS and college kids and evaluating at the same time and putting together a class at the same time and add value to the class and culture. I’m proud we recruited home base really hard with 5 guys from the Bay Area and 4 from South Florida and 17 from Florida and 5 from Georgia and some from Tennessee and Ohio where my staff and I have relationships and that is our footprint is Georgia and Florida and those areas.
We still are addressing leads and we were not able to announce our transfers today and I’m so proud of how we have built with high school guys and college guys.
On where he wanted to focus on his class this cycle, there is no cycle or classes, it is one giant thing, I think you can see it positonally we signed a small HS class signed three guys and took a handful of transfers, that was our initial year. After a year we know what the heck the roster looks like and who you have to keep and who you have to keep and who can help you. We felt like we needed a big defensive class with HS guys and a handful of defensive guys, we signed six DLs and I think KP and the D-staff did an incredible job and two hybrid DE/pass rusher type guys too, our DL has played well this year and we had older guys and we needed to develop it. LB is a spot we didn’t sign a young guy a year ago, we wanted to get three and we flipped Rodney and we are excited about him. The secondary is a work in progress we signed three guys we are excited about and we signed guy We signed only a few guys at WR and OL and we need some younger guys ready to go and the OL we’ve had to revamp and we took transfers to fill voids and we’ve been able to sustain there and I may be wrong we brought in eight new guys and three freshmen and I bet we add two more.
RB is a spot where we have a handful of older guys and we need to bring in some young guys to develop and I think we’ve addressed those spots, those are the areas we’ve addressed the most.
On seeing some proof of concept of what they are doing, we know our roster and what we are recruiting to and we have an idea of where our holes are and our measurables and we have our staff together and now we have proof of concept, I didn’t put a number on it, but hey we got to a bowl game and we laid a foundation and we are building and growing and you are seeing something happening. Young people and old people want evidence that something is happening, but the wins have helped but the investment in the stadium and the facility changes this winter and spring and to have renderings and seeing what it looks like, you can see the actual commitment for this program to take the next step. To be competing not only in December but in January in the future. There is buzz about what we are doing nationally now and the AAU status of the school and the investment as promote the program and all that. It comes down to relationships and parents and grandparents sending their most prized possession to use for their next step. That gets lost in the shuffle of the craziness of CFB these days, they are young men that you want to create into fathers and bigger parts of society and that is still what it is about.
On the early enrollees practicing in the bowl game, we had four that enrolled in the last two weeks, they get beyond the reps, they see the culture and what practice is like and what our practices is like and they won’t be shellshocked by what they step into after the two weeks off and they know what the standard is and another 12-15 join them in January they will have some ownership of what it will look like. We’ve gotten to see what it looks like too.
On the Exume twins, Cino and Dino you will love them, they have personality for days, I’m not sure it was a package deal. We recruited them like crazy, they were both going to make the best decision for both of them and we thought the world of them. It helped when Chenellson committed and every morning I hit him up and said hey can you not hit up your own brother, I shamed him and he was a really good recruiter and Dinellson made his decision three weeks ago and he surprised coach KP down in Miami during his in-home and they fell in love with KP and Coach Orlando. They’ve been excited to stay together and they had a million options and to one stay, but two to come down it in Tampa with us a lot of credit goes to KP and Todd and the guys recruiting down there.
On Jonathan Echols, I think Jonathan is a great example of relationships and he is a young man that we’ve known for so long. When we came here there was never a plan to go flip this guy, we had an incredible relationship over a year we had got to know him and his family and what an incredible group of people they are. He left school and went to IMG a year ago, he had been in an almost college experience there and grown up as a 16-year-old and had to make a decision on his own to go to IMG and leave home, he is different maturity wise from an average teenager. There was a huge trust factor and he found out through the process that relationships were the most important thing and from development and support he could get everything he wanted at USF. He turned down a lot of different things to stay where he has been going to school the last few years and two to be with people who have cared about him for a long time. I’m humbled they made that decision and the people around him allowed him to make that decision to help him develop into one of the better TEs in the country.
On Tyreek Major, we had two on the OL from Gaither starting next to each other until Kilfoyl got banged up, that is awesome he decided to stay home, he went back and forth, another awesome family and people we enjoyed recruiting and they went back and forth on staying close to home and everyone wants to come to Tampa and eventually they realized they want to stay. Coach Carson and that whole crew encourage their guys to look at USF and we have proof of concept with two guys who play the same position both ask them what it is like and the success they had it is a lot easier and a credit to Hoodie and the relationships.
On Arkese, we started recruiting when we got here. He was at Wharton then and Arkese didn’t want to talk to us last spring and we had to go through our process and building and showing we are who we say we are and he did the same thing Echols did seeing a lot of places. Since the bye week he started to realize if I play WR is there a better offense to be in and be coached by great people and my family won’t have to go far to watch me play. As the process went he had a million options and perceptionally better places, but he made the choice to stay close to the Bay.
On the recruiting rankings leading the AAC and G5, it creates interest and buzz and it shows this is an incredible place to go to. It will help us finish with some guys who are still available. People want to be a part of winning and something cool, but by June no one will care about it. They have to earn the right to play, earn and develop and I don’t talk much about success or failures, but it shows we can recruit at a high level at USF and it is an attractive place and it is a credit to all the work we’ve done. We’ve worked really hard and my staff, but gosh our academic people, professors who have taken weekends to meet with our guys and doctors and trainers, that all meet and talk to our guys and bunch into our guys. Our creative media team and what they do, there is so much that goes into this, you are proud of the work, because there have been a lot of sleepless nights to convince these 25 to come here. To hang your hat, there is no award, you get really good players and young men and hopefully they help you win games. Hopefully we create some buzz and sell tickets, but in June we will get to work.
We still are addressing leads and we were not able to announce our transfers today and I’m so proud of how we have built with high school guys and college guys.
On where he wanted to focus on his class this cycle, there is no cycle or classes, it is one giant thing, I think you can see it positonally we signed a small HS class signed three guys and took a handful of transfers, that was our initial year. After a year we know what the heck the roster looks like and who you have to keep and who you have to keep and who can help you. We felt like we needed a big defensive class with HS guys and a handful of defensive guys, we signed six DLs and I think KP and the D-staff did an incredible job and two hybrid DE/pass rusher type guys too, our DL has played well this year and we had older guys and we needed to develop it. LB is a spot we didn’t sign a young guy a year ago, we wanted to get three and we flipped Rodney and we are excited about him. The secondary is a work in progress we signed three guys we are excited about and we signed guy We signed only a few guys at WR and OL and we need some younger guys ready to go and the OL we’ve had to revamp and we took transfers to fill voids and we’ve been able to sustain there and I may be wrong we brought in eight new guys and three freshmen and I bet we add two more.
RB is a spot where we have a handful of older guys and we need to bring in some young guys to develop and I think we’ve addressed those spots, those are the areas we’ve addressed the most.
On seeing some proof of concept of what they are doing, we know our roster and what we are recruiting to and we have an idea of where our holes are and our measurables and we have our staff together and now we have proof of concept, I didn’t put a number on it, but hey we got to a bowl game and we laid a foundation and we are building and growing and you are seeing something happening. Young people and old people want evidence that something is happening, but the wins have helped but the investment in the stadium and the facility changes this winter and spring and to have renderings and seeing what it looks like, you can see the actual commitment for this program to take the next step. To be competing not only in December but in January in the future. There is buzz about what we are doing nationally now and the AAU status of the school and the investment as promote the program and all that. It comes down to relationships and parents and grandparents sending their most prized possession to use for their next step. That gets lost in the shuffle of the craziness of CFB these days, they are young men that you want to create into fathers and bigger parts of society and that is still what it is about.
On the early enrollees practicing in the bowl game, we had four that enrolled in the last two weeks, they get beyond the reps, they see the culture and what practice is like and what our practices is like and they won’t be shellshocked by what they step into after the two weeks off and they know what the standard is and another 12-15 join them in January they will have some ownership of what it will look like. We’ve gotten to see what it looks like too.
On the Exume twins, Cino and Dino you will love them, they have personality for days, I’m not sure it was a package deal. We recruited them like crazy, they were both going to make the best decision for both of them and we thought the world of them. It helped when Chenellson committed and every morning I hit him up and said hey can you not hit up your own brother, I shamed him and he was a really good recruiter and Dinellson made his decision three weeks ago and he surprised coach KP down in Miami during his in-home and they fell in love with KP and Coach Orlando. They’ve been excited to stay together and they had a million options and to one stay, but two to come down it in Tampa with us a lot of credit goes to KP and Todd and the guys recruiting down there.
On Jonathan Echols, I think Jonathan is a great example of relationships and he is a young man that we’ve known for so long. When we came here there was never a plan to go flip this guy, we had an incredible relationship over a year we had got to know him and his family and what an incredible group of people they are. He left school and went to IMG a year ago, he had been in an almost college experience there and grown up as a 16-year-old and had to make a decision on his own to go to IMG and leave home, he is different maturity wise from an average teenager. There was a huge trust factor and he found out through the process that relationships were the most important thing and from development and support he could get everything he wanted at USF. He turned down a lot of different things to stay where he has been going to school the last few years and two to be with people who have cared about him for a long time. I’m humbled they made that decision and the people around him allowed him to make that decision to help him develop into one of the better TEs in the country.
On Tyreek Major, we had two on the OL from Gaither starting next to each other until Kilfoyl got banged up, that is awesome he decided to stay home, he went back and forth, another awesome family and people we enjoyed recruiting and they went back and forth on staying close to home and everyone wants to come to Tampa and eventually they realized they want to stay. Coach Carson and that whole crew encourage their guys to look at USF and we have proof of concept with two guys who play the same position both ask them what it is like and the success they had it is a lot easier and a credit to Hoodie and the relationships.
On Arkese, we started recruiting when we got here. He was at Wharton then and Arkese didn’t want to talk to us last spring and we had to go through our process and building and showing we are who we say we are and he did the same thing Echols did seeing a lot of places. Since the bye week he started to realize if I play WR is there a better offense to be in and be coached by great people and my family won’t have to go far to watch me play. As the process went he had a million options and perceptionally better places, but he made the choice to stay close to the Bay.
On the recruiting rankings leading the AAC and G5, it creates interest and buzz and it shows this is an incredible place to go to. It will help us finish with some guys who are still available. People want to be a part of winning and something cool, but by June no one will care about it. They have to earn the right to play, earn and develop and I don’t talk much about success or failures, but it shows we can recruit at a high level at USF and it is an attractive place and it is a credit to all the work we’ve done. We’ve worked really hard and my staff, but gosh our academic people, professors who have taken weekends to meet with our guys and doctors and trainers, that all meet and talk to our guys and bunch into our guys. Our creative media team and what they do, there is so much that goes into this, you are proud of the work, because there have been a lot of sleepless nights to convince these 25 to come here. To hang your hat, there is no award, you get really good players and young men and hopefully they help you win games. Hopefully we create some buzz and sell tickets, but in June we will get to work.
