The Bobcat Nation

I talked to a young man who played on the east squad - He said Chris Smith is a great player. Big, strong and has a bit of a nasty attitude. Apparently they had a OL vs DL drill that came down to Smith and one of the east OL and they went at it pretty good - helmets came off and the OL ended up with a pretty nice gash over the eye. He also said Elliott Barhart is the real deal (both offense and defense). He was very impressed with these two!! Good news for the CATS future!

This class looks very good. A few more Montana kids than in past years. The coaches got the Montana kids they wanted with the exception of Jesse Calson from Billings who committed to the Bobcats but signed with the Griz after family pressure. The lineman from Miles City they lost to the Griz. He was not as high on their list as he probably should have been and they did not pursue him hard enough. MSU should have an advantage when recruiting in the small eastern (cow) towns but it has not always worked out that way. The biggest change the last few years: The first two years of Kramers tenure he stated that he could not get the "quality" Montana kids because they all wanted to play for the Griz. The last three years he pretty much got the kids he wanted.

"The coaches got the Montana kids they wanted"

They didn't get Bagley from Great Falls.

I to heard, and believe, Chris Smith will be a monster for the cats. He looked great even with the extra 10 he has put on from hitting the kegs. Isn't he playing OLine for the cats?

Bagley and Schultz (sp?) were not priorities for the Cats. They did not pursue them very hard and only offered partial scholarships rather than full rides. Kramer is funny about who he likes. I would have thought both of those guys would have been fairly high on his list but I guess not. The O'Brien situation hurt in Great Falls more because O'Brien was the recruiter there and new those kids.

Yes, Smith is scheduled to play O-Line. I wish they would leave him at D-Line. Kramer's approach: recruit Safeties or Rb's to Play LB, LB's to play DE, DE's to play DT's and DT's to play O-Line.

gtapp wrote:Bagley and Schultz (sp?) were not priorities for the Cats. They did not pursue them very hard and only offered partial scholarships rather than full rides. Kramer is funny about who he likes. I would have thought both of those guys would have been fairly high on his list but I guess not. The O'Brien situation hurt in Great Falls more because O'Brien was the recruiter there and new those kids.

I thought Kramer didn't offer partials? Honest question here as someone not too long ago said that Kramer explained in a Booster function how he didn't believe in partials and did not use them.

gtapp wrote:Bagley and Schultz (sp?) were not priorities for the Cats. They did not pursue them very hard and only offered partial scholarships rather than full rides. Kramer is funny about who he likes. I would have thought both of those guys would have been fairly high on his list but I guess not. The O'Brien situation hurt in Great Falls more because O'Brien was the recruiter there and new those kids.

Kramer wanted Bagley. I'm pretty sure he was offered a full-ride. He opted for the Griz. That was one he really wanted but lost to the Griz. I think he was the only one he really went after but lost to the Griz. He didn't want Schulte. He's very confident in who we have for running backs right now.

Kramer wanted Bagley - offered him full ride his junior year. Apparently Hauck "sweet talked" him better than the Cats did, but make no mistake about it, MSU wanted him. Schulte on the other hand, didnt really generate that much interest. I have to figure Colin Dow and the Miles City kid were offered full ride by MSU. Torrey Thomas was also offered full ride.

Kramer does not offer partials, full or nothing.

If Kramer said MSU got everybody they wanted, then he is not telling the truth, but the same goes for Hauck. UM went after Smith from Laurel, just got involved too late. Ophus from Big Sandy they were hot after big time.

So anytime a coach says they got "everyone" they wanted, they are lieing through their teeth.

The Griz couldn't quite land Pernell Booth either. I'm guessing the cats wanted him, but for him, I think it was either Griz or I-A, and he may have made that know early enough that the cats didn't make an offer.

I don't know about the thing where Kramer recruits QBs to play DB and LBs to play DE, etc. or however that went.

Kramer has offerd many partials over the years. I know those kids. He may consider a full ride just scholarship money. The full rides get the housing, food, etc. benefits. I have heard about Kramers recruiting strategy (DE's for DT's and DT"s for OL, etc) from several sources in the athletic dept. My info on Bagley must have been wrong. A source in the athletic dept. told me he was not a priority. That does not make sense so I believe he was offerd a full ride and was a priority.

I can understand why he would recruit D line players for the O line because they are typically faster and the offense that we are currently under has a lot of need for speed. We have a lot of pulling guard action that would require explosive action. I'm not saying that some O linemen are not fast, but its just a generalization that is true most of the time. Maybe this year Bailey can put it together so we don't have to rely on our defense so much this year.

Couldn't agree with you more.