Football Recruiting

lifeloyalsigmsu · Post by **lifeloyalsigmsu** » Wed Nov 30, 2005 10:17 am

mquast53000 wrote:I still think that Cats should go back to recruiting Minnesota. We got a lot of good players from the Minneapolis area, and quite frankly they fit in better then the California players. Look at NDSU’s roster, most of them were Minnesota guys. NDSU is in their 2nd year of 1-AA football and they have been ranked in the top 15 already! I think they might have something figured out over there. It turns out that Cali isn’t the only state that has good football players!

I agree with Quast. You generally can't go wrong with Minnesota recruiting either. North Dakota kids as well. They remind me of Montanans with their strong work ethic, reliability, as well as an understanding of how to function well in extreme cold times when they do come.

Cat Pride · Post by **Cat Pride** » Wed Nov 30, 2005 10:27 am

Hey Quast, you arent a native MT guy are you? Didnt you come out of Minnesota or the Dakotas or something?

Just asking.

Platinumcat · Post by **Platinumcat** » Wed Nov 30, 2005 10:54 am

cornbreadfred wrote:First, I have nothing against California kids or any other out of staters for that matter. Although, I would like to see Kramer recruit Montana kids a lot harder than he already does. To point out a statement made earlier, UM Started 8 MT kids on D, (Both Thomas Boys, Tuff Harris, Ryan, McIntyre, Spencer, Murphy, Mullins), MSU only started 3 (Marudas, Mollohan, Papich)

Kramer and two other coaches (I believe it's Bailey and McEndoo) are currently on a week long recruiting trip throughout Montana. He has sent some other coaches to California this week to do recruit/scout.

I definitely think we're trying to recruit the Montana kids that we feel fit best into our program. Keep in mind that UM and MSU do not have the same position needs year in and year out and that contributes to why some kids get looks from one program and not the other.

I also agree that the goal in recruiting is to find the best kids you can get to come here for the positions you need. If that happens to be a Montana kid...great. If he comes from MN, CA, WA,.....it doesn't matter to me.

Kramer admits that recruiting is a totally inexact science. Many recruits don't pan out for multiple reasons, unheralded kids who walk on develop into stars (Marudas et al), some lower level recruits turn into once in a great while performers (Travis Lulay). Just because a kid dominates the HS scene doesn't mean they will in college. But, you have to use some kind of barometer in the beginning. And, by judging the talent we currently have coming back, I'd say the coaching staff does a better then average job at this.

mquast53000 · Post by **mquast53000** » Wed Nov 30, 2005 10:57 am

Cat Pride wrote:Hey Quast, you arent a native MT guy are you? Didnt you come out of Minnesota or the Dakotas or something?

Just asking.

I am from the suburbs of Minneapolis.
Hysell use to hit up MN pretty hard, but when Kramer came in he stopped going to MN and the Dakotas. Here are some of the recent players that most will remember; from MN Deirks, Ludwig & Swags (there are a number of others, but most of you wouldn't remember them) and then there was Montoya from S.D. In my class there were 5 players from MN and one from S.D. in Swags class I think there were 7 from MN and one from S.D.

Platinumcat · Post by **Platinumcat** » Wed Nov 30, 2005 11:07 am

mquast53000 wrote:
Cat Pride wrote:Hey Quast, you arent a native MT guy are you? Didnt you come out of Minnesota or the Dakotas or something?

Just asking.
I am from the suburbs of Minneapolis.
Hysell use to hit up MN pretty hard, but when Kramer came in he stopped going to MN and the Dakotas. Here are some of the recent players that most will remember; from MN Deirks, Ludwig & Swags (there are a number of others, but most of you wouldn't remember them) and then there was Montoya from S.D. In my class there were 5 players from MN and one from S.D. in Swags class I think there were 7 from MN and one from S.D.

Do you feel its important to have a coach with connections to a particular area to be effective? Is this just an excuse for not recruiting an area that has produced quality players for us in the past? Thoughts?

gfallscat · Post by **gfallscat** » Wed Nov 30, 2005 11:24 am

morgan ryan was from minnesota i think

mquast53000 · Post by **mquast53000** » Wed Nov 30, 2005 11:26 am

Kramer's coaches know the California area because a lot of them have spent time there, and this plays a big role in the continued efforts in California (stick with what you know). Yet we have seen a number of recruits come from Florida over the past 3-4yrs. Damberger was the MN connection for Hysell's staff, but when Kramer came in Damberger just recruited Montana. I think that there isn't a desire to recruit MN. I honestly feel like it is an untapped resource, and with SDSU and NDSU now in the 1-AA ranks we might have lost our inside track completely.

Quick facts about MN; there are over 5 million people in MN and over 3 millions people in the Minneapolis/St. Paul suburbs. For recruiting purposes this would mean relatively little traveling once you have entered the suburbs to cover the majority of the state's population.

Post by **rtb** » Wed Nov 30, 2005 12:18 pm

Also, do we completely ignore Texas? I know there are a lot of schools there and we don't have a connection, but there are more good football players in Texas than anywhere else.

BobcatLionFan · Post by **BobcatLionFan** » Wed Nov 30, 2005 12:51 pm

Mn and Tx do sound good. MN because so much of the population is concentrated and it makes it easier to talk to and see a lot of kids in a small area. FL is where we got Lowe (and others). Not sure how however.

Wasn't G-Money from MN?

On concentrated population. There is only one Div-IAA school in Southern California (Cal Poly that is barely in the southern part). Sac and Davis are North. And there is only 3 Div-I schools (SDSU, UCLA and USC) that have football. So I think Kramer and them think SoCal is somewhat open for Div-IAA players. Ones that are overlooked or have an entry problem into Div-IA or JC transfers. Such a huge population that is concentrated with very few local schools.

We have gotten a fair number of good players from one area, San Diego: Ray Sebestyen, Kolone, Groves, Jensen, Eddie Sullivan, Coppack, Briggs/Wright were Freshmen last year and will be RedShirt Freshman this year) - I know Kolone was really a transfer from Ariz but they probably talked with him the year before while in HS and made contact.

Makes me wonder how many very good players are in small towns on poor teams. It's almost impossible to find them and see them against other quality players. If their parents don't send them to football camps, they end up never playing.

catatac · Post by **catatac** » Wed Nov 30, 2005 3:31 pm

gfallscat wrote:morgan ryan was from minnesota i think

Really? I thought he was from Billings

catsrback76 · Post by **catsrback76** » Wed Nov 30, 2005 3:45 pm

rtb wrote:Also, do we completely ignore Texas? I know there are a lot of schools there and we don't have a connection, but there are more good football players in Texas than anywhere else.

Good Point RTB. I played in Texas when I was in pop warner and I can tell you this, they had us doing drills then I never did in High School. The Texas kids are well coached and would be a good connection IF someone wanted to drive the state.

Cat Grad · Post by **Cat Grad** » Wed Nov 30, 2005 4:03 pm

Wasn't Jon Borchart from MN?

Post by **rtb** » Wed Nov 30, 2005 5:13 pm

catsrback76 wrote:Good Point RTB. I played in Texas when I was in pop warner and I can tell you this, they had us doing drills then I never did in High School. The Texas kids are well coached and would be a good connection IF someone wanted to drive the state.

The reason I bring it up is because my sister is a teacher in El Paso and their team has some very talented players on it. Most of these guys end up going to UTEP or UNM and never get any playing time. If we would recruit down there we may be able to get some very talented players who would love the opportunity to play instead of sit on the bench, stuck in West Texas.

BobCatFan · Post by **BobCatFan** » Wed Nov 30, 2005 7:10 pm

rtb wrote:
catsrback76 wrote:Good Point RTB. I played in Texas when I was in pop warner and I can tell you this, they had us doing drills then I never did in High School. The Texas kids are well coached and would be a good connection IF someone wanted to drive the state.
The reason I bring it up is because my sister is a teacher in El Paso and their team has some very talented players on it. Most of these guys end up going to UTEP or UNM and never get any playing time. If we would recruit down there we may be able to get some very talented players who would love the opportunity to play instead of sit on the bench, stuck in West Texas.

Have your sister send DVD to Kramer of the kids who what to play. I have no idea who recruiting works, but I guess it would be a start.

gtapp · Post by **gtapp** » Wed Nov 30, 2005 7:15 pm

BobCatFan wrote:
rtb wrote:
catsrback76 wrote:Good Point RTB. I played in Texas when I was in pop warner and I can tell you this, they had us doing drills then I never did in High School. The Texas kids are well coached and would be a good connection IF someone wanted to drive the state.
The reason I bring it up is because my sister is a teacher in El Paso and their team has some very talented players on it. Most of these guys end up going to UTEP or UNM and never get any playing time. If we would recruit down there we may be able to get some very talented players who would love the opportunity to play instead of sit on the bench, stuck in West Texas.
Have your sister send DVD to Kramer of the kids who what to play. I have no idea who recruiting works, but I guess it would be a start.

That can work. I gave a tape to Kramer (through Damburger) years ago of a kid who had only played Basketball. He got a scholarship to play football at MSU. Don't expect miracles (like the one I mentioned) but it can have an impact if the player(s) are good.

CelticCat · Post by **CelticCat** » Wed Nov 30, 2005 7:26 pm

I would love to be an unofficial scout. Sending bootleg tapes and what not, if the staff would have time to look them over. I wouldn't need money of course.

Post by **rtb** » Wed Nov 30, 2005 8:34 pm

BobCatFan wrote:Have your sister send DVD to Kramer of the kids who what to play. I have no idea who recruiting works, but I guess it would be a start.

That was my thought, I have told them to put a highlight tape together.

soldier668 · Post by **soldier668** » Wed Nov 30, 2005 8:45 pm

rtb...your sister is going to ask the coaching staff tomorrow at Franklin to see if she can get a highlight tape of the team. She also distributed a bunch of the printouts from MSU athletics to several of the best prospects around school, some seemed pretty interested. Hopefully some of them will also submit tapes on their own.

BelgradeBobcat · Post by **BelgradeBobcat** » Wed Nov 30, 2005 9:47 pm

catatac wrote:
gfallscat wrote:morgan ryan was from minnesota i think
Really? I thought he was from Billings

You might be thinking of Si Ryan-I'm pretty sure he was from Billings. I believe Morgan Ryan was from Minnesota. Doesn't he hold our record for most career interceptions?

We recruited Texas quite a bit back in the Solomonson days. I remember Clint Bryan as being from Texas. The problem with Texas is there are a ton of colleges down there that play football as opposed to California which has very few college programs left in proportion to the population.

I once figured it and if I recall California has more people than Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana and probably a few more combined.

Post by **rtb** » Wed Nov 30, 2005 10:08 pm

soldier668 wrote:rtb...your sister is going to ask the coaching staff tomorrow at Franklin to see if she can get a highlight tape of the team. She also distributed a bunch of the printouts from MSU athletics to several of the best prospects around school, some seemed pretty interested. Hopefully some of them will also submit tapes on their own.

Excellent! I saw one Franklin High player already signed with UTEP. Lets get the pipeline from West TX to Bozeman open!