It is now six weeks since the FCS regular season ended, and NDSU is still playing football. That means almost all FCS teams have been spending six weeks concentrating on recruiting, sans the recent holiday dead period. The same went for the Bison and Sam Houston State last year.
The point is this: it will be interesting in the coming years to measure the quality of the recruiting classes of each school considering so much time is spent on game preparation and most likely not enough on recruiting. I’m of the mindset that reaching the FCS title game hurts recruiting more than it helps, and for two reasons: 1. the aforementioned ability to get out and talk to kids. There is no substitute for being in a kid’s living room. 2. the fact some kids will not sign with either team with the theory of being able to get on the field sooner with a non-playoff team than a national title-contending team. Don’t laugh; the perceived easy sell of being with a winner is not that easy.
It appears NDSU’s verbal commitment class to date is rather solid, but most of us haven’t seen a down of those kids play live. You just don’t know from this chair. There are still vacancies for a linebacker or two, which is surprising considering an incoming freshman linebacker could make a case of immediately being on the two-deep chart right away. It’s the one position that needs players, now.
The first clue to the quality of a signing day class on the heals of a national championship will come this spring. We’ll see if these teams can reload.
I dont buy it. By that theory, Alabama should get lower quality players because they can’t find players willing to compete. Now I do agree less face time hurts. The extra practice time trumps all.
One of NDSU’s best recruiting classes in a long time came on the heals of a 3-8 season. Granted NDSU does have a leg up on a lot of other FCS schools with facilities and other resources, but I agree with Jeff in saying that facetime/living room time is quite a bit more valuable than a lot of people think.
Coach Bohl adjusted his recruiting philosophy that year. He went for players that were what the Bison should have been recruiting instead of competing with FBS teams consistently.
Can you be more specific about the kind of players the Bison should have been recruiting but weren’t for some inexplicable reason until that 3-8 season? Do you know the criteria in which Bohl was looking for in a player?
He was offering players that were being recruited by FBS schools and after they finally got an offer from the FBS school the Bison were left without that recruit. The players that would have came to NDSU if recruited got tired of waiting and signed elsewhere. Once he started going after the players that would sign (like he did when he first started) he got the players he wanted.
Alabama like other FBS teams in bowl games aren’t preparing for and playing playoff games. They are just practicing like spring camp or fall camp. FBS teams in bowl games isn’t a fair comparison.
I wonder if a recruiting specific guy on the coaching staff to make those face to face visits while the Bison are deep in a playoff run would be an answer to that.
I most certainly think with all the players back from this year’s team I fully expect them to be a strong pick for the national championship game again next season.
Hail The Bison!
The March Is Still On!
Only one more week until the National Championship Game and NDSU’s 10th National Championship!
Comparing Alabama and NDSU is ridiculous. Alabama is talked about EVERYDAY for hours everyday before the game on Prime time.
The only time you here abount NDSU is in small talk as a filler if at all. Then you have the game which in on ESPN and is soon forgotten about by the general public.
Extra practice helps every team no matter who you are.
Young athletes want good facilities, great coaches, a tradition of excellent players to emulate and from whom to learn, a solid education, student and fan appreciation, and be able to have home folks see them once in a while. NDSU offers ND, SD, MN, WI, IA, NE, and IL kids a special opportunity to excel and be appreciated.
I still think winning is a big trump card.
I just can’t see that playing in a championship game for the second straight year hurts.
I do think you have to be more selective in who you’re recruiting because of it. Quite frankly, you should be able to increase the caliber of player you’re recruiting because you can say you’ve been in two consecutive FCS championship games and hopefully say you’ve won both. We’ll see about that on January fifth. I think there are players within NDSU’s footprint who will wait and hope for a call from the NDSU coaching staff.
I agree with Gabe. Winning teams play more games which allows more practice time and more exposure. If you are a talent that is thinking about the next level, i.e., the type of players NDSU wants on the team you choose the winning program. If you are a HS kid looking at your last hooray, then yeah maybe you look for the team where you can get on the field right away. Thus, my take is this—- winning does not have to hurt recruiting and can actually help it. One just needs to go about it differently.
Recruiting appears to be going extremely well this year.
1. NDSU had 5 verbals by Aug. 1st which is quite early for an FCS program.
2. NDSU has 12 verbals to date which is more than almost any FCS program in the country.
3. NDSU has also gotten a verbal from a 3 star rated recruit by Rivals. The program’s first 3-Star recruit I believe.
4. To date 3 Preferred Walk On’s have also verballed. This is also very early to get PWO commits.
I think the coaches were very prepared for a long playoff run and hit the recruiting trail early. There were alot of recruits at games all Fall, I am guessing there were many at the playoff games as well.
One plus of your team being in the championship game and playing late into the season, less chance the head coach gets poached. Most schools have already hired a head coach by now, so more chance Bohl stays put and doesn’t go to the next level.
If I was a highly touted recruit at this day and time, where would I rather go play? Hmmmm lets see:
1. NDSU
2. SDSU
3. USD
4. UND
5. MSUM
6. Minnesota
7. Somwhere else
8. Notre Dame
I would take Notre Dame just because it is a historical amazement for football, the campus and a whole lot more. Otherwise, see Number 1. NDSU.
The biggest thing to remember is great teams do not always get the blue chippers. The kids with the desire to be at NDSU and the tradition, are the ones you want, not the ones who are coming here for personal goals only. I would take 10 Travis Becks in a heartbeat over any 11 all-about-me players who are cancers to a team. Programs make good recruiting turn into great teams. No one player can do that.
You listed UND 4th, …i wouldn’t even consider that in the top 10.
Hopefully the Bison will go 3-8 next year to restock those recruiting cupboards again. If the thought of a packed 18,000 crazy ass dome environment and making the Championship game an annual event suddenly doesn’t perk the interest of a recruit, then God bless them, get a good education and enjoy 2nd place or worse. If you want a great education in a great City and want to be a Champion… then NDSU sells itself. Every other FCS school has to sell the pitch to want to be like NDSU, only one can give the pitch as NDSU.
Well said Teddy, you are right on the money!
Leave it to a journalist / sportswriter to find a negative in a great big positive.
I’m guessing he has a little more inside information on the subject than many of us posting here.
Why would you think that? He is just another guy with an opinion—not meant to be offensive Yes, he follows sports and the team, but so do a lot of people.
I would think that because he has discussions with the Bison coaches on a regular basis, and I’m guessing most of us here don’t.
I guess it depends on what circle you run with….. The area has a lot of knowledgeable people. JK being one of them. However, I think this was more of an opinion piece verses a news story. In all, I think it depends on the staff—-some can adapt and make winning work for them, others get buried in the minutiae. With a cursory look at our latest gets, I think CB and company are making it work for them. Only time will tell
Last time I checked the roster, NDSU ha an awful lot of juniors. 2014 will tell us a lot.
Teddy—next year is/was supposed the year that we would compete to be NC. The last 3 years have been extra.
Jeff,
Unless you provide a quote from a coach in which he states that winning too much hurts recruiting, this could possibly be the lamest post you’ve made. I ran this by the Father of Football and he agrees.
Jim