Post Thanksgiving Recruiting 

MGN is loathe to jump into the recruiting news fray. We appreciate the updates, but the speculation, and stalking 17-year olds is creepy.

Convincing teenagers to come to Denton is party of the Seth Littrell’s job. Talent acquisition is integral to winning seasons. We all enjoy winning football and so we must browse twitter for recruiting news.

The next couple weeks are going to be busy ones for the coaching staff, as they hit the road for visits. Kaieem Ceaser mentioned he had a great visit from NT yesterday.

1. Kaieem Ceaser – ATH – 6′ 4″ – 6′ 2″ 240lbs – 260lbs – Hudl – 247

   He looks huge compared to his competition. The range in sizes listed is weird, but not an issue. I figure he’ll play DE at NT. He also plays WR at Cache, OK but I cannot see him getting much time there unless he’s an H-back type. That’s not out of the question, but he probably plays primarily for Ekeler’s group. Offers include Wyoming, Army. Interesting.

2. Devodric Bynum – WR – 5’11” – 175 –Tweet – Hudl – 247

   He has speed. Stats aren’t eye-popping but he has some interesting offers – SMU offered him as a JR, Nevada, New Mexico early this year. He has interest from TTU, TCU, apparently. NT just offered on the 28th. Rated 3 stars by 247 and is in a position of need. The Chad Morris contract negotiation saga with Baylor may help us here, if he prefers a spot closer to home.

3. Davion Ford – 5’10” – RB –Hudl – 247 –

   Unrated RB from Rockdale who ran the 400M hurdle. He has speed and a good change of direction without losing much of his momentum. NT is his first and only offer right now, and he looks to be committed to the cause, based on his TL. His Hudl highlights remind me of Ivery or Antoinne Jimmerson. That’s a good thing.

4. Hunter Geiser – DE – Hudl –

   There us no recruiting profile for Hunter.

Most, if not all of these kids are listed as ‘Interested’ or ‘Scout Look’. 247 Sports ranks NT low in the conference and Littrell indicated he doesn’t really care about that. We always knew that the early sell would be tough, but hoped that a season’s worth of promise would improve the package. Now that NT is going bowling and improved from 1-11 to 5-6, the sell is a little easier.

Division and rival UTSA made good with a late victory over Charlotte to capitalize on Frank Wilson’s message and get a bowl bid. They have the best recruiting class and a good season to sell the recruits that are on the fence. NT probably will not cut into that lead or anything, but winning the 247 rankings is not the goal. Getting good talent fit is the goal. Often, the two are similar or even the same, but not necessarily so. At this level the star rankings are less precise, and so it is not always easy to correlate the rankings with the production and wins.

Seth has essentially publicly stated that he is trusting his own evaluation procedures and that is concerning. Winning the battle over obviously talented players is part of the job. Trusting evaluation procedures is fine, but puts a premium on that as a competitive and comparative advantage that is doubtful considering that NT runs the same offense that everyone else runs. We are all looking for the same type of guys, and those guys all fit a profile so how exactly will Seth find enough diamonds to fit?

I do not know. I do not take all the talk at face-value. Some of what he is saying is covering for his guys’ performance. Only a HC — or the crazy guy at UCONN — is going to come out and say ‘yeah we are falling behind in recruiting, y’all.’

There is still time and another bowl game to (possibly) win, and so more time to impress recruits that are on the fence.