2017 Recruiting

Did he sign with anyone else?

Did he sign with anyone else?[/quote]Not that I’m aware of.

A local head high school coach goes to the same church that I attend. He told me today that he saw one of our assistant football coaches and asked him when he was going to make a visit to see one of his raising seniors that is getting lots of looks. He told him he would get out soon. The football coach told me that it is know around the Charlotte area that since Ratliff passed that we do an awful job recruiting local kids. He told me we are not putting any effect into the kids in metro Charlotte any more for some reason.

In back to back years we let two shutdown cornerbacks from this area slip through our hands Clifton Duck '16 and Aapri Washington "17. Another kid is Trajon McQueen LB from West Meck going to GA State. We will never steal a kid a way from the WF, UNC or NC States but it’s pretty good talent to pull from that is left over. Duck is the case in point all he’s done is tear it up for App State. We had in’s with both Duck and Washington and we dropped the ball on both. Duck and Lemay was teammates and Washington was the cousin of our Washington freshman standout.

Duck’s App State highlights- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMQmnSTEFLc&feature=youtu.be&a

[quote=“Becky Jones, post:144, topic:30218”]In back to back years we let two shutdown cornerbacks from this area slip through our hands Clifton Duck '16 and Aapri Washington "17. Another kid is Trajon McQueen LB from West Meck going to GA State. We will never steal a kid a way from the WF, UNC or NC States but it’s pretty good talent to pull from that is left over. Duck is the case in point all he’s done is tear it up for App State. We had in’s with both Duck and Washington and we dropped the ball on both. Duck and Lemay was teammates and Washington was the cousin of our Washington freshman standout.

Duck’s App State highlights- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMQmnSTEFLc&feature=youtu.be&a[/quote]

I understand the sentiment of keeping local kids and not burning bridges with the schools here, but even at Wake Lambert had a tendency to recruit a lot out of state. He’s just building bridges elsewhere. Ben DeLuca, for example, was another school’s “local kid” that is tearing it up his freshman year. He has comparable stats to that of Duck and at this point seems like a pretty even trade off. I think the local connection are important but I’m not going to knock the staff for bringing in equivalent talent from out of state.
Until we start building our football brand and competing for some of the higher touted recruits in this area, I say bring in the talent from wherever!

[quote=“Becky Jones, post:144, topic:30218”]In back to back years we let two shutdown cornerbacks from this area slip through our hands Clifton Duck '16 and Aapri Washington "17. Another kid is Trajon McQueen LB from West Meck going to GA State. We will never steal a kid a way from the WF, UNC or NC States but it’s pretty good talent to pull from that is left over. Duck is the case in point all he’s done is tear it up for App State. We had in’s with both Duck and Washington and we dropped the ball on both. Duck and Lemay was teammates and Washington was the cousin of our Washington freshman standout.

Duck’s App State highlights- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMQmnSTEFLc&feature=youtu.be&a[/quote]

We actually have signed players that had offers from these schools. But I’ll agree that in most cases, we probably won’t win out.

[quote=“Becky Jones, post:144, topic:30218”]In back to back years we let two shutdown cornerbacks from this area slip through our hands Clifton Duck '16 and Aapri Washington "17. Another kid is Trajon McQueen LB from West Meck going to GA State. We will never steal a kid a way from the WF, UNC or NC States but it’s pretty good talent to pull from that is left over. Duck is the case in point all he’s done is tear it up for App State. We had in’s with both Duck and Washington and we dropped the ball on both. Duck and Lemay was teammates and Washington was the cousin of our Washington freshman standout.

Duck’s App State highlights- [youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMQmnSTEFLc&[/youtube]feature=youtu.be&a[/quote]

we have stolen plently of kids(or at least a few) from those schools.

[quote=“Niner17, post:145, topic:30218”][quote=“Becky Jones, post:144, topic:30218”]In back to back years we let two shutdown cornerbacks from this area slip through our hands Clifton Duck '16 and Aapri Washington "17. Another kid is Trajon McQueen LB from West Meck going to GA State. We will never steal a kid a way from the WF, UNC or NC States but it’s pretty good talent to pull from that is left over. Duck is the case in point all he’s done is tear it up for App State. We had in’s with both Duck and Washington and we dropped the ball on both. Duck and Lemay was teammates and Washington was the cousin of our Washington freshman standout.

Duck’s App State highlights- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMQmnSTEFLc&feature=youtu.be&a[/quote]

I understand the sentiment of keeping local kids and not burning bridges with the schools here, but even at Wake Lambert had a tendency to recruit a lot out of state. He’s just building bridges elsewhere. Ben DeLuca, for example, was another school’s “local kid” that is tearing it up his freshman year. He has comparable stats to that of Duck and at this point seems like a pretty even trade off. I think the local connection are important but I’m not going to knock the staff for bringing in equivalent talent from out of state.
Until we start building our football brand and competing for some of the higher touted recruits in this area, I say bring in the talent from wherever![/quote]

Sorry for being such a homer but Duck (CB) and Deluca (S) don’t play the same position. I’m excited about Deluca but bringing him up to offset not going after Duck is different. Why not have both? My reasoning was to point out easy targets that for whatever reason we did not go after. Especially with such a struggling secondary. Which brings me to the point of what another poster mentioned about the coaches lack luster recruiting in the area since Ratilif passed and Sykes left. No matter how we attempt to sell it we have to be able to grab the best available talent in this area. I’m not saying don’t recruit out side of the state but let’s be realistic here what’s the chances of us really landing a stud in FL. You can still recruit outside and grab the best available area talent. The talent we’re getting we can get a kid just as good in Charlotte area.

Look at how Houston built it’s talent. They recruited 90 percent in or around the Houston area. Charlotte is not Houston but if we recruited and grabbed 75 percent of the talent in this area we would be in better shape then we are now. Gambling on out of state talent or gambling on headcases while half recruiting your area is not a great way to build up a struggling program. This method is starting to distance us from our area HS coaches. The rumblings are growing. I wonder how many of our coaches actually are from the state of NC? I won’t believe we can’t win in the CUSA with the area talent. It’s not like we’re in a P5 conference or something. We can put together a well discipline team that attracts talent right in this area. For those that don’t care about getting local talent you will once this staff is gone and someone else has to cleanup after them.

[quote=“Becky Jones, post:148, topic:30218”]…let’s be realistic here what’s the chances of us really landing a stud in FL.

Look at how Houston built it’s talent. They recruited 90 percent in or around the Houston area. Charlotte is not Houston but if we recruited and grabbed 75 percent of the talent in this area we would be in better shape then we are now.[/quote]

First of all…yes we do have a better chance of getting a stud from Fl over a stud from NC. Why? Because all local studs here want to go UNC, State, ECU, Clemson, South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia…before considering us. 2nd of all…Florida is so talent heavy…the 50th stud in Florida is more talented than the 10th stud in NC…but the 10th stud in NC won’t even consider us. Why waste time on that? It will take YEARS to change that local perception. So…in the meantime…if we can get just as talented kids from elsewhere…so be it.

[quote=“TRLeader, post:149, topic:30218”][quote=“Becky Jones, post:148, topic:30218”]…let’s be realistic here what’s the chances of us really landing a stud in FL.

Look at how Houston built it’s talent. They recruited 90 percent in or around the Houston area. Charlotte is not Houston but if we recruited and grabbed 75 percent of the talent in this area we would be in better shape then we are now.[/quote]

First of all…yes we do have a better chance of getting a stud from Fl over a stud from NC. Why? Because all local studs here want to go UNC, State, ECU, Clemson, South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia…before considering us. 2nd of all…Florida is so talent heavy…the 50th stud in Florida is more talented than the 10th stud in NC…but the 10th stud in NC won’t even consider us. Why waste time on that? It will take YEARS to change that local perception. So…in the meantime…if we can get just as talented kids from elsewhere…so be it.[/quote]

Agree with one exception - for years the best talent in this state has not stayed in the state. It isn’t getting them to pick us over UNC or State, it would be getting them to pick us over SEC schools.

Ask and you shall receive:

[quote=“bleedsgreenandgold, post:151, topic:30218”]Ask and you shall receive:

http://charlotte49ers.com/news/2017/2/22/football-49ers-complete-coaching-staff-by-hiring-keith-henry.aspx[/quote]
coached a year at Bandys!

clt says we are fighting with the other nc schools for the non elites. Elites are going sec or appy.

While I tend to agree, I think you have to continue to work the local market as well. The local coaches want a place for their 2 star and under-recruited 3 star kids (issues), so it’s a long play. You take a few here and there and build the relationship to a level of trust for future higher profile kids. The rumors I haven’t enjoyed reading are the ones that suggest we have had no or little contact with local coaches since Coach Ratliff passed.

[quote=“Expectations Manager, post:152, topic:30218”][quote=“bleedsgreenandgold, post:151, topic:30218”]Ask and you shall receive:

http://charlotte49ers.com/news/2017/2/22/football-49ers-complete-coaching-staff-by-hiring-keith-henry.aspx[/quote]
coached a year at Bandys![/quote]
Bandys SUCKS! Lol I do like the local connections though. Good hire.

Exactly. I don’t have any information other than what I read here, but it appears at minimum the perception is that we are not as engaged as we should be with local kids. If we want to excel long term, that has got to change.

One of the best parts about a great day when I rode the bus to the Georgia State game was someone behind me that was friends with KP was talking about his recruitment, and how Ratliff was there every day (to the point where sometimes KP would try to hide from him). It is more important for us to exploit our local talent than schools with a massive recruiting budget. It is much easier (and cheaper) to have that kind of relationship with a recruit 20 minutes from campus instead of a plane ride away. We are also more likely to land people of Washington or LeMay’s caliber if they are local, and having a good relationship with their high school coaches doesn’t hurt.

Hopefully Henry can get us back on the right track here, if we can add some more local guys to what we were able to accomplish this year, then watch out moving forward.

[quote=“NinerAlum18, post:155, topic:30218”][quote=“Expectations Manager, post:152, topic:30218”][quote=“bleedsgreenandgold, post:151, topic:30218”]Ask and you shall receive:

http://charlotte49ers.com/news/2017/2/22/football-49ers-complete-coaching-staff-by-hiring-keith-henry.aspx[/quote]
coached a year at Bandys![/quote]
Bandys SUCKS! Lol I do like the local connections though. Good hire.[/quote]

Are you a Maiden, Bunker Hill, or East Lincoln troll?

[quote=“bleedsgreenandgold, post:157, topic:30218”][quote=“NinerAlum18, post:155, topic:30218”][quote=“Expectations Manager, post:152, topic:30218”][quote=“bleedsgreenandgold, post:151, topic:30218”]Ask and you shall receive:

http://charlotte49ers.com/news/2017/2/22/football-49ers-complete-coaching-staff-by-hiring-keith-henry.aspx[/quote]
coached a year at Bandys![/quote]
Bandys SUCKS! Lol I do like the local connections though. Good hire.[/quote]

Are you a Maiden, Bunker Hill, or East Lincoln troll?[/quote]
Nah I’m just messing lol I coach in Charlotte I just saw a Bandys reference and wanted to throw a little brick I’ve heard many good things about old Coach Lowman over there who retired not to long ago.

Exactly. I don’t have any information other than what I read here, but it appears at minimum the perception is that we are not as engaged as we should be with local kids. If we want to excel long term, that has got to change.

One of the best parts about a great day when I rode the bus to the Georgia State game was someone behind me that was friends with KP was talking about his recruitment, and how Ratliff was there every day (to the point where sometimes KP would try to hide from him). It is more important for us to exploit our local talent than schools with a massive recruiting budget. It is much easier (and cheaper) to have that kind of relationship with a recruit 20 minutes from campus instead of a plane ride away. We are also more likely to land people of Washington or LeMay’s caliber if they are local, and having a good relationship with their high school coaches doesn’t hurt.

Hopefully Henry can get us back on the right track here, if we can add some more local guys to what we were able to accomplish this year, then watch out moving forward.[/quote]

A lot of talent in the Charlotte and the Triad areas. Plus if you get local talent there is a better chance of getting more fans in the seats and more interest in the school/program. But nothing wrong with still hitting Virginia down to Florida, just have someone to really stay engaged in this area.

Exactly. I don’t have any information other than what I read here, but it appears at minimum the perception is that we are not as engaged as we should be with local kids. If we want to excel long term, that has got to change.

One of the best parts about a great day when I rode the bus to the Georgia State game was someone behind me that was friends with KP was talking about his recruitment, and how Ratliff was there every day (to the point where sometimes KP would try to hide from him). It is more important for us to exploit our local talent than schools with a massive recruiting budget. It is much easier (and cheaper) to have that kind of relationship with a recruit 20 minutes from campus instead of a plane ride away. We are also more likely to land people of Washington or LeMay’s caliber if they are local, and having a good relationship with their high school coaches doesn’t hurt.

Hopefully Henry can get us back on the right track here, if we can add some more local guys to what we were able to accomplish this year, then watch out moving forward.[/quote]

A lot of talent in the Charlotte and the Triad areas. Plus if you get local talent there is a better chance of getting more fans in the seats and more interest in the school/program. But nothing wrong with still hitting Virginia down to Florida, just have someone to really stay engaged in this area.[/quote]

Agreed. Nothing wrong recruiting other states at all but still keeping a presence in the local area. I’m sure Henry will get us back on track for the local area, while the other coaches still hit the other states.