People that think the sky is falling and our coaches are awful at their jobs:

[Coondog]

I like this class a lot as it is right now. People get enamored with stars without realising that our staff has brought in players that fit our system, have a high football IQ which makes them very coachable, and high character which directly effects work ethic which is what makes good players great.

Exactly how much of a difference is there between a medium to high 3 star and a four star player coming out of high school? Guys like Lattimore and Clowney don't come around every year and getting guys of that caliber from out of state to come here is next to impossible for any coach, at least until we win a national championship. That's just reality.

[ReadR00ster]

Originally Posted by cofcgamecock9

This is the part of your post that is wrong..... The "no matter what."

The "no matter what" about SC right now is that the team is 22-4 in the last two seasons. The "no matter what" is that the program is consistently improving. The "no matter" what is that, right now, every senior class that finishes SC is the winningest senior class in the team's history. In fact, I will make a bet with you right now. I will bet whatever amount you want to bet. I bet next year's senior class is, once again, the winningest class in school history.

I am sorry man, but the glass half empty crap right now is just pathetic. And, unfortunately, nothing is going to change it for you and others on this board who just choose to be negative. I don't care if we do win a SEC Championship, National Championship, or whatever. You are still going to be negative 95% of the time and that is just sad when our program is reaching new heights every single year. But for some reason, it seems to be in your DNA.

Now, you are going to say "well I expect more" and you are just "sunshine pumpers," like you did in the post above. I call Bullsh#t.

If I have a sales rep that spent years as one of the worst sales reps in the nation and then decides to get his act together and is consistently moving his way up the ranks year after year, don't tell me that I am managing him wrong if I say "well, you have improved from last to tenth in the company, but you are still tenth so you suck and I am going to berate the hell out of you until you are first." That doesn't work and if you think it does, then I hate to burst your bubble because it doesn't.

But when you post something and say "no matter what" don't act like the rest of us should be ashamed for being positive about the program. When the program starts going backwards then you tell us we should be more negative.

I'm not going to keep going back and forth about you about this, because all you basically do is complain about what other people have to say on here, but I'll just say this. I want a full glass. I'm not interested in half a glass.

[robgusc76]

Hey, we gotta job opening at NGU, any of you experts wanna apply for the head coaching job? I see a bunch of you people who are qualified every saturday during the season, and apparently, now the off season.

[Loathor]

Originally Posted by ReadR00ster

I'm not going to keep going back and forth about you about this, because all you basically do is complain about what other people have to say on here, but I'll just say this. I want a full glass. I'm not interested in half a glass.

Then you'll just demand a bigger glass...

If you look at those "full glass" teams... Alabama, UF, ND, etc.... their fan-base's have the same doom and gloom fans that we are plagued with. Bemoaning the fact that every player they go after isn't signing with them or why that five star DE who they lavished their magnanimous attentions on is now signing with a lowly conference team (like Clowney, for example).

It's all bullshit...

Case in point... VVVVVV

Originally Posted by Evilchicken2

That's all fine and dandy if it weren't for the fact that our coaches are going after many of the high profile guys that our SEC and ACC foes are going after and they are either failing to convince or failing to close. You make it sound like our coaches are laser focusing on certain character players to fill needs, stars be damned. Baloney! We're casting a wide net and going after the same pretty girls at the dance that all the other guys are chasing too. Fact of the matter is, after back to back 11-win seasons, our cache is not where it should be, we definitely shouldn't be taking a backseat to Vandy, and we are striking out on good players. Did I miss anything? Not many rational fans are blaming the coaching staff in terms of their work ethic....that's just dumb, but clearly we may not be as convincing as other recruiting staffs. It's a strange day when we're having trouble pulling in guys after tremendous program firsts. Bring on 2014 already!

In what universe are we taking a back seat to Vanderbilt? They are rated 11 spots lower than us on 247 and don't have a single player committed that I would replace our lowest "ranked" guys with. Skai Moore may sign with them (horrors!!), but that probably has more to do with the fact that they have been in contact with him since last summer, while we only started showing interest earlier this month. That's more a familiarity contest than a beauty pageant....



And finally... on a lighter note.

Originally Posted by Garnet girl

My husband said there is a link on Gamecock Central that leads to the story about Matt Rolin. He felt neglected by our staff after he hurt his knee. Florida cuddled him more. I guess our staff felt he was committed to us. Kids think strange things. Some guys are very needy. I guess we don't cuddle enough for some guys.
When I look at next year I see more talent here.

I sincerely hope that our coaches are not cuddling any recruits... we don't need any Penn State scandals now that we are on the right path to success... (I'm assuming you meant coddle... it was just to easy to pass up though :)

[EveryThingGreen]

Originally Posted by Coondog

Exactly how much of a difference is there between a medium to high 3 star and a four star player coming out of high school? .

On rivals, the ranges are as follows:

3* = 5.5, 5.6, 5.7
4* = 5.8, 5.9, 6.0
5* = 6.1

Every player is given a star rating and a numerical rating.

So if you have a lot of 3* 5.7 recruits, rivals rated them just short of a 4*. Say there are 2 kids with equal skills. Why did they rate 1 kid a 5.7 and the other 5.8? The 4* may have worked out a camp they were at in the summer or his highlight tape may have been in HD and clear to watch. The 5.7 kid is someone maybe they didn't see in person and all they have to go on is his offer sheet, a blurry highlight tape, and some word of mouth from the local school board mods.

There are a ton of kids to evaluate and rank and they don't see 30% of them in person.

Our coaches don't log on the rivals and go down the rankings and offer/recruit. They get out there and talk with the HS coaches, evaluate in camps, watch spring ball, check his grades/work ethic/attitude, see if he fits in our system, etc. Last year Ward wanted big corners so because a kid was 5'9 and ranked 4* by rivals - it doesn't mean our staff is going to recruit him. He was not what Ward was looking for.

[Acockolypse Now]

Originally Posted by Loathor

It's all bullshit...

Yep. And grown men who get butt-hurt over the decisions of high school seniors is perhaps it's highest form.

[KaneisAble]

Originally Posted by EveryThingGreen

On rivals, the ranges are as follows:

3* = 5.5, 5.6, 5.7
4* = 5.8, 5.9, 6.0
5* = 6.1

Every player is given a star rating and a numerical rating.

So if you have a lot of 3* 5.7 recruits, rivals rated them just short of a 4*. Say there are 2 kids with equal skills. Why did they rate 1 kid a 5.7 and the other 5.8? The 4* may have worked out a camp they were at in the summer or his highlight tape may have been in HD and clear to watch. The 5.7 kid is someone maybe they didn't see in person and all they have to go on is his offer sheet, a blurry highlight tape, and some word of mouth from the local school board mods.

There are a ton of kids to evaluate and rank and they don't see 30% of them in person.

Our coaches don't log on the rivals and go down the rankings and offer/recruit. They get out there and talk with the HS coaches, evaluate in camps, watch spring ball, check his grades/work ethic/attitude, see if he fits in our system, etc. Last year Ward wanted big corners so because a kid was 5'9 and ranked 4* by rivals - it doesn't mean our staff is going to recruit him. He was not what Ward was looking for.

Yep. Which is what we do as fans (a lot of us anyway). It's one of the biggest problems w/ following recruiting; lack of perspective.

[Coondog]

Originally Posted by EveryThingGreen

On rivals, the ranges are as follows:

3* = 5.5, 5.6, 5.7
4* = 5.8, 5.9, 6.0
5* = 6.1

Every player is given a star rating and a numerical rating.

So if you have a lot of 3* 5.7 recruits, rivals rated them just short of a 4*. Say there are 2 kids with equal skills. Why did they rate 1 kid a 5.7 and the other 5.8? The 4* may have worked out a camp they were at in the summer or his highlight tape may have been in HD and clear to watch. The 5.7 kid is someone maybe they didn't see in person and all they have to go on is his offer sheet, a blurry highlight tape, and some word of mouth from the local school board mods.

There are a ton of kids to evaluate and rank and they don't see 30% of them in person.

Our coaches don't log on the rivals and go down the rankings and offer/recruit. They get out there and talk with the HS coaches, evaluate in camps, watch spring ball, check his grades/work ethic/attitude, see if he fits in our system, etc. Last year Ward wanted big corners so because a kid was 5'9 and ranked 4* by rivals - it doesn't mean our staff is going to recruit him. He was not what Ward was looking for.

Thank you, this is exactly the point I was trying to make. For some reason some fans on this board have zero trust in our coaching staff's ability to access talent and only look at stars. It's sad that these few posters seem to stand out with there constant negativity and empty glass mentality.

[DawginCola]

Could be worse...Ole Miss could've come in and in the span of 2 months steal a 5 star OL recruit your coaching staff had spent over 2 years recruiting...

[CarolinaBand]

Originally Posted by DawginCola

Could be worse...Ole Miss could've come in and in the span of 2 months steal a 5 star OL recruit your coaching staff had spent over 2 years recruiting...

Yeah, Mr Freeze needs to ... Chill.

High fives everybody.

[EveryThingGreen]

Originally Posted by DawginCola

Could be worse...Ole Miss could've come in and in the span of 2 months steal a 5 star OL recruit your coaching staff had spent over 2 years recruiting...

what they are doing down there is crazy

[LegalCock]

Yeah, I'm totally at a loss as to how they are doing it, just like I was when UNC was signing all those great classes. It must be some inexplicable force of nature.

[trapper82]

Originally Posted by LegalCock

Yeah, I'm totally at a loss as to how they are doing it, just like I was when UNC was signing all those great classes. It must be some inexplicable force of nature.

Well one is pretty obvious, they have the brother of the number 1 player in the country and momma wants her sons to play together.

As far as the others, Ole Miss is long to be thought of as one of the best gameday atmospheres in terms of the actual campus. "The Grove" is pretty famous in college football circles, as are the ladies present. They are an SEC team with newer coaches. Plenty of name recognition lately from the Blind Side movie which had an overly altered story line, but still.

[LegalCock]

That's probably it. Thus they have been consistently ranked in the top of the conference in recruiting rankings for the past 10 and 20 years no matter the perceived relative ethics of their coaching staffs.

[SwimCock]

When UNCheat was signing "great" classes, they had John Blake working for them. That is your answer to how they did it.

[gotrice?]

Originally Posted by trapper82

Well one is pretty obvious, they have the brother of the number 1 player in the country and momma wants her sons to play together.

As far as the others, Ole Miss is long to be thought of as one of the best gameday atmospheres in terms of the actual campus. "The Grove" is pretty famous in college football circles, as are the ladies present. They are an SEC team with newer coaches. Plenty of name recognition lately from the Blind Side movie which had an overly altered story line, but still.

That and I'm pretty sure the money is flowing out at a massive rate for this recruiting class.

[GarnetArmy07]

Originally Posted by gotrice?

That and I'm pretty sure the money is flowing out at a massive rate for this recruiting class.

It's not like they can't afford it.

[Ace Dilcock]

Freeze has increased the connection with "The Blind Side" since he was Michael Oher's high school coach. Pretty neat story to tell a kid who has seen the movie.

What a lot of people are overlooking about Ole Miss is that they have had some decent teams in recent memory (remember that we beat them a few years back when they were #4 in the nation) and that they had a pretty good year last year, including a bowl win. Freeze seems like he is a pretty good coach and they are building some momentum. The Grove and the ladies don't hurt either - not that I think that their women are any prettier than what I see at the Carolina games.

[trapper82]

Originally Posted by gotrice?

That and I'm pretty sure the money is flowing out at a massive rate for this recruiting class.

I guess I'm a little confused. All I have heard on this very board from people is that our recruits should come to play here because they:

1. Would have an excellent opportunity for early playing time.
2. Would be playing in the SEC.
3. Huge crowds and an adoring fanbase.
4. Second to none when it comes to atmospheres.
5. Playing with and against the best making them better.

Now granted, we have a Hall of Fame coach and an established coaching staff so this isn't an apples to apples comparison, but other than that...what in that list is not true for Ole Miss? And plenty of guys are sold on the idea of a challenge. Just because they have a great class they are cheating? Do they have a famous bag man working for them now and I missed it?

[gotrice?]

Originally Posted by trapper82

I guess I'm a little confused. All I have heard on this very board from people is that our recruits should come to play here because they:

1. Would have an excellent opportunity for early playing time.
2. Would be playing in the SEC.
3. Huge crowds and an adoring fanbase.
4. Second to none when it comes to atmospheres.
5. Playing with and against the best making them better.

Now granted, we have a Hall of Fame coach and an established coaching staff so this isn't an apples to apples comparison, but other than that...what in that list is not true for Ole Miss? And plenty of guys are sold on the idea of a challenge. Just because they have a great class they are cheating? Do they have a famous bag man working for them now and I missed it?

1. Treadwell the #1 WR committed to Ole Miss has a twitter pic showing off the Benjamins.

2. Stealing Tunsil from UGA (believed to be a silent commit for a year) with just 1 visit, there is no way that happened legit. It is great for us since we don't play Ole Miss every year but no way is that one on the up and up.