Recruiting

Actually all of your points have a bearing on the final product. But having to send folks around the planet to coordinate large operations the TDY) budget always seems to be inadequate to cover all the issues or contingencies. So the money and time available for the coaches to travel to a recruits home would seem to be a big constraint. Dont have time to elaborate but I will returrn to this thread in a bit.

primer on how players pick schools, at least based on some sort of data — College Football Recruiting Prediction Model.

There are a few factors that go into recruiting in Texas:
1) going up against UT and OU – These are the big boys and as long as they’re doing well and putting people into the NFL, they’re going to be tough to recruit against.
2) perceived tradition – UT and A&M get the benefit of players being raised as fans of that specific school. We’re just recently seeing a sizable number of players in areas outside of west texas growing up as Texas Tech fans. Jackson Richards is a good example of this.
3) Distance – UT, A&M, UH, TCU, and Baylor are able to snipe a number of good recruits because they’re local. I think that local kids are especially tough for Tech because we’re 5 hours away from Dallas, 5:30 from Austin, 6 from San Antonio, and 10 from Houston. Distance may be the biggest factor in college recruiting and plays a part in all other factors. This is one reason why I’m surprised that we’re playing so well in Florida right now.

People talk a lot about having a good recruiting coach, and that makes a big difference as well. Texas Tech goes through the process of watching game film (not highlights) of all these players. We have a former player coordinating all of that (and he’s made a difference since he’s been here of targeting and identifying players very early). We seem to be hopping in on a lot of players these days long before other schools hear about them and 4 months down the road when the other schools catch up and start offering, we remain high on those lists. After that it’s visits by the regional recruiter, then a visit by Mike at some point after bowl season to try to “seal”. We’ve been on a steady incline in recruiting.

The other thing to remember is: Don’t get bogged down with star rankings. There is a reason why we offered every kid that we’ve offered and our coaches have shown that they know what they’re doing in finding these players. The star ratings are a bit of a guideline for us fans, but time and again, we’re shown that they’re not complete. Crabtree was a 2* according to the Scout recruiting service.

Bonus fun trivia: Rumor has it that Larry Coker was a lazy, lazy coach and recruited directly from the recruiting services. This is why Miami, yearly, had great recruiting classes but fell way out of relevance.

Based on UK Raiders going in question… How does one win the collegiate recruiting game?
The x factor is the success of program. Beyond the cool article developed by the economist as a predictor of where student athletes will go. . I think the success of the program influences the location chosen. Just like coaches look for the dream job at a "successful /storied" program say Michigan, USC, Penn State – players are interested in being on winning program. Success breeds success. I put some star ratings on what would appear to be the most important to a high school athlete. From the linked CFB Recruiting Prediction Model article by Seth.
Whether the athlete made an "official visit" to a specific college
Whether the school is in a BCS conference
The distance from the high school athlete’s hometown to a specific school
Whether the recruit is in the same state as a specific school
*The final AP Ranking of a specific school in the previous year of competition
**The number of conference titles a school has recorded in recent years
Whether the school is currently under a "bowl ban" for violating NCAA rules
The current number of scholarship reductions a school faces for violating NCAA rules
The size of the team’s stadium (measured in terms of seating capacity)
Whether the school has an on-campus stadium
The current age of the team’s stadium

And to close out – Kayakyakr beat me to it – Money to fling at the peripherals the athletic dorm, facilities, the venue in other words the wow factor. On a funny note the program which gets on TV the most gets the best deals on the sports apparel supplies.

I’d incorrectly assumed you were a Tech Alum "strand"ed in London with a job that sent you there. Great to see we’re international. BTW, I LOVE London, sorry if you reside elsewhere, but that’s the only place in the UK I’ve been besides Dublin and Edinborough.

Now here’s my totally biased opinion as an alumnus who’s father attended Tech in 1950 on a rodeo scholarship. It IS money, but the tradition of winning for the OTHER schools’ dirty money. Granted, OU and UT are the flagship universities of their respective states, and those schools are older than Tech, therefore children growing up in this region have dreamed of playing for those teams since 1900, however, those schools paid to get the best players back in the old days, when those schools were winning titles, and those titles, of which OU had 6 in those days(with many Texas players I might add), have put those schools in College Footbal Royalty. Tech has also been caught up in the NCAA violations, but much later in the game, and to no avail. Now kids are looking at being recruited by Notre Dame, Texas, OU, Michigan, etc… and all things being equal, we can’t compete with that “tradition.”

For a kid in the States, Tech just can’t compete with the name Notre Dame or even UT/OU. I’m OK with that personally, I didn’t choose my school based on sports.

There is hope however. A short burst of winning can’t make you a King overnight, but it can make you a Viceroy. Virginia Tech, Utah, California Berkely, and West Virginia come to mind. If one can get the sports media behind them, they have a good chance to get the favorable attention, and when the media loves you, you can do no wrong(or at least they won’t report it when you do). This is a problem the Mike Leach Red Raiders have locally as some newspapers(Houston Moronicle) have refused to cover Tech because Leach has offended them by not making players available for comment. But that same coach who is the scourge of regional media is loved by the national media because he gives great “Soundbite” quotes.

I would also like +1 Centex and Kayakyakr. Those are the realities on 2009 recruiting. I just wanted to take you way back from the perspective of a West Texas kid who perhaps relishes in being the underdog a bit too much.

I should be ashamed. I’m Scots-Irish. My people landed in America in 1760’s, but I’m still very pruuud (proud) of my heritage. And to think I just watched Braveheart last Saturday. Sorry, just spent more time in London.