And UTEP is beating out fellow C-USA schools for talent so he’s doing something right.
Football Recruiting
- Thread starter JCorona
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Walden also mentioned that Otis Pitts and Marcus Vinson pulled their names from the portal. I think both those guys will be contributors next year.
Scott Walden reposted this. Collins was on a visit to utep this past weekend and he visited AP. He's a former Auburn commit... a 4 star TE/DE. Is he going to utep?!
Walden and his staff are recruiting Rockwall HS heavily.
Two from a private (North Florida) Christian high school in Tallahassee, Florida. Price and Dimel (Kugler a little bit) hit up the southern states but Tallahassee?!
The kids who have been offered and have signed are the BEST kids in that program. Lets not forget they went undefeated (yes in FCS) but many of these kids who went in the portal got plenty of other FBS offers so they are legitimate... AND YES, it is a good sign that they followed this staff. It's gonna be fun!
WE GOT OUR GUY!!!! HUGE HUGE SIGNING!!! LFG!!
The thing that jumps out is I haven't seen any DL guys yet. I thought that area would need to be addressed early. Maybe Walden is looking at portal transfers. I like the emphasis on adding speed guys. I thought that has been lacking for a long time.
We certainly added speed -- he loves that fast offense... In JJ Clark we trust. He will fill any gaps he thinks he has on the DL
Bring on Nebraska! Exciting class. Best class in a long time.
We have to start somewhere, and this class is solid relative to UTEP’s recent history.
Let’s see how spring ball goes, that will tell us a lot more.
Yep. Definitely some work to be done there (DL).
Also, Walden did add three QBs, but none with FBS experience. I know Locklear has played some at AP and shows some potential. Walden mentioned he liked McConnell (primarily his deep ball). I'm wondering if Walden continues to work the portal in that area as well. Finding QB1 is critical.
It's a 3 DL system. I have seen on twitter that he has offered some DLs. He had one visit already, just hasn't committed yet. Maybe he's comfortable with what UTEP already has?
Not sure which QB’s are coming back, but 5 return and 3 new is a lot of QB’s
Just not on the actual campus, parking lots are allowed
I thought the guys playing upfront were pretty average last year, and some of those guys are gone. It is tough to get every area addressed in one cycle, especially with so many holes. I do like the guys he brought in from AP. Kind of gives off UIW -> Texas State vibes from last year, but those guys also brought in a bunch of P5 dudes as well (~50 new guys overall). There's still alot of time to add if Walden decides to.
James Gillespie, Ventura College , Defensive Line
James Gillespie is a 6-2, 260-pound Defensive Tackle from Woodbridge, VA.
247sports.com
It was James Gillespie that visited. ULM transfer.
I don't see it with this class so far. I'm not seeing anyone that's better than the players we had last season. My only hope is that the coaching might be significantly better.
I'm just gonna make an observation based on the eye test. To borrow a line from Glory Road, some of these guys play big, but they ain't big. They may have FBS speed but I'm not sure we have FBS size. Some of our new signees pass the eye test but others do not.
Dimel could recruit but couldn't coach them up or call plays that took advantage of the talent on the field. If Walden and his assistants can do better in those areas, we will see an improvement. Plus, first season recruiting for a new coach is a game of catchup. Hopefully, we'll see better in the next cycle.
Well for one the scheme and offense will be more open and won't be just to waste time. Also the skill players brought over have more speed than we had last year. With that said, still gotta see who's back from last year when the dust settles and who will make immediate contributions.
Be careful what you wish for. This offense looks great when it’s clicking but running a play every 10 seconds can lead to a 30 second 3 and out. I’m all in with Coach Walden and excited to see the Spring Roster.
Guess we gotta complete passes, huh? Lol A RS freshman QB and 2 HS freshmen. Ack....I really think Smith switches position
Sure beats Dimel's, three straight long bombs, and a 30 second three and out!
Not a single one of the players would have been even in the top five for fastest player on the team last year in my opinion. I think Tyrin would walk down everyone in this class, minus two people and he wasn't even in the top 5. Just my opinion though. I do agree with you though that the scheme will allow the players to play significantly faster than last year. Fingers crossed it will net a favorable result.
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