ranked last in the conference and 2nd to last in the country....something has to change.
UTEP's FB Recruiting Class is...
- Thread starter WestTxNA3
- Start date
Its not signing day yet. Most recruiting sites only have five committs listed for UTEP. We currently have fifteen. I dont care about the rankings, Kugler and his staff have proven they are good talent evaluators.
you don't really know where a recruiting class is ranked until about 3 or 4 years after signing.
As long as Kuglar can develop skill players into major contributors UTEP should be fine. Our QB and WR's are question marks but if he can develop some in those positions we should be good to go
GO MINERS!
GO MINERS!
Let's wait until signing day. I'm sure we will lose some recruits but we may steal some recruits from a p5 school. I like what Kugler and staff have done in developing young players.
Kugler's classes have all ranked at or near the bottom and this year's class will be no different. If the Miners have a winning season topped off with a bowl game, that will tell me that these rankings are almost meaningless.
Michigan St. Rarely if ever has a top rated recruiting class and has many 2 and 3 star recruots, but they develop players like no one else. Kugler goes for character kids who will work hard and get better. Then every year he gets a steal or two. Win and develop these kids and the ranking can suck it!
I was thinking about this over the weekend while munching on some BBQ at the Hut. How does Kug's sell the program to recruits? You have EP as a City, you have the Sun Bowl (which needs a modest update), you have the school, and you have the program. I'm not sure what his selling points are. Anyone have any ideas?
But his overall record shows otherwise. The Price era players have now processed through this year and next year it's all his players. He has a ton of work to accomplish. I don't care what some fans say about his salary, half a million is a ton of dough and he has under achieved.
Since you pay good money to use this site, I would check out some other links besides the message board.
http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/recruiting/teamrank/2016/all/all
http://sports.yahoo.com/footballrecruiting/football/recruiting/teamrank/2016/CUSA/all
http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/recruiting/teamrank/2016/all/all
http://sports.yahoo.com/footballrecruiting/football/recruiting/teamrank/2016/CUSA/all
ay fo
If you take away his first year, which he had to clean house and only had 43 scholarship playes he is .500 in the regular season. 500 is not great and its not where we need to be but hes building a great foundation. There is more depth than we've ever had before. I think Kugler is really close to building a perrenial contender.
Most schools, even lying to a player will tell them that one. lol Seriously, I think that's first and foremost. I don't believe Kugs is selling spray painted apples, but I am curious what the selling points to his program could be. Even more after he cleaned house.
After cleaning house and seeing the APR improve dramatically each year, I would bet he gets the attention of a lot of moms and dads, who generally have some input as to where their son goes to school. I would also think that he can sell his program based on having his team in a bowl game the second season, even though the team wasn't up to full strength due to cleaning house the year before. He can likely rationalize this past season of 5-7 with the injury plague that UTEP suffered. With depth improved now and with stability within the program he can sell the idea that the young men will have an opportunity to go bowling most years, get their degree, play in the best stadium with the most fans (when winning is established) than any other G5 program except ECU and BYU. And that would all be true or close to it. Oh, and don't forget Chico's Tacos. Maybe he starts with Chico's.
I just posted about a new commit from this Sunday. This is a major, major commit for Kugler. Hope he signs!
I'm sure it's an easy sell for linemen and running backs. There aren't too many schools that want to line up and run down hill, especially in the middle tier of college football. I'm sure he also talks up his time the NFL, telling this kids that he knows what it takes to play pro football.
Just thinking of some different ideas:
1.) Under the new paying the full cost of tuition rules, UTEP now pays each athlete $3,100 per year. UTEP pays the 5th highest amount of money out of the 12 reporting Programs in the state of Texas. Only Texas, Texas Tech, Baylor and TCU pay their players more. So why sign with a smaller school(FCS School) or a school that doesn't pay anything and receive no additional money, when you can sign with UTEP and receive $3,100 on top of everything else.
http://www.minerrush.com/2015/6/25/...-to-pay-3100-in-coa-this-upcoming-school-year
2.) UTEP's apartment style dorms(individual living areas) are still a decent selling point when thinking about where you are going to live for the next 4-5 years, compared to some other schools dorms.
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Excellent points D!
Was checking out MinerRush and found that Kug and staff offered this big boy....a very big boy.
http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/recruiting/player-Jared-Goldwire-156799?colleges=show
Was checking out MinerRush and found that Kug and staff offered this big boy....a very big boy.
http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/recruiting/player-Jared-Goldwire-156799?colleges=show
I'm glad to see he's going after kids the bigger schools are going after, but that selling package has to be stronger. A lot stronger.
1. Every coach recruiting a player now will promise them a chance to compete for a starting spot. Some may even, erroneously, assure the recruit they'll start day one. That's always a hit and miss. The days of recruiting kids and having them sit on the bench for two-three years are long gone. For UTEP that's a nice option to promote, but it doesn't move the needle. What does move the needle is their ability to play sooner and be a part of something being built is better. "Yes, you can go to Bama and probably sit on the bench, but at UTEP, you'll probably be playing a lot sooner and more often."
1. A. Scheme. With a new coaching staff he can play up his philosophy of an aggressive defense that'll probably run a 4.2.5 defense. Offensively, he's going to need to work this a little harder. Keywords are balance and balance and balance. Physical is nice, but that has to be more than a catch phrase. I'm thinking Stanford, Michigan State, Michigan, Alabama type of physical.
1. B. Player Development. This is when he drops that NFL background on them. That and his new staff, who it can be debated on whether you think they're good or not, but they all have a lot of coaching experience. There is no high school kid being recruited that doesn't dream of the NFL. But he's got to play up those that came from his program that are in the NFL.
2. Selling the facilities. UTEP's facilities are actually pretty good. It would be even better if they allocated a cafeteria for the school's athletes. They'd have to find space on campus or modify (add on) a building to get that done. A food court doesn't qualify.
3. Selling the conference. I've long been an advocate of UTEP being in the MWC. I think that conference is more appropriate for the program than CUSA. However, if UTEP doesn't win consistently (or dominate the conference), that'll never happen. Last year was a wash. Injuries, defections and poor scheming by his staff didn't help. Bringing in a new crew should help. Selling CUSA to a kid being recruited by a P5 school is a hard one, but you never know.
4. Program Promotion. On the excitement meter and not sugar coating it, the athletic department does a poor job of promoting the program. The Sun Bowl is not a bad place to place. A few tweaks here and there and it's one of the better places to play. Of course it's not Arkansas stadium, but it's not a local park with bleachers either.
5. Scheduling. Got into an active debate earlier this season on scheduling P5 non league games. I like the idea of playing the big's, but if you're going to play them, especially for UTEP, there has to be a strong push for a one and one, not one and none. Having those big's the schedule helps recruiting. Having "William & Mary" and like (former?) Ohio State President E. Gordon Gee once said, "Little Sisters of the Poor" doesn't help.
6. Isolation. UTEP can't just focus on local El Paso or Texas talent alone. Several months ago, I said just because you're a small school doesn't mean you have to act like one. Kug's going after big game across the country, I'm hand clapping that. The Miners are a D1 program and as a D1, I say go after the big fish and the overlooked fish too.
UTEP has a program that Kug's can sell, but it's finding the right salient points to drill down on. The only thing he needs help with is the school doing a better job of promoting the program.
Sorry folks for writing so much, but I've had way too much coffee this morning! lol
Kugler offered another huge lineman and boy was he happy as hell to get it! WSU is looking hard at him but no offers.
http://www.northwesteliteindex.com/2016/01/26/odea-lineman-picks-up-first-offer/
http://www.northwesteliteindex.com/2016/01/26/odea-lineman-picks-up-first-offer/
Kugler offered another huge lineman and boy was he happy as hell to get it! WSU is looking hard at him but no offers.
http://www.northwesteliteindex.com/2016/01/26/odea-lineman-picks-up-first-offer/
While those bigger schools are waffling, he should have that as part of his strategy. Engage them early, stay engaged and nab them when the other schools waffling increases. Michigan St is recruiting a friend of mine's kid. They haven't contacted him in almost three weeks. Michigan has been on him non stop. Michigan St. came calling yesterday morning and right after they left, he was on a plane to Michigan for his official visit. You can guess where he's committing. lol
