I didn’t realize his connection to Colorado is that strong. So we have a recruit who spent some of his youth in Colorado and can’t wait to get back and we have a kid who grew up here and can’t wait to leave. Ironic.
AllBuffs | Unofficial fan site for the University of Colorado at Boulder Athletics programs
This is a sample guest message. Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!
-
Prime Time. Prime Time. Its a new era for Colorado football. Consider signing up for a club membership! For $20/year, you can get access to all the special features at Allbuffs, including club member only forums, dark mode, avatars and best of all no ads ! But seriously, please sign up so that we can pay the bills. No one earns money here, and we can use your $20 to keep this hellhole running. You can sign up for a club membership by navigating to your account in the upper right and clicking on "Account Upgrades". Make it happen!
'20 GA OT Jake Wray (SIGNED to COLORADO)
- Thread starter WasianCU
- Start date
Trufflesauce
Well-Known Member
“I didn’t really want to chase a name brand or a big logo,” Wray said. “I kind of wanted to do my own thing and go to a place where I know that I could succeed to the best of my abilities.”
This is the attitude we need to instill in our recruits. Or, in other words, the vision we want to sell.
This is the attitude we need to instill in our recruits. Or, in other words, the vision we want to sell.
I don’t think he meant that playing at a power program is easy. He meant, I think, that it’s the easy, or popular decision compared to going to a struggling program.
Maybe not the right place to respond to this, but I’m curious why coming here is more significant than going to a top “name brand” program to compete for winning conference and national championships immediately and every single year?
Go to certain programs and you know you are going to win a lot. Even if you personally don't stand out you will win a lot. You are a part of a line of players. The program was built by others, you are simply part of maintaining it.
Come to a school like Colorado and you will be a key to the growth of the program. When there isn't a deep roster of highly recruited players you are counted on. The reward is that you get to be an important part of building something. Not just maintaining it but building it. A lot of those guys who came into the CU program with Bill McCartney came in before the program started to win, it happened while they were here. Those guys could look at the great teams that followed and know that they were the ones who built the foundation.
Not putting down either choice, that is up to the individual but for somebody who wants to take on a challenge and who wants to feel the satisfaction of accomplishing something bigger taking a chance on a program that hasn't been successful recently gives the opportunity.
It might be compared to the choice made by someone about being a cog in a corporation which is the established industry leader or being a key part of a start up in that same interest which could fail but also could grow to take a significant market share with no guarantees.
Well, I wasn’t dancing. Maybe I misunderstood. I agree that it’s not an easy decision.
I look at it like in our work careers how there's more certainty and security if you get a job at IBM instead of at a mid-sized or startup tech company. Most people choose to go for the IBM type job if they can get it. But the opportunities to grab a bigger title and more for yourself faster are much more available at the other companies. Neither approach is wrong and I can't fault anyone who makes either choice.
Where I'm at in recruiting is that our coaches need to find the guys like Wray where there is a lot of appeal to blazing their own trail within a vision they believe in. But I desperately want to see CU get back to the point of recruiting from the position of an industry leading position. Paraphrasing something I heard about Don James' recruiting pitch back when he had Washington at an elite level: "If you come to UW, we will be going to Rose Bowls and competing for titles. If you you don't come to UW, we will be going to Rose Bowls and competing for titles. So if you're afraid of competition for playing time, you should go somewhere else."
Currently with CU, I think the strongest pitch outside of facilities/location/vision/history is that we have decent recent success of putting some guys into the NFL and that MT can cite a long list of NFL talent he recruited and/or developed. Being able to pitch an opportunity to showcase your skills while getting everything you need to develop into an NFL player is a strong position for CU right now that allows us to punch above our on-field record of the past dozen years.
But again, why is being a key part of building a program back up more significant or meaningful? It may be more meaningful to CU fans, but playing for national championships is pretty significant, iyam.
I don’t believe a kid’s opportunity to play in The League is diminished or enhanced relative to where he plays. If he’s good enough he will usually have an opportunity.
That said, 98% of college players will not play professionally. So they should go where they will enjoy the experience, whether it be on the football field, in the classroom or just everyday life.
Nobody is saying that playing for a NC isn't significant but unless you are going to Clemson or Bama right now that is far from guaranteed just as having the program you join to help build making significant advances is far from guaranteed.
It is a real choice though and for each option there are kids who find appeal in it. There are players who after their careers are done are very proud of having been a part of a team that established a winning tradition, others are proud that they were a part of maintaining a winning tradition.
For some players that being part of something new, the sports equivalent of being that entrepreneur is a motivating factor.
It all depends on the individual player but should not be overlooked. It is also part of the reason why new coaches need to get off to a good start recruiting. Once they are at a school a couple years if the program isn't showing real signs of improvement it becomes harder to sell the idea that the program will become a winner.
I think we all agree with "different strokes for different folks" and that we're super excited about Wray.
Where you lost a lot of us is with the suggestion that playing for an elite program is easier and less meaningful.
We all recognize that there's something special about the CU experience and are on board with promoting that. But that doesn't require downgrading the choice to attend or experience at Alabama.
Can we move on? This is still Wray's thread after all.
To clarify not easier to play for an elite program but often easier to make that choice to play there, picking the known vs. the unknown.I think we all agree with "different strokes for different folks" and that we're super excited about Wray.
Where you lost a lot of us is with the suggestion that playing for an elite program is easier and less meaningful.
We all recognize that there's something special about the CU experience and are on board with promoting that. But that doesn't require downgrading the choice to attend or experience at Alabama.
Can we move on? This is still Wray's thread after all.
Hopefully seeing a guy with significant other offers come to CU and succeed here will help other quality players to make the same decision.
BuffLuke80
Well-Known Member
Glad to have ya Jake, come in and show em what's up.
Is he our starting LT next fall?
I'd say Filip is the leader in the clubhouse or Sherman goes back even though he's that RT Mauler.
Big Jim
WTF?
That would be his older brother.
We can only hope
Boom!
SINKRATZ
PhD in Analogy
Does that stuff come with the office? Whenever I see a picture like that I’m picturing our new head coach googling “Buffalo-themed decor” so his office looks legit in pictures.I want one of those buffalo pictures behind them