January is going to be very interesting

[JimmyBuff]

. Nobody could recruit the last year and a half with dead coach walking.

Which is exactly why Hawk should have been cut loose last year. IF he was there this year Embree would have landed willingham and BB among others. Just a ****ing waste, stupid administration. Not much can be done to save this class. Got to hope for some diamond in the rough players.

 

[buffsyko]

Question for the experts in recruiting. I saw that cabral is recruiting Todd Peat jr the DT from Arizona. Why wouldn't Tui and greg brown be recruiting him, I mean tui is the DT coach and just came from arizona??????

 

[Duff Man]

Question for the experts in recruiting. I saw that cabral is recruiting Todd Peat jr the DT from Arizona. Why wouldn't Tui and greg brown be recruiting him, I mean tui is the DT coach and just came from arizona??????

Arizona never had a shot with Peat Jr. If he stays in-state, it will be ASU. I am guessing Tui and the rest of the Arizona staff knew that early on, so they focused on other prospects.

 

[Buffnik]

Cabral and Tui had the same recruiting region responsibilities, so there's a lot of overlap until they get it sorted out. Cabral may simply be the guy with the more advanced relationship with Peat or his high school coach. If Peat has legitimate interest in CU, there's no doubt that Tui will be heavily involved in his recruitment.

 

[buffaholic]

Could also simply be that Cabral was listed on the pay-site as the guy recruiting the kid several months ago and that information is no longer current....

 

[buffaholic]

I'm not sure if Cabral was their primary recruiter but Major, Katoa, Rippy, Nobriga, and Webb were all pretty good recruits. Nobody could recruit the last year and a half with dead coach walking.

I don't believe that list reflects "great recruiting" as I would expect given Cabral's long list of turning out NFL studs.

Major, Rippy and Katoa were all part of that hyped 2008 class that came in after the bowl game. That group looked strong on paper at all positions, not just LB position.

The last two years we got Webb and Nobriga who had one BCS offer between them. I realize that's the way it was going the last two years, but my point is simply that I have always felt that Cabral himself could bring in top linebackers to play here based on his reputation alone (even with dead coach walking). I felt that if there was one position where we could pull in some 3-star guys that had other BCS offers every single year, it should be at the LB position. This year, it is no different having lost Willingham (for now).

I just feel that LB's and RB's would be wanting to come here right now, because worst-case, they are going to have the best position coaches in the country to play for. I'd throw in CB as well as Brown has a pretty good record with CB's.

And throw in a punter/kicker. Why would you play anywhere else? Ever heard of a couple All-American guys who played here that punted or kicked? Thin air helps....

 

[SINKRATZ]

I'm surprised we haven't done a better job recruiting punters the last couple years, Hawk's offense was perfect for showcasing the punter.

 

[The Guest]

I'm surprised we haven't done a better job recruiting punters the last couple years, Hawk's offense was perfect for showcasing the punter.

Punter recruittment is probably the last place where our rivalry with nebraska will continue. Any nebraska coach can walk into a kid's living room with a copy of last night's bowl game and pretty much seal the deal--those bastards beat us again!

 

[buff4life]

This years class is going to be fuct in any case. We have too late of a start to make any sort of a dent in a decent recruiting class. we only have 4 commitments right now. Meanwhile, every other school in the PAC-12 is well within the double digit range. If we even get one 4 star player I'll be shell shocked. It'll be mindbending to see if we get any elite talent this year alone. I'm already looking forward to next years class. But as many of you have put it in this article or whatever, We have GREAT position coaches like Cabral, Bienemy and Marshall. I want to see the new establishment get the Samoan population back up like in the old days. The new coaches need to put a little more emphasis on the walk-ons like many successful programs do like Nebraska and Oregon State where they actually give the kids a chance to show what they can do. History has certainly shown for these two programs that walk-ons can become just as dominant as any other player out there. If anyone wants a list of players, I'm game.

 

[Highlander27]

It's going to be on Embree/EB/Tui/Marshall/Kennedy and the rest to get on some talented guys that have been wayward for whatever reason and bring them into town. Whether that's 4*'s or underrated 2*'s, I don't really care. We fall in love with the sex appeal of a ranking but I think if you broke down an NFL draft class, half the guys would be ranked highly, the other half nobody knew anything about. Coaches have to make their money on the road, evaluating tape and doing the damn thing.

This class has to have impact players in two or three years. If not, don't bring them in. Embree knows this and has stated such.

For the record, I like that we have two studs on the OL we're adding to the mix towards an already talented crew IMO. We need to build from the lines/QB and go from there. Thats where you win the games. If you do that, the rest will come.

 

[Duff Man]

This years class is going to be fuct in any case. We have too late of a start to make any sort of a dent in a decent recruiting class. we only have 4 commitments right now. Meanwhile, every other school in the PAC-12 is well within the double digit range. If we even get one 4 star player I'll be shell shocked. It'll be mindbending to see if we get any elite talent this year alone. I'm already looking forward to next years class. But as many of you have put it in this article or whatever, We have GREAT position coaches like Cabral, Bienemy and Marshall. I want to see the new establishment get the Samoan population back up like in the old days. The new coaches need to put a little more emphasis on the walk-ons like many successful programs do like Nebraska and Oregon State where they actually give the kids a chance to show what they can do. History has certainly shown for these two programs that walk-ons can become just as dominant as any other player out there. If anyone wants a list of players, I'm game.

Prepare to be shell-shocked.

As far as the walk-on argument... are you trying to argue that Hawkins ignored the walk-on program? I am not sure you will find too many people in agreement with you there.

 

[Buffnik]

Yeah. One thing Hawk did really well was the walk on program. I think it's really important, especially with in-state kids. Getting CO preps to choose walking on at CU over accepting a FCS offer would be a great place for the program to get to.

 

[buffsyko]

Arizona never had a shot with Peat Jr. If he stays in-state, it will be ASU. I am guessing Tui and the rest of the Arizona staff knew that early on, so they focused on other prospects.

Thanks BB

 

[buff4life]

Prepare to be shell-shocked.

As far as the walk-on argument... are you trying to argue that Hawkins ignored the walk-on program? I am not sure you will find too many people in agreement with you there.

What dreamworld are you livin in? we only have 4 3* recruits right now. The good talent thats left in the state is nearly dried up and everyone else in the PAC-12 is living large in recruiting right now and all schools are sitting happy with 15+ recruits. even Wazzu. So unless you have a crystal ball or can read minds or have pretty fukin legit inside info then we ARE gonna get a bunch of passed over, left overs.

And you think hawkins had good walk-on program? Barnett had him by the balls in that category. Besides Scotty McKnight, Travis Sandersfield, Art Jaffee and Hildreth, Quentin Who do you got to show for? NOBODY!!! You only judge your walkons in a program by the success they have and how they evolve into solid contributors and earn playing time ahead of the starters and others on Scholarship. Ask any coach out there. Sure they help out in practice and give the starting players a look every week, but seriously, get real, if they aren't competing for and obtaining a starting job and earning playing time be a difference maker during gametime like before mentioned players, then their just out there playing tackling dummy. And thats no way to evaluate a walkon program. Another thing is you have to give walkons the same opportunities to excell and attention as the kids on scholarship too during practice to show that they can deliver, otherwise why the hell are they there if they arent given the chance to play. If they wash out then get them out of there. There are a lot of programs out there that dont fall under that category and it gives them a black eye for the image it creates if you arent being equal.

Hawkins might have run a good Walk on program in the eyes of some people and I'm not saying he did it wrong at all. but when you only have 4 maybe 5 kids out of a walk on program earn a scholarship during your career then its not a whole lot to brag about. Doesn't quite compute. Good program has around 10 or more walk ons earn a scholarship within a 4 year period. Look it up.

 

[Buffnik]

Smart was a walk on who ended up leading the team in tackles.

Stevens was a walk on who ended up starting at center for us.

There were other guys who made significant contributions. If I fault Hawk on walk ons, it's that he relied on them too much. Just among 2010's senior class, I think that 4 of the 14 scholarship guys were former walk ons (McKnight, Nabors, Stevens and Walters).

 

[buff4life]

Smart was a walk on who ended up leading the team in tackles.

Stevens was a walk on who ended up starting at center for us.

There were other guys who made significant contributions. If I fault Hawk on walk ons, it's that he relied on them too much. Just among 2010's senior class, I think that 4 of the 14 scholarship guys were former walk ons (McKnight, Nabors, Stevens and Walters).

Not to argue with you boss but I didn't see a whole lot of walkons during Hawkins' tenure, not even on special teams. How do you mean he relied on them too much? I'm not being a dick at all I just want to know. I forgot about Smart. I could have swore Stevens was a scholy kid from the get go. And whos Walters? you dont mean Ryan Walters, cause I know for a fact he was a scholarship from the start. Nabors never played did he? Do you think Quinton Hildreth or Josh Ford will earn a scholarship or what walk ons right now stick out the most to you?

 

[Buffnik]

Stevens was awarded a scholarship in 2009 after he had won the starting job. By Walters, I meant the TE Luke, who transferred in from New Mexico as a walk on with an injury history. He got a medical waiver for a 6th year, was put on scholarship, and contributed a lot in 2010.

Other walk ons who saw a lot of game action in 2010 and we haven't talked about were Espinoza (on scholarship since last spring), Cefalo, and Fernandez, Iverson and Silipo. Ebner would have been another if he hadn't gotten hurt during fall camp.

 

[Deleted member 807]

Aric Goodman was originally a walk on. Just sayin'

 

[buff4life]

Aric Goodman was originally a walk on. Just sayin'

He was on scholarship at wyoming until he transferred.

 

[Deleted member 807]

He was on scholarship at wyoming until he transferred.

...as a walkon.

 

[buff4life]

Stevens was awarded a scholarship in 2009 after he had won the starting job. By Walters, I meant the TE Luke, who transferred in from New Mexico as a walk on with an injury history. He got a medical waiver for a 6th year, was put on scholarship, and contributed a lot in 2010.

Other walk ons who saw a lot of game action in 2010 and we haven't talked about were Espinoza (on scholarship since last spring), Cefalo, and Fernandez, Iverson and Silipo. Ebner would have been another if he hadn't gotten hurt during fall camp.

O luke walters. Duh. He'll be back next year? That'll be good. except we need to let DeVaughn Thornton loose. Who do you think will emerge among him, Slavin, Griffon or Mobley?

Cefalo, and Fernandez and Ebner arent on Scholy. What walk ons do you think will emerge into playmakers?

 

[buff4life]

...as a walkon.

Did you play at Wyoming or something?

 

[Deleted member 807]

Did you play at Wyoming or something?

Nope. Just adding to Nik's list of seniors who joined CU as a walk on and left with a ship. Goodman belongs along with McKnight in the discussion of how Hawkins used walk ons.

 

[Duff Man]

I am officially at a loss. We have the one CU fan that wants more walk-ons than we saw during the Hawkins era. That is allsome.

 

[Buffnik]

O luke walters. Duh. He'll be back next year? That'll be good. except we need to let DeVaughn Thornton loose. Who do you think will emerge among him, Slavin, Griffon or Mobley?

Cefalo, and Fernandez and Ebner arent on Scholy. What walk ons do you think will emerge into playmakers?

Walters used up the last of his eligibility. TE1 should be Deehan with TE2 Thornton. I think Thornton's got more upside, but since we're focusing on a physical attack he is going to need to pack on some lbs and be less of a finesse tight end.

Mobley is possibly the best athlete from the 2010 recruiting class. He's actually going to try out at QB this spring. But if he ends up back at TE, he is the most physically gifted of the group. I like all 3 of them, though. Slavin's probably the least raw and most ready to play.

Cefalo is a very good athlete and should contribute a lot. He was on a baseball scholarship at Oregon State. I could see him catching 20+ passes next season and getting us a lot of first downs. Fernandez may be the big "sleeper" guy on our roster if we are going back to having a fullback. He did pretty well in that role last year and should get a lot better. Ebner's a better athlete than people realize. He's over 6 feet tall and runs a sub 4.6 forty. Up until now, he's shown that he'll be a bigger contributor than Darden. Be interesting to see if Ebner stays above Darden on the depth chart with the new staff.

Of all the walk ons, my favorite is Jaffee. Hell of a special teams player.

And keep an eye on Josh Ford. Practice reports from this past year were that he's got some wheels and turned some heads.

 

[buff4life]

I am officially at a loss. We have the one CU fan that wants more walk-ons than we saw during the Hawkins era. That is allsome.

Hell ya you want more walk ons. not many more but more. you get a better odds of getting kids like McKnight that way. look at Mike Hass from OSU, no one never gave him a chance til Riley came back and gave brought him on. Hawkins didn't have no where near the quality of walk ons that Riley had or has. this is due to the fact that Riley actually gives them the same attention and reps during practice as the scholarship kids. If Hawkins did then it certainly didnt show. I dont care what anyone says.

 

[buff4life]

Walters used up the last of his eligibility. TE1 should be Deehan with TE2 Thornton. I think Thornton's got more upside, but since we're focusing on a physical attack he is going to need to pack on some lbs and be less of a finesse tight end.

Mobley is possibly the best athlete from the 2010 recruiting class. He's actually going to try out at QB this spring. But if he ends up back at TE, he is the most physically gifted of the group. I like all 3 of them, though. Slavin's probably the least raw and most ready to play.

Cefalo is a very good athlete and should contribute a lot. He was on a baseball scholarship at Oregon State. I could see him catching 20+ passes next season and getting us a lot of first downs. Fernandez may be the big "sleeper" guy on our roster if we are going back to having a fullback. He did pretty well in that role last year and should get a lot better. Ebner's a better athlete than people realize. He's over 6 feet tall and runs a sub 4.6 forty. Up until now, he's shown that he'll be a bigger contributor than Darden. Be interesting to see if Ebner stays above Darden on the depth chart with the new staff.

Of all the walk ons, my favorite is Jaffee. Hell of a special teams player.

And keep an eye on Josh Ford. Practice reports from this past year were that he's got some wheels and turned some heads.

Do you think Darden was a bust? He didnt even play this season did he?

 

[Buffnik]

Do you think Darden was a bust? He didnt even play this season did he?

I think it's too early to say that.

It was just September of 2008 when he had surgery to repair a broken fibula and torn ankle tendon. That's a year of rehab before you can go close to full speed. Then you've got to play your way back into shape, get your confidence, quicks and strength back. I started seeing signs last spring that Darden was starting to turn the corner. This spring he needs to take the next step and he's got a clean slate with a new coaching staff.

We'll see if he takes advantage of the opportunity. But even if he's never a starter at CU, he can be a big target who is a weapon for us in the red zone and working the middle of the field. He's at least 6'4", carries 210 lbs easily, and has a big vertical jump.

He'll only be a sophomore next year. Way too early to use the "bust" word.

 

[buff4life]

I think it's too early to say that.

It was just September of 2008 when he had surgery to repair a broken fibula and torn ankle tendon. That's a year of rehab before you can go close to full speed. Then you've got to play your way back into shape, get your confidence, quicks and strength back. I started seeing signs last spring that Darden was starting to turn the corner. This spring he needs to take the next step and he's got a clean slate with a new coaching staff.

We'll see if he takes advantage of the opportunity. But even if he's never a starter at CU, he can be a big target who is a weapon for us in the red zone and working the middle of the field. He's at least 6'4", carries 210 lbs easily, and has a big vertical jump.

He'll only be a sophomore next year. Way too early to use the "bust" word.

Have they said whether he'll get a medical redshirt for that? He should if he didnt participate this year.

How is Keenon Canty coming along? He seems to be the slot and return man type. He better start putting a ****tload of lbs on if he going to take any passes over the middle or he'll get bitchslapped everytime. he's only a meager 160. I hope for his sake it 100% muscle.

 

[Buffnik]

The medical redshirt only really applies if someone misses 2 seasons due to injury. Then, after his 5th year, he can apply for an NCAA waiver to get a 6th year. This is unlikely to factor in for Darden.

Canty needs to work on his strength so that he looks as good in pads as he does in shorts playing 7-on-7. He may end up being a real surprise from the 2010 class, though. (At least to me, as I wasn't very high on him.)