Nelson Spruce article

[Buffnik]

Cali High Sports had a great interview that finished with this:

Colorado only has one returning starter at wide receiver, so Spruce could see early action. “I’m going to have a big opportunity to start as a freshmen, I also understand that this is a new level of football and there are some things I need to improve at to compete at the level that I’m accustomed to. I need to work on my speed of the line and maintaining my quickness of breaks,” Spruce said. “It’s a very exciting time for me personally and for Colorado football. I really can’t wait to get started.”

Full Article

 

[tante]

Clemons + Richardson = 2 starters ?? or did one of them not start

 

[Duff Man]

He reminds me a lot of Wes Welker.

 

[absinthe]

He reminds me a lot of Wes Welker.

really? I see him more in the McKnight mold.

 

[JRK1212]

He reminds me a lot of Wes Welker.

He is 5 inches taller and not nearly as fast or quick as Welker. Oh wait I just realized that they are both white WR's so they must be similar.

 

[Duff Man]

He is 5 inches taller and not nearly as fast or quick as Welker. Oh wait I just realized that they are both white WR's so they must be similar.

Look up.

 

[Buffnik]

He is 5 inches taller and not nearly as fast or quick as Welker. Oh wait I just realized that they are both white WR's so they must be similar.

Pretty sure he's faster than Welker. Not too many guys are quicker. I think Spruce's agility is going to surprise people, though. You've got to have great hips and feet to be an all-conference cornerback in that league.

 

[Duff Man]

Nelson Spruce is going to be a good WR for us. One of my favorite players in the 2011 class.

 

[SCB]

Jon Embree. WINNING.

 

[MtnBuff]

Glad to see him with the confidence to expect to come in and contribute right away.

Also good that he knows that he has things to work on and has to step up his level of play. With that, and with his talent I still would not be surprised to see him take a while to catch on at the major college level. I would not even be surprised to see him redshirt, not expecting it but it is a posibility.

Spruce is an example though of the step up in recruiting that Embree and staff are bringing in. In his last couple of years I don't think Hawk even makes a serious run at a guy like spruce instead settling for guys he can "develop," code word for not good enough yet to be of interest to major programs.

 

[Buffnik]

In his last couple of years I don't think Hawk even makes a serious run at a guy like spruce instead settling for guys he can "develop," code word for not good enough yet to be of interest to major programs.

Here's the thing with recruiting under Hawkins:

He couldn't get the great athletes who were also polished football players as well as solid academically.

Therefore, his model was to take great students who were borderline D1 athletes in hopes that they'd keep the team APR above water. At the same time, he tried to fill in with as many BCS-level athletes as he could be taking risks on guys who had academic issues, injury histories or attitude problems.

As should have been predicted (and I had blinders on here), we lost a high percentage of the guys who had potential at this level and ended up playing way too many of the other recruits. In fact, we lost so many we depended on being able to fill in with walk ons.

 

[MtnBuff]

Here's the thing with recruiting under Hawkins:

He couldn't get the great athletes who were also polished football players as well as solid academically.

Therefore, his model was to take great students who were borderline D1 athletes in hopes that they'd keep the team APR above water. At the same time, he tried to fill in with as many BCS-level athletes as he could be taking risks on guys who had academic issues, injury histories or attitude problems.

As should have been predicted (and I had blinders on here), we lost a high percentage of the guys who had potential at this level and ended up playing way too many of the other recruits. In fact, we lost so many we depended on being able to fill in with walk ons.

Hawk seemed unwilling to go head to head with other programs for top quality prospects. Thus as you point out he signed a lot of guys who had something that chased other programs away. Either they weren't quite good enough on the field or the weren't quite good enough in the classroom. In both cases we ended up not quite good enough to win.

 

[Sexton Hardcastle]

I can't wait to see this kid on the field.

 

[Duff Man]

Hawk seemed unwilling to go head to head with other programs for top quality prospects. Thus as you point out he signed a lot of guys who had something that chased other programs away. Either they weren't quite good enough on the field or the weren't quite good enough in the classroom. In both cases we ended up not quite good enough to win.

That may be, but Nelson Spruce is hardly an example of a dramatic shift in that philosophy. Spruce was not garnering serious attention from major programs.

 

[MtnBuff]

That may be, but Nelson Spruce is hardly an example of a dramatic shift in that philosophy. Spruce was not garnering serious attention from major programs.

No he wasn't exactly high on the priority list of a lot of top 20 programs but he is still a better prospect than many that Hawk seemed to go after in his last couple of years.

The difference is coming in the kids offered this year. We are seeing offers to a lot of kids with USC, Oregon, Texas, and a lot of other quality programs offering. It will be interesting to see how many of these kids get closed, especially since many of them have been being contacted by the other schools for at least a year or two before this staff come on, but at least we are trying for a higher quality of recruit, at least based on who else is talking to the kids.

 

[btbuff]

At the same time, he tried to fill in with as many BCS-level athletes as he could be taking risks on guys who had academic issues, injury histories or attitude problems.

As proven by Paul Richardson taking the occasional risk isn't necessarily a terrible thing.

 

[Buffnik]

As proven by Paul Richardson taking the occasional risk isn't necessarily a terrible thing.

I completely agree. Key word is "occasional". Apparently even after the guys we lost to academics over Christmas, we still have between 20-25 guys who had under a 2.0 GPA.

Poor Jon Embree. He was led to believe that Hawkins at least did that well. But he recruited risk players and then did not stay on them.

 

[Duff Man]

The difference is coming in the kids offered this year. We are seeing offers to a lot of kids with USC, Oregon, Texas, and a lot of other quality programs offering. It will be interesting to see how many of these kids get closed, especially since many of them have been being contacted by the other schools for at least a year or two before this staff come on, but at least we are trying for a higher quality of recruit, at least based on who else is talking to the kids.

The kids with elite offers are nice, but that is not the big difference between this staff and the last staff. People seem to have a bit of amnesia here with Hawkins. He offered plenty of four star players along with some five stars. Many of those offers are no-brainers.

Where he failed was in offering the second-tier players early on, the players a notch below the elite players that still garner interest from many programs. We were always very late to the party and then were left scrambling to land the next tier of players below when the second-tier players went elsewhere. It is one of the main reasons we really struggled in Texas. This staff has gotten way out in front for several of those kids, often being the first to offer, but not the last. Without those players, it absolutely kills the depth of a particular recruiting class.

 

[Buffnik]

The kids with elite offers are nice, but that is not the big difference between this staff and the last staff. People seem to have a bit of amnesia here with Hawkins. He offered plenty of four star players along with some five stars. Many of those offers are no-brainers.

Where he failed was in offering the second-tier players early on, the players a notch below the elite players that still garner interest from many programs. We were always very late to the party and then were left scrambling to land the next tier of players below when the second-tier players went elsewhere. It is one of the main reasons we really struggled in Texas. This staff has gotten way out in front for several of those kids, often being the first to offer, but not the last. Without those players, it absolutely kills the depth of a particular recruiting class.

^^^This^^^

All too often, we would wait as a blue chipper slow played his recruiting and hadn't told us "no". Then, we'd get about a third of the way through the season, realize that it's not gonna happen, and end up going to Plan B. Unfortunately, by that point the guys we had pegged as our backup plans had committed elsewhere or were pissed at CU for slow playing them and had lost interest over it. Too often, we went straight from Plan A to Plan D.