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Why recruit high schools any more?

WestTexasHusker

WestTexasHusker

All Legend
10 Year Member
Why would a team like Nebraska ever bother recruiting high school athletes again?

1. HS athletes are a big unknown. Many will not successfully make the transition to college football. With the transfer portal, you have proven athletes that can help right away.

2. HS athletes that do make the transition to college football can transfer when they get disgruntled. Portal athletes can't transfer again unless they have completed undergraduate studies. You can coach them hard.

Why not let the D2s have all of the high school talent? Those that emerge as elite, pick them off through the portal at a later date.
 
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Transfer players are also commonly big unknowns. Oftentimes, they didn't live up to expectations at their previous school. Nebraska has whiffed on transfers about or at least as often as they've hit. I'm sure that's the case everywhere.

The other drawback with relying mostly to completely on transfers is the rapid roster turnovers. This will create some team chemistry issues.

I personally believe players out of high school should always be the foundation of your roster. And then fill in gaps with transfers. I highly doubt the rapid roster turnover by relying completely on transfers will lead to greater success.
 
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WestTexasHusker said:
Why would a team like Nebraska ever bother recruiting high school athletes again?

1. HS athletes are a big unknown. Many will not successfully make the transition to college football. With the transfer portal, you have proven athletes that can help right away.

2. HS athletes that do make the transition to college football can transfer when they get disgruntled. Portal athletes can't transfer again unless they have completed undergraduate studies. You can coach them hard.

Why not let the D2s have all of the high school talent? Those that emerge as elite, pick them off through the portal at a later date.
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When you're at a school for 4-5 years there is going be much more buy-in. How can you build a permanent culture if you only have most of your kids 1-2 years?

Just wouldn't work the way you're imagining imo
 
Some positions, especially OL, don't have nearly the same transfer rate. A top end OL in the portal is rare. You need to be able to develop your own. It migth be a common practice at QB and even WR, etc, but it's not a winning strategy to rely so heavily on the portal. Hard to build a coherent program that way but you can use it to fill holes and turn a roster quickly when it's necessary. Some high end kids do leave but most who are signficant contributors stay.
 



WestTexasHusker said:
Why would a team like Nebraska ever bother recruiting high school athletes again?

1. HS athletes are a big unknown. Many will not successfully make the transition to college football. With the transfer portal, you have proven athletes that can help right away.

2. HS athletes that do make the transition to college football can transfer when they get disgruntled. Portal athletes can't transfer again unless they have completed undergraduate studies. You can coach them hard.

Why not let the D2s have all of the high school talent? Those that emerge as elite, pick them off through the portal at a later date.
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3. NIL Money. If you're Georgia, you can afford to let a team like Georgia Southern take a chance on a promising kid, with the idea that you'll just throw a million bucks at him if he turns into a beast.

I'm with you. Let the FCS and smaller FBS teams absorb some of that risk. Of course, you'll still recruit the Arch Mannings and Dylan Raiolas of the world, but those 3-star toss up kids can funnel to smaller teams and let those schools take the risk. If the kid is a bust, no big deal. If they're the next John Elway you throw NIL + schollie deals their way. If I were Rhule, I'd be hiring a buttload of portal analysts who do nothing but watch and try to lure kids off the rosters of the more "proven" little guys like UCF, Boise State, Coastal Carolina, etc.
 
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I think OL and DL depth has to be built over time at the HS level and sprinkled in with transfers. Similar with scheme knowledge for some LB and secondary positions.

Everything else should be a win now decision, IMO.
 




I also have zero issue with Rhule thinking unproven talent at Georgia is better than 99% of prospects we can find at the HS level. He’s taking a very smart angle with transfers with multiple years. If they’re on Georgia’s roster, you already know they have the physical gifts.
 
FullbackSympathy said:
I also have zero issue with Rhule thinking unproven talent at Georgia is better than 99% of prospects we can find at the HS level. He’s taking a very smart angle with transfers with multiple years. If they’re on Georgia’s roster, you already know they have the physical gifts.
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Does Rhule think that?

He may very well still prefer to lean heavily on high school recruits. However, as a coach and staff that's only been on the job less than two months (and only about 3 weeks before the December signing period), he was faced with having to build/rebuild a roster in a short time. I think Rhule understands signing transfers is a good way to build a better team in the short-term -- something he didn't have the same type of opportunity to do years ago at Temple and Baylor.
 




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