Tulane traditionally has recruited far and wide but they have like 16 commitments from Southern Louisiana this year-mostly New Orleans. If you use the Map feature on Rivals all Louisiana commitments are from about Baton Rouge south. Interesting-is this a strategy to draw a line across Southeastern Louisiana kind of like Miami in the 1980s? I'm not sure how it will work out but you can definitely see a new strategy. Took a look at their class because they just got a kid recruited throughout the SEC-surprising commitment. Right now showing some tangible improvement-3rd in CUSA in Total Points. What's the perspective from Tulane fans?

The Temple resurgence was due mostly to "owning" the 215 area code.

The staff spent a large portion of time recruiting locally. Every so often youd see a kid from VA, MD, NY, CT, but for the most part it was all NJ/PA.

It's the "State of Tulane" established by our coach. He's from N.O. and decided to recruit the N.O. area hard. Da U ( of Miami) did this when they began to ascend and Coach Johnson was a coach there at one point so he knows. It's a solid strategy because he's proven to be a hellofa recruiter and there's plenty of talent that has otherwise gone to LSU or elsewhere. I like it. In the past we've recruited Texas and Florida hard but this feels different. It's just another step in connecting with the area and building a rooting interest/fan base. The guys were getting are also impressive, SEC-caliber players. We usually don't get enough kids like this.

Curtis Johnson was hired for his strength in recruiting.
He has a Super Bowl ring from the Saints and a NC ring from Miami.
He recruited several great Miami players from Louisiana and Marshall Faulk when he was at SDSU.
He's from New Orleans area and has good contacts already developed.

(I'm assuming sw is a typo as you stated "southern" elsewhere)

(12-16-2012 03:44 PM)Stallion Wrote:  Tulane traditionally has recruited far and wide but they have like 16 commitments from Southern Louisiana this year-mostly New Orleans. If you use the Map feature on Rivals all Louisiana commitments are from about Baton Rouge south. Interesting-is this a strategy to draw a line across Southeastern Louisiana kind of like Miami in the 1980s? I'm not sure how it will work out but you can definitely see a new strategy. Took a look at their class because they just got a kid recruited throughout the SEC-surprising commitment. Right now showing some tangible improvement-3rd in CUSA in Total Points. What's the perspective from Tulane fans?

I think that's about right. It makes sense - there's a lot of talent here. I think we'll go further out in the state, but we do concentrate locally. WE could still do more on the northshore. Why we're able to do it is:
1)We have a local coach, and several young local recruiters.
2)We relaxed our standards to allow more "special admissions" (SMU knows what I mean - meet NCAA standards but not Tulane's); now we still don't have the "easier" majors in but they're supposed to be coming.
3)Improvement in New Orleans public school education since Katrina
4)Although I am leery in general of "under the radar" recruits, a savvy talent evaluator can find them in the New Orleans public school leagues, which is underserved by the media and recruiting services.
5)Outside of LSU and Texas A & M, there isn't a ton of recruiting pressure. LSU is recruiting at such a high level that those players won't consider us anyway, so that really doesn't hurt. Tulsa used to cherry pick very well down here, but not under Blankenship. Ole Miss, HOuston and ARk are around and some west coast teams come here for a player or 2. Fedora didn't recruit N.O. like Bower did, but I expect Monken to be in N.O. hard real soon.
We don't recruit Texas anymore. We did well in DFW c. 2000, but once 12-0 wore off, and TCU and SMU and Houston improved, we were getting too much 1AA talent from Texas.
We are trying to recruit Miami, because of the HC's connections there. We also need JCs to plug holes, particularly on the lines as they come up. We will NEVER allow them if they were unqualified out of high school, which means we'll have to go to California to get them. We'll see if we do.

Whatever they were doing before was not working, so just focusing on NO, is risk free.

I know this is a football thread, but I get the feeling that those who diss Tulane not only forget about the 12-0 season, but have also forgotten about...

THE POSSE!!!

One of the things I liked about Holtz was his refocus on NC recruits. A secondary perk of that is local newspapers will cover their former star players, and thus East Carolina football. Now hometown fans would follow Player X, and keep up with our football team. Its what we needed/wanted and Tulane needs it.

(12-16-2012 04:05 PM)adcorbett Wrote:  I know this is a football thread, but I get the feeling that those who diss Tulane not only forget about the 12-0 season, but have also forgotten about...

THE POSSE!!!

Yep.
We need to get back into La recruiting in hoops as well because, while Clark recruited nationally, the best players were from La.
Anthony Reed
Jerald Honeycutt
Rashard Allen
Kim Lewis

Oh we're comin... Just know dat!

(12-16-2012 04:04 PM)DrBox Wrote:  

(12-16-2012 03:44 PM)Stallion Wrote:  Tulane traditionally has recruited far and wide but they have like 16 commitments from Southern Louisiana this year-mostly New Orleans. If you use the Map feature on Rivals all Louisiana commitments are from about Baton Rouge south. Interesting-is this a strategy to draw a line across Southeastern Louisiana kind of like Miami in the 1980s? I'm not sure how it will work out but you can definitely see a new strategy. Took a look at their class because they just got a kid recruited throughout the SEC-surprising commitment. Right now showing some tangible improvement-3rd in CUSA in Total Points. What's the perspective from Tulane fans?

I think that's about right. It makes sense - there's a lot of talent here. I think we'll go further out in the state, but we do concentrate locally. WE could still do more on the northshore. Why we're able to do it is:
1)We have a local coach, and several young local recruiters.
2)We relaxed our standards to allow more "special admissions" (SMU knows what I mean - meet NCAA standards but not Tulane's); now we still don't have the "easier" majors in but they're supposed to be coming.
3)Improvement in New Orleans public school education since Katrina
4)Outside of LSU and Texas A & M, there isn't a ton of recruiting pressure. LSU is recruiting at such a high level that those players won't consider us anyway, so that really doesn't hurt. Tulsa used to cherry pick very well down here, but not under Blankenship. Ole Miss, HOuston and ARk are around and some west coast teams come here for a player or 2. Fedora didn't recruit N.O. like Bower did, but I expect Monken to be in N.O. hard real soon.
We don't recruit Texas anymore. We did well in DFW c. 2000, but once 12-0 wore off, and TCU and SMU and Houston improved, we were getting too much 1AA talent from Texas.
We are trying to recruit Miami, because of the HC's connections there. We also need JCs to plug holes, particularly on the lines as they come up. We will NEVER allow them if they were unqualified out of high school, which means we'll have to go to California to get them. We'll see if we do.

Just a few thoughts to build on what you've said (all of which is very insightful as usual):

1) Tulane's academic reputation is strongest amongst African American families in metro New Orleans, I think. It has tremendous pull in those living rooms. The cost of a Tulane education has made it seem inaccessible, but a Tulane degree is a status symbol in those communities, and I think this is particularly true in the river parishes south of BR. Im definitely generalizing, but a lot of the white families in Metairie and on the North Shore have a lot of resentment towards Tulane for perceived snobbery. Some of this is typical Old New Orleans provincialism, some of it can be traced to a complete failure by Tulane to stay connected to the local community in the wake of shifting to a more national university. At any rate, I don't think the same holds in the African American community, where Tulane still holds significant cache as a ticket to opportunity.

2) In the hands of the right local coach, the above is a powerful weapon. CJ is an African American from St. Charles, he has a great family, and a Saints ring on his finger. He can go into these living rooms as a role model for kids, leveraging Tulane's academic reputation. He also has the strong relationships with the local coaching community needed to make the sale on the football side. Finally, he can use the Miami story as a vision for Tulane. CJ is the perfect recruiter for our preset situation.

3) Staying close to one's family has always been a part of SE Louisiana culture, but even more so since Katrina, I think. These kids don't want to leave SE Louisiana if they don't have to. Tulane just never really bothered to try and reach out to local kids before.

To your last point, I'm not sure that JuCo kids who didn't qualify out of high school could ever really stay academically eligible at Tulane, friendly majors or not.

Whatever we are doing, it is working. A lot of the guys we expected to contribute as freshman last year had a major impact, and then some. While last year's big signings wee concentrated in the defensive backfield and at skill positions, this year they are clustered in our areas of need (LB, OL, DL). I think with a winning season this year, things could take off heading to the new league/new stadium in 2014.

I think it is a great idea...ECU has survived over the years on eastern NC that were not highly recruited. The eastern part of NC has a lot of small little high schools and many of the kids that play on these teams do not get evaluated thus there are a lot of "under the radar" kids.

I think the closer you can recruit to your campus the better. You do not have to worry about the kids getting home sick which Coach Logan used to say was a very big deal. Also the recruits family can come and watch them play very easily and be involved in the college experience with the players. I also think they will be able to create a strong family type bond because so many kids being from the same region. Also if you a getting a lot kids that were recruited by the bigger schools and end up at the "home region" school then you have a chance to build that chip on the shoulder us against the world attitude that can really help a program thrive.

Kind of OT, but what is the difference between a normal wave and a green wave?

There is definitely a synergy in recruiting in your footprint. Get 1 in one year and you've got a better chance to get another the next year at same school. Seems to also work with inner city AAU Basketball teams

(12-16-2012 04:17 PM)DrBox Wrote:  Jerald Honeycutt

Man I hated that SOB.

Still remember one of the rare times Tulane had a good team and Lousiville did not, and he called Louisville "a bunch of scrubs." That night Tulane got smashed, complete with Honeycut having an inbound pass stolen from him and him being dunked on, with becoming T-Bag recipient from one of those scrubs.

I agree with a lot being said about Tulane's academic rep and having a renewed interest in NO, etc. You got a whole lot of commits early on, but as recruiting starts heating up closer to signing day I have wondered if you will keep all these people. It was almost as if you threw out a big net and reeled in all these commits with the knowledge you needed volume as a counterweight to losses. I know ULL has a big interest in the NO area, and Tech has started hitting that area as well. You better hide your good ones, because you know how LSU and Ole Miss like to swoop in at the last minute and steal the ones they would rather have sit on their bench than than see the field for the rest of us.

Well we'll see. The better players you get commits from, the more you lose by signing day. Just have to deal with it.
And then getting summer commits is risky because you are taking a flyer on a good senior year. But you have to, now, or you'll miss out.
Tech always gets a few good players from N.O., but their heyday was when Joseph was on the staff. Who knows what Holz will do (maybe yall know).
ULL's a different animal. Not that they don't get good players - they do - but the late qualifiers and such we just aren't going to recruit. They've been doing well in South Central Louisiana. They have a great JC pipeline, get good transfers and, most of all, are impeccably coached (how has Hudspeth not been on anyone's short-list?).

(12-16-2012 05:15 PM)Bearcat_Bounce Wrote:  Kind of OT, but what is the difference between a normal wave and a green wave?

Interesting, but kind of a non-sequitir kind of question.

Though you might say we were a normal wave when y'all beat us three times on the gridiron, you would probably consider us a stronger wave the eleven times we beat y'all.

However, no matter what type of wave we have been (more of a ripple, lately) we have always been green.

I hope this helps you, Mr. Bear-cat.