Schneider might be a long snapper.

(01-20-2017 10:35 AM)NiuFootballfan Wrote:  Some predictions from me:
1. I think we lose Davyion Nixon to either Purdue or Iowa (visiting Purdue next weekend)
2. I think we lose Nate Weiland to Iowa (visiting Iowa this weekend, I believe)
3. I think Tyrice Richie is also up in the air, it wouldn't surprise me if we lost him either

Hoping you are absolutely wrong... This would not be good.

Losing the few top recruits we have would further cement why Carey should no longer be our head coach.

Ball State just landed a commitment from a highly rated WR that was previously committed to Western Kentucky with multiple P5 offers. Ratings are always subjective but to me the biggest concern with NIU's recruiting is that they seem to be losing ground in the MAC West. As it stands right now, NIU is 5th out of 6 teams in the West with only Eastern Michigan trailing. There are some nice prospects in this class but the other MAC teams seem much more active on the recruiting trail right now and seem to be winning a lot of recruiting battles down the stretch.

(01-20-2017 11:55 AM)HuskieTap22 Wrote:  Ratings are always subjective but to me the biggest concern with NIU's recruiting is that they seem to be losing ground in the MAC West. As it stands right now, NIU is 5th out of 6 teams in the West with only Eastern Michigan trailing.

I'm assuming you are looking at Rivals and their grade averages for each class? Kent State is 3rd highest in the MAC and they are at 2.14...NIU is at 2.11. Do you really think that the average 0.03 difference in grade is going to dictate how these classes turn out? Do you honestly think Rivals or any other talent evaluators that spend time on the MAC are THAT good? Stop looking at grades and rankings. If anything you might be able to look at what other offers the guy has...but even that can be misleading (Deion Hallmon, Jamal Womble, etc).

(01-20-2017 12:04 PM)armour248 Wrote:  

(01-20-2017 11:55 AM)HuskieTap22 Wrote:  

I'm assuming you are looking at Rivals and their grade averages for each class? Kent State is 3rd highest in the MAC and they are at 2.14...NIU is at 2.11. Do you really think that the average 0.03 difference in grade is going to dictate how these classes turn out? Do you honestly think Rivals or any other talent evaluators that spend time on the MAC are THAT good? Stop looking at grades and rankings. If anything you might be able to look at what other offers the guy has...but even that can be misleading (Deion Hallmon, Jamal Womble, etc).

I was actually look at 247 as Rivals barely covers MAC teams these days. My focus though was mostly on what other offers the commits had and who these MAC schools are beating out for these guys. I get the ratings argument but it is pretty clear these other MAC schools are doing something different than NIU on the recruiting trail.

If you want to argue that every class NIU signs is loaded with talent and the best in the MAC, feel free. Realistically though I think you need to be conscious of what other programs are doing to improve their rosters as it seems the MAC West has really stepped it up in recent weeks on the recruiting front.

I care less about how they are rated and more about what other offers they have. We seem to still be recruiting kids with 1-AA offers or maybe 1 or 2 1-A offers. We rarely get players who have P5 offers. This program should be able to beat out Purdue, Syracuse, and other low level P5 schools for recruits. If not, then we will never get to that next level of play. You can only win so much with low level recruits. We don't currently have a coach that is capable of making up for recruiting defecencies.

I could care less about all the previous walk-ons and players that only had an NIU offer and turned out to be great players. Jordan Lynch, Chandler Harnish, Chad Spann, etc. are the exceptions not the rule. We also had better coaching staffs when we had those players. I have little faith in the current head coach to get more out of players.

I don't imagine coaches chase rankings. But more so players with attributes they like. The foundation of NIUs success was built on some of worst ranked classes from 2007 - 2012. Non higher than 6th best in that period. You have to believe they have a system in place and it's been working for the most part. I'll mention this one more time .... 16 of the 22 starters for the 13-1 Broncos were 2 or lower star recruits.

(01-20-2017 11:10 AM)NIU05 Wrote:  

(01-20-2017 10:35 AM)NiuFootballfan Wrote:  Some predictions from me:
1. I think we lose Davyion Nixon to either Purdue or Iowa (visiting Purdue next weekend)
2. I think we lose Nate Weiland to Iowa (visiting Iowa this weekend, I believe)
3. I think Tyrice Richie is also up in the air, it wouldn't surprise me if we lost him either

Hoping you are absolutely wrong... This would not be good.

I think Nixon is the one recruit we can't lose out of the rest of the class.

(01-20-2017 12:34 PM)Rabid Squirrel Wrote:  I don't imagine coaches chase rankings. But more so players with attributes they like. The foundation of NIUs success was built on some of worst ranked classes from 2007 - 2012. Non higher than 6th best in that period. You have to believe they have a system in place and it's been working for the most part. I'll mention this one more time .... 16 of the 22 starters for the 13-1 Broncos were 2 or lower star recruits.

Our foundation was also built on excellent coaching, which it seems we may have lost.

(01-20-2017 01:27 PM)DogPoundNorth Wrote:  

(01-20-2017 12:34 PM)Rabid Squirrel Wrote:  I don't imagine coaches chase rankings. But more so players with attributes they like. The foundation of NIUs success was built on some of worst ranked classes from 2007 - 2012. Non higher than 6th best in that period. You have to believe they have a system in place and it's been working for the most part. I'll mention this one more time .... 16 of the 22 starters for the 13-1 Broncos were 2 or lower star recruits.

Our foundation was also built on excellent coaching, which it seems we may have lost.

That is unfortunately true. And so important when you are dealing with players who don't have every physical advantage over their peers. You have to put those 2star guys in the best position to succeed. This staff has not done that. I dont think our talent has dropped off, but our execution has.

I think Richie has been undecided for a long time. We and the rest of the MAC rarely keep a player after he gets a Big ten or other P5 offer. The kids who list P5 offers, unless they are relatively new, probably don't still have those offers .

As far as playing time goes Richie couldn't ask for a better situation than NIU. He could play this fall. We need receivers badly.

(01-20-2017 03:09 PM)NIU1981 Wrote:  As far as playing time goes Richie couldn't ask for a better situation than NIU. He could play this fall. We need receivers badly.

It's all about opportunity. Didn't Brady sit on the bench for a few years because they had a talented upperclassmen in front of him? Well that is not the case here at WR. We should have some playing time for new WR recruits.

Sent from my SM-G920P using Tapatalk

(01-20-2017 03:09 PM)NIU1981 Wrote:  As far as playing time goes Richie couldn't ask for a better situation than NIU. He could play this fall. We need receivers badly.

All three would be a big loss but realistically can afford. Richie would be the worst to lose IMO not only because the position is thin and really can't see any soon to be studs, but he looks like he can contribute significantly right away.

(01-20-2017 08:18 PM)Suptroop Wrote:  

(01-20-2017 03:09 PM)NIU1981 Wrote:  As far as playing time goes Richie couldn't ask for a better situation than NIU. He could play this fall. We need receivers badly.

All three would be a big loss but realistically can afford. Richie would be the worst to lose IMO not only because the position is thin and really can't see any soon to be studs, but he looks like he can contribute significantly right away.

We also thought Spencer Tears would produce right away. It's not that easy to come in as a Freshman and play.

(01-20-2017 01:41 PM)Rabid Squirrel Wrote:  

(01-20-2017 01:27 PM)DogPoundNorth Wrote:  

(01-20-2017 12:34 PM)Rabid Squirrel Wrote:  I don't imagine coaches chase rankings. But more so players with attributes they like. The foundation of NIUs success was built on some of worst ranked classes from 2007 - 2012. Non higher than 6th best in that period. You have to believe they have a system in place and it's been working for the most part. I'll mention this one more time .... 16 of the 22 starters for the 13-1 Broncos were 2 or lower star recruits.

Our foundation was also built on excellent coaching, which it seems we may have lost.

That is unfortunately true. And so important when you are dealing with players who don't have every physical advantage over their peers. You have to put those 2star guys in the best position to succeed. This staff has not done that. I don't think our talent has dropped off, but our execution has.

Our strength and physicality has dropped off. It's been trending that way since Jerry Kill left. It wasn't obvious until the guys that came of age in Kill's program left, and then Lynch covered up a lot just by himself. It hasn't been the priority it needs to be in years.

Think we were just lucky for years in not suffering injuries and now unlucky? Nope. We're getting hit harder than we're hitting now.

Every football coach thinks they emphasize physicality. Some coaches talk the talk while others walk the walk.

(01-20-2017 08:34 PM)BDB5yp Wrote:  

(01-20-2017 08:18 PM)Suptroop Wrote:  

(01-20-2017 03:09 PM)NIU1981 Wrote:  As far as playing time goes Richie couldn't ask for a better situation than NIU. He could play this fall. We need receivers badly.

All three would be a big loss but realistically can afford. Richie would be the worst to lose IMO not only because the position is thin and really can't see any soon to be studs, but he looks like he can contribute significantly right away.

We also thought Spencer Tears would produce right away. It's not that easy to come in as a Freshman and play.

Correct. But hypothetically speaking the skill position is more likely to play right away in comparison to lineman, qb or even backer. There's typically two or three every year that burn their shirts. But this year is a bit different than last. They had a good starting round of wrs. Unlike this upcoming year where there are only question marks. You would think there would be more effort put into richies early development than they did with tears.

Doesn't mean anything but our receivers are arguably the biggest concern.

@Mac_crootin: 3-star QB Nate Wieland, current NIU commit, tells us that he is NOT visiting Iowa this weekend.

(01-21-2017 11:08 AM)DogPoundNorth Wrote:  @Mac_crootin: 3-star QB Nate Wieland, current NIU commit, tells us that he is NOT visiting Iowa this weekend.

Rob Howe
‏@RobHoweHN

City High's Nate Wieland canceled this weekend's Iowa official. Committed to NIU & Huskies staff doesn't want pledges visiting other schools