(06-19-2018 10:40 PM)elw4796 Wrote:  Also, in a kind of weird twist, McKel Broussard has somehow been upgraded on 247 to a high-3* in the last couple of days. He's now ranked as the 133rd player in the country, which I'm assuming is some kind of mistake (??). If not, we seem to have a legit chance at landing a top-200 recruit.

He was a 4 star this morning so...

http://attheroost.com/2018/06/19/owls-ta...it-future/

Probably end up as a cornerback at UCLA

(06-15-2018 11:35 AM)westsidewolf1989 Wrote:  

(06-15-2018 10:47 AM)ExcitedOwl18 Wrote:  

(06-15-2018 10:44 AM)cr11owl Wrote:  

(06-15-2018 10:40 AM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  

(06-15-2018 10:25 AM)ExcitedOwl18 Wrote:  Miles Lester told him that Rice people never get good jobs in business since we don’t have a major.

Milles may personally believe that, but it's an absurd comment. A business undergraduate major will make you no more attractive to prospective employers than any other BA or BS degree, and probably worse off. Just my perspective having worked 25+ years in the financial services industry.

It was a joke I think, everyone who’s graduated know majoring in business in undergrad doesn’t mean anything.

Yes, I meant it tongue-in-cheek.

You were joking, but would be funny if it were true, since UCLA has no undergraduate business program.

Since Pete Lembo's name has been brought up in this thread I thought I'd post this article here. It's about his special team philosophy and organization...

http://insider.afca.com/the-best-special...ganization

For those who have not yet had the opportunity to meet Coach Lembo, his energy, enthusiasm and wear-it-on-the-sleeve passion is off-the-charts and contagious.

Looks like we got a commitment today from LB Garrett Braden of New Canaan, Connecticut.

(06-20-2018 05:35 PM)RiceFootball2K5 Wrote:  Looks like we got a commitment today from LB Garrett Braden of New Canaan, Connecticut.

Yup, offers from Kent State and lots of FCS schools.

Bunch of Rice targets off the board the last week or two:

3* DE Sulaiman Kpaka (Purdue)
3* DE Peter Mpagi (Texas)
NR CB Adrian Cole (Syracuse)
3* WR DK Blaylock (Iowa State)
NR DE Raquan Thompson (Tulsa)
NR DE Tony Bradford (Texas Tech)
NR DT Kane Bradford (Arizona)
3* CB Stanley Livingstone (San Jose State)

I just love the word "commitment" because it's nothing of the kind. Also, the "targets" will be moving steadily from 3* to 2* to 1* to NR, as schools that are in real conferences begin to offer those individuals.

(06-25-2018 12:22 AM)WRCisforgotten79 Wrote:  I just love the word "commitment" because it's nothing of the kind. Also, the "targets" will be moving steadily from 3* to 2* to 1* to NR, as schools that are in real conferences begin to offer those individuals.

I just love your enthusiasm. We need more on this site like you (sarcasm).

Perhaps you could at least give the new coach and his staff until signing day to see where we end up?

(06-25-2018 03:40 AM)Papa_Owl Wrote:  

(06-25-2018 12:22 AM)WRCisforgotten79 Wrote:  I just love the word "commitment" because it's nothing of the kind. Also, the "targets" will be moving steadily from 3* to 2* to 1* to NR, as schools that are in real conferences begin to offer those individuals.

I just love your enthusiasm. We need more on this site like you (sarcasm).
Perhaps you could at least give the new coach and his staff until signing day to see where we end up?

I'd be more interested in giving them until November to see where we are going on the field. If we show some real progress on the field--and I expect we will--then the recruiting trail gets easier.

To paraphrase Jim Bowden, "Recruits are cool. Wins are cooler."

(06-25-2018 05:55 AM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  

(06-25-2018 03:40 AM)Papa_Owl Wrote:  

(06-25-2018 12:22 AM)WRCisforgotten79 Wrote:  I just love the word "commitment" because it's nothing of the kind. Also, the "targets" will be moving steadily from 3* to 2* to 1* to NR, as schools that are in real conferences begin to offer those individuals.

I just love your enthusiasm. We need more on this site like you (sarcasm).
Perhaps you could at least give the new coach and his staff until signing day to see where we end up?

I'd be more interested in giving them until November to see where we are going on the field. If we show some real progress on the field--and I expect we will--then the recruiting trail gets easier.

To paraphrase Jim Bowden, "Recruits are cool. Wins are cooler."

And to paraphrase Wooderson:
"Hey man, you have any wins?"
"No"
"It'd be a lot cooler if you did...."

After the turmoil of the last eleven years, enthusiasm and optimism is understandable. Bloom certainly talks the talk, and that is good. But I also want to wait until November to see if he walks the walk. Every August, somebody here starts a thread on predicting the outcome of the season, in wins and postseason play. It will be interesting to see those predictions this year. Personally, I am more interested in learning what level of success will be adequate for posters here to be satisfied with the job done.

As for the recruiting, it has been a constant as long as I remember that we offer 3* and better early, and as that pool thins through commitments, we offer more and more 2* and NR. That seems to be the pattern again. Personally, I don't care much how recruiting classes are ranked. I care how they perform on the field. If Bloom can coach up a 2* to play like a 4*, that more than satisfies me.

(06-25-2018 08:06 AM)Middle Ages Wrote:  

(06-25-2018 05:55 AM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  

(06-25-2018 03:40 AM)Papa_Owl Wrote:  

(06-25-2018 12:22 AM)WRCisforgotten79 Wrote:  I just love the word "commitment" because it's nothing of the kind. Also, the "targets" will be moving steadily from 3* to 2* to 1* to NR, as schools that are in real conferences begin to offer those individuals.

I just love your enthusiasm. We need more on this site like you (sarcasm).
Perhaps you could at least give the new coach and his staff until signing day to see where we end up?

I'd be more interested in giving them until November to see where we are going on the field. If we show some real progress on the field--and I expect we will--then the recruiting trail gets easier.

To paraphrase Jim Bowden, "Recruits are cool. Wins are cooler."

And to paraphrase Wooderson:
"Hey man, you have any wins?"
"No"
"It'd be a lot cooler if you did...."

Totally agree with you. If the team doesn’t notch 4-5 wins this year, then the job of locking down recruits will remain tough. I’d just like to see more people on this site be a bit more optimistic until the new coaching staff has had some run time. If the wins don’t come, then fire away.

(06-25-2018 08:34 AM)Papa_Owl Wrote:  

(06-25-2018 08:06 AM)Middle Ages Wrote:  

(06-25-2018 05:55 AM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  

(06-25-2018 03:40 AM)Papa_Owl Wrote:  

(06-25-2018 12:22 AM)WRCisforgotten79 Wrote:  I just love the word "commitment" because it's nothing of the kind. Also, the "targets" will be moving steadily from 3* to 2* to 1* to NR, as schools that are in real conferences begin to offer those individuals.

I just love your enthusiasm. We need more on this site like you (sarcasm).
Perhaps you could at least give the new coach and his staff until signing day to see where we end up?

I'd be more interested in giving them until November to see where we are going on the field. If we show some real progress on the field--and I expect we will--then the recruiting trail gets easier.

To paraphrase Jim Bowden, "Recruits are cool. Wins are cooler."

And to paraphrase Wooderson:
"Hey man, you have any wins?"
"No"
"It'd be a lot cooler if you did...."

Totally agree with you. If the team doesn’t notch 4-5 wins this year, then the job of locking down recruits will remain tough. I’d just like to see more people on this site be a bit more optimistic until the new coaching staff has had some run time. If the wins don’t come, then fire away.

Let's just say I am cautiously optimistic.

Eyeballing it ---- going to say

2 expected wins (UTEP, PV)
4 expected losses (UH, Wake Forest, La Tech, LSU)

3 'light' toss ups --- have a chance if the cookie crumbles correctly. In other words -- beatable, but a Rice team on the bad side of expectations wont (Southern Miss., UAB, North Texas)
4 toss ups --- could go either way (Hawaii, UTSA, FIU, ODU)

Think on this I would expect at least 4 wins, maybe 5. 6 I'd be happy. 7 I'd be really happy.

As for what would make me happy:

Last two seasons I observed a Rice team that probably could be beaten by a good 1-5A team. The differences in mental preparedness and sharpness were drastic between the Rice teams I saw in person (and on broadcast) and, for example, Lake Travis or Westlake, during the same period. I really felt that the high school teams above played sharper, smarter football.

For this year, I would be happy to see a Rice team that I fundamentally feel plays with the mental wherewithal better than a good high school team, and showed that as a team can adjust. The coaches need to show that they can analyze and make in-game adjustments, and the players need to show that they can understand and execute those adjustments.

The Rice football games I observed in person in the last two years seemed to remind me of my obese friend in high school who halfway could somewhat swim, but only begrudgingly. The teams I saw, for the lack of a better verb, wallowed. The online broadcasts I saw were equivalent. The worst was the Stanford? game in which the announcers actually made fun of the Rice football program (much in the same manner we described my friend swimming....)

If a Rice program can show that mental acuity and just not be mistaken for Private Pyle running the obstacle course in Full Metal Jacket, that would be a serious step for me. But, making that step from Private Pyle in the obstacle course to Private Rico in Starship Troopers running the obstacle course should result in 4-6 wins. So what will make me happy in what I see in a Rice football program should tend to to make me happy in the win column as somewhat of a matter of course.

This isn’t meant as a shot at you Tanq, but a 1-11 Rice team would beat even the best high school teams by embarrassing margins.

However, don’t take that to mean that those teams aren’t well prepared and coached.

(06-25-2018 03:36 PM)ExcitedOwl18 Wrote:  This isn’t meant as a shot at you Tanq, but a 1-11 Rice team would beat even the best high school teams by embarrassing margins.

However, don’t take that to mean that those teams aren’t well prepared and coached.

Also UNT might win the west...

(06-25-2018 03:26 PM)tanqtonic Wrote:  Eyeballing it ---- going to say
2 expected wins (UTEP, PV)
4 expected losses (UH, Wake Forest, La Tech, LSU)
3 'light' toss ups --- have a chance if the cookie crumbles correctly. In other words -- beatable, but a Rice team on the bad side of expectations wont (Southern Miss., UAB, North Texas)
4 toss ups --- could go either way (Hawaii, UTSA, FIU, ODU)
Think on this I would expect at least 4 wins, maybe 5. 6 I'd be happy. 7 I'd be really happy.
As for what would make me happy:
Last two seasons I observed a Rice team that probably could be beaten by a good 1-5A team. The differences in mental preparedness and sharpness were drastic between the Rice teams I saw in person (and on broadcast) and, for example, Lake Travis or Westlake, during the same period. I really felt that the high school teams above played sharper, smarter football.
For this year, I would be happy to see a Rice team that I fundamentally feel plays with the mental wherewithal better than a good high school team, and showed that as a team can adjust. The coaches need to show that they can analyze and make in-game adjustments, and the players need to show that they can understand and execute those adjustments.
The Rice football games I observed in person in the last two years seemed to remind me of my obese friend in high school who halfway could somewhat swim, but only begrudgingly. The teams I saw, for the lack of a better verb, wallowed. The online broadcasts I saw were equivalent. The worst was the Stanford? game in which the announcers actually made fun of the Rice football program (much in the same manner we described my friend swimming....)
If a Rice program can show that mental acuity and just not be mistaken for Private Pyle running the obstacle course in Full Metal Jacket, that would be a serious step for me. But, making that step from Private Pyle in the obstacle course to Private Rico in Starship Troopers running the obstacle course should result in 4-6 wins. So what will make me happy in what I see in a Rice football program should tend to to make me happy in the win column as somewhat of a matter of course.

Rice's last two football teams would beat pretty much any HS team on talent alone. But poor preparation could, and in many cases possibly would, have made the margin a lot smaller than it should have been.

Otherwise I'm pretty much with you. I am going to put a lot more stock in su subjective rather than objective measures. If this team looks like they found a bunch of guys grilling brats in the parking lot and asked them if they wanted to play in the game (which ours looked like on more than one occasion) then I'm going to be very disappointed. If it looks like an intensely prepared football squad that squeezes every ounce of talent out, then I will be pretty happy.

The last time we changed coaches after a 1-win season, we went to a bowl, against a much tougher schedule than we face this fall. I think that's in the realm of possibility if the preparation change is comparable.

Zach Hoban, K from Seton Hall Prep in NJ, has committed.

Also had an offer from Army.

(06-27-2018 01:06 PM)ExcitedOwl18 Wrote:  Zach Hoban, K from Seton Hall Prep in NJ, has committed.

Also had an offer from Army.

From his twitter feed, he won the FG competition and the 'best kicker' award at the Rice camp - and 9 days later won the FG and kickoff competition at the Colorado camp.

(06-27-2018 04:22 PM)NYNightOwl Wrote:  

(06-27-2018 01:06 PM)ExcitedOwl18 Wrote:  Zach Hoban, K from Seton Hall Prep in NJ, has committed.

Also had an offer from Army.

From his twitter feed, he won the FG competition and the 'best kicker' award at the Rice camp - and 9 days later won the FG and kickoff competition at the Colorado camp.

Looks like he can bomb kickoffs. Averaged 75+ yards at a couple camps in addition to the FG awards you mentioned.