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I'm continually amazed at what has happened to our football recruiting to the University of Cincinnati! 247 team rankings from their web page for the AAC years...

40 2020
49 2018
60 2013
63 2017
65 2014
68 2015
74 2016
79 2019

The 2019 class was a bit of an outlier due to only 14 recruits [enrolled] compared to 20 in 2020 and 25 in 2018. Here are the classes ranked by avg. rating...

.8531 2020
.8443 2018
.8381 2019
.8270 2017
.8240 2013
.8197 2016
.8185 2015
.8125 2014

CLF has had higher avg. ratings for all years compared to the former regime. How high is the recruiting ceiling for Fick? Is the potential there to land a top 30 class?

For poops and giggles, Butch Jones' classes...

47 2011
51 2012
56 2010

Brian Kelly...

56 2009
87 2007
104 2008

Fickell is beginning to recruit on the level that Kelly was.

Combine that with coaching like when he coached Heupel into the ground... and he's got something special going on here.

(04-18-2020 12:25 PM)UCGrad1992 Wrote:  I'm continually amazed at what has happened to our football recruiting to the University of Cincinnati! 247 team rankings from their web page for the AAC years...

40 2020
49 2018
60 2013
63 2017
65 2014
68 2015
74 2016
79 2019

The 2019 class was a bit of an outlier due to only 14 recruits [enrolled] compared to 20 in 2020 and 25 in 2018. Here are the classes ranked by avg. rating...

.8531 2020
.8443 2018
.8381 2019
.8270 2017
.8240 2013
.8197 2016
.8185 2015
.8125 2014

CLF has had higher avg. ratings for all years compared to the former regime. How high is the recruiting ceiling for Fick? Is the potential there to land a top 30 class?

For poops and giggles, Butch Jones' classes...

47 2011
51 2012
56 2010

Brian Kelly...

56 2009
87 2007
104 2008

I remember, years ago, when the sporting news was still a magazine, it would rank the schools by production / record, vs. prior class rankings. it had UC at the top, due to what BK did with his and MD's kids. i think it was meant to be a reflection of which coaches / staffs did the best job of coaching their kids up

(04-18-2020 12:49 PM)Bear Catlett Wrote:  Fickell is beginning to recruit on the level that Kelly was.

Combine that with coaching like when he coached Heupel into the ground... and he's got something special going on here.

He's recruiting above what Kelly did. Kelly never had the depth Fickell has built, and also Kelly inherited quite a few good kids from Dantonio.

Fick and Co are recruiting at a level we have not seen at UC before. I do think a top 30 class is possible. We are already getting near that and if we can win the AAC and make it to a NY6 bowl and continue to have a couple of players make it to the NFL each year that will continue opening doors to recruits that we didn’t have a shot at in the past. We just have to continue our current trajectory and the future is bright.

How many of Butch's highly rated recruits made it to campus and contributed?

What HCLF has built so far and the way he has kept an impressive coaching staff together is the stuff statues are made from.

While Fick has obviously done well in a lot of things... He's got to get some semblance of QB play from both a recruiting and developmental stand point. Average rankings don't make up for Mauk, Collaros and Pike compared to Ridder.

That's why Fick is still #2 in my book at UC behind BK.

(04-18-2020 09:38 PM)cpawfan Wrote:  How many of Butch's highly rated recruits made it to campus and contributed?

What HCLF has built so far and the way he has kept an impressive coaching staff together is the stuff statues are made from.

Yep, it's tough to compare Kelly and Fickell because Kelly inherited a fair amount of guys who came up under Dantonio. To a certain extent, Fickell did get the benefit of some of TT's guys who were not well thought of initially but turned out once they got the needed experience to be very good players. However, i never thought Kelly or Jones developed near enough depth which really caught up with us. Judging by what we've seen the past couple years with young guys playing in large numbers, Fick's recruits appear to be much more ready contributors in numbers which you have to get to compete year in and year out.

(04-18-2020 09:39 PM)ucbrownsfan Wrote:  While Fick has obviously done well in a lot of things... He's got to get some semblance of QB play from both a recruiting and developmental stand point. Average rankings don't make up for Mauk, Collaros and Pike compared to Ridder.

That's why Fick is still #2 in my book at UC behind BK.

Ridder did not progress last year like we all hoped, no doubt. I have been one of the most vocal about them needing to give someone else a shot last year. That said, I do believe he was injured more than the media or fans realize and I’m willing to give him the benefit of the doubt going into this season.

I wont hold the QB play against Fick. I think they have recruited well at the QB position over the last 2-3 cycles. Remember Ridder was recruited by TT but signed with Fick. Fick also inherited a totally different program than Brian Kelly did. He basically had a total rebuild and in his second year won 11 games with a rFreshman QB. Then won 11 last year with an injured QB.

I think either coach would be a fine decision, but I think it was a much more difficult situation for Fick coming into a rebuild.

(04-18-2020 10:41 PM)C1ncy4Life Wrote:  

(04-18-2020 09:39 PM)ucbrownsfan Wrote:  While Fick has obviously done well in a lot of things... He's got to get some semblance of QB play from both a recruiting and developmental stand point. Average rankings don't make up for Mauk, Collaros and Pike compared to Ridder.

That's why Fick is still #2 in my book at UC behind BK.

Ridder did not progress last year like we all hoped, no doubt. I have been one of the most vocal about them needing to give someone else a shot last year. That said, I do believe he was injured more than the media or fans realize and I’m willing to give him the benefit of the doubt going into this season.

I wont hold the QB play against Fick. I think they have recruited well at the QB position over the last 2-3 cycles. Remember Ridder was recruited by TT but signed with Fick. Fick also inherited a totally different program than Brian Kelly did. He basically had a total rebuild and in his second year won 11 games with a rFreshman QB. Then won 11 last year with an injured QB.

I think either coach would be a fine decision, but I think it was a much more difficult situation for Fick coming into a rebuild.

We have:
SOPKO SR
RIDDER JR
BRYANT SO
LINDAUER FR
PRATER FR

Unless he gets a shot I would expect a talent like Bryant to transfer.

(04-19-2020 09:54 AM)doss2 Wrote:  

(04-18-2020 10:41 PM)C1ncy4Life Wrote:  

(04-18-2020 09:39 PM)ucbrownsfan Wrote:  While Fick has obviously done well in a lot of things... He's got to get some semblance of QB play from both a recruiting and developmental stand point. Average rankings don't make up for Mauk, Collaros and Pike compared to Ridder.

That's why Fick is still #2 in my book at UC behind BK.

Ridder did not progress last year like we all hoped, no doubt. I have been one of the most vocal about them needing to give someone else a shot last year. That said, I do believe he was injured more than the media or fans realize and I’m willing to give him the benefit of the doubt going into this season.

I wont hold the QB play against Fick. I think they have recruited well at the QB position over the last 2-3 cycles. Remember Ridder was recruited by TT but signed with Fick. Fick also inherited a totally different program than Brian Kelly did. He basically had a total rebuild and in his second year won 11 games with a rFreshman QB. Then won 11 last year with an injured QB.

I think either coach would be a fine decision, but I think it was a much more difficult situation for Fick coming into a rebuild.

We have:
SOPKO SR
RIDDER JR
BRYANT SO
LINDAUER FR
PRATER FR

Unless he gets a shot I would expect a talent like Bryant to transfer.

Has Cameron Jones finally switched positions? Always expects he would due to the logjam at QB and his potential at other positions.

I agree though and wouldn’t be surprised if Ben Bryant doesn’t look at a transfer at some point. Fick has talked about giving Ridder competition in Spring and Camp but I’m not sure how much of that is legit competition or just a way to push Ridder.

I just did a quick look and last year we were 40th with a total team score of 195. The number 30th team had a total team score of 212. We only took 22 players so if we would have taken 3-4 additional players we would have been in the top 30 last year. Some years the gap from 40 to 30 was even smaller.

If we continue to recruit like we are, it seems like a matter of time for us to have a full class of around 25 recruits and crack the top 30.

(04-18-2020 10:41 PM)C1ncy4Life Wrote:  I wont hold the QB play against Fick. I think they have recruited well at the QB position over the last 2-3 cycles. Remember Ridder was recruited by TT but signed with Fick. Fick also inherited a totally different program than Brian Kelly did. He basically had a total rebuild and in his second year won 11 games with a rFreshman QB. Then won 11 last year with an injured QB.

I think either coach would be a fine decision, but I think it was a much more difficult situation for Fick coming into a rebuild.

It's where Fick reminds me of a better Dantonio. Dantonio came up with a good team but stuck by Grutza for 2 years, B Kelly brought in Mauk on a transfer. Kelly fixed the most important problem in football the QB. We've got to see Fick do the same thing.

(04-19-2020 04:41 PM)C1ncy4Life Wrote:  

(04-19-2020 09:54 AM)doss2 Wrote:  

(04-18-2020 10:41 PM)C1ncy4Life Wrote:  

(04-18-2020 09:39 PM)ucbrownsfan Wrote:  While Fick has obviously done well in a lot of things... He's got to get some semblance of QB play from both a recruiting and developmental stand point. Average rankings don't make up for Mauk, Collaros and Pike compared to Ridder.

That's why Fick is still #2 in my book at UC behind BK.

Ridder did not progress last year like we all hoped, no doubt. I have been one of the most vocal about them needing to give someone else a shot last year. That said, I do believe he was injured more than the media or fans realize and I’m willing to give him the benefit of the doubt going into this season.

I wont hold the QB play against Fick. I think they have recruited well at the QB position over the last 2-3 cycles. Remember Ridder was recruited by TT but signed with Fick. Fick also inherited a totally different program than Brian Kelly did. He basically had a total rebuild and in his second year won 11 games with a rFreshman QB. Then won 11 last year with an injured QB.

I think either coach would be a fine decision, but I think it was a much more difficult situation for Fick coming into a rebuild.

We have:
SOPKO SR
RIDDER JR
BRYANT SO
LINDAUER FR
PRATER FR

Unless he gets a shot I would expect a talent like Bryant to transfer.

Has Cameron Jones finally switched positions? Always expects he would due to the logjam at QB and his potential at other positions.

I agree though and wouldn’t be surprised if Ben Bryant doesn’t look at a transfer at some point. Fick has talked about giving Ridder competition in Spring and Camp but I’m not sure how much of that is legit competition or just a way to push Ridder.

By the way, I was looking and confirmed that Cameron Jones is now listed as a Tight End on the Bearcats roster via the team site.

(04-20-2020 03:17 PM)C1ncy4Life Wrote:  By the way, I was looking and confirmed that Cameron Jones is now listed as a Tight End on the Bearcats roster via the team site.

All 6 foot 8 inches of him. Could turn out to be a diamond in the rough...

(04-20-2020 03:41 PM)UCGrad1992 Wrote:  

(04-20-2020 03:17 PM)C1ncy4Life Wrote:  By the way, I was looking and confirmed that Cameron Jones is now listed as a Tight End on the Bearcats roster via the team site.

All 6 foot 8 inches of him. Could turn out to be a diamond in the rough...

Could be a monster of a match-up if he has good hands. If he ever lines up next to Metz it would be an impressive looking wall...hopefully with few false starts this year. Metz is not projected as a starter currently; anyone think he might move to the defensive side sometime in the future?

Metz will only be a RS sophomore and most of his mistakes were mental IMO which is to be expected for such a young player, especially one with English as a 2nd language and a position change. The kid has tremendous NFL potential at the left or right tackle position, I think he stays at the OL. Regardless if Metz starts or not, he is gonna get a lot of playing time between OL and ST.

(04-20-2020 04:37 PM)UCbball21 Wrote:  Metz will only be a RS sophomore and most of his mistakes were mental IMO which is to be expected for such a young player, especially one with English as a 2nd language and a position change. The kid has tremendous NFL potential at the left or right tackle position, I think he stays at the OL. Regardless if Metz starts or not, he is gonna get a lot of playing time between OL and ST.

You also always need depth. Especially on the offensive line so I would be happy to have him as a swing tackle in the unfortunate case of an injury.

Metz made some mistakes, but he also showed his potential at times. Just needs to continue working and he still has a bright future IMO.

(04-20-2020 06:22 PM)C1ncy4Life Wrote:  

(04-20-2020 04:37 PM)UCbball21 Wrote:  Metz will only be a RS sophomore and most of his mistakes were mental IMO which is to be expected for such a young player, especially one with English as a 2nd language and a position change. The kid has tremendous NFL potential at the left or right tackle position, I think he stays at the OL. Regardless if Metz starts or not, he is gonna get a lot of playing time between OL and ST.

You also always need depth. Especially on the offensive line so I would be happy to have him as a swing tackle in the unfortunate case of an injury.

Metz made some mistakes, but he also showed his potential at times. Just needs to continue working and he still has a bright future IMO.

i wasn't focusing on him a ton but i thought the issue was pass blocking and pre-snap penalties. Thought when he was run blocking he was solid