(03-24-2023 06:44 PM)Dog Fan Wrote:  

(03-24-2023 06:21 PM)CoachPMac Wrote:  

(03-24-2023 05:46 PM)Rabid Squirrel Wrote:  

(03-24-2023 05:20 PM)CoachPMac Wrote:  

(03-24-2023 04:45 PM)chihuskie Wrote:  Interesting. Though, it must be said, there are a lot of other factors besides just recruiting physically talented players. Where is their head, how are they coached, how do they develop, what schemes do they play in, who are the opponents, how do injuries affect the team. Those are just a few other factors. Some are under the control or at least influence of the head coach, and others only s lightly or even not at all.

We could also add culture, NIL, facilities, academics, training staff, etc, etc, etc. In the end it’s simple. The more dynamic and explosive players that are recruited the better chance of success. From there the players need to be developed. Everything else is an excuse of why the team or program isn’t winning. Only so many “diamond in the rough” type players can be in each class before there’s mostly just “rough” left.

While I adamantly agree with what you're saying as far as NIU's recruiting, the "diamonds" are usually a bit of luck. Many of the greatest NIU players looked like nothing in their recruit class. I'd argue most MAC teams are comprised of the same talent for roughly 80% of their starters. It's those 20% of remaining players that become diamonds that make the difference btw winning and losing. NIU's issue is that it has found zero diamonds on D. Zero. And it's crippling. Those star players elevate everyone. A great rush end from one side helps free up the rusher on the other side. A great cover corner can force a QB to look mostly in one direction. Etc.

That being said, is NIU's inability to find diamonds on D rooted in Hammocks recruiting philosophy? Is he going after the wrong type players in terms of high athletic upside vs established size? Maybe. Has he recruited a diamond but not found the right position or scheme? Maybe. At this point our best bet is Hammock just dumb lucks his way into finding a Sutton Smith or Shawn Lurry.

Good questions. Without diving into schemes, which could open another can of worms, I’m going to stick to just recruiting in our discussion. As far as MAC recruiting goes, Ive gone through and watched every MAC 2023 commit highlight film. I work for one of the recruiting companies and have done my best to make sure every MAC player has a rating. (Although that is an upside battle at times.) I always watch the film first and then look at offers and stars second. When I say explosive and dynamic, I mean some guys jump off the film (or in person) and it’s easy to tell they are FBS caliber players. There were a number of players in NIU’s 2023 class that I had a hard time figuring out if they were actually offered or if they were PWOs. Too many players in this class had offers only from NIU. Or NIU beat only FCS schools for their commitment. Will a few of those guys pan out? Absolutely. But while other schools are stacking explosive players in this year’s class, or class on class, it’s going to be hard for NIU to compete on the field.

I haven’t paid as close attention to what NIU has done in the portal until this past year so correct me if I’m wrong, but Hammock has not hit on a high percentage of game changers, nor has he done the best job of keeping all of his top talent. Every team will lose someone they don’t want to lose, but it needs to be minimized.

Yes, this sort of echoes what people on this board are saying. But, now we are hearing it from an outside professional source in the business. Thank you for your comments.

The bottom line is that our recruiting sucks. We saw prior year recruiting deficiencies last year when some of our key players went down and had to be replaced with less than mediocre talent. The talent we have is just not deep. And, IMO, no one really stands out in this year’s recruiting. So, again, all we have is hope, but that is wearing thin.

You hit the nail on the head. Depth is where the lack of top end recruiting will show up. Last year is a good example and I think it will be magnified this year. In no way am I saying NIU is at Akron’s 2021 talent level, but if the staff can’t pick up some steam on the recruiting trail (and keep the best players out of the portal) winning games will soon become very difficult.