It was interesting to see such a deep talent pool that included so many 2016 and 2017 prospects being pursued by Arizona State. It was also nice to meet with publishers from all over the nation and get feedback on the national perception of ASU, their staff, and their progress from fan bases far and wide. Publishers really have their finger on the pulse of what's going on.
Some observations-
The Notre Dame staff talked about fans being frustrated with the approach to recruiting DJ Morgan. They knew ND was at the top of his list, and they knew he was committing to ASU, and they had just seen him work out in person, and they still waited until after his commitment to extend an offer.
Current temperature of the UCLA fan base = confident. They believe if they want a prospect, they'll find a way to get him. The confidence in the staff to offer the right players and coach them up to the best of their ability isn't necessarily there, and they have a bit of a fatigue on Arizona prospects after watching Jalen Ortiz and Priest Willis underperform, Dionte Sykes and Javon Williams not qualify, Cassius Peat flip his commitment to Michigan State, and Christian Kirk choose A&M over them. Many also feel Kenny Lacy will never find his way into the starting rotation on the offensive line. They believe Josh Rosen is ready to pick up where Brett Hundley left off, and with a 5-1 record and a +/- margin of 81 against ASU and USC the last three seasons combined, they think Rosen can compete for a P12 South title immediately.
USC is still completely in their own bubble. They believe that the sanctions they faced were unduly harsh, and can combine those sanctions with Kiffin's reign to explain away the last several years. "We're back" is the theme for this season, and they believe Sark was as responsible for their offensive success in the Trojans' early 21st century heyday as Pete Carroll was. After all, the record with Sark on staff in either the HC or OC role is 55-10, and while he was at Washington they were 44-21. They aren't worried about ASU, U of A, UCLA or anyone else. They believe that any competition or adversity worth overcoming is all internal. So many of the kids they're recruiting right now already have USC connections, like CJ Pollard, Thomas Graham Jr and Keyshawn Jr that they think a lot of these kids are already locked up... but that's what they thought about Cordell Broadus.
Washington is in an interesting place. Some of the people I talked to said four Husky defenders getting taken in the first round really threw them for a loop. All of the sudden they started to wonder if they should have been better than they were, despite having accepted last year as a transition period devoid of QB talent. What it all came back to though was an overlying relief that Sarkisian is out of the program, and that Peterson is in charge of revamping the offense. What shocks people is some of the recruits that have expressed strong interest in Washington- I'm not sure Washington fans were anticipating Peterson's staff having as much success with top tier west coast recruits as they have. Ultimately, all they really care about is finding a QB with some poise and patience.
I talked to people associated with the Michigan and West Virginia sites. They said that in some ways, they miss having Rich Rod around. He seems to have a knack for recruiting skill position players, and the Michigan people pointed to Taylor Lewan as evidence that he can pull a worthy big guy or two. They also made a few references to this- which they are convinced is one of the the dumbest things a head coach has ever done.
Basically every publisher/staff member I talked to STILL brought up the Pitt thing when Todd Graham was mentioned. These are guys that are focused almost entirely on what's going on within the program they cover, so until ASU comes in and shows these schools what they're all about, they're going to harken back to the only national headlines that they've seen. One thing that was interesting was that when negative recruiting became the topic of conversation amongst publishers and prospects, it was more about the old-school nature of ASU's staff than anything else. Some players, including Thomas Graham Jr, said that when people bring up ASU, they tell him that he wouldn't want to go there because the staff is too tough on players. He wasn't the only one that said the idea of being pushed made him like ASU even more.
Some observations-
The Notre Dame staff talked about fans being frustrated with the approach to recruiting DJ Morgan. They knew ND was at the top of his list, and they knew he was committing to ASU, and they had just seen him work out in person, and they still waited until after his commitment to extend an offer.
Current temperature of the UCLA fan base = confident. They believe if they want a prospect, they'll find a way to get him. The confidence in the staff to offer the right players and coach them up to the best of their ability isn't necessarily there, and they have a bit of a fatigue on Arizona prospects after watching Jalen Ortiz and Priest Willis underperform, Dionte Sykes and Javon Williams not qualify, Cassius Peat flip his commitment to Michigan State, and Christian Kirk choose A&M over them. Many also feel Kenny Lacy will never find his way into the starting rotation on the offensive line. They believe Josh Rosen is ready to pick up where Brett Hundley left off, and with a 5-1 record and a +/- margin of 81 against ASU and USC the last three seasons combined, they think Rosen can compete for a P12 South title immediately.
USC is still completely in their own bubble. They believe that the sanctions they faced were unduly harsh, and can combine those sanctions with Kiffin's reign to explain away the last several years. "We're back" is the theme for this season, and they believe Sark was as responsible for their offensive success in the Trojans' early 21st century heyday as Pete Carroll was. After all, the record with Sark on staff in either the HC or OC role is 55-10, and while he was at Washington they were 44-21. They aren't worried about ASU, U of A, UCLA or anyone else. They believe that any competition or adversity worth overcoming is all internal. So many of the kids they're recruiting right now already have USC connections, like CJ Pollard, Thomas Graham Jr and Keyshawn Jr that they think a lot of these kids are already locked up... but that's what they thought about Cordell Broadus.
Washington is in an interesting place. Some of the people I talked to said four Husky defenders getting taken in the first round really threw them for a loop. All of the sudden they started to wonder if they should have been better than they were, despite having accepted last year as a transition period devoid of QB talent. What it all came back to though was an overlying relief that Sarkisian is out of the program, and that Peterson is in charge of revamping the offense. What shocks people is some of the recruits that have expressed strong interest in Washington- I'm not sure Washington fans were anticipating Peterson's staff having as much success with top tier west coast recruits as they have. Ultimately, all they really care about is finding a QB with some poise and patience.
I talked to people associated with the Michigan and West Virginia sites. They said that in some ways, they miss having Rich Rod around. He seems to have a knack for recruiting skill position players, and the Michigan people pointed to Taylor Lewan as evidence that he can pull a worthy big guy or two. They also made a few references to this- which they are convinced is one of the the dumbest things a head coach has ever done.
Basically every publisher/staff member I talked to STILL brought up the Pitt thing when Todd Graham was mentioned. These are guys that are focused almost entirely on what's going on within the program they cover, so until ASU comes in and shows these schools what they're all about, they're going to harken back to the only national headlines that they've seen. One thing that was interesting was that when negative recruiting became the topic of conversation amongst publishers and prospects, it was more about the old-school nature of ASU's staff than anything else. Some players, including Thomas Graham Jr, said that when people bring up ASU, they tell him that he wouldn't want to go there because the staff is too tough on players. He wasn't the only one that said the idea of being pushed made him like ASU even more.
Last edited:
