Mornin Mates...
Today's Topic = Go Fish
That's what four-star QB recruit AJ Duffy told ASU when he chose the Noles over the Devils this past week, after a long recruitment, where he had apparently told the Devils, months ago, that he would chose them, becoming a "silent commitment" at that point...
The problem was that Duffy treated that apparent "silent commitment" as a way to enhance the drama surrounding his recruitment by repeatedly denying that he had committed to the Devils, even though ASU insiders insisted that he had told the Devils not to worry, as he would end up at ASU...
So, had the Devils gotten a "silent commitment" from the young man which led them to put all of their collective QB recruitment eggs in one basket, where there was not back-up plan in place, in case the "commitment" turned out to be a false positive..??
Maybe, the idea of a "silent commitment" is just a matter of semantics whereby the recruit and his family would say one thing while the Devils' insiders would say something else...
In any event, the Devils are now left scrambling to find a star QB recruit to replace Daniels when he decides to leave the program for the NFL, in the next year or two...
It's also pretty clear that Zak Hill and Herm want another dual-threat QB recruit to run our offense rather than a pure pocket type passer, as a dual-threat QB can make big plays with both their arm and their feet...
You cannot argue with that goal as long as you are not ignoring an Arron Rodgers or Andrew Luck type QB, who both elevated their respective programs - Rodgers at Cal and Luck at Stanford - before going to the NFL where they became stars...
This will be especially true if the Devils can continue to get a bunch of really good offensive linemen, outstanding running backs, gifted wide receivers and tight ends to come and play for Herm at ASU...
That said, we do not want to have to go fishing to secure a gifted QB prospect this late in the recruiting game, do we..??
Speaking of playing the game of Go Fish, I'm reminded of how many athletic directors we've had in the past that have played that game while our neighbors down here and at other schools don't seem to have to go fishing all the time like we do at ASU...
Ced Dempsey, who was the AD at AU from 1983 to 1993, seemed to have a pretty golden touch when it came to hiring athletic coaches that included Lute Olson in men's basketball, Mike Candrea in Softball, Dave Rubio in volleyball, Frank Busch in swimming, Joan Bonvicini in ladies basketball and Dick Tomey in football...
He had even convinced Earle Bruce, the head coach at Ohio St, to commit to replacing Larry Smith when he left for USC only to decide not to take the Cats job offer after he got back to Columbus...
The key here is that he didn't hire any duds that I'm aware of and several of his hires elevated their respective programs to national prominence in basketball, softball, swimming, and volleyball and all of the hires stayed in Tucson for well over a decade...
Lute coached for 25 years before retiring, Candrea is still coaching softball, as is Dave Rubio, while Bonvicini coached for 17 years, Busch coached for over 20 years, and Tomey coached for 14 years before being forced out, with no subsequent football coach coming close to what he was able to accomplish at the school since then...
Now look at what has gone on at ASU over the years and you can see that the Devils have been playing Go Fish on a regular basis, particularly in the Big Three sports...football, basketball and more recently baseball...
And, I ask, what does that say about our athletic leadership compared to many other programs in the country..??
Are we just hiring ADs that use a draw by numbers - Go Fish - coloring book to make important hires or are they just very inept when it comes to having a vision and the savvy and moxie to to make that vision a reality, like Ced Dempsey did at AU..??
On another note, here's hoping our baseball team completes a sweep of Rhode Island and that we can win enough the remainder of the season to finish in the upper-half of the PAC, where most of us think the Devils belong, all of the time...
If not, maybe ASU will have to play Go Fish, once again, with our baseball program, although I'm sure that Ray will be loath to do so, since he's already gone fishing once for the right baseball coach that, unfortunately, has lead to more bad losses than good wins during his career, so far, at ASU...
Well, that's my two cents this beautiful Sunday in the desert...
I await your great feedback, as always...
G'day Mates and Go Devils!!!
Today's Topic = Go Fish
That's what four-star QB recruit AJ Duffy told ASU when he chose the Noles over the Devils this past week, after a long recruitment, where he had apparently told the Devils, months ago, that he would chose them, becoming a "silent commitment" at that point...
The problem was that Duffy treated that apparent "silent commitment" as a way to enhance the drama surrounding his recruitment by repeatedly denying that he had committed to the Devils, even though ASU insiders insisted that he had told the Devils not to worry, as he would end up at ASU...
So, had the Devils gotten a "silent commitment" from the young man which led them to put all of their collective QB recruitment eggs in one basket, where there was not back-up plan in place, in case the "commitment" turned out to be a false positive..??
Maybe, the idea of a "silent commitment" is just a matter of semantics whereby the recruit and his family would say one thing while the Devils' insiders would say something else...
In any event, the Devils are now left scrambling to find a star QB recruit to replace Daniels when he decides to leave the program for the NFL, in the next year or two...
It's also pretty clear that Zak Hill and Herm want another dual-threat QB recruit to run our offense rather than a pure pocket type passer, as a dual-threat QB can make big plays with both their arm and their feet...
You cannot argue with that goal as long as you are not ignoring an Arron Rodgers or Andrew Luck type QB, who both elevated their respective programs - Rodgers at Cal and Luck at Stanford - before going to the NFL where they became stars...
This will be especially true if the Devils can continue to get a bunch of really good offensive linemen, outstanding running backs, gifted wide receivers and tight ends to come and play for Herm at ASU...
That said, we do not want to have to go fishing to secure a gifted QB prospect this late in the recruiting game, do we..??
Speaking of playing the game of Go Fish, I'm reminded of how many athletic directors we've had in the past that have played that game while our neighbors down here and at other schools don't seem to have to go fishing all the time like we do at ASU...
Ced Dempsey, who was the AD at AU from 1983 to 1993, seemed to have a pretty golden touch when it came to hiring athletic coaches that included Lute Olson in men's basketball, Mike Candrea in Softball, Dave Rubio in volleyball, Frank Busch in swimming, Joan Bonvicini in ladies basketball and Dick Tomey in football...
He had even convinced Earle Bruce, the head coach at Ohio St, to commit to replacing Larry Smith when he left for USC only to decide not to take the Cats job offer after he got back to Columbus...
The key here is that he didn't hire any duds that I'm aware of and several of his hires elevated their respective programs to national prominence in basketball, softball, swimming, and volleyball and all of the hires stayed in Tucson for well over a decade...
Lute coached for 25 years before retiring, Candrea is still coaching softball, as is Dave Rubio, while Bonvicini coached for 17 years, Busch coached for over 20 years, and Tomey coached for 14 years before being forced out, with no subsequent football coach coming close to what he was able to accomplish at the school since then...
Now look at what has gone on at ASU over the years and you can see that the Devils have been playing Go Fish on a regular basis, particularly in the Big Three sports...football, basketball and more recently baseball...
And, I ask, what does that say about our athletic leadership compared to many other programs in the country..??
Are we just hiring ADs that use a draw by numbers - Go Fish - coloring book to make important hires or are they just very inept when it comes to having a vision and the savvy and moxie to to make that vision a reality, like Ced Dempsey did at AU..??
On another note, here's hoping our baseball team completes a sweep of Rhode Island and that we can win enough the remainder of the season to finish in the upper-half of the PAC, where most of us think the Devils belong, all of the time...
If not, maybe ASU will have to play Go Fish, once again, with our baseball program, although I'm sure that Ray will be loath to do so, since he's already gone fishing once for the right baseball coach that, unfortunately, has lead to more bad losses than good wins during his career, so far, at ASU...
Well, that's my two cents this beautiful Sunday in the desert...
I await your great feedback, as always...
G'day Mates and Go Devils!!!
