Mornin Mates...
Today's Topic = NFL or Bust
As we all know, the NFL draft is coming up this week and is in competition with the NIL pay-for-play deal these days, where college recruits and players can get paid by sponsors for their Name, Image and Likeness promotional endeavors on behalf of each sponsor or sponsors in the business community...
This has opened a Pandora's Box of mischief that some schools and conferences see as a tool with which to entice and/or poach recruits or players from the HS, Junior College or established college ranks in a perfectly legal fashion...
Taken together with the transfer portal, that allows for immediate eligibility, players can now seek to improve their financial and/or playing prospects, at the same time, and there is nothing that schools can do about it...
ASU has chosen, apparently, at least for the time being, not to enter into an NIL competition with other programs but, rather, continue to leverage the NFL model that both our AD, Ray Anderson, and our head coach, Herm Edwards, have developed for our Sun Devil football program since Ray hired Herm five years ago...
Unfortunately, for our Sun Devils, our starting QB, best WR and a FR AA LB have chosen to transfer to other schools based, at least in significant part, on their desire to earn more in NIL deals than what they could or would receive at ASU...
Our rivals down south put together a Top 20 recruiting class this past cycle (according to Rivals) and have also gotten some quality transfers to come to Tucson, while recognizing the value of working within the business community to create NIL "collectives" such as the Friends of Wilbur and Wilma Collective and the Arizona Assist Club...
Meanwhile, in Tempe, due in great part to the ongoing NCAA investigation of the Sun Devils football program, the Devils recruiting has been forced to rely on the transfer portal for players but without an established NIL collective in place, as far as I know, to enhance that opportunity for Sun Devil players...
I don't know if that is like competing against other teams with one-hand tied behind the back, when it comes to recruiting, but it sure looks like it to me...
We all like it when we get a new player through the transfer portal but are we getting the same quality of players, that we are losing, in return..??
So far, as best that I can tell, most of our new transfers were either back-ups and/or came from non-P-5 conferences, like those in the Group of Five Conferences, that includes the Mountain West Conference, etc...
We've lost our three year starting QB that has taken the Devils to two eight win seasons that resulted in bowl games, our most productive and consistent wide receiver over his career at ASU, and a freshman AA linebacker who really shined last season...
In return, we've gotten a transfer LB from Miss State that didn't do anything for the Bulldogs while there, missed spring ball for unknown reasons, and we don't have any new, highly regarded wide receiver prospects from other colleges, and have a back-up QB from Alabama that didn't exactly excel during spring ball...
Additionally, we have a safety from Samford and a tackle from Div II Northern State University...
These players may turn out to be world beaters that were overlooked and/or under-valued by some schools but, the point to be made here is that, if AU were recruiting at this level, would we be laughing our heads off right now or not..??
Right now, in football recruiting at least, it looks like the Cats and Sun Devils have basically traded places these days...
That certainly doesn't mean that we will pass each other, going in different directions, overnight, in terms of wins and losses, but it should certainly be a concern if our recruiting continues to suffer into the foreseeable future...
We can get as defensive as can be and in a state of denial about it but it sure looks like both programs are headed in different directions...
Do you agree with that assessment..??
Furthermore, is recruiting through the portal a sustainable way to build a program..??
Especially one that does not include an NIL collective or two or three to help entice players to ASU and then keep them there...
Is ASU being way too timid in the way it is approaching this new NIL reality..??
I guess that we will see, beginning this fall, how successful Herm and Ray have been in overcoming the NCAA investigation and/or dealing with the new portal and NIL realities...
Stay tuned...
On another note, that was a great win against the Cats last night and, hopefully, they can do the same today to take the series...
It sure looks like Willie has the Devils baseball program headed in the right direction...
G'day Mates and Go Devils!!!
Today's Topic = NFL or Bust
As we all know, the NFL draft is coming up this week and is in competition with the NIL pay-for-play deal these days, where college recruits and players can get paid by sponsors for their Name, Image and Likeness promotional endeavors on behalf of each sponsor or sponsors in the business community...
This has opened a Pandora's Box of mischief that some schools and conferences see as a tool with which to entice and/or poach recruits or players from the HS, Junior College or established college ranks in a perfectly legal fashion...
Taken together with the transfer portal, that allows for immediate eligibility, players can now seek to improve their financial and/or playing prospects, at the same time, and there is nothing that schools can do about it...
ASU has chosen, apparently, at least for the time being, not to enter into an NIL competition with other programs but, rather, continue to leverage the NFL model that both our AD, Ray Anderson, and our head coach, Herm Edwards, have developed for our Sun Devil football program since Ray hired Herm five years ago...
Unfortunately, for our Sun Devils, our starting QB, best WR and a FR AA LB have chosen to transfer to other schools based, at least in significant part, on their desire to earn more in NIL deals than what they could or would receive at ASU...
Our rivals down south put together a Top 20 recruiting class this past cycle (according to Rivals) and have also gotten some quality transfers to come to Tucson, while recognizing the value of working within the business community to create NIL "collectives" such as the Friends of Wilbur and Wilma Collective and the Arizona Assist Club...
Meanwhile, in Tempe, due in great part to the ongoing NCAA investigation of the Sun Devils football program, the Devils recruiting has been forced to rely on the transfer portal for players but without an established NIL collective in place, as far as I know, to enhance that opportunity for Sun Devil players...
I don't know if that is like competing against other teams with one-hand tied behind the back, when it comes to recruiting, but it sure looks like it to me...
We all like it when we get a new player through the transfer portal but are we getting the same quality of players, that we are losing, in return..??
So far, as best that I can tell, most of our new transfers were either back-ups and/or came from non-P-5 conferences, like those in the Group of Five Conferences, that includes the Mountain West Conference, etc...
We've lost our three year starting QB that has taken the Devils to two eight win seasons that resulted in bowl games, our most productive and consistent wide receiver over his career at ASU, and a freshman AA linebacker who really shined last season...
In return, we've gotten a transfer LB from Miss State that didn't do anything for the Bulldogs while there, missed spring ball for unknown reasons, and we don't have any new, highly regarded wide receiver prospects from other colleges, and have a back-up QB from Alabama that didn't exactly excel during spring ball...
Additionally, we have a safety from Samford and a tackle from Div II Northern State University...
These players may turn out to be world beaters that were overlooked and/or under-valued by some schools but, the point to be made here is that, if AU were recruiting at this level, would we be laughing our heads off right now or not..??
Right now, in football recruiting at least, it looks like the Cats and Sun Devils have basically traded places these days...
That certainly doesn't mean that we will pass each other, going in different directions, overnight, in terms of wins and losses, but it should certainly be a concern if our recruiting continues to suffer into the foreseeable future...
We can get as defensive as can be and in a state of denial about it but it sure looks like both programs are headed in different directions...
Do you agree with that assessment..??
Furthermore, is recruiting through the portal a sustainable way to build a program..??
Especially one that does not include an NIL collective or two or three to help entice players to ASU and then keep them there...
Is ASU being way too timid in the way it is approaching this new NIL reality..??
I guess that we will see, beginning this fall, how successful Herm and Ray have been in overcoming the NCAA investigation and/or dealing with the new portal and NIL realities...
Stay tuned...
On another note, that was a great win against the Cats last night and, hopefully, they can do the same today to take the series...
It sure looks like Willie has the Devils baseball program headed in the right direction...
G'day Mates and Go Devils!!!
