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Lessons from Jeff Stoutland

DMoney

DMoney

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Our offensive line is bad. And the class is looking shaky. This got me thinking about Jeff Stoutland. He was our OL coach from 2007 to 2010. While at Miami, Stoutland signed five linemen who went on to start games in the NFL. For comparison, Alabama only signed four during the same time period.

Stoutland is now the OL coach for the Philadelphia Eagles, and is considered one of the best in the NFL. I studied his evaluation patterns and learned a couple important things:

City over country: Canes fans love to say that “we need country kids and Midwestern farm boys on the offensive line.” This is wrong. Those kids don’t usually like the city of Miami. It’s not a cultural fit. Stoutland recognized this and focused on city kids. He signed good players from places like Memphis, Omaha and St. Paul. None of the kids he signed were from rural areas.

Build a wall around South Florida: Another myth is that we should not recruit South Florida OL. If you look at the guys who have started for us and gone on to the NFL in this decade, they are usually from South Florida. The busts (Wells, Milo, Gadbois, Dykstra) came from out of state. It is better to get the cream of the crop locally than out-of-state leftovers who are not as easy to evaluate. Stoutland signed 64% of his OL from South Florida.

Culture matters: Stoutland was known as a good recruiter who connected with players. He was also from New York City, which fits in well with the two points above. Searels is a hard-*** country boy from Trion, Georgia. I’ve heard he’s a good guy, but I’ve also heard he has trouble connecting with players. We need a great teacher first and foremost, but it also makes sense to find someone who can connect with city kids.

Stoutland's signees (2007-2010):

Brandon Linder (Broward)
Orlando Franklin (Palm Beach)
Jon Feliciano (Broward)
Seantrel Henderson (St. Paul, MN)
Harland Gunn (Omaha, NE)
Tyler Horn (Memphis, TN)
Brandon Washington (Miami)
Shane McDermott (Palm Beach)
Ben Jones (Miami)
Jermaine Johnson (Broward)
Jared Wheeler (Broward)
Malcolm Bunche (Newark, DE)
Jermaine Barton (Broward)
Cory White (Jacksonville)
 
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canesfanmpls said:
Shout out to St. Paul. Cretin Derham Hall!

In all honesty - Stout was a great OL coach - we said that then and it has proven 100% true.
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Hmmm...according to our message board geniuses at the time, he sucked just like every assistant coach that we have hired the past 15 or so years.

Yes...that is sarcasm, which seems to be lost on many who now post here.
 
Cuban-Cane said:
I just have to disagree man. While he coached them up well, we don’t produce great guys down here at those positions as much as other states do.
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Not saying Cuban is wrong whatsoever - but there's a lot of over-hype for the midwest producing OL tbh.

MN has about 2-3 caliber power 5 OL come out every year (usually they go to Wisco or Notre Dame). Wisco usually has 4-5 and keeps them home. Iowa also usually gets 4-5. Most of them are multi-sport guys in football, basketball (or) wrestling. But its not like all the best OL are midwest guys. Honestly - they come from all over the country - WV, KY, NY, PA, OH etc. Miami has just as many come out I think as any other place. It's all about diagnosing the talent correctly - and keeping it home (I think) when it comes to the OL. (Much like every other position). It's just that at the skill positions - Miami has an abundance that other states don't have - so it makes it seem like we lack in OL talent.... That's my 2 cents.
 
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While I tend to agree, there are country kids that grow up in South Florida. Pope is an example. Kid likes to hunt and fish. That said, south Florida offers some of the best fishing in the world and central Florida is only a few hours away for some great hunting. The kids just think that going to a school near the country means they will get to hunt more, they don’t know how much time football will suck out of their lives.
 
OT Mark Fox- South Carolina commit from Northwestern. Other offers include Georgia, Florida, and Auburn. Miami hasn't offered.
OT Wardrick Wilson- Florida commit from Carol City. Other offers include Georgia, Michigan, Nebraska, Tennessee, and Kentucky. Miami hasn't offered.
Guard Maurice Smith- Boston College commit from Miami Central. Other offers include Florida State and Mississippi State. Miami hasn't offered.
OT Kaleb Boateng- Uncommitted prospect from Ft. Lauderdale with a Boston College offer. Miami hasn't offered.
Center Vincent Murphy- South Carolina commit from St. Thomas. Other offers include Texas, Florida, and Michigan State. Miami hasn't offered.
OT Jake Pope- Kentucky commit from St. Thomas. Other offers include Michigan State, N.C. State, and Virginia Tech. Miami hasn't offered.

All of the guys listed above are from South Florida but for some reason we go and offer a guy like CJ Elmonus from North Carolina when it looks like our offensive line commits are wavering.
 
90scane said:
While I tend to agree, there are country kids that grow up in South Florida. Pope is an example. Kid likes to hunt and fish. That said, south Florida offers some of the best fishing in the world and central Florida is only a few hours away for some great hunting. The kids just think that going to a school near the country means they will get to hunt more, they don’t know how much time football will suck out of their lives.
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Linder and McDermott are like that. I put them in the South Florida bucket.
 
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We need to build the OL based on SoFL talent (especially the interior), going to NoFL, GA, TX, NC, etc for athletic tackles who need a redshirt year before they can contribute. In a perfect world, we'd have 2 or 3 SRs with 2 or 3 JRs starting every year, we'd have 2 or 3 SOs helping them out and 2 or 3 FR getting some mop up reps.
 
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Cuban-Cane said:
I just have to disagree man. While he coached them up well, we don’t produce great guys down here at those positions as much as other states do.
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It’s about who we can sign. I would rather get the best South Florida kids than the leftover Iowa kids.

And I think we should go out of state. But we need to focus on cities.
 
In the end, Searles is likely selling country culture within a city. Sofla has been producing more and more NFL types. The fact that we aren’t signing any kids this year with lots going to P5 schools speaks to a problem. Build the wall around South Florida vs ignoring those kids!
 
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