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OL recruiting and Searels

TrueFloridian said:
So he shouldn’t be held responsible? It’s time other guys like Hillary and Herbert step up also. All 4 of these guys were given scholarships to be tackles. Right now we can’t find one right tackle. It’s early in the later 2 careers but there’s an obvious reason for concern. You’d like to see at least one of them step up and be a Miami caliber player 2 plus years in the system.
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Neither of them has 2+ years in the system. Hillery was always developmental...at best we were hoping he would step up for his RS-SO year.

Herbert was small for a college lineman coming in, and I would imagine that set him behind the curve.

They might both end up being busts (OL has the highest bust rate of any position in the 15 years I've been following recruiting) but to expect either of those kids to be anything more than depth right now is a stretch.

We had a very bad run of OL recruiting in the classes that form the upper classes of college rosters right now:

McDermott
Darling
Linder
Joe Brown

Tyree St. Louis
Jahair Jones
Loftus
Mahoney
Gauthier
Bar Milo

Tre Johnson

The classes that should form the top 5-6 guys on our OL depth chart gave us 4 solid college players (2 of which are gone already because they didn't get to redshirt) and almost nothing else at all.

THAT is the problem.

Now we are trying to rush guys like Hillery and Herbert to be ready ahead of schedule, playing a guy like Donaldson at tackle when he is really a guard, praying Scaife is ready for fall, hope that castoffs like Boulware can start from Day 1, etc. It is unsustainable and no wonder we are going to have issues with the unit again this year.

I think the jury is still out on Searels but this is a position where the more 4th and 5th year guys you have starting the better, and the previous staff just didn't get it done on that front.

I do echo someone else's question: why haven't we found any decent JUCO stopgaps is something I do not understand, especially with our depth chart.
 

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Brooklyndee said:
100% agreed. By the way were doing that with gauthier. Staff loves what we got with gauthier & gaynor
Hillery,donaldson & scaife are getting there. Main thing i notice when i see the line is physically theres very few of them that have anything to them. Maybe this doesnt make sense but ive always thought each position on the line has a specific look. Gaurds having the bulk,tackles the stature & centers just being out of shape. To me alot of our line has a centers build right now. As ive always said i dont know crap about ol. I just dont think they have the grit necessary right now. I just hope they atleast work on cohesion as a unit.
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Centers out of shape? Maybe it’s because I’m a Steelers fan and know a couple previous Canes personally but, Centers are usually in pretty good shape. Maybe not the absolutely most athletic on the line but usually in good shape.
 
cowboycane said:
Neither of them has 2+ years in the system. Hillery was always developmental...at best we were hoping he would step up for his RS-SO year.

Herbert was small for a college lineman coming in, and I would imagine that set him behind the curve.

They might both end up being busts (OL has the highest bust rate of any position in the 15 years I've been following recruiting) but to expect either of those kids to be anything more than depth right now is a stretch.

We had a very bad run of OL recruiting in the classes that form the upper classes of college rosters right now:

McDermott
Darling
Linder
Joe Brown

Tyree St. Louis
Jahair Jones
Loftus
Mahoney
Gauthier
Bar Milo

Tre Johnson

The classes that should form the top 5-6 guys on our OL depth chart gave us 4 solid college players (2 of which are gone already because they didn't get to redshirt) and almost nothing else at all.

THAT is the problem.

Now we are trying to rush guys like Hillery and Herbert to be ready ahead of schedule, playing a guy like Donaldson at tackle when he is really a guard, praying Scaife is ready for fall, hope that castoffs like Boulware can start from Day 1, etc. It is unsustainable and no wonder we are going to have issues with the unit again this year.

I think the jury is still out on Searels but this is a position where the more 4th and 5th year guys you have starting the better, and the previous staff just didn't get it done on that front.

I do echo someone else's question: why haven't we found any decent JUCO stopgaps is something I do not understand, especially with our depth chart.
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That KC and Linder draft class was legit. I remember talking to Shane when he was just signed to the Giants and he was ADAMANT KC would be way better. And Linder was a total package. When I first met him he was a house of a man in his Sophomore year and always had solid technique.
 
PittsburghCane said:
Centers out of shape? Maybe it’s because I’m a Steelers fan and know a couple previous Canes personally but, Centers are usually in pretty good shape. Maybe not the absolutely most athletic on the line but usually in good shape.
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Maybe i worded it wrong. I just mean they are the least imposing. Have a basic build,shortest,least muscular... sortve average. Obviously theres always exceptions to the rule. Just that seems the norm.
 
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While I like the players Searels gets individually...I had a post around signing day that showed just how far away we are from a recruiting standpoint from the big boys on the OL.

Our OL recruiting is still a canyon away from these guys.

And yes, I agree, he inherited a lot of trash...but its not like we are out there getting enough under Searels to compete, just in a year or two...
 
gogeta4 said:
Donaldson is what you want in a guard. Dude is as wide as the HECHT. But i agree..i also am a fan of Gauthier. Hes like a swiss army knife. Kid can play **** near all line positions. One thing they are seeming to bring in is mean guys too. Seems like some high quality ol are in the midwest...would love to poach one or 2 legit ones every 2 classes or so. The state of Fla has improved on producing Lineman. But the coaching is sooo shabby these kids are raw as ****. Miami Central produces good ol prospects, STA had one of the best ol coaches to lace em up..then from there its hit or miss..with warehouse workers coaching ol. Im still in the mindset we need a Juco or a grad transfer because this will be an issue next spring again. I feel like our OL net is usually small. Searles is a solid recruiter maybe even above average. But i feel like we should have offers to **** near every 4-5 star ot prospects. Its the difference between us and Bama..for them being #1..they throw out offers like sh*t. This whole..make an offer mean something is hogwash. Cast a wider net. Bama offers EVERY top dt available in the country. They go after juco ol and dl every year..what makes us better than them who are one of the best in stocking both lines?. That would be my recruiting of the ol spot..I would then double back to the local guys.
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Ivins reporting it’s unclear what stops Searels will be making, but you have to figure Bradenton and WV are the priorities. After rereading Hartley’s tweet he indicated he will be on the road for next several weeks, so it’s very likely Wright will be visited by both.
 
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Gogeta, I agree with everything you say except for one point. I'm not crazy about taking a JUCO tackle. Coaching at that level is really a mixed bag as well and the strength and conditioning programs for the most part are not very good. McKinnie comes in from Lackawanna, and Mark Duda actually produces linemen, and Bryant had to take a redshirt. That is pretty typical. I would have preferred if Miami focused on a grad transfer even from a non-BCS school. I think the kid from Tennessee will help us this fall, but he is a guard. We are set at guard and center with the right types of athlete, with intelligence and toughness. Failing to find kids with great feet and athleticism on the wings is perplexing. I think Campbell is the type of athlete they want out there and he is going to be a good one. I think one of the pups emerges this fall if they put in hard work and progress.
 
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Pentagon Cane said:
Gogeta, I agree with everything you say except for one point. I'm not crazy about taking a JUCO tackle. Coaching at that level is really a mixed bag as well and the strength and conditioning programs for the most part are not very good. McKinnie comes in from Lackawanna, and Mark Duda actually produces linemen, and Bryant had to take a redshirt. That is pretty typical. I would have preferred if Miami focused on a grad transfer even from a non-BCS school. I think the kid from Tennessee will help us this fall, but he is a guard. We are set at guard and center with the right types of athlete, with intelligence and toughness. Failing to find kids with great feet and athleticism on the wings is perplexing. I think Campbell is the type of athlete they want out there and he is going to be a good one. I think one of the pups emerges this fall if they put in hard work and progress.
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There are a bunch of bounce backs at these juco's. And kids coming from the top of the line jucos are ready to play imo. Mckinnie likely redshirt for other reasons other than his play on the field. I dont think we have a guy on the staff with juco recruiting background r plugs. I think that was left for guys in the support staff to identify.
The guys bama seem to get from juco are ready to play.Kansas State lives off of those jucos as well. Identify those types in my opinion . Or go grad transfer..the best ot grad transfer was a kid from rice but i believed he committed to Texas.
 
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gogeta4 said:
There are a bunch of bounce backs at these juco's. And kids coming from the top of the line jucos are ready to play imo. Mckinnie likely redshirt for other reasons other than his play on the field. I dont think we have a guy on the staff with juco recruiting background r plugs. I think that was left for guys in the support staff to identify.
The guys bama seem to get from juco are ready to play.Kansas State lives off of those jucos as well. Identify those types in my opinion . Or go grad transfer..the best ot grad transfer was a kid from rice but i believed he committed to Texas.
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So I checked Alabama's roster on their website from 2015 to their current roster. Over the past 4 years they've had one juco offensive linemen and he redshirted last year.

So I also took a look at K State as well. One kid came in after 1 year at Blinn in 2016 and started 5 games at guard. The other kid on the roster came in from Hutchinson last year as a center and he redshirted.

Finding talented juco offensive linemen, especially tackles who can start immediately, is very hard to find.

As I said before I'm okay going with a grad transfer if we think he can start.
 
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