WR recruiting and Dugans Evaluations

[AUcane]

Dugans was a disaster. Completely botched South Florida WR recruiting and did bad out of state (see Ezzard, Njoku and Hightower).

I still think Hightower was a good sign and would have been good here. Njoku was kind of an easy decision to sign - legacy, freak athlete with freaky length. IMO, you always take a flyer on guys like that and try to find a home for them. Ezzard - big body kid who, again, I think could have been productive. The problem is you can't just sign 2 big bodies and a raw kid. You have to sign either a complementary slot guy or a guy who is uber productive with the ball in his hands.

 

[IcemanArcade]

Some folks act like nobody else was recruiting the receivers we have on our team. The big power 5 teams were recruiting alot of the guys that's currently on our roster. There's just been no development, various offensive coordinators, and systems, oh and lets not forget, world beaters at qb. Everybody has to take the blame on their lack luster performance, not just Dugan.

Evaluations matter. Development matters more.

If blocking for receivers get them on the field then that’s what they’ll do. Had Dugans, or Stubblefield for that matter, set the bar at winning 50/50’s…they might be better at that. Miami has receivers who don’t WANT the ball and though some want to big up Jordan as a first rounder…his biggest criticism aside from size and blocking is — not winning the contested catches more. And I can say the same about Mallory.

That isn’t genetic. It’s not whether or not they have “that dawg” in them, it’s concepts and coaching to make them understand that is a receiver’s job: catch the ball or stop the other guy from catching it. Some kids intuitively get it, some don’t … and that’s the coaches job, to make them get it.

- Wiggins was a 3-star…some thought at the time that he should’ve been dropped. And there’s a video of him using excellent footwork and a double move to beat Josh Jobe at some camp (I think it was Paradise). His issues aren’t his evaluation, it’s his development. Everything he struggles with could’ve been coached out of him. Why? Because Harley, and Pope do the same ****. Which tells me it’s NOT being coached! And, yes, I include Likens in that, but to a lesser extent because COVID severely limited his time with the receivers.

It’s not just the 3-stars like Atwell and Moore that are missed, it’s the 4-star, and 3-stars who enroll at Miami and need coaching — but don’t get it. This is a coaching issue more than just evaluations.

3 coaches in 3 years for some of these guys with likens being our best having developed two first rounders previously. Development plays into a factor but watching these WRs fall and not fight to make adjustments to the ball, receivers running the wrong **** route, pumping their chest after a 8 yard slant instead of moving with urgency. It comes down to discipline and some of those tendencies can’t be developed out. Just gotta evaluate and find those competitive dawgs.

 

[Jassid82]

Going too far here..

Everyone wanted Pope. Everyone.

Posters were jumping off the ledge when Harley wasn’t hotly pursued and he was being slow played. Well..now look.

Wiggins was always a project. It was boom or bust with him.

People were comparing Ezzard to a young Anquan Bolden.

Everyone thought Hightower and Njoku would be big body studs.

Evaluations were correct. We just got phucked unfortunately. Horrible luck.

 

[Tetragrammaton Cane]

3 coaches in 3 years for some of these guys with likens being our best having developed two first rounders previously. Development plays into a factor but watching these WRs fall and not fight to make adjustments to the ball, receivers running the wrong **** route, pumping their chest after a 8 yard slant instead of moving with urgency. It comes down to discipline and some of those tendencies can’t be developed out. Just gotta evaluate and find those competitive dawgs.

Horse****! Discipline is absolutely a byproduct of development. Ask the military or any good manager/organization. They fall down, and flop, because it’s been allowed by their coaches. You let a coach, or a QB, climb in their *** and the behavior will change. Again, there’s no enzyme that occurs in receivers that do that doesn’t exist in receivers who don’t.

 

[Canesfan1899]

Dugans was a disaster. Completely botched South Florida WR recruiting and did bad out of state (see Ezzard, Njoku and Hightower).

The real icing on the cake was not taking Elijah Moore because we had Harley, GTFOH.

 

[DMoney]

I still think Hightower was a good sign and would have been good here. Njoku was kind of an easy decision to sign - legacy, freak athlete with freaky length. IMO, you always take a flyer on guys like that and try to find a home for them. Ezzard - big body kid who, again, I think could have been productive. The problem is you can't just sign 2 big bodies and a raw kid. You have to sign either a complementary slot guy or a guy who is uber productive with the ball in his hands.

Dugans reached for big bodies. He admitted he doesn't like small guys. It's Rumph syndrome- he gets guys who play like himself.

South Florida produced a ton of dynamic playmakers that he ignored because he didn't want too many small guys. A great big receiver is still a huge asset, but we need playmakers first and foremost. Explosive plays are the name of the game in 2020.

 

[Tetragrammaton Cane]

Going too far here..

Everyone wanted Pope. Everyone.

Posters were jumping off the ledge when Harley wasn’t hotly pursued and he was being slow played. Well..now look.

Wiggins was always a project. It was boom or bust with him.

People were comparing Ezzard to a young Anquan Bolden.

Everyone thought Hightower and Njoku would be big body studs.

Evaluations were correct. We just got phucked unfortunately. Horrible luck.

Yes, and no. It’s not luck, it’s coaching. It’s development. It’s mindset.

I can attribute the same things afflicting the receivers to the LBers. Even when you take Clemson out of it for using 3-star LBers to dominate Miami, you can see Wisconsin, Iowa, and Stanford using 3-stars to dominate almost everybody. It’s coaching/development.

 

[Tetragrammaton Cane]

The real icing on the cake was not taking Elijah Moore because we had Harley, GTFOH.

Harley wasn’t a “take”, Dugans only had Jeff and desperately needed another. But, everything Harley is doing he’s been doing since his freshman year which means it was either coached into him or NOT coached out of him.

 

[Deleted member 26015]

Given the fact how out starting WRs perform... they are all minimum a junior or a senior. And what they do all looks like poorly coached. All because of Dugans.

Likens can really be judged based off of the freshman we have right now and how they develop in the future.

 

[TC@ne]

Dugans was a disaster. Completely botched South Florida WR recruiting and did bad out of state (see Ezzard, Njoku and Hightower).

To be fair, the evaluations were not bad. Ezzard showed great ability on contested catches, Njoku showed surprising fluidity, and Hightower was very well-rounded.

They all had individual circumstances (depth passing up, injury + lazy, unfair treatment respectively).

The lack of development for most of the guys, combined with an anemic offense, is the cause for none of these guys performing to our expectations.

Others were bad evaluations no doubt, but I don’t think these guys were.

 

[IcemanArcade]

Horse****! Discipline is absolutely a byproduct of development. Ask the military or any good manager/organization. They fall down, and flop, because it’s been allowed by their coaches. You let a coach, or a QB, climb in their *** and the behavior will change. Again, there’s no enzyme that occurs in receivers that do that doesn’t exist in receivers who don’t.

I said some tendencies cannot be developed out. Discipline can be developed, but not everyone is born with leadership, mental toughness, or that dog in them. Our WRs currently lack that, there’s no Alpha Dog on this core. No one to take over the game. No Ahmon Richards on this offense, and we could’ve had the best WR coach in the nation. He would only mask our problems not eliminate. Missed Evaluation has been a huge issue with previous and current staff.

 

[Tetragrammaton Cane]

I said some tendencies cannot be developed out. Discipline can be developed, but not everyone is born with leadership, mental toughness, or that dog in them. Our WRs currently lack that, there’s no Alpha Dog on this core. No one to take over the game. No Ahmon Richards on this offense, and we could’ve had the best WR coach in the nation. He would only mask our problems not eliminate. Missed Evaluation has been a huge issue with previous and current staff.

…one of the biggest development retardant for receivers has been … offense and QBs. When they’re awful, the receivers learn to expect it won’t be there or be on target; it’s self-fulfilling.

But, again...it’s coaching.

 

[kedr]

All of Dugans' WR recruits from 2020 and 2021 minus Ja'Khi Douglas are these big body types like @DMoney pointed out. And then you have Tamorrion Terry, Warren Thompson and the rest of the WR group over there playing like doo doo. It's a bit early - their QB/O-line play has been horrendous and we'll have to see how Bryan Robinson and Kentron Poitier develop, but FSU's WR room is looking pretty bleak for the foreseeable future. At least there are some promising players currently on the roster and with the incoming '21 class so any time you feel bad about our current receiver situation just think of Dugans with his current group, plus look at his '21 recruits. Ouch.

 

[Big Toney]

Everyone wanted Pope. He’s been a disappointment. He plays scared and he doesn’t catch the ball he lets the ball catch him. Wiggins is a over the top WR that needs to beat his CB, he doesn’t catch contested balls. Harley jumps fo catch every ball so he never has any YAC.

 

[Deleted member 16870]

To give some back story on WR recruiting that year.. Dugans brought pope in as a slot. They loved him because what he did at paradise the year when Jeudy was there. They compared him to jeudy and I never saw it. Wiggins had a higher ceiling imo. Hightower and Ezzard were both good prospects don’t get me wrong but Elijah Moore was almost begging to come here. Ezzard was a cancer in the locker room. Elijah was a shorty version of Jeudy in terms of route running. There was people in house saying Harley was better than Moore LOLLLL. Schwartz in my opinion was a no brainer, the knock on him was “he only runs go routes” like it isn’t the WRs coach job to develop the receivers. Not saying Schwartz was a lock like Moore but I still think we could have got him.

 

[Deleted member 26015]

To give some back story on WR recruiting that year.. Dugans brought pope in as a slot. They loved him because what he did at paradise the year when Jeudy was there. They compared him to jeudy and I never saw it. Wiggins had a higher ceiling imo. Hightower and Ezzard were both good prospects don’t get me wrong but Elijah Moore was almost begging to come here. Ezzard was a cancer in the locker room. Elijah was a shorty version of Jeudy in terms of route running. There was people in house saying Harley was better than Moore LOLLLL. Schwartz in my opinion was a no brainer, the knock on him was “he only runs go routes” like it isn’t the WRs coach job to develop the receivers. Not saying Schwartz was a lock like Moore but I still think we could have got him.

confirms what i think about dugans.

 

[Deleted member 16870]

And other notes

- at one point we had DeVonta Smith silent for a while
- end of cycle we tried making a run on waddle
- staff liked terrace Marshall a lot but didn’t know if he wanted just to get a free visit to miami
- jamar chase they tried jumping in late and make any traction
- George Pickens played everyone including us that cycle lol

 

[BS85]

I don't have the time or energy to do so, but I would be very interested to see a breakdown of the 3star 4 star and 5 star WRs out of the "state of Miami" over the last 3-5 years and see who we opted not to recruit. Guys like Elijah Moore, Tutu Atwell, Steve Ishmael (may be older but you get the point).

Someone brought the idea to our WR issues discussion that UM places too much emphasis on 7v7 performance and not enough real football evaluations. I think there may be a lot to this discussion. I remember during his recruitment Harley was described as a guy who could not be covered on the camp circuit. But now we see that with pads and physicality mike is barely a 3rd or 4th WR on a power five squad (if that).

I think that list would be too depressing. I don't want to see it.

 

[Canesfan1899]

Harley wasn’t a “take”, Dugans only had Jeff and desperately needed another. But, everything Harley is doing he’s been doing since his freshman year which means it was either coached into him or NOT coached out of him.

Doesn't change the fact that they passed on a far superior WR because he had a similar body type to Harly. Moore would be a massive upgrade over anything we currently have on the roster.

 

[Tetragrammaton Cane]

Doesn't change the fact that they passed on a far superior WR because he had a similar body type to Harly. Moore would be a massive upgrade over anything we currently have on the roster.

FWIW, I was a Moore fan and read CIS posters argue that he didn’t even start on his own team.