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College recruiting is sometimes exciting, sometimes pathetic, and nearly always unpredictable.
It’s national letter of intent day for the college football world, and a handful of fans await the faxed carbon copies of official letters of intent to welcome in new football players and say a gracious “F YOU” to those who chose not to attend their respective universities.
You can follow the official page for Cal’s Signing Day here.
So there’s a bit of good news and a bit more bad news.
What do you want first? The good news? You’re an optimist you say? Well screw you, I’m knocking out the bad first.
The Bad News?
While no official conference has been given yet, all signs are looking as if OL Stan Hasiak has decided to switch back to UCLA. This is a pretty big blow for the Bears, not because Cal was desperately lacking in offensive linemen, but Hasiak’s commitment would have solidified the best offensive line class in Coach Tedford’s tenure, amazing considering they had just lost Jim Michalczek, their o-line coach.
Needless to say, UCLA definitely needed Hasiak a bit more. Again, no official word yet, and I’ll let you know if anything changes, but most reports are saying it’s all but done.
[Edit: Hasiak made UCLA his official choice at a ceremony this morning. Watch the pain here]
Also, despite having committed to the Bears earlier in the week, it’s looking like Markish Jones has decided to commit to Colorado. Again, no official word yet, but it appears that that might be done as well.
[Edit: Jones has officially sent in his letter of intent, so another piece of great news. Apparently, there are reports that Jones sent in two LOIs, including one to Colorado, which would be beyond hilarious if true. I'll let you all know if there's any truth to that rumor.]
The Good News
The first bit of good news is that for the most part, the committed class stays in tact. It was particularly relieving to see no real late switches from most of the big names, such as Bridgford, Yarnway, Coleman, or Williams. Even DB Vachel Samuels who had visited with a few other schools, sent in his LOI today.
An even more pleasant surprise was having DE Ryan Davis switch back to the Bears after reportedly making the switch to Washington over the weekend. I’m guessing Davis’ epiphany over the weekend, “Holy crap, I just committed to the worst team in college football.”
Oh, and the Bears just might have solved their kicking woes by signing Vince D’Amato, one of the top kickers in the state. Naturally, we won’t know what he can do at the collegiate level for at least a year, but the staff must be feeling pretty high on the guy to have offered him a scholarship. At this point, Cal fans are just clamoring for ANYONE who can knock the ball anywhere near the endzone consistently on kickoffs. The Bear Insider has a report here.
Keep it locked in on Cal’s page for the last few letters of intent, and I’ll be sure to update this if anything changes.
3 comments:
I remember the 80s and 90s when we had 1 or 2 good seasons. So my expectations of CAL football are reasonable. We have something in CAL that we probably never had-(outside of Rugby and Water Polo) - the makings of a dynasty and a coach who wants to be here in Berkeley (unlike B. Snyder). That is why I hope for an improvement each year on and off the field from Tedford, his staff, and the players.
I questioned our recruiting efforts this season not because we were consistently 3rd or below in PAC 10 rankings. (2005 was the only time we were 2nd in the Tedford era)
Our rankings via Scout.com was:
2009 - we're 34th (5th place in the Pac-10) = ? wins
2008 - we're 32rd (6th place in the Pac-10) = 9 wins
2007 - we're 12th (3rd place in the Pac-10) = 7 wins
2006 - we're 18th (3rd place in the Pac-10) = 10 wins
2005 - we're 11th (2nd place in the Pac-10) = 8 wins
2004 - we're 29th (7th place in the Pac-10) = 10 wins
2003 - we're 29th (3rd place in the Pac-10) = 8 wins
I questioned our recruiting because we can't get a National Top 100 recruit or 5 star recruit to commit. We are becoming the perennial bridesmaids in Pac 10 recruiting. We make it to the altar but they end up choosing the other person. I questioned this, because UCLA, Stanford, Arizona, Arizona State, and Oregon are all able to chip into the U$C recruiting armor and obtain a few National Ranked position player that U$C couldn't get. Yet, outside of D. Jackson, CAL is left going after the diamonds in the rough.
So CAL has maintained at least a 7 win season every year in the Tedford era. For how long? Can we sustain a minimum 7 win season? Or better yet, can we put together a back-2-back 9+ win seasons? And for those waiting forever, can we get a Rose Bowl? These questions can only be fulfilled with good or better recruiting.
Since we are progessively getting worse in recruiting, I fear the window might be closing.
What are we missing out on? Please don't blame facilities or location. The Bay Area is one of the most beautiful and diverse areas in the world with moderate climate. Although Pete can argue better climate, better looking co-eds, and no NFL team-still U$C is in the shady part of SoCal and their stadium, although better than Memorial, is still a relic.
To quote another blogger, "I agree that it is potential and based on what an athlete has done *in* high school and won't dictate how the same player will fare in the college level. But it's hard to disagree with statistics, though that won't guarantee success by any means." If those of you argue otherwise, why is U$C always in 1st place in the Pac10 in terms of record and recruiting? Don’t tell me better coaching.
As I blogged earlier, a fine chef needs great meat and ingredients to make a masterpiece. Yes, he can occasionally get away with average meat but eventually his paying customers can taste the difference.
I would like some one to ask Tedford the tough questions on our recruiting deficiencies.
That sucks about Hasiak but from all reports I've read about him, his GPA is suspect, so he may become a liability academically for UCLA.
It was good to sign a kicker who put 90% of kickoffs in the end zone, since as you said, I don't think we even got 9% of our kickoffs in the endzone, LOL.
I'm glad Ryan Davis reconsidered. I tell you what, our linebacking core all of a sudden as some serious depth, which I was concerned about after losing Felder, Follett & Williams this year. We'll have back starter Eddie Young & most likely Mike Mohamed will start at one of the other spots, but man, we'll have some good competition with returning LB's Bishop & Holt, plus the 3 JC recruits, Price, Meadows & Davis.
Tedford... you did good!
Money Rey, your comment reminds me of when I used to play street fighter with my older cousin. I didn't know how to do any of the special moves, so I would always get whipped.
Me: "How do I do that move?"
Cousin: "I'll teach you once you get good."
Naturally, I could never get good without learning any of these special moves. So I was stuck getting my ass whipped.
To consistently land the elite recruits, Cal is going to have consistently have elite seasons.
Now how can we do that without recruiting the right players?
You now understand the Street Fighter story.
But again, I believe we're getting there. Cal's at a point where we can begin recruiting to reload, as opposed to filling in positions out of desperation. Remember, we had some of the most elite players considering us this year. Something that didn't happen regularly in the past. And it's just a matter of time before that small push gets us to the next level.
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