Over the last 5 to 10 years the college football recruiting process of high school athletes has gone beyond the ridiculous, moved right passed the absurd and has graduated into the category of just plain dumb.
The fact that mature, intelligent, stable and otherwise grown men would follow these high school kids' every move, tolerate the constant "flips" of their commitments from one University to another and endure the now infamous "hat game" on National Signing Day is, well for a better word, dumber.
But it is what it is and we all know that the coverage of the recruiting process every Winter has expanded exponentially (Note to recruits: That means "like a whole lot") in recent years to where it has become as important, no make that more important, to many college football fans as the actually football games played on the field each Fall.
Welcome to the world of dumb and dumber.
So, to keep up with the crowd and in our continuing effort to remain relevant on today's college football scene, here at Canespace we too will provide you all of the exciting "wall-to-wall coverage" of National Signing Day once again this year on the first Wednesday in February.
Our recruiting gurus here at Canespace, OhioCane and UMike, will bring you up to the minute updates so you can instantly know which highly ranked recruits Miami head Coach Al Golden "landed" (whoo-hoo, they are great!) and which ones "got away" (Boo, they suck anyway!).
The reasons and rationalization for the 2014 recruiting haul will shortly follow. Then there will most certainly be much angst, joy, anger and gnashing of the teeth that will be punctuated by some really dumb things being said by usually reasonable, generally intelligent people on the Internet about how "dumb some of these kids are" or how "the recruiting process keeps getting dumber".
We think that you will be very encouraged to know that there are only nine days to go until dumb meets dumber and NSD 2014 takes place (Read: Thank God it is finally over).
Then we will wait a year to do it all over again with great predictability.
In between there will be some football games that are played.
But hey, who really cares about that anyway?
"These aren’t huge numbers. On average, a team got 13 possessions in a given game; the total difference between an average start of 26.0 and an average start of 34.0 is just 104 yards (13 possessions times 8.0 yards). One turnover could mean a difference of about 40 yards. One field-flipping punt that bounces past the punt returner and rolls a while could mean 25 yards. One huge stop on a kick return could mean 15 yards. A sack on third-and-long, instead of a short completion, could mean 15 yards. A third-down conversion that simply extends a drive from three-and-out to six-and-out could mean 10 yards. And just like that, you’re at 105 yards, and you’ve gone from likely loss to likely win."
Posted by: 86Cane | January 27, 2014 at 11:29 AM
CSM, I understand and agree with that. And I dont mean we should offer ever 2 or 3 Star guy just because, but we should be first in on the players considered elite. Then it cant be used against us lol
Posted by: UMike | January 27, 2014 at 11:29 AM
"But over time, I've come to realize that the sport comes down to five basic things, four of which you can mostly control. You make more big plays than your opponent, you stay on schedule, you tilt the field, you finish drives, and you fall on the ball. Explosiveness, efficiency, field position, finishing drives, and turnovers are the five factors to winning football games."
Posted by: 86Cane | January 27, 2014 at 11:34 AM
86 - a lot of good info there.
After losing Duke and Dorsett, 2 of the top playmakers, we started losing, not a coincidence according to the article. Especially what they consider the most important factor: big plays
"Big plays are probably the single most important factor to winning football games. The team more adept at creating numbers advantages and getting a guy into the open field, or the team that can simply outman its opponent and win one-on-one battles will almost certainly generate more big plays and win more games. And as pointed out in my Four Truths column, big plays also allow you to avoid killing yourself."
Posted by: 30CINCO | January 27, 2014 at 11:35 AM
Another thing started happening when we started losing... the D started giving up 40 or more points to mediocre teams lol.. I think having Duke back especially would of helped, but I dont think we win any of those 3 we lost in the reg season. Those were on the D mostly and the O to a degree.
Posted by: UMike | January 27, 2014 at 11:38 AM
I feel a little better about a #2 tailback this year than last. Los Pollos Hermanos will be a sophomore, Dallas will have enough experience, and Yearby should be an upgrade from Clements.
But we gave up 31 to Pittsburgh.
Posted by: LB | January 27, 2014 at 11:48 AM
Efficiency is the biggest thing there for me... Duke or no Duke our QB was not efficient at all. We have athletes that can outmatch a teams 3rd and 4th CB's but Morris managed to just zero in on his 1st read only.
Posted by: UpNorthCane27 | January 27, 2014 at 11:49 AM
umike- always the skeptic.
We win the VT game alone without those three terrible special team plays..
I think you underestimate how important a decent O is to a good D.
We were awful on 3rd downs all year. And I'm pretty sure we have one of the worst average times per scoring drive in all of the NCAA.
If you don't understand D.. You're simple..
And I say that full well, speaking with Soup and knowing that you can't play 10 yards off a receiver and put no pressure on the QB..
But people forget, we had Teddy bottled up and doing nothing for most of the first half.. Yet our offense suffocated the defense.
Posted by: CaneSawMassacre | January 27, 2014 at 11:53 AM
If you give Ryan Leaf 15 tries to dissect your offense even he isn't stupid enough to fail, all hopped up on pain killers at 45...
Posted by: CaneSawMassacre | January 27, 2014 at 11:54 AM
Don't ever say offensive ineptness made the defense look worse than it really was on here.
Ever.
And I mean ever.
You'll get "We lost to Duke!!!" rained all over you!
Posted by: Go Canes | January 27, 2014 at 11:56 AM
FYI I dare anybody to go back and read boards about Jimbo ( the dumbo) Fisher. From FSU fans a few years ago..
You think we are scathing...?
And this guy now has a national championship
Posted by: CaneSawMassacre | January 27, 2014 at 11:56 AM
As usual it is not one thing or the other it is my favorite answer: ALL OF THE ABOVE!
1. We lose Duke and Dorsett and our explosive, big plays.
2. Our QB was NOT efficient and losing Duke hurt our running game efficiency on 1st and 2nd down. We could not stay on the field on offense which killed the defense.
3. Our defense simply could not get of the field on third down. Forget the pick 6 or a sack for 15 just get the defense OFF OF THE DAMN FIELD I yelled as loud as I could many, many times last year!
Posted by: 86Cane | January 27, 2014 at 11:56 AM
86.. it turns out the best defense is a good offense..
Who woulda thunk?
Posted by: CaneSawMassacre | January 27, 2014 at 11:58 AM
CSM...U are 100% correct. FSU fans I know VERY well wanted Fisher gone from FSU before this past season. And I mean GONE!
Posted by: 86Cane | January 27, 2014 at 11:59 AM
"These aren’t huge numbers. On average, a team got 13 possessions in a given game
I would LOVE to see how many posessions teams like Virginia, Duke and Virginia Tech got against us.
And you are 100% Canesaw. Despite the offense giving Bridgewater nothing but great field posession we held them to field goals for most of the fist half.
We aren't nearly deep enough or talented enough to be on the field all game against anyone.
Posted by: Go Canes | January 27, 2014 at 12:01 PM
I agree the O didnt do the D no favors.. I get that. But we were blown out, and to mediocre offensive teams (besides FSU). In the VT game, the SP turnovers hurt, but those happened early. Through the whole game we could not stop the underneath routes on 3rd downs. Our D couldnt get off the field. Against Duke, we started explosive and had the lead, until our D showed up.
I 100% agree having Duke and PD4 would have helped, and of the O could have stayed on the field more it would have helped, I just dont know if it would of gave us another win since the score was so lopsided.
Posted by: UMike | January 27, 2014 at 12:01 PM
CSM...U are right again. And that is not an attempt to defend the D, they earned their criticism, but at the same time the offense often did NOTHING to help the D. Both depend on each other and when one side is weaker the other side of the ball has to operate to protect them.
We did not do that and the question now is: Was that on QB Morris or was that on OC Coley? This year will tell now won't it?
Posted by: 86Cane | January 27, 2014 at 12:03 PM
We aren't nearly deep enough or talented enough to be on the field all game against anyone.
Posted by: Go Canes | January 27, 2014 at 12:01 PM
There IT is right there.
Posted by: 86Cane | January 27, 2014 at 12:04 PM
I just dont know if it would of gave us another win since the score was so lopsided.
Posted by: UMike | January 27, 2014 at 12:01 PM
This is true, we will NEVER know.
Posted by: 86Cane | January 27, 2014 at 12:05 PM
How many times did our defense force a three and out last year? I have no clue but I know it wasn't many. If we take care of our depth issues, then losing a player here and there doesn't hurt as much. I can't see Duke being the same player he was for a while. Look at Lewis, he wasn't the same player, this year. Dukes injury was nasty and maybe Coley thinks twice trying to run an 185 Lb back in between the tackles on a third and 2 or 4Th down, whatever it was, especially when you have a roadgrader at FB.
Posted by: herbieibis | January 27, 2014 at 12:06 PM
Al Golden in the 561 visiting Wellington High
Posted by: UMike | January 27, 2014 at 12:07 PM
VT had scoring drives of 51, 54 and 17 yds. They had an 80 yd fumble return for a TD.
Eight of our 11 drives were six plays or less, including 6 that were three and outs.
Posted by: Go Canes | January 27, 2014 at 12:09 PM
Last five posessions against Duke resulted in four drives of 5 or less plays, three straight punts then two turnovers on downs.
Posted by: Go Canes | January 27, 2014 at 12:12 PM
New question:
If we lose TV, but flip Gaillard and JC Jackson and pick up Tavon Ross, is this class an "A"?
Posted by: Ohio_Cane | January 27, 2014 at 12:14 PM
Against Louisville we had 11 posessions of which eight were 5 or less plays, six resulted in punts, two ended up with turnovers on downs.
Posted by: Go Canes | January 27, 2014 at 12:15 PM
Before I get called an apologist, I know the defense was not good all year.
But the offense did leave them hanging out to dry in every big game.
Posted by: Go Canes | January 27, 2014 at 12:16 PM
Close strong AG! Bringing Ice Harris back to the U makes sense.
Posted by: Canesteeler | January 27, 2014 at 12:17 PM
This may come of as whining or snobby on my part, but does anybody have that one guy that tries too hard to show you they know recruiting about the Canes? It's really annoying. I've been at my job for 3.5 years and about 2 months ago, my boss "suddenly" loves everything about recruiting. He is the biggest Dolphins fan and likes the Canes but doesn't following recruiting for anything. It's just recently he tries to converse about me because he just found out about Canes Insight and uses the 5 clicks before you exceed the limit. Idk, I guess its just annoying how somebody doesn't know much but tries to tell you everything about recruiting as if they've been doing it for years.
Posted by: Meast | January 27, 2014 at 12:33 PM
Ohio.. I still think it is an "A" class without any of the guys you mentioned. At the Very least a "B+". Grabbing either TV, Jackson or Harris will be an "A++". We hit South Florida hard, we got DL help and maybe the best OL class in the nation. If it isnt an "A", it is only because we didnt bring in another RB which I think we need.
Go Canes.. all of those facts are nice, but do you have the number of times we couldnt stop the SAME play against VT, especially yon 3rd down? lol
Posted by: UMike | January 27, 2014 at 12:34 PM
Against Louisville we had 11 posessions of which eight were 5 or less plays, six resulted in punts, two ended up with turnovers on downs.
Posted by: Go Canes | January 27, 2014 at 12:15 PM
HELLS YEAH OHIO!
F' the Turds & $EC!
Posted by: Keoki | January 27, 2014 at 12:37 PM
Miami offered 2016 ATH Ahmon Richards from Wellington... I guess that is why Golden was visiting this morning lol
Posted by: UMike | January 27, 2014 at 12:37 PM
^^^ I would say that is early enough haha
Posted by: UMike | January 27, 2014 at 12:38 PM
Richards other is from WVU
Posted by: UMike | January 27, 2014 at 12:39 PM
^^^ I would say that is early enough haha
Posted by: UMike | January 27, 2014 at 12:38 PM
--------------------------------------
I was JUST ABOUT to ask! LOL
Posted by: Ohio_Cane | January 27, 2014 at 12:39 PM
MY BAD, wrong pasted comment
If we lose TV, but flip Gaillard and JC Jackson and pick up Tavon Ross, is this class an "A"?
Posted by: Ohio_Cane | January 27, 2014 at 12:14 PM
HELLS YEAH OHIO!
F' the Turds & $EC!
Posted by: Keoki | January 27, 2014 at 12:40 PM
O_C,
We need to flip Rob Ryan.
Posted by: Dude on a Pale Horse | January 27, 2014 at 12:46 PM
But the offense did leave them hanging out to dry in every big game.
Posted by: Go Canes | January 27, 2014 at 12:16 PM
Sure, and if the offense is still like this in year 3 of Coley's tenure, I feel confident predicting that all of us will be calling for HIS head, too.
Posted by: dj moonbat | January 27, 2014 at 12:47 PM
djmb brings the truth again.
Posted by: Dude on a Pale Horse | January 27, 2014 at 12:54 PM
Miami offered 2015 4-Star DB Garrett Taylor from VA today...
http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/recruiting/player-Garrett-Taylor-145497
Posted by: UMike | January 27, 2014 at 01:01 PM
Golden met with Dwyer 2015 QB Daniel Parr today...
http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/recruiting/player-Daniel-Parr-157221
Posted by: UMike | January 27, 2014 at 01:03 PM
Perryman is #21 in ESPN's top 25 players for 2013:
http://espn.go.com/blog/acc/post/_/id/66414/2013-top-25-player-countdown-no-21-2
Posted by: Ohio_Cane | January 27, 2014 at 01:04 PM
ESPN says our D improved in 2013
Making the case for Perryman: The junior from Coral Gables, Fla. was the cornerstone of a much-improved Miami defense in 2013, landing on numerous first-team All-ACC lists. Perryman led the Hurricanes with 108 tackles (good for fifth in the ACC) and had six different games in which he recorded at least 10 tackles.
Posted by: 30CINCO | January 27, 2014 at 01:08 PM
Wells Dusenbury @DuseReport1063 23s
#Canes HC Al Golden was at Dwyer today. Asked about '15 QB Daniel Parr, '15 WR Tavares Martin, '15 DB Jarius Adams & '16 RB Cornelius Smith.
Posted by: Ohio_Cane | January 27, 2014 at 01:10 PM
ESPN says our D improved in 2013
Making the case for Perryman: The junior from Coral Gables, Fla. was the cornerstone of a much-improved Miami defense in 2013. . .
Posted by: 30CINCO | January 27, 2014 at 01:08 PM
Sure. Improved to 89th in total D, and 65th in scoring D. Before the year 2011, would ANY of us have thought of those as anything other than horrible rankings for a Miami defense?
Posted by: dj moonbat | January 27, 2014 at 01:16 PM
VT had scoring drives of 51, 54 and 17 yds. They had an 80 yd fumble return for a TD.
Eight of our 11 drives were six plays or less, including 6 that were three and outs.
Posted by: Go Canes | January 27, 2014 at 12:09 PM
Yeah we all agree that is not winning football. But what's your point?
Posted by: 86Cane | January 27, 2014 at 01:18 PM
As of right now, here's the visitor list for the last weekend of this recruiting cycle:
January 31st
Treon Harris - ATH FSU commit
Travonte Valentine - DT Undecided
Patrick Porter - CB Wash St commit
Brayden Lenius - WR Undecided
Kameron McKnight - RB/ ATH Undecided
Lamont Gaillard - DT UGA commit
Posted by: Ohio_Cane | January 27, 2014 at 01:19 PM
Ohio.. I still think it is an "A" class without any of the guys you mentioned. At the Very least a "B+". Grabbing either TV, Jackson or Harris will be an "A++". We hit South Florida hard, we got DL help and maybe the best OL class in the nation. If it isnt an "A", it is only because we didnt bring in another RB which I think we need.
Posted by: UMike | January 27, 2014 at 12:34 PM
OMG...UMike and I agree 100% on this!
I hear soft jazz and see candlelight in our future...
Posted by: 86Cane | January 27, 2014 at 01:20 PM
Sure, and if the offense is still like this in year 3 of Coley's tenure, I feel confident predicting that all of us will be calling for HIS head, too.
Posted by: dj moonbat | January 27, 2014 at 12:47 PM
There IT is right there.
Posted by: 86Cane | January 27, 2014 at 01:21 PM
djmb,
Some of us have learned to accept the mediocrity, please don't rock the boat and upset us. #itsallabouttheuofpennstateofmiam
Posted by: Dude on a Pale Horse | January 27, 2014 at 01:21 PM
I know the defense was not good all year. But the offense did leave them hanging out to dry in every big game.
Posted by: Go Canes | January 27, 2014 at 12:16 PM
Finally, I think this is a statement that we ALL can agree on?
Posted by: 86Cane | January 27, 2014 at 01:22 PM