Talking to a lot of coaches today and trying to get a feel for what guys want in terms of a December Signing Day. Some argue for something in the summer before. Some are hoping that February comes back as the big day. What do you think is the right mix here?
“Yeah, I think with what happened this year with the transfer portal window being at the same time as bowl prep, at the same time as staff changes, same time as high school signings, it's just too much at once. I think everybody kind of wants a separation between the two. Personally, I would like to see it earlier. Kids are making decisions way earlier. They're taking visits way earlier.
“A lot of these young men are on unofficial visits as early as freshman year. It's to me, and I don't know the exact date, is it the first Wednesday in December or is it all the way back to you know July. I would be in favor of anything earlier than what we have. I really think moving it later doesn't make sense to me, for when these decisions are being made by young men.”
I thought you said something interesting in December when you said maybe because of the transfer portal some juco's were overlooked and you kind of took advantage of that. How important was that and just from an evaluation standpoint and to realize that those guys are still looking for homes as well?
“Usually in my history junior college recruiting is very competitive. You usually have 7-to-15 pretty good schools all fighting for the same guy. We found the the talent wasn't much different, but the [recruiting] competition wasn't the same because people were filled up with taking somebody older from the portal and those guys being there. For us, I kind of like taking guys from the junior colleges. They come in extremely hungry. They're not spoiled. They're super thankful for things that they get. I just think you get a different kind of guy sometimes that is really gonna not have the pampered lifestyle.
“They're going to work hard and be appreciative and fits our DNA.”
Are you saying when you spend some time in Senatobia, Miss., or Coffeyville, Kan., you're a little hungrier when get to Raleigh?
“They're getting steak and whatever at the training table, and they are like, ‘Oh my god. I haven't had a steak in two years.’ You give him a give him a sweatshirt and they were still wearing their high school stuff at times. I just think you get a guy with all the amenities you have at this level, it means something to them and they fight for you because you gave them that opportunity.”
You guys loaded up at DB and had a great class with four-stars Daemon Fagan, Zack Myers. Was that just too much talent to pass up or was that really sort of a point of emphasis for you guys?
“Well, we lost a lot in the secondary. We lost four guys that play a lot for us in the back end. We're gonna lose a lot more after next season. We felt like this was a pretty good time to to strike. To be able to develop a couple guys and then also have a couple guys that are a little bit older to fill the void there, so we don't go from old to young in one year. It’s just more about the attrition factor and wanting to put the right pieces in place.”
Talk to me a little bit about the offensive lineman. None of them are coming in at over 300 pounds. Do you like those guys that are, I don't want to say developmental, but certainly can add good weight once inside your program and maybe a little bit more athletic coming in that way?
“We've done a study here, if you look at guys drafted in the NFL on the O-Line over the last three years, in high school, most of them are around 277 pounds coming out of high school. We're a very good developmental program. That's something we're proud of. We are top five in the country for players drafted that were three stars or less in my tenure as a head coach.
‘Thunder,’ Dantonio Burnette, our strength coach and Justin Smith, our trainer and I, and Natalie Ford our nutritionist, I feel like we have a really good plan on how to develop these guys. Getting this length that we got in this class on the O-Line. The athleticism, guys that can bend, it's a really good class when you look at the body types.”
I want to ask some something about the portal. You lose a quarterback and you gain a quarterback. There's a lot of talent coming in on there. How do you kind of balance that and how important was it to get a QB out of there?
“For us, numbers wise, we had to get one. Looking at, we kind of thought Devin [Leary] was leaving when the season started, we thought he'd be going pro. We had a plan in place to have our eyes out for somebody. It had nothing to do with not liking who we have back. We’re super excited about MJ Morris and Ben Finley, two guys that won games for us, but those are the only two guys that have played in a college game on our campus. [Class of 2023 signee] Lex Thomas, we know we're going to have to develop. It was important to get another person in there to compete and play with. Brennan [Armstrong], obviously fits what we're looking for. Him and Coach [Robert] Anae have that relationship prior made it even sweeter to get that lined up that way.”
You've coached linebackers your whole life, a guy like Kelvon McBride with that length and and then the size — nearly 150 tackles in two years. Is that what exactly almost what you're looking for in your outside linebackers?
“He played safety in high school too. He's a very versatile, athletic, rangy versatile guy. He and Kamal Bonner are two guys that were excited about. They’re guys we will need to develop as well and put some pounds on. But they can run and they have length. Both of them are smart, so excited about adding that speed and length to that position.”
“Yeah, I think with what happened this year with the transfer portal window being at the same time as bowl prep, at the same time as staff changes, same time as high school signings, it's just too much at once. I think everybody kind of wants a separation between the two. Personally, I would like to see it earlier. Kids are making decisions way earlier. They're taking visits way earlier.
“A lot of these young men are on unofficial visits as early as freshman year. It's to me, and I don't know the exact date, is it the first Wednesday in December or is it all the way back to you know July. I would be in favor of anything earlier than what we have. I really think moving it later doesn't make sense to me, for when these decisions are being made by young men.”
I thought you said something interesting in December when you said maybe because of the transfer portal some juco's were overlooked and you kind of took advantage of that. How important was that and just from an evaluation standpoint and to realize that those guys are still looking for homes as well?
“Usually in my history junior college recruiting is very competitive. You usually have 7-to-15 pretty good schools all fighting for the same guy. We found the the talent wasn't much different, but the [recruiting] competition wasn't the same because people were filled up with taking somebody older from the portal and those guys being there. For us, I kind of like taking guys from the junior colleges. They come in extremely hungry. They're not spoiled. They're super thankful for things that they get. I just think you get a different kind of guy sometimes that is really gonna not have the pampered lifestyle.
“They're going to work hard and be appreciative and fits our DNA.”
Are you saying when you spend some time in Senatobia, Miss., or Coffeyville, Kan., you're a little hungrier when get to Raleigh?
“They're getting steak and whatever at the training table, and they are like, ‘Oh my god. I haven't had a steak in two years.’ You give him a give him a sweatshirt and they were still wearing their high school stuff at times. I just think you get a guy with all the amenities you have at this level, it means something to them and they fight for you because you gave them that opportunity.”
You guys loaded up at DB and had a great class with four-stars Daemon Fagan, Zack Myers. Was that just too much talent to pass up or was that really sort of a point of emphasis for you guys?
“Well, we lost a lot in the secondary. We lost four guys that play a lot for us in the back end. We're gonna lose a lot more after next season. We felt like this was a pretty good time to to strike. To be able to develop a couple guys and then also have a couple guys that are a little bit older to fill the void there, so we don't go from old to young in one year. It’s just more about the attrition factor and wanting to put the right pieces in place.”
Talk to me a little bit about the offensive lineman. None of them are coming in at over 300 pounds. Do you like those guys that are, I don't want to say developmental, but certainly can add good weight once inside your program and maybe a little bit more athletic coming in that way?
“We've done a study here, if you look at guys drafted in the NFL on the O-Line over the last three years, in high school, most of them are around 277 pounds coming out of high school. We're a very good developmental program. That's something we're proud of. We are top five in the country for players drafted that were three stars or less in my tenure as a head coach.
‘Thunder,’ Dantonio Burnette, our strength coach and Justin Smith, our trainer and I, and Natalie Ford our nutritionist, I feel like we have a really good plan on how to develop these guys. Getting this length that we got in this class on the O-Line. The athleticism, guys that can bend, it's a really good class when you look at the body types.”
I want to ask some something about the portal. You lose a quarterback and you gain a quarterback. There's a lot of talent coming in on there. How do you kind of balance that and how important was it to get a QB out of there?
“For us, numbers wise, we had to get one. Looking at, we kind of thought Devin [Leary] was leaving when the season started, we thought he'd be going pro. We had a plan in place to have our eyes out for somebody. It had nothing to do with not liking who we have back. We’re super excited about MJ Morris and Ben Finley, two guys that won games for us, but those are the only two guys that have played in a college game on our campus. [Class of 2023 signee] Lex Thomas, we know we're going to have to develop. It was important to get another person in there to compete and play with. Brennan [Armstrong], obviously fits what we're looking for. Him and Coach [Robert] Anae have that relationship prior made it even sweeter to get that lined up that way.”
You've coached linebackers your whole life, a guy like Kelvon McBride with that length and and then the size — nearly 150 tackles in two years. Is that what exactly almost what you're looking for in your outside linebackers?
“He played safety in high school too. He's a very versatile, athletic, rangy versatile guy. He and Kamal Bonner are two guys that were excited about. They’re guys we will need to develop as well and put some pounds on. But they can run and they have length. Both of them are smart, so excited about adding that speed and length to that position.”
