Disappointed with Recruiting so far

[Vega]

All hell....I thought this was a basketball topic. Football recruiting is going very well imo. Basketball on the other hand not so much.

[South_Florida_Flip]

I'd like to hear your opinions.

It's August 31, not February 2. There are plenty of "sought after" guys out there that we could land.

I'm happy with the OL commits so far since it is a big area of need.

I think you'll be hard pressed to think we're going to land a "Big QB" when they're going to have to sit for 2 years.

[SANJAY]

I would not classify it as disappointed, yet.  The kids that have committed, there are a few reaches there, IMO.  My bigger concern is that we appear to be out of it with a lot of local (Tampa Bay area) recruits or at most hanging on by a thread. 

We still need 3-4 WRs, a couple D lineman, a cornerback or two and maybe another RB, so there's still a lot left that can change the dynamic of this class.

[nobull.Bulls]

Way too early to be disappointed. I'm not expecting any miracles in recruiting this year anyways. I think next year when H.S. Juniors this year have seen Holtz do a full year with USF, the recruiting will increase.

Also a jump into a bigger conference helps....

[redfisher78]

There are still a lot of spots and schollies left. My fear is with the kids committing so far, how many others have we offered that are happy to have an Offer from a BCS school and jump on it, and this class gets filled up.

[KevinUSF00]

Okay guys, take a step back from the ledge. Take a look at the guys on this staff. They know what they are doing. Let's take a look at the positional recruiting thus far:

QB:

Stephen Weatherford ***

Matt Floyd  ***

These are two very solid commitments in a position of need. If you recall, Grothe was a three star coming out of HS as well. It's clear that we are moving to pass oriented offense, and both of these guys are very solid QB's.

RB:

Willie Davis ***

Dontae Aycock ****

Darrell Scott *****

Seriously, how can we not be estatic here? Davis was blocked by D1 talent last year and his stock is already on the rise. And then to have Aycock and Scott behind the OL that Skip is developing is exciting. Not to mention that if either Murray, Shaw, or Battles pan out, we should be in great shape here.

WR

Alex Mut - NR

PANIC TIME!!!! Alex might be a solid possesion reciever. But we need athletes and depth. Unless we are planning to turn in to UConn with a focus on a strong OL and very good RB's. I think that we need 2-3 more WR additions to this class.

OL:

Thor Jozwiak - NR

David Simon ***

Brynjar Gundmundsson NR

Max Lang ***

Can anyone honestly say who is going to be the best of this group in three years? From all accounts, this is a very solid OL core. Thor's camp results have been first class. David and Max have been heavily recruited by BCS schools. Brynjar appears to have great size 6-5 255, with leadership skills based on published reports. Who knows, all of these guys will likely be 3-4 stars by the end of the season. Holtz knows what he is doing. He built a system that worked for Chris Johnson, let's give him a little trust here.

DL:

There are some LB commits that could likely swing to DL. Would be nice to see a solid tackle addition.

LB:

Rontavious Atkins ***

Zack Bullock NR

Edsel Caprise ***

Antoine Pozniak **

Edsel and Rontavious seem like studs. I might be the most excited about Antoine's commitment of anyone in this whole class.This guy is a beast. Penn State, LSU, USC, etc have been on this guy for a year and he just didn't have the grades. But it looks like he might be eligible to join in January. His size and speed is a great combo, he is a bit raw, but so was JPP. I will admit that it's hard to get fired up about Bullock mostly because there hasn't been alot of publicity regarding him yet. He's one to keep an eye on for his senior season to see how he develops.

DB:

Chris Gayre Jr NR

6-3, 202, 4.6; pretty good measurables for a DB. It would be nice to add another 1-2 additions here.

K/P:

I don't think that we need any help here given the young depth on the current roster.

I would imaging that we will be focusing on WR's, DL, and DB recruits for the remainder of this class. I know that there isn't a pre-season Giddens or Mitchell in this group, but remember that we didn't land either of them until Mid to late January during thier recruiting cycles. Plus there is nothing saying that some of the commits above don't have the upside to build that type of reputation by signing day.

[Mama_Bull]

You left off J Montague and Spencer Boyd.

[Bullpride08]

I would not classify it as disappointed, yet.  The kids that have committed, there are a few reaches there, IMO.  My bigger concern is that we appear to be out of it with a lot of local (Tampa Bay area) recruits or at most hanging on by a thread. 

We still need 3-4 WRs, a couple D lineman, a cornerback or two and maybe another RB, so there's still a lot left that can change the dynamic of this class.

Not disappointment either but a word of caution for the staff.  Careful reaching to much because you could find yourself out in the cold quickly.  THere is a tendency for a coach like Skip to panic early, which Leavitt learned not to do.  Sit back and wait and you'll find some of these FL kids who were holding out hope for that FSU, UF, or, MIami now are coming to the realization it will probably never materialize.  Now is the time to pounce, which I am sure Larry Scott will do.

The current class, if it closed out as it starts is very underwhelming by Big East standards.  Talk all you want about not worried about stars but Pitt and RU are going to be very formidable on the field for us this year and that will not stop as long as they continue to sign elite talent.  UL is rapidly re-approaching their recruiting levels pre-Kragthorpe, and WVU has always recruited well.  We'll need to come by a few more elite players that can compete.  In C-DOA you can get by with 1-2 elite and a bunch of mid-range kids you coach up.  In the Big East, whereas it's not the SEC, the talent level is large, and getting by with a bunch of 'coachable' players is not an option. 

The race is long, and the staff needs to be patient and persistent especially with FL talent, but if they do that I think we'll do just like Leavitt use to do and that is scoop up some elite talent at the last minute that will allow Skip Holtz to compete and win the BE.

[Mama_Bull]

Figured, it might be best to post this article here, since it gives more info on our latest verbals and talks about some other targets and recruiting in general:

Two commits: LB Pozniak, OL Gudmundsson

If he keeps up this pace, USF coach Skip Holtz won't have to do much recruiting at all in December and January. The Bulls have picked up two more commitments -- making 14 total, and nine since the start of July -- with the additions of linebacker Antoine Pozniak of East Syracuse, N.Y., and offensive lineman Brynjar Gudmundsson of Wellington, just west of West Palm Beach.

Let's start with pronunciations -- it's ANT-wan POZZ-nee-ak and BRIN-yar GUDD-mon-son, and thanks to their current coaches for the help there. Pozniak is perhaps the first sign of Holtz turning to one of his old East Carolina pipelines, as Pozniak, who will enroll at USF in January, is playing this fall at Oak Ridge Military Academy near Greensboro, N.C., a program where coach Otis Yelverton has two former players on the current ECU roster.

"Antoine has a great work ethic -- you don't have anyone down there who will work harder," Yelverton said. "He lives in the weight room. The guy is built like Tarzan, real cut up. He knows he has the opportunity of a lifetime to play for Skip Holtz at South Florida."

Pozniak, 6-foot-3 and 220 pounds, is playing defensive end at Oak Ridge, but Yelverton said he expects USF to use him at linebacker, saying that assistants Rick Smith and Vernon Hargreaves cited a "dire need" at linebacker, with seniors Sabbath Joseph, Jacquian Williams and Donte Spires all graduating after this season. He comes from not one but two Big East backyards -- he lived in Hamburg, N.J. before moving to East Syracuse last year. Yelverton said he had offers from Illinois and N.C. State coming out of high school, visited Michigan and LSU this summer and was looking at Oregon, Oregon State, California and East Carolina before choosing USF.

Yelverton said Holtz might not be done at Oak Ridge -- the Bulls are after 6-5, 320-pound lineman Brandon King, who Yelverton said might be headed to Syracuse, and there's interest in 340-pound defensive tackle Eric Young, who had an FSU offer last year.

The Bulls have clearly addressed the offensive line in recent weeks, with Gudmundsson as the fourth o-line commitment in this class. Wellington coach Chris Romano said what stands out is his athleticism and agility, along with his youth -- he just turned 17 last month. Gudmundsson is 6-3 and 265 pounds, and while he's playing tackle at Wellington, Romano said he expects him to be a guard at USF, or even a center, the position he played last season. He's also played some tight end and defensive end, so there's versatility to be sure.

Gudmundsson's father is from Iceland and his mother from South America, making him arguably the most international player in USF football history. Romano said he chose the Bulls over offers from Central Florida, Marshall and Florida International, and Syracuse was "very interested" but had yet to make an offer.

Back to pronunciations: It's going to be tricky to not get caught between Pozniak and OL commit Thor Jozwiak -- the latter is JOES-wee-ak, so as much fun as it would be, the two future linemates do not rhyme.

I'm counting 2010 signee Jamaal Montague, expected to enroll in January, among the 14 commitments, so the question is starting to be just how many scholarships the Bulls have left at their disposal. By my count, there should be about 20 available for this class, plus whatever comes available from attrition in the next year ...

Posted by Greg Auman at 11:09:49 am on August 31, 2010 | Permalink

http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/bulls/content/two-commits-lb-pozniak-ol-gudmundsson#comments

[KevinUSF00]

Good point about Boyd and Montaque. Are they planning to play Boyd at WR or CB? Both of those additions fit nicely into this current recruiting class. Now we just need another 1-2 WR's, DT, and best available recruits.