Building the program

[wadszip]

First time poster. ... Not sure if this belongs on this board or the recruiting board, but I was interested in hearing thoughts on what coach Ianello's recruiting philosophy should be to build the program.Here is my take:1. Take a page out of the Minter/Dantonio/Kelly book in Cincinnati and sell the program to kids in the Cleveland/Akron/Canton area and start developing pipelines at some of the marquee programs. Cincy has been getting a lot of players from Colerain, St. Xavier, Elder, etc. Hopefully, coach Ianello can do the same thing here and hit schools like Massillon, McKinley, St. Vincent-St. Mary, Hoban, Walsh, St. Edward, Glenville (though I know it didn't work out the first time with Cloud and Fuqua) and even St. Ignatius (though their MAC level players gravitate toward Miami or even Ivy League schools). Those are schools that year-in and year-out produce Division I talent. I believe Akron can even target some marginal kids from those schools in hopes that it leads to a relationship down the line and higher rated prospects.2. Recruit "programs" in other areas of Ohio and Western Pa. By "programs" I mean schools like Steubenville, Cardinal Mooney, Ursuline, Dublin Coffman, Hilliard Davidson, Brookhaven, Trotwood-Madison, Gateway (Pa.), Penn Hills (Pa.). ... schools that have winning traditions and produce a lot of talent year-in and out.3. Recruit Texas. This will take some effort and I'm not sure what ties Ianello has down there (but coming from ND I'm sure he has some). MAC schools have had success recruiting leftovers out of Florida for years. Hell, everybody is trying to recruit Florida so there is a lot of competition for those kids. I would try to go a different route and put OOS resources into the Lonestar State. IMO, Texas is on its way to passing Florida as the No. 1 state for high school football talent. The year-round training and facilities available for those kids has been paying dividends. Like Florida kids for the past 20 years, Texas kids are going to have to start leaving the region. I think it could be a goldmine if Akron can get in there before other Northern teams.4. Target other local schools. This could be tricky because coaches will be pushing Akron to offer some FCS and D2 kids. But Akron can't ignore schools like Wadsworth, Copley, Tallmadge, Twinsburg, Hoover, etc. While not enough to build a pipeline, IMO, there is still enough talent at some of these schools to pick a kid or two a year.5. Look for the small-school diamonds. Brian Wagner is the perfect example of this. I wouldn't avoid the small schools becaue you will find some good players. But I can't justify putting a lot of resources into going to those places. Even though Wagner looks like he is going to be a star, it could be 20 years before Springfield Central Catholic produces another D1 player.6. Avoid JUCO players. I'm not a fan of the quick fix of JUCO kids. For every Deryn Bowser there are 3-4 JUCOs who don't pan out or make minimal impact and you only get those guys for 2 years. Maybe 4-5 years down the line and the program is in a position to win a championship and a JUCO kid may be the missing piece, I would go that route, but not now when the foundation is not in place.7. Instead of going the JUCO route, take one chance a year on a highly touted recruit that may have some baggage or grade issues. If it works out, you have the kid for four years. If not, it's only one scholarship. JD took too many chances on recruits like that and got burned by it.Maybe it's my blue and gold-shaded glasses, but firmly believe that with the sorry state of the MAC, the talent that is in NE Ohio and with the facilities in place, Akron can do in Northern Ohio what Cincinnati (even the CUSA version consistently made bowls) has done in Southern Ohio. The biggest thing now is to get the talent in place.

[Z.I.P.]

First time poster. ... Not sure if this belongs on this board or the recruiting board, but I was interested in hearing thoughts on what coach Ianello's recruiting philosophy should be to build the program.Here is my take:1. Take a page out of the Minter/Dantonio/Kelly book in Cincinnati and sell the program to kids in the Cleveland/Akron/Canton area and start developing pipelines at some of the marquee programs. Cincy has been getting a lot of players from Colerain, St. Xavier, Elder, etc. Hopefully, coach Ianello can do the same thing here and hit schools like Massillon, McKinley, St. Vincent-St. Mary, Hoban, Walsh, St. Edward, Glenville (though I know it didn't work out the first time with Cloud and Fuqua) and even St. Ignatius (though their MAC level players gravitate toward Miami or even Ivy League schools). Those are schools that year-in and year-out produce Division I talent. I believe Akron can even target some marginal kids from those schools in hopes that it leads to a relationship down the line and higher rated prospects.2. Recruit "programs" in other areas of Ohio and Western Pa. By "programs" I mean schools like Steubenville, Cardinal Mooney, Ursuline, Dublin Coffman, Hilliard Davidson, Brookhaven, Trotwood-Madison, Gateway (Pa.), Penn Hills (Pa.). ... schools that have winning traditions and produce a lot of talent year-in and out.3. Recruit Texas. This will take some effort and I'm not sure what ties Ianello has down there (but coming from ND I'm sure he has some). MAC schools have had success recruiting leftovers out of Florida for years. Hell, everybody is trying to recruit Florida so there is a lot of competition for those kids. I would try to go a different route and put OOS resources into the Lonestar State. IMO, Texas is on its way to passing Florida as the No. 1 state for high school football talent. The year-round training and facilities available for those kids has been paying dividends. Like Florida kids for the past 20 years, Texas kids are going to have to start leaving the region. I think it could be a goldmine if Akron can get in there before other Northern teams.4. Target other local schools. This could be tricky because coaches will be pushing Akron to offer some FCS and D2 kids. But Akron can't ignore schools like Wadsworth, Copley, Tallmadge, Twinsburg, Hoover, etc. While not enough to build a pipeline, IMO, there is still enough talent at some of these schools to pick a kid or two a year.5. Look for the small-school diamonds. Brian Wagner is the perfect example of this. I wouldn't avoid the small schools becaue you will find some good players. But I can't justify putting a lot of resources into going to those places. Even though Wagner looks like he is going to be a star, it could be 20 years before Springfield Central Catholic produces another D1 player.6. Avoid JUCO players. I'm not a fan of the quick fix of JUCO kids. For every Deryn Bowser there are 3-4 JUCOs who don't pan out or make minimal impact and you only get those guys for 2 years. Maybe 4-5 years down the line and the program is in a position to win a championship and a JUCO kid may be the missing piece, I would go that route, but not now when the foundation is not in place.7. Instead of going the JUCO route, take one chance a year on a highly touted recruit that may have some baggage or grade issues. If it works out, you have the kid for four years. If not, it's only one scholarship. JD took too many chances on recruits like that and got burned by it.Maybe it's my blue and gold-shaded glasses, but firmly believe that with the sorry state of the MAC, the talent that is in NE Ohio and with the facilities in place, Akron can do in Northern Ohio what Cincinnati (even the CUSA version consistently made bowls) has done in Southern Ohio. The biggest thing now is to get the talent in place.

Hey, it's been well over an hour since this was posted. I guess The Great GP-1 is trying to regain his strength after reading the title before blasting the entire idea! #3 is an interesting idea. Everyone else in the MAC has been obsessed with recruiting Florida for years -- to little effect in most cases. Now you say try Texas. Why Texas? Are you from there? I would suggest, if you wish to dip your recruiting toes into a warm weather clime with lots of HS talent, then go a ways West of Texas, and head for Cali-fornia. Why California? Because it has 1/8 of the nation's population for one. AND, it has more HS football stars than any state. Now, odds are that few if any HS players are going to be interested in a school in the rust belt (like say, Akron, or Toledo, or Miami) -- BUT, you will be tilling fertile yet virgin soil. You never know until you go there -- and you're no less likely to be well received than in Texas.Now, #6. Why give up on recruiting Junior College athletes? Given what I have written in the previous paragraph, I would say, go deeper yet into this population -- not for players who have already developed for two years -- but to engage a specific geographic base. California dominates Jr College football, and digging deeper into that as a secondary or tertiary recruiting base will help loosen up JC players, because they might be more familiar with the coaches when they get the phone call. There are not that many JC players who are D-1 quality, and the MAC generally again gets left with what's left after the BCS drops in. Looking at Cali as a geographic base, rather than just a spot to drop in on JCs once a year will have a potential dual pay-off -- you get your occasional HS athlete, and you increase your odds of catching the higher level of JC players when those you are contacting out of HS end up having to go the JC route. I'm not saying this will necessarily pay off -- but to me it seems like as high if not a higher potential than going to Texas, or the mid-South in general. And it gets the Zips that much closer to recruiting more of the talent from the 50th State!

[GP1]

It's not about building the program, it's about improving the program. Everything is built and now they need improvement in the form of winning. There is sufficient talent on the team that they do not need a five year "building"/circle jerk program. If we go into "building", in five years we will be exactly where we are now.The original post is correct. Recruit good players regardless of where they come from.I agree with Z.I.P. in that I don't understand the bias against JC players. It is really an eastern bias. Schools out west take JC players all the time. In fact, schools like USC and UCLA are difficult to get into for any student and many take a two year trip to a JC to get their grades up in order to get in those schools. I'd rather take a chance on a JC player who proved his ability for two years in the classroom rather than a freshman at risk student.

[Zipmeister]

Florida! Texas!! California!!!Each of those ponds are already overfished.If you want to make recruiting inroads, start recruiting internationally. True - few young men from these countries have football experience but lots of upside. Get your Lineman from Eastern Europe, recievers from Africa, linbackers from Russia (Russian mob connections would be a plus), running backs from Jamaca, kickers from South America, etc. Of course I,m not saying we shouldn't go after a talented guy from say Norway or Figi, but most of them are better at golf.

[g-mann17]

Florida! Texas!! California!!!Each of those ponds are already overfished.If you want to make recruiting inroads, start recruiting internationally. True - few young men from these countries have football experience but lots of upside. Get your Lineman from Eastern Europe, recievers from Africa, linbackers from Russia (Russian mob connections would be a plus), running backs from Jamaca, kickers from South America, etc. Of course I,m not saying we shouldn't go after a talented guy from say Norway or Figi, but most of them are better at golf.

What about Uruguay?

[Zipmeister]

Florida! Texas!! California!!!Each of those ponds are already overfished.If you want to make recruiting inroads, start recruiting internationally. True - few young men from these countries have football experience but lots of upside. Get your Lineman from Eastern Europe, recievers from Africa, linbackers from Russia (Russian mob connections would be a plus), running backs from Jamaca, kickers from South America, etc. Of course I,m not saying we shouldn't go after a talented guy from say Norway or Figi, but most of them are better at golf.

What about Uruguay?

Last time I checked Uraquay was still in South America.

[72 Roo]

Liechtenstein produces the best linebackers in Europe. I sure hope we can corner the market there.

[Zipmeister]

Liechtenstein produces the best linebackers in Europe. I sure hope we can corner the market there.

I'm the last person to cast a stone, but I think with the rumors of pervasive steroid use by Liechtenstieners we should avoid this potential PR nightmare.