Anyone else worried/disappointed

I thought we would get a few more commitments from the OV weekend. Starting to get nerrrvous. Can someone talk me down?

 

There are people out there, who know much more than I know, who are talking top 10 class, which means a whole bunch of those guys, or reasonable facsimiles thereof, will have to come to UT. That is the only solace I can take until some of them start committing.

 

I have donuts... hot, fresh donuts. Step away from the ledge and follow the heavenly aroma.

In truth, we were only expecting 1-2 verbal committments by Monday. There are rumblings that the staff got 4-5 on the sly (also known as "silent commits").

Most guys these days want to wait until NSD or just before.

 

I get your post; I feel that there should be something already beyond Shackleford (good pick up by the way). I don't understand waiting until signing day; I guess taking all the OV's is important for the kid (to have a good time?) but nobody can convince me that waiting is good for the program you are going to join. I would think that if five studs from this class were all coming that they would announce in order to start the momentum. To me, it's a no brainer. Now anyone on the fence and not privy to the supposed "silent commit" has no idea what is going on and will make a decision based upon the same uncertainty that we all feel.

 

I think there is a legitimate reason to be nervous, and I am as well. This year there is no Malik Jefferson Bandwagon effect. However, it might take just one big name to start the ball rolling.

Strong demonstrated that he can close last year. While nervous, I am cautiously optimistic that he will do so again this year.

What does jarakris think? In fact, where is jarakris?

 

Jaykaris went undercover. He can't surface without blowing his cover.

 

So, we are going to have circa 10 announcements on NSD? It will definitely be newsworthy if that were to happen.

 

My guess (and it's a wild one) is that we'll get 3 more verbals by next Wednesday-Thursday.

 

Sorry, I have been so busy at work and not posting anything.

There is smoke going around on player twitters tonight with a whole bunch of #believe tweets (I think Reggie Hemplhill said "we know something that you all don't"). It is like we may have reeled in a big fish or something.

Actually Reggie had tweeted right after the weekend visits that we got 4 (three of them silent, and Shackelford who flipped). Reggie tweeted today "one more". Who was it? Not sure.

Rumors flying around (pretty strong) that Hudson visited today, and that he may even have flipped. That would be somewhat hard to believe for me (though possible)... I have no inside info, so take it all as rumors.

In any case, there are enough people and recruit gurus swearing that we have got some silent commits all wrapped up and we will have good news on NSD. It is a tough wait for us, as so many guys will only make it known on NSD. Shackelford said on a radio interview yesterday something like "can only ask the fans to be patient, there will be good news". The players know quite well, it seems, about who all are coming. They are a band of brothers right now, keeping us all off guard (and keeping other coaches also off-balance).

If Charlie really pulls this off like the rumors say he is on the way to doing, and gets another top-10 type class, gosh, the man is something else.

That's all I know. Thought I would make everybody feel good

 

This is my take, reading mostly on a peer board (the same things/quotes/tweets).

 

Thanks guys. I hate heights, and being on the ledge was making me dizzy. Due to your replies, I have backed off a few feet. Will be doing my deep breathing, relaxation exercises until the commits start coming in officially.

 

Generally speaking, recruits know where they want to go, they make a silent commitment and keep it hushed up so they are either not bombarded with questions and coaches of other programs trying to dissuade them, or they haven't ever experienced the red carpet treatment they get from all the schools and don't want to mess it up. Some that are uncommitted are struggling with all the variables, the education, the program, the location, potential teammates, coaching staffs, playing time, playing early and so on.

I'm not worried, some guys commit and sign, other flip, some we thought there was no chance they end up at UT will show up and sign. That's recruiting season entertainment for you....

 

I would like to see more announce just to create some excitement and maybe sway a recruit that's on the fence.
But the players seem confident we have some good things happening.
Strong seems to be a good closer.

 

Thanks for the update Jayakris. Any buzz that our #believe crew might announce before NSD?

 

Charlie Strong closed the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Charlie Strong can close anything.

 

I can only imagine the depth of the team after this class if we get the majority of these guys. Get a year under their belts and the program should soar back up to where it belongs, at the top of course. These guys Strong is bringing are vicious competitors.

 

After 5-7, I'll be ectatic with a Top 20 class. But I'm really expecting a Top 15 (closer to 10) which will, of course, cause even more ecstaticsity.

 

What would we do without the recruiting bedwetters?

 

None at all. It is like at least 5 or 6 of our guys are going to announce only on NSD. I hate it, but what can we do? But we will keep an eye on fallback options being worked on by Charlie. That is usually the biggest indicator of where we stand. Charlie would definitely know with very high certainty on most of those guys who are committing on NSD, because they themselves would not want their coach to waste time on fallback options at their spots. So, we will see.

Meanwhile, Bobby Burton just said at Hors247 that some big fish who had an offer from us and committed somewhere else is circling back to us (apparently seriously), and would do a visit on the 29th. He says he wouldn't divulge anything more; not even hints. Bobby usually doesn't BS on this stuff, so that sounded intriguing.

Yeah, we are in for a bit of a nervous ride the upcoming weeks, but a lot of people seem to be confident that it will end well for us. I guess caryhorn should try to put a tent at the edge of the cliff and try to sleep there for a couple of weeks.

 

LOL. Love it.^^

I will get a very large tent, one big enough for lots of Hornfan companions who find themselves tooo nerrrvous, tooo near the edge over the course of the next weeks.

 

@caryhorn if you have extra room on the cliff I'll bring some firewood and beans, we can hang out there until NSD.

Edit: ^ Looks like there's room.

 

@Joe Fan said:

Burton making some conciliatory remarks about Strong's recruiting --

" ....... So I feel like I can tell whether or not a team's recruiting momentum coming off of a recruiting weekend is real or merely wishful thinking. The Longhorns' momentum is very real. What's more, the momentum is happening at the positions of biggest need and with the biggest and best prospects remaining on the Texas board. I don't know how this recruiting class will turn out. No one really does. But I know that I continue to be impressed with Strong as a recruiter. He's going after guys that can make a difference for Texas. And he's doing it relentlessly.

If he signs another top 10 class, I think it's time for folks who worry about making more early offers to certain players or who think Texas recruiting is disorganized to realize that there's a method to Strong's madness. At the end of the day, recruiting is about getting players into your program, not necessarily how you go about doing it."

 

Actually Burton has always given high marks for Charlie's recruiting. Right from day 1. In fact the only position where he has criticized CS is QB, where he thinks we should've looked at some other guys too (though he is happy with whom we have picked) - he seems to think that CS allowed Watson too much say. Otherwise, he has been all high praise for CS' recruiting all along, though he too gets nervous like us when CS waits fro January to do his thing and players say for months that they are not hearing enough from Texas.

 

Per 6figs:

It’s closing time.

And Texas A&M head coach Kevin Sumlin wants to be the one they sing about when they say, ‘I know who I want to take me home’ on National Signing Day on Feb. 3.

It’s time to get real about where things stand. It has now been 48 hours since Texas’ big recruiting weekend finished up and I’ve been working all of my sources on what they’re hearing regarding some of the Aggies’ top targets after spending three days in Austin.

I’ve talked to multiple kids, parents and coaches that were on the 40 Acres and they all gave Charlie Strong and his staff glowing reviews about the weekend. In fact, one parent, who’s kid likely won’t be attending Texas, but thoroughly enjoyed his time on campus this weekend, gave the experience a “10 out of 10.”

With that said, it’s pretty simple - It is on Sumlin how Texas A&M finishes out the 2016 class.

We’re going to find out real quick how good of a closer he is because it’s not the fact the guys like Brandon Jones and Jeffrey McCulloch of the world don’t want to play for John Chavis in the SEC, it’s about the trust in the head man.

Here are a few facts to digest: Jeffrey McCulloch was going to announce for A&M at the Under Armour Game. Brandon Jones had been leaning towards A&M before Kyler Murray took off for Oklahoma. Eric Cuffee was a silent commit to A&M all throughout the fall but his parents are not even going to accompany him to College Station for his official visit at this moment.

Those aren’t issues with positions coaches or coordinators. Those are issues with the head man in charge for A&M to go from being the team to beat to the point we are at right now...which is there’s a lot of evidence suggesting the Ags are trailing for them all.

However, there’s a lot of conflicting information out there from extremely credible sources close to all these recruitments. Also, the fact remains that Sumlin has his lone in-home visit with Jones and will have Cuffee and McCulloch on campus that final weekend before National Signing Day.

So that’s why I’m putting it on him. All these kids know what Chavis can do for them from a development and scheme standpoint. However, can Sumlin sell there’s stability, that he’s a player’s coach and that he’ll be there past next season?

A&M got worked during the dead period.The news that surfaced during that stretch was nothing short of devastating and there was mass confusion surrounding the circumstances in Aggieland. You can only tell a kid so much over a direct message or phone call. Closing time happens in person. Face-to-face.

[Per another poster]

ICYDK, "6figs" is Hammy the aggy.

 

It's going to end well
Possibly very well

 

This was abundantly clear one year ago. Guess some people are slow.

 

There is a HS coach over on Texags who says he knows B Jones very well and is willing to bet Jones goes to Texas. He doesn't know why he switched but it likely revolves around his family trusting Strong more than Sumlin (my take). It is also my view that if Strong wins recruiting this year, Sumlin is effectively neutered going forward. Time for Aggie to get a new coach.

 

Does this help, @caryhorn?

 

Aggy's haul at closing time on NSD:

 

Per BR:
We're getting down to the wire for the 2016 recruiting cycle, and Charlie Strong once again has the Longhorns in position to make a huge splash.

Things are looking good in Austin with national signing day just two weeks away. Last weekend saw the Horns host 19 visitors, and it was a major success. Strong and his staff made big impressions on some of the state's top prospects, entertained some unexpected visitors and even flipped offensive lineman Zach Shackelford from Kansas State.

As we've seen from Strong in the past, this is just the beginning. The third-year head coach picked up six commitments within a week of last season's signing day, and this year could be even bigger.

Strong won't get everyone on his wish list. But he's going after the best, and some of them are sure to end up in burnt orange to make this one of the nation's best classes.

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The article goes on to talk about many of the possibles and includes vidz of several. Worth a gander.