Those of us who followed recruiting twenty years ago were able to see Butch Davis at his best. Butch had many different tricks, but he stuck to one core philosophy: Recruit the traits you can’t coach.
This usually broke down into three parts:
Frame- Colleges spend millions of dollars to develop the bodies of their athletes. But they can’t change their natural body structure. Butch targeted guys with specific physical characteristics: height, broad shoulders, big hands, long arms and big butts. The rest could be filled in later.
When I was a high school sophomore, I attended Jon Vilma’s first practice as a Cane. He was a two-star recruit with some local buzz. A veteran football guy pointed to Vilma and said, “Look at that guy’s butt. He’s going to be a hitter.” I thought it was a pretty g@y comment. But two years later when Vilma blew up that kid in the Rose Bowl, it made sense. Bubba Franks is another undervalued prospect that grew into his frame. Clive Walford and David Njoku are two recent examples.
Athleticism and Twitch- I use “athleticism” to mean coordination and ease of motion. Butch made it a point to target natural athletes who played multiple sports. It didn’t matter if it was basketball, volleyball or javelin throwing. The best example is Ed Reed. He was not an overtrained meathead. He was a pure athlete.
“Twitch,” on the other hand, refers to sudden movement and acceleration. Football is a game of inches and milliseconds. Twitch can be the difference between a tackle for loss and a touchdown. When a star skill player loses his twitch, his career is over. Twitch is particularly important on defense, where sudden movements can disrupt carefully choreographed offensive plays. Jon Beason is a guy who had OK speed but outstanding twitch.
Butch didn't worry about technique or football knowledge. That's what coaches are for. He wanted twitchy athletes.
Aggression- Golden used to say, “toughness is an acquired skill.” Personally, I would rather just recruit a team of killers.
John Thompson at Georgetown had the better quote on this point. He said, “I can calm down a fool. But I can’t wake up a corpse.” Guys are either aggressive or they aren’t. That should be evident on tape. Clinton Portis was never considered a “character guy,” but his toughness set the tone for a legendary RB corps.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yynUfTKHCUg
That’s the Butch philosophy for individual player evaluation. But what about the big-picture approach to building Miami into a champion? In my opinion, it can be broken down into three parts:
Keep the stars home- This one is obvious. Guys like Teddy Bridgewater and Dalvin Cook are program changers. You can’t get all of them, but you need to get most of them.
Build your roster in South Florida- There has been one major change in recruiting since Butch left to Cleveland: South Florida now produces players at every position. Since 2012, a South Florida QB has ranked top 5 nationally in passer rating every year. Three South Florida tight ends were drafted last year. Four South Florida offensive linemen started this year as rookies. It's not just receivers and corners anymore.
After Louisville destroyed us in 2013, a frustrated Miami staffer said, “Their starters should be our second unit.” Recruits like James Burgess are low-hanging fruit. When the coaches were scrambling to find able-bodied linebackers this year, it would have been nice to plug in Burgess or Skai Moore. Artie Burns goes pro? Replace him with Quincy Wilson. Taylor Gadbois kicked out of school? Plug in freshman All-American Reggie Bain. No team that plays in South Florida should ever have depth issues.
Not only do these kids bring their talent, they also bring a competitive edge that has been sharpened since Pop Warner. That’s the reason South Florida kids tend to excel in the pressure cooker of the NFL. When your backups bring that kind of hunger and confidence, it elevates the more gifted players.
Only leave the state for first rounders- To quote Will Ferrell, “they can’t all be first rounders.” But when you spend the time to go out of state, you should be targeting elite physical traits. Go to New Jersey for a freak like David Njoku. Don’t go to New Jersey for Jamie Gordinier.
This goes hand in hand with the previous point. When you expose freakish out-of-state studs to fearless local players, it brings out the best in both. Jeremy Shockey and Kellen Winslow II became psychos on Greentree.
Mark Richt and Al Golden had very different press conferences, but there was one quote they both said verbatim: “You can win big here when you do it right.” The blueprint has been developed and proven over the last 35 years. It works. I just hope that Richt can do it right.
This usually broke down into three parts:
Frame- Colleges spend millions of dollars to develop the bodies of their athletes. But they can’t change their natural body structure. Butch targeted guys with specific physical characteristics: height, broad shoulders, big hands, long arms and big butts. The rest could be filled in later.
When I was a high school sophomore, I attended Jon Vilma’s first practice as a Cane. He was a two-star recruit with some local buzz. A veteran football guy pointed to Vilma and said, “Look at that guy’s butt. He’s going to be a hitter.” I thought it was a pretty g@y comment. But two years later when Vilma blew up that kid in the Rose Bowl, it made sense. Bubba Franks is another undervalued prospect that grew into his frame. Clive Walford and David Njoku are two recent examples.
Athleticism and Twitch- I use “athleticism” to mean coordination and ease of motion. Butch made it a point to target natural athletes who played multiple sports. It didn’t matter if it was basketball, volleyball or javelin throwing. The best example is Ed Reed. He was not an overtrained meathead. He was a pure athlete.
“Twitch,” on the other hand, refers to sudden movement and acceleration. Football is a game of inches and milliseconds. Twitch can be the difference between a tackle for loss and a touchdown. When a star skill player loses his twitch, his career is over. Twitch is particularly important on defense, where sudden movements can disrupt carefully choreographed offensive plays. Jon Beason is a guy who had OK speed but outstanding twitch.
Butch didn't worry about technique or football knowledge. That's what coaches are for. He wanted twitchy athletes.
Aggression- Golden used to say, “toughness is an acquired skill.” Personally, I would rather just recruit a team of killers.
John Thompson at Georgetown had the better quote on this point. He said, “I can calm down a fool. But I can’t wake up a corpse.” Guys are either aggressive or they aren’t. That should be evident on tape. Clinton Portis was never considered a “character guy,” but his toughness set the tone for a legendary RB corps.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yynUfTKHCUg
That’s the Butch philosophy for individual player evaluation. But what about the big-picture approach to building Miami into a champion? In my opinion, it can be broken down into three parts:
Keep the stars home- This one is obvious. Guys like Teddy Bridgewater and Dalvin Cook are program changers. You can’t get all of them, but you need to get most of them.
Build your roster in South Florida- There has been one major change in recruiting since Butch left to Cleveland: South Florida now produces players at every position. Since 2012, a South Florida QB has ranked top 5 nationally in passer rating every year. Three South Florida tight ends were drafted last year. Four South Florida offensive linemen started this year as rookies. It's not just receivers and corners anymore.
After Louisville destroyed us in 2013, a frustrated Miami staffer said, “Their starters should be our second unit.” Recruits like James Burgess are low-hanging fruit. When the coaches were scrambling to find able-bodied linebackers this year, it would have been nice to plug in Burgess or Skai Moore. Artie Burns goes pro? Replace him with Quincy Wilson. Taylor Gadbois kicked out of school? Plug in freshman All-American Reggie Bain. No team that plays in South Florida should ever have depth issues.
Not only do these kids bring their talent, they also bring a competitive edge that has been sharpened since Pop Warner. That’s the reason South Florida kids tend to excel in the pressure cooker of the NFL. When your backups bring that kind of hunger and confidence, it elevates the more gifted players.
Only leave the state for first rounders- To quote Will Ferrell, “they can’t all be first rounders.” But when you spend the time to go out of state, you should be targeting elite physical traits. Go to New Jersey for a freak like David Njoku. Don’t go to New Jersey for Jamie Gordinier.
This goes hand in hand with the previous point. When you expose freakish out-of-state studs to fearless local players, it brings out the best in both. Jeremy Shockey and Kellen Winslow II became psychos on Greentree.
Mark Richt and Al Golden had very different press conferences, but there was one quote they both said verbatim: “You can win big here when you do it right.” The blueprint has been developed and proven over the last 35 years. It works. I just hope that Richt can do it right.
