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2026 Derrek Cooper 5* RB/ATH from Chaminade Commits to Texas

joeB954 said:
Is day 1 starter a good thing for a RB in the grand scheme of things? They have a short playing life. That’s gonna be a lot of wear and tear. 3 years of being the main back. Increases chances of injury tremendously and a shorter NFL career.
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true, but they get paid millions in college now so ig that makes up for it
 
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Jedi Master Cane said:
We talkin bout a running back dog.

Not a DT

Not an OT or OG

Not a WR

A running back. Literally the most replaceable position in football. I could care less about missing on Cooper. I'm still stinging from missing on BOTH Brown and JJ at DT. That's a position you moan and whine about whiffing on. Wanna cry about Russell, have at it.

But a running back? Give me a freaking break guys.
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I agree with you in reality as to the value of the kid and position but the issue really is that this kid was prioritized apparently as the top local recruit by us, at a position we recruit and do well at, with an OL that’s solid, and we missed. But yes, it’s not a loss like JJ Smith, nonetheless, Mario was expected to win these types of recruitments and we lost it.
 
Let’s get kolojay, keep the dudes we have and get to the playoffs. This years class isn’t gonna a get much better. The players we couldn’t land are going to schools that are also gonna have good seasons.

Hoping for multiple elite flips is hopium.
 
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jmiller said:
Whats the point in having Mario as head coach if he cant win these big recruiting battles consistently going into year 4? Recruiting elite players was supposed to be his superpower. If Mario was a good in game coach we could get away with misses like this but thats not the case smh
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It’s just bad timing, right as we get a big-time recruiter for a head coach, the NIL-era begins. NIL completely outweighs recruiting ability now and for the foreseeable future.

Lincoln Riley is not a great recruiter (except for QBs). Mike Elko is not some recruiting guru. Brian Kelly, Kalen DeBoer…the list goes on. They all have top-notch NIL operations and will end up in the top 5-7 classes.

A bit simplistic, but essentially it all boils down to 2 things:
A) Get the players in the building (basically just NIL)
B) Get players drafted high year after year

Part B requires getting as many talented players to begin with - hence Part A and why NIL basically determines everything. In the past there were some position coaches where we could just have them be great recruiters and not have to be upper level in terms of actual coaching ability, but maybe that shifts going forward.

Cam Ward, Francis in 2026, we badly need impact NFL players. There are essentially no Canes on the all pro or pro bowl squads. No Canes winning awards. Slowly but surely we can get impact players into the league, but in the meantime it’s all about NIL. If you have the 50th best NIL program, you will end up with around the 50th best class. Maybe an elite recruiter can bump you up a couple of spots beyond your NIL level, but that’s probably it.
 
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gogeta4 said:
texas has recruited this kid for a grand total of 2 months lol

he previously was a uga commit. Now i know mario is gonna continue to recruit him but man......i got mallory if it was me i would save my money and find something else.
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How many different ways does a South Florida kid need to show he doesn't want to be a Cane for us to get the message?

I keep saying if you are a South Florida player, Miami is prioritizing you AND obviously offering you high quality NIL, and you don't get on board early.... it just doesn't seem likely period. Like it'd be one thing if he had never committed and wasn't planning on doing it until late in the season kinda like a Bain. That's kinda reasonable... But he had already committed once before and then postponed his next commitment. Its like just move on. Put the money into Dl/S and finish this class great.
 
BeastMode said:
Manny took over from Richt. Mario took over from manny. Not the same thing at all.
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Mario took Manny’s 7-5 team and went 5-7 with mostly the same team the next season but whatever because we are far enough removed from Manny right now for this season that none of the MarioBro St. CoRchibal purists can cover for him if he fails this season, recruiting or results on the field. When they try, they’re going to show their as posters on here, and worse.

And I don’t even care about recruiting right now remotely as much as I care about the season’s success or failure because the whole point of winning in recruiting is translating it to wins on the field, so bring on the season.

Let the chips fall where they may for this guy and call it fairly. If he losses in the ACCCG, it’s a mixed bag season. If he fails to get there, then but for a 10 year guaranteed contract, any other coach here would have been gone.
 
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