How recruiting failure can have a long term effect (Wide Receiver Edition)

[GojiraCane]

I bring this up because we in part face this situation now. Cornerback has seen some particular problem recently -

Commitments:
2018 (4): Al Blades, Gilbert Frierson, DJ Ivey, Nigel Bethel
2019 (2): Te'Cory Couch, Christian Williams
2020 (2): Isaiah Dunson, Marcus Clarke
2021 (1): Tyrique Stevenson

The end result is a need to over-sign to compensate for previous recruiting failures. Two corners were signed in the 2022 ESD, and more are expected (and needed) by spring. What this can in turn lead to is a challenge to sign players in follow-on classes, as over-signing leads to a glut of players of the same age at one position. Which in turn leads to the problem repeating itself.

An example of this challenge in a more extreme scenario was wide receivers. Under Larry Coker, Miami's signings for this position were few and far between. This was especially baffling as this was a team coming off of a national championship appearance, and a program that was in national championship contention each year in 2003 through 2005. Following the 2002 class, Miami was never able to sign more than two wide receivers in a single year, and one year completely failed to sign any:

2002 (3): Ryan Moore, Sinorice Moss, Akieem Jolla
2003 (1): Darnell Jenkins
2004 (2): Khalil Jones, Lance Leggett
2005 (0): None
2006: (2): Sam Shields, George Robinson

When Miami entered the 2006 season the program had but six scholarship wide receivers, having successfully recruited only five wide receivers over the previous four years. Coker signed Shields in 2006, but lost Preston Parker at the last moment to Florida State. Coker responded by converting four star cornerback Ryan Hill to wide receiver and using punter Brian Monroe at the position during practice.

2006 Season: (6 WRs): Ryan Moore (5th yr), Darnell Jenkins (4th yr), Khalil Jones (3rd yr), Lance Leggett (3rd yr), Sam Shields (1st yr), George Robinson (1st yr)

By mid-season in 2006 the Hurricanes were down to just three healthy wide receivers, and the already struggling offense ground to a halt. Miami went 2-4 over its final six games, and scored no more than 23 points in any single game. Following the conclusion of the season Coker departed. Ryan Moore's eligibility expired and George Robinson left Miami, reducing the returning scholarship players to just four players (along with the converted Ryan Hill). Randy Shannon brought in transfer Kayne Farquharson and signed Jermaine McKenzie and Leonard Hankerson for the 2007 season. However depth was minimal, and it took a hit when McKenzie was injured in an automobile accident and missed his freshman season.

2007 Season: (6 WRs): Darnell Jenkins (5th yr), Khalil Jones (4th yr), Lance Leggett (4th yr), Sam Shields (2nd yr), K. Farquharson (1st yr), Jermaine McKenzie (1st yr), Leonard Hankerson (1st yr)

Following the 2007 season Randy Shannon faced his first full recruiting class with a dilemma. He had only four wide receivers returning for the 2008 season (Shields, Farquharson, McKenzie, and Hankerson). Shannon was now forced to oversign in the 2008 class to bring numbers up to full, and brought in more wide receivers in one class than Larry Coker had been able to sign in four.

2008 Season (11 WRs): Khalil Jones (5th yr), Sam Shields (3rd yr), K. Farquharson (2nd yr), Jermaine McKenzie (2nd yr), Leonard Hankerson (2nd yr), Aldarius Johnson (1st yr), Davon Johnson(1st yr), Tommy Streeter (1st yr), Kendall Thompkins (1st yr), Thearon Collier (1st yr), Travis Benjamin (1st yr), LaRon Byrd (1st yr)

This surge was only temporary. Farquharson's eligibility had been expended, Shields was moved to defense and McKenzie transferred, leaving the large group of 2008 signees as the only wide receivers on roster. Because he had signed seven in 2008, Shannon was ultimately unable to bring in anyone in the 2009 class.

2009 Season (8 WRs): Leonard Hankerson (3rd yr), Aldarius Johnson (2nd yr), Davon Johnson(2nd yr), Tommy Streeter (2nd yr), Kendall Thompkins (2nd yr), Thearon Collier (2nd yr), Travis Benjamin (2nd yr), LaRon Byrd (2nd yr)

The giant 2008 class again had an impact the following season, as Shannon was able to secure just one new wide receiver for the 2010 class (a second signee failed to qualify). Miami remained at 8 wide receivers, but now the bulk of position was composed of upper classmen. By signing so many two seasons earlier, Randy was now beginning to replicate the recruiting issues that Coker had.

2010 Season (8 WRs): Leonard Hankerson (4th yr), Aldarius Johnson (3rd yr), Davon Johnson (3rd yr), Tommy Streeter (3rd yr), Kendall Thompkins (3rd yr), Travis Benjamin (3rd yr), LaRon Byrd (3rd yr), Allen Hurns (1st year)

After Shannon departed new head coach Al Golden faced a nightmarish prospect. The entire wide receiver corp save Hurns was NFL eligible, and at maximum had 1-2 years of college eligibility left. With little time left between joining the program and National Signing Day he was able to bring in two freshmen recruits, maintaining the position's numbers at 8 wide receivers after Aldarius Johnson and Leonard Hankerson departed. But the majority of the position remained upper classmen whose eligibility was running out:

2011 Season (8 WRs): Davon Johnson (4th yr), Tommy Streeter (4th yr), Kendall Thompkins (4th yr), Travis Benjamin (4th yr), LaRon Byrd (4th yr), Allen Hurns (2nd year), Philip Dorsett (1st yr), Rayshawn Scott (1st yr)

This lopsided roster led to conditions similar to what existed after 2007. Entering his first full recruiting class in February 2012, Al Golden now found himself in a situation reminiscent to what confronted Randy Shannon before the 2008 National Signing Day. He now needed to oversign in order to get numbers back up to par. Golden landed five wide receivers in that class, and at one points had a sixth (4 star Angelo Jean-Louis) who never played.

2012 Season (11 WRs): Davon Johnson (5th yr), Kendall Thompkins (5th yr), Allen Hurns (3rd yr), Phillip Dorsett (2nd yr), Rashawn Scott (2nd yr), Malcolm Lewis (1st yr), D'Mauri Jones (1st yr), Herb Waters (1st yr), Jontavious Carter (1st yr), Robert Lockhart (1st yr)

After that wide receiver recruiting finally stabilized. We would have one more class that would feature only one signee (2015 - Lawrence Cager), but never again a three year stretch where only three players were successfully recruited in a position that generally requires that a team maintain ten players.

Ultimately, what we saw in the example of the wide receiver recruiting misfires was that failures to secure commitments can have a continuing effect long after the initial miss or misses. Consecutive years with under-recruiting or failure to land any players at a given position creates over-signing afterwards, which in turn discourages future recruits from signing with the program because of the horde of similarly aged talent at the position. This is something that to watch for in the next two cycles as Miami continues to fill out the cornerback position.

 

[M3N]

At also doesn’t help when you have zero development and kids aren’t quality draftees. You have nothing to sell.

Todays era is much different. Prospects and parents do a really good of researching the potential teams they would be joining. We also live in a time where kids are front runners.

In all reality our best WR coach in the last 15 years was George McDonald/ Likens.

We need to identify and sign better players. Period.

I totally agree with you. It will be interesting to see how all this plays out. there are some big holes but I never agreed with throwing numbers at it. These coaches need to ****** hit on these evals. By doing so will help future recruitment and roster symmetry…. Something we haven’t had since butch

 

[Zanecane]

At also doesn’t help when you have zero development and kids aren’t quality draftees. You have nothing to sell.

Todays era is much different. Prospects and parents do a really good of researching the potential teams they would be joining. We also live in a time where kids are front runners.

In all reality our best WR coach in the last 15 years was George McDonald/ Likens.

We need to identify and sign better players. Period.

I totally agree with you. It will be interesting to see how all this plays out. there are some big holes but I never agreed with throwing numbers at it. These coaches need to ****** hit on these evals. By doing so will help future recruitment and roster symmetry…. Something we haven’t had since butch

I hate this narrative that kids are "front runners" for having not choose Miami. 90% of the kids that chose to come here despite how poorly we were coached ended up paying for it on draft night. We haven't been relevant in their lifetimes. What loyalty did they have to Miami to begin with? The coaches that started their recruitments were almost always fired by the time they hit 12th grade. Give them a reason to come instead of just expecting them to.

I know it wasn't your main point. Your point about evals is more accurate and the lack of development is obvious.

 

[M3N]

I hate this narrative that kids are "front runners" for having not choose Miami. 90% of the kids that chose to come here despite how poorly we were coached ended up paying for it on draft night. We haven't been relevant in their lifetimes. What loyalty did they have to Miami to begin with? The coaches that started their recruitments were almost always fired by the time they hit 12th grade. Give them a reason to come instead of just expecting them to.

I know it wasn't your main point. Your point about evals is more accurate and the lack of development is obvious.

You can hate the narrative all you want but it true. Almost every top tier player wants to go to a winner. That is the definition of being a front runner. Especially south Florida kids. Kids would rather play for an established winner then build a program. It just so happens that it all likely hold the kids will be developed better at said school. In the end it’s only portion of the reason why we have struggled. We have struggled to have roster symmetry since Butch left.

When you can identify, recruit, and develop the players it will go along way. Especially roster retention.

I don’t expect kids to come Miami just bc. That’s entirely different topic

 

[TheOriginalCane]

I bring this up because we in part face this situation now. Cornerback has seen some particular problem recently -

Commitments:
2018 (4): Al Blades, Gilbert Frierson, DJ Ivey, Nigel Bethel
2019 (2): Te'Cory Couch, Christian Williams
2020 (2): Isaiah Dunson, Marcus Clarke
2021 (1): Tyrique Stevenson

The end result is a need to over-sign to compensate for previous recruiting failures. Two corners were signed in the 2022 ESD, and more are expected (and needed) by spring. What this can in turn lead to is a challenge to sign players in follow-on classes, as over-signing leads to a glut of players of the same age at one position. Which in turn leads to the problem repeating itself.

An example of this challenge in a more extreme scenario was wide receivers. Under Larry Coker, Miami's signings for this position were few and far between. This was especially baffling as this was a team coming off of a national championship appearance, and a program that was in national championship contention each year in 2003 through 2005. Following the 2002 class, Miami was never able to sign more than two wide receivers in a single year, and one year completely failed to sign any:

2002 (3): Ryan Moore, Sinorice Moss, Akieem Jolla
2003 (1): Darnell Jenkins
2004 (2): Khalil Jones, Lance Leggett
2005 (0): None
2006: (2): Sam Shields, George Robinson

When Miami entered the 2006 season the program had but six scholarship wide receivers, having successfully recruited only five wide receivers over the previous four years. Coker signed Shields in 2006, but lost Preston Parker at the last moment to Florida State. Coker responded by converting four star cornerback Ryan Hill to wide receiver and using punter Brian Monroe at the position during practice.

2006 Season: (6 WRs): Ryan Moore (5th yr), Darnell Jenkins (4th yr), Khalil Jones (3rd yr), Lance Leggett (3rd yr), Sam Shields (1st yr), George Robinson (1st yr)

By mid-season in 2006 the Hurricanes were down to just three healthy wide receivers, and the already struggling offense ground to a halt. Miami went 2-4 over its final six games, and scored no more than 23 points in any single game. Following the conclusion of the season Coker departed. Ryan Moore's eligibility expired and George Robinson left Miami, reducing the returning scholarship players to just four players (along with the converted Ryan Hill). Randy Shannon brought in transfer Kayne Farquharson and signed Jermaine McKenzie and Leonard Hankerson for the 2007 season. However depth was minimal, and it took a hit when McKenzie was injured in an automobile accident and missed his freshman season.

2007 Season: (6 WRs): Darnell Jenkins (5th yr), Khalil Jones (4th yr), Lance Leggett (4th yr), Sam Shields (2nd yr), K. Farquharson (1st yr), Jermaine McKenzie (1st yr), Leonard Hankerson (1st yr)

Following the 2007 season Randy Shannon faced his first full recruiting class with a dilemma. He had only four wide receivers returning for the 2008 season (Shields, Farquharson, McKenzie, and Hankerson). Shannon was now forced to oversign in the 2008 class to bring numbers up to full, and brought in more wide receivers in one class than Larry Coker had been able to sign in four.

2008 Season (11 WRs): Khalil Jones (5th yr), Sam Shields (3rd yr), K. Farquharson (2nd yr), Jermaine McKenzie (2nd yr), Leonard Hankerson (2nd yr), Aldarius Johnson (1st yr), Davon Johnson(1st yr), Tommy Streeter (1st yr), Kendall Thompkins (1st yr), Thearon Collier (1st yr), Travis Benjamin (1st yr), LaRon Byrd (1st yr)

This surge was only temporary. Farquharson's eligibility had been expended, Shields was moved to defense and McKenzie transferred, leaving the large group of 2008 signees as the only wide receivers on roster. Because he had signed seven in 2008, Shannon was ultimately unable to bring in anyone in the 2009 class.

2009 Season (8 WRs): Leonard Hankerson (3rd yr), Aldarius Johnson (2nd yr), Davon Johnson(2nd yr), Tommy Streeter (2nd yr), Kendall Thompkins (2nd yr), Thearon Collier (2nd yr), Travis Benjamin (2nd yr), LaRon Byrd (2nd yr)

The giant 2008 class again had an impact the following season, as Shannon was able to secure just one new wide receiver for the 2010 class (a second signee failed to qualify). Miami remained at 8 wide receivers, but now the bulk of position was composed of upper classmen. By signing so many two seasons earlier, Randy was now beginning to replicate the recruiting issues that Coker had.

2010 Season (8 WRs): Leonard Hankerson (4th yr), Aldarius Johnson (3rd yr), Davon Johnson (3rd yr), Tommy Streeter (3rd yr), Kendall Thompkins (3rd yr), Travis Benjamin (3rd yr), LaRon Byrd (3rd yr), Allen Hurns (1st year)

After Shannon departed new head coach Al Golden faced a nightmarish prospect. The entire wide receiver corp save Hurns was NFL eligible, and at maximum had 1-2 years of college eligibility left. With little time left between joining the program and National Signing Day he was able to bring in two freshmen recruits, maintaining the position's numbers at 8 wide receivers after Aldarius Johnson and Leonard Hankerson departed. But the majority of the position remained upper classmen whose eligibility was running out:

2011 Season (8 WRs): Davon Johnson (4th yr), Tommy Streeter (4th yr), Kendall Thompkins (4th yr), Travis Benjamin (4th yr), LaRon Byrd (4th yr), Allen Hurns (2nd year), Philip Dorsett (1st yr), Rayshawn Scott (1st yr)

This lopsided roster led to conditions similar to what existed after 2007. Entering his first full recruiting class in February 2012, Al Golden now found himself in a situation reminiscent to what confronted Randy Shannon before the 2008 National Signing Day. He now needed to oversign in order to get numbers back up to par. Golden landed five wide receivers in that class, and at one points had a sixth (4 star Angelo Jean-Louis) who never played.

2012 Season (11 WRs): Davon Johnson (5th yr), Kendall Thompkins (5th yr), Allen Hurns (3rd yr), Phillip Dorsett (2nd yr), Rashawn Scott (2nd yr), Malcolm Lewis (1st yr), D'Mauri Jones (1st yr), Herb Waters (1st yr), Jontavious Carter (1st yr), Robert Lockhart (1st yr)

After that wide receiver recruiting finally stabilized. We would have one more class that would feature only one signee (2015 - Lawrence Cager), but never again a three year stretch where only three players were successfully recruited in a position that generally requires that a team maintain ten players.

Ultimately, what we saw in the example of the wide receiver recruiting misfires was that failures to secure commitments can have a continuing effect long after the initial miss or misses. Consecutive years with under-recruiting or failure to land any players at a given position creates over-signing afterwards, which in turn discourages future recruits from signing with the program because of the horde of similarly aged talent at the position. This is something that to watch for in the next two cycles as Miami continues to fill out the cornerback position.

Actually, the WR situation in the early 2000s is even worse, which I remember, because I was constantly pointing this out on CaneSport.

First, Darnell Jenkins was a part of our 2002 signing class, but he failed to qualify academically in 2002 and enrolled in our 2003 class. This is important for two reasons. One is that Miami was ready, willing, and able to take FOUR wide receivers in 2002. By taking Jenkins with one of our FOUR spots, we did NOT sign any other WR that we COULD HAVE signed in 2002. And long-time posters will know where I'm about to go here. Yes, Miami did NOT sign a guy in 2002 from The Muck, a little guy by the name of Santonio Holmes. Then, in 2003, when you **** well know you are still trying to get Darnell Jenkins, a guy you would have taken in 2002, YOU LITERALLY SIGN NO OTHER WIDE RECEIVER. Which is insane.

So THEN, over a four year period, you actually have ZERO new signees for 2003 and 2005, and you only sign TWO per year in 2004 and 2006.

And then...who WERE those 4 signees in 4 years? Well, only TWO wee blue-chppers, Lance Leggett and Sam Shields. The other two were TWO stars. NOT THREE STARS. No, they were TWO star WRs. And if you go back to the porsts from nearly 20 years ago, certain porsters tried to tell us that George "Hands of Stone" Robinson was the "best wide receiver in Dade County" in 2006.

That's it. 2 blue-chip WRs over FOUR years. What a friggin disaster. And even if we want to ***** and moan about losing Preston Prettyhair Parker in 2006, we could have TRIED to recruit more blue-chip WRs in 2003. And 2004. And 2005.

And that is how we COMPLETELY fvcked up our WR depth chart, and have only recently gotten back to something reasonably normal. Not even "recruiting all the MNW WRs" fixed things.

Motherfvckin' Larry Coker and his WR recruiting...

 

[Brains]

I bring this up because we in part face this situation now. Cornerback has seen some particular problem recently -

Commitments:
2018 (4): Al Blades, Gilbert Frierson, DJ Ivey, Nigel Bethel
2019 (2): Te'Cory Couch, Christian Williams
2020 (2): Isaiah Dunson, Marcus Clarke
2021 (1): Tyrique Stevenson

The end result is a need to over-sign to compensate for previous recruiting failures. Two corners were signed in the 2022 ESD, and more are expected (and needed) by spring. What this can in turn lead to is a challenge to sign players in follow-on classes, as over-signing leads to a glut of players of the same age at one position. Which in turn leads to the problem repeating itself.

An example of this challenge in a more extreme scenario was wide receivers. Under Larry Coker, Miami's signings for this position were few and far between. This was especially baffling as this was a team coming off of a national championship appearance, and a program that was in national championship contention each year in 2003 through 2005. Following the 2002 class, Miami was never able to sign more than two wide receivers in a single year, and one year completely failed to sign any:

2002 (3): Ryan Moore, Sinorice Moss, Akieem Jolla
2003 (1): Darnell Jenkins
2004 (2): Khalil Jones, Lance Leggett
2005 (0): None
2006: (2): Sam Shields, George Robinson

When Miami entered the 2006 season the program had but six scholarship wide receivers, having successfully recruited only five wide receivers over the previous four years. Coker signed Shields in 2006, but lost Preston Parker at the last moment to Florida State. Coker responded by converting four star cornerback Ryan Hill to wide receiver and using punter Brian Monroe at the position during practice.

2006 Season: (6 WRs): Ryan Moore (5th yr), Darnell Jenkins (4th yr), Khalil Jones (3rd yr), Lance Leggett (3rd yr), Sam Shields (1st yr), George Robinson (1st yr)

By mid-season in 2006 the Hurricanes were down to just three healthy wide receivers, and the already struggling offense ground to a halt. Miami went 2-4 over its final six games, and scored no more than 23 points in any single game. Following the conclusion of the season Coker departed. Ryan Moore's eligibility expired and George Robinson left Miami, reducing the returning scholarship players to just four players (along with the converted Ryan Hill). Randy Shannon brought in transfer Kayne Farquharson and signed Jermaine McKenzie and Leonard Hankerson for the 2007 season. However depth was minimal, and it took a hit when McKenzie was injured in an automobile accident and missed his freshman season.

2007 Season: (6 WRs): Darnell Jenkins (5th yr), Khalil Jones (4th yr), Lance Leggett (4th yr), Sam Shields (2nd yr), K. Farquharson (1st yr), Jermaine McKenzie (1st yr), Leonard Hankerson (1st yr)

Following the 2007 season Randy Shannon faced his first full recruiting class with a dilemma. He had only four wide receivers returning for the 2008 season (Shields, Farquharson, McKenzie, and Hankerson). Shannon was now forced to oversign in the 2008 class to bring numbers up to full, and brought in more wide receivers in one class than Larry Coker had been able to sign in four.

2008 Season (11 WRs): Khalil Jones (5th yr), Sam Shields (3rd yr), K. Farquharson (2nd yr), Jermaine McKenzie (2nd yr), Leonard Hankerson (2nd yr), Aldarius Johnson (1st yr), Davon Johnson(1st yr), Tommy Streeter (1st yr), Kendall Thompkins (1st yr), Thearon Collier (1st yr), Travis Benjamin (1st yr), LaRon Byrd (1st yr)

This surge was only temporary. Farquharson's eligibility had been expended, Shields was moved to defense and McKenzie transferred, leaving the large group of 2008 signees as the only wide receivers on roster. Because he had signed seven in 2008, Shannon was ultimately unable to bring in anyone in the 2009 class.

2009 Season (8 WRs): Leonard Hankerson (3rd yr), Aldarius Johnson (2nd yr), Davon Johnson(2nd yr), Tommy Streeter (2nd yr), Kendall Thompkins (2nd yr), Thearon Collier (2nd yr), Travis Benjamin (2nd yr), LaRon Byrd (2nd yr)

The giant 2008 class again had an impact the following season, as Shannon was able to secure just one new wide receiver for the 2010 class (a second signee failed to qualify). Miami remained at 8 wide receivers, but now the bulk of position was composed of upper classmen. By signing so many two seasons earlier, Randy was now beginning to replicate the recruiting issues that Coker had.

2010 Season (8 WRs): Leonard Hankerson (4th yr), Aldarius Johnson (3rd yr), Davon Johnson (3rd yr), Tommy Streeter (3rd yr), Kendall Thompkins (3rd yr), Travis Benjamin (3rd yr), LaRon Byrd (3rd yr), Allen Hurns (1st year)

After Shannon departed new head coach Al Golden faced a nightmarish prospect. The entire wide receiver corp save Hurns was NFL eligible, and at maximum had 1-2 years of college eligibility left. With little time left between joining the program and National Signing Day he was able to bring in two freshmen recruits, maintaining the position's numbers at 8 wide receivers after Aldarius Johnson and Leonard Hankerson departed. But the majority of the position remained upper classmen whose eligibility was running out:

2011 Season (8 WRs): Davon Johnson (4th yr), Tommy Streeter (4th yr), Kendall Thompkins (4th yr), Travis Benjamin (4th yr), LaRon Byrd (4th yr), Allen Hurns (2nd year), Philip Dorsett (1st yr), Rayshawn Scott (1st yr)

This lopsided roster led to conditions similar to what existed after 2007. Entering his first full recruiting class in February 2012, Al Golden now found himself in a situation reminiscent to what confronted Randy Shannon before the 2008 National Signing Day. He now needed to oversign in order to get numbers back up to par. Golden landed five wide receivers in that class, and at one points had a sixth (4 star Angelo Jean-Louis) who never played.

2012 Season (11 WRs): Davon Johnson (5th yr), Kendall Thompkins (5th yr), Allen Hurns (3rd yr), Phillip Dorsett (2nd yr), Rashawn Scott (2nd yr), Malcolm Lewis (1st yr), D'Mauri Jones (1st yr), Herb Waters (1st yr), Jontavious Carter (1st yr), Robert Lockhart (1st yr)

After that wide receiver recruiting finally stabilized. We would have one more class that would feature only one signee (2015 - Lawrence Cager), but never again a three year stretch where only three players were successfully recruited in a position that generally requires that a team maintain ten players.

Ultimately, what we saw in the example of the wide receiver recruiting misfires was that failures to secure commitments can have a continuing effect long after the initial miss or misses. Consecutive years with under-recruiting or failure to land any players at a given position creates over-signing afterwards, which in turn discourages future recruits from signing with the program because of the horde of similarly aged talent at the position. This is something that to watch for in the next two cycles as Miami continues to fill out the cornerback position.

Great, post. Very sobering.

 

[Brains]

Actually, the WR situation in the early 2000s is even worse, which I remember, because I was constantly pointing this out on CaneSport.

First, Darnell Jenkins was a part of our 2002 signing class, but he failed to qualify academically in 2002 and enrolled in our 2003 class. This is important for two reasons. One is that Miami was ready, willing, and able to take FOUR wide receivers in 2002. By taking Jenkins with one of our FOUR spots, we did NOT sign any other WR that we COULD HAVE signed in 2002. And long-time posters will know where I'm about to go here. Yes, Miami did NOT sign a guy in 2002 from The Muck, a little guy by the name of Santonio Holmes. Then, in 2003, when you **** well know you are still trying to get Darnell Jenkins, a guy you would have taken in 2002, YOU LITERALLY SIGN NO OTHER WIDE RECEIVER. Which is insane.

So THEN, over a four year period, you actually have ZERO new signees for 2003 and 2005, and you only sign TWO per year in 2004 and 2006.

And then...who WERE those 4 signees in 4 years? Well, only TWO wee blue-chppers, Lance Leggett and Sam Shields. The other two were TWO stars. NOT THREE STARS. No, they were TWO star WRs. And if you go back to the porsts from nearly 20 years ago, certain porsters tried to tell us that George "Hands of Stone" Robinson was the "best wide receiver in Dade County" in 2006.

That's it. 2 blue-chip WRs over FOUR years. What a friggin disaster. And even if we want to ***** and moan about losing Preston Prettyhair Parker in 2006, we could have TRIED to recruit more blue-chip WRs in 2003. And 2004. And 2005.

And that is how we COMPLETELY fvcked up our WR depth chart, and have only recently gotten back to something reasonably normal. Not even "recruiting all the MNW WRs" fixed things.

Motherfvckin' Larry Coker and his WR recruiting...

And Leggett was awful if anyone had bothered to study his film. He was monstrously overrated.

 

[TC@ne]

Good overall post and strongly agree with the cause and effect.

In a perfect world, you basically recruit the equivalent of a starting roster every season (3 WR, 4 OL, 4 DL, etc) with outlier situations causing more or less (early draft declare, long-term injuries, etc).

The cycle definitely perpetuates itself.

 

[Zanecane]

You can hate the narrative all you want but it true. Almost every top tier player wants to go to a winner. That is the definition of being a front runner. Especially south Florida kids. Kids would rather play for an established winner then build a program. It just so happens that it all likely hold the kids will be developed better at said school. In the end it’s only portion of the reason why we have struggled. We have struggled to have roster symmetry since Butch left.

When you can identify, recruit, and develop the players it will go along way. Especially roster retention.

I don’t expect kids to come Miami just bc. That’s entirely different topic

It doesn't "just so happen kids get developed better at said school". The results PROVED it happened which is why the kids continued to go there.

Why would you risk your development to come to Miami? You want to call them front runners be my guest. But you sound like a hurt ex girlfriend.

Thankfully we have Mario now whoo has proven he can win, develop and build relationships. Kids will come back to Miami because we've given them a reason and we'll start to win... and I guess anyone outside of the first couple recruiting class those kids will be called front runners for doing so?

 

[GojiraCane]

Actually, the WR situation in the early 2000s is even worse, which I remember, because I was constantly pointing this out on CaneSport.

First, Darnell Jenkins was a part of our 2002 signing class, but he failed to qualify academically in 2002 and enrolled in our 2003 class. This is important for two reasons. One is that Miami was ready, willing, and able to take FOUR wide receivers in 2002. By taking Jenkins with one of our FOUR spots, we did NOT sign any other WR that we COULD HAVE signed in 2002. And long-time posters will know where I'm about to go here. Yes, Miami did NOT sign a guy in 2002 from The Muck, a little guy by the name of Santonio Holmes. Then, in 2003, when you **** well know you are still trying to get Darnell Jenkins, a guy you would have taken in 2002, YOU LITERALLY SIGN NO OTHER WIDE RECEIVER. Which is insane.

So THEN, over a four year period, you actually have ZERO new signees for 2003 and 2005, and you only sign TWO per year in 2004 and 2006.

And then...who WERE those 4 signees in 4 years? Well, only TWO wee blue-chppers, Lance Leggett and Sam Shields. The other two were TWO stars. NOT THREE STARS. No, they were TWO star WRs. And if you go back to the porsts from nearly 20 years ago, certain porsters tried to tell us that George "Hands of Stone" Robinson was the "best wide receiver in Dade County" in 2006.

That's it. 2 blue-chip WRs over FOUR years. What a friggin disaster. And even if we want to ***** and moan about losing Preston Prettyhair Parker in 2006, we could have TRIED to recruit more blue-chip WRs in 2003. And 2004. And 2005.

And that is how we COMPLETELY fvcked up our WR depth chart, and have only recently gotten back to something reasonably normal. Not even "recruiting all the MNW WRs" fixed things.

Motherfvckin' Larry Coker and his WR recruiting...

Well said. Did not know about Santonio Holmes!

It’s amazing that Coker could not just get a minimum number of bodies. I remember one year we lost a wide receiver commitment near or on national signing day (I think it was 2005) to Syracuse of all places. Syracuse was a dumpster fire...what did they offer that Miami did not?

 

[TheOriginalCane]

Well said. Did not know about Santonio Holmes!

It’s amazing that Coker could not just get a minimum number of bodies. I remember one year we lost a wide receiver commitment near or on national signing day (I think it was 2005) to Syracuse of all places. Syracuse was a dumpster fire...what did they offer that Miami did not?

Yeah, I've been posting since the late 90s (grassy, Canesport, etc.), and tend to remember all the ups and downs. I'm not sure if you are talking about Lavar Lobdell (the only Syracuse WR name I remember us recruiting during that time period), but he was from that upstate NY area, so it makes a bit more sense in retrospect. I simply can't fathom how we were so lazy from 2003-2006. I complained about it (on the boards) every year and almost caught a ban in 2006 when I was DESTROYING Miami for signing George Robinson.

 

[htownkidd]

Yeah, I've been posting since the late 90s (grassy, Canesport, etc.), and tend to remember all the ups and downs. I'm not sure if you are talking about Lavar Lobdell (the only Syracuse WR name I remember us recruiting during that time period), but he was from that upstate NY area, so it makes a bit more sense in retrospect. I simply can't fathom how we were so lazy from 2003-2006. I complained about it (on the boards) every year and almost caught a ban in 2006 when I was DESTROYING Miami for signing George Robinson.

Remember Daniel Adderley? What a time.

 

[bobbydigius]

Actually, the WR situation in the early 2000s is even worse, which I remember, because I was constantly pointing this out on CaneSport.

First, Darnell Jenkins was a part of our 2002 signing class, but he failed to qualify academically in 2002 and enrolled in our 2003 class. This is important for two reasons. One is that Miami was ready, willing, and able to take FOUR wide receivers in 2002. By taking Jenkins with one of our FOUR spots, we did NOT sign any other WR that we COULD HAVE signed in 2002. And long-time posters will know where I'm about to go here. Yes, Miami did NOT sign a guy in 2002 from The Muck, a little guy by the name of Santonio Holmes. Then, in 2003, when you **** well know you are still trying to get Darnell Jenkins, a guy you would have taken in 2002, YOU LITERALLY SIGN NO OTHER WIDE RECEIVER. Which is insane.

So THEN, over a four year period, you actually have ZERO new signees for 2003 and 2005, and you only sign TWO per year in 2004 and 2006.

And then...who WERE those 4 signees in 4 years? Well, only TWO wee blue-chppers, Lance Leggett and Sam Shields. The other two were TWO stars. NOT THREE STARS. No, they were TWO star WRs. And if you go back to the porsts from nearly 20 years ago, certain porsters tried to tell us that George "Hands of Stone" Robinson was the "best wide receiver in Dade County" in 2006.

That's it. 2 blue-chip WRs over FOUR years. What a friggin disaster. And even if we want to ***** and moan about losing Preston Prettyhair Parker in 2006, we could have TRIED to recruit more blue-chip WRs in 2003. And 2004. And 2005.

And that is how we COMPLETELY fvcked up our WR depth chart, and have only recently gotten back to something reasonably normal. Not even "recruiting all the MNW WRs" fixed things.

Motherfvckin' Larry Coker and his WR recruiting...

Holmes was a painful miss. We missed on so many WR after that, even kids like Preston Parker which were supposed to locks and were used as the proverbial, dont worry next year so and so is a lock and better.

 

[TheOriginalCane]

Remember Daniel Adderley? What a time.

Oh, **** yeah. I played receiver back in the Pop Warner days, so it's always been my favorite position to watch in recruiting.

 

[TheOriginalCane]

Holmes was a painful miss. We missed on so many WR after that, even kids like Preston Parker which were supposed to locks and were used as the proverbial, dont worry next year so and so is a lock and better.

Yeah, the thing that bothers me with Parker (and the reason I gave him the "Prettyhair" nickname) was because he CLAIMED that he didn't pick UM because of our then-tradition of giving all the freshmen crewcuts. True story, even if he was lying about his reasons.

 

[M3N]

It doesn't "just so happen kids get developed better at said school". The results PROVED it happened which is why the kids continued to go there.

Why would you risk your development to come to Miami? You want to call them front runners be my guest. But you sound like a hurt ex girlfriend.

Thankfully we have Mario now whoo has proven he can win, develop and build relationships. Kids will come back to Miami because we've given them a reason and we'll start to win... and I guess anyone outside of the first couple recruiting class those kids will be called front runners for doing so?

I sound like a butt hurt ex girlfriend? Lol ok pal. Seems like when someone says front runner you get it all twisted.

Kids in todays society are front runners. Period. You clearly either don’t have kids or don’t pay attention to their actions or follow recruiting closely.

Kids go to place for a myriad of factors whether its a top school, championship history, bags, etc.

I should of been more specific.

Guys like Jerry Jeudy would of been a 1st round at Duke or any school for that matter. That kid was a stud before he arrived at bama. He’s a grandma kid. Even your grandmother could see he was a 1st rounder.

I’m more so talking about the kids who aren’t as highly ranked but have tremendous upside. A kid like Zay Flowers should not be at BC he should be at Miami. He would be if we had coaches who can evaluate and develop properly

We all understand you need the horses to really win it all, but the way you keep a healthy roster is by quality evals.

 

[da truth]

I bring this up because we in part face this situation now. Cornerback has seen some particular problem recently -

Commitments:
2018 (4): Al Blades, Gilbert Frierson, DJ Ivey, Nigel Bethel
2019 (2): Te'Cory Couch, Christian Williams
2020 (2): Isaiah Dunson, Marcus Clarke
2021 (1): Tyrique Stevenson

The end result is a need to over-sign to compensate for previous recruiting failures. Two corners were signed in the 2022 ESD, and more are expected (and needed) by spring. What this can in turn lead to is a challenge to sign players in follow-on classes, as over-signing leads to a glut of players of the same age at one position. Which in turn leads to the problem repeating itself.

An example of this challenge in a more extreme scenario was wide receivers. Under Larry Coker, Miami's signings for this position were few and far between. This was especially baffling as this was a team coming off of a national championship appearance, and a program that was in national championship contention each year in 2003 through 2005. Following the 2002 class, Miami was never able to sign more than two wide receivers in a single year, and one year completely failed to sign any:

2002 (3): Ryan Moore, Sinorice Moss, Akieem Jolla
2003 (1): Darnell Jenkins
2004 (2): Khalil Jones, Lance Leggett
2005 (0): None
2006: (2): Sam Shields, George Robinson

When Miami entered the 2006 season the program had but six scholarship wide receivers, having successfully recruited only five wide receivers over the previous four years. Coker signed Shields in 2006, but lost Preston Parker at the last moment to Florida State. Coker responded by converting four star cornerback Ryan Hill to wide receiver and using punter Brian Monroe at the position during practice.

2006 Season: (6 WRs): Ryan Moore (5th yr), Darnell Jenkins (4th yr), Khalil Jones (3rd yr), Lance Leggett (3rd yr), Sam Shields (1st yr), George Robinson (1st yr)

By mid-season in 2006 the Hurricanes were down to just three healthy wide receivers, and the already struggling offense ground to a halt. Miami went 2-4 over its final six games, and scored no more than 23 points in any single game. Following the conclusion of the season Coker departed. Ryan Moore's eligibility expired and George Robinson left Miami, reducing the returning scholarship players to just four players (along with the converted Ryan Hill). Randy Shannon brought in transfer Kayne Farquharson and signed Jermaine McKenzie and Leonard Hankerson for the 2007 season. However depth was minimal, and it took a hit when McKenzie was injured in an automobile accident and missed his freshman season.

2007 Season: (6 WRs): Darnell Jenkins (5th yr), Khalil Jones (4th yr), Lance Leggett (4th yr), Sam Shields (2nd yr), K. Farquharson (1st yr), Jermaine McKenzie (1st yr), Leonard Hankerson (1st yr)

Following the 2007 season Randy Shannon faced his first full recruiting class with a dilemma. He had only four wide receivers returning for the 2008 season (Shields, Farquharson, McKenzie, and Hankerson). Shannon was now forced to oversign in the 2008 class to bring numbers up to full, and brought in more wide receivers in one class than Larry Coker had been able to sign in four.

2008 Season (11 WRs): Khalil Jones (5th yr), Sam Shields (3rd yr), K. Farquharson (2nd yr), Jermaine McKenzie (2nd yr), Leonard Hankerson (2nd yr), Aldarius Johnson (1st yr), Davon Johnson(1st yr), Tommy Streeter (1st yr), Kendall Thompkins (1st yr), Thearon Collier (1st yr), Travis Benjamin (1st yr), LaRon Byrd (1st yr)

This surge was only temporary. Farquharson's eligibility had been expended, Shields was moved to defense and McKenzie transferred, leaving the large group of 2008 signees as the only wide receivers on roster. Because he had signed seven in 2008, Shannon was ultimately unable to bring in anyone in the 2009 class.

2009 Season (8 WRs): Leonard Hankerson (3rd yr), Aldarius Johnson (2nd yr), Davon Johnson(2nd yr), Tommy Streeter (2nd yr), Kendall Thompkins (2nd yr), Thearon Collier (2nd yr), Travis Benjamin (2nd yr), LaRon Byrd (2nd yr)

The giant 2008 class again had an impact the following season, as Shannon was able to secure just one new wide receiver for the 2010 class (a second signee failed to qualify). Miami remained at 8 wide receivers, but now the bulk of position was composed of upper classmen. By signing so many two seasons earlier, Randy was now beginning to replicate the recruiting issues that Coker had.

2010 Season (8 WRs): Leonard Hankerson (4th yr), Aldarius Johnson (3rd yr), Davon Johnson (3rd yr), Tommy Streeter (3rd yr), Kendall Thompkins (3rd yr), Travis Benjamin (3rd yr), LaRon Byrd (3rd yr), Allen Hurns (1st year)

After Shannon departed new head coach Al Golden faced a nightmarish prospect. The entire wide receiver corp save Hurns was NFL eligible, and at maximum had 1-2 years of college eligibility left. With little time left between joining the program and National Signing Day he was able to bring in two freshmen recruits, maintaining the position's numbers at 8 wide receivers after Aldarius Johnson and Leonard Hankerson departed. But the majority of the position remained upper classmen whose eligibility was running out:

2011 Season (8 WRs): Davon Johnson (4th yr), Tommy Streeter (4th yr), Kendall Thompkins (4th yr), Travis Benjamin (4th yr), LaRon Byrd (4th yr), Allen Hurns (2nd year), Philip Dorsett (1st yr), Rayshawn Scott (1st yr)

This lopsided roster led to conditions similar to what existed after 2007. Entering his first full recruiting class in February 2012, Al Golden now found himself in a situation reminiscent to what confronted Randy Shannon before the 2008 National Signing Day. He now needed to oversign in order to get numbers back up to par. Golden landed five wide receivers in that class, and at one points had a sixth (4 star Angelo Jean-Louis) who never played.

2012 Season (11 WRs): Davon Johnson (5th yr), Kendall Thompkins (5th yr), Allen Hurns (3rd yr), Phillip Dorsett (2nd yr), Rashawn Scott (2nd yr), Malcolm Lewis (1st yr), D'Mauri Jones (1st yr), Herb Waters (1st yr), Jontavious Carter (1st yr), Robert Lockhart (1st yr)

After that wide receiver recruiting finally stabilized. We would have one more class that would feature only one signee (2015 - Lawrence Cager), but never again a three year stretch where only three players were successfully recruited in a position that generally requires that a team maintain ten players.

Ultimately, what we saw in the example of the wide receiver recruiting misfires was that failures to secure commitments can have a continuing effect long after the initial miss or misses. Consecutive years with under-recruiting or failure to land any players at a given position creates over-signing afterwards, which in turn discourages future recruits from signing with the program because of the horde of similarly aged talent at the position. This is something that to watch for in the next two cycles as Miami continues to fill out the cornerback position.

Need 3 corners minimum every class

 

[Confidence1000]

I bring this up because we in part face this situation now. Cornerback has seen some particular problem recently -

Commitments:
2018 (4): Al Blades, Gilbert Frierson, DJ Ivey, Nigel Bethel
2019 (2): Te'Cory Couch, Christian Williams
2020 (2): Isaiah Dunson, Marcus Clarke
2021 (1): Tyrique Stevenson

The end result is a need to over-sign to compensate for previous recruiting failures. Two corners were signed in the 2022 ESD, and more are expected (and needed) by spring. What this can in turn lead to is a challenge to sign players in follow-on classes, as over-signing leads to a glut of players of the same age at one position. Which in turn leads to the problem repeating itself.

An example of this challenge in a more extreme scenario was wide receivers. Under Larry Coker, Miami's signings for this position were few and far between. This was especially baffling as this was a team coming off of a national championship appearance, and a program that was in national championship contention each year in 2003 through 2005. Following the 2002 class, Miami was never able to sign more than two wide receivers in a single year, and one year completely failed to sign any:

2002 (3): Ryan Moore, Sinorice Moss, Akieem Jolla
2003 (1): Darnell Jenkins
2004 (2): Khalil Jones, Lance Leggett
2005 (0): None
2006: (2): Sam Shields, George Robinson

When Miami entered the 2006 season the program had but six scholarship wide receivers, having successfully recruited only five wide receivers over the previous four years. Coker signed Shields in 2006, but lost Preston Parker at the last moment to Florida State. Coker responded by converting four star cornerback Ryan Hill to wide receiver and using punter Brian Monroe at the position during practice.

2006 Season: (6 WRs): Ryan Moore (5th yr), Darnell Jenkins (4th yr), Khalil Jones (3rd yr), Lance Leggett (3rd yr), Sam Shields (1st yr), George Robinson (1st yr)

By mid-season in 2006 the Hurricanes were down to just three healthy wide receivers, and the already struggling offense ground to a halt. Miami went 2-4 over its final six games, and scored no more than 23 points in any single game. Following the conclusion of the season Coker departed. Ryan Moore's eligibility expired and George Robinson left Miami, reducing the returning scholarship players to just four players (along with the converted Ryan Hill). Randy Shannon brought in transfer Kayne Farquharson and signed Jermaine McKenzie and Leonard Hankerson for the 2007 season. However depth was minimal, and it took a hit when McKenzie was injured in an automobile accident and missed his freshman season.

2007 Season: (6 WRs): Darnell Jenkins (5th yr), Khalil Jones (4th yr), Lance Leggett (4th yr), Sam Shields (2nd yr), K. Farquharson (1st yr), Jermaine McKenzie (1st yr), Leonard Hankerson (1st yr)

Following the 2007 season Randy Shannon faced his first full recruiting class with a dilemma. He had only four wide receivers returning for the 2008 season (Shields, Farquharson, McKenzie, and Hankerson). Shannon was now forced to oversign in the 2008 class to bring numbers up to full, and brought in more wide receivers in one class than Larry Coker had been able to sign in four.

2008 Season (11 WRs): Khalil Jones (5th yr), Sam Shields (3rd yr), K. Farquharson (2nd yr), Jermaine McKenzie (2nd yr), Leonard Hankerson (2nd yr), Aldarius Johnson (1st yr), Davon Johnson(1st yr), Tommy Streeter (1st yr), Kendall Thompkins (1st yr), Thearon Collier (1st yr), Travis Benjamin (1st yr), LaRon Byrd (1st yr)

This surge was only temporary. Farquharson's eligibility had been expended, Shields was moved to defense and McKenzie transferred, leaving the large group of 2008 signees as the only wide receivers on roster. Because he had signed seven in 2008, Shannon was ultimately unable to bring in anyone in the 2009 class.

2009 Season (8 WRs): Leonard Hankerson (3rd yr), Aldarius Johnson (2nd yr), Davon Johnson(2nd yr), Tommy Streeter (2nd yr), Kendall Thompkins (2nd yr), Thearon Collier (2nd yr), Travis Benjamin (2nd yr), LaRon Byrd (2nd yr)

The giant 2008 class again had an impact the following season, as Shannon was able to secure just one new wide receiver for the 2010 class (a second signee failed to qualify). Miami remained at 8 wide receivers, but now the bulk of position was composed of upper classmen. By signing so many two seasons earlier, Randy was now beginning to replicate the recruiting issues that Coker had.

2010 Season (8 WRs): Leonard Hankerson (4th yr), Aldarius Johnson (3rd yr), Davon Johnson (3rd yr), Tommy Streeter (3rd yr), Kendall Thompkins (3rd yr), Travis Benjamin (3rd yr), LaRon Byrd (3rd yr), Allen Hurns (1st year)

After Shannon departed new head coach Al Golden faced a nightmarish prospect. The entire wide receiver corp save Hurns was NFL eligible, and at maximum had 1-2 years of college eligibility left. With little time left between joining the program and National Signing Day he was able to bring in two freshmen recruits, maintaining the position's numbers at 8 wide receivers after Aldarius Johnson and Leonard Hankerson departed. But the majority of the position remained upper classmen whose eligibility was running out:

2011 Season (8 WRs): Davon Johnson (4th yr), Tommy Streeter (4th yr), Kendall Thompkins (4th yr), Travis Benjamin (4th yr), LaRon Byrd (4th yr), Allen Hurns (2nd year), Philip Dorsett (1st yr), Rayshawn Scott (1st yr)

This lopsided roster led to conditions similar to what existed after 2007. Entering his first full recruiting class in February 2012, Al Golden now found himself in a situation reminiscent to what confronted Randy Shannon before the 2008 National Signing Day. He now needed to oversign in order to get numbers back up to par. Golden landed five wide receivers in that class, and at one points had a sixth (4 star Angelo Jean-Louis) who never played.

2012 Season (11 WRs): Davon Johnson (5th yr), Kendall Thompkins (5th yr), Allen Hurns (3rd yr), Phillip Dorsett (2nd yr), Rashawn Scott (2nd yr), Malcolm Lewis (1st yr), D'Mauri Jones (1st yr), Herb Waters (1st yr), Jontavious Carter (1st yr), Robert Lockhart (1st yr)

After that wide receiver recruiting finally stabilized. We would have one more class that would feature only one signee (2015 - Lawrence Cager), but never again a three year stretch where only three players were successfully recruited in a position that generally requires that a team maintain ten players.

Ultimately, what we saw in the example of the wide receiver recruiting misfires was that failures to secure commitments can have a continuing effect long after the initial miss or misses. Consecutive years with under-recruiting or failure to land any players at a given position creates over-signing afterwards, which in turn discourages future recruits from signing with the program because of the horde of similarly aged talent at the position. This is something that to watch for in the next two cycles as Miami continues to fill out the cornerback position.

Good rundown sir but we signed 3 CBs during the early signing period this yr.

 

[SWFLHurricane]

#WATCHTHEFINISH

 

[Bender]

Recruiting well has about the same effect as drafting well in the league. Young and healthy talent pushes the old guard, more competition is present and the entire team improves.

Thats why we need to control recruiting in the state of Florida and need to put the lock in. All big programs in here are struggling, with UCF beating Florida, who beat FSU, who beat us. This is our time to establish ourselves again as the kings of the state.