Recruiting analyst on Finebaum

[Msujd164]

Just said our class is sneaky good. Said Mullen can evaluate well. Also said it's a fight for Humphrey. He thinks he ends up at Bama but State is making it a hard decision.

[ShotgunDawg]

Just said our class is sneaky good. Said Mullen can evaluate well. Also said it's a fight for Humphrey. He thinks he ends up at Bama but State is making it a hard decision.

Yes, Mullen or someone on his staff is an excellent evaluator, and that is why, when all is said in done, he will likely be one if not the best coach in MSU history. We aren't a sexy recruiting school, but more and more, we are getting what we need.

Next year, our recruiting ranking will be much higher, but it won't change the fact that the staff will correctly evaluate and sign the players that we need. Not players that just have a star beside their name.

[maroonmania]

Just said our class is sneaky good. Said Mullen can evaluate well. Also said it's a fight for Humphrey. He thinks he ends up at Bama but State is making it a hard decision.

Mullen is actually a much better evaluator than recruiter. He can identify talent and that is why we do well early in the process on getting the right guys to commit but we are always seemingly struggling to hold onto them late in the process because apparently our staff is not the greatest at salesmanship.

[hailmari]

I always seem to miss when a school other than Bama or AU is discussed on Finebaum's show.

[Coach34]

Mullen is actually a much better evaluator than recruiter. He can identify talent and that is why we do well early in the process on getting the right guys to commit but we are always seemingly struggling to hold onto them late in the process because apparently our staff is not the greatest at salesmanship.

Recruiting to State is the hardest job in the SEC. If Mullen and Hevesy were at Bama they would still bring in top 5 classes. Just because a salesman has trouble selling sand in North Africa doesnt mean he isnt a good salesman

[mic]

I always seem to miss when a school other than Bama or AU is discussed on Finebaum's show.

I as well. May be due to the fact I don't even attempt to listen to Finebaum..

[maroonmania]

Recruiting to State is the hardest job in the SEC. If Mullen and Hevesy were at Bama they would still bring in top 5 classes. Just because a salesman has trouble selling sand in North Africa doesnt mean he isnt a good salesman

Recruiting to State MAY be the hardest job in the SEC but it SHOULD be easier to sell a recruit on MSU right now than ANYTIME in the history of MSU. I would say the gap between us and any other SEC school in the lower half of the SEC is negligible at this point. Heck, we really sell ourselves short and you are one of the worst at it. And getting tired about hearing recruits say they had no idea how great our campus and football facilities were until they showed up? Do you think baseball recruits don't know what we have until they show up? Heck no, Cohen and staff probably show a 50 chart Powerpoint outlining everything available to a recruit for MSU baseball before they ever set foot on campus. Its salesmanship and Mullen ain't great at it but he is who he is. And I doubt Mullen and Hevesy would have Top 5 classes at Bama. Top 15 sure because its Bama but likely not Top 5. Mullen and Hevesy both came to MSU with reputations that they were an acquired taste for most recruits because they don't have charismatic personalities.

[smootness]

Recruiting to State MAY be the hardest job in the SEC but it SHOULD be easier to sell a recruit on MSU right now than ANYTIME in the history of MSU. I would say the gap between us and any other SEC school in the lower half of the SEC is negligible at this point. Heck, we really sell ourselves short and you are one of the worst at it. And getting tired about hearing recruits say they had no idea how great our campus and football facilities were until they showed up? Do you think baseball recruits don't know what we have until they show up? Heck no, Cohen and staff probably show a 50 chart Powerpoint outlining everything available to a recruit for MSU baseball before they ever set foot on campus. Its salesmanship and Mullen ain't great at it but he is who he is. And I doubt Mullen and Hevesy would have Top 5 classes at Bama. Top 15 sure because its Bama but likely not Top 5. Mullen and Hevesy both came to MSU with reputations that they were an acquired taste for most recruits because they don't have charismatic personalities.

There is no way for a recruit to really get an idea of how good our facilities are until they see it in person. I'm sure every coach tells kids their facitilites are phenomenal, but a lot of them already have their mind made up on it, and Mississippi State just has a reputation as being a cow town - not much to do about it until you actually get the kid on campus. I'm sure negative recruiting doesn't help this, either.

And no, Mullen and Hevesy may not be the world's greatest recruiters - that will always fall to personalities like James Franklin and Mack Brown. But they aren't bad at it, certainly not nearly as bad as some State fans profess. We've bought into what Ole Miss has said about us in that regard. Their personalities are nothing more abrasive than a lot of coaches - you think Nick Saban is a great charmer? There are plenty of recruits who talk about how much they like Hevesy and Mullen.

What Mullen has established that he won't do is 'play the recruiting game' or go overboard about how much we just have to have a certain kid. Some coaches do that, some don't, and Mullen is one that doesn't. He seems to be pretty straightforward with recruits and some kids don't like that approach as much; these are the kids, however, that are more likely to be a problem once they show up.

We're not recruiting any worse than should be expected at this point, and signs are showing we're starting to recruit at a higher level.

[maroonmania]

And no, Mullen and Hevesy may not be the world's greatest recruiters - that will always fall to personalities like James Franklin and Mack Brown. But they aren't bad at it, certainly not nearly as bad as some State fans profess. We've bought into what Ole Miss has said about us in that regard. Their personalities are nothing more abrasive than a lot of coaches - you think Nick Saban is a great charmer? There are plenty of recruits who talk about how much they like Hevesy and Mullen.


Everything is relative, in no way are Mullen and Hevesy bad recruiters, in fact they are pretty good at it. Its just that in the SEC you are going up against most of the best recruiters in all of college football. And with recruiting, if you don't finish first with a kid (that has his choice of schools) you get nothing out of it.

[Coach34]

Recruiting to State MAY be the hardest job in the SEC but it SHOULD be easier to sell a recruit on MSU right now than ANYTIME in the history of MSU. I would say the gap between us and any other SEC school in the lower half of the SEC is negligible at this point.

Do you think baseball recruits don't know what we have until they show up? Heck no, Cohen and staff probably show a 50 chart Powerpoint outlining everything available to a recruit for MSU baseball before they ever set foot on campus. .

And I doubt Mullen and Hevesy would have Top 5 classes at Bama. Top 15 sure because its Bama but likely not Top 5. Mullen and Hevesy both came to MSU with reputations that they were an acquired taste for most recruits because they don't have charismatic personalities.

A) Just because it's easier now than it used to be doesnt mean it's not still hard as hell. You can tout facilities all you want, but Starkville is still a small town in the middle of nowhere with average at best nightlife. That doesnt excite many 18 yr olds. Just like Mullen and Hevesy may "acquired tastes", so is Starkville.

B) Baseball kids know exactly what State has before they get here. We're a national brand in baseball. Totally different type of recruiting than football. Apples to oranges in so many ways

C) Mullen and Hev would be top 5 at Bama because tradition and nightlife are alot easier to sell. Hell, that even helps Ole Miss and they havent done shit in football since the 1960's.

We're not going to be a perenniel top 20 recrutiing program no matter who coaches at State

[mic]

A) Just because it's easier now than it used to be doesnt mean it's not still hard as hell. You can tout facilities all you want, but Starkville is still a small town in the middle of nowhere with average at best nightlife. That doesnt excite many 18 yr olds. Just like Mullen and Hevesy may "acquired tastes", so is Starkville.

B) Baseball kids know exactly what State has before they get here. We're a national brand in baseball. Totally different type of recruiting than football. Apples to oranges in so many ways

C) Mullen and Hev would be top 5 at Bama because tradition and nightlife are alot easier to sell. Hell, that even helps Ole Miss and they havent done shit in football since the 1960's.

We're not going to be a perenniel top 20 recrutiing program no matter who coaches at State

Only way we fall into the top 15-20 is there has to be a star studded deep class in MISSISSIPPI. (see next year) and bring in a couple of 4* star guys from other states.. That's why I think its a win /win for us this year with Hump . Hoover would be a GREAT pipeline to get in to..

[maroonmania]

A) Just because it's easier now than it used to be doesnt mean it's not still hard as hell. You can tout facilities all you want, but Starkville is still a small town in the middle of nowhere with average at best nightlife. That doesnt excite many 18 yr olds. Just like Mullen and Hevesy may "acquired tastes", so is Starkville.

B) Baseball kids know exactly what State has before they get here. We're a national brand in baseball. Totally different type of recruiting than football. Apples to oranges in so many ways

C) Mullen and Hev would be top 5 at Bama because tradition and nightlife are alot easier to sell. Hell, that even helps Ole Miss and they havent done shit in football since the 1960's.

We're not going to be a perenniel top 20 recrutiing program no matter who coaches at State

Yes, A and C are a factor, but you are overplaying that. First, if whoever had THE best party scene was the driving factor for most college students' decision on where to go we wouldn't have the largest student population in the state. Second, there ARE parties in Starkville and frats and sororities and the like. The biggest inherent things holding us back in recruiting is lack of winning tradition overall and having a smaller fanbase in a relatively remote location. And Mullen is recruiting OK, if he wasn't we wouldn't be making bowl games every year, but he is not a natural recruiter, he's just not. He has other areas as a coach that he is much stronger at like identifying underrated talent.

[Todd4State]

Recruiting to State MAY be the hardest job in the SEC but it SHOULD be easier to sell a recruit on MSU right now than ANYTIME in the history of MSU. I would say the gap between us and any other SEC school in the lower half of the SEC is negligible at this point. Heck, we really sell ourselves short and you are one of the worst at it. And getting tired about hearing recruits say they had no idea how great our campus and football facilities were until they showed up? Do you think baseball recruits don't know what we have until they show up? Heck no, Cohen and staff probably show a 50 chart Powerpoint outlining everything available to a recruit for MSU baseball before they ever set foot on campus. Its salesmanship and Mullen ain't great at it but he is who he is. And I doubt Mullen and Hevesy would have Top 5 classes at Bama. Top 15 sure because its Bama but likely not Top 5. Mullen and Hevesy both came to MSU with reputations that they were an acquired taste for most recruits because they don't have charismatic personalities.

MSU has long sold the baseball program better. Back in the day, it was all about the atmosphere, the best stadium in college baseball, etc.

In football, someone started a Smoot for Heisman campaign and the University derailed it.

And yes, I know that was a long time ago- but the school needs to sell "four straight bowls" and "Dak for Heisman". Of course, we have too many fans that don't want to "brag too much" in case it "doesn't work out". Heaven forbid someone might make fun of us. They need to sell the Junction and things like that as well.

We have too many people that remember what doesn't work out- like the #WeBelieve campaign- and not enough things like the gold helmets for the Egg Bowl.

But as far as Dan- he sells what he wants on our team. And that's players that work hard and are willing to learn and get better. You can win with that. And yes, believe it or not- that does appeal to a lot of very good players. You better believe Saban sells that as part of his recruiting pitch. That's part of the reason why he gets the players he gets and not guys like Nick Brassell.

[Todd4State]

Only way we fall into the top 15-20 is there has to be a star studded deep class in MISSISSIPPI. (see next year) and bring in a couple of 4* star guys from other states.. That's why I think its a win /win for us this year with Hump . Hoover would be a GREAT pipeline to get in to..

We take too many diamonds in the rough to have a class higher than 15-20 as well. I'm not complaining at all about that- Brandon Bryant is better than what he is rated, and last year Bear Wilson was better than what he was rated and then had Chris Jones not blown up, he would have been about the same. But even if we sign a lot of four stars, we are always going to take guys like I mentioned above regardless of what they are rated because our coaches know they are good players. But it's going to drive our recruiting ranking down- and our fans need to understand that.

[Coach34]

No, Mullen is in no way a Houston Nutt-Reverend Freezus type. But that doesnt mean he isnt a good recruiter.

Mullen has identified what kind of school we are. We arent the "sexy" pick. We are meat and potatoes, family, hard-working school. And he uses that approach to recruiting. By doing that, he eliminates most (but not all of course) "pre-madonnas" and discipline problems. Kids like that dont want to hear about how hard they are about to have to work in their recruiting pitch. And that is why we have very little attrition in his tenure.

aGAIN I have to McKinney as an example. Signing him means you are a good recruiter. You saw that he is a helluva an athlete that just needs coaching. Thats where people get confused- recruiting is not just a sales pitch. Recruiting encompasses the sales pitch and also identifying talent that fits what you are trying to do.

Too many people try to act like the recruiting services are all knowing- but they miss on a helluva lot of talent every year- just like Vegas misses a shitload of games every week.

[Esmerelda Villalobos]

Recruiting to State is the hardest job in the SEC. If Mullen and Hevesy were at Bama they would still bring in top 5 classes. Just because a salesman has trouble selling sand in North Africa doesnt mean he isnt a good salesman

Take it from me, if a kid isnt coming here that has visited, it isnt because of facilities anymore.

[Coach34]

I agree with you Ennis as well as maroon mania about facilities- we have closed the gap there tremendously.

But are we closing the gap on places to entertain college students. Do we have the strip of bars where our recruits watch girl bartenders give body shots and rub guys heads between their tits? Or the dance club for the people that like dance music? Other themed hang outs?

I'm guess I'm saying Starkville lacks the facilities- not State.

[Esmerelda Villalobos]

No we dont. Auburn is the same and they dont have issues....

[gravedigger]

you know, I don't think our class is sneaky good unless that means it's coachable where others higher rated are not. Fact is, Coachability is all that matters. #1 in the country committed a foul in the egg bowl that cost them the game potentially and couldn't get yardage on running plays that cost them more.

Good is what you DO WITH IT. I'm a pragmatist and I only approve this message if it proves to be true after being put into practice.

[bobcat91]

Now that the Starkvile mayor and Board of Aldermen want to get progressive, how about letting the bars and dance clubs have a little leeway. Let them stay open longer and become more like say Athens.

[Coach34]

No we dont. Auburn is the same and they dont have issues....

Auburn?

—is a metro area in east-central Alabama with a 2009 population of 135,883. It was the 19th fastest growing metro area in the United States between 1990 and 2000

Starkville?

The population was 23,888 at the 2010 census. The campus of Mississippi State University is partially located in Starkville.

[bulldawg28]

Fans should really get a grasp of what recruiting is all about. Any sane minded individual could spot a 5 or 4 star talent. It's a no brainer. Do you really know what a 5 or 4 star is? He's just a guy that has matured faster than other athletes and will probably play early in his career, that's it. It doesn't mean he's better than a 3 or 2 star. He's just developed faster than the next athlete. You don't get a SEC scholarship unless you can flat out play and it takes coaches to develop and mature it which is what they are paid to do. Do you havea greater chance of winning quicker with a more developed athlete? Yes. However, Mullen has done an outstanding job redshirting, coaching, and developing. This equals State's playing field with other teams. No team that we played out matched us, nobody. We made rookie mistakes in losses. It's one of the reasons our future is so bright due to redshirting and development.

[RougeDawg]

Fans should really get a grasp of what recruiting is all about. Any sane minded individual could spot a 5 or 4 star talent. It's a no brainer. Do you really know what a 5 or 4 star is? He's just a guy that has matured faster than other athletes and will probably play early in his career, that's it. It doesn't mean he's better than a 3 or 2 star. He's just developed faster than the next athlete. You don't get a SEC scholarship unless you can flat out play and it takes coaches to develop and mature it which is what they are paid to do. Do you havea greater chance of winning quicker with a more developed athlete? Yes. However, Mullen has done an outstanding job redshirting, coaching, and developing. This equals State's playing field with other teams. No team that we played out matched us, nobody. We made rookie mistakes in losses. It's one of the reasons our future is so bright due to redshirting and development.

Don't try to use common sense and logic on a message board!**

Spot on post. another reason the only thing that excites me about recruiting, is a hot mom or hot older sister potentially in Davis Wade for 4-5 years.

[Out of Bounds]

Coach34 is spot on here. What MSU fans are asking Mullen to do is extremely difficult. Because Starkville had a bunch of "country-bumpkins" leading the way for decades the town is way behind the SEC. Think of the typical over 50-70 (not all) Starkville Cafe regular. Total, I don't get it guy. Usually hard core religious (which clouds business & social acumen), zero big picture capabilities and heavy industrial thinker. Look at the mileage rate in Starkville, it mirrors a 3rd world country. Absolutely pathetic.
Thankfully, with the Keenum, Wiseman, Byrne, Stricklin, Mullen leadership Starkville is making progress, but SVegas needs serious infrastructure upgrades. Condos are going up left and right. Need more MSU alums to live and work in Starkville: Engineering firms, software comp, law firms, Dr's, Architects, successful sales guys. With the internet and software access, you can run a company from anywhere in the world. MSU needs this to happen, but it will take the town continuing to evolve and grow, too. Starkville CVB/Tourism has made great strides, too. For years Econ Dev/Tourism was run by the Starkville Cafe/meat n taters crowd. Bottom line, MSU & Starkville have come a long way. What Sherrill did was nothing short of a miracle. Mullen has more resources and "get it" people around MSU/Starkville, but recruiting and winning continues to be an extremely difficult challenge. Again, the condo sales the last 18 months are promising, but SVegas has a long way to go. As an SEC partner, with the right leadership in town and on campus, Starkville should explode over the next decade. But will it?

[Saltydog]

critical........There are now some solid companies in that area in the last several years (Sever Stahl, American Eurocopter, Aurora Flight, Paccar) and that in and of itself will continue to help with Starkville's development.......

[SPMT]

Auburn?

—is a metro area in east-central Alabama with a 2009 population of 135,883. It was the 19th fastest growing metro area in the United States between 1990 and 2000

Starkville?



The population was 23,888 at the 2010 census. The campus of Mississippi State University is partially located in Starkville.


C, you have to compare apples to apples a bit more here. A more apt comparison would be comparing the Auburn metro area to the total GTR area. Your analysis compared the Auburn metro area, which includes Opelika, parts of Phenix City, etc. If you compare Starkville (the town) to Auburn (the town), you get a rough 30k population for Starkville and a rough 50k population for Auburn.

[Pollodawg]

Fans should really get a grasp of what recruiting is all about. Any sane minded individual could spot a 5 or 4 star talent. It's a no brainer. Do you really know what a 5 or 4 star is? He's just a guy that has matured faster than other athletes and will probably play early in his career, that's it. It doesn't mean he's better than a 3 or 2 star. He's just developed faster than the next athlete. You don't get a SEC scholarship unless you can flat out play and it takes coaches to develop and mature it which is what they are paid to do. Do you havea greater chance of winning quicker with a more developed athlete? Yes. However, Mullen has done an outstanding job redshirting, coaching, and developing. This equals State's playing field with other teams. No team that we played out matched us, nobody. We made rookie mistakes in losses. It's one of the reasons our future is so bright due to redshirting and development.


^^This^^