Food For Thought: Do You Have to Be A Shark to Succeed In SEC Recruiting?

In light of Don flipping Evan McPhearson today & Chad Morris flipping 2 SMU recruits, I had a few questions:

- Is recruiting recruits of the school you left ethically right or wrong? After all, you built those relationships on someone's else's dime?

- Is it necessary to be a shark to be a successful SEC recruiter? Do you have be an Alpha that has no remorse & believes it is all just a business? Do you have to be willing to go the extra mile without regard for who's feelings you hurt?

- Are Don & Chad Morris wrong or should we be upset with Moorhead for not recruiting Penn State players? Feels like MSU is fighting with one hand tied behind our back because Don is recruiting our players but we aren't adding players to our list of recruits.

I'm not judging but simply asking relevant questions.

Does Moorhead's decision to not recruit Penn State players say something about Moorhead? Does he have the killer instinct or is this just a one time deal with James Franklin that is off the table after signing day?

Off topic, but I am glad we are not using one of our 25 spots on another kicker. Christmann proved to be a very effective kicker for us

My thoughts:

We have a full class with a lot of quality players. Other than being light on OL recruit numbers (what else is new for Hev), we ain't doing too bad.

Would you rather Moorhead damage relationships with coaches in this part of the country by pulling offers to pretty good players. Most of our class is from MS. Folks are complaining about lack of SEC recruiting experience, yet he's held this class together pretty easily from what I can tell.

Let Don try to steal them. Doesn't look to me like he's being too successful doing that. McPherson isn't a huge loss cause we seem to have a quality kicker. We can add Carvin there hopefully. We need more OL recruits.

ETA: I believe we have 2 kickers on scholarship now. Also, Don needs a kicker bad, since his red zone offense usually sucks against good teams *****

Replied this to your reply on the other board, but here's the way I've started thinking about it the past few days. Yes, it seems a little shady, lazy, and not very respectful of your former job. But, if a recruit follows a coach to a new school without much difficulty, that means he was committed for the most part to the coach instead of the original school. That being the case, a coach coming after his previous job's commits may actually be doing the new staff a favor by clearing the board of recruits/commits who didn't really want to be there for any presently existing reasons, making room for and allowing them to concentrate on others.

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Originally Posted by ShotgunDawg

In light of Don flipping Evan McPhearson today & Chad Morris flipping 2 SMU recruits, I had a few questions:

- Is recruiting recruits of the school you left ethically right or wrong? After all, you built those relationships on someone's else's dime?

- Is it necessary to be a shark to be a successful SEC recruiter? Do you have be an Alpha that has no remorse & believes it is all just a business? Do you have to be willing to go the extra mile without regard for who's feelings you hurt?

- Are Don & Chad Morris wrong or should we be upset with Moorhead for not recruiting Penn State players? Feels like MSU is fighting with one hand tied behind our back because Don is recruiting our players but we aren't adding players to our list of recruits.

I'm not judging but simply asking relevant questions.

Does Moorhead's decision to not recruit Penn State players say something about Moorhead? Does he have the killer instinct or is this just a one time deal with James Franklin that is off the table after signing day?

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If Mullins has to come back on kids that he was recruiting while he was at MSU, now that he's at Fla., just proves he's a shitty recruiter. All that talent in Fla and he ain't hittin on shat.

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Originally Posted by Coursesuper

If Mullins has to come back on kids that he was recruiting while he was at MSU, now that he's at Fla., just proves he's a shitty recruiter. All that talent in Fla and he ain't hittin on shat.

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He's just recruiting guys he has a relationship with, but our coach isn't doing the same.

Is this an issue?

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Originally Posted by ShotgunDawg

He's just recruiting guys he has a relationship with, but our coach isn't doing the same.

Is this an issue?

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No. JoMo is building the relationships everyone is complaining about him not having.

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Originally Posted by ShotgunDawg

He's just recruiting guys he has a relationship with, but our coach isn't doing the same.

Is this an issue?

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No, he's locking down kids that want to be at state. To succeed he knows he has to win in MS, if he can gain the upper hand in state and add some out of state kids he has relationships with we will do well. But he knows he must build relationships with MS coaches who for the most part didn't have much for the last guy this will be the key and looks to be what he is doing now.

I 100% expected Don to do this and expected several would follow. I also 100% expected JoMo to do the same and am kinda frustrated he isn't. This isn't checkers, it's football! There are no ethics in football. **

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Originally Posted by mparkerfd20

I 100% expected Don to do this and expected several would follow. I also 100% expected JoMo to do the same and am kinda frustrated he isn't. This isn't checkers, it's football! There are no ethics in football. **

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- Why did you expect several others to follow?

- I agree with you on the frustration. Just feels like we are having others recruit our players but we aren't adding propects by recruiting Penn State's players. Am I supposed to have pride that our coach is being respectful to James Franklin?

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Originally Posted by ShotgunDawg

- Why did you expect several others to follow?

- I agree with you on the frustration. Just feels like we are having others recruit our players but we aren't adding propects by recruiting Penn State's players. Am I supposed to have pride that our coach is being respectful to James Franklin?

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I just figured some of our QB and WRs committed to Don's O more than to State. I'm glad I was wrong. I also expected us to stop recruiting some we had committed and to fill a few more that had a relationship with Coach Joe, whether committed or not to PSU.

You simply have to be a good coach. Recruiting will follow. The kids know what's up. Of course being a likable person helps, as it does in any industry. As much of a cock as Dom Merlot was, he still recruited well enough to complete for an SEC title. It was essentially his dickishness, however, that kept him from signing those 3-5 players over the course of his tenure, that would have gotten him over the hump.

How many guys that were going to penn st even remotely would consider coming here? Um, less than 1%. The situations aren't even close to the same so dont compare the two.

The difference to me is where you came from. For our new coach, Franklin gave him a ringing endorsement to our AD. I'm sure he hates to lose him but Franklin didn't stand in the way and actually probably helped him land the MSU job. You don't repay that with poaching recruits. Much the same way when Dan came here from FL.

Going from HC to HC is probably different as Dan took most of his staff and he's lost more recruits than he gained. He had something to sell the kicker and it's true. If Jace kicks like he did this year, than Evan isn't seeing the field for 3 years. So it this case i hate it, but I'm not mad. If we had no kicker worth a flip then i'd be livid, but I think evan would have stays because he likes Bonoil.

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Originally Posted by Homedawg

How many guys that were going to penn st even remotely would consider coming here? Um, less than 1%. The situations aren't even close to the same so dont compare the two.

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You may or may not be right.

How would you know unless you ask them?

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Originally Posted by ShotgunDawg

- Why did you expect several others to follow?

- I agree with you on the frustration. Just feels like we are having others recruit our players but we aren't adding propects by recruiting Penn State's players. Am I supposed to have pride that our coach is being respectful to James Franklin?

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Sort of apples and oranges to me. Most all of Penn State's recruits are from a totally different part of the country. Little bit different than leaving us for Florida all here in the same conference. I'm just glad Mullen has not made any headway with our key recruits. Given we have Christmann (will only be a SO next year) do we really want to use a scholarship on another FG kicker that may not see the field for quite a while?

Assistant coaches taking HC jobs generally aren’t going after recruits where they coached. Considered a “no no”. A kid may flip on their own, but you aren’t going to hurt the guys that helped your career.

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Originally Posted by mparkerfd20

I 100% expected Don to do this and expected several would follow. I also 100% expected JoMo to do the same and am kinda frustrated he isn't. This isn't checkers, it's football! There are no ethics in football. **

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Colonel Saito: Do not speak to me of rules. This is war! This is not a game of cricket!

Kicker to me is one of those positions kind of like QB. Usually only one can play at a time and if they don't think they can come in and play pretty early they're usually going to leave or go somewhere else. It just worked out conveniently for McPherson. At least we're keeping Mayden. Dan sucks and this is all going to come back around on him.

When you look at the whole situation....I think Mullen, Hevesy and Gonzales targeting our players is very very shitty of them and shows they don?t give a damn about State or the current players at State.

Who knows better than those three, the current state of the MSU program, probable signees for feb 2018 and the limited talent in MS? They know we need this class badly. In addition, Mullen and Hevesy know Florida well. They know McElwain isn?t taking any of UFs recruits. They know it is unlikely that MSU flips any kids from Florida but MS kids are more likely to consider UF.

Mullen and company are just being lazy AF continuing to recruit kids he worked on for State rather than recruiting McElwains targets, taking advantage of FSU and UCFs coaching changes. Mullen is an absolute prick and is burning any good will he had left at MSU. But he couldn?t care less about burning bridges at Msu.

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Originally Posted by mparkerfd20

I 100% expected Don to do this and expected several would follow. I also 100% expected JoMo to do the same and am kinda frustrated he isn't. This isn't checkers, it's football! There are no ethics in football. **

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Little different. We aren't gonna flip kids from the N. East and East coast that are committed to Penn. St

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Originally Posted by Spiderman

Little different. We aren't gonna flip kids from the N. East and East coast that are committed to Penn. St

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And obviously Dan isn't going to flip Mississippi kids to Florida either.

Honestly, it looks like he would have been better off trying to learn his new territory but recruiting innovation never was his strong suit.

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Originally Posted by Spiderman

Little different. We aren't gonna flip kids from the N. East and East coast that are committed to Penn. St

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This ^ it isn't complicated. And it's a waste of time. Get the guys we have and lock em up best you can. Some have a tough one comprehending this concept.

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Originally Posted by Todd4State

And obviously Dan isn't going to flip Mississippi kids to Florida either.

Honestly, it looks like he would have been better off trying to learn his new territory but recruiting innovation never was his strong suit.

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Good point. He took a shot at the best ones we had and pretty much failed.

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Originally Posted by Irondawg

You don't repay that with poaching recruits. Much the same way when Dan came here from FL.

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All bets are apparently off for 2019, Garrett Shrader got a recent offer.

College football head coach is unlike any other profession on earth. I mean, how many professions can get away with shopping around for other jobs with competing companies and not get canned? In fact, it's the opposite. They usually get a raise out of it.

Concerning the ethics question, it was definitely shitty for Don to start trying to flip recruits the day he left. At the very least, I don't think coaches should be able to contact former recruits until the school they left has replaced them.

I don't have a problem with CJM not going after PSU recruits, but if they reach out to him....that's different.

2019 is fine.

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Originally Posted by bulldogcountry1

College football head coach is unlike any other profession on earth. I mean, how many professions can get away with shopping around for other jobs with competing companies and not get canned? In fact, it's the opposite. They usually get a raise out of it.

Concerning the ethics question, it was definitely shitty for Don to start trying to flip recruits the day he left. At the very least, I don't think coaches should be able to contact former recruits until the school they left has replaced them.

I don't have a problem with CJM not going after PSU recruits, but if they reach out to him....that's different.

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I agree it’s a terrible, unregulated system that models nothing else In the world except maybe sales jobs.