Monday Mailbag: Recruiting questions and other things
Another edition of the Monday Mailbag is here. And yes, it is Tuesday.
BuffsCountry reached out to our friends at AllBuffs looking for questions and they always bring the heat.
There were lots of questions about the current state of the recruiting class and hopefully my answer will help provide context. It is a complicated situation and there are a lot of different factors that impact its current state.
Without further ado, let's get right to it.
buffs4bcs1985 on AllBuffs: Why does QB recruiting seem so slow vs the rest of the country (taking Covid into account)
Quarterback recruiting is slow because quarterback recruiting is way different than any other position. Teams have to be picky about quarterbacks because frankly there aren’t many spots for them. There is no room to waste a scholarship on a quarterback. So it’s my understanding that they won’t offer a bunch and see which one sticks because they can’t take multiple and it could come back and hurt them in the long run. So they’ve identified the two they will focus on and then they will keep moving down the list if they miss out on them. It’s just a much slower process than other positions. Also, they are about a year behind which is why they are behind the rest of the country but don’t appear to want to rush the process.
DavisBuff on AllBuffs: Who do you see us landing as our 2021 QB signee?
Who would you like to see us sign?
Does offering Millen a scholarship so late hurt our chances to sign him?
Clay Millen definitely has more upside than Drew Carter and I like him more as an overall quarterback prospect. So I will take Millen and I also think they have a good chance of signing him. They are hurt by not getting to build up that relationship over a long period of time, but Millen seems to understand the situation so I don’t think he was insulted by any means when they decided to offer him. Millen has other schools that have shown interest but haven’t offered so I’m sure he was happy Colorado stepped up.
CUBuff98 on AllBuffs: Will the long lines for a beer at Folsom be addressed?
If there are limited fans in the seats, absolutely. Do you have suggestions for beer lines? CU doesn’t have any vendors in the stands, would that help? I feel like they are more annoying than convenient. Eventually, you will be able to order one from your phone.
BuffDog on AllBuffs: Why hasn't Tad used a press consistently to make teams work more at altitude and also use up shot clock? Soft press could burn some clock and a press with Roberson and Bey up top, especially with shorter point guards, could have led to turnovers. We need to be doing everything we can to pick up a few points here and there.
This is a really good question and from my understanding it’s just stubbornness. Boyle’s defensive philosophy is about sitting back and forcing the other team to make mistakes and there’s no doubt it works. But when you have the athletes to run a really good press, why don’t you utilize it more often? That’s the ultimate question. If you remember the first UCLA game at Pauley, they were down and out of that game, they went to a press and got themselves back into it. We didn’t see it much at all the rest of the season. It’s not Boyle’s style but I think he could’ve gone to it more. Bey makes the difference in the press and without him next season, it’s not likely we’ll see it much.
ParkerBuff11 on AllBuffs: You mentioned that Chase Penry was a soft commit in your article about Jimmy Valsin. Do you see him potentially choosing to de-commit or do you see the staff recruiting over him?
There will be a spot for him. There aren’t any wide receivers expected to move on besides KD Nixon so wide receiver recruiting might get tight. The reason I believe Penry is a soft commit is he has long been very interested in Cal-Berkeley. He’s taken trips out there and they continue to recruit him. I think he would flip if they offered.
Buffspokerams on AllBuffs: Your best guess, who is our next commitment? What recruit should we be keeping an eye on that we possibly haven’t seen or heard much about?
Al Ashford would be my guess there. I think the recruitment of Erik Olsen is very interesting and I’ve tried to have my ear to the ground there. It does seem like CU is in the mix.
Clean Undies on AllBuffs: Is it possible that the SEC plays football on national TV in front of limited audiences in the stadiums this fall while P12 fans are left holding our dicks as P12 institutions play it safe and cancel play altogether?
When I’m done covering CU, my name on AllBuffs will be dirty undies. But no, this has been a really bad narrative that has been perpetuated by Paul Finebaum and other east coast media. You look at the COVID numbers right now and the west coast is doing fine while the south is getting destroyed.
Buffs4bcs1985 on AllBuffs: CU seems to be making the top 3/5/7/10 etc. lists for all these blue-chip players but have not landed any of them. On the one hand, people have argued that it is extremely positive to even be in the conversation, but others (like myself) have argued it is meaningless unless we land them. How are we supposed to feel about recruiting right now?
I wouldn’t deem top lists meaningless. Recruiting is all about momentum and the more recruits that have the CU logo in there, other recruits will see that and consider them as well. There is a little bit to that. But for the most part, it doesn’t matter unless you land them. I think patience is key with this class. There will be a record number of decommitments so the board right now could look completely different in November. I just wouldn’t be quick to judge anything until the fat lady sings. The biggest impact for this class would be landing Millen in the next 3-4 weeks. He’s a game-changer because he has a big network and can start recruiting other prospects.
Uncle Luko on AllBuffs: I got one, it's probably already been asked, I didn't go back through all of them. How comfortable are the guys to strap it up and play?
Most players I have spoken with whenever I ask them stuff regarding the pandemic and all that, they say they just want to play football. That’s all they care about. I don’t think there will be many second thoughts about it.
RollTad21 on AllBuffs: Any additional info on what virtual visit looks like? Is it just a zoom meeting? Do we have videos made specifically for this? What is being highlighted. It would be cool if they could take someone in the media or even the fans on one to give more of an inside view.
So my understanding is they sort of cater them to the recruit. You might have an Al Ashford that has been to CU before so most of his visit was more about the academic side of things and then football. Or Clay Millen where it sounded like his was a lot of football and what the system is going to look like. Both of those guys are very familiar with Colorado. Some others might be more catered to the mountains and the town of Boulder and all that it has to offer because they’ve never been to Colorado.
They usually go for about two hours, they have multiple videos prepared that they play for the recruits but it is generally just a Zoom meeting. The majority of the coaching staff will be on the call, the strength and conditioning staff, the equipment staff and academic staff. I don’t think they are all on at the same time but they will all make an appearance. I’ve had recruits talk about the uniforms as something that has stood out, the facilities, one recruit mentioned the stone on all of the buildings and some mention the academics. They really try to make it like a full visit.
Patebuff on AllBuffs: Thoughts on Miller at Safety? Do you see CU going after any grad transfers at this point? They lack depth at a lot of positions and could use another safety transfer like last year.
I’ll have a story about Chris Miller later in the week and will have my thoughts in there.
I’m not sure they have room to bring anybody in but I can check with compliance. I was under the understanding that the only reason they were going to have some room was with Will Anglen going elsewhere, but I think they already hit the 25 counter limit. Unless they utilize another blueshirt.