NCAA Football 2015

[grumbler]

RichRod fired Casteel.

i think that's a mistake, but he buys himself some time that way.

[alfred russel]

The fanbase--I think realistically--expects to get back to competing for national titles.

Going to some games would be a good start. Recruiting is harder when the seats are empty.

I'm not saying it wouldn't help, but it didn't stop Miami from winning national titles before. I had season tickets growing up during the glory days, and the attendance was awful. If it wasn't Florida State or Notre Dame, the stadium would be mostly empty.

[Eddie Teach]

Why do you think Richt will recruit better teams at Miami than at Georgia? I know the beaches are nice and all, but the SEC's rep is way over the ACC's right now.

[alfred russel]

Why do you think Richt will recruit better teams at Miami than at Georgia? I know the beaches are nice and all, but the SEC's rep is way over the ACC's right now.

Well first Richt fielded some national championship caliber teams at UGA, but that aside...

The most talent rich part of Florida is south florida, and Miami is the only top tier school there. The other two in state schools - UF and FSU - are in the northern part of the state which is a vastly different culture than Miami. All else being equal, that is a huge advantage to get the players to UM.

Conference doesn't matter much. Miami did just fine as an independent and Big East member. It is why Miami has been able to field 5 national titles under 4 coaches in 3 decades despite poor attendance and facilities. Look at Miami's draft performance since 2000, or even last year, when the players coming out committed in the waning days of Randy Shannon, or when the program was facing sanctions after the Nevin Shapiro scandal - 7 players drafted, 2 in the first round. With a competent coach and some stability, recruiting should improve, and certainly a team with as much talent as last year shouldn't be going 6-7.

[Berkut]

RichRod fired Casteel.

i think that's a mistake, but he buys himself some time that way.

He doesn't need to buy himself any time - there is no consideration for getting rid of him at this point.

I think it is the right move - for whatever reason, the defense was just not getting better, and not just from a scheme standpoint, but from a recruiting standpoint.

I don't think Casteel could break into the living rooms of the 4-star recruits in meaningful numbers.

[Eddie Teach]

The most talent rich part of Florida is south florida, and Miami is the only top tier school there. The other two in state schools - UF and FSU - are in the northern part of the state which is a vastly different culture than Miami. All else being equal, that is a huge advantage to get the players to UM.

I think Miami's a pretty unique snowflake and most of southern/central Florida is more like north Florida. Certainly that's the impression I get from Sav's Florida posts, that central Florida is full of dumb rednecks. 

[alfred russel]

The most talent rich part of Florida is south florida, and Miami is the only top tier school there. The other two in state schools - UF and FSU - are in the northern part of the state which is a vastly different culture than Miami. All else being equal, that is a huge advantage to get the players to UM.

I think Miami's a pretty unique snowflake and most of southern/central Florida is more like north Florida. Certainly that's the impression I get from Sav's Florida posts, that central Florida is full of dumb rednecks. 

Historically, central Florida is prime recruiting ground for UF. Miami's focus has been (post Schnellenberger at least) on the conurbation West Palm - Fort Lauderdale - Miami area. Which is where the bulk of Florida's good players come from.

Southwest Florida is where I went to high school--culturally very different than Miami and Miami hasn't controlled recruiting there (probably UF gets the most players, though FSU and Miami are competitive). But, Southwest Florida is something of a wasteland for football talent--it may have changed, but I'm not sure a Southwest Florida high school has ever won a state championship in Florida at any division.

[grumbler]

I think it is the right move - for whatever reason, the defense was just not getting better, and not just from a scheme standpoint, but from a recruiting standpoint.

I don't think Casteel could break into the living rooms of the 4-star recruits in meaningful numbers.

I'm not sure Arizona could afford to hire the kind of DC who is going to turn the heads of 4-star recruits in meaningful numbers.  I haven't heard of who is the replacement, though, so maybe I'm missing something.

i mean... Arizona DID have a replacement lined up before they fired Casteel, right?  It would be dumb to do otherwise.

[Berkut]

I am reasonably confident that RR has a plan, since like you said, the firing makes little sense otherwise.

There doesn't seem to be a lot of outside knowledge as to what that plan is though...

[MadImmortalMan]

Everybody recruits in South Florida. It might be the most competitive place in the country.

[alfred russel]

Everybody recruits in South Florida. It might be the most competitive place in the country.

There is a massive amount of talent in a small geographic area that can sustain and supplement a number of teams.  But only one major program has the home field advantage in recruiting South Florida.

[alfred russel]

Saw Harbaugh is looking into moving spring practice to Florida. Points for thinking outside the box, but man...these guys are supposed to be students. Their fall is already fucked from an academic point of view. I'm sure this would be done during spring break, but still...

[grumbler]

Saw Harbaugh is looking into moving spring practice to Florida. Points for thinking outside the box, but man...these guys are supposed to be students. Their fall is already fucked from an academic point of view. I'm sure this would be done during spring break, but still...

it is always interesting to see how rumors become "facts" that then morph into contentions unrelated to the original rumor.

If Harbaugh is looking to move a couple of days' worth of spring practices to Spring Break and give his kids a free trip to Florida during SB, that sounds like a clever move to get some publicity and give the students a nice break.  The plan would backfire if the students would rather be on break on their own than practicing for a couple of days so they get to Florida for free.

But nothing of this is known - not even that Harbaugh is looking into this.  Remember, this all comes from Mitch Snyder at the Detroit Free Press.  He's not known for being very honest in his coverage of the Wolverines.  He's a massive troll and clickhound.

[Admiral Yi]

Bama is giving 7.

[dps]

Good first half.