Watts decommits...
- Thread starter Rutgers Chris
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Never heard of this guy before today so not concerned. Bo Melton, Micah Clark and Jon Lewis were the big 3. Still Are. And Mo Jabbie is gonna be a baller. Not worried.
school will be caled VA tECH or PSU,write it down.
Henry was important recruiter and well liked coach..this whole time line of him leaving is odd..and something that its hard to belive Ash would be on board about.
also there may be more kids leave because of this..
This one is confusing.
And shouldn't a coaching move like this be happening AFTER signing day?
But, again, whatever. This is the nature of the beast of recruiting. The fact is Coach Ash, the fans, and the media combine to control the perception of our program. I'm not letting this get any bigger than it is. Still in good shape for a recruiting class after a 2-10 season.
And shouldn't a coaching move like this be happening AFTER signing day?
But, again, whatever. This is the nature of the beast of recruiting. The fact is Coach Ash, the fans, and the media combine to control the perception of our program. I'm not letting this get any bigger than it is. Still in good shape for a recruiting class after a 2-10 season.
Any chance we can get the other Watts? If JC has a year left....he was an excellent QB at Oklahoma many years ago...became a politician...just what Ash and Kill like...runs well--- But can't throw. But he has big game experience which we need against Big 10 teams.
Excuse me but I just talked to God (the one with the capital G) and He told me you should stay at RU. Now what are you going to do????
It's on the coaching staff, full stop. Recruiting is literally (part of) what they get paid to do.
This is why I was so critical of Ash during the season. We simply don't have the luxury to have seasons where it's ok to lose because we're rebuilding and supposedly moving in the right direction. Enough of that BS ! Been through it too many times as an RU fan. Coach is being paid 2 million a year and needs to show results -- from the start. No one was expecting 8 wins but certainly 4 or 5 was not asking too much.
I honestly think Flood would've did better last year. Flood wasn't the answer in the long haul and was an abysmal recruiter. However, Ash could've won at least 1 B1G game. Okay so Ohio State and Michigan have too much talent that we were toast. But we should've beat at least one of the other teams. Minnesota wasn't that much better than us. Illinois was garbage. We hung with Iowa and had a chance. We Made Maryland look like the Crimson Tide.
Everyone knew last year was going to be a bad season - Lombardi himself couldnt make this into anything salvageable - the cupboard was BARE!!!! We hired somebody without any head coaching experience who hasn't even been here a year yet - if this is year 4 or 5 then let's start having the convo about him not being up to snuff but other than that give me A break. We are Rutgers and we don't have the luxury of getting an UM or a Harbaugh when things don't go right for a few years. We have to roll the dice and really don't know what those dice are until years 3-5.
Decommits happen - they suck! As much as I love Rutgers sports the recruiting process of giving a 17 year old high school hero this power simply makes me sick. I'm not sure how'd I do things differently, but count me in for blowing up this system and/or making major changes!
Decommits happen - they suck! As much as I love Rutgers sports the recruiting process of giving a 17 year old high school hero this power simply makes me sick. I'm not sure how'd I do things differently, but count me in for blowing up this system and/or making major changes!
I won't call out players for changing their mind; we have no idea why they do it.
BUT, I don't understand making a commitment if you're not sure. I was raised that I needed to honor my word. A player (not necessarily this one, I don't know) that uses a school is a placeholder is no better than the school that over recruits, and leaves kids out in the cold with few options late in the game.
The one thing that some players don't get, and its been mentioned earlier, is that coaches leave for a number of reasons; you're much better served committing to the school, and not the coaches present at the time. If the STAFF changes, the school remains the same.
BUT, I don't understand making a commitment if you're not sure. I was raised that I needed to honor my word. A player (not necessarily this one, I don't know) that uses a school is a placeholder is no better than the school that over recruits, and leaves kids out in the cold with few options late in the game.
The one thing that some players don't get, and its been mentioned earlier, is that coaches leave for a number of reasons; you're much better served committing to the school, and not the coaches present at the time. If the STAFF changes, the school remains the same.
This. And we have some people thinking that 4 wins next year and Ash is some miracle worker. That with Morgan St., Eastern Michigan, Purdue, and Illinois/ Indiana on the schedule. Time to man up.
I guess you weren't here the day Schiano left
Not sure how/why Ash lets this go down 2 weeks before signing day. Could he have really miscalculated the relationship Henry had with many of the recruits? Henry once said Ash was like a father to him so if Ash wanted him to stay on board a few weeks longer I'm sure here would have. Hope Ash has this under control because the reaction to a bunch of recruits right now is not good.
News to Mr. Watts: I hope you are not following Henry due to some type of loyalty, because I can comfortably guarantee you will receive none in return. Not sure what Henry is looking for, but his loyalty is seriously lacking.
I hope the Board is pissed, and tell Ash: "hire whoever you want, money is no object." LOL. (Yeah, I know, won't happen.)
I hope the Board is pissed, and tell Ash: "hire whoever you want, money is no object." LOL. (Yeah, I know, won't happen.)
I think I'd make the argument that he miscalculated the relationship he had with HENRY.
I agree about the recruits, but on the bright side, perhaps some of our recent hires have people (Kill) know someone that can step in and be an improvement to the staff.
The biggest mistake Ash made last year was hiring Mehringer and Kuhr. He recognized this mistake and corrected it. We should see better results early in the season.
The scuttlebutt is that Henry's departure wasn't yet official / for public disclosure. Somebody leaked news of his new job to nj.com and they blew the story.
There is a piece of the logic puzzle that is missing in all of this - it does not quite make sense - but then again, actions of 17-18 year old kids can often be hard to follow.
While constant contact by the recruiting coach is important & builds a bond - it is hard to believe that the critical element in retaining a particular recruit - was the relationship with the assistant Defensive Backs Coach - hard to believe that the relationship with this one coach was the only real thread of connection that was holding a well grounded recruit to his original commitment ... that the severing of that one thread - even if they are very fond of that assistant coach - would then wipe out the commitment to the University, the Team, the Head Coach, the other members of the recruiting class, the members of the team that they had come to know. Can't imagine that the recruit would honestly say that the paramount reason that they committed to the school was the opportunity to work with this essentially unknown assistant Defensive Backs Coach - the chance to work with "The Aaron Henry" was not the pivotal factor that cemented their choice of Rutgers....
Suspect that this de-commit was brewing - on some level - for a while & the coaching change provided the recruit with the opportunity / internal justification / the excuse to break the commitment - really, really hard to believe that if Aaron Henry had delayed his move by 17 days - that this recruit would have held fast to his pledge... something else would have been rationalized into a 'justification'.
While constant contact by the recruiting coach is important & builds a bond - it is hard to believe that the critical element in retaining a particular recruit - was the relationship with the assistant Defensive Backs Coach - hard to believe that the relationship with this one coach was the only real thread of connection that was holding a well grounded recruit to his original commitment ... that the severing of that one thread - even if they are very fond of that assistant coach - would then wipe out the commitment to the University, the Team, the Head Coach, the other members of the recruiting class, the members of the team that they had come to know. Can't imagine that the recruit would honestly say that the paramount reason that they committed to the school was the opportunity to work with this essentially unknown assistant Defensive Backs Coach - the chance to work with "The Aaron Henry" was not the pivotal factor that cemented their choice of Rutgers....
Suspect that this de-commit was brewing - on some level - for a while & the coaching change provided the recruit with the opportunity / internal justification / the excuse to break the commitment - really, really hard to believe that if Aaron Henry had delayed his move by 17 days - that this recruit would have held fast to his pledge... something else would have been rationalized into a 'justification'.
Also true. In his mind, Watts was gone 2 months ago. There was a LOT of rumbling that he was no longer truly committed, but the recruiting prognosticators said "oh, no, he's staying."
Parenthetically, this is the key element of "Recruiting Pay-Per-View" gone wrong. Kids will say things to friends and relatives while saying something completely different to the reporting services. In the case of the former, they're saying what's on their minds and in their hearts while in the latter case they're saying what they think those people want to hear.
The first piece of the puzzle followers of this stuff need to understand is that the "university" as holistic "thing" has less to do with a kid's choice than whether or not the cafeteria has Taco Tuesdays.
They don't view "Rutgers" the way alums and fans view Rutgers.
They don't view "Rutgers" the way alums and fans view Rutgers.
Didn't RU get rid of all the leaks?
It could not have been this guy
The management of critical information inside Rutgers Athletics is less awful than it's been in the past (Tim / Julie) but it's still not what you'd call "ship shape".
There's a fix. I've spoken of it. It's yet to be implemented.
Think we have to view it as a continuum
on one end you have the young recruit who has many superficial perceptions swirling in their head & has yet to sort them out
- - while on the other end there actually are some kids who are perceptive - have a long range vision - and judge schools on a deeper level
the challenge is figuring out which is which
Doeren is on less stable ground then Ash..thats why two weeks before signing day why would Henry burn Ash in this manner for a lateral move at best? One would think there has to be more to this story then money..
Mehingher and Kurh left after the Laviano meltdown and the two of them are best buddies,understand why they left..Henry makes no sense almost to point that Ash would be best for fans,recruits to be public about what occurred or is going on?
Wow, sorry to see the kid decommit, but a number of the responses here are beyond imagination. Time to take a sedative, its not the end of the world. Its never done until the ink is on the paper.
God people relax. I swear you always want an apocalypse scenario.
You might be right.
But I'm comfortable suggesting that the ones who will win Rose Bowls are on my side of the continuum.
Henry Rutgers might as well be Henry Ford to a 4 star middle linebacker that can stay on the field for 3 downs and wants to play on Sunday. They just don't care.
I don't pretend to know what the answers are, or the reason why kids de-commit. I believe a 2-10 record and the most recent coaching changes would have any kid rethink his options.
This is what I hear through the grapevine from both friends and parents: their concern of the University's "very real" violence one or two blocks from campus. They all agree that Rutgers is a top notch University but until this mess can get eliminated students and parents alike are going to be hesitant to come here. In the end, those that can afford to send their kids to other schools do so and those that cannot take their chances. JMHO
This is what I hear through the grapevine from both friends and parents: their concern of the University's "very real" violence one or two blocks from campus. They all agree that Rutgers is a top notch University but until this mess can get eliminated students and parents alike are going to be hesitant to come here. In the end, those that can afford to send their kids to other schools do so and those that cannot take their chances. JMHO
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Actually I even preferred our old Pro style to this B12 style option bore....
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