- Error
|
Fast & real: Thursday news & notes |
 |
 |
 |
|
Posted by: Pete Roussel on August 9, 2012 Not all recruits have the selfish mindset and not all head coaches are willing to sell their soul just to get a a 5-star to sign on the line that is dotted. This is evident by Julio Jones' quote about his former coach Nick Saban, which clearly says a lot about each individual. Jones told Atlanta Journal Constitution writer Jeff Schultz, "Growing up, I really didn't watch a lot of college football. But one of the reasons I liked Alabama was when I went to visit coach Saban, he said, 'Well you know, we want you here. But we're going to win with you or without you.' I was like, that's me. I just want to win. I don't like stuff just given to me." Now that's good stuff. ------------------------- In case you missed Tulane head coach Curtis Johnson's press conference, it's worth reading my story from Wednesday afternoon. Johnson absolutely nailed it. The one thing I didn't harp on enough was Johnson's recruiting vision. You have to make recruits believe in you and your vision. How many times do you think 'CJ' has said the following to recruits? Curtis Johnson: "This program really reminds me of Miami (FL). My second year at Miami, we went 5-6. We were on probation and it was almost starting over. Prior to that, Miami thought about dropping the football program and three years later they won a national championship. This reminds me so much of Miami. Here's where the similarities are. 1) Miami is a private school. 2) Miami is in the inner city. What we did at the University of Miami, and they did it back then, is they started recruiting kids locally. In Louisiana, there are more players in the NFL per capita than anywhere else. There are a lot of players that are going all over. If we can keep all the players that LSU doesn't want here (at Tulane), I think we'll do great." Curtis Johnson: "It's starting now. How can you do something special that's already been done. It's like the Saints in 2006. Before we got here in 06, nothing was ever done. In Dallas, it wasn't special. Dallas would win a Super Bowl and you would yawn at that. In San Francisco, you would yawn at that. But the first one is special. This will be the first one here. We're going to do something special here and the only way you can do something special is you've got to kind of be the underdog. They're loving it because they want to do it on their own. I had a coach tell a recruit, 'Why would you want to go somewhere else where the wheel is already fixed.' The recruit came back and told me, 'Coach, I want to make my own wheel.'" Apparently 'CJ' caught word of my article. Since he just joined the twitter universe, he actually took time to publicly thank me. That was awfully nice.
------------------------- Texas Tech worked in shorts and should pads on Wednesday for the first time and Tommy Tuberville was disappointed with the intensity level. Tuberville said, "Disappointed in the intensity. It looked like we got the tempo the first couple of day. Today, we got in a routine, we got to feeling sorry for ourselves a little bit, which is normal, but it ain't normal for a team that got their butts whipped last year." He continued, "If we're going to win some games, we're going to have to coach and practice like a team that's going to win every game. We'll have a better practice tomorrow. Not a great practice, not a real bad practice, but a little bit disappointed when you got a chance to hit somebody for the first day, just didn't quite have the enthusiasm I was expecting. It's got to come from your leadership." -------------------------- A lot has been made of Jim Mora's decision to host UCLA's training camp in San Bernardino, where temperatures have reached as high as 108 degrees. Cramps have been an issue for some Bruins. As noted in yesterday's news & notes, it looks like UCLA is practicing dead square in the middle of the desert. USC quarterback Matt Barkley even got a shot in on Mora.
-------------------------- USC and Tennessee are believed to have the most talented wide out groups in the country, but Tennessee wide receivers / recruiting coordinator Darin Hinshaw understands it's not about potential. Hinshaw said, It's a very talented group that has an unbelievable amount of potential. Now, we got to go maximize that and do it on the field. It's also getting on the same page with the quarterbacks and that is what camp is for. We got a lot of talent, but we got to maximize it and go use it and go work our butts off every single day to get better." ------------------------------------------------- Recent articles on CoachingSearch.com
Pete Roussel is a valuable resource for coaches, athletic directors, NFL front-office personnel, and college football enthusiasts. A former college football coach, Roussel shares insight on coaches 365 days a year and is recognized as the most trusted expert on coaching transactions. Follow @CoachingSearch on twitter and send your feedback to pete@coachingsearch.com |
