Recruiting is the lifeblood of a program, and it can be the hardest part of coaching.
In a video released by Illinois, Tim Beckman talked about his recruiting philosophy and strategy.
Like most coaches, Beckman wants to keep the best players in Illinois in the state. In his first class (2012), Beckman signed four Illinois kids out of 19, but he was a new coach, so the biggest goal is keeping the class together. In 2013, eight of 25 signees were from Illinois. Two of four 2014 commits are from Illinois.
But Beckman also talks about the "Illini Nation," which is a six-hour radius. In the 2012 class, eight kids are from Ohio, Indiana, Iowa or Michigan, nine in the 2013 class and two among the 2014 commits.
In terms of communicating with the recruits, Beckman explained the value of technology, and how that helps with kids who may be farther away from campus.
"Technology has helped us, of course," he said. "When you can Skype people and those sorts of things, when you're making phone calls their junior year in May and April, that's the first time they really get to see you face-to-face unless they've been on campus. But that time, when you get things rolling in their senior year, they're coming to games, you'll have a couple official visits during that season.
"The end of November, first of December and January, where we have contact time, that's where you're doing it once a week. You get to meet him face-to-face, you're getting to meet his champion, as they call it, mother father, coach. You're doing your research on what type of young man he is. You go talk to his favorite teacher. You find out a little bit about if he has a job and where he works at, watch a basketball game if they're playing basketball.
"It's a thorough examination. It takes three months where you get to be with them. That's one of the things we're talking about as head coaches."
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Chris Vannini is the lead writer for CoachingSearch.com and has covered Michigan State sports for The State News, The Oakland Press and MLive.com. He writes a weekly column for the Detroit Free Press on behalf of SB Nation. Vannini lives in Big Ten country, so his foot speed is far from SEC caliber, but his pulse on coaches is hard to match. Be sure to follow @CoachingBuzz on twitter and send your feedback to chris@coachingsearch.com
Texas has released a trailer for the 2013 season with the message "Texas football is back."
But where did it go and how did it get there?
From 2001-2009, the Longhorns won at least 10 games every year, plus three straight nine-win seasons from 1998-2000. But in 2010, Texas stumbled to a 5-7 season. That was followed up with an 8-5 season in 2011 and 9-4 year in 2012.
How did that happen? Texas annually has some of the top recruiting classes, but if you look at whom they've sent to the NFL, it becomes clearer.
Here are the Texas offensive players drafted into the NFL in the past five years.
Just four offensive players drafted in the past five drafts. That's a startling number for a powerhouse program like Texas.
By comparison, the Longhorns have sent 16 defensive players into the draft during that time. In the previous five drafts (2004-08), Texas had 13 offensive players drafted. Texas' record has dipped and risen again along with its offensive stats.
Take a look at the offensive numbers over the past five seasons.
Bryan Harsin came from Boise State and called the plays as co-offensive coordinator / quarterbacks coach from 2011-12, but he left for the head-coaching job at Arkansas State. Co-offensive coordinator / running backs coach Major Applewhite has moved to co-coordinator and quarterbacks coach, also taking the play-calling duties. Wide receivers coach Darrell Wyatt will also be a co-offensive coordinator.
Over the past three years, 94 teams have a better red zone touchdown percentage than the Longhorns, scoring 94 touchdowns in 168 trips (56 percent). Applewhite surely has been preparing to improve this important aspect of the game.
It will be interesting to see how Texas' offense is different this season. Mack Brown and the coaches want to increase the tempo.
In order for Texas to be "back," it's going to have to continue to improve on the offensive side of the ball.
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Chris Vannini is the lead writer for CoachingSearch.com and has covered Michigan State sports for The State News, The Oakland Press and MLive.com. He writes a weekly column for the Detroit Free Press on behalf of SB Nation. Vannini lives in Big Ten country, so his foot speed is far from SEC caliber, but his pulse on coaches is hard to match. Be sure to follow @CoachingBuzz on twitter and send your feedback to chris@coachingsearch.com
Bill O'Brien making training camp adjustments for year #2
Written by Pete Roussel
Posted by: Pete Roussel on Tuesday May 14, 2013
When Penn State opens training camp in August, Bill O'Brien is prepared to make several adjustments from his first training camp as the Nittany Lions' head coach last year.
O'Brien said during the Penn State coaches' caravan, "We're doing a lot of things differently."
"We're looking at different situational type of practices during training camp. Less hitting in training camp, more walk-throughs and more conditioning. We want to be a very well-conditioned team. We want to try to play fast and really there's nothing more important than the health of our team. That's something that we're continuing to talk about as a staff and something that we'll talk more about in June."
Penn State opens the 2013 season in MetLife Stadium, home of next season's Super Bowl, against Syracuse.
With the departure of Matt McGloin, the Nittany Lions will be forced to start an inexperienced quarterback.
O'Brien said, "I don't know if anything really prepares a young guy for playing in front of 90,000 fans. I think what you've got to do as a coach is make sure you're calling the right plays for them. You have to make sure you've installed the offense properly for them. The other players that have played in big games understand how they have to calm the game down for them. That's what we'll do in training camp; we'll try to put them in tough situations, but again, you never know until they take the field."
After the season-opener against Syracuse, the next three games are at home against Eastern Michigan, UCF, and Kent State.
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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
