📅 Published on: 2024-12-05 01:30:00
⏱ Duration: 00:37:52 (2272 seconds)
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📝 Video Description:
Kevin Flaherty and Ryan Wallace break down Kansas football’s high school recruiting class on national signing day. The guys are joined by Kansas football general manager Rob Ianello to discuss the players the Jayhawks signed, guys that stood out and more!
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🕵️♂️ Transcript:
what I said to I don’t remember which family it was if we offer a young man a scholarship he’s a five star to us and doesn’t matter what the rating say and and uh you know we offer guys Scholarships in order to get them to come to school here um you know some people take a a uh wider SWA right and and they’re gonna offer a huge number of guys and we’ kind of take we haven’t taken that approach as much right we we do have some kind of formula that if we’re going to sign X number at a position we I have to have X number of scholarships out in order to to do that but but by and large you know if if we we offer you scholarship it’s to get you to come to school here so um you know and and so we think these guys are all different we got guys from a bunch of different states right so that’s pretty neat right Arizona California Oklahoma Kansas um you know Florida so um Georgia I mean in Texas right so we we’re covering a lot of States here thanks for listening to Casey Sports Network proudly presented by m prise bank if you’re thinking about starting a business or know someone who is check out EMP prise bank’s SBA Loans it’s always good to know your options and they can be your partner impossible hello and welcome to a special Signing Day edition of the verbal commitment podcast here on the Kansas City Sports Network brought to you by HomeField apparel I’m Kevin flarey and I’m here as always with Ryan Wallace from goat.com and 247 Sports and we are talking about the world of local recruiting from Kansas and Kansas City prospects to the college classes at Kansas Kansas State and Missouri I said this was a special edition and on this show we’ll be breaking down the football recruiting class signed today by Kansas we’ll have separate episodes on the classes at Kansas State and at Missouri to head to those respective kcsn channels if you want to see more on the players signed by those schools later on in this show we’ll talk to Kansas general manager robello to get his thoughts on The Jayhawks class just so stay tuned for that as always if you like what you’re hearing tell your friends about us subscribe hit that like button or leave us a five star review wherever you get your podcast like apple or Spotify all those things help us to grow the show and get us in front of more people like you Ryan it’s here all the months of talking to prospects and recruits watching tape going to camps and games the Lions share of the 2025 class will sign their names today effectively shutting down their recruitments and making their college choices official it feels good to finally get here man uh you know and I’m speaking from the K State side which again even the KU fans listening understand kind of what I’m getting at when I say that it it is it has taken a long time to get here and it feels good that we’re here but yeah I mean we’ve got a lot lot of stuff to talk about a lot of local kids to highlight um for all three of these schools so yeah let’s let’s get into it yeah let’s get into it well well put at the time we are shooting this Kansas has signed 15 players with a class ranking of number 60 in the class according to 247 Sports pretty uneventful Signing Day Kansas came into the day with 15 commitments they signed 15 guys that’s not including the two transfers the j-hawks already have in the boat which takes Kansas’s overall class up to number 56 Kansas is High School junior college class does include one fourstar Prospect and it’s the highest ranked player in The Jayhawks class surprise surprise Ryan it’s another defensive end in this case Adrien Holly of Michigan City Indiana another defensive end from the Midwest as well right I mean wasn’t because I’m thinking Austin Booker was from that area um if I’m not mistaken so yeah I mean and and correct me if I’m wrong Kevin but I mean Holly kind of fits that mold does he not he does if you’re if you’re thinking ceiling right I don’t want to put you know you know Adrien in that type of category just yet but I mean in terms of projections you would have to think that that’s what Lance lipold staff is hoping Adrien Holly can become yeah I I joked around about him being another highly ranked defensive end in last year’s Class Kansas signed two fourstar defens of ends and DJ Warner and Dak Brinkley transfers Dylan Brooks and by jobber former fourar players as well it’s a group that could be a major strength for Kansas moving forward as that Talent kind of matures and grows and Holly ceiling Ryan it it’s as high as any of those guys you’re talking about a guy who’s a legit six foot4 with a better than 6 foot 10 wingspan he’s a really impressive athlete and as a senior as a junior the tape was really raw and and I think that was one of the reasons and you’ll hear Rob andelo talk about it uh in our segment later as a senior he put it all together with a huge year and I think that was a big part of the reason the 247 end up bumping that ranking up and making him the highest ranked player in Kansas’s CL that’s that’s kind of what I was going to say is like you know because you mentioned about you know Warner and all the other guys from last year and you know to a fan that isn’t following closely they might go well why is Ku going after more top ranked guys at the same position I when they started after Holly he wasn’t the top rank guy I think this is a Testament to Adrien Holly and and his development over the course of the last year year and a half that you know obviously Kansas saw something in him and then he became the fourstar guy but yeah I mean I remember watching tape of him earlier on uh in the fall when we were you know talking and highlighting ku’s class early on and and you know his first I think highlight from his Junior tape was a block punt right or something something of that nature and it was from like five feet from like five feet away still a really freaking impressive BL where you were going man there’s there’s something here so if the the other interesting thing too to finish up on Holly Kevin is that all the guys you mentioned you know it’s not a situation of like well they’re all kind of fit in the same box so only one or two of them are going to play they all are a little bit different and I think you could see the KU staff really start to rotate those guys in and and each of them kind of carry their own roles as they continue to to develop in Lawrence all right so I want each of us there’s 15 players in this class to pick a player in the class that we each like and then together we’ll talk about a sleeper to watch so Ryan who’s a guy that that stands out to you in this class that you like maybe even more than than what the recruiting ranking is you know I thought for a little bit on this and I I thought about talking about Justin Thurman because that was a guy that I really liked out of high school even you know before he committed to Notre Dame and so for him to end up at KU I was like this is the timing feels right with Devon Neil Moving on but obviously I also am aware that KU is doing some transfer portal stuff at that position and maybe that puts a pause on Thurman immediate impact right so I’m gonna go back to when we originally talked about Kansas’s class months ago right and a guy that I went back and Revisited the senior tape and Jackson cook continues to pop for me he’s the second lowest rated guy according to 247 in in this class at just an 85 out of Georgia 61 180 but man there’s something about this kid’s tape that I just love and you know uh at receiver it’s a position that they need a little bit of you know something extra here coming up knowing the guys that are leaving but you see plays like that over and over again from Jackson cook the effort plays keeping his balance but then you got plays like this these effortless tracking the ball and it looks like he’s running seven 0% Kevin and everybody else is hauling at like 110 and he’s separating by 10 15 20 yards each time I don’t really grasp what maybe some of the national Scouts didn’t see that KU staff did I think this is a really good get and honestly if if you’re one of those people that judge judges you know how good a kid is by their offers I know he didn’t have huge offers but you look at some of the offer list there and you know you see two lane there and you’re like well two Lane can evaluate some skilled guys Memphis can evaluate some skilled guys Indiana I think the season that we’ve seen from Indiana they can evaluate some skill guys so it it might not be the most illustrious offer list but I think some of those programs in there we talk about it all the time Kevin when you see some of those programs go after certain positions you know forget the rating because there’s something there and and I really like what KU got in Jackson cook yeah to your point Kansas is losing all three wide receiver starters additionally losing Trevor Wilson and kind of do it all threat Tori Lan who spent this year as a wide receiver as well so there are some holes in that room they’re probably going to fill most of those with with transfers Doug million’s probably going to get a spot in there as well but there’s room for a high school guy in that rotation and so if Cook is able to come in and work opportunity it it’s there I’ll go ahead and pick a Canen and not surprise you at all in this one and Brandon Schley who recently got a rankings bump from 247 Sports now where he’s one of the top 10 players in the state of Kansas to me schmelly was always a fascinating eval because he’s an eight-man player he put up absolute video game numbers as an eight-man wide receiver then as a quarterback then as a defensive back and so you you watch him and he’s got just great athleticism and you have some concern with an eight-man guy right about how is this going to how is this going to play out when it’s 11 man when the competition level rises but then you have schley’s track numbers that indicate pretty highlevel athlete you’re in a 10900 meter dash as a sophomore as a junior he long jumped almost 23 feet I always tell people 22 feet is kind of the Milestone where I’ll Circle it and say okay if a guy jumps 22 feet he’s pretty athletic uh so to hit almost 23 is is pretty darn good and so he the ball skills there are there the skill level is there the athletic indicators are there and I think there’s a lot to like about schley’s potential moving forward Kansas is going to start him off at safety but he’s an athlete that can play a lot of different spots and probably do him well well and he’s a proven winner right I mean Axel has won four straight I think oh I I think they’ve won five straight technically so he’s won four I think and the reason I say I think is he has on his Twitter profile five times state champion so I don’t know did he play Heist as an eighth grader to where he might have o had another State title in there I I don’t know I I do know every year he was in high school they ended the season hoisting that trophy he played different positions I think was it last year that he had you know like one interception that he threw all year as a quarterback with just a ton of touchdowns ton of rushing yards picked off like 10 passes I mean was was basically all all over the play well and and I think that goes back to something that you and I have always talked about when it comes to kind of those smaller class guys is look there’s nothing wrong with a KU or Kate or Missouri or whoever taking a small class guy but the thing is is to me if if you’re going to take a small class guy they better be absolutely Elite in in a couple different areas and I mean not Elite like you know five star elite I mean yeah obviously that would jump off the page but I mean like you better stand out when we when we put the tape on and Schley stands out like I mean he his athleticism is definitely A Cut Above to the point where when you do watch him you go I don’t know if it would matter what level he he would play on I think he could he could make a difference and make you notice him no matter where where he’s playing it just happens to be at Axel there are some pretty solid sleepers in this class and one of my favorites is Tulsa Union defensive lineman Josiah chees Hammond who will play defensive tackle in Lawrence by the way tired cheese Hammond wired ham and cheese but in all seriousness Ryan this is one of those guys that just feels like a great em and system fit from a body standpoint he reminds me so much of DJ Withers another guy that played defensive end in high school and then came into Kansas added a bunch of we to play defensive tackle at Kansas and he’s he’s done it pretty well at Kansas Hammond has really good quickness he gets off the ball with suddenness and I think is he works with Matt Gilder sleeve in the weight room with ktie o Conor on his nutrition and with Jim panagos on the nuances of playing defensive tackle I think he has a lot of potential to be a major contributor the quickness here on these clips and the length too I mean you see the reach that he has yeah I mean when you start to get him in a strength and conditioning program um I mean it it’s going to be a scary sight and I mean like you said KU has proven now to have a track record of developing those guys on the interior of the defensive line and he looks like you said Kevin that that he’ll fit kind of that mold and again kind of getting back to what I was talking about with Jackson cook they’re those offers right that kind of go like yeah this kid’s probably got something here the fact that he goes on an official visit to Iowa state that I think kind of knows what they’re looking for when it comes to those interior defense of lineman and Utah when Utah offers anybody on defense my I’m perked you know what I mean like I’m going okay like let’s throw that tape on so that again another good sign to me if I’m a k fan of you win over somebody that Utah really wanted to to host on an official visit um yeah and and hey Tulsa unions had a history of developing defensive lineman so all bod should bode well for Hammond and KU a pretty good pretty good match there we’ll have our interview with Kansas general manager Rob ananello here in a bit but but first we wanted to tell you about our friends at HomeField apparel if you’re headed to Allen Fieldhouse this winter you know how hot it can get in that building and HomeField has you covered with some of the coolest t-shirt designs you’ll find along with sweatshirts jackets and outerwear to throw on over the Said t-shirt when you’re headed outside after the game’s over Kansas has more than 50 items to choose from so head over to HomeField apparel.com and use the promo code link below in the description you can get 15% off your first order we’ll be right back looking for tickets for your next event tickets for Less is your number one source save big on every purchase when used promo code kcsn at ticketsforless.com welcome back to the verbal commitment podcast sponsored by HomeField apparel it’s national Signing Day in the early signing period and we’re joined by Kansas general manager Rob ielo Rob thanks for stopping by the show oh Kevin Ryan thanks for having us on here appreciate it very much everyone loves a quarterback so let’s start there we had David mccom on the show really impressive young man committed really early on in the process what did you guys like about David mccan what made him sort of the choice at at that quarterback position you know the neat thing about David was he was the first guy to commit in this class and he kind of started this whole thing about you know a year ago I mean and uh so so you know kind of jumped out in a leadership role right from the beginning and Kim was has been down here multiple times has been around kids that are committed to us or we you know they came in we were recruiting and he wanted to jump in who can I talk to who do you need me to see and so he’s really a neat kid and really uh you know the leadership that you want a quarterback to have he demonstrated that from the beginning when he joined our class and that was pretty neat he’s a real good comp you know besides being a very good you know obviously thrower and really good feet and a good runner he’s a heck of a competitor right and uh so I think in the quarterback position you want to make sure you got a guy back there really going to be a competitor and and uh his team really turned around right a year ago they weren’t as as good programm this year they went to the state semifinal so he’s really transformed that team also and and uh it’s been fun to watch is there a recruit in this class that you’re more familiar with I mean with how often he came back with I mean he came and worked out at Camp even after he was committed and he was around a lot I know coach lipold said today that when he came in for visits he would do chalk talks with with coach zabowski and stuff it it feels like he’s a guy that you guys had a great feel for and really got to know through the we did and and and because he committed so early the the the conversations turned when he came to visit us from you know what you do to recruit a kid right you’re always trying to recruit to to those kind of um coaching sessions right where he would have questions for Jim and Jim would be able to you know talk with him and it became more of a growth opportunity for for David and an opportunity for us to get to know him really well in his football IQ um than it was you know your normal kind of he he’s down here what do we got to show what do we got to talk about to try to get them to come here right and I’d say when you look at our group you know um Malachi kiry’s been been on our campus many times right he came to our a year ago right summer before his um before he committed to us he he was coming to our camp and there and they had a car issue and but he still ended up coming to see us anyway that day and he came back to the next Camp right so and he so he’s been on our campus many times right so it’s great familiarity with him um as we go um you know and and uh obviously Anderson cop is is a legacy yep kind of get to know him when he was leaving a little younger right come back to our camp coming back to campus come back to games and then you got to see him kind of grow and develop and and and and become the guy he is today Tate naggie been here you know several times Brandy spel he’s been here a number of times right so we got several guys here and then Bryson Hayes has been here since he was a sophomore and on our campus so we got a chance to have a lot of these guys on campus you know a bunch um during their time and then we had most of all these guys were back when we played Colorado and and there’s a neat picture somewhere on social media of all of them together on the sideline I think it was 13 of our 15 signes were back were here for that game so um so we have a really good familiarity with with this group and and they have good familiarity with each other and it kind of gelled and that’s been that’s been neat Justin Thurman too right was a guy that didn’t he come to Camp as like an eighth grader he around CL is a freshman and we offered him the scholarship as a freshman and then he um you know they’re they’re from from local area folks originally and uh then he came back again uh a year ago right a year ago before he then transition to you know maybe another place and it kind of came full circle um that he came back to us but really happy to have him he’s a really good player and a really great family they’re going to be their great fits for us great high school program coach Thompson there’s you know won a playoff game or more every year has been the head coach of Jesuit it’s just terrific program great place Kevin you kind of stole my thunder there with with Justin Thurman I wanted to go there with you coach uh and and maybe even throw in Bryson haaste too because I wanted to get a coach’s perspective Ive on you know with both of those guys having been committed elsewhere was that a situation where the KU staff was you know continuing to just kind of keep in touch or did they reach back out to you and and how how has that changed over time it seems like in modern-day recruiting just because you might not get a kid the first time you never want to kind of go ice cold on a kid because things change really quick don’t they yeah I I think with with Justin right when he Jon walls had developed a great relationship with him and when he told us he was going to go in another Direction uh know Jonathan just would do kind of periodic check-ins with with the family with him just to see how things were going and when it became a parent that he wasn’t that to change his mind and um then we I think we became a real strong option for him right away because Jonathan had kind of kept kept in touch with him on a periodic basis with with Bryson he was kind of the one we felt got away right he was the young man that was committed to another school but we always felt like this was the place H and that he always wanted to come here for some reason it didn’t connect right away so we we um pursued him at a pretty good speed you know from from um August on and uh we able to you know sensing that maybe he was open to that and um then eventually it came turned around a pretty neat this morning right is I think he’s got some pictures out there how his house was set up with a fa candas and he had his right folks in his in his in his house and it was pretty neat to see everybody being excited about him coming to Kansas the Kansas kid friend of the show Michael Swain pointed out that this is the most kons KU signed to scholarship spot I think in the last eight classes and we’ve talked on the show about how when we talk to 2026 kids as well there seems to be an increased excitement level about KU in that class with local kids you guys added Leon Douglas who we’ve had on the show who helps in Casey MO as well so I I guess that’s a really long way to set up the question question how have you seen things change for you guys locally over the last few well we have made a reception locally we’ve made a big effort to to to start close work further away that’s that’s been interest so the state of Kansas Kansas City Missouri and then Bren out from Missouri and and in Parts out um so that’s been a huge emphasis for us and when we came here in 21 we um you know the 21 that that class was gone right those kids that were going to be seniors in the fall 21 had already pretty much decided so we tried to jump on the the next class as quick as we could but you know we we didn’t know them as well as and have relationship seon developed with them as well some as some other folks had at that time and we’ve just tried to chip away here and uh you know and and uh there were some other schools in our conference maybe you know recruiting recruiting the state at a bit higher level right and been getting kids to go to their schools and um so we just had to dig in and do that and you know and if people look at the history of Kansas football before we got here I mean it probably sometimes wasn’t a place that hey if you grew up in the state of Kansas somebody else you kind of saw as having a dominant football program right and you didn’t see the University of Kansas that way and I think a lot of that changed when game day was on this hill yeah right and and and uh and um so in the 22 season you know what what Kansas football could be and now with the commitment that the university has made to Kansas football our our to our players and to our staff I think that that’s resonating uh in big ways right and so I think it’s noticeable in this class and hopefully it’s GNA be noticeable in classes down down the the way that you know at the University of Kansas there’s no reason it can’t be a top level football program in this country a top level football program in the Big 12 and we want all the best players in the state of Kansas um to play at the University of Kansas know coach I’m looking at you know this this commitment list and it’s one that Kevin and I have been covering on this show since the summer but talking about well before that and I look at guys that and and Kevin and I have been in in the recruiting industry and even we will admit that the the science of ratings is highly imperfect but I’m looking at Garrett Martin a guy that I think is underrated as an 87 on 247 Sports I look at Jackson cook as a guy that I really like as an 85 is is there anybody in the staff meeting that you guys are just kind of like man we they don’t know what we have in this kid yeah I think what I said to I don’t remember which family it was if we offer a young man a scholarship he’s a five star to us and doesn’t matter what the ratings say and and uh you know we offer guys Scholarships in order to get them to come to school here um you know some people take a a uh wider schwa right and and they’re going to offer a huge number of guys and we kind of take we haven’t taken that approach as much right we we do have some kind of formula that if we’re going to sign X number at a position we probably have to have X number of scholarships out in order to to do that but but by and large you know if if we we offer you scholarship it’s to get you to come to school here so um you know and and so we think these guys are all different we got guys from a bunch of different states right so that’s pretty neat right Arizona California Oklahoma Kansas um you know Florida so um Georgia I mean in Texas right so we’re covering a lot of States here um and and we’re covering a lot of different positions here in this group so um you know we got some guys here that that you know going to come at Mid semester so they’re going to jump on some things and that’ll be great for them and great for us and and in today’s world more kids are doing that than they used to years ago but but should be a fun class and I’m just it’s really neat how they’ve connected with each other and um you know they’re really going to come in here with a great great relationship with other and a great Bob and that’s gonna going to be fun one of the guys that you guys were way out ahead of the recruiting industry on it was a guy that coach lipold really talked up today as a person and that’s Adrien Holly uh a guy that you know maybe didn’t have as much recruiting attention now all of a sudden you know 247 ranked him as a a fourstar guy the other day but what did you guys see so early on with Adrian where you where you said hey th th this kid’s a Jayhawk like th this is the guy that we you want here you know when Jim panagos first made the contact there with Adrian his high school went in there um you know you talk about how um his work ethic right his attitude um come early stay late his coaches really you know so high on him um you know he’s got got him and his mom and his young sister and then um but then you watch the tape and and you know he really plays hard right he plays really hard he’s got a great motor and then he’s got the the the the vitals that you’re looking for right I mean we feel like we got to get a little bit longer in some positions right get add the length to our team and he’s certainly one of those guys at defensive end that will be able to do that for us so we put all those intangibles with the tape and then the car character of the young man we kind of put that all together and that was um you know that that’s what really kind of stood out to us a lot to him and attracted us to him let’s go one spot down from Holly coach to Jaden nickens um you got to be a pretty rarified air type of athlete uh to have the interest of both a power for football program and a power four basketball program how did those conversations come about with the basketball staff like you know you guys going to them like C can we make this work walk us through maybe how the Jaden nickens thing kind of came to be it was a little bit of a combination because you know we obviously knew about Jaden when he was in Oklahoma right and had we had shown interest in him him and we had um called up on him but then he made an early commitment to somebody else right and then he went on but then he went on this basketball circuit and his a coach um you coach towns in very well in men’s basketball right so um so when he moved out to California then in Sierra Canyon was playing you know I think the Au basketball coach in a conversation with chis hey this kid’s open this kid is open and interested in Kansas and uh you know you football folks should take a look at them so so we did and then the conversations were about trying to do both and um so basketall programs you know feels like they can get a guy for free a little bit I guess to yeah join join them and uh we feel like we can get a guy that can really help us and you know Jaden’s gonna be he’s a football player first he understands that and um and as we’ve told him on his trip we’re hoping you’re not joining the basketball program till way late sometime in January okay we don’t expect you to be joining the basketball program around Christmas I mean around around Yeah Christmas are after not Thanksgiving so I I was kind of killing myself for not asking coach lipold about this guy but somebody I’m a big fan of in this class is uh Josiah Hammond and I I think you know not only is he a really good player but you talk about scheme and system fit he’s a lot like defensive tackles that you guys have found a lot of success with in terms of the body type and everything else and I know this year talking to any of the players they raved about ktie o Conor and the job that she did with nutrition and and getting them there I I guess what stood out about Josiah and is do you see him as hey this is a guy the type of which we found a lot of success with here probably probably would remind you a little bit right now his body and stuff of DJ Withers when he first showed up here in in summer of 21 I think that’s how I would um the bucket I would put kind of jiah in and you know he came here last spring with with uh his high school coach and some other teammates and really made a good impression on us um got around our coaches got around our you know some of our players and was here for like a full day and you know one of the things that we did without giving away to cook Secrets is we kind of got away from those Springtime big Junior days and more more let a kid kind of pick their day to come here and then you know made those days um you know kind of more individual um and more meaningful we felt like for a young man when he came to visit us right so we’ve kind of gotten away from hey Saturday we’re GNA have 30 kids come to practice Yeah we we stopped doing that and and uh so he was one of those guys that came during the week and and got a chance to kind of see more and and then also as a coach staff got a chance to be around them more um and uh and he made a good impression from that time on and uh Oklahoma over the years when coach manino was here been very very good to to Kansas right there’s a there’s a lot of really good players on the Orange Bowl team from the from Oklahoma so we looked at that and we studied that um you know that they um that was something that was important for us to try to go back and make some make some more Headway in the state of Oklahoma um they they have really good football there they have spring practice I mean you know the the the best players in the state of Oklahoma are equal to the best players in the state of Texas and so it’s closer for us and uh so we really wanted to do a good job there and uh um hopefully this this is a step in the right direction coach desire you know both being Oklahoma get getting away maybe taking a a more broad up look at things and and away from just the individuals themselves uh I you know get the vibe that you guys are really pleased and very excited with this class as you should be but how much more pleased and proud are you guys as a staff to put together this group knowing the hurdle that you had to go through of not having those those true game day visits with the stadium construction and all those things that had to be a major challenge yeah it even goes back further than just the game day right so uh um last December we went to our bowl game we moved out of our facility right and so um so when we got kids any kid that came here in December that was the last time that they would have been able to you know see our facility do you know these things as they’re going to be until now right so so we went through an entire anytime these young men came these guys came in in Spring practice or anything like that you know our facility was under construction and the indoor facility was where everything was right we had our meetings in there we you know we were lifting in the air we were had a training room in there there was a point time we were eating there it was super Walmart right I mean so um and so they they didn’t get a chance to really see everything we had then we had took we had kids for official visits in the summer Turner Construction was gracious enough to give us a couple slots on a Friday afternoon where you know we were in we were in hard hats and goggles and protective gear and and they gave us a to the of the of the construction zone of the facility right so um and then we fast forward to after Colorado when lot of these guys were here they came down here on Sunday and lot them the first time they’ve ever seen this building or walk through it and and some didn’t know what to compare it to either some that had been here before knew what to compare it to and knew the difference in in our on our physics facility right now but um so we recruited an entire period an entire class without a without a facility without a stadium without a home game and and so I give our recruiting staff um you know big props for that because that’s not easy to do absolutely they did a great job with it and and uh thought of creative ways and different ways to do things and um and it worked out what was it like also putting together this class Against The Wider view of hey we’re losing 30 seniors there’s going to have to be a pretty significant effort in the portal as well and then trying to figure out that balance between here’s what we want to get from the high school ranks and here’s what we’re going to need to replace well add the experience to the transfer portal yeah so we we really set out and looked at our team and you know 15 was was a was a was a number we said out okay if we identified some positions okay where are we older where are we younger where where do we uh um where do we really want to take High School okay and then where do we um where we know we’re going to have to go Cal and then we were transparent you know we take um for example the receiver position right we were transparent there there’s four guys here but we are going to go and take some young men out of the port we’re losing five seniors and so we’re also a transparent with him at linebacker we’re losing Malachi we’re going to take some older guys in this group right and and so I think guys saw opportunity at those positions but also we were transparent with them about how we’re going to do this and I think in today’s world of college football you have to look at your big picture of your roster and have a plan from the beginning okay how many high school young men because High School recruiting is always going to be the the lifeblood of what you’re doing you have to do a good job in that area you have to get them we’re developmental program you gota have guys that are younger that you take it about right so we have to look at that and from a big picture of you how many guys in high school uh and then where would we go in the portal now we’re probably going to you know maybe take more young men in the portal in this period of time then we will we did last year we’ll maybe move it forward right but that’s just kind of nature of of of how the numbers fall right now coach one more for me that I’m curious about and it might require you to pull back the curtain a little bit or as much as you’re willing to um is there any one particular recruitment in this class that that you and the staff were just really um there there’s some sentimental value to it for it to for you guys or or maybe one that you guys are just especially proud that you got done well you know I I don’t necessarily think about that I mean I just think as you look to touch on what you guys talked about right I mean um you know we we got Ron from the state of Kansas Tate okay from Kansas I mean those are Brandon from Kansas right I mean it’s it’s a big deal right I mean and and um you know so I think that’s important important to us and then for somebody like who had known us but they came back to us right I think that speaks volume for you know when a young man goes some placex else it’s not we’re not blowing up their phone and and we be professional people and we wish a guy the best of luck and here’s here’s who we are and here’s that we represent and can’t be one thing when you recruit and one thing when they don’t come to your school right you are who you are all the time and and so I think that you ever have a couple guys that decided to go someplace else and they came back to you shows that they you know the type of think program we have you know top to bottom you for the Long Haul I think that’s kind of neat Rob thanks again for joining us and thanks to all of you for watching and listening to the verbal commitment podcast here on kcsn if you like what you’ve seen or heard leave us like subscribe or hit us with a fstar rating and until next time we’ll see you on the trail and take care
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