if you go on rivals or any of the other services and look at the photo galleries of our signees under shula, you'll notice one thing immediately. it looks like all the kids are very lean and athletic looking. even the linemen are trim and cut comparatively.
i know it's been discussed here more than once, but this alone shows me that shula is recruiting with an eye toward developing players over the course of their college careers...physically as well as technically and knowledge wise.
it's clear to me that he's choosing players he and the staff can mold into the type of players they want, rather than simply picking guys with a bunch of stars next to their name and letting the chips fall where they may.
a top program needs two key ingredients (although there are certainly more than two). you need a HC who is either a great head coach and a good recruiter, or you need a great recruiter who is a good head coach. i think fulmer is the latter. he can recruit like crazy and he's a pretty good coach...albeit not a great one. mack brown is much like fulmer.
shula's clearly at least a "good" recruiter, but i think there's enough evidence now that he's edging closer to the "great" in that field. if he can prove to be a "good" head coach (and yes, as has been discussed here ad nauseum, it's still too early to fully assess him as a field general) then we should be in great shape in the future. if he develops into the kind of coach his daddy was, then we should be in for some awesome football at the capstone in years to come.
i also like the fact that shula is a true "family" man who cares deeply about the relationships he has with those close to him like his coaches, players, and staff. shula strikes me as a very genuine, decent man, and i think that carries a lot of weight in mom and dad's living room during recruiting time.
i know it's been discussed here more than once, but this alone shows me that shula is recruiting with an eye toward developing players over the course of their college careers...physically as well as technically and knowledge wise.
it's clear to me that he's choosing players he and the staff can mold into the type of players they want, rather than simply picking guys with a bunch of stars next to their name and letting the chips fall where they may.
a top program needs two key ingredients (although there are certainly more than two). you need a HC who is either a great head coach and a good recruiter, or you need a great recruiter who is a good head coach. i think fulmer is the latter. he can recruit like crazy and he's a pretty good coach...albeit not a great one. mack brown is much like fulmer.
shula's clearly at least a "good" recruiter, but i think there's enough evidence now that he's edging closer to the "great" in that field. if he can prove to be a "good" head coach (and yes, as has been discussed here ad nauseum, it's still too early to fully assess him as a field general) then we should be in great shape in the future. if he develops into the kind of coach his daddy was, then we should be in for some awesome football at the capstone in years to come.
i also like the fact that shula is a true "family" man who cares deeply about the relationships he has with those close to him like his coaches, players, and staff. shula strikes me as a very genuine, decent man, and i think that carries a lot of weight in mom and dad's living room during recruiting time.
