Anymore Football Recruits Sign? More Idaho?

[GOBIGORANGE]

Just curious....What other schools offered these players schollys and why DID they choose ISU. Idaho also has many players that make all-state, all-conference, etc. How many players from WASH & Cali were offered that did not come here?

 

[BengalFannn]

stop all your crying, without a doubt everyone in America will say Washington and California are far better than Idaho. Your guys 5A is a 1A division out here. the only school that has respect is Lake City. Idaho doesn't produce athletes like WA and CALI do HANDS DOWN.

You're simply just ignorant and are Idaho-Biased in my opinion, Coach Z pulled in a great class and it is time you respect that. Get over yourself. WA is going to be the top dog in the northwest. NOT IDAHO. sorry.

PS: You don't know who other schools offered unless you ask the players yourself, so you must be asking a rhetorical question. These players from WA are D1 caliber and we locked them up as well as CALI players. Fans like winning regardless of where they come from and quite simply these players show all qualities of being winners. Once again your statement is wrong, and you do know it. WA and CALI football are very well known and respected.

 

[BengalFannn]

that statement I wrote was to not dis respect any idaho HS football player I am just very frustrated with the arrogant response GOBIGORANGE has said about WA players "Bottom of the barrel"

Sorry if it disrespected any IDAHO resident, I Apologize I am just stating a case about WA and CALI football.
Go Bengals!

 

[letuknow]

The Hill kid from Highland is 1a in Washington? I need to get up there and watch some football then.

 

[spazdog1]

Here are a couple of comments...

First, I don't get too caught up on rankings. Sure, the coaches look for talent. But, the coaches should look at the kid to see if he is willing to develop the talent. Need an example, look at Ryan Clady, the O-Lineman from BSU. He left after his junior year as a first round draft choice to play in the NFL. He is responsible for 1/2 of a sack as a starter for the Denver Broncos. He should have made, but just missed the Pro-Bowl. He came into Boise unhearlded and I believe Scout had him as a two star athlete.

Second, coaches have to be able to develop the player. Although it's similar to my first point, there's a difference.

Thirdly, I won't argue that Idaho lacks the number of "quality" high school kids when compared to Oregon, Washington and California. But there are Idaho kids that are elite, regardless of who they're compared with. Look at Bryan Johnson, a kid from Pocatello that played for years in the NFL. Merrill Hoge (sp?), also from Pocatello, a former Bengal I might add, started at Pittsburg. Another example, Kory Hall out of Glenns Ferry and his role at Green Bay. Jake Plummer from Boise. I can't remember the kid's first name, but there was a nasty kid out of Idaho Falls 20 years or so ago that played for the Tennesee Volunteers and went on to play at Tampa. I'm sure someone can name more, but my point is that Idaho has elite kids. Don't knock Idaho when it comes to raw football talent.

 

[boisebengal]

Spazdog, I think that the name of the kid from IF who played ball for Tennessee is Brad White, and he played for the Volunteers almost 30 years ago. There isn't that many kids from this area who do end up playing ball in the Deep South and the SEC. But I think that the SEC is still the best football conference in the country. A while back I lived in the South and used to go to quite a few Ole Miss and Memphis games, and I loved how seriously they take their football down there.

 

[GOBIGORANGE]

I am thankful ISU does get the players from Cali & Wash but there are top athletes that are here in Idaho. You are obviously from WA and it makes me sick that SOME players from out of state come to Idaho and think just because they come from Cali or Wash they are better than our Idaho players, when in fact they aren't. Like I said before it is IDAHO tax payers money that are putting these players through college so THEY SHOULD BE THANKFUL TO ISU FOR THAT OPPORTUNITY. I still think the recruiting staff needs to dig deeper to find our local players.IMO...I believe if ISU would put a majority of Idaho players(as Montana does) on the field the program would turn around because these kids would play for the team and not themselves.

 

[john_clayton]

I am thankful ISU does get the players from Cali & Wash but there are top athletes that are here in Idaho. You are obviously from WA and it makes me sick that SOME players from out of state come to Idaho and think just because they come from Cali or Wash they are better than our Idaho players, when in fact they aren't. Like I said before it is IDAHO tax payers money that are putting these players through college so THEY SHOULD BE THANKFUL TO ISU FOR THAT OPPORTUNITY. I still think the recruiting staff needs to dig deeper to find our local players.IMO...I believe if ISU would put a majority of Idaho players(as Montana does) on the field the program would turn around because these kids would play for the team and not themselves.

('ve spent a lot of time in the Puget Sound area in WA, so I am first to admit my WA bias.

Please clarify what you mean by "these players." Who should be thankful to ISU? Are you also saying that only the Idaho players on the ISU roster are team-first guys and the out-of-staters are me-first guys? Hmmm.

If the argument is that ISU needs to recruit and sign more ID players, I think Coach Z has done that when compared to the number of ID kids on the BSU and ID rosters. If the argument is to have ISU's roster with more in-state players than out-of-state players and follow the "Montana" way, then as a previous poster said, it's comparing apples to oranges, er, potatoes. It is obvious the volume of talent is greater in WA and CA compared to ID. ID has got some talent and I think ISU got some of it. But to call the players ISU is recruiting in WA and CA as "bottom of the barrel" is, in my opinion, disrepectful to the players who earned the privilege to play college football and the opportunity to earn a degree, as well as disrespectful to the coaching staff.

Back home is Seattle, this is John Clayton, BengalDen.com

 

[skippy57.0]

Sure we'd all love to have more Idaho players contribute to the program, but to be successful, a program has to have playmakers. Who were ISU's best players last year? The Bengals had four first or second-team all-Big Sky selections: Thompson, Blue, Clark and Phipps -- all four from California. They had seven honorable mention picks -- Smith, Burel, Messersmith and Vanderwielen (California), Ponciano and Taylor (Washington), and Storms (Idaho). See a trend here?

There were 18 Idahoans on the roster last year, and some of them made regular contributions -- Knickrehm, Storms, Hill, Arias. And sure, there are Idaho kids out there who have the potential to play at the all-Big Sky level -- you can be sure this coaching staff is working hard to find them. But to add Idaho players to the roster just because "they would play for the team and not themselves" isn't going to guarantee you success. Players still have to produce at a high level, no matter where they are from.

 

[GOBIGORANGE]

I am by no means trying to be disrespectful to players or coaches. I do not mean bottom of the barrel, in general to all football players in Cali or WA, but players that are legit Div 1 players. If these players were top of the barrel they would end up at USC, UCLA, even Boise...etc. How many of those 18 Idaho kids are on full ride scholarships? How many are walk ons or half scholarships. I know players need speed or size or something to excel at this level and I still maintain they are out there and the coaching staff needs to work harder in Idaho to sign them. IMO

 

[tigerpaws]

I am by no means trying to be disrespectful to players or coaches. I do not mean bottom of the barrel, in general to all football players in Cali or WA, but players that are legit Div 1 players. If these players were top of the barrel they would end up at USC, UCLA, even Boise...etc. How many of those 18 Idaho kids are on full ride scholarships? How many are walk ons or half scholarships. I know players need speed or size or something to excel at this level and I still maintain they are out there and the coaching staff needs to work harder in Idaho to sign them. IMO

"If these players were top of the barrel they would end up at USC, UCLA, even Boise...etc."

That's true of players from anywhere. You have to compare Apples to Apples. Plus, we did pick up at least one WA player I know who was a full-on Div 1A talent, but just missed out on WAC and PAC10 offers for a variety of reasons that had nothing to do with talent, performance, or potential. A lot more goes into the recruiting mix than on-field performance or potential. HS head coaches interest, advocacy strength and effectiveness in the process are incredibly important, along with other factors. Some guys come from programs that don't have the visibility, others are from highly visible programs but get overshadowed by other more hyped prospects.

In any case, please do not demean these hard-working athletes further with comments that are anything even close to "bottom of the barrel."

 

[votb]

I am thankful ISU does get the players from Cali & Wash but there are top athletes that are here in Idaho. You are obviously from WA and it makes me sick that SOME players from out of state come to Idaho and think just because they come from Cali or Wash they are better than our Idaho players, when in fact they aren't. Like I said before it is IDAHO tax payers money that are putting these players through college so THEY SHOULD BE THANKFUL TO ISU FOR THAT OPPORTUNITY. I still think the recruiting staff needs to dig deeper to find our local players.IMO...I believe if ISU would put a majority of Idaho players(as Montana does) on the field the program would turn around because these kids would play for the team and not themselves.

Back in the 80's, Jim Koetter had over 20 Idaho kids on his roster...and Jim is an offensive genious, but in the end our kids could not physically compete with other teams. We had some great Idaho athletes, and some from Idaho that were developed into great football players like happens in Montana...but Jim brought in TONS of Idaho kids and couldn't make it work. Just an experience from the past from a coach that I think probably recruited more Idaho kids than anyone ever has.

 

[skippy57.0]

Good point, votb. In fact, I don't remember any ISU team tanking worse than the one in that 63-0 loss at Montana in Jim's last season. There were a lot of Idaho kids who weren't "playing for the team" that day!

 

[bengalcub]

If it would help attendance, help community awareness and help by having Idaho players that would have a vested interest in the success of the program...why isn't Idaho State football doing it? Because it will not work. Any coaching staff in any right mind would want to tap the local kids. It saves in recruiting budget, it allows more scholarships to be split and local tuition is less than out of state tuition. So, if we are not seeing as much Idaho kids as you would like--there is a reason for it. Trust me, they want the best Idaho kids that they can get.

Has anyone spotted another Idaho RB with 4.5 speed or better...that is still available? Don't worry about looking in Washington or California--because you can get them by the handful in SE Idaho. You can grow offensive and defensive lineman. You can made tall lanky kids defensive ends and tight ends. But you cannot manufacture D-1 speed.

 

[BengalFannn]

If it would help attendance, help community awareness and help by having Idaho players that would have a vested interest in the success of the program...why isn't Idaho State football doing it? Because it will not work. Any coaching staff in any right mind would want to tap the local kids. It saves in recruiting budget, it allows more scholarships to be split and local tuition is less than out of state tuition. So, if we are not seeing as much Idaho kids as you would like--there is a reason for it. Trust me, they want the best Idaho kids that they can get.

very very great post BENGALCUB.. and very true. The kids are recruited for a reason, especially if they're instate! Saves a lot of money as you said to lock up instate kids! BUT coach Z and co. must see something else in recruiting in CALI and WA. I do believe as an Idaho resident you would love to see more IDAHO kids but all in all when this program gets turned around in the years coming, it won't matter who is playing for ISU as long as they're winning right?

 

[BengalFannn]

In any case, please do not demean these hard-working athletes further with comments that are anything even close to "bottom of the barrel." - Tigerpaws

I Firmly believe that!

 

[GOBIGORANGE]

Back in the 80's....Wasn't ISU National Champions? 1981!!!!!

 

[bengalcub]

Yes they were and without US International (or someone like that) dropping football and the coaches as the players that they got from it, they would not have been. Dave Kragthorpe will tell anyone that asks that the talent that they were able to get from out of area had everything to do with the team making a national title run.

 

[GOBIGORANGE]

Now you guys are demeaning Idaho players and I'm telling you we have more talent out there than we are getting. Go Idaho...hopefully someday more Idaho players will play for Idaho schools.

 

[pocatato]

California, Washington and Oregon have substantially larger populations than Idaho. There are just more division 1 athletes in those three states. Idaho has a many good athletes per capita, I am sure.