PSU Revival Continues
apparently pat devlin is going to penn state! seems like the turnaround is going to be more than just a one year thing and continues the trend of high profile local recruits starting to choose psu again.
the downslide for penn state started when the best players from their traditional recruiting base (pennsylvania, new jersey, virginia, maryland) started choosing other schools. i've always thought that moving to the big ten was a strategic blunder for penn state for a few reasons:
- it's better to be the big fish in a little pond. in the big ten, penn state will never be more than the third biggest fish -- at least in the big ten universe. they'll never have the cachet of michigan or ohio state and will have a much harder fight toward a national championship whenever they are a contender.
- losing recruits to east coast teams. what does a kid from new jersey or virginia care about iowa or wisconson or northwestern? penn state was the 600 lb gorilla of college football in the northeast, so they dominated recruiting in the east. moving to the big ten allowed teams like boston college and virginia tech to convince recruits to stay closer to home.
- losing recruits to big ten teams. moving to the big ten allowed michigan and ohio state establish a bigger prescence in pennsylvania since michigan and ohio state have a strong national recruiting presence.
- not gaining recruits from big ten states. penn state recruited primarily in the mid-atlantic region, so they didn't gain many recruits by moving.
it's no coincidence that the recent change in fortunes started with their ability to start getting commitments from the best players in the area instead of letting them escape to other schools. maybe the concerns i listed above were really just a short term hit? i hope so/it seems so. there is a nice positive trend recently (derrick williams, justin king, dan connor).
the downslide for penn state started when the best players from their traditional recruiting base (pennsylvania, new jersey, virginia, maryland) started choosing other schools. i've always thought that moving to the big ten was a strategic blunder for penn state for a few reasons:
- it's better to be the big fish in a little pond. in the big ten, penn state will never be more than the third biggest fish -- at least in the big ten universe. they'll never have the cachet of michigan or ohio state and will have a much harder fight toward a national championship whenever they are a contender.
- losing recruits to east coast teams. what does a kid from new jersey or virginia care about iowa or wisconson or northwestern? penn state was the 600 lb gorilla of college football in the northeast, so they dominated recruiting in the east. moving to the big ten allowed teams like boston college and virginia tech to convince recruits to stay closer to home.
- losing recruits to big ten teams. moving to the big ten allowed michigan and ohio state establish a bigger prescence in pennsylvania since michigan and ohio state have a strong national recruiting presence.
- not gaining recruits from big ten states. penn state recruited primarily in the mid-atlantic region, so they didn't gain many recruits by moving.
it's no coincidence that the recent change in fortunes started with their ability to start getting commitments from the best players in the area instead of letting them escape to other schools. maybe the concerns i listed above were really just a short term hit? i hope so/it seems so. there is a nice positive trend recently (derrick williams, justin king, dan connor).
Labels: college
posted by The Mean Guy at 9:09 AM
6 Comments:
Pete, you are dead on with this. Right now, I think that the best place for Penn State may in fact be the ACC. It goes as far north as BC now. Plus, the Big Ten is a man's mans conference. Week in and week out whoever you play it is just going to be a physical war of attrition. That is why it is tough to go undefeated in the Big Ten because one week you are pounded by Iowa then have to go to Wisonsin to get pounded then come home to play a let down game against Illinois who, surprise, cathes you off-guard and squeaks out a win by pounding you. Great conference. Tough to be in and even tougher to recruit. That is why I think the MAC is so good....they get decent players who may not be good enough to start at Ohio State, but want to play. I wish that Penn State would join the ACC and Notre Dame would go to the Big Ten. And get the patsies off their schedule like the University of the Navy and Air Force and Army.
Even when PSU has struggled on the field, their recruiting hasn't waned. PSU has continually produced top 10 classes over the past six years and has continued to taken advantage of Pitt's struggles in Western Pa., which produces more DI recruits anywhere north of Fla. The difference has been that many of their top recruits haven't panned out at the DI level. Whether it's coaching or bad luck, I'm not sure. Devlin is a great get, which will be great insurance for Morelli.
I think the main reason for PSU's move at that time was money. I think the whole way money filtered into the school changed because of the move, and they were able to get a lot more. I think getting Devlin is a definite good thing for the future though. It shows they're not just waiting for JoePa to be planted under Beaver Stadium.
- Joe
PSU has continually produced top 10 classes over the past six years and has continued to taken advantage of Pitt's struggles in Western Pa., which produces more DI recruits anywhere north of Fla.
interesting... i'm not sure either of those statements is accurate.
re: recruiting
rivals.com had penn state ranked
2006 - 7th so far
2005 - 25th
2004 - 14th
2003 - not in top 25
2002 - 21st
si.com had penn state ranked
2006 - 6th so far
2005 - 12th
cstv.com had penn state ranked
2005 - 25th
2004 - 14th
2003 - not in top 38
re: western pa
that's probably true for quarterbacks, but not all positions. pennsylvania overall probably falls below florida, california, and texas, and western pa isn't much better (if at all) than eastern pa considering eastern pa has won more state championships at all levels than western pa for the last 15 years at least.
(where i am considering regions 1, 2, 3, 4, and 11 as eastern regions)
I think the main reason for PSU's move at that time was money.
it was for money, but also frustration over their inability to get the big east agree to become an all sports conference.
the big east was (and probably still is) penn state's first choice, but it's probably doubly frustrating for joepa. as much as he tried to pull the big east into football, penn state just didn't have the influence/cachet/credibility/basketball program/whatever to pull it together, but just a few years later the big east was prostituting it's basketball pedigree to get miami football.
Right now, I think that the best place for Penn State may in fact be the ACC.
i'd prefer the big east. the acc now has miami and florida state so really penn state would still be sitting at number 3 in the food chain (maybe 2nd).
the big east is the place to be. better to be the top dog in a smaller bcs conference.
Post a Comment
<< Home