Should Tulsa recruit in Pennsylvania again?

[Tulsa Guy]

I remember one year the entire offensive line and quarterback were from Pennsylvania. I think the quarterback was Gus Ferotte but not sure. Anyway, it is obvious the level of football is rising in AAC and so Tulsa's recruiting will necessarily have to improve just to keep up. The quality of the basketball recruiting appears to have jumped significantly...and I assume staff changes have played a big role in that. Can Tulsa improve its football recruiting similarly to what Tulsa has just done in basketball recruiting?

 

[TU_BLA]

The question is not really should we recruit in Pennsylvania, it is will we? Monty has made it clear that Texas is the recruiting priority for TU followed by Oklahoma and then filling out the roster from other regional locations.

 

[HuffyCane]

We only recruited PA in the late 80s because we had an assistant coach with amazing ties to PA high school football.

We recruited LA and Ark heavier under TG because of assistant ties there.

We most recently hired a Texas high school assistant coach who hired his friends and the son of a Texas high school coaching legend. They run an offense that was a fad in Texas for a few years and a few schools are still using it. We start with those schools, then try to find players that fit our system from schools in Texas where they have relationships with coaches. It’s been one of the reasons I have been against this hire from the beginning. Limited recruiting pool. Highly specialized recruiting needs to win at this level. We create a disadvantage for ourselves even before we get to the academic hurdle or talk about the budget needed to travel all over Texas.

 

[TUMU]

Only if Mark Thomas is involved in recruiting the State of Pennsylvania. I think he was the Pennsylvania connection during the late 80's through the 90's

I always enjoyed sitting behind the O-line bench and listening to him talk to the guys. Best if there weren't any young children in the area.

 

[Gmoney4WW]

We only recruited PA in the late 80s because we had an assistant coach with amazing ties to PA high school football.

We recruited LA and Ark heavier under TG because of assistant ties there.

We most recently hired a Texas high school assistant coach who hired his friends and the son of a Texas high school coaching legend. They run an offense that was a fad in Texas for a few years and a few schools are still using it. We start with those schools, then try to find players that fit our system from schools in Texas where they have relationships with coaches. It’s been one of the reasons I have been against this hire from the beginning. Limited recruiting pool. Highly specialized recruiting needs to win at this level. We create a disadvantage for ourselves even before we get to the academic hurdle or talk about the budget needed to travel all over Texas.

Yep pipelines whether it be Pennsylvania, Louisiana, etc, rise and fall with coaching staffs. I never understood why fans expected them to continue despite coaching connections changing with every new hire.(Especially if they aren't regional.) Sometimes you can push a few through with a new staff by using the present players on the roster as recruiting tools, but that usually doesn't work long term. It hardly ever works through two or three staff changes. And most staffs don't like going in that unfamiliar direction very much. If Jerry O only recruited for us!

 

[aTUfan]

In the 60s we got lots of kids from pa, and illinois; mostly linemen

 

[Gmoney4WW]

In the 60's there was also a lot stronger tie between rural Illinois and Oklahoma. That has to do with current events about as much as the price of tea in china.