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Baylor Football Recruiting

Baylor misses out on its top two quarterback recruits, back to the drawing board

April 7, 2023
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Baylor's top two targets at the quarterback position gave commitments to other schools this week. What does this mean for Baylor and what is next for the position?
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Baylor misses out on its top two quarterback recruits, back to the drawing board

12,333 Views | 33 Replies | Last: 1 yr ago by Mitch Blood Green
Johnny Bear
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Why have the high school recruiting results at the QB position been such a fail lately (starting with the Novosad fiasco)? Are we not being NIL competitive at the position? Is Bell somehow part of the problem?
BUGWBBear
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I was thinking the same thing.
Jacques Strap
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College football is a pro sport now without the rules the NFL has in place like the salary cap.
Daveisabovereproach
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Johnny Bear said:

Why have the high school recruiting results at the QB position been such a fail lately (starting with the Novosad fiasco)? Are we not being NIL competitive at the position? Is Bell somehow part of the problem?


I asked this back when I had a premium account, and I never received a direct answer from those claiming to be in the know. My theory? Baylor is all about selling its culture and family atmosphere, but I think we forget that larger programs sell those exact same thingsā€¦..but are also able to seal the deal with a huge briefcase of cash.
Doc Holliday
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Either get the NIL money flowing or end up with subpar recruits.
blackie
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Doc Holliday said:

Either get the NIL money flowing or end up with subpar recruits.
So how much are you willing to put in? I don't think I can justify enough to matter. Easy to spend with other people's money.
Bakersdozen
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Get a good high school QB every other year. Otherwise, use the portal. Takes too long to develop QBs and there are plenty of talented QBs ready to play in the portal.
Johnny Bear
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Bakersdozen said:

Get a good high school QB every other year. Otherwise, use the portal. Takes too long to develop QBs and there are plenty of talented QBs ready to play in the portal.

I'm all for using the portal, but to get an experienced, quality portal QB you virtually have to promise the player they'll either start immediately or at a minimum guarantee them they'll be given every opportunity to start right away. The problem is you always also need depth at the position as well - which is where any more that bringing in developmental (and hopefully talented) high school recruits comes into play. And IMO you ideally need to get a good one in every recruiting class.
Aberzombie1892
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Johnny Bear said:

Bakersdozen said:

Get a good high school QB every other year. Otherwise, use the portal. Takes too long to develop QBs and there are plenty of talented QBs ready to play in the portal.

I'm all for using the portal, but to get an experienced, quality portal QB you virtually have to promise the player they'll either start immediately or at a minimum guarantee them they'll be given every opportunity to start right away. The problem is you always also need depth at the position as well - which is where any more that bringing in developmental (and hopefully talented) high school recruits comes into play. And IMO you ideally need to get a good one in every recruiting class.


According to reports, the market has already adjusted to programs targeting portal QBs over HS QBs to the point where HS QBs that may have had multiple P5 offers in the past may struggle to get low end G5 offers.

Essentially, from the prospective of a mid tier or above P5, only higher end HS QBs are worth offering a scholarship to in the transfer portal era, and, if that program is unable to secure one, then the QB scholarships are allocated to portal QBs as there is no point in that program wasting a QB scholarship on a mediocre HS QB.
Bakersdozen
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Johnny Bear said:

Bakersdozen said:

Get a good high school QB every other year. Otherwise, use the portal. Takes too long to develop QBs and there are plenty of talented QBs ready to play in the portal.

I'm all for using the portal, but to get an experienced, quality portal QB you virtually have to promise the player they'll either start immediately or at a minimum guarantee them they'll be given every opportunity to start right away. The problem is you always also need depth at the position as well - which is where any more that bringing in developmental (and hopefully talented) high school recruits comes into play. And IMO you ideally need to get a good one in every recruiting class.
It is true, but the same happens with a freshman QB. Comes on, sits for a year, if not starting...he gone. We have already seen it at Baylor.
Bakersdozen
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Aberzombie1892 said:

Johnny Bear said:

Bakersdozen said:

Get a good high school QB every other year. Otherwise, use the portal. Takes too long to develop QBs and there are plenty of talented QBs ready to play in the portal.

I'm all for using the portal, but to get an experienced, quality portal QB you virtually have to promise the player they'll either start immediately or at a minimum guarantee them they'll be given every opportunity to start right away. The problem is you always also need depth at the position as well - which is where any more that bringing in developmental (and hopefully talented) high school recruits comes into play. And IMO you ideally need to get a good one in every recruiting class.


According to reports, the market has already adjusted to programs targeting portal QBs over HS QBs to the point where HS QBs that may have had multiple P5 offers in the past may struggle to get low end G5 offers.

Essentially, from the prospective of a mid tier or above P5, only higher end HS QBs are worth offering a scholarship to in the transfer portal era, and, if that program is unable to secure one, then the QB scholarships are allocated to portal QBs as there is no point in that program wasting a QB scholarship on a mediocre HS QB.
Players develop physically and maturity-wise at different speeds. I could see in the future many schools taking 12-14 freshman and another 10+ in the portal for football. Smaller schools will get more talent in the short run but potentially lose it in the long run. I believe loyalty to a school is lessening every year.
historian
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Johnny Bear said:

Bakersdozen said:

Get a good high school QB every other year. Otherwise, use the portal. Takes too long to develop QBs and there are plenty of talented QBs ready to play in the portal.

I'm all for using the portal, but to get an experienced, quality portal QB you virtually have to promise the player they'll either start immediately or at a minimum guarantee them they'll be given every opportunity to start right away. The problem is you always also need depth at the position as well - which is where any more that bringing in developmental (and hopefully talented) high school recruits comes into play. And IMO you ideally need to get a good one in every recruiting class.


Our coaches probably made a mistake when they didn't recruit any QBs. Novosad really did us great harm with his last minute betrayal but the coaches should have had another QB in the pipeline.
ā€œIncline my heart to your testimonies, and not to selfish gain!ā€
Psalm 119:36
BellCountyBear
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Who did we miss on besides Novosad?
historian
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Deuce Adams & Hauss Hejny.

See above
ā€œIncline my heart to your testimonies, and not to selfish gain!ā€
Psalm 119:36
Timbear
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"Not having NIL $" is an easy general excuse for our QB recruiting failures. It has some validity, but not totally. Other factors could be at play.
Stranger
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when are you fellas gonna wake up to the fact that Baylor has a very weak and overrated athletic director? Don't look for success at Bear High with Mac at the wheel.
I'm a Bearbacker
Daveisabovereproach
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Stranger said:

when are you fellas gonna wake up to the fact that Baylor has a very weak and overrated athletic director? Don't look for success at Bear High with Mac at the wheel.


Where were you when we were winning the sugar bowl?
contrario
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Bakersdozen said:

Aberzombie1892 said:

Johnny Bear said:

Bakersdozen said:

Get a good high school QB every other year. Otherwise, use the portal. Takes too long to develop QBs and there are plenty of talented QBs ready to play in the portal.

I'm all for using the portal, but to get an experienced, quality portal QB you virtually have to promise the player they'll either start immediately or at a minimum guarantee them they'll be given every opportunity to start right away. The problem is you always also need depth at the position as well - which is where any more that bringing in developmental (and hopefully talented) high school recruits comes into play. And IMO you ideally need to get a good one in every recruiting class.


According to reports, the market has already adjusted to programs targeting portal QBs over HS QBs to the point where HS QBs that may have had multiple P5 offers in the past may struggle to get low end G5 offers.

Essentially, from the prospective of a mid tier or above P5, only higher end HS QBs are worth offering a scholarship to in the transfer portal era, and, if that program is unable to secure one, then the QB scholarships are allocated to portal QBs as there is no point in that program wasting a QB scholarship on a mediocre HS QB.
Players develop physically and maturity-wise at different speeds. I could see in the future many schools taking 12-14 freshman and another 10+ in the portal for football. Smaller schools will get more talent in the short run but potentially lose it in the long run. I believe loyalty to a school is lessening every year.
These are all good points.

The NFL and NBA both have rules requiring players to have some experience outside of high school before they can enter the NFL draft. The official PR reasoning has to do with maturity and other issues, but the main reason is the owners don't want to take big risks on young talent and get it wrong. 1-3 years of additional coaching, S&C and film on young players is valuable. At what point will the donors for P5 programs say they won't pay big NIL money to unproven talent? Will we reach a point where only the truly top talent will get NIL money and offers and the remaining NIL dollars and scholarships will be held for transfers that have proven themselves with a couple of years at a G5 program? Will we reach a point where players agree to multi-year contracts to stay at one school? In the interest of program continuity, it might be beneficial to both the players and the schools, but I'm not sure if we have reached that tipping point yet.
Stranger
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No Quarterback said:

Stranger said:

when are you fellas gonna wake up to the fact that Baylor has a very weak and overrated athletic director? Don't look for success at Bear High with Mac at the wheel.


Where were you when we were winning the sugar bowl?


little Matty lost the Sugar Bowl 27-14 in his last coaching performance.
I'm a Bearbacker
historian
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Dave Aranda won the Sugar Bowl in the best season of Baylor football with plenty of players recruited by Rhule.

Bottom line: Rhule helped turn the program around after the fake scandal & the players liked him. These two helped lay the foundation for the 2021-22 successes.

Go ahead with the childish insults all you want most of us know better.
ā€œIncline my heart to your testimonies, and not to selfish gain!ā€
Psalm 119:36
DancinBear09
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Not surprising that we are having issues recruiting QBs. Really I think it all boils down to a few things:
1. NIL-given Baylor's innate inability to adapt to change and resistance to anything "new age".
2. We haven't put a QB in the NFL and having had a prolific passing attack since the Briles era.
3. Lack of QB development (see: Bohannon, Zeno, Drones, Shapen, etc)

That's really about as long and short of a list of reasons why we haven't excelled in the QB department.
JP1037
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DancinBear09 said:

Not surprising that we are having issues recruiting QBs. Really I think it all boils down to a few things:
1. NIL-given Baylor's innate inability to adapt to change and resistance to anything "new age".
2. We haven't put a QB in the NFL and having had a prolific passing attack since the Briles era.
3. Lack of QB development (see: Bohannon, Zeno, Drones, Shapen, etc)

That's really about as long and short of a list of reasons why we haven't excelled in the QB department.
Well put. The reliable violent offense while good for RBs does not highlight the skills of a QB plus we aren't throwing a mil at a freshman who may or may not be great. And I hope we never do.

It's not the end of the world if we don't get a stud 4-star freshman. There will be plenty in the portal. There is only one starting job and many of the big NIL schools won't be paying big bucks to backups so with no playing time and lesser money they bolt. i.e. Texas will have a 5-star in the portal next year. We can find great QBs through the portal.

Sawyer Robertson is a perfect example.
robby44
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DancinBear09 said:

Not surprising that we are having issues recruiting QBs. Really I think it all boils down to a few things:
1. NIL-given Baylor's innate inability to adapt to change and resistance to anything "new age".
2. We haven't put a QB in the NFL and having had a prolific passing attack since the Briles era.
3. Lack of QB development (see: Bohannon, Zeno, Drones, Shapen, etc)

That's really about as long and short of a list of reasons why we haven't excelled in the QB department.

This is on point
We had 2 good QBs and let them go
parch
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Hejny's decision is pretty easy to understand when you consider the factors at play. His dad played for Fatterson and his mom was a multi-sport athlete at TCU, which is right next door to Aledo. Combine that with TCU's star being on the upswing and the recency of having a QB in New York, he made a very Now decision.

However - say what you will on our inability to develop QBs of late, but it's not like Kendal Briles, who recruited Hejny, has a long track record of QB development to point toward of his own making and no doubt swung off what Riley did with Duggan. Briles has coached two QBs as OC for more than one season in his career (Russell and Jefferson), and neither demonstrably improved from one year to the next, so it's not like he's earned some QB whisperer rep like Art.
Mitch Blood Green
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Doc Holliday said:

Either get the NIL money flowing or end up with subpar recruits.


That's not it. Would you send your 4* son to play for Bell?

Here's a little more context. Bohannon a 4*. Sits behind Brewer when season is clearly lost.

Starts. Wins 12 games. Gets benched.

Drones is 4*. Sits behind Shapen. Not getting game snaps as should be scheduled.

Leaves.

I'd look at who the QB coach is developing because my son. Doesn't want to make $200K in college. He wants to make $40M in the league.

Mitch Blood Green
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Stranger said:

when are you fellas gonna wake up to the fact that Baylor has a very weak and overrated athletic director? Don't look for success at Bear High with Mac at the wheel.


He's setting us up to accept mediocrity. He's Stanton 2.0.

As Uncle Ruckus said "Don't trust"
baylorfan1995
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Our current offensive situation and lack of QB development sure does seem like the LSU teams with Les Miles and Aranda, but they had way more natural talent. This was my concern when we hired Aranda. We went from QB/WRU to RB/D lead team. Need stars to do that and win. SMH
robby44
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Mitch Blood Green said:

Doc Holliday said:

Either get the NIL money flowing or end up with subpar recruits.


That's not it. Would you send your 4* son to play for Bell?

Here's a little more context. Bohannon a 4*. Sits behind Brewer when season is clearly lost.

Starts. Wins 12 games. Gets benched.

Drones is 4*. Sits behind Shapen. Not getting game snaps as should be scheduled.

Leaves.

I'd look at who the QB coach is developing because my son. Doesn't want to make $200K in college. He wants to make $40M in the league.



On point. Totally agree
PartyBear
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DancinBear09 said:

Not surprising that we are having issues recruiting QBs. Really I think it all boils down to a few things:
1. NIL-given Baylor's innate inability to adapt to change and resistance to anything "new age".
2. We haven't put a QB in the NFL and having had a prolific passing attack since the Briles era.
3. Lack of QB development (see: Bohannon, Zeno, Drones, Shapen, etc)

That's really about as long and short of a list of reasons why we haven't excelled in the QB department.
Arent 2 & 3 primarily on the QB coach along with a great deal of contribution from the OC.
JP1037
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Mitch Blood Green said:

Stranger said:

when are you fellas gonna wake up to the fact that Baylor has a very weak and overrated athletic director? Don't look for success at Bear High with Mac at the wheel.


He's setting us up to accept mediocrity. He's Stanton 2.0.

As Uncle Ruckus said "Don't trust"
I can't imagine you're serious. Got to be a troll or a mentally challenged keyboard warrior unable to read a scoreboard.
Mitch Blood Green
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JP1037 said:

Mitch Blood Green said:

Stranger said:

when are you fellas gonna wake up to the fact that Baylor has a very weak and overrated athletic director? Don't look for success at Bear High with Mac at the wheel.


He's setting us up to accept mediocrity. He's Stanton 2.0.

As Uncle Ruckus said "Don't trust"
I can't imagine you're serious. Got to be a troll or a mentally challenged keyboard warrior unable to read a scoreboard.


So, we won championships before NIL against Blue Bloods with lots of money. Now? We can't?

I'll scoreboard you. You're the fans he's talking to. Lower the standard. Explain why (without proof) You fall in line.

Rhoades needs to go if he doesn't believe we should own the big 12 in ALL sports.

Hire the right people. (Have we?). Motivate the athletes. Maintain the standard.

TenBears
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Mitch Blood Green said:

Doc Holliday said:

Either get the NIL money flowing or end up with subpar recruits.


That's not it. Would you send your 4* son to play for Bell?

Here's a little more context. Bohannon a 4*. Sits behind Brewer when season is clearly lost.

Starts. Wins 12 games. Gets benched.

Drones is 4*. Sits behind Shapen. Not getting game snaps as should be scheduled.

Leaves.

I'd look at who the QB coach is developing because my son. Doesn't want to make $200K in college. He wants to make $40M in the league.




So well put. We stuck with Brewer (who I loved) for what seemed like 10 years. I don't think race had anything to do with the Bohannon decision, but I can't imagine it looked good to prospective black QBs.
Mitch Blood Green
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TenBears said:

Mitch Blood Green said:

Doc Holliday said:

Either get the NIL money flowing or end up with subpar recruits.


That's not it. Would you send your 4* son to play for Bell?

Here's a little more context. Bohannon a 4*. Sits behind Brewer when season is clearly lost.

Starts. Wins 12 games. Gets benched.

Drones is 4*. Sits behind Shapen. Not getting game snaps as should be scheduled.

Leaves.

I'd look at who the QB coach is developing because my son. Doesn't want to make $200K in college. He wants to make $40M in the league.




So well put. We stuck with Brewer (who I loved) for what seemed like 10 years. I don't think race had anything to do with the Bohannon decision, but I can't imagine it looked good to prospective black QBs.


Forget about race. It's about playing. When you recruit a highly rated kid, you have to develop him.

Just like at work. It's probably more important than ever for coaches to recruit their own team. Create a plan for their career and do scheduled checkins.

Meet the milestones.

What you can't do is have a losing season (Brewer) and not give a younger player time.
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