01.18.12
by

Recruiting heads into the home stretch

Khalif Herbin is about two inches taller and 20 pounds heavier than Matty Brown. Otherwise, the two games are very similar as you can see here.



Khalif Herbin’s 2011 rushing stats

College football has evolved in the last 20 years in a lot of ways I’m not all that excited about.
One of the ways is the BCS and the power that group of schools have over the other half of the schools who attempt to play FBS football.
It’s not fair when six conferences get automatic bids into BCS games while the conferences on the outside looking in have to go without a loss even to be considered for a seat at the table.
Not fair at all.
It’s particularly disconcerning that one of the few “good” rules curtailing that kind of power was overturned two years ago surrounding  bowl games. Back then, in the good old days, a 6-6 BCS team could not be considered for a bowl over a 7-5 team, no matter what conference you come from. Likewise, a 7-5 team over an 8-4 team and so on and so forth.
The BCS schools, naturally, got together to overturn that rule.
Not fair again.
Recruiting has evolved pretty much the same way.
Non-BCS staffs can work their asses off to assemble a recruiting class to be proud of, only to see the BCS vultures swipe in at the last minute and snatch some of their best recruits away.
Not fair again, but get the trend here?
So I take recruiting with a very large grain (make that boulder) of salt when it comes to Temple football.

As excited as I was for some of Al Golden’s classes, I learned to wait until the ink is dry on the dotted line before assessing the harvest.
Golden spent five years here pushing that rock uphill and he did a pretty darn good job, even though Addazio flattened him with it when he “stole” Tyler Murphy away from Temple.
In those days, Addazio was pushing the rock downhill as Florida’s top recruiter.
The closest I ever came to contacting a recruit came was when a top-flight one was considering Temple three years ago.
I heard he committed, but I wanted to make sure so I dashed off an email to a sports writer I knew in that state. I’ll call him Doug because that’s his name.
“Geez, his father was a boyhood friend of mine,” Doug said, “why don’t you ask him? Here’s his phone number and his email.”
“You sure it’s OK?”
“Yeah, he’s a good guy and a  straight-shooter.”
My colleague Doug was right and the kid did sign at Temple after all and the father turned out to be a good guy from the get-go.
Still is.
That was the closest I came and still it didn’t feel right, so I stay out of the process altogether now.
I believe all fans should do likewise, even in these days of instantaneous social media.
Generally speaking, though, I’ll be a little more excited to see a tailback who can hit the home run like Bernard Pierce or a pass rusher who can put a quarterback on his ass like Adrian Robinson than I would recruits at, say, other positions.
That’s the kind of immediate help Temple needs now.
Temple’s got maybe the best quarterback in the league in Chris Coyer and the best tailback in Matty Brown, but I see a huge dropoff behind Brown that needs to be addressed with this class. If Montrell Dobbs or Khalif Herbin can get eligible and play right away, it has been addressed. If not, another home run hitter needs to be brought into the fold.
When it comes to recruiting individual players, I’m of the firm belief that  fans should be seen and not heard.
Not only does it border on NCAA violations, it’s a big waste of time until Feb. 1.
That’s the day when the faxes arrive with the signatures on the dotted line.
That’s when I get excited.
The way the field is tilted so heavily against the non-BCS schools, the only thing you can do is root for Steve Addazio and company to bring in the best class possible.
Pushing that boulder uphill after years of rolling it downhill is a hard-enough task.

9 thoughts on “Recruiting heads into the home stretch”

  1. Some interesting and I guess the best way to put it is concerning, news on Philly.com regarding TU recruiting. The first is that TU is no longer interested in Onett at QB. The interesting comment there is what Scott Loeffler told the kid about becoming a more run-dominated system. Goes to you point about needing some additional talent at tailback. The part of the story that has me a bit concerned is the OL Matteo de-committing and the comment by his high school coach….."wants to play for a bigger conference team"

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  2. Gotta wonder in the wisdom of telling all of those recruits Temple "will be in the Big East by 2012." Now Daz said he didn't say that, but we have five different recruits back in the summer saying it. They must have heard it somewhere. Now, in hindsight, Temple was a slam dunk for the BE until Villanova got its Catholic School buddies together to block it. But the school should sell itself without the BE. That's how Al Golden sold it. It's a great school and, on the football field, did beat the Big East champion by two touchdowns last year so Temple football doesn't take a backseat to the BE at all.

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  3. I could see Khalif Herbin as a PR/KR for the Owls.

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  4. You are right, that we need to wait for feb., but the new keeps getting worse and worse. That Onett article is the worst news yet, not because we lost a guy with potential, but because we will never get QBs and WRs if all we do is run

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  5. as far as the Herbin comments, I originally tabbed Khalif as a KR/PR and a slot receiver but he may be called on to be a starting tailback if Matty Brown goes down with an injury.I think he can handle it.Remember, if Brown stays healthy, you are looking at a first-team All-MAC player who is a legitimate pre-season choice for MAC Player of the Year.That's not just me saying that.It's coach Addazio and a lot of MAC pundits.Brown is 5-5, 150.Herbin is 5-7, 170.Brown has the third-most 100-yard games in Temple football history, behind only Paul Palmer and Bernard Pierce.He's legit.I believe Herbin can have the same kind of career.

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  6. did we snatch any recruits from a BCS school? and, did we lose any recruits to a BCS school?

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  7. snatched: Montrell Dobbs (UConn)lost: Jordan Lucas (Penn State).non-BCS:also: Ben Onett (Monmouth, likely).Golden was famous for grabbing BCS recruits in the final week (i.e., Kee-Ayre Griffin, away from BC, first year).Let's hope Daz can do the same.

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  8. The most discerning for me was Jackson Matteo saying he is leaving his Temple offer on the table, and possibly walking-on at Virginia or Virginia Tech. Apparently it was because he wanted to "play at a bigger football school" as well as our special team's coach that recruited him left for Ohio State. But what really hit me hard was that he basically said what I have always known deep down, but never wanted to admit; "Coaches dont come to Temple to end their careers, its a step on the journey" this was clearly the case with Golden, and if we throw in a few more 9+ win seasons it will be the same for Addazio and Heater. Kids dont like coaching changes. I HATE to admit it, but until he get into a BCS conference we will never be a place where the coach is looking to retire. This is the SOLE reason I want to be in the Big East/ACC, after that everything else will fall in place. If we are in C-USA/MAC, our coaches are more likely to be plucked from us after their success. Its bittersweet how much I loathe and lust for a BCS conference.

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  9. We could sit and wait and HOPE for a BE/ACC invite in the MAC for another 10 years and not get one.Nobody goes from the MAC to a BCS conference.If we move to CUSA, we could get a BE/ACC one in 1-2 years.That's the move we can make now.I say let's do it.

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