Spiders recruiting hard in GA..

[bostonspider]

http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/sports/college/article/URSP12_20090411-221607/254461/

I like this quote from former coach Dave Clawson

Clawson, now Bowling Green's head coach, said, "We always felt, for our level of football, that we could go down there and if [the prospect] was a good student, the only competition we would have is Furman." While there are few FCS schools like Richmond in the Southeast, there are many comparable in the Northeast. That's where UR did much of its recruiting before Clawson was hired by Richmond in 2004.

The Spiders still often go north for football players, but "we really thought that if you went north of Richmond, now everyone had to drive by other [FCS] schools to come to Richmond," Clawson said. "If we went down south, we felt like maybe we could beat Southern Conference teams on recruits, which most of the time we could and we did."


Not sure how he states Furman was the only FCS school down south that was comparable, I would think Elon and Wofford would be pretty similar as well.

[kdinva]

VMI has quite a few Georgians (and Floridians) on their roster (about 15 total, plus 4 from Texas), plus 5 Feb. signees from Fla/Ga. Citadel, too.

[introvertedGSUfan]

Unless Richmond has a three peat NC string like App State, I really don't see them beating out GSU, FU, Wofford, or ASU for recruits in Georgia, Florida, Alabama, or South Carolina.

[Reign of Terrier]

keep telling yourself that cocky CAA teams...one day Wofford will strike back.

[Tribe4SF]

W&M has had success in Georgia as well. Matt Crisafi from Roswell was our top line recruit this year. He had 6 or 7 offers, and came down to the Tribe and Furman. He's the kind of kid I think Clawson was referring to. Really good student who had academics as his top priority.

[ChooChoo]

get'em why ya can fellas xsmiley_wix

[BigHouseClosedEnd]

Unless Richmond has a three peat NC string like App State, I really don't see them beating out GSU, FU, Wofford, or ASU for recruits in Georgia, Florida, Alabama, or South Carolina.

Not trying to flame here, but I think the point Clawson was making (keep in mind, he's not our coach anymore) was that Furman was the only school in the region with a similar academic profile as Richmond in FCS. He probably should have mentioned Wofford as well.

[Tribe4SF]

get'em why ya can fellas xsmiley_wix

xlolx Love the avatar! He's right out of Jungle Book.

[busybee14]

I am hearing the Spiders are also opening up recruiting in South Florida!!!!

[eaglewithabus]

let me know when a kid from ga has offers from richmond and GSU and chooses richmond....not saying it couldnt happen, just saying its highly unlikely.

[89Eagle]

let me know when a kid from ga has offers from richmond and GSU and chooses richmond....not saying it couldnt happen, just saying its highly unlikely.
If Hatcher hadn't have put the hard sell on Chapple, he would be playing for the Spiders instead of the Eagles.

[MaroonDoom]

It is a big state with plenty of talent. EKU has had several good recruits from Ga.

[BigHouseClosedEnd]

let me know when a kid from ga has offers from richmond and GSU and chooses richmond....not saying it couldnt happen, just saying its highly unlikely.

I'm guessing you didn't predict us to win the National Championship last year either...

[813Jag]

I am hearing the Spiders are also opening up recruiting in South Florida!!!!
who hasn't? xlolx Florida is wide open for everyone.

[busybee14]

who hasn't? xlolx Florida is wide open for everyone.
You would be surprised some schools just dont push hard down here.(why I cant figure out)I know in the past JMU has not ,but are going to open it up this year.same with EKU.

Other than non Scholorship Jax,and Meac schools Famu&BC Florida is lacking in lower division schools for our players to choose from. thats why Gstate ,Valdosta,and GSU and GWU do real well down here with the d-1 bubble guys who still want to be fairly close to home.

[busybee14]

If Hatcher hadn't have put the hard sell on Chapple, he would be playing for the Spiders instead of the Eagles.

I thought Boston college was the one to beat when Chap came out?

[813Jag]

You would be surprised some schools just dont push hard down here.(why I cant figure out)I know in the past JMU has not ,but are going to open it up this year.same with EKU.

Other than non Scholorship Jax,and Meac schools Famu&BC Florida is lacking in lower division schools for our players to choose from. thats why Gstate ,Valdosta,and GSU and GWU do real well down here with the d-1 bubble guys who still want to be fairly close to home.
Actually I'm not surprised, my school (Southern U.) has never pushed hard in Flordia but still can get a kid or two.

People may not get 4-5 kids but due to the fact that there is no JUCO football here gives kids the opportunity to see other parts of the country. Recruiting budgets don't allow schools to pipeline like larger schools.

[introvertedGSUfan]

I'm guessing you didn't predict us to win the National Championship last year either...

What does that have to do with his statement though? Like I mentioned earlier, unless Richmond becomes a powerhouse I really don't see them beating us out for recruits in GA. You mentioned that they are targeting players who want to go to a school like Furman so I'm assuming you meant endowed and respected undergraduate private schools, but GSU certainly doesn't fall within that category so I don't think Richmond will be taking many potential GSU players.

[MaroonDoom]

2009 EKU has 8 from GA & 19 from FLA.

[Spider]

I'm sure there is enough talent to go around, the point was we were not recruiting this area hard in the past........

[Eight Legger]

So I take it GSU didn't want Eric Ward (Atlanta) Hmmm. Might want to have a talk with your recruiters on that one.

[Cocky]

JSU gets first dibs on all players in GA then UGA, GT and the other fight it out. We just miss evaluate sometimes.

[BigHouseClosedEnd]

What does that have to do with his statement though? Like I mentioned earlier, unless Richmond becomes a powerhouse I really don't see them beating us out for recruits in GA. You mentioned that they are targeting players who want to go to a school like Furman so I'm assuming you meant endowed and respected undergraduate private schools, but GSU certainly doesn't fall within that category so I don't think Richmond will be taking many potential GSU players.

It has nothing to do with his statement. Erk's statement has little to do with anything either.

You are correct on this point I was trying to make: You mentioned that they are targeting players who want to go to a school like Furman so I'm assuming you meant endowed and respected undergraduate private schools

We are glad to have landed Mark Speir from Atlanta this year.

http://www.11alive.com/sports/highschool/article.aspx?storyid=121062

[Wildcat80]

UNH is doing well in California and a few from Florida. We seem to be recruiting Ohio & Pennsylvania now too-both huge football states. I hope you (&others) stay south. We'll stay North.

[elon77]

I'm guessing you didn't predict us to win the National Championship last year either...

I did, ask Eight Legger. xnodx

[BigHouseClosedEnd]

I did, ask Eight Legger. xnodx

That was AFTER the opener though, right?

[seantaylor]

GSU recruits South Georgia very heavily. The superior talent is in South Georgia, and it is right in our back yard. Actually, GSU's elite players almost always come from Florida. AP, Chaz Williams, John Mohring, Tracy Ham, Greg Hill, etc. Foster, Jermaine Austin, and Freddy P were from Georgia.

[apaladin]

GSU recruits South Georgia very heavily. The superior talent is in South Georgia, and it is right in our back yard. Actually, GSU's elite players almost always come from Florida. AP, Chaz Williams, John Mohring, Tracy Ham, Greg Hill, etc. Foster, Jermaine Austin, and Freddy P were from Georgia.

Of course they do, why wouldn't they? That's where GSU is and it's certainly a talent rich area. FWIW, Furman's current roster by state:
Georgia-40
South Carolina-17
Florida-10
Alabama-8
The rest range from all over.

[fuEMO]

Based on this years class… Furman is still recruiting very well in GA. Booby Lamb even mentioned at the signing party that Richmond came up with a late offer to FU signee DE Ricky Lang of ATL. And I believe last year Furman fought off another late offer by the Spiders for Rover Mitch McGrath from Longwood, FL.

[GATA]

Georgia Southern recruits mainly Georgia and Florida...with a FEW guys from the carolinas and alabama sprinkled in...

Of course Richmond recruits Georgia hard...EVERYBODY does. Outside of Texas, Cali, and Florida, Georgia is right there in the 2nd tier of recruiting hotbeds.

I also agree that probably Furman and Wofford are the only schools down in this area that are similar enough to Richmond for them to worry about. Of course the thinking behind looking at it that way is that the coach is assuming if the kid is a great student and he's looking for the preppy, prestigious academics, private school atmosphere then he would pick a school like Richmond, Furman, or Wofford over a school like GSU, App State, or maybe Jacksonville State.

However, not all kids look at their college decision that way. Georgia Southern and App State are decent public schools with 14,000-17,000 students and a beautiful campus in the middle of nowhere...if that kind of school is attractive to a kid then he's not just gonna ignore schools like App State and GSU just because Richmond, Furman, or Wofford have "more prestigious academics." A lot of it just comes down to the feeling that a kid gets when he goes on a visit.

You also have other things to worry about like the recent success, coaching staff, gameday experience etc...

Richmond certainly has the upper hand in the "academics" area of recruiting, but can they compete with schools like App State, GSU, Montana, Delaware, etc... when it comes to gameday atmosphere and attendance? You have to sell your strengths and cover up your weaknesses.

[busybee14]

Georgia Southern recruits mainly Georgia and Florida...with a FEW guys from the carolinas and alabama sprinkled in...

Of course Richmond recruits Georgia hard...EVERYBODY does. Outside of Texas, Cali, and Florida, Georgia is right there in the 2nd tier of recruiting hotbeds.

I also agree that probably Furman and Wofford are the only schools down in this area that are similar enough to Richmond for them to worry about. Of course the thinking behind looking at it that way is that the coach is assuming if the kid is a great student and he's looking for the preppy, prestigious academics, private school atmosphere then he would pick a school like Richmond, Furman, or Wofford over a school like GSU, App State, or maybe Jacksonville State.

However, not all kids look at their college decision that way. Georgia Southern and App State are decent public schools with 14,000-17,000 students and a beautiful campus in the middle of nowhere...if that kind of school is attractive to a kid then he's not just gonna ignore schools like App State and GSU just because Richmond, Furman, or Wofford have "more prestigious academics." A lot of it just comes down to the feeling that a kid gets when he goes on a visit.

You also have other things to worry about like the recent success, coaching staff, gameday experience etc...

Richmond certainly has the upper hand in the "academics" area of recruiting, but can they compete with schools like App State, GSU, Montana, Delaware, etc... when it comes to gameday atmosphere and attendance? You have to sell your strengths and cover up your weaknesses.
If the recruit wants big crowds,great fan support,big time 1aa ball, in a true college town the way "southern football "is meant to be with the smell of bbq so thick you can taste it than I think GSU gets the kid.that being said richmond is a great academic school with a powerful program and that also has its allure.

[elon77]

That was AFTER the opener though, right?

Yes it was, but I never changed my mind. I also picked them over Virginia, they messed me up on that one.

[PaladinFan]

I imagine Richmond, like Furman, won't venture too far out of the Atlanta area.

This shouldn't come as a shock really. I mean, what football team with any kind of footprint in the Southeast wouldn't recruit Georgia? They have a wealth of talent and Atlanta can produce the type of student athlete who can make the cut at some of the tougher scholastic institutions.

[Baldy]

So I take it GSU didn't want Eric Ward (Atlanta) Hmmm. Might want to have a talk with your recruiters on that one.

Considering GSU was running the Triple Option when Ward was recruited, I very seriously doubt he was even on our radar back then.

[BigHouseClosedEnd]

Georgia Southern recruits mainly Georgia and Florida...with a FEW guys from the carolinas and alabama sprinkled in...

Of course Richmond recruits Georgia hard...EVERYBODY does. Outside of Texas, Cali, and Florida, Georgia is right there in the 2nd tier of recruiting hotbeds.

I also agree that probably Furman and Wofford are the only schools down in this area that are similar enough to Richmond for them to worry about. Of course the thinking behind looking at it that way is that the coach is assuming if the kid is a great student and he's looking for the preppy, prestigious academics, private school atmosphere then he would pick a school like Richmond, Furman, or Wofford over a school like GSU, App State, or maybe Jacksonville State.

However, not all kids look at their college decision that way. Georgia Southern and App State are decent public schools with 14,000-17,000 students and a beautiful campus in the middle of nowhere...if that kind of school is attractive to a kid then he's not just gonna ignore schools like App State and GSU just because Richmond, Furman, or Wofford have "more prestigious academics." A lot of it just comes down to the feeling that a kid gets when he goes on a visit.

You also have other things to worry about like the recent success, coaching staff, gameday experience etc...

Richmond certainly has the upper hand in the "academics" area of recruiting, but can they compete with schools like App State, GSU, Montana, Delaware, etc... when it comes to gameday atmosphere and attendance? You have to sell your strengths and cover up your weaknesses.

I am unsure if Richmond has ever competed with Montana for a recruit. I will look into it and report back.