Penn State 2010 Recruiting Part 1

As we all know, Penn State has seen a recent recruiting surge this year. As of July 1^st, Penn State features 2 Five Stars, 6 Four Stars and 2 Three Stars (according to scout.com). Updates of the Scout rankings can likely see Mike Hull (#2 MLB) becoming a five star, and Kyle Baublitz and Luke Graham becoming four stars. Penn State is also in the running for a litany of four star recruits (Olynian, Fortt, Zwinak, Bolden, and Stills just to name a few) and five star recruits in Shariff Floyd and Marcus Lattimore. However, this recruiting is not coming as a surprise to experts. Many experts such has Bill Kruelic and various sports reporters saw the writing on the wall calling this year a “perfect storm” for Penn State recruiting. So what’s different this year, why this recent surge?

            1. Stability in Coaching

As Joe Paterno ages, sport journalists continue to write stories questioning when JoePa is finally going to retire, fixated on the belief that he is too old, too slow, and the game has passed him by. Penn State also did not name a successor, like other schools have. This lead to some uncertainty on who would be the coach in the foreseeable future.  Now that JoePa has signed a 3-year contract, it has solidified the coaching position for the coming years. Also many recruits have been told that the Paterno successor will come from within the staff (Tom Bradley). With the recent success on the field and calming down of problems off the field, JoePa is now back to being seen as the legend of Penn State, no longer a legend who has lost control of his team. Recent commit Evan Hailes has been quoted saying that playing football with a legend like Paterno is like playing basketball for Michael Jordan.

            2. Dominating the Class of 2010 Wealth of Talent Within Pennsylvania

In previous years, Penn State has relied on recruiting the mid-Atlantic and northeast in addition to Pennsylvania for the bulk of their talent. Evan Royster, Aaron Maybin, Maurice Evans, and Kevin Newsome all came from the mid-Atlantic. However this year has seen a dramatic spike of the number and quality of recruits from PA. One key to success for a school is winning the recruiting battle within their own borders. In recent years Penn State has been losing that battle, losing Pryor to Ohio State and McCoy to Pitt. However this year Penn State has the vast majority of commits from the top 15 recruits in PA, including #1 PJ Jones and #3 Mike Hull, and have a serious chance in getting #2 Shariff Floyd. Landing the top three recruits in the state would be a coo for Paterno and coaching Staff. No one can deny that Penn State this year has dominated all areas of PA, especially WPIAL (Pitt territory). Penn State has been poaching the best recruits behind Wannstedt “recruiting great wall of china”. Mike Hull (#2 MLB), Paul Jones (#3 QB), Miles Deffenbach (#3 C), and Thomas Ricketts (#24 OG) all hail from the Pittsburgh area. To add insult to injury for Pitt Miles Deffenbach’s Father has been a Pitt tennis coach for decades and Ricketts’ father was a Pitt all-American and NFL lineman for the Steelers.

            3. Targeting the Best and Only the Best

Last year saw the largest recruiting class in recent years with 27 recruits. Many of these recruits were two and three stars. Many criticized the coaching staff for “wasting” scholarships on too many project recruits.  This year knowing that this class will be a relatively small one maybe 20 or less scholarships depending on whom grayshirts, transfers, and is let go; the coaches are targeting only the best. Being selective has paid off; the sheer quality of the recruits this year is staggering. Penn State is currently ranked 5^th in the team rankings by scout and has at least 5-10 less recruits than everyone above them and below them. Penn State is currently ranked #1 in Avg. Star with 4.0. HOWEVER one strength that Penn State does have is the ability to mold so called “less talented” one, two, three star recruits into studs. Remember Ogbu, Astorino, Green, Brackett, Royster, Clark, Lee, Scirotto, Shuler, and Kevin Kelly, ALL of them either two star or three star recruits. We have amazing coaches and they must be recognized in being able to develop these raw players into stars. Imagine Penn State’s 2009 season without Clark, Royster, Green, and Lee, easily four of our best returning players.

            4. Making In-roads Around the Nation

Penn State is known for dominating recruiting in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast, this year it continues already landing Silas Redd (#14 RB) from CT and recruits from VA and MD (Coxson and Hailes). It is also a heartening to see that blue-chip recruits from other parts of the country have taken a notice to Penn State. Kenny Stills (#6 WR) from California is quite high on Penn State, and Marcus Lattimore (#1 RB) from South Carolina is seriously considering wearing blue and white.  The interesting detail about these two players is that Penn State is the only school that is not within their geographical location. For Stills, Penn State is the one school that he is seriously considering that is not located on the west coast. Similarly with Lattimore, Penn State is the one school that is located above the Mason-Dixon Line. Something about Penn State has to be stuck in these kids minds that they would come hundreds and, in Stills case, over a thousand miles to see Penn State. Even if we don’t land these recruits this year, our presence is now revived in these areas and in the future it will pay dividends.

            5. Recent Success and Changing of Offense

Penn State’s strength and hindrance has been their resistance to modernizing their offense. Last year saw the birth of what JayPa coined the Spread HD. Many experts were not sure if it would succeed with rookie starters Clark and Royster. The Spread HD exceeded expectations and wowed experts adding up to 448.9 yds/game and 40.2 pts/game making it the best offense in the Big Ten and the 14^th best offense in the NCAA. A very important point about the Spread HD is that it is marketable, catching and recognizable. During nationally televised games announcers were using the term Spread HD, and it stuck in the minds of people watching the game, including recruits. Penn State has never had that “sexy” offense, and now that we do, players that want to play in the spread are taking notice. It also doesn’t hurt that Penn State has won 40 games in the last four years with 4 bowl appearances including two BCS bowls.

            6. Being Aggressive

Earlier this year it was said that Jay Paterno, Mike McQuery, Larry Johnson, Tom Bradley, and the rest of the coaching staff would be taking a more aggressive approach in recruiting.  It is apparent that this statement was true. Our recruiters have been hitting the trail earlier and more often then ever. PJ Jones and Mike Hull were committed to Penn State much earlier then usual for a Penn State commit. Early and often verbal contact can make the difference. Daryll Clark has been quoted saying that Jay Paterno called and visited him often and it made him feel wanted. The only ones we can thank for this talented class is the coaches. We must continue this aggressive recruiting style; it can only improve our overall talent in years to come. Now comes the hard part…signing day.