College Football Recruiting: 7 Schools That Must Recruit to Fit Their Scheme
Many times in recruiting, we see schools go after the top players, as having a talented roster surely goes a long way in winning games. Everyone wants the most talent, there is nothing wrong with that all. You get the best players you can get and go from there.
But there are some schools who run a certain scheme or structure their program a certain way. While they go after the top players as well, they also have to recruit a certain type of player to fit what they do offensively or defensively.
Not every player in the country fits what that certain program dose scheme wise, so you see the program pass on some players, or go after players who have a certain skill set.
With this, I've chosen just a few schools that I notice who have to recruit very specifically for certain things they do schematically. Here they are.
Texas A&M
1 of 7
We know Mike Sherman has moved the Aggie program towards being ran more like an NFL team since he's taken over. This can be seen as he has the A&M defense running a 3-4 base look and we know Sherman is Mike Holmgren's disciple, which means he's a West Coast offense guy.
More specifically, it seems Sherman is fascinated with killing defenses in the slot. He loves 11 personnel, with three receivers. If you notice in his recruiting classes, Sherman has signed a receiver that is a quicker than fast athlete who excels at sharp cutting, gaining separation and can work well out of the slot.
Sherman already has his slot man for the 2012 class in receiver Jaevon Richardson.
Georgia Tech
2 of 7
When you have people telling you that you will need to change the philosophy that has gotten you to the big position you're in, you get shocked. We don't like change, and naturally, we stick with what's led to our success.
Credit Paul Johnson in this realm as well, as everyone told him he would need to change from the triple option offense in order to compete in the ACC. Johnson has bucked the world and has won games in a BCS conference, running the same offense that got him the job.
Georgia Tech recruits specifically for offense, as they don't go after the golden-armed pocket passers when recruiting quarterbacks. Johnson likes his signal callers to be tough, a bit rugged and have good instincts when running the ball.
If you don't fit this mold and you play QB in high school, Johnson could care less about how many yards you've thrown for.
Oregon
3 of 7
Chip Kelly is another coach who you have to applaud for doing things his way. He runs an offense that has been called basketball on grass and is built on speed, speed and more speed.
When Kelly goes after a quarterback, sure he likes the player to have a strong arm and be accurate and all that good stuff, but really Kelly likes his field generals to be very athletic. The Oregon offensive philosophy is to have the best athletes on the field and Kelly wants his trigger man to be among the best athletes on the field.
You see how Darren Thomas plays? Athletic, quick and fast. Slow-footed quarterbacks who can't make plays with their legs are not welcome in Eugene. Also, Kelly values speed and quickness and home run ability over power and run strength when evaluating a potential running back.
He feels the speedy, scat-back types (like Lache Seastrunk and LaMichael James) fit his system better than bruisers.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
Boise State
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This really isn't so much a scheme specific fit as it is more of a mentality. Chris Petersen and his staff really do an excellent job of evaluating players. They don't rely on Scout or Rivals to unveil their rankings, then offer the players on those lists. They watch tape.
I met a recruit that has a Boise State offer for 2012 in linebacker Chris Santini, and after watching perform, I saw easily why the Broncos want him.
Yet what Petersen and his staff also do well is recruit players who want to come to Boise State. They don't go after prima donnas; they want a roster of players who love the game, are tough, very smart on the field and who want to be at Boise State.
I think this is the key component to why the Broncos have been so successful in recent years.
Nevada
5 of 7
I remember a few years back watching Nevada play and seeing the QB line up in shotgun and the running back behind him, and saying "Wow, that's a crazy formation." Then I noticed they stayed in the formation the whole time on offense and I was like "Wait a minute, that's a gimmick."
So I researched it and learned the Wolfpack referred to it as "The Pistol." The offense has its advantages, such as having the quarterback see the field in shotgun while still having the running back being able to attack the line of scrimmage downhill in the run game.
For this offense to work you need a quarterback that is a dual threat type, with quick feet and mobility, but who is also effective at throwing on the run. Well, you need Colin Kaepernick really, as the former Wolfpack QB was just sick.
But Nevada recruits QBs that fit what they want to do on offense, more so than Johnny Strongarm. Get my drift?
TCU
6 of 7
Gary Patterson is one of the best coaches in America, and a friend of mine who is a college coach put me on to one of the reasons why Patterson is so good. It's the way he teaches his 4-2-5 scheme to his defense. His install portion of his schemes are unique and the way he does things defensively is very innovative.
For his 4-2-5 scheme, Patterson plays three safeties, a strong, a weak and a free. The free safety and weak safety are the QBs on the back end, as they set the coverage for each half of the field. The front six is a totally different component of the defense, which is crazy because most defenses use their coverage schemes with the back seven being on the same page.
For Patterson to have his defense working at full strength he needs to recruit smart, strong safety/outside linebacker types that can plug-run alleys, but also can line up a coverage on one half of the field. You can't find too many players that have these traits, so Patterson sifts through a lot of players to find gold.
Alabama
7 of 7
Nick Saban runs a 3-4 defense in his base looks, but Saban does mix in some 40 fronts and also a bit of 20 fronts in exotic looks for defense. Sure, I could go on about how Saban has to find big ends for his 30 front base defense, and how they need to be strong run-pluggers, yadda-yadda-yadda, right?
But Saban also has what he calls the "JACK" linebacker position. This is for a player that is athletically gifted enough to roam on around the field as a linebacker/defensive end hybrid and wreak havoc. To play this position for Saban you must be athletic, fast, agile, be a great pass rusher, have range against the run and be able to drop off in coverage, all in one series.
Oh, also, being able to man up on a tight end or running back is great to have, too. Sounds tough to find recruiting-wise? Yes. Sounds tough to play player-wise? Yes.
But Saban turned Jason Taylor into an NFL DPOY in this role with the Dolphins, Courtney Upshaw is one of the best defenders in the country in this role and Jadeveon Clowney would have fit well in this role if he had signed with the Tide.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
