Thursday, February 3
2005 Recruiting Class
First off, I have to admit that I usually don’t pay attention too closely to signing day. But this year has been different. I even developed even more than a passive interest in the Ryan Perrilloux saga. Today, Texas signed a 15 person recruiting class that is currently ranked the 21st best by rivals100.com. This is a good class, not a great class, but you wouldn’t know it listening to Mack Brown’s press conference in Austin this afternoon.
He successfully kept the focus on the "kids we brought in," not on the ones who slipped away. Mack Brown is Mr. Positive. We have always known that. Love him or hate him, he is Mr. Positive. He claps after turnovers, slaps butts after blocked punts, and talks about a positive end to the season after our perennial disappointment in Dallas. Brown did not disappoint this afternoon. He had a rambling opening statement, followed by video clips with commentaries like, "He can really run for a big guy," and ended by taking questions. I don’t know if Mack Brown has been taking lessons from President Bush or not. But they sounded eerily similar. Brown puts the positives front and center and doesn’t acknowledge mistakes. He loves his class or at least appears to. I hope he is right.
Even with a passive interest in this year’s recruiting battles, I couldn’t tell you the first thing about any of these guys. But I read the message boards and followed the media reports. This year’s class will be written about today as the class that could have been. Perrilloux, the nation’s top quarterback, chooses LSU at the last minute after verbally committing to Texas months ago. A&M steals Martellus Bennett, the state’s top player and cements a top 5 class nationally. OU inks three of the top eight players in the state including the state’s top defensive player, DeMarcus Granger. Even Miami lands the top offensive tackle and second best tight end available from Texas. And last, Fred Rouse, the second best receiver and sixth best player nationally spurns Texas and chooses Florida St. The dream scenario for Texas involved landing Bennett, Perrilloux, and Rouse. We went o for three. I hope Mack is right. I hope he got the best guys and saved room for another top class next year. I hope some of the guys who signed on the dotted line today hold a national championship trophy in the next four years. Mack has been doing this for years. I wish I could take his overwhelming positive attitude seriously. But I get the feeling we connected for a ten yard out, when we had a chance to hit a deep ball for a touchdown.
--AW--
He successfully kept the focus on the "kids we brought in," not on the ones who slipped away. Mack Brown is Mr. Positive. We have always known that. Love him or hate him, he is Mr. Positive. He claps after turnovers, slaps butts after blocked punts, and talks about a positive end to the season after our perennial disappointment in Dallas. Brown did not disappoint this afternoon. He had a rambling opening statement, followed by video clips with commentaries like, "He can really run for a big guy," and ended by taking questions. I don’t know if Mack Brown has been taking lessons from President Bush or not. But they sounded eerily similar. Brown puts the positives front and center and doesn’t acknowledge mistakes. He loves his class or at least appears to. I hope he is right.
Even with a passive interest in this year’s recruiting battles, I couldn’t tell you the first thing about any of these guys. But I read the message boards and followed the media reports. This year’s class will be written about today as the class that could have been. Perrilloux, the nation’s top quarterback, chooses LSU at the last minute after verbally committing to Texas months ago. A&M steals Martellus Bennett, the state’s top player and cements a top 5 class nationally. OU inks three of the top eight players in the state including the state’s top defensive player, DeMarcus Granger. Even Miami lands the top offensive tackle and second best tight end available from Texas. And last, Fred Rouse, the second best receiver and sixth best player nationally spurns Texas and chooses Florida St. The dream scenario for Texas involved landing Bennett, Perrilloux, and Rouse. We went o for three. I hope Mack is right. I hope he got the best guys and saved room for another top class next year. I hope some of the guys who signed on the dotted line today hold a national championship trophy in the next four years. Mack has been doing this for years. I wish I could take his overwhelming positive attitude seriously. But I get the feeling we connected for a ten yard out, when we had a chance to hit a deep ball for a touchdown.
--AW--
