Badgers Football - Longo OUT as OC

[ReasonablySober]

Gonna go to UCLA apparently.

They're still going to end up with a prototypical decent class and have another good TE. I feel like he'll eventually recruit the state better going forward but weird to see.

Roy is the only in-state guy they lost that it sounds like they really went hard after, and even with him they were still a bit late.

[MVP2110]

Gonna go to UCLA apparently.

They're still going to end up with a prototypical decent class and have another good TE. I feel like he'll eventually recruit the state better going forward but weird to see.

Roy is the only in-state guy they lost that it sounds like they really went hard after, and even with him they were still a bit late.

Are you not counting Booker or Sexton?

[ReasonablySober]

Gonna go to UCLA apparently.

They're still going to end up with a prototypical decent class and have another good TE. I feel like he'll eventually recruit the state better going forward but weird to see.

Roy is the only in-state guy they lost that it sounds like they really went hard after, and even with him they were still a bit late.

Are you not counting Booker or Sexton?

This is what I was talking about:

Some Badgers fans have expressed concern about the fact none of the top four players in the state from the 2024 class are committed to Wisconsin. Offensive lineman Donovan Harbour and running back Corey Smith, teammates at Waukesha Catholic Memorial, are committed to Penn State, as is Hartland Arrowhead offensive tackle Garrett Sexton. Never before in the online recruiting rankings era has Wisconsin not signed any of the top four players in the state.

There are some mitigating circumstances. Wisconsin’s new staff did not re-offer either Harbour or Smith based on their fits with the program and it didn’t offer Sexton until he already had cut his list of top schools to four finalists and announced a commitment date. Coaches initially wanted to see how Sexton, who was listed at 6-7 and 245 pounds, would fill out. Sexton committed to Penn State two days after Wisconsin did offer.

[MVP2110]

Roy is the only in-state guy they lost that it sounds like they really went hard after, and even with him they were still a bit late.

Are you not counting Booker or Sexton?

This is what I was talking about:

Some Badgers fans have expressed concern about the fact none of the top four players in the state from the 2024 class are committed to Wisconsin. Offensive lineman Donovan Harbour and running back Corey Smith, teammates at Waukesha Catholic Memorial, are committed to Penn State, as is Hartland Arrowhead offensive tackle Garrett Sexton. Never before in the online recruiting rankings era has Wisconsin not signed any of the top four players in the state.

There are some mitigating circumstances. Wisconsin’s new staff did not re-offer either Harbour or Smith based on their fits with the program and it didn’t offer Sexton until he already had cut his list of top schools to four finalists and announced a commitment date. Coaches initially wanted to see how Sexton, who was listed at 6-7 and 245 pounds, would fill out. Sexton committed to Penn State two days after Wisconsin did offer.

Sure I get excluding the 3 of Harbour, Smith, & Pilof. But it seems clear the staff wanted Roy, Sexton, & Booker..

[ReasonablySober]

They didn't offer Sexton until after he cut his list down.

Read on Twitter

That was quick. He just committed to Wisconsin, apparently, on the 4th. He got flipped.

[ReasonablySober]

Read on Twitter

Big 6'2" CB.

LOL yea he deleted the Tweet.

[MVP2110]

They didn't offer Sexton until after he cut his list down.

Read on Twitter

That was quick. He just committed to Wisconsin, apparently, on the 4th. He got flipped.

But they did offer him so they wanted him. Slow playing him like they did turned out to be a mistake

[ReasonablySober]

But they did offer him so they wanted him. Slow playing him like they did turned out to be a mistake

I said went after hard, which they didn't.

The biggest recruit they went after didn't really have any connection to Wisconsin, and the next three highest they didn't really recruit. Botton line is there isn't any reason to think there's an issue with Fick recruiting in-state. This was a weird year in transition.

[MVP2110]

But they did offer him so they wanted him. Slow playing him like they did turned out to be a mistake

I said went after hard, which they didn't.

The biggest recruit they went after didn't really have any connection to Wisconsin, and the next three highest they didn't really recruit. Botton line is there isn't any reason to think there's an issue with Fick recruiting in-state. This was a weird year in transition.

I also think that's somewhat of a cop out. There is a very large correlation between winning & recruiting rankings. Fickell has done an excellent job building up the out of state recruiting, but if he could have added 2 or 3 of the 4 star guys from in state he'd really be cooking. Like there is no reason they shouldn't have wanted Harbour who had offers from Ohio St, Oregon, Florida, Auburn, Michigan, Tennessee, etc.

[TroyD92]

I always thought it was kind of weird way that people talk about instate guys as must gets. They are just people, kids no less. Sometimes they want to get the **** away. Not always obviously, but I didn't even consider any UW schools when i graduated highschool.

[MVP2110]

I always thought it was kind of weird way that people talk about instate guys as must gets. They are just people, kids no less. Sometimes they want to get the **** away. Not always obviously, but I didn't even consider any UW schools when i graduated highschool.

I think it's ok to lose one or two. But the top 6 guys all are going to other Big 10 schools. You just can't go 0fer on all the top talent where you're located

[Kerb Hohl]

I always thought it was kind of weird way that people talk about instate guys as must gets. They are just people, kids no less. Sometimes they want to get the **** away. Not always obviously, but I didn't even consider any UW schools when i graduated highschool.

I understand that aspect of things. But historically, guys like this do stay. I understand not every guy will want to.

Some teams like OSU with neighboring states loaded with talent and tons in their own can pass on guys if they like somebody else and not care. A school like Wisconsin probably needs the top guys to at least have a core of high 3/4-star players in place. Maybe not, though.

I think you want to keep your school as the in-state destination for every time that a Joe Thomas/Melvin Gordon become available.

We're kind of talking about different sides of it here, but you want to keep the state pipeline because if things go awry out of state (which probably will be a common thing at Wisconsin) you at least have your 4-5 solid guys to build a class around and maybe that twice/decade elite player.

[TroyD92]

I always thought it was kind of weird way that people talk about instate guys as must gets. They are just people, kids no less. Sometimes they want to get the **** away. Not always obviously, but I didn't even consider any UW schools when i graduated highschool.

I understand that aspect of things. But historically, guys like this do stay. I understand not every guy will want to.

Some teams like OSU with neighboring states loaded with talent and tons in their own can pass on guys if they like somebody else and not care. A school like Wisconsin probably needs the top guys to at least have a core of high 3/4-star players in place. Maybe not, though.

I think you want to keep your school as the in-state destination for every time that a Joe Thomas/Melvin Gordon become available.

We're kind of talking about different sides of it here, but you want to keep the state pipeline because if things go awry out of state (which probably will be a common thing at Wisconsin) you at least have your 4-5 solid guys to build a class around and maybe that twice/decade elite player.

I do wonder how the transfer portal is going to affect a team like Wisconsin. Can they start pulling these guys that went to blue bloods but had Wisconsin in their top 3-5? Think it could be a real game changer for these good/great but not elite programs

[Kerb Hohl]

I always thought it was kind of weird way that people talk about instate guys as must gets. They are just people, kids no less. Sometimes they want to get the **** away. Not always obviously, but I didn't even consider any UW schools when i graduated highschool.

I understand that aspect of things. But historically, guys like this do stay. I understand not every guy will want to.

Some teams like OSU with neighboring states loaded with talent and tons in their own can pass on guys if they like somebody else and not care. A school like Wisconsin probably needs the top guys to at least have a core of high 3/4-star players in place. Maybe not, though.

I think you want to keep your school as the in-state destination for every time that a Joe Thomas/Melvin Gordon become available.

We're kind of talking about different sides of it here, but you want to keep the state pipeline because if things go awry out of state (which probably will be a common thing at Wisconsin) you at least have your 4-5 solid guys to build a class around and maybe that twice/decade elite player.

I do wonder how the transfer portal is going to affect a team like Wisconsin. Can they start pulling these guys that went to blue bloods but had Wisconsin in their top 3-5? Think it could be a real game changer for these good/great but not elite programs

They kinda got a few of them this particular portal. It's going to be a very specific thing, though.

You're probably gonna get a guy that isn't a starter at USC but was a 4-star WR that probably has the talent to do so (you hope). Meanwhile, USC will just use the scholarship to get another elite recruit that is a true freshman and willing to wait a year.

Other than for cash, guys probably aren't going to leave starting gigs at the elite programs. The elite programs will still get better freshmen. I think those fringe guys that are wedged out of the depth chart there or guys that are all-conference at smaller conferences are where the portal fills in the gaps.

I think for football (so far) you do not want to rely much on the portal. I'll have to find it but if you rely on a certain number of starters from the portal, your team isn't very good the data showed. But it's obviously different for a program changeover like UW or Nebraska.

[MickeyDavis]

Portal certainly changes things. Schools and players get a "do over". Personally I hate the portal but it's here and you need to try to take advantage of it. I also want to go back to 10 teams in the Big 10.

[ReasonablySober]

Big in depth article in the Athletic about what went down with Booker flipping. He says that he was considering decomitting as early as two weeks after initially committing. Teams were almost immediately calling him.

Says it's absolutely nothing that Wisconsin did or didn't do and they were great in recruiting. But with Wisconsin having a deep TE room and him realizing he wasn't going to be The Man he looked elsewhere. Booker sees himself as a future NFL guy and he wants to be a primary focal point of an NFL style offense early on.

[Kerb Hohl]

Yeah, I never thought this particular decommitment had anything to do with the current staff - it's just the overall idea that the top 6 have gone elsewhere. I am "wait and see" on that and I totally understand why it happened with some, that they didn't want some of them. I get it. Probably just a one off thing - but still something to keep an eye on.

[MVP2110]

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Younger brother of Braedyn Locke. A huge get to start the 2025 class. It's pretty incredible how good of a job Fickell & Longo have done rebuilding the QB room at Wisconsin

[MVP2110]

A really good interview by Jesse Temple with Luke Fickell. In it Fickell seems to admit they struggled this year with in state guys but is hopeful that they'll be better going forward as they build relationships. He was also surprised how much of a brand Wisconsin had and that helped with recruiting out of state guys

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[Kerb Hohl]

Markus Allen back in the portal haha

#CichyWasRight