National Signing Day

Wed Dec 15, 2021 8:55 am

Starting to roll in. Lots of OL. I'll post when I have time, or someone else can. Always love today, Go Pokes!

Wed Dec 15, 2021 9:38 am

Where will this class rank compared to other MWC schools?

Will it be in the upper third of the MWC or will it be another class in the bottom third, where were expecting to win the MWC with recruits no one else even offered?

Wed Dec 15, 2021 10:04 am

Old-Bull wrote: ↑Wed Dec 15, 2021 9:38 am Where will this class rank compared to other MWC schools?

Will it be in the upper third of the MWC or will it be another class in the bottom third, where were expecting to win the MWC with recruits no one else even offered?

Have we ever had a class in the top 3rd of the MW (actual serious question)?

I seem to remember our class being ranked in the bottom 2 or 3 of the MW every year for at least for the past 10 years. Then I also seem to remember us always trying to make ourselves feel better on the message board with the "recruiting rankings don't mean anything, our coaches are better at finding diamonds in the rough then any other coaches in the nation, look at Josh Allen as proof"

Wed Dec 15, 2021 10:41 am

WyomingAgJ wrote: ↑Wed Dec 15, 2021 10:04 am
Old-Bull wrote: ↑Wed Dec 15, 2021 9:38 am Where will this class rank compared to other MWC schools?

Will it be in the upper third of the MWC or will it be another class in the bottom third, where were expecting to win the MWC with recruits no one else even offered?
Have we ever had a class in the top 3rd of the MW (actual serious question)?

I seem to remember our class being ranked in the bottom 2 or 3 of the MW every year for at least for the past 10 years. Then I also seem to remember us always trying to make ourselves feel better on the message board with the "recruiting rankings don't mean anything, our coaches are better at finding diamonds in the rough then any other coaches in the nation, look at Josh Allen as proof"

At football, I can't think of a recruiting class that was ranked highly compared to other MWC schools: maybe Bohls first class.

I do believe that recruiting rankings aren't very accurate. Offer lists are accurate. When the majority of your recruits only have offers from Kent State or Montana you should expect Kent State performance on the field.

As Wyoming fans were conditioned to believe that recruiting rankings have nothing to do with team performance because the rankings get it wrong and Josh Allen/Logan Wilson weren't highly ranked. There certainly are guys that prove the rankings wrong.

Its harder to believe that when our basketball team has the highest Net ranked team in the league, is incredibly young, and was built by a recruiting class that ranked 1st in the league.

The narrative on our football team is that we can't make tactical adjustments to win or that the system is antiquated and easy to predict. Those things are partially true.

The other thing that should be abundantly clear after not winning the league in 25 years, is that were not recruiting good enough athletes to win the league.

Wed Dec 15, 2021 11:06 am

Old-Bull wrote: ↑Wed Dec 15, 2021 10:41 am
WyomingAgJ wrote: ↑Wed Dec 15, 2021 10:04 am
Old-Bull wrote: ↑Wed Dec 15, 2021 9:38 am Where will this class rank compared to other MWC schools?

Will it be in the upper third of the MWC or will it be another class in the bottom third, where were expecting to win the MWC with recruits no one else even offered?
Have we ever had a class in the top 3rd of the MW (actual serious question)?

I seem to remember our class being ranked in the bottom 2 or 3 of the MW every year for at least for the past 10 years. Then I also seem to remember us always trying to make ourselves feel better on the message board with the "recruiting rankings don't mean anything, our coaches are better at finding diamonds in the rough then any other coaches in the nation, look at Josh Allen as proof"
At football, I can't think of a recruiting class that was ranked highly compared to other MWC schools: maybe Bohls first class.

I do believe that recruiting rankings aren't very accurate. Offer lists are accurate. When the majority of your recruits only have offers from Kent State or Montana you should expect Kent State performance on the field.

As Wyoming fans were conditioned to believe that recruiting rankings have nothing to do with team performance because the rankings get it wrong and Josh Allen/Logan Wilson weren't highly ranked. There certainly are guys that prove the rankings wrong.

Its harder to believe that when our basketball team has the highest Net ranked team in the league, is incredibly young, and was built by a recruiting class that ranked 1st in the league.

The narrative on our football team is that we can't make tactical adjustments to win or that the system is antiquated and easy to predict. Those things are partially true.

The other thing that should be abundantly clear after not winning the league in 25 years, is that were not recruiting good enough athletes to win the league.

Agree with all of your post. I certainly hope our football class will be a better one, but after the disappointing season I'm not holding out too much hope

Wed Dec 15, 2021 11:11 am

It is my belief that recruiting class rankings will have very little meaning going forward. Rarely does a freshman have a significant impact on a team and the new transfer portal rules create a yearly college free agency.

Personally, I'd actually rather Wyoming recruit the types of players that need development and are more likely to stick with the program than the highly ranked athlete that might be poached later. One of the problems with the transfer portal world is that teams that rely on the portal will often times not have the ability to gel together (I know Utah State was a surprise this year but a lot of those guys had experience with each other at Arkansas State).

So here is to me hoping that the rest of the world thinks our recruiting class sucks!

Wed Dec 15, 2021 11:33 am

OrediggerPoke wrote: ↑Wed Dec 15, 2021 11:11 am It is my belief that recruiting class rankings will have very little meaning going forward. Rarely does a freshman have a significant impact on a team and the new transfer portal rules create a yearly college free agency.

Personally, I'd actually rather Wyoming recruit the types of players that need development and are more likely to stick with the program than the highly ranked athlete that might be poached later. One of the problems with the transfer portal world is that teams that rely on the portal will often times not have the ability to gel together (I know Utah State was a surprise this year but a lot of those guys had experience with each other at Arkansas State).

So here is to me hoping that the rest of the world thinks our recruiting class sucks!

Well, you should be excited by the list of guys that we're signing today. There's lots of room for "development". Not very many schools will want to poach any of these guys since not very many schools wanted to sign them today. We'll have to "develop" them before anyone wants to offer them.

Personally, I would rather "develop" athletes that are being offered by Boise, SDSU, CSU, Fresno, AFA and the other schools that were going to have to beat to win a MWC title.

Wed Dec 15, 2021 11:39 am

double post

Wed Dec 15, 2021 11:47 am

Looks like the typical class. Not high on stars, but they all have the size. Most have offers from other D-1 schools, which is good to see. If there is one thing I trust Bohl to do, it is recruiting. We have the players to win, but not the coaching (outside of recruiting).

Wed Dec 15, 2021 12:08 pm

Looks like 14 guys signed (*edit - added the 15th). Breakdown is: 4 OL, 1 QB, 1 S, 2 DB, 1 WR, 1 TE, 1 RB, 1 LB, 1 DT, 1 DE. Seems like they focused heavily on the O side of the ball, which seems out of the norm.

Our best signing appears to be Caleb Merritt, WR out of MO. Had offers from Purdue, Iowa State, Kansas (St).

Caleb Merritt WR St. Louis, MO 6-0 / 181
247: 3*, 0.8519
Rivals: 2*, 5.4

Isaac Schoenfeld TE Rock Springs, WY 6-5 / 220
247: 2*, 0.7882
Rivals: 2*, 5.2

LJ Richardson RB Bellevue, NE 6-1 / 205
247: 2*, 0.7831
Rivals: 2*, 5.2

Koa McIntyre S Fremont, NE 6-2 / 199
247: 3*, 0.8043
Rivals: 2*, 5.3

Caden Becker QB Omaha, NE 6-4 / 220
247: 3*, 0.8193
Rivals: 2*, 5.3

Jagger Filippone OL San Diego, CA 6-6 / 265 (what an awesome name)
247: NR
Rivals: NR

Wesley King OL Appleton, WI 6-5 / 278
247: NR
Rivals: NR

Mykel Janise OL Beaumont, TX 6-4 / 260
247: NR
Rivals: NR

Rex Johnsen Logan, IA 6-6 / 281
247: 3*, 0.8154
Rivals: 2*, 5.4

Cayden Hawkins LB Highlands Ranch, CO 6-2 / 190
247: NR
Rivals: 2*, 5.2

Jaden Williams DT Inglewood, CA 6-4 / 250
247: NR
Rivals: NR

Kevin Sjogren DE Palisades, CO 6-5 / 230
247: NR
Rivals: NR

Josh Dixon DB McKinney, TX 5-11 / 170
247: 3*, 0.8148
Rivals: 2*, 5.4

Malique Singleton DB Aurora, CO 6-0 / 180
247: 2*, 0.7842
Rivals: 2*, 5.3

Charlie Coenen WR Chanhassen, MN 6-0 /190
247: NR
Rivals: NR

Wed Dec 15, 2021 1:02 pm

Old-Bull wrote: ↑Wed Dec 15, 2021 10:41 am The other thing that should be abundantly clear after not winning the league in 25 years, is that were not recruiting good enough athletes to win the league.

This is the fly in the ointment!...players win games....if you don't get the top guys or build the top guys you will not win...period..I don't care who is coaching.

Wed Dec 15, 2021 1:19 pm

307bball wrote: ↑Wed Dec 15, 2021 1:02 pm
Old-Bull wrote: ↑Wed Dec 15, 2021 10:41 am The other thing that should be abundantly clear after not winning the league in 25 years, is that were not recruiting good enough athletes to win the league.
This is the fly in the ointment!...players win games....if you don't get the top guys or build the top guys you will not win...period..I don't care who is coaching.

It doesn't make sense to me. Offensive play calling is the only possible answer to why our football team struggles when evidence is all around us that it's not the case.

The wrestling team recruits well. They're ranked.

Jeff Linder had one recruiting class ranked 1st in the MWC and Wyoming is the highest ranked MWC team in the NET rankings and 9-1.

The football team consistently recruits classes ranked in the bottom third of the MWC and that's okay because it's hard to recruit to Laramie. If we had better athletes we would have won a conference title since Tiller. That's the bottom line. Our fan base is so obsessed with play calling that they refuse to hold the staff accountable for delivering recruits that have offer lists similar to mid level Mac teams and they still expect us to win titles. Bad recruiting doesn't matter. You know why they call them "diamonds in the rough"? Because they're "in the rough". 99 percent of the time you get "rough". 1 percent of the time you get Josh Allen.

I guess good play calling can make a bunch of guys that are weaker, slower, and smaller than Utah State and San Jose state players win championships. It just hasn't happened since Tiller was here.

Wed Dec 15, 2021 1:44 pm

307bball wrote: ↑Wed Dec 15, 2021 1:02 pm
Old-Bull wrote: ↑Wed Dec 15, 2021 10:41 am The other thing that should be abundantly clear after not winning the league in 25 years, is that were not recruiting good enough athletes to win the league.
This is the fly in the ointment!...players win games....if you don't get the top guys or build the top guys you will not win...period..I don't care who is coaching.

The talent in say 2016 was not good enough to win the league? Come on. We were a couple plays away from winning the league. IMO the talent is good enough to make a run at the league each year. Coaching has let us down.

Wed Dec 15, 2021 1:52 pm

Old-Bull wrote: ↑Wed Dec 15, 2021 1:19 pm
307bball wrote: ↑Wed Dec 15, 2021 1:02 pm
Old-Bull wrote: ↑Wed Dec 15, 2021 10:41 am The other thing that should be abundantly clear after not winning the league in 25 years, is that were not recruiting good enough athletes to win the league.
This is the fly in the ointment!...players win games....if you don't get the top guys or build the top guys you will not win...period..I don't care who is coaching.
It doesn't make sense to me. Offensive play calling is the only possible answer to why our football team struggles when evidence is all around us that it's not the case.

The wrestling team recruits well. They're ranked.

Jeff Linder had one recruiting class ranked 1st in the MWC and Wyoming is the highest ranked MWC team in the NET rankings and 9-1.

The football team consistently recruits classes ranked in the bottom third of the MWC and that's okay because it's hard to recruit to Laramie. If we had better athletes we would have won a conference title since Tiller. That's the bottom line. Our fan base is so obsessed with play calling that they refuse to hold the staff accountable for delivering recruits that have offer lists similar to mid level Mac teams and they still expect us to win titles. Bad recruiting doesn't matter. You know why they call them "diamonds in the rough"? Because they're "in the rough". 99 percent of the time you get "rough". 1 percent of the time you get Josh Allen.

I guess good play calling can make a bunch of guys that are weaker, slower, and smaller than Utah State and San Jose state players win championships. It just hasn't happened since Tiller was here.

My concern with Bohl's recruiting has been QBs, and until the last couple of years, WRs. Some positions lend themselves pretty well to finding developmental players. OL and DL are the big ones. Also LBs and TEs to some extent. Of course, the better they are coming in, the easier it is to get them to performing at a high level.

There are three things is seems you can't coach: height, speed, and QB accuracy. Height doesn't seem to be hard to find these days, and you can add weight to those guys. Speed seems like a hot commodity. And QB accuracy is at a premium.

The last couple of years we've added some decent receivers. Looks like we have a good slot player coming in. We really missed that this year.

Bohl seems to miss on QBs. He gets one or two a year and then tries to develop them. They never get more accurate. I'd be inclined to two recruit two or three and plan on losing a few.

I didn't see very many instances this year where I thought the offensive play calling was bad. Maybe a series here or there. Mostly it seemed like we couldn't execute the plays, and that was usually from the QB spot. Poor passes that were uncatchable or intercepted, or QB fumbles.

We could always use more depth, but from what I see, our talent level at positions other than QB is on par with the upper half of the conference.

Wed Dec 15, 2021 1:56 pm

LanderPoke wrote: ↑Wed Dec 15, 2021 1:44 pm
307bball wrote: ↑Wed Dec 15, 2021 1:02 pm
Old-Bull wrote: ↑Wed Dec 15, 2021 10:41 am The other thing that should be abundantly clear after not winning the league in 25 years, is that were not recruiting good enough athletes to win the league.
This is the fly in the ointment!...players win games....if you don't get the top guys or build the top guys you will not win...period..I don't care who is coaching.
The talent in say 2016 was not good enough to win the league? Come on. We were a couple plays away from winning the league. IMO the talent is good enough to make a run at the league each year. Coaching has let us down.

Our defense that year was pretty bad. We were playing guys on both lines that weren't ready to be on the field. You could make the case that they overperformed based on our talent.

Wed Dec 15, 2021 2:02 pm

Old-Bull wrote: ↑Wed Dec 15, 2021 1:19 pm

The wrestling team recruits well. They're ranked.

Actually, until this year, the wrestling team never had highly ranked classes. The program developed wrestlers that have oftentimes far outperformed their relative recruiting rankings. This is what is so impressive about Branch. Now - the team is getting much higher ranked recruits - and it will be interesting to see what he is able to accomplish with the improved recruiting.

Wed Dec 15, 2021 2:05 pm

LanderPoke wrote: ↑Wed Dec 15, 2021 1:44 pm
307bball wrote: ↑Wed Dec 15, 2021 1:02 pm
Old-Bull wrote: ↑Wed Dec 15, 2021 10:41 am The other thing that should be abundantly clear after not winning the league in 25 years, is that were not recruiting good enough athletes to win the league.
This is the fly in the ointment!...players win games....if you don't get the top guys or build the top guys you will not win...period..I don't care who is coaching.
The talent in say 2016 was not good enough to win the league? Come on. We were a couple plays away from winning the league. IMO the talent is good enough to make a run at the league each year. Coaching has let us down.

We gave up 70 points to UNLV in 2016 and lost to Eastern Michigan on the road. We definitely had talent on the offensive side of the ball, but the defense wasn't all that great.

Wed Dec 15, 2021 2:12 pm

Old-Bull wrote: ↑Wed Dec 15, 2021 2:05 pm
LanderPoke wrote: ↑Wed Dec 15, 2021 1:44 pm
307bball wrote: ↑Wed Dec 15, 2021 1:02 pm
Old-Bull wrote: ↑Wed Dec 15, 2021 10:41 am The other thing that should be abundantly clear after not winning the league in 25 years, is that were not recruiting good enough athletes to win the league.
This is the fly in the ointment!...players win games....if you don't get the top guys or build the top guys you will not win...period..I don't care who is coaching.
The talent in say 2016 was not good enough to win the league? Come on. We were a couple plays away from winning the league. IMO the talent is good enough to make a run at the league each year. Coaching has let us down.
We gave up 70 points to UNLV in 2016 and lost to Eastern Michigan on the road. We definitely had talent on the offensive side of the ball, but the defense wasn't all that great.

That 2016 defense had these guys: Cash Maluia; Logan Wilson; Marcus Epps; Rico Gafford; Carl Granderson; Tyler Hall; Andrew Wingard; Lucas Wacha; Eric Nzeocha. All of those guys have been on NFL rosters at one point. This is a terrible collection of talent on defense at Wyoming?

Wed Dec 15, 2021 2:14 pm

Old-Bull wrote: ↑Wed Dec 15, 2021 2:05 pm
LanderPoke wrote: ↑Wed Dec 15, 2021 1:44 pm
307bball wrote: ↑Wed Dec 15, 2021 1:02 pm
Old-Bull wrote: ↑Wed Dec 15, 2021 10:41 am The other thing that should be abundantly clear after not winning the league in 25 years, is that were not recruiting good enough athletes to win the league.
This is the fly in the ointment!...players win games....if you don't get the top guys or build the top guys you will not win...period..I don't care who is coaching.
The talent in say 2016 was not good enough to win the league? Come on. We were a couple plays away from winning the league. IMO the talent is good enough to make a run at the league each year. Coaching has let us down.
We gave up 70 points to UNLV in 2016 and lost to Eastern Michigan on the road. We definitely had talent on the offensive side of the ball, but the defense wasn't all that great.

And the very next year with basically the same players and a different coach they were a top 20 unit in the nation.

Wed Dec 15, 2021 2:35 pm

OrediggerPoke wrote: ↑Wed Dec 15, 2021 2:12 pm
Old-Bull wrote: ↑Wed Dec 15, 2021 2:05 pm
LanderPoke wrote: ↑Wed Dec 15, 2021 1:44 pm
307bball wrote: ↑Wed Dec 15, 2021 1:02 pm
Old-Bull wrote: ↑Wed Dec 15, 2021 10:41 am The other thing that should be abundantly clear after not winning the league in 25 years, is that were not recruiting good enough athletes to win the league.
This is the fly in the ointment!...players win games....if you don't get the top guys or build the top guys you will not win...period..I don't care who is coaching.
The talent in say 2016 was not good enough to win the league? Come on. We were a couple plays away from winning the league. IMO the talent is good enough to make a run at the league each year. Coaching has let us down.
We gave up 70 points to UNLV in 2016 and lost to Eastern Michigan on the road. We definitely had talent on the offensive side of the ball, but the defense wasn't all that great.
That 2016 defense had these guys: Cash Maluia; Logan Wilson; Marcus Epps; Rico Gafford; Carl Granderson; Tyler Hall; Andrew Wingard; Lucas Wacha; Eric Nzeocha. All of those guys have been on NFL rosters at one point. This is a terrible collection of talent on defense at Wyoming?

101st ranked defense in the country. They had a bunch of injuries up front. Gave up an average of 34 points a game. Wilson, Hall, and Maluia were freshmen, Wingard and Epps were sophomores, Gafford was in his first year at UW. Granderson only played 6 games, Nzeocha played 2, Appleby played 8. They weren't a good defense.