Signing Day II

Jon Wilner gives CU’s 2018 Recruiting Class a “C+”

From the San Jose Mercury News … I evaluated the classes on an absolute scale:

What was the best-case scenario for each team given its circumstances, and how close did it come to achieving that outcome?

This was, after all, a recruiting cycle unlike any the conference has seen — ever — because of the combination of multiple signing periods and five coaching changes.

Arizona’s best-case, with a late-December firing, and Utah’s best-case, with the same head coach in place for 13 years, aren’t equivalent.

So remove relativity from the equation:

The awarding of the same grade to two teams doesn’t mean the recruiting classes are equal, only that the teams executed in comparable fashion given individual circumstances.

Colorado: C+
With limited in-state talent (only two 4-stars players), the Buffs again leaned on Texas and California prospects passed over by the heavyweights. That’s a tough existence.

Read grades for other Pac-12 schools here

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CU’s Recruiting Class of 2018 underrated 

From the Daily Camera … For $160 million, the University of Colorado got a much-needed makeover of its athletic facilities two years ago, and along with it came a newfound set of expectations, both on the football field and on the recruiting trail.

So, after the Buffaloes put the finishing touches on their 2018 recruiting class this past week, it was no surprise that a fraction of fans were asking, “That’s it?”

CU’s latest recruiting class was ranked 10th in the Pac-12 by 247Sports.com and ninth by Rivals.com. Both sites had the Buffs just outside of the top 50 nationally.

To some, those rankings are a signal that the Buffs have blown an opportunity and failed to capitalize on the new facilities and their resurgent 2016 season, when they went 10-4 and won the Pac-12 South.

Not so fast.

Let’s be realistic about the expectations for CU in recruiting.

Continue reading story here

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You Tube video of CU head coach Mike MacIntyre’s Signing Day press conference, courtesy of BuffStampede.com:

Related … “Woelk: Buffs Sign Pair To Wrap Up ‘Developed’ Recruiting Class” … from CUBuffs.com

Update … Junior college outside linebacker Alex Tchangam has signed on with Colorado (bio posted below). Originally from Douala, Cameroon, Tchangam comes to Colorado from De Anza College in California. Tchangam will have three years to play two for the Buffs.

Defensive coordinator D.J. Eliot on Tchangam: “He has all the physical tools you want in an outside linebacker – size, speed and athleticism. He is a great kid with great character and comes from a great family. We are excited to have Alex as a Buff.”

Update … Virginia Tech senior running back Travon McMillan has signed on with Colorado (bio posted below). #CUBuffs has tweeted: “Buffs just got better with the addition of Travon McMillian to the Buff family!”. Of course, as Buff fans will remember, having lived through the Davis Webb saga two years ago, that McMillan has only signed a financial aid agreement, and cannot officially become a Buff until he graduates from Virginia Tech in May.

The first Wednesday in February is normally one of the busiest days of the college football season. With the creation of the early Signing Day in December, most Recruiting Classes are already in place. Colorado came up with a Class of 20 players in December, with 15 high school seniors and five junior college transfers.

Note … This total does not include two gray-shirts from the Class of 2017 (offensive tackle Casey Roddick and Jalen Sami), Texas Tech transfer wide receiver Tony Brown, who joined the Buffs last fall with two years of eligibility remaining, or offensive lineman Kanan Ray, a former UCLA commit, who signed on with the Buffs on January 12th.

…. Mike MacIntyre press conference at 2:10 p.m. Wednesday can be watched at CUBuffs.com

 

CU Recruiting Class of 2018 – by position

… Biographies of previous signees, along with coach MacIntyre’s December press conference introducing the Class, can be found here

QuarterbackBlake Stenstrom

Running BackJarek BroussardDeion Smith

Wide ReceiverDaniel AriasDylan ThomasDimitri Stanley

Tight endDarrion Jones (JC)

Offensive LineFrank FillipJosh Jynes

Defensive LineTava FinauIsrael Antwine  Mustafa Johnson (JC)

LinebackerJoshka GustavClyde MooreDavion Taylor (JC)

Defensive BackDelrick Abrams, Jr. (JC)Aaron Maddox (JC)Lavon “L.J.” WallaceHassan HypoliteRay Robinson

 

ALEX TCHANGAM – LB

CUBuffs bio of Alex Tchangam can be found here

Just the facts … Committed February 2nd … Tchangam is a 6’2″, 258-pound linebacker from Cupertino, California  Rivals bio  247 Sports bio

What others say about Tchangam … Tchangam is rated as a three-star prospect by Rivals, but only a two-star prospect by 247Sports. At 247 Sports, Tchangam (who received a .7917 score, with .80 being a three-star rating) is considered to be the No. 21 weak side defensive end in the nation, and the 60th-best overall player from the state of California, and the No. 254 overall junior college player in the nation. Last season at De Anza junior college, Tchangam earned all-conference honors after racking up 69 tackles, 23 tackles for loss and 12 ½ sacks.

Tchangam will complete his academic year at De Anza in late June and plans to be in Boulder for the Summer B session that begins July 10. He will have three years to play two.

Tchangam had other offers from … seven other schools, including Kansas and Boise State. Tchangam was born in the country of Cameroon in Central Africa and his family moved to Georgia when he was around 10-11 years old. He didn’t start playing football until 2016 and was listed on De Anza’s roster as a wide receiver … which may help to explain the relative lack of offers.

In his own words … “I’m really excited,” Tchangam told the Daily Camera. “It was definitely a family decision. My parents are excited. They think this is the best move for me. I’m just really excited to be in Boulder and I can’t wait to further my football and my education there.

“I’ve always loved competing,” Tchangam said. “Having a few players at my position, that’s not a big deal to me. I’m just ready to go out there and do what I love to do and compete.”

Here is a link to his Hudl.com highlights.

TRAVON MCMILLAN – RB

CUBuffs.com bio of Travon McMillan can be found here

Just the facts … Committed January 20th … McMillan is a 6’0″, 194-pound running back, originally from Woodbridge, Virginia  Rivals bio  247 Sports bio

What others say about McMillan … As a member of the Recruiting Class of 2014, McMillan was rated as a four-star prospect by 247 Sports, a three-star prospect by Rivals. At Rivals, McMillan was rated as the No. 30 running back in the nation, while at 247 Sports, McMillan was considered to be the No. 10 quarterback/dual athlete in the nation.

McMillian played quarterback in high school before moving to running back at Virginia Tech. He rushed for over 1,000 yards and scored eight touchdowns during his red-shirt freshman campaign in 2015. After Frank Beamer retired, the past two seasons, McMillian received less carries in Justin Fuente’s by-committee tailback system.

The 6-foot-0, 210-pound McMillian rushed for a total of 2,152 yards in his three seasons with the Hokies.

He plans to finish his degree at Virginia Tech in the spring, making him immediately eligible for the Buffaloes next fall.

Career stats at Virginia Tech

McMillan had other offers (out of high school) from … over a dozen Power-Five conference schools, including Cal, Georgia Tech, Auburn, North Carolina, and Tennessee.

In his own words … “McMillan tweet: “I want to thank all the coaches for this awesome recruiting experience but I have decided to attend the University of Colorado. Looking forward for this opportunity!”

SAM LOY – P

Just the facts … Committed February 3rd … Loy is a 6’2″, 195-pound punter, originally from Rancho Santa Margarita, California  Rivals bio  247 Sports bio

What others say about Loy … Loy was rated as a two-star prospect by Rivals as a member of the Recruiting Class of 2016, while 247 Sports had him as a three-star prospect. Loy has spent the last two years playing for Vanderbilt (stats below, from the Vanderbilt website). Loy will sit out the 2018 season as a transfer, and have two years to play two in Boulder.

2017
Loy served as team’s punting specialist for the second straight year… Averaged 40.2 yards on 64 punts… Produced 14 punts that landed in the opponent’s 20-yard line and eight punts of 50 or more yards… Averaged 44.9 yards during late-season stretch against Western Kentucky, Kentucky and Missouri… Averaged 43.7 yards on career-high nine punts against Kensas… Three of four punts at South Carolina were downed inside the Gamecock 20-yard line.

2016
Loy put together a Freshman All-Southeastern Conference caliber season in his first year on campus… Loy showed superb diversity in technique, having the ability to punt traditionally and rugby style… Inserted as the team’s primary punter during the opener against South Carolina, Loy went on to lead all SEC freshmen with a 41.6-yard average on 68 punts… Loy also helped change field possession, placing 22 attempts inside the opponent 20-yard line… He averaged more than 45 yards per punt against four opponents: Middle Tennessee, Florida, Kentucky and Auburn… Opposing teams averaged just 7.1 yards per return on Loy’s punts.

Loy had other offers from … In addition to Vanderbilt, Loy had offers from the three service academies (so qualifying academically will not be an issue).

In his own words … Loy’s tweet: “Honored to say that I am Committing to Colorado University-Boulder to further my Football and Academic Education”.

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30 Replies to “Signing Day II”

  1. Yo Stuart,

    Why does everyone play the lemming and assume that Mike McIntyre is good at recruiting? Everyone from Woelk (at CU) to Howell at the Camera to most folks posting here have all been conned into believing that Mac2 is greatly improving things. He’s not.

    If we go back to 2000, when they started giving ratings to how schools compared to one another on their recruiting classes. You can see how far Colorado has fallen under MM.

    In the non-McIntyre years, this is how the Buffs’ classes were ranked:
    2000 – 13
    2001 – 36
    2002 – 19
    2003 – 19
    2004 – 47
    2005 – 40
    2006 – 47
    2007 – 27
    2008 – 15
    2009 – 57
    2010 – 57
    2011 – 64
    2012 – 39

    For those years, the Buffs average recruiting class was ranked 36.92
    Take away the Hawkins debacle years (when he stopped caring)of 2009-11, and the average class jumps up to 30.2, well within the realm of a team vying to be in the Top 25.

    Compare those numbers with those for Mike McIntyre:
    2013 – 68
    2014 – 74
    2015 – 69
    2016 – 69
    2017 – 35
    2018 – 52

    MM average 61.17

    In six years, McIntyre has the 4 worst recruiting classes for Colorado this century. And his best year since he’s been here is only average compared to the the rest of the non-McIntyre classes.

    We all want Colorado to succeed, but we really gotta quit giving McIntyre a free ride by praising his recruiting skills. The numbers don’t back the praise.

    Mark
    Boulderdevil

  2. Though the last two classes are not rated in the Top 25, they are the best for CU in a while, fill key needs, and contain some talented players. I feel too much is made of recruiting “stars”. And, if people want to look at stars, then they can see that ESPN has rated several players in the last two classes as 4 star recruits. I feel that is more than enough for this coaching staff to work with. The key going forward, IMO, rests with the coaching staff to get the most out of these players. Last year was disappointing for several reasons but the one that dulled my enthusiasm the most was the team not being ready to play on game day. Let’s hope that changes for this coming season. Go Buffs!

    1. Yup Right Yup

      Hopefully Mac is Back………..Hopefully…………cause he was a big issue last year…………Fact

      Buffs

  3. The big fear that I have and feel that I am witnessing, is that many in the Buff nation have adapted the “Soccer Mom” mentality. “Yay, we have a top half of the nation recruiting class”; “Yay, we had three players drafted last year”; “Yay, we are so much better than ten years ago”, “Yay, we have a 4 star lineman transfer from Ohio State “…

    All good things, but it seems like we are very happy or complacent with mediocrity. It wasn’t that long ago (or maybe it was) that Washington went 0-12; yet they are competing for the College Playoffs.

    The time is NOW to take that next step. This team and this fan base should be furious at a 7-4 record. A seven win season should be the minimum expectation!

    My patience is running out!

    1. Thank you Oregon Buff, my thoughts exactly!

      We are going into the SIXTH year of the MMc regime, and the Third year with new, state of the art facilities. Yet, we have the 10th best class in the Pac 12, beaten out by a man who hasn’t coached in any capacity for 10 yrs, three other 1st year coaches and a 2nd year coach. Four last place division finishes in the last 5 yrs.

      I’m not buying all of this “underrated” class and “all that matters is that they develop right” nonsense. The progression of Washington is a good example. It’s not like we are in yr 2 or 3 of the rehab project. These top 50 classes with a couple of 4 star JUCO’s Are not going to cut it.

      I believe in MMc, but we should have been bowling in 2015 (Hawaii game debacle) and we sure as heck should have been bowling last year. If Embree and co had been given the same resources, support and patience, do you really think they would have produced worse results than what we have seen? Guess who recruited the Senior studs of the 2016 championship team?

      We are loaded at WR – who cares? We have NFL caliber DB’s – who cares? Without some kick ass lineman on both sides of the ball, it really doesn’t matter.

      HWSRN, for all his shortcomings, at least landed some higher rated players, and I believe a couple of top 30 classes. No they didn’t win the league or division or go bowling much, but that talent was able to beat Oklahoma, Nebraska, Georgia (nearly twice) and West Virginia.

      Does anyone really want to think about what’s going to happen when we go to Lincoln in September and face their new coach, in his first year of Power 5 football, with our coach now in his sixth year?

      How about when UCLA comes to town with their new coach who will be just starting his first year in Westwood?

      You would think after 5 years, our talent base and level would be comparative, and we would be a slight favorite. Is that the case – nope, not even close.

      1. do you really think they (Embree and staff) would have produced worse results than what we have seen?—

        Yes, Si, Oui, Ja, Hai or yes in any other language you choose. That staff was totally unprepared to coach D-1 football. Another year or two with that staff and Folsulm Field would have had 20k attendance.

        35-0 end of first quarter against Fresno State. Never forget how bad the program had sunk under those guys…

        1. Ya, but he was changing the staff when he was ousted. Bohn Sscrewed CU the whole time he was here.

          Anyway.

          Who is the new OC in KC

          Buffs

          1. Yogi Roth stated that on film and in person Embree’s CU team was the worst Power-5 football team he had ever seen. Fact. So what if he one of them is in the NFL now? Back then. they weren’t prepared to be D-1 coaches when they had their shot. Embree never was a corordinator on any level and should never have been hired by Bohn-head.
            When your shut down corner is 160 pound Yuri Wright then you got issues.
            David Bakhtaria flat out stated the team quit on the coaching staff.
            35-0 end of first quarter vs Fresno State. Worst CU team since Chuck Fairbanks lost to Drake.
            Quit trying to polish a turd…..and the Embree years were definitely a s&$# show…

  4. Cannot help but see things in an unfavorable light as long as Mac2.0 is our HC…but what the heck??? He is turning us into KSU, what happened to the one skill I believe he DID have which was identify talent, his first couple of classes are leaving much to be desired and forcing us to go the JC route. Wonder if Plati knows how this roster compares to those of past in terms of numbers/percentage of JC players?

  5. YUP……… Can’t plow the field without a tractor, and ya can’t win FB without some horses in the trenches. Where are those 4* OL and DL recruits ?

    Until we get a few 4* OL and DL recruits, we will not win the south division and will never win the PAC-12 Championship…. we’ll always be relegated to a minor bowl game or none at all. This is my fear.

    Go Buffs !!

      1. True VK, but where were the 4* on DL ? We really do need ’em on both sides of the LOS. With the ability to retain multi-year contracts for coaches, we should see an up-swing of talent descending the hill down to Boulder on hwy ’36 in the future.

        BUFFS All The Way.

        1. 4 star on DL? What?

          Javier Edwards was a 4 star on espn. So he underperformed. He will do better this year.

          Israel Antwine missed a 4 star by 1 point this year. He is under rated.

          They have been weak in the area of DL recruiting for years. Hopefully the new guy can fix that.

          Buffs

        2. And perhaps the biggest Mystery is Eddie Lopez. DT in high school. Two years at CU with some DT then to TE???

          6’3 300lbs.

          Javier came in and boom they move him to TE……Really blocking back that is all.

          Perhaps the new DL Coach can resurrect him. Please. I hope he can man. Wasted at his current position.

          Come on new guy put build him back up……………….

          LET’S GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

    1. Easier said than done when it comes to recruting studs on the line. Fact is, there only a handful of them and they go to the big schools with tradition and winning records who recruit them hard. Fact is, CU will recruit 3* and maybe a borderline 4* guy but then will need to develop them in the weightroom and on the practice field and hope they are solid D-1 players who perform in year’s 3,4 and maybe 5 (ala Tupou and Kavovalu). Bernardi and Jeffcoat weren’t up to the task so here’s hoping Klayton and the new guy are (plus Mac, Elliot and Chev). Even lard bucket Brett Beilema stated that a lack of depth in the trenches was the main reason he couldn’t close the gap with the big boys in the SEC West:

      …..”But Bielema admits he didn’t initially realize how deep a team needed to be on both lines of scrimmage to succeed in the SEC West. The Razorbacks didn’t have that competitive depth, and it became apparent in Bielema’s final two seasons. That isn’t an issue that can be fixed immediately through recruiting, either. The big guys require several years of development.

      It may be that no one can build that sort of depth at Arkansas. Elite offensive and defensive linemen are the toughest players to find and land, and Alabama, Auburn, LSU and Texas A&M are always going to get the first crack at such players because of geography and/or tradition..”

    1. Rivals: 51st nationally; 9th in the Pac-12
      247 Sports: 52nd nationally; 10th in the Pac-12
      Of course, these rankings do not include transfer RB Travis McMillan (a former four-star recruit), or gray-shirt OL Kanan Ray (a former four-star recruit), or transfer WR Tony Brown (a former three-star recruit).
      It is what it is …

      1. MacII recruiting class rankings in Pac 12

        …………247…………Rivals
        2013……..12………….12
        2014……..12………….10
        2015……..12………….11
        2016……..12………….12
        2017……..8…………..7
        2018……..10………….9

        Wins in 2016 built cred for 2017
        Poor showing in 2017 caused the drop.
        Therefore

        2018 has to be good not 6 and 6 (cause it shoulda been 6 and 6 last year) but good like 8 and 4. Yup 8 and 4 minimum.

        Buffs.

        Note: so basically a new and hopefully improved coaching staff. And MacII back to being MacII rather than MickeyMac.

        Note 2: Can’t wait for Stuarts review of the coaching staff by position.

    1. Yoyo Earache,

      An echo chamber would be Lindylus, play calling most of the season but especially in the pac champ game and the bowl. Fail and repeat, fail and repeat.

      Mein Gott that was disgusting.

      But now yur boy is in the Land of the Dammed.

      Perfect.

  6. Macs press conference today.

    You need to watch it. This is not the Mac of last year. No banquets, no awards, no Tumkin.. It appears he is reinvigorated.

    Great to See.

    Go Buffs

    1. Hey Earache,

      Stu can always count on me to:
      A. Read his stuff
      B. Comment on his stuff.
      C. Create a little/lot of how you say…emotion?

      But

      “Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays this poster from the swift completion of his/her appointed blogs”

      Buffs!!

      Note: Okay there are some/many days where “heat” is involved and golf is the priority and time is limited to spread the facts. Period.

  7. Hasselback and Mathews decide to graduate.
    Keeney done for medical reasons.

    Down to 88. Need to get to 85 by the fall.

    Buffs.

    Note: 3 more I can think of that should opt to graduate. Maybe they get a better feel of where they stand during the spring.

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