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Petersen's first class

Ice_HolmvikIce_Holmvik Member, Swaye's Wigwam Posts: 2,907
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Chris Petersen's 2014 and first class as head coach was put together in 2 months. Initially ranked 36th-38th in the country. It was later figured to be top 3 in the nation after the players finished their careers at UW. A class 20 spots lower then Steve Sarkisians from the year before. Thought to be a Boise State like class and he did fill it with some of the Boise State recruits that came with him. He added one highly touted in state recruit who was the crown jewel of the class. Budda Baker ranked .9741 by 247 Sports. After him Carta Samuels Jr was the next highest rated at .9140 then Kaleb Mcgary at .8969 then Lavon Coleman at .8595. In short a class that had an average rating of .8434 rating that would have us clamoring for a new coach if that happened now. A class that ended up with 8 players in the NFL at one time., 2 AP all americans and countless surprises.

My question is why? Why was coach Pete able to do that his first year and not after when he had access to more talent. I mean it is possible it was shithouse luck. But all of it done in 2 months? Budda was the lynch pin but even without him it is a very nice class all said and done.

I have thought that it was because that small window of time made Pete concentrate on HIS evaluations and go with them. There was no pressure yet to grab all 4 stars possible. No fan base that has recruiting expectations that are important to the fan base and the perception of the program. He had to rely on his evaluations on put them into motion. He brought some outstanding players that had been committed to Boise State. Guys who most likely would not have gotten a sniff from Sarkisian because they were not highly rated. Guys like Greg Gaines, Dante Pettis, Jaylen Johnson, Will Dissly, and Drew Sample all decommited from Boise to come with coach Petersen to UW. All of them were hits. Good to great players. Then he went after players committed to other teams he had been trying to recruit at Boise that might be intrigued by UW. He landed Sid Jones, Darren Gardenhire andJojo Mcintosh. Then he swung for the fences and landed Budda Baker on a decommit from the rival Ducks.

Most of the 2014 recruits were Boise State recruits or recruits that fit the Boise State recruiting model. He relied on HIS evaluations not the recruiting sites not the twitter buzz etc. I think as he stayed on at Washington it messed up his approach to recruiting. A combination of recruits needing to be of a certain level of rating to be acceptable to the fan base/critics and possibly thinking now that he was at Washington he could land the higher rated guys and didnt do the deep dives he did for lower rated recruits. I think he felt the pressure of needing higher rated recruits and let that affect his approach to recruiting. All anyone could say was "This isnt the WAC, can Peterson recruit at this level"? Going with his system from the Boise days would have been a disaster with the fans and media and he may have thought he may not have a long enough leash to let the players do the talking which forced him to compensate and lean on the star factor. I am also sure his responsibilities and time spent seeing to them at UW was quite a bit more than what he had to do at Boise which cut down on the available time to put into recruiting. He was also installing a new mindset for Husky football that took dedication.

All that being said I find myself missing the assurance I had that coach Pete would put a solid recruiting class in the books every year. His last two classes were an improvement in overall talent that I think will bear out on the firld. I miss his steadiness however I am willing to give Jimmy some time to prove if he is or is not the guy.

Comments

  • bananasnblondesbananasnblondes Member Posts: 14,876
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    Imagine if he had stayed at Boise State but still gotten the guys like Dissly, Gaines, Sidney, Sample, etc. Boise would have absolutely dominated the WAC or MWC or whatever more than they had been
  • MontlakeBridgeTrollMontlakeBridgeTroll Member Posts: 920
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    How many of the 2014 class were Sark recruits?
  • FireCohenFireCohen Member Posts: 21,823
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    Imagine if he had stayed at Boise State but still gotten the guys like Dissly, Gaines, Sidney, Sample, etc. Boise would have absolutely dominated the WAC or MWC or whatever more than they had been

    He would still find a way to lose 1 game per season
  • chuckchuck Member, Swaye's Wigwam Posts: 10,587
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    How many of the 2014 class were Sark recruits?

    None
  • Ice_HolmvikIce_Holmvik Member, Swaye's Wigwam Posts: 2,907
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    How many of the 2014 class were Sark recruits?

    The only contributor that comes to mind was Lavon Coleman.
  • 1to392831weretaken1to392831weretaken Member, Swaye's Wigwam Posts: 7,280
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    I've thought about this a lot as well. The better the recruiting classes got, the worse the play, culminating in 4-5. It was really strange.
  • chuckchuck Member, Swaye's Wigwam Posts: 10,587
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    I've thought about this a lot as well. The better the recruiting classes got, the worse the play, culminating in 4-5. It was really strange.

    Petersen didn't always have the right mix for his program at BSU either. I think he had downturns and lulls not unlike what happened at UW. They just didn't show up as bad because BSU, with all their hype, had that whole league rolling over to piss on themselves for the Broncs and they'd never drop more than a game. It showed up as 8-4 at UW.
  • FremontTrollFremontTroll Member Posts: 4,702
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    chuck said:

    How many of the 2014 class were Sark recruits?

    None
    Exactly Sark had quit recruiting. Of the eight or nine guys he had verbaled all left except for Drew Lewis and Lavon Washington. Lewis was also the only one who ever did jack squat in college.
  • FireCohenFireCohen Member Posts: 21,823
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    First off Lavon Coleman was 2013.

    Second off your subjective narrative bullshit falls apart if you try to test it against Petersen’s actual fucking track record.

    Fact is CP never put a class together at Boise with anywhere near the level of NFL talent we landed in 2014.

    It was two things: 1. Luck/variance and 2. Two of CP’s best stretch run closes in McGary and Buddha.

    People don’t like to admit how big a role randomness plays though. They always need a story.

    Sure some of it is randomness, alebama is not randomly a great program
  • FremontTrollFremontTroll Member Posts: 4,702
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    FireCohen said:

    First off Lavon Coleman was 2013.

    Second off your subjective narrative bullshit falls apart if you try to test it against Petersen’s actual fucking track record.

    Fact is CP never put a class together at Boise with anywhere near the level of NFL talent we landed in 2014.

    It was two things: 1. Luck/variance and 2. Two of CP’s best stretch run closes in McGary and Buddha.

    People don’t like to admit how big a role randomness plays though. They always need a story.

    Sure some of it is randomness, alebama is not randomly a great program
    I think you missed the point.

    Alabama has possibly the biggest margin for error of any program in any sport due to their massive institutional advantages but yes, even Alabama’s yearly results will fluctuate due to variance. They won’t make the playoffs every year even if it seems like it lately.
  • HairyBallsDawgHairyBallsDawg Member Posts: 992
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    People don’t like to admit how big a role randomness plays though. They always need a story.

    Randomness has been very kind to Alabama since Saban got there.
  • FremontTrollFremontTroll Member Posts: 4,702
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    People don’t like to admit how big a role randomness plays though. They always need a story.

    Randomness has been very kind to Alabama since Saban got there.
    When your baseline is that you are three touchdowns better than your opponent then variance is the difference between winning by one touchdown or five.

    When your baseline is half your starters get drafted in any given year then variance is the difference between eight or 12 draft picks.
  • haiehaie Member, Swaye's Wigwam Posts: 20,350
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    Good Post. There's a balance in there somewhere that we have to strike to be successful. We did in Pete's first years even though he was dreadful on the field.

    Alabama gets whoever they want but Saban isn't wasting his time on players who don't want to be coached. Some schools may have to put up with that but I don't think the top 4-5 recruiters in the Pac 12 should have to.
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