Question for the dirty, old TBSers
I wasn't yet a teen boy myself at the time of Bledsoe at WSU, so I have to ask - Was Bledsoe really that level of high school recruit (more prolific than Reggie, Stewart, the Huards, etc.) or has this just become trendy to say among professional TBSers when discussing local recruits?
And if it is true, why the fuck was he at Wazzu? It's not like they were good back then either.
Comments
-
Regarding Bledsoe ... besides being an Eastern Washington kid, the Cougs during his HS years were the more pass happy team, beat UW in 1988, and prior to the end of 1989 when the signs of what was to come were visible, UW was looking like a program that was going backwards.
-
I remember Bledsoe being a pretty huge deal before getting to WSU, but I was really young so I could be misremembering. Pretty sure he was an Eastern Washington kid and maybe there was something about the depth chart at WSU being a bit more favorable? Pretty hazy though.
-
Bigger markets have a much bigger advantage now than they did back then. Pullman was certainly no Seattle but the gap wasn't as bad.
-
Bledsoe was a 5-star all everything recruit. At the time, our depth was stacked (Brunell, Hobert) and there was very little chance of him playing early.
On the other hand, it was obvious he would start from the get go at WSU. Back then WSU could get some big time kids still. His dad, Mac, was the coach at WWHS and wanted him to stay in state.
He came down to UW/WSU and went to WSU for early playing time. He started his true freshman year and left after his junior year.
Skinny and Drew were the same level of recruit. Max Browne and Brock Huard were about the same as well with the most recent 3 winning Gatorade POY for all of HS. -
Bledsoe's dad wanted Don James to promise that Drew would start as a freshman....he gave him the opportunity to compete. Hence WSU
-
This. Billy Joe Hobart was the Gatorade State Player of the year and if memory serves, was the #1 rated QB recruit nationally in '89.Dennis_DeYoung said:Bledsoe was a 5-star all everything recruit. At the time, our depth was stacked (Brunell, Hobert) and there was very little chance of him playing early.
On the other hand, it was obvious he would start from the get go at WSU. Back then WSU could get some big time kids still. His dad, Mac, was the coach at WWHS and wanted him to stay in state.
He came down to UW/WSU and went to WSU for early playing time. He started his true freshman year and left after his junior year.
Skinny and Drew were the same level of recruit. Max Browne and Brock Huard were about the same as well with the most recent 3 winning Gatorade POY for all of HS.
Billy Joe was a stud but Bledsoe was better. I saw both play in HS. Eason IMO was the better prospect (more polished) than Bledsoe out of HS. (Stats below)
-
There are quite a few factual errors in this thread.
Starting with JW's suggestion that Mac Bledsoe asked James guarantee him a starting spot... I have trouble believing that. I am not a fan of Mac Bledsoe, but I know Mac wanted his kids to earn their way in life... Also Mac played at UW.... from my memory of the situation Drew's grandfather played at WSU and part of the reason for going to WSU was to honor his grandfather... and also he would be able to throw the ball all over the place. There is also a little known story of a conversation that Drew had with John Elway about Stanford, Elway discouraged him from going to the farm.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1967_Washington_Huskies_football_team
DDY states that Mac Bledsoe was Drew's head coach in high school... at one point he was a co-head coach but during Drew's senior year Gary Myers was the head coach. Drew did not start until the fourth or fifth game of his freshman year at WSU, Brad Gossen was the starter. No starting from the get - go.
Am I lover of Drew? No. Is he a good guy? Yeah. Would I chit chat if I ran into him? Yeah. I've said a total of two words to him in the last 25 years because - for me - he is just another guy I knew as a kid and just another local kid who went to WSU... many people I went to high school still idolize and cling on.
Was he a huge recruit in high school that brought a ton of people to WW to check him out? Yeah.
There was another in state QB recruit (Walla Walla) that garnered more attention than Drew or Skinny... Jared Jones went to Free Shoes in Tallahassee but flamed out. Bobby Bowden came to town to sign him.
http://www.seminoles.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=32900&ATCLID=209588233
WWHS football superiority guy
Fuck off -
Essentially the story is: Drew was a big time recruit. He went to WSU because for some reason at that time big time kids considered WSU, though they don't really anymore.Wombat_Guernica said:There are quite a few factual errors in this thread.
Starting with JW's suggestion that Mac Bledsoe asked James guarantee him a starting spot... I have trouble believing that. I am not a fan of Mac Bledsoe, but I know Mac wanted his kids to earn their way in life... Also Mac played at UW.... from my memory of the situation Drew's grandfather played at WSU and part of the reason for going to WSU was to honor his grandfather... and also he would be able to throw the ball all over the place. There is also a little known story of a conversation that Drew had with John Elway about Stanford, Elway discouraged him from going to the farm.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1967_Washington_Huskies_football_team
DDY states that Mac Bledsoe was Drew's head coach in high school... at one point he was a co-head coach but during Drew's senior year Gary Myers was the head coach. Drew did not start until the fourth or fifth game of his freshman year at WSU, Brad Gossen was the starter. No starting from the get - go.
Am I lover of Drew? No. Is he a good guy? Yeah. Would I chit chat if I ran into him? Yeah. I've said a total of two words to him in the last 25 years because - for me - he is just another guy I knew as a kid and just another local kid who went to WSU... many people I went to high school still idolize and cling on.
Was he a huge recruit in high school that brought a ton of people to WW to check him out? Yeah.
There was another in state QB recruit (Walla Walla) that garnered more attention than Drew or Skinny... Jared Jones went to Free Shoes in Tallahassee but flamed out. Bobby Bowden came to town to sign him.
http://www.seminoles.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=32900&ATCLID=209588233
WWHS football superiority guy
Fuck off
He chose WSU because of a relatively easy path to playing time. -
^
Perfect boiled down summary
-
Comparing passing stats between 1990 and 2016 is really dumb.Baseman said:
This. Billy Joe Hobart was the Gatorade State Player of the year and if memory serves, was the #1 rated QB recruit nationally in '89.Dennis_DeYoung said:Bledsoe was a 5-star all everything recruit. At the time, our depth was stacked (Brunell, Hobert) and there was very little chance of him playing early.
On the other hand, it was obvious he would start from the get go at WSU. Back then WSU could get some big time kids still. His dad, Mac, was the coach at WWHS and wanted him to stay in state.
He came down to UW/WSU and went to WSU for early playing time. He started his true freshman year and left after his junior year.
Skinny and Drew were the same level of recruit. Max Browne and Brock Huard were about the same as well with the most recent 3 winning Gatorade POY for all of HS.
Billy Joe was a stud but Bledsoe was better. I saw both play in HS. Eason IMO was the better prospect (more polished) than Bledsoe out of HS. (Stats below)
