Recruiting In Texas: Food for Thought

[GriznMN]

My friend Tim is from Central Montana and was/is a skilled carpenter, but about 20 years ago, Tim told me he thought to himself, " Why am I pounding nails for $ 20 an hour when truck drivers in The huge Bakken Oil Fields ( Developed about 10 % in far Eastern Montana, 90% in far Western North Dakota, Sidney, Williston the Mont./ND Bakken Capitals) were making $100,000 + a year driving truck. So Tim went to trucker school, earned his CDL, and was off to the Mont./ND border. Since he didn't want to live with a bunch of rough necks in a man camp, he was
lucky and managed to find a small apartment in Fairview, Mont., right on the border. Since he had to be to work just across the border at his company's shop by 5 AM, he had to get up @ 3 AM and be to work in ND @ 5, but soon as he left Fairview and drove 2 blocks, his watch went from 3:50 AM to 4:50 AM, Mountain Time to Central Time. He then spent the next 10 hours delivering pipe, water and fracking sand to Bakken wells. Tim, wore down by the schedule, worked hard in The Bakken for 15 years, saved several hundred thousand dollars and bought a small farm west of Columbus. He still drives truck, but in Billings, Laurel, Hardin, Sheridan, Powell and Cody Wyoming and he has weekends off.

Tim told me like the migrating ducks and geese, a few hundred rough necks from Central and East Texas and Lousiana would show up in The Bakken in April each year, work hard, party hard, make a lot of money and blow it, but come November after Halloween when the wind on the Eastern Montana/Western North Dakota prairies and bad lands started to turn a bitter cold , most of these East Texas and Louisiana boys wanted no part of that--cold to them is 40 above zero--and drove their F 150's, Silverados and Ram pickup trucks back south with the ducks and geese to Lousiana and Texas.

MSU just had 5 kids , 3 or 4 of them DB's, from Texas enter the portal, we have had Loud and Otlewski, both also from Texas, enter the portal as well as Riley Wilson last year. Weather most likely is not the only cause for all of these kids entering the portal--in Loud's case something more like $ 500,000 is his main reason for transferring to Duke, but it is also probably a contributing factor. I guess we have to accept the fact that for a lot of the kids that we recruit from outside of Montana, especially Texas, both from high school ( Loud ) and the portal ( Otlewski and Wilson ) we are Plan B, a stepping stone, the college football equivalent of a Double A or Triple A minor league baseball team for kids hoping to make it to the big show and play for The Dodgers or Yankees, or in our case, The Big 10, Big 12, SEC or ACC. And while kids from Texas don't like the cold Montana winters,p

$250,000 to $ 500,000 would make that cold weather more tolerable. Unfortunately, we don't have that kind of dough : ( !!!

I think we should continue to recruit Texas but do so realizing that while any kid we recruit from anywhere including Montana can always enter the portal, the kids we recruit from Texas even more so and a lot of them, we are only going to have 1-2 years : ( !!!

My dad grew up in the west Texas town of Cisco, Texas and worked in the Texas oil fields for most of his young adult life. He made his way to Montana and never left. He always felt that Montana was a lot like Texas. BTW, it gets damn cold in the Texas panhandle and DFW areas every winter. Not much to stop the polar vortexes from making their way from Canada to Texas except flat prairie. Granted it's not usually for very long but it's not like Florida or Georgia or Mississippi where it almost never happens.

Plus, all of the equipment schools have now make it almost comfortable to play in the cold. Give me a game with weather of 20 degrees and snow over 45 degrees and rain every day.

 

[5280Griz]

My dad grew up in the west Texas town of Cisco, Texas and worked in the Texas oil fields for most of his young adult life. He made his way to Montana and never left. He always felt that Montana was a lot like Texas. BTW, it gets damn cold in the Texas panhandle and DFW areas every winter. Not much to stop the polar vortexes from making their way from Canada to Texas except flat prairie. Granted it's not usually for very long but it's not like Florida or Georgia or Mississippi where it almost never happens.

Plus, all of the equipment schools have now make it almost comfortable to play in the cold. Give me a game with weather of 20 degrees and snow over 45 degrees and rain every day.

It snows 2-4 inches a year in DFW but it is still enough to cause major disruptions each time. I visited Fort Worth last winter and it was colder than Denver is a lot of the time. 45 degrees with clouds and east Texas humidity is a lot less comfortable than 45 degrees with sun and low humidity. I’m going to Chandler AZ instead this year which is more comfortable winter weather wise.

 

[GrizTexas]

The families like the Brady's and Rodgers are moving to Texas in such large numbers that they can't keep up with the home building in Texas. Texas is growing and California is shrinking.

They are moving out of California for lots of reasons that have nothing to do to do with football... !

 

[5280Griz]

The families like the Brady's and Rodgers are moving to Texas in such large numbers that they can't keep up with the home building in Texas. Texas is growing and California is shrinking.

The towns in California that are elite at football like Folsom are actually growing like Texas. Folsom might be the fastest growing town in all of California and is growing at comparable rate to the fast growing areas of Texas like the north side of the DFW metroplex. Corona which is probably the best football town in SoCal is also growing, albeit at a slower rate than Folsom and fast growing areas of Texas.

 

[MontanaBornFan]

Texas is overhyped as far as football goes. Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech are all at home watching Indiana, Oregon, Ole Miss and Miami play for the NC

Plenty of Texas kids on those rosters.

 

[GriznMN]

Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana have the most on NFL rosters. It might be the Nick Saban effect. Will be interesting to see if that changes now that Nick Saban isn't at Alabama and Curt Cignetti is at Indiana.

 

[5280Griz]

Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana have the most on NFL rosters. It might be the Nick Saban effect. Will be interesting to see if that changes now that Nick Saban isn't at Alabama and Curt Cignetti is at Indiana.

*most per capita. Texas, Florida, California and Georgia have the most total numbers wise.

 

[5280Griz]

Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana have the most on NFL rosters. It might be the Nick Saban effect. Will be interesting to see if that changes now that Nick Saban isn't at Alabama and Curt Cignetti is at Indiana.

It could have something to do with Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana all being among the poorest and least educated states. More people from those states might view the NFL as their only option of achieving success, whereas people from a state that ranks highly in wealth and education such as Minnesota are more likely to see other opportunities for success outside of the NFL.

 

[alabamagrizzly]

It could have something to do with Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana all being among the poorest and least educated states. More people from those states might view the NFL as their only option of achieving success, whereas people from a state that ranks highly in wealth and education such as Minnesota are more likely to see other opportunities for success outside of the NFL.

So you're saying rich kids in Minnesota don't wanna play professional sports? Intresting. I get it though, the Viqueens are their shinning example. Loved the Justin Jefferson sleep commercial last night while the Pack and Bears were playing playoff football.

 

[5280Griz]

So you're saying rich kids in Minnesota don't wanna play professional sports? Intresting. I get it though, the Viqueens are their shinning example. Loved the Justin Jefferson sleep commercial last night while the Pack and Bears were playing playoff football.

Definitely not the case with all professional sports if you include hockey but youth hockey also costs a lot of money.

 

[alabamagrizzly]

Definitely not the case with all professional sports if you include hockey but youth hockey also costs a lot of money.

So you're saying rich kids save their parents money buy not playing youth sports, keeping them rich while poor kids in the south keep their parents poor by playing youth sports? Im just trying to understand your logic in saying that rich kids in the smarter states don't care to play professional sports cus they don't have to while it appears its the only way to success for the poor dumb kids in the south.

 

[5280Griz]

So you're saying rich kids save their parents money buy not playing youth sports, keeping them rich while poor kids in the south keep their parents poor by playing youth sports? Im just trying to understand your logic in saying that rich kids in the smarter states don't care to play professional sports cus they don't have to while it appears its the only way to success for the poor dumb kids in the south.

That’s an over generalization to apply it toward everyone in the south. My theory is that people who did not have anyone outside of school that went to college in their lives during childhood are more likely to view the NFL as their best chance at success in the world and put more effort into football. There happens to be a higher proportion of people in that situation from those 3 southern states but it definitely does not apply to everyone. There are a lot of colleges and college grads in all states including the South. Those 3 just happen to have a lower proportion when compared to other states.

 

[alabamagrizzly]

That’s an over generalization to apply it toward everyone in the south. My theory is that people who did not have anyone outside of school that went to college in their lives during childhood are more likely to view the NFL as their best chance at success in the world and put more effort into football. There happens to be a higher proportion of people in that situation from those 3 southern states but it definitely does not apply to everyone. There are a lot of colleges and college grads in all states including the South. Those 3 just happen to have a lower proportion when compared to other states.

Well my theory is that every kid thats good at sports, wants to be a professional athlete, no matter their economic background. As you stated earlier youth sports are expensive and poor kids are LESS likely to get that shot. Now I'm sure I'm gonna get called a racist for this and thats fine cus they don't know me but I'm gonna go out on a limb and say more athletes come from the south because there is a higher ratio of African American athletes in the south and African Americans are typically more athletic then caucasians. But if you wanna call southerners dumb and poor, you might be careful with that cus some might think you're implying something without saying it.

 

[5280Griz]

Well my theory is that every kid thats good at sports, wants to be a professional athlete, no matter their economic background. As you stated earlier youth sports are expensive and poor kids are LESS likely to get that shot. Now I'm sure I'm gonna get called a racist for this and thats fine cus they don't know me but I'm gonna go out on a limb and say more athletes come from the south because there is a higher ratio of African American athletes in the south and African Americans are typically more athletic then caucasians. But if you wanna call southerners dumb and poor, you might be careful with that cus some might think you're implying something without saying it.

That wasn’t my intention but I see how it could have come off like that.

 

[GriznMN]

Well my theory is that every kid thats good at sports, wants to be a professional athlete, no matter their economic background. As you stated earlier youth sports are expensive and poor kids are LESS likely to get that shot. Now I'm sure I'm gonna get called a racist for this and thats fine cus they don't know me but I'm gonna go out on a limb and say more athletes come from the south because there is a higher ratio of African American athletes in the south and African Americans are typically more athletic then caucasians. But if you wanna call southerners dumb and poor, you might be careful with that cus some might think you're implying something without saying it.

Is high school football in Alabama as big as high school football in Texas? Do they get 15K to 20K for a regular high school football game in Alabama? Do teams field 300 kids?

 

[5280Griz]

Well my theory is that every kid thats good at sports, wants to be a professional athlete, no matter their economic background. As you stated earlier youth sports are expensive and poor kids are LESS likely to get that shot. Now I'm sure I'm gonna get called a racist for this and thats fine cus they don't know me but I'm gonna go out on a limb and say more athletes come from the south because there is a higher ratio of African American athletes in the south and African Americans are typically more athletic then caucasians. But if you wanna call southerners dumb and poor, you might be careful with that cus some might think you're implying something without saying it.

Football also does not cost that much to play and be able to make it to the next level compared to other sports. Sure you can spend money on football with 7 on 7, camps etc… but you can make it to the college level by just playing high school football. Using Craig Ochs’ high school as an example, it costs $185 to play football for one season and this can be waived for families that cannot afford it. Fairview does not have a hockey team so to play competitive hockey and be able to make it to the next level, someone would need to play on a club hockey team that costs $5,000-$10,000 a year. Basketball, baseball and soccer all have school teams but to be able to make it to the next level participating in expensive club teams is almost a necessity atleast here in Colorado.

 

[alabamagrizzly]

Is high school football in Alabama as big as high school football in Texas? Do they get 15K to 20K for a regular high school football game in Alabama? Do teams field 300 kids?

High school football is big here but we definitely don't have the financial support that a lot of Texas high schools and their oil money have. Hoover is probably our most notable team with often times being ranked in the USA Top 25 for high schools. The 7a playoff games will have 10-20 k show up but those games are typically played at the college stadium in either Mobile or Birmingham. Theres a couple high school stadiums that seat 10 k but for the most part, they're all typical high school stadiums not much bigger than what Missoula Big Sky has. 1A is the lowest classification we have with some high schools only having 100 people. I blow most peoples minds down here when i tell em about 6 man football. Theres a small handful of schools that have several hundred try out and Hoover often has over 100 per class but they have close to 3 k in students. My daughter's high school, which is 6A and has about 1,500 students, seats about 5 k. We normally suck though except about every 10 years.

 

[alabamagrizzly]

Football also does not cost that much to play and be able to make it to the next level compared to other sports. Sure you can spend money on football with 7 on 7, camps etc… but you can make it to the college level by just playing high school football. Using Craig Ochs’ high school as an example, it costs $185 to play football for one season and this can be waived for families that cannot afford it. Fairview does not have a hockey team so to play competitive hockey and be able to make it to the next level, someone would need to play on a club hockey team that costs $5,000-$10,000 a year. Basketball, baseball and soccer all have school teams but to be able to make it to the next level participating in expensive club teams is almost a necessity atleast here in Colorado.

I believe most athletic fees are dictated by the county but im not sure on that. Yes, in Alabama, football is very cheap but other sports like baseball and softball cost a lot more if the kids plan on playing for club teams. A co worker once told me they moved to Alabama from South Carolina just because of how much SC schools charged them for their daughter to play softball. She said they had to pay $1500 there and here they paid $150. There they had to buy almost everything and here the school supplied a lot of what SC was making them pay for.

 

[5280Griz]

I believe most athletic fees are dictated by the county but im not sure on that. Yes, in Alabama, football is very cheap but other sports like baseball and softball cost a lot more if the kids plan on playing for club teams. A co worker once told me they moved to Alabama from South Carolina just because of how much SC schools charged them for their daughter to play softball. She said they had to pay $1500 there and here they paid $150. There they had to buy almost everything and here the school supplied a lot of what SC was making them pay for.

Yeah I can’t speak for other states or possibly even other counties but football is a lot less expensive in Boulder and Jefferson Counties in Colorado for being able to play the sport at the next level because you can get to the next level without playing on club teams which is more or less necessary for other sports to make it to the college level.

 

[GrizinTN]

I think it’s more so that these Texas kids are playing the highest level of high school football. They’re on par with professional level facilities and treatment.

They all think they’re FBS talent.

So when they get passed up they go to the Montanas. The next best thing. As soon as their talent does show and they get offered they move to FBS because that is their expectation all along.

Friends with a couple college coaches here in the South and across the board they all say the most well developed HS kids in America come from TX and GA. They say, however, the most talented come from FL and LA.