East coast recruiting...

[pudgejeff]

My take on the east coast recruiting...If you follow or have followed recruiting you know that we send out feelers to all the top prospects across the country and have for a long time...We just never really got responses and now we are...If you notice it's not a full fledged recruiting battle we're starting out there...We're going after a very strict few top level players who've showed interest in us when we said hey...I think it's a tribute to where this program has risen to and to say that we shouldn't recruit players like the one's we have out there after they show an interest in us is ludicrous...We don't have to get them every year...1 5* from out there every 2 or 3 years is huge if we're only recruiting 5 a year...and once we get one or two ala Chris harper, DT, LMJ, and if we keep rising as a program and playing great like we have they'll start to come in bigger chunks.

[Oregon Ownage]

It takes time to build that rep needed to recruit across the country. Like you said every year if we are able to pull one or two a year from the east then that can only help out. Plus its VERY hard for kids over here on my coast to get a chance to be able to watch a game on T.V. Very rarely is a PAC-10 game on T.V besides the National Broadcasts on ABC and ESPN. Over time and we present ourselves as a team to the WHOLE country then thats when we can see the payoffs.

[Ducks08]

Good posts. I've been surprised at the doom and gloom posts about this and suggestions to just flat out quit east coast recruiting. It takes time to make inroads, which we are currently doing. Many of our fans are so self-absorbed that they see it as we are the only ones that swung and missed. With every high level recruit, there are many programs left holding an empty bag, only one team "wins". And by that logic, the ignore the east logic, we should also ignore the higher level recruits in LA as SC and soon looks to be UCLA will get them all.

I say keep recruiting nationwide. We'll get them, especially if the Ducks keep winning.

[woundedknees]

Great points, guys.

Good Coaches are like good salesmen or prospector's... They can't just sit and wait for the nuggets to walk in the door. It is necessary to get their hands dirty, get out in the world and dig for treasure.

Think about it this way... How many years of searching and how much money, let alone blood, sweat and tears, were expended in the in the search for the Titanic. Everybody knew it was out there. Even the general location was well known. The fact remains, if nobody went looking for it, we would never have seen those haunting photographs... Until somebody else made the effort and got the glory.

That's what the coaches are doing. Searching for the prize, the treasure, the big payoff.

The ease of obtaining information (Good or bad.) makes the process both exciting ang incredibly frustrating for fans like us.

Oregon is climbing the mountain, reaching for the summit for the first time.

It will be a struggle.

You think we are frustrated?

Think how it must feel to be one of the fans of a place like tOSU or Miami, perennial powerhouses who had a death grip on the best recruits and due to that have a sense of 'entitlement', or 'divine right'. They can't even begin to comprehend how a school such as Oregon can have a shot at a kid like Tajh Boyd or Bryce Brown. That's why some of us who prowl the internet saw comments like, 'They had to pay someone off', or 'Uncle Phil bought that guy', when Oregon was able to garner commits from players such as Snoop, or Malik Hairston.

The alternative to taking this rollercoaster ride we call recruiting is... Turn off your computer, and take up a different hobby. If you're not willing or able to do that, prepare yourself for the jubilation and disappointment that is Oregon football's off-season, because you will have plenty of both.

At this table, you don't get dessert until you finish eating your spinach first!

[briarduck]

Very well said by all...

I love our move to national recruiting because once we build these inroads we will be set...because as others have pointed out whether we are recruiting CA, FL, TX, OH ect we don't need to dominate an area all we need to do is pluck a few from each location and we are ahead of where we are now...

I also don't by that DISTANCE is a factor because that exists anywhere out side a few states (ID, WA, OR, NV...), we will always be considered far away!

Good stuff guys!

GO DUCKS!!

[echo31]

We miss on high level West Coast recruits all the time, but for some reason when we miss on a few East Coast recruits, people think it means we should stop recruiting that far away ... how does that make any sense? If we miss out on Adam Hall, should we stop recruiting Arizona? Because that makes as much sense as saying because we missed out on Boyd we should stop recruiting the East Coast. In my opinion, we should recruit any good players that have an interest in our program. Some will sign with us, but even more will sign with someone else. The important thing to remember is that if you don't try, you have absolutely NO chance. I would rather be in the top 3 of a highly rated recruit than to not even be a blip on their radar.

[briarduck]

We miss on high level West Coast recruits all the time, but for some reason when we miss on a few East Coast recruits, people think it means we should stop recruiting that far away ... how does that make any sense? If we miss out on Adam Hall, should we stop recruiting Arizona? Because that makes as much sense as saying because we missed out on Boyd we should stop recruiting the East Coast. In my opinion, we should recruit any good players that have an interest in our program. Some will sign with us, but even more will sign with someone else. The important thing to remember is that if you don't try, you have absolutely NO chance. I would rather be in the top 3 of a highly rated recruit than to not even be a blip on their radar.

Exactly...I think people just like to bitch and not have to work to hard! And why they are not in charge, stress is a buggar!

GO DUCKS!!

[alabamaduck]

As I posted on another thread, I have no doubt our time is coming when it comes to national recruiting. Living in the heart of SEC country for over a decade I've seen people's attitude toward us go from "is Oregon the Ducks or the Beavers" to wanting to talk about DD, the facilities, the uniforms, Nike and everything else. If we can change opinions in SEC country I have no doubt that attitude is changing everywhere.

Go Ducks!

[briarduck]

As I posted on another thread, I have no doubt our time is coming when it comes to national recruiting. Living in the heart of SEC country for over a decade I've seen people's attitude toward us go from "is Oregon the Ducks or the Beavers" to wanting to talk about DD, the facilities, the uniforms, Nike and everything else. If we can change opinions in SEC country I have no doubt that attitude is changing everywhere.

Go Ducks!

That's great to hear, I have a buddy in Miami and he was mentioning a similar report...the times are a changing!

GO DUCKS!!

[duck55]

My son would walk through downtown Charlotte, NC in his Duck gear & people would stop him to discuss the Oregon - Oakie game. They knew who the Ducks were. Kids would tell him how much they loved the unies. I'm thinking it is mostly ignorant,lazy media types who don't know or don't care who we are and confuse us with the little sisters.

[ncduck]

You still in Charlotte Duck55?

[echo31]

You still in Charlotte Duck55?

sorry to be a message board police officer, but this could have been sent as a PM instead of getting the thread off track

[ncduck]

Well excuse me... should that have been a pm too?

[midwestduck82]

There is a bar that I have been going to for the past couple of years to watch games. People there actually talk about the Ducks with some knowledge of what is happening in the program. A lot of people know about the ducks in the midwest since the big ten circuit, DD, and JStew. This is growing and will only get better when the PAC10 starts the SEC circuit. Going into Tennessee in two years and whaling on them in Neyland stadium will definatley catch the eyes of interested recruits. Especially if Kiffin can get things going again. It will get better and we should put our foot in the door right now.

[ncduck]

Everyone I've come across here in Charlotte knows the difference between us and OSU. After we smoked 'em in the civil war that's the first thing people would say to me. So, there is a definite level of awareness here.

Like any marketer knows, that's just the first step of the process.