for their recruiting strategy the last few weeks. I consider myself middle of the road when it comes to complaining vs. worshiping the coaches, but they have really put together a fine class, especially at the two biggest positions of need.
The biggest knock on Kyle has been his rigidness/lack of flexibility. Three weeks ago, Utah was in a situation where they were losing Cedric Poutasi, and had no new OTs coming in with this recruiting class, having signed only one in 2014 as well (Jackson Barton).
Since then, Utah coaches have really circled the wagons, and landed Capra and Dixon Jr., two guys who are 6'5'' or over and athletic. They also appear to be the leaders for Darrin Paulo, who also has elite size and as impressive of an offer list as I have ever seen for a Utah recruit. Kyle went out and stole a California kid from Cal. In order to get the numbers right, Utah has had to suggest that three recruits look elsewhere, which is never easy and ends up hurting feelings. They also convinced a great kid in Jake Grant to delay enrollment to make the scholie numbers work.
Utah is employing a similar strategy with WRs, the other position of greatest need in my opinion. A few weeks ago Utah had a few weaker prospects committed, and the best of the bunch (George Wilson and Chris Barr) were on the verge of decommitting. Since then, Utah appears to have firmed up Chris Barr and George Wilson, upgraded from Justice Murphy, signed an instant impact JC guy, and is the leader for St. Brown and potentially Hawkins (may not be a WR) and have a 50/50 shot at Covey. Similar to OT, this has required scholarship shuffling, asking a few commits to greyshirt or look elsewhere, yet appears to have paid off.
Overall, Utah has shuffled out their weakest 5 prospects and gotten commitments from guys who are at the top of the commit list in terms of talent, all of this while missing three coaches, (although the blame for this lies on Kyle's shoulders).
Well done coaches.
The biggest knock on Kyle has been his rigidness/lack of flexibility. Three weeks ago, Utah was in a situation where they were losing Cedric Poutasi, and had no new OTs coming in with this recruiting class, having signed only one in 2014 as well (Jackson Barton).
Since then, Utah coaches have really circled the wagons, and landed Capra and Dixon Jr., two guys who are 6'5'' or over and athletic. They also appear to be the leaders for Darrin Paulo, who also has elite size and as impressive of an offer list as I have ever seen for a Utah recruit. Kyle went out and stole a California kid from Cal. In order to get the numbers right, Utah has had to suggest that three recruits look elsewhere, which is never easy and ends up hurting feelings. They also convinced a great kid in Jake Grant to delay enrollment to make the scholie numbers work.
Utah is employing a similar strategy with WRs, the other position of greatest need in my opinion. A few weeks ago Utah had a few weaker prospects committed, and the best of the bunch (George Wilson and Chris Barr) were on the verge of decommitting. Since then, Utah appears to have firmed up Chris Barr and George Wilson, upgraded from Justice Murphy, signed an instant impact JC guy, and is the leader for St. Brown and potentially Hawkins (may not be a WR) and have a 50/50 shot at Covey. Similar to OT, this has required scholarship shuffling, asking a few commits to greyshirt or look elsewhere, yet appears to have paid off.
Overall, Utah has shuffled out their weakest 5 prospects and gotten commitments from guys who are at the top of the commit list in terms of talent, all of this while missing three coaches, (although the blame for this lies on Kyle's shoulders).
Well done coaches.
