Maile's "three pillars" recruiting strategy (from the report)

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Maile's "three pillars" recruiting strategy (from the report)

Post by rAggie » January 15th, 2021, 12:59 pm

Aside from all the drama in the report, I wanted to start a separate thread on the -- I believe previously unknown -- meeting between Cockett and Maile where he campaigned for himself and outlined his recruiting strategy of:

1) Polynesians
2) Locals
3) Return missionaries

While these are all key building blocks of a successful program at Utah State and should always be a focus, to make this a cornerstone of your campaign for candidacy is really short sighted and ineffective, and Pres. Cockett rightfully so would have had concerns about the inclusiveness of this. HE in effect said he was going to make two of the three cornerstones of his program built on racial/cultural factors and religious factors. There's a line between targeting those groups and building a program that works well for those groups and by all accounts here it sounds to me like Frank crossed it.

Seeing the high calibre of student athlete and talent and diversity (in general not racial) of that talent that Blake Anderson is bringing in, I am all the more happy with the decision that Hartwell made.
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Re: Maile's "three pillars" recruiting strategy (from the report)

Post by Sl7vk » January 15th, 2021, 1:48 pm

My goodness. Reading the report validates all my concerns with Frank.
These three pillars are just.... weird. It almost speaks to someone having a very naive world view.
Wow did we dodge a bullet, and again, I couldn't be happier that he's a Bronco now.
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Re: Maile's "three pillars" recruiting strategy (from the report)

Post by BleedAggieBlue0 » January 15th, 2021, 2:01 pm

Maybe I’m remembering wrong... didn’t Gary reference these three pillars all the time during his first stint here? And I remember it being received very well by most usu fans?


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Re: Maile's

Post by ViAggie » January 15th, 2021, 2:05 pm

BleedAggieBlue0 wrote:
January 15th, 2021, 2:01 pm
Maybe I’m remembering wrong... didn’t Gary reference these three pillars all the time during his first stint here? And I remember it being received very well by most usu fans?


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AND to Cocketts point, it didn't work out in the past either. We shouldn't pigeon hole ourselves like that, we should recruit all the best athletes we can regardless of their ethnicity or religious background.


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Re: Maile's "three pillars" recruiting strategy (from the report)

Post by TrueAG » January 15th, 2021, 2:09 pm

1) Polynesians
2) Locals
3) Return missionaries

My 3 pillars are people exactly like me.
Craig Smith's 3 pillars
1) White
2) Bald
3) ADD
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Re: Maile's "three pillars" recruiting strategy (from the report)

Post by ineptimusprime » January 15th, 2021, 2:09 pm

So, plot twist.... Maile is actually the racist and not inclusive of other faiths? :bananafire:
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Re: Maile's "three pillars" recruiting strategy (from the report)

Post by Sl7vk » January 15th, 2021, 2:09 pm

TrueAG wrote:
January 15th, 2021, 2:09 pm
1) Polynesians
2) Locals
3) Return missionaries

My 3 pillars are people exactly like me.
Craig Smith's 3 pillars
1) White
2) Bald
3) ADD
Broc Miller? Check!
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Re: Maile's

Post by Aggiefan160 » January 15th, 2021, 2:13 pm

BleedAggieBlue0 wrote:
January 15th, 2021, 2:01 pm
Maybe I’m remembering wrong... didn’t Gary reference these three pillars all the time during his first stint here? And I remember it being received very well by most usu fans?


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That's the way I remember it. Said we'd build the program around local recruiting, establish a robust RM program, and establish a poly pipeline.

We can be annoyed by the poly pipeline or call it racist now, but everyone celebrated it under Gary 1.0. Perhaps in todays racially charged environment, it should now be worded differently, but I never took it as a racist comment, but perhaps it is. There was a lot of talk during Gary 1.0 about the statistics that Poly's are a lot more likely to play in the NFL than any other race, and on this board people always ragged on Matt Wells and how he was "destroying the poly pipeline"



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Re: Maile's

Post by 3rdGenAggie » January 15th, 2021, 2:13 pm

BleedAggieBlue0 wrote:
January 15th, 2021, 2:01 pm
Maybe I’m remembering wrong... didn’t Gary reference these three pillars all the time during his first stint here? And I remember it being received very well by most usu fans?


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It has been discussed here on the board in recent months, not just when Gary 1.0 was around.

I honestly wouldn't have expected Frank to say anything different. However, Cockett wasn't president when Gary 1.0 was saying these things, and it also hits differently coming from Gary (a white, non-Mormon, Utahn - 1 of the 3 pillars) than from Frank (a polynesian, return missionary from Utah - 3 of the 3 pillars). The report makes me think Frank failed to mention the part that Gary also always did: get skill guys and speed from Florida and Texas.
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Re: Maile's

Post by TrueAG » January 15th, 2021, 2:19 pm

BleedAggieBlue0 wrote:
January 15th, 2021, 2:01 pm
Maybe I’m remembering wrong... didn’t Gary reference these three pillars all the time during his first stint here? And I remember it being received very well by most usu fans?


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That was 11 years ago. A lot has changed in the USU program and the state of college athletics.



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Re: Maile's

Post by aggies22 » January 15th, 2021, 2:41 pm

TrueAG wrote:
January 15th, 2021, 2:19 pm
BleedAggieBlue0 wrote:
January 15th, 2021, 2:01 pm
Maybe I’m remembering wrong... didn’t Gary reference these three pillars all the time during his first stint here? And I remember it being received very well by most usu fans?


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That was 11 years ago. A lot has changed in the USU program and the state of college athletics.
Exactly. The recruiting world alone is an entirely different animal. The game of college football grew and Gary didn't grow with it.



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Re: Maile's "three pillars" recruiting strategy (from the report)

Post by GeoAg » January 15th, 2021, 3:24 pm

While I agree with Noelle's concern about being inclusive on this approach, this is a strange thread for me. Many on this board were complaining that the new Coach A wouldn't have enough of this strategy just a few weeks ago. I heard for years that Matt Wells wasn't doing it as much as people wanted. I feel like I am in the twilight zone.

Those are successful groups of athletes to recruit, but you can't have it just be them.


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Re: Maile's "three pillars" recruiting strategy (from the report)

Post by 2004AG » January 15th, 2021, 3:32 pm

GeoAg wrote:
January 15th, 2021, 3:24 pm
While I agree with Noelle's concern about being inclusive on this approach, this is a strange thread for me. Many on this board were complaining that the new Coach A wouldn't have enough of this strategy just a few weeks ago. I heard for years that Matt Wells wasn't doing it as much as people wanted. I feel like I am in the twilight zone.

Those are successful groups of athletes to recruit, but you can't have it just be them.
I think that's a fair point. I guess it would depend on how Frank sold (framed) his pillars strategy.

The bigger problem is Frank probably should have shown more vision and creativity than to just parrot what Gary 1.0 said.



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Re: Maile's "three pillars" recruiting strategy (from the report)

Post by AgMac » January 15th, 2021, 3:44 pm

GeoAg wrote:
January 15th, 2021, 3:24 pm
While I agree with Noelle's concern about being inclusive on this approach, this is a strange thread for me. Many on this board were complaining that the new Coach A wouldn't have enough of this strategy just a few weeks ago. I heard for years that Matt Wells wasn't doing it as much as people wanted. I feel like I am in the twilight zone.

Those are successful groups of athletes to recruit, but you can't have it just be them.
I agree that it's ironic for people to criticize those pillars when we've largely praised them in the past. But I can also see why those pillars would raise red flags for Cockett, who is apparently conscientious of inclusivity almost to a fault (at least in this case).
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Re: Maile's "three pillars" recruiting strategy (from the report)

Post by aggies22 » January 15th, 2021, 3:48 pm

AgMac wrote:
January 15th, 2021, 3:44 pm
GeoAg wrote:
January 15th, 2021, 3:24 pm
While I agree with Noelle's concern about being inclusive on this approach, this is a strange thread for me. Many on this board were complaining that the new Coach A wouldn't have enough of this strategy just a few weeks ago. I heard for years that Matt Wells wasn't doing it as much as people wanted. I feel like I am in the twilight zone.

Those are successful groups of athletes to recruit, but you can't have it just be them.
I agree that it's ironic for people to criticize those pillars when we've largely praised them in the past. But I can also see why those pillars would raise red flags for Cockett, who is apparently conscientious of inclusivity almost to a fault (at least in this case).
I've been arguing against heavily recruiting Utah for a few years now. Don't abandon the state but don't waste to much time either. Not many, if any, of the top 20 guys are coming here. Something drastic has to change here to change that.



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Re: Maile's

Post by hickaggie » January 15th, 2021, 4:01 pm

ViAggie wrote:
January 15th, 2021, 2:05 pm
BleedAggieBlue0 wrote:
January 15th, 2021, 2:01 pm
Maybe I’m remembering wrong... didn’t Gary reference these three pillars all the time during his first stint here? And I remember it being received very well by most usu fans?


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AND to Cocketts point, it didn't work out in the past either. We shouldn't pigeon hole ourselves like that, we should recruit all the best athletes we can regardless of their ethnicity or religious background.

I think we are being to hard on Maile attacking this philosophy. Those have been the recruitng pillars since Gary 1.0 but that has never prevented both Anderson and Wells from recruiting Texas, Florida, and California hard and I doubt that Maile would have ignored those grounds in favor of lesser local talent. If Gary 2.0 took inferior recruits it was laziness and poor recruting assistants not recruiting philosophy.

Establishing a culture friendly to Polys local recruits, and missionaries and pursuing these recruits is still important. I agree that its a different market and you should always pursue the best talent though with very broad recruiting.

It is water under the bridge though and whatever Maile would have brought to the table, I don't think it can compare to BA. We'll see. Its early but so far my expectations have been exceeded and I think he's bringing a winning team next year if the O-line holds up.
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Re: Maile's "three pillars" recruiting strategy (from the report)

Post by rAggie » January 15th, 2021, 4:14 pm

I’d say there isn’t anything wrong with these being focus areas, but you shouldn’t enshrine that it as your strategy, especially in an interview (or whatever we want to call this meeting).

Here is the correct way to say it:

“I will continue our successful recruitment channels that have been foundational to the program while charging my assistants to continue to identify promising student athletes who want to play the Aggie way, wherever they may be”.

This is the president of the university you’re talking to, have some sense of place.
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Re: Maile's "three pillars" recruiting strategy (from the report)

Post by TrueAG » January 15th, 2021, 4:28 pm

It sounds particularly bad when you are essentially saying that I want to recruit guys that look, think and act like me.



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Re: Maile's "three pillars" recruiting strategy (from the report)

Post by travelingagg » January 15th, 2021, 4:34 pm

rAggie wrote:
January 15th, 2021, 12:59 pm
Aside from all the drama in the report, I wanted to start a separate thread on the -- I believe previously unknown -- meeting between Cockett and Maile where he campaigned for himself and outlined his recruiting strategy of:

1) Polynesians
2) Locals
3) Return missionaries

While these are all key building blocks of a successful program at Utah State and should always be a focus, to make this a cornerstone of your campaign for candidacy is really short sighted and ineffective, and Pres. Cockett rightfully so would have had concerns about the inclusiveness of this. HE in effect said he was going to make two of the three cornerstones of his program built on racial/cultural factors and religious factors. There's a line between targeting those groups and building a program that works well for those groups and by all accounts here it sounds to me like Frank crossed it.

Seeing the high calibre of student athlete and talent and diversity (in general not racial) of that talent that Blake Anderson is bringing in, I am all the more happy with the decision that Hartwell made.
Jesus Christ. Those are terrible, exclusive pillars. Let's take a look at where USU alumni -- currently on NFL rosters -- fall within these pillars:

USU Alumni in the NFL
1) Polynesians
* None

2) Locals
* Tyler Larsen
* Patrick Scales
* Nick Vigil

3) Return missionaries
* None

4) Excluded from the "three pillars"
* Jalen Davis
* Dominik Eberle
* Kyler Fackrell
* Jalen Greene
* Nevin Lawson
* Dallin Leavitt
* Jordan Love
* Darwin Thompson
* Bobby Wagner

I understand that current NFL players are the result of recruiting strategy and efforts from 6-10+ years ago, but the "three pillars" seem to be significantly lacking. And I see the value in finding talented local athletes to play for their home state's land grant, though we don't win many battles over Utah and Byu for the top talent per aggies22's comment. And although I see a lot of Polynesians in the NFL, the best players seem to be recruited by major programs. But looking where some of our best recruits came from is illuminating.

It turns out that being inclusive and recruiting the best talent, regardless of ethnicity, religion, or origin, appears to be the superior strategy. It sounds like that's the approach Anderson will be taking.
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Re: Maile's "three pillars" recruiting strategy (from the report)

Post by Ag1918 » January 15th, 2021, 4:53 pm

travelingagg wrote:
January 15th, 2021, 4:34 pm
rAggie wrote:
January 15th, 2021, 12:59 pm
Aside from all the drama in the report, I wanted to start a separate thread on the -- I believe previously unknown -- meeting between Cockett and Maile where he campaigned for himself and outlined his recruiting strategy of:

1) Polynesians
2) Locals
3) Return missionaries

While these are all key building blocks of a successful program at Utah State and should always be a focus, to make this a cornerstone of your campaign for candidacy is really short sighted and ineffective, and Pres. Cockett rightfully so would have had concerns about the inclusiveness of this. HE in effect said he was going to make two of the three cornerstones of his program built on racial/cultural factors and religious factors. There's a line between targeting those groups and building a program that works well for those groups and by all accounts here it sounds to me like Frank crossed it.

Seeing the high calibre of student athlete and talent and diversity (in general not racial) of that talent that Blake Anderson is bringing in, I am all the more happy with the decision that Hartwell made.
Jesus Christ. Those are terrible, exclusive pillars. Let's take a look at where USU alumni -- currently on NFL rosters -- fall within these pillars:

USU Alumni in the NFL
1) Polynesians
* None

2) Locals
* Tyler Larsen
* Patrick Scales
* Nick Vigil

3) Return missionaries
* None

4) Excluded from the "three pillars"
* Jalen Davis
* Dominik Eberle
* Kyler Fackrell
* Jalen Greene
* Nevin Lawson
* Dallin Leavitt
* Jordan Love
* Darwin Thompson
* Bobby Wagner

I understand that current NFL players are the result of recruiting strategy and efforts from 6-10+ years ago, but the "three pillars" seem to be significantly lacking. And I see the value in finding talented local athletes to play for their home state's land grant, though we don't win many battles over Utah and Byu for the top talent per aggies22's comment. And although I see a lot of Polynesians in the NFL, the best players seem to be recruited by major programs. But looking where some of our best recruits came from is illuminating.

It turns out that being inclusive and recruiting the best talent, regardless of ethnicity, religion, or origin, appears to be the superior strategy. It sounds like that's the approach Anderson will be taking.
It would be interesting to look back at the last 25 years of Aggie history and see how many of each of the three pillars were on the teams separating winning years and losing years. Please, someone take on the project.



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Re: Maile's "three pillars" recruiting strategy (from the report)

Post by BleedAggieBlue0 » January 15th, 2021, 4:54 pm

ViAggie wrote:
BleedAggieBlue0 wrote:
January 15th, 2021, 2:01 pm
Maybe I’m remembering wrong... didn’t Gary reference these three pillars all the time during his first stint here? And I remember it being received very well by most usu fans?


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AND to Cocketts point, it didn't work out in the past either. We shouldn't pigeon hole ourselves like that, we should recruit all the best athletes we can regardless of their ethnicity or religious background.
Agreed. I never said I thought it was a great plan. It’s just funny to see the same idiots here hating Frank for it when they applauded Gary for the same three pillars. In nearly every coaching search we’ve had since Gary, football or basketball, fans on this forum have specifically mentioned the importance of following that strategy. That was the only point of my post.


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Re: Maile's "three pillars" recruiting strategy (from the report)

Post by Harcher » January 15th, 2021, 4:55 pm

The bad news is you don’t have to go back 25 years to check the “winning years”
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Re: Maile's "three pillars" recruiting strategy (from the report)

Post by Harcher » January 15th, 2021, 5:01 pm

Is it clear to all that
— you could win a few recruiting battles with a few kids who had emotion/social connections here (poly, rm, local).
— that you can’t live on those three alone
— those three connect the fan base to team a little bit.

So ya, it can be an element of your strategy, not the entire strategy. This is what I understood ga1.0 to be.



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Re: Maile's "three pillars" recruiting strategy (from the report)

Post by Aggie84025 » January 15th, 2021, 5:07 pm

Harcher wrote:
January 15th, 2021, 5:01 pm
Is it clear to all that
— you could win a few recruiting battles with a few kids who had emotion/social connections here (poly, rm, local).
— that you can’t live on those three alone
— those three connect the fan base to team a little bit.

So ya, it can be an element of your strategy, not the entire strategy. This is what I understood ga1.0 to be.
I agree, it should still still be a part of your recruiting strategy, but not your overall selling point. It is always good to recruit some local kids. RM's are nice to recruit, especially at the O line and D line positions where they can develop for 2 years before playing. It is great to get some polynesians as well. That being said the above mentioned should probably only account for ~25% of your recruiting. The rest of the recruiting is focusing on the best players at the positions of most need.



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Re: Maile's "three pillars" recruiting strategy (from the report)

Post by Zaggie07 » January 15th, 2021, 5:20 pm

aggies22 wrote:
AgMac wrote:
January 15th, 2021, 3:44 pm
GeoAg wrote:
January 15th, 2021, 3:24 pm
While I agree with Noelle's concern about being inclusive on this approach, this is a strange thread for me. Many on this board were complaining that the new Coach A wouldn't have enough of this strategy just a few weeks ago. I heard for years that Matt Wells wasn't doing it as much as people wanted. I feel like I am in the twilight zone.

Those are successful groups of athletes to recruit, but you can't have it just be them.
I agree that it's ironic for people to criticize those pillars when we've largely praised them in the past. But I can also see why those pillars would raise red flags for Cockett, who is apparently conscientious of inclusivity almost to a fault (at least in this case).
I've been arguing against heavily recruiting Utah for a few years now. Don't abandon the state but don't waste to much time either. Not many, if any, of the top 20 guys are coming here. Something drastic has to change here to change that.
I want to preface my comment with a disclaimer that I really don't know much about recruiting practices or strategy, so my thoughts should be taken more as questions than any firm position or anything particularly well thought out.

It seems to me that the cost of recruiting Utah is pretty low all around, especially compared to many alternatives. That should allow us to get more players into our recruiting "funnel" (I work in marketing/sales, so I'm kind of thinking of it in that context). How many players at any given time are we recruiting, and how many are from Utah?

I would absolutely contact all of the top Utah players but I wouldn't waste time if there is clearly low interest. We may not get many or any of the top 10 or 20 players, and perhaps most of our top targets won't be from Utah, but I think we should still work to get as many Utah players after the top 20 at least for depth and maybe just as PWOs or WOs. As I recall, Gary had some connections at Juan Diego and we got some good players from there. Wasn't Zach Vigil also a PWO?

I realize at that point they may be deciding between a scholarship at Weber, SUU, and soon Dixie or whatever it will be called. We should be in a position to win those. That's what I want. I want those players to come to USU because we identified them, recruited them, and even though they may not get a scholarship initially they can see the opportunity to develop and play and maybe earn one. I want some buzz in the halls of the high schools that USU is recruiting. That pays future dividends.

I don't know how many Division I players are in Utah each year (both initially and those who eventually end up DI), but even if we can't get the top players (right now) I want a good share of all Utah DI players. If they are DI players they should hear from us, and if we have a need at their position they should have some type of offer (actionable, conditional, PWO). Am I completely wrong about any of this? (note, I prefaced that I know little so I could be wrong)

I am excited about getting the best players we can, regardless of where they are from.

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Re: Maile's

Post by Aggie84025 » January 15th, 2021, 5:53 pm

Zaggie07 wrote:
January 15th, 2021, 5:20 pm
aggies22 wrote:
AgMac wrote:
January 15th, 2021, 3:44 pm
GeoAg wrote:
January 15th, 2021, 3:24 pm
While I agree with Noelle's concern about being inclusive on this approach, this is a strange thread for me. Many on this board were complaining that the new Coach A wouldn't have enough of this strategy just a few weeks ago. I heard for years that Matt Wells wasn't doing it as much as people wanted. I feel like I am in the twilight zone.

Those are successful groups of athletes to recruit, but you can't have it just be them.
I agree that it's ironic for people to criticize those pillars when we've largely praised them in the past. But I can also see why those pillars would raise red flags for Cockett, who is apparently conscientious of inclusivity almost to a fault (at least in this case).
I've been arguing against heavily recruiting Utah for a few years now. Don't abandon the state but don't waste to much time either. Not many, if any, of the top 20 guys are coming here. Something drastic has to change here to change that.
I want to preface my comment with a disclaimer that I really don't know much about recruiting practices or strategy, so my thoughts should be taken more as questions than any firm position or anything particularly well thought out.

It seems to me that the cost of recruiting Utah is pretty low all around, especially compared to many alternatives. That should allow us to get more players into our recruiting "funnel" (I work in marketing/sales, so I'm kind of thinking of it in that context). How many players at any given time are we recruiting, and how many are from Utah?

I would absolutely contact all of the top Utah players but I wouldn't waste time if there is clearly low interest. We may not get many or any of the top 10 or 20 players, and perhaps most of our top targets won't be from Utah, but I think we should still work to get as many Utah players after the top 20 at least for depth and maybe just as PWOs or WOs. As I recall, Gary had some connections at Juan Diego and we got some good players from there. Wasn't Zach Vigil also a PWO?

I realize at that point they may be deciding between a scholarship at Weber, SUU, and soon Dixie or whatever it will be called. We should be in a position to win those. That's what I want. I want those players to come to USU because we identified them, recruited them, and even though they may not get a scholarship initially they can see the opportunity to develop and play and maybe earn one. I want some buzz in the halls of the high schools that USU is recruiting. That pays future dividends.

I don't know how many Division I players are in Utah each year (both initially and those who eventually end up DI), but even if we can't get the top players (right now) I want a good share of all Utah DI players. If they are DI players they should hear from us, and if we have a need at their position they should have some type of offer (actionable, conditional, PWO). Am I completely wrong about any of this? (note, I prefaced that I know little so I could be wrong)

I am excited about getting the best players we can, regardless of where they are from.

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In addition the cost of a scholarship for Utah kid is a lot cheaper for the first year since you don't have to pay out of state tuition.



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Re: Maile's "three pillars" recruiting strategy (from the report)

Post by CaptainChaos » January 15th, 2021, 6:07 pm

GeoAg wrote:While I agree with Noelle's concern about being inclusive on this approach, this is a strange thread for me. Many on this board were complaining that the new Coach A wouldn't have enough of this strategy just a few weeks ago. I heard for years that Matt Wells wasn't doing it as much as people wanted. I feel like I am in the twilight zone.

Those are successful groups of athletes to recruit, but you can't have it just be them.
I think you summed it up in the last sentence.


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Re: Maile's "three pillars" recruiting strategy (from the report)

Post by ususports » January 15th, 2021, 7:37 pm

travelingagg wrote:
January 15th, 2021, 4:34 pm
Jesus Christ.
Do you think he frequents this board?
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Re: Maile's "three pillars" recruiting strategy (from the report)

Post by CanofShiz » January 15th, 2021, 8:09 pm

ususports wrote:
January 15th, 2021, 7:37 pm
travelingagg wrote:
January 15th, 2021, 4:34 pm
Jesus Christ.
Do you think he frequents this board?
If he does he is to big of a pussy to post.



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Re: Maile's "three pillars" recruiting strategy (from the report)

Post by aggies22 » January 15th, 2021, 8:30 pm

Ag1918 wrote:
January 15th, 2021, 4:53 pm
travelingagg wrote:
January 15th, 2021, 4:34 pm
rAggie wrote:
January 15th, 2021, 12:59 pm
Aside from all the drama in the report, I wanted to start a separate thread on the -- I believe previously unknown -- meeting between Cockett and Maile where he campaigned for himself and outlined his recruiting strategy of:

1) Polynesians
2) Locals
3) Return missionaries

While these are all key building blocks of a successful program at Utah State and should always be a focus, to make this a cornerstone of your campaign for candidacy is really short sighted and ineffective, and Pres. Cockett rightfully so would have had concerns about the inclusiveness of this. HE in effect said he was going to make two of the three cornerstones of his program built on racial/cultural factors and religious factors. There's a line between targeting those groups and building a program that works well for those groups and by all accounts here it sounds to me like Frank crossed it.

Seeing the high calibre of student athlete and talent and diversity (in general not racial) of that talent that Blake Anderson is bringing in, I am all the more happy with the decision that Hartwell made.
Jesus Christ. Those are terrible, exclusive pillars. Let's take a look at where USU alumni -- currently on NFL rosters -- fall within these pillars:

USU Alumni in the NFL
1) Polynesians
* None

2) Locals
* Tyler Larsen
* Patrick Scales
* Nick Vigil

3) Return missionaries
* None

4) Excluded from the "three pillars"
* Jalen Davis
* Dominik Eberle
* Kyler Fackrell
* Jalen Greene
* Nevin Lawson
* Dallin Leavitt
* Jordan Love
* Darwin Thompson
* Bobby Wagner

I understand that current NFL players are the result of recruiting strategy and efforts from 6-10+ years ago, but the "three pillars" seem to be significantly lacking. And I see the value in finding talented local athletes to play for their home state's land grant, though we don't win many battles over Utah and Byu for the top talent per aggies22's comment. And although I see a lot of Polynesians in the NFL, the best players seem to be recruited by major programs. But looking where some of our best recruits came from is illuminating.

It turns out that being inclusive and recruiting the best talent, regardless of ethnicity, religion, or origin, appears to be the superior strategy. It sounds like that's the approach Anderson will be taking.
It would be interesting to look back at the last 25 years of Aggie history and see how many of each of the three pillars were on the teams separating winning years and losing years. Please, someone take on the project.
You will find that the Coach sold out by heavily recruiting JuCo guys that helped mask poor recruiting and player development. This goes for Charlie, John L., and Gary.
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Re: Maile's "three pillars" recruiting strategy (from the report)

Post by Aggieboy14 » January 15th, 2021, 8:37 pm

Gary 1.0 had a very specifc plan that was successful, which I think Matt kinda followed to and I think Frank intended to follow as well. I am not sure Frank got the total concept or at least he didnt present it as I think Gary 1.0 used it. Gary wanted about 25ish Polynesians, same with Utah kids, and you have to understand and use, take advantage of the missionary program. But thats NOT all of it, just three peices of a broader spectrum. Not sure if Frank just focused on those three, sounds like he did.



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Re: Maile's "three pillars" recruiting strategy (from the report)

Post by MWCFAN12 » January 15th, 2021, 8:48 pm

aggies22 wrote:
January 15th, 2021, 8:30 pm
Ag1918 wrote:
January 15th, 2021, 4:53 pm
travelingagg wrote:
January 15th, 2021, 4:34 pm
rAggie wrote:
January 15th, 2021, 12:59 pm
Aside from all the drama in the report, I wanted to start a separate thread on the -- I believe previously unknown -- meeting between Cockett and Maile where he campaigned for himself and outlined his recruiting strategy of:

1) Polynesians
2) Locals
3) Return missionaries

While these are all key building blocks of a successful program at Utah State and should always be a focus, to make this a cornerstone of your campaign for candidacy is really short sighted and ineffective, and Pres. Cockett rightfully so would have had concerns about the inclusiveness of this. HE in effect said he was going to make two of the three cornerstones of his program built on racial/cultural factors and religious factors. There's a line between targeting those groups and building a program that works well for those groups and by all accounts here it sounds to me like Frank crossed it.

Seeing the high calibre of student athlete and talent and diversity (in general not racial) of that talent that Blake Anderson is bringing in, I am all the more happy with the decision that Hartwell made.
Jesus Christ. Those are terrible, exclusive pillars. Let's take a look at where USU alumni -- currently on NFL rosters -- fall within these pillars:

USU Alumni in the NFL
1) Polynesians
* None

2) Locals
* Tyler Larsen
* Patrick Scales
* Nick Vigil

3) Return missionaries
* None

4) Excluded from the "three pillars"
* Jalen Davis
* Dominik Eberle
* Kyler Fackrell
* Jalen Greene
* Nevin Lawson
* Dallin Leavitt
* Jordan Love
* Darwin Thompson
* Bobby Wagner

I understand that current NFL players are the result of recruiting strategy and efforts from 6-10+ years ago, but the "three pillars" seem to be significantly lacking. And I see the value in finding talented local athletes to play for their home state's land grant, though we don't win many battles over Utah and Byu for the top talent per aggies22's comment. And although I see a lot of Polynesians in the NFL, the best players seem to be recruited by major programs. But looking where some of our best recruits came from is illuminating.

It turns out that being inclusive and recruiting the best talent, regardless of ethnicity, religion, or origin, appears to be the superior strategy. It sounds like that's the approach Anderson will be taking.
It would be interesting to look back at the last 25 years of Aggie history and see how many of each of the three pillars were on the teams separating winning years and losing years. Please, someone take on the project.
You will find that the Coach sold out by heavily recruiting JuCo guys that helped mask poor recruiting and player development. This goes for Charlie, John L., and Gary.
It is crazy to me how much recruiting has change in the last 10 and 20 years.

20 years ago we had a very small footprint in recruitment. And there were only 20 - 30 teams that truly recruited nationally.

10 years ago we had a very narrow recruitment strategy.

Now nearly every team in the country looks coast to coast at players.
Recruiting services have changed college football for sure.



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Re: Maile's "three pillars" recruiting strategy (from the report)

Post by aggies22 » January 15th, 2021, 9:00 pm

MWCFAN12 wrote:
January 15th, 2021, 8:48 pm
aggies22 wrote:
January 15th, 2021, 8:30 pm
Ag1918 wrote:
January 15th, 2021, 4:53 pm
travelingagg wrote:
January 15th, 2021, 4:34 pm
rAggie wrote:
January 15th, 2021, 12:59 pm
Aside from all the drama in the report, I wanted to start a separate thread on the -- I believe previously unknown -- meeting between Cockett and Maile where he campaigned for himself and outlined his recruiting strategy of:

1) Polynesians
2) Locals
3) Return missionaries

While these are all key building blocks of a successful program at Utah State and should always be a focus, to make this a cornerstone of your campaign for candidacy is really short sighted and ineffective, and Pres. Cockett rightfully so would have had concerns about the inclusiveness of this. HE in effect said he was going to make two of the three cornerstones of his program built on racial/cultural factors and religious factors. There's a line between targeting those groups and building a program that works well for those groups and by all accounts here it sounds to me like Frank crossed it.

Seeing the high calibre of student athlete and talent and diversity (in general not racial) of that talent that Blake Anderson is bringing in, I am all the more happy with the decision that Hartwell made.
Jesus Christ. Those are terrible, exclusive pillars. Let's take a look at where USU alumni -- currently on NFL rosters -- fall within these pillars:

USU Alumni in the NFL
1) Polynesians
* None

2) Locals
* Tyler Larsen
* Patrick Scales
* Nick Vigil

3) Return missionaries
* None

4) Excluded from the "three pillars"
* Jalen Davis
* Dominik Eberle
* Kyler Fackrell
* Jalen Greene
* Nevin Lawson
* Dallin Leavitt
* Jordan Love
* Darwin Thompson
* Bobby Wagner

I understand that current NFL players are the result of recruiting strategy and efforts from 6-10+ years ago, but the "three pillars" seem to be significantly lacking. And I see the value in finding talented local athletes to play for their home state's land grant, though we don't win many battles over Utah and Byu for the top talent per aggies22's comment. And although I see a lot of Polynesians in the NFL, the best players seem to be recruited by major programs. But looking where some of our best recruits came from is illuminating.

It turns out that being inclusive and recruiting the best talent, regardless of ethnicity, religion, or origin, appears to be the superior strategy. It sounds like that's the approach Anderson will be taking.
It would be interesting to look back at the last 25 years of Aggie history and see how many of each of the three pillars were on the teams separating winning years and losing years. Please, someone take on the project.
You will find that the Coach sold out by heavily recruiting JuCo guys that helped mask poor recruiting and player development. This goes for Charlie, John L., and Gary.
It is crazy to me how much recruiting has change in the last 10 and 20 years.

20 years ago we had a very small footprint in recruitment. And there were only 20 - 30 teams that truly recruited nationally.

10 years ago we had a very narrow recruitment strategy.

Now nearly every team in the country looks coast to coast at players.
Recruiting services have changed college football for sure.
100% correct. Social media and the digital age have played a huge part as well.



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Re: Maile's "three pillars" recruiting strategy (from the report)

Post by BigBlueAggie » January 15th, 2021, 9:55 pm

Dax Raymond is an RM and until this past Sept, was "in" the NFL and then reached an Injury Settlement with the Steelers and was released.

As to the 3 pillars. If that is where a college coach knows he can recruit from, so be it. They should be allowed to recruit from where they have strengths. But I did worry during Gary 1.0 that we tend to finish 4th on those three. With top Polynesians going to P5 Schools, then the U or BYU...then us? And the same for TOP RMs or TOP Utah kids.

So going after tier 4 or 5 Florida/Texas Cally does make sense, just don't ignore the overlooked Local regional kids where we seem to have GREAT success.



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Re: Maile's "three pillars" recruiting strategy (from the report)

Post by Sl7vk » January 15th, 2021, 10:00 pm

Maile’s three pillars were made worse by the fact that he sucked at his own three pillars.

Maile gave up on recruiting a long time ago.
Last edited by Sl7vk on January 15th, 2021, 10:10 pm, edited 1 time in total.



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