Breaking Down the GT 2012 Recruiting Class

Interesting thoughts from various sources about our 2012 class:

1. Relationships

From what CPJ said in his post signing presser, you can tell GT gained a lot from keeping relationships going...even after decades. Four recruits in particular were the product of having relationships (Francis Kallon, Justin Thomas, Adam Gotsis, and Beau Hankins).

-Francis Kallon: Not surprisingly, Francis's recruitment really heated up towards the end to where he was probably one of the more highly recruited guys in Georgia. Because of the relationship our staff had with Francis and his parents (who valued a GT education), GT was never really threatened with a de-commitment despite what has written. Also, it was the staffs' ability to get in front of everyone during the spring when Francis had no experience that really set GT apart. It sounded like no matter who walked through the Kallon door, the Kallon parents pretty much said "Francis is going to GT...end of story."

-Justin Thomas: Even though JT committed to 'Bama last summer, the staff felt like he probably wouldn't end up there. They kept the lines open with JT even though he was committed, and when it became apparent 'Bama was going to do a "bait and switch", GT took advantage of it. Despite reports, the staff was told by Justin and his family that they wanted to join GT well before it was published...they just wanted to do it during a "dead period" as to not get any negative craziness by 'Bama fans.

-Adam Gotsis: If you don't know the story about how we found him, the gist of it is Adam's coach in Australia was a former CPJ player in Hawaii. Well, decades ago, Adam's coach wanted to play football. Seeing as how he wasn't ready at that time, CPJ found him a spot to develop his skills at a Mississippi JC and eventually make his way to play at Hawaii. Well, fast forward to today, the gratefulness that guy had for how CPJ treated him then was paid back by letting CPJ know he had a great prospect in Adam. Cool story, and it shows you how if you treat someone the right way, how those relationships end up helping you down the road. Being the Australian national coach, expect that relationship to payoff dividends in the future as well. BTW, CPJ thinks Adam would have been one of the better DL prospects in the nation had he played here and was exposed to the "services".

-Beau Hankins: From what CPJ said, Beau was actually recruiting GT more than we were recruiting him. Another case of keeping the lines open, and respecting a recruit at a time we might not be able to take him, but we didn't dismiss him like other schools did. A REALLY good pick-up for a guy that came in the last two weeks.

-Not to get too much into it, but everyone knows about the Michael Summers situation. But CPJ's long time relationship with MS's family actually yielded two recruits for GT: Michael and Freddie Burden!

2. A Different Mindset

If there's a "recruiting market" that sounds like GT can take advantage of, it's the International Recruit market. What I mean is, hearing CPJ talk about recruiting guys like Francis Kallon and Adam Gotsis, it sounds like they were more thankful and gratified that GT was recruiting them than being entitled to getting recruited by GT. Kids not raised in America understand that getting an all expenses paid education at an elite school like GT is a privilege, and not a right, so when the opportunity presents itself, they take advantage of it...this is where GT's academic reputation gives us an advantage over schools like 'Bama and UGA.

3. Much Ado About Nothing

CPJ once again talked about his recruiting policy. Despite the big misunderstanding about what it really is, CPJ basically laid it out to a "T". CPJ encourages kids to take visits, and he even lets them take visits if they are committed. He says that our commits call him all the time to see if it's alright to visit other schools. He'll tell the commits it's OK to visit, and we'll hold their scholarship offer until date XYZ...after that, GT has to find another guy just in case. Fair enough? I definitely think it is. Also, he said that he talks to other coaches all the time about how they handle it, and basically 90% of the coaches he talks to actually has the same policy. Basically: "If you're looking, we're looking".

4. They All Get a Shot

When GT recruits a kid at a certain position, the coaches give them every shot to win the job. Unlike other schools who pay lip service to position promises, CPJ said that "If we promise a kid a shot at a position, we're obligated to let them try to earn playing time there" That was actually in response to the QBs, but you can tell he meant that for all the recruits. He also said that they usually don't have to talk kids into changing positions because they usually know it may be in their best interest to move to other spots if they want to see the field.

5. About Recruiting Defensive Linemen...

One of the biggest obstacles for GT is that it's usually REALLY hard to find good DLs...and even harder to find good DLs with the grades to get into GT. The ones that do qualify EVERYONE fights over so of all the positions, this one is by far the hardest to recruit.

6. The Best Looking Group

Despite the youth and lack of experience of the receiving corp., CPJ feels this may actually be our most talented position. He's REALLY high on Darren Waller and Jeff Greene. He also thinks Travin Henry will be a great player for us. Reading between the lines, it sounds like the staff "sandbagged" the kid because they knew of him for a long time, but didn't want to let it get out to other schools what kind of player he was. This is one case where a recruit being in podunk town really worked in our favor.

7. Looking Forward

CPJ says that next year will be an extremely good year for recruits in Georgia, and he wasn't going to take a kid just to take a kid because he wanted some extra schollys to take advantage of it. It sounds like we don't have many schollys to give next year, so every one we give out will have to be to a good player.

8. And in Conclusion

Not really a tidbit, but just a few personal thoughts (feel free to skip it if you've made it this far...)

-I REALLY like this class despite a few last minute losses, and a big one that got away to the "dark side". From our top recruits, to the guys we brought in at the last minute, there really isn't as big a talent disparity as the other classes CPJ signed. When your last guy to "make numbers" is a Beau Hankins, that's pretty darn good. That guy was 6A player of the year in Alabama, a 4.0 student, prototypical ILB size, and he recruited us!

-The only area I would give this class a negative on is the lack of a "special" playmaker that can contribute as freshmen, and carry one side of the ball after that. I think Kallon will be special, but he still needs time to develop...the same with Justin Thomas.

-I wrote this in another thread, but I really like the DLs we signed. Roderick Chungong, Francis Kallon, Adam Gotsis, and Pat Gamble are going to very good for GT one day, and they complement the LB class we signed last year perfectly. I'm really excited to see them develop and contribute to our D.

-Overall I probably give this class a B-, but that's only because I think we could have done better in-state and with a few more "elite" guys to compliment a solid to really good class.