More Stupid Pryor Speculation

The Detroit Free Press has attempted an objective look at the four remaining finalists for the Pryor sweepstakes. Interesting considering Michigan probably is not really in the running anymore, but whatever.

Regarding Penn State, the Pros:

• Penn State seems to be Pryor’s father Craig’s top choice.

• Penn State is the closest school to Jeannette, Pa. If Pryor became a Nittany Lion, many of his family, friends and coaches could watch him play.

• Pryor and his advisors seem very impressed with Joe Paterno. The legendary coach personally visited Pryor at school when other schools were oftentimes sending assistants to talk to the five-star recruit.

• With Anthony Morelli graduating, the Nittany Lions have a Michigan-like gap in their depth chart, opening the door for a recruit like Pryor to get an immediate starting job.

Well, I wont totally hate because you nailed the obvious ones like "it is close to home" (although not that close) and "Joe is a great guy", but the last one shows a total lack of knowing what the hell is going on. The depth chart at QB is actually very strong, with two candidates who could end up being very good at what they do. Both have at least two years of eligibility. Now if Pryor is the real deal, at this point, it's not that far fetched for me to believe that he could start his sophomore season, but this year? Probably not.

Back to the story, the cons:

• Penn State runs a rather traditional offense that may not suit an athlete like Pryor as much as other schools’ systems would.

• Penn State’s last No. 1 overall recruit to commit, WR Derrick Williams, has essentially been a bust. There’s been very little development from when he entered college to where he’s at now entering his senior year.

• Pryor has never taken an official visit there, despite living so close to the school.

Spread HD baby! Spread HD! This guy obviously doesn't read blogs. Or look at them: (Glorious Photoshop HT to Nittany Line)



Williams might not have won any Heismans yet, but that doesn't mean he's a total "bust". The guy is a wide receiver, first of all, and played that position during the Morelli era. I also don't see what the development of Williams has to do with the development of a dual threat QB.

Finally, I thought the point of this story was to look at the four schools from Pryor's perspective. How does pointing out his lack of an official visit qualify? If he want to go on another visit (yes, he's been there), he will. He isn't going to cross off Penn State because he didn't take an official, that's backwards logic...

I'm going to once again end a Pryor post with a "what the hell's the point" comment. I guess I just wanted to point out how shitty this story is. The guy did zero research and obviously had a deadline the morning after a long night of drinking. I'm ok with that, of course. I've been there.

Why I Keep Doing This I Don't Know - Pryor

Yesterday, Dennis Dodd wrote a story filled with fluff and nonsense. Grass grew also. I'd love to give you a link but I declared a while back not to link MSM if it is bullshit and everything Dodd writes qualifies under that declaration.

One interesting line from his story:

Reitz also said that if Tom Bradley were named Penn State coach today, Pryor would be headed to Penn State. Bradley, the Lions defensive coordinator, has recruited Pryor intensely but fairly. One thing keeping Pryor from signing with Penn State is the uncertain future of Joe Paterno.

Reitz is Terrelle Pryor's football coach. Shout out to Dodd for telling us his interpretation of the comment instead of simply quoting the guy. No offense, Denis, but I trust your judgment like I trust the guy who told me olestra doesn't give people the shits.

Lets forget this is a Dodd story for a second , assume it is true (big assumption IMO), and figure out what it means.

One: That Penn State is NOT telling recruits that Bradley is the next coach

Some have speculated that this is being said to recruits, maybe it is, but from this non-quote it doesn't appear that's the case. If it was, Pryor would have already committed to PSU.

Two: Bradley is a kick ass recruiter

Everyone already knew this. Moving on...

Three: Paterno may be hurting recruiting

This seems to be contradictory, as Penn State was out until Paterno showed up at Pryor's house. Maybe Paterno shed some light on the post-Paterno era during that visit, but if we are going to assume the non-quote is true then we have to assume Paterno refuses to name the successor. Fair considering, technically, it's not his call.


Again, I can't stress enough how misguided this statement probably is. If Dodd was actually doing his job he would simply tell us what the coach said instead of paraphrasing. However, it makes you wonder if Penn State really should get moving on the post 2008 thing.

Mark May Is A Clown, Pryor Agrees

Mark May: Making Lou Holtz Sound Competent Since 2005

I think Mark May is a total douchbag. I know Mark May is a total douch bag, but now even 18 year old kids are figuring it out (from Rivals.com):

"That day was tough because I was being criticized by everyone for not making up my mind and signing," [Pryor] said. "Mark May from ESPN is criticizing me on national television and he doesn't even know me. That kind of stuff really bothers me, when people who know nothing about me are talking about me like they know anything." [emphasis NOT added]

Um, Terrelle, you don't say it elegantly, but you sure do hit the nail on the head: "people who know nothing about [anything] are talking about [anything] like they know anything" pretty much sums up every single talking head at ESPN.

So let's see, Pryor puts off his signing day. May decided to engage in one of his random acts of richeousness. Said kid calls him out. Guess who looks like the asshole, Mark? You see what happens? You see what happens when you talk trash to the most heavily recruited kid in football history?



A google search for (and in quotes, meaning all words must be consecutive) "Mark May is an idiot" renders 517 results. I'm doing my part to make it 518.

In actual worthwhile news, Pryor confesses what everyone except the MGoBots already knew:

Pryor admits he was set to sign with Ohio State the day before Feb. 6, but a conversation with his father, Craig, made him think twice. His father wanted him to take another look at Penn State and take an official visit.

"I'm really interested," he said. "This isn't just being respectful of my father, this is thinking things through and making sure I have all the info I need before I make a big decision. I really like Coach Bradley at Penn State and they could end up being the right fit for me, I'm not sure."

You don't love JayPa? Sounds like your textbook case of Playstation bitterness.

Blue and White Round Table?

After reading several of my posts involving extreme bias and unnecessary cursing, the highly regarded BWRT has invited me to add my two cents.

Yes, it's very class

If you are reading this blog you've probably been to most of these places already, but as a sign of gratitude and in what appears to be the custom, make sure to check out the following for their takes:

Black Shoe Diaries
Run Up The Score
The Nittany Line
There Is No Name On My Jersey
William F. Yurasko
The Nittany Notebook
Tangled Up In White and Blue


How well did Penn State address their needs with this recruiting class?

Well, with so few scholarships to give it changes the game a little bit. Our needs were obviously wide receiver and defensive back. We bombed here except for Lynn and Price. We did pick up some "meat and potatoes", as all the experts like to say. The four linebackers we brought in are, of course, solid. (I'm very much looking forward to the first time I hear "that's Yancich and Zordich on the sack!") In addition, you can never haven enough linemen and the three we picked up appear to be nice additions. To answer the question, not that great. But I'm not as pessimistic as some appear to be. Pryor is still on the table and we still have one more year at these need positions before it's panic time.

Who was the big fish that got away? The kid you really really wish we had landed?

Well everyone is going to be talking about Shaw here, and he probably qualifies. There aren't very many fish as big as Pryor, so we'll wait and see on that one. My answer is Deion Walker.

You’re NCAA President Miles Brand. Take a break from counting your BCS cash for a minute. What would you do to improve the recruiting process?

This is a rip off of an idea I read a couple of weeks ago. I'll post a link if and when I remember where the hell it came from [edit: from IBFC, thanks to RUTS for helping me out], but for now here is the deal: Every recruit registers with the NCAA. Instead of a verbal commitment, the recruit will have the option to 'declare', or notify the NCAA in a non-binding way that they intend to sign with school XSU. Once the NCAA gets this notification, they publish said intention on some kind of database that all schools have access to. Once declared, no one but XSU will be allowed to contact said recruit. The recruit would also not be allowed to take any visits to other programs. If the recruit has second thoughts about his decision, he can simply remove his declaration from the data base, at which time he is fair game for all programs again.

The two benefits: (1) if a kid wants to stop being harassed via text message by 45 year old men, he can simply declare, (2) the schools get some kind of idea how committed a player really is.

Now you’re Joe Paterno. So I guess prepare to dodge the question. What would you change about Penn State’s recruiting strategy?

This is really simple: If I'm Joe Paterno I need to get the hell out of the house every once in a while. I understand he was sick close to signing day, which warrants staying home that week, but what about before that? Pryor, the number one recruit in the nation, is the only player to get an in-house visit from Paterno, and look what happened! Had Joe visited all of our targets, who knows what this class could have looked like.

Lightning Round!

Where will Terrelle Pryor go to school? Or should he just live off the hype for the next few years and directly enter the NFL draft in 2010?

What hype?

Ok, seriously: I really have no idea, I tried following this thing during December and January and ended up utterly confused, so I gave up.

I'm going to say PSU simply because I'm a huge homer, but if you put a gun to my head I'd insist its 50/50 between us and OSU.

Which member of this class stands the best chance to make an immediate impact?

I like Lynn here. Our secondary is suspect at best, and besides that DB is not a position that requires a lot of bulking up. I'm still waiting for someone to tell me how a kid recruited by USC, Ohio State and Florida ends up a three star on Rivals. I'm obviously guessing here but I would bet he's a lot better than that.

Big Ten Recruiting Review

Below is the final Pryorless rankings of all Big Ten teams. I also included Pitt to make our class look worse. The way Pitt out recruits us is troubling to say the least, but then again the way Whanstash manages to suck so bad with good recruits is a bit troubling as well. One thing worth pointing out here is that these services rank based on 'points', so a bigger class is going to outscore a smaller class of the same level of talent. Penn State brought in the smallest class of any Big Ten team by far, just 14 players compared to an average of 21. This includes Minnesota with 30 recruits and Illinois with 28. This is a result of Penn State not losing very man scholarships and therefore not having many to give...it's obviously cyclical. So while our class isn't knocking anyone's socks off, keep in mind we are getting punished in these rankings for bringing in so few kids. Per Rivals, number of recruits in quotes:

Rivals
#9	OSU	(19)
#10	Michigan	(24)
#17	Minnesota	(30)
#23	Illinois	(28)
#29	Pitt	(19)
#41	Wisconsin	(24)
#42	Penn State	(14)
#47	MSU	(21)
#53	Iowa	(24)
#63	Purdue	(25)
#73	Northwestern	(20)
#78	Indiana	(19)

Not to get too bitchy, but really looking at this list makes me wonder why I think college ball is so superior to pro. Indiana's prize recruits are a couple of three star kids, while Ohio State doesn't even bother going after kids that low on the list. Why this is considered "pure" is beyond me, but it doesn't change the fact that I do in fact like NCAA football better than the NFL.

As for Penn State, you never like to see Minnesota that far ahead of you, especially after their one for the ages shitty season.

Let's take a look at how Scouts listed the Big Ten:

Scouts

#7	OSU
#8	Michigan
#18	Illinois
#25	Pitt
#26	Wisconsin
#28	Minnesota
#41	Penn State
#42	Iowa
#49	Purdue
#56	MSU
#63	Indiana
#69	Northwestern

This site seemed to be a bit more optimistic about the Big Ten, but not really about Penn State. They also didn't buy into the Minnesota class quite like Rivals did. All in all there aren't really any surprises here. Zook really is bringing Illinois up to a respectable level. Northwestern and Indiana still suck. Penn State continues to be mediocre in more ways than we realize, and Ohio State and Michigan continue to dominate recruiting by a large margin.

This year's recruits take 2 or 3 years to really have a full impact, so there's no immediate threat to a team's success. Pryor might be an exception, he will start day one at Michigan and you bet your ass Paterno would play him somewhere if he chooses Penn State.

I guess we'll see.

It's Like Waiting For Christmas, Only You Know There Probably Are No Presents

Two child stalkers make small talk at one of Pryor's basetball games

At 12:05 pm everyone will be forced to chill the fuck out. I'm pretty excited about a Pryorless blogosphere, I really am. As least until he, you know, plays football or whatever it is these recruits do.

One final question I want to ask and then I'm done until noon: Why is Penn State still on the list? Not one single 'insider' has predicted, or even suggests possible, a Pryor commit to Penn State. Mike Farrell, of Rivals, went as far as to say "He'd win an Academy Award if he chose Penn State on signing day."

I'm not suggesting anything here because, to be honest, I'm very confused.

Update: H/T to RUTS, but now it looks like Christmas is getting pushed back at least another week. Pryor has been to PSU but never did take his official visit. He apparently wants to do this, and possibly head to Oregon as well. Either way this is all very, very good news.

Let's Keep Updating: Shaw bailed on Penn State and went to Michigan, that hurts. Regarding Pryor, Oregon is out.

My Last Terrelle Pryor Post - Where Is He Headed?

For a while I had decided that I was simply done with this thing. I don't really care where the hell he ends up. It would be great to have him, and he appears to be the real deal, but we have quarterbacks. I'll have do a little research before I can tell you for sure, but my gut feeling is that our program will survive life without Pryor.

So here it is, the final round-out...Where is Terrelle Pryor going? Where is Terrelle Pryor headed? Terrelle Pryor to Michigan? Terrelle Pryor to Ohio State? These google searches and more, after this short message.



For most of the past two months the Ohio State fan base has tried to convince everyone that he will be a Buckeye. This might be true, but when I posted this, I heard from two different places that Ohio State had given up recruiting him. That Michigan had pretty much signed the kid.

Despite that, three of the four Rivals.com 'experts', to this day, pick OSU as the final destination of their #1 ranked recruit.

However, the Detroit Free press has passed along a story, via ESPN, that Pryor has totally eliminated all schools on his list except for Oregon and Michigan (although some at ESPN still think OSU is a distant third rather than non-existent).

This is all just a couple days after Pryor announced that LSU was on the list.

Penn State remains on the list, technically, however Pryor did cancel his final visit to the school.

I'll send all this to NASA and have them figure out exactly what it means, results will be posted upon arrival.

Keep in mind that this is the same kid who called Rivals at 3am to report that he had added Duke to his list. Duke has never been on his list. This kid is making a mockery of the whole process and I love it. Good for him. I hope he goes to Temple and admits at signing day that was the plan all along.

Terrelle Pryor Is Headed to Michigan*

EDIT: For the latest update, click here.

*Probably, that is. And by probably, I mean most sources are saying there is a 99.2% chance, leaving Ohio State, Penn State, Florida and Oregon to split the other .8%.



Most of this speculation is coming from info leaked by Ohio State, who have all but given up recruiting the kid.

This is really too bad, I thought a player like Pryor could turn around our backwards offense and actually make Penn State games fun to watch. What I simply don't get, though, is that Ohio State seemed like the front runner when RichRod was still at WVU, but now that he's at Michigan, with no Noel Devine in the backfield, he thinks playing in a gimmick offense is all the sudden a good idea. I had heard from several different places that this was the exact thing that was keeping him from WVU, but now it's the number one issue.

Pryor had also talked about playing basketball during the winters. So how is Michigan's basketball program better than WVU? When they aren't cheating I mean. In addition, RichRod has a history of being very much against dual sport athletes. None of this adds up, which is of course why I am starting to believe it, and until Kirk Herbstreit reports it, I have a feeling Pryor will be at Michigan next fall.

Pryor adds Michigan to list

I hate following recruiting. The incentives for the list-makers are all fucked up, and besides that, if NFL scouts can't accurately rank a limited number of college seniors with the help of vast video and in person combines, how the hell can a bunch of poorly paid internet loser rank every single 18 year old kid playing football with any kind of accuracy.

Despite all of that I think Pryor is a program changer for us. Of all the recruiting races Penn State has been involved in over the past five years, this one is probably the only one I will admit to truly caring about.

So before RR called his players, or even his bosses at WVU, he called Pryor and told him to come to Michigan with him. Michigan is now on the short list along with Florida, OSU, PSU and Oregon.

"He called me this morning and told me before he announced to anyone," said Pryor. "He said he's keeping the same offense that he had at West Virginia because it's all he knows. I love that offense. I told him I was very interested."

The only problem I have here is that I've heard he lowered WVU on his list because he didn't want to become a system QB in college and be underdeveloped for the NFL.

A couple things piss me off about this whole situation. One is that RR played the 'I am at home card' last year when Bama came calling and bailed the very next season. Then, instead of just jumping ship like a man, he goes and calls all his recruits, think of it as a second kick in the balls.

"My list is made up of some of the same teams," Pryor said. "Ohio State is in there, Florida is in there and Penn State is in there, but now Oregon is in the mix and now Michigan - so a lot has changed. Tennessee and West Virginia are now out."

While I guess it's great that, despite our mediocrity the past two years, we are being considered with OSU and UF, I don't like our chances now that both Michigan and Oregon are also on the list.