JB Grimes- Thoughts?

[DAG 33,957]

19 minutes ago, AUsince72 said:

Well said.  

As evidenced right this very moment, isn't the current OL roster peppered with a few highly rated recruits who have apparently under-performed to this point (under Hand)?

I'm REAL curious to see how these same players perform this season.  Then, we'll probably have more of a consensus on the value of Coach Grimes.

And, depending on how long he stays at AU, obviously we'll know more about any recruiting prowess come signing day '19, '20, etc....

Sometimes you just need a coach that can flat-out COACH!!

Exactly . There are a couple of pieces who are highly touted recruits , yet they are in the battle for their lives to win a starting position. How is that possible ? 

[AUsince72 11,084]

27 minutes ago, AU64 said:

JMO but not many offensive linemen hit their physical peak in HS and evaluating a coach on who he signs is not near as significant as evaluating a coach based on who he has playing as Juniors and Seniors.   

And another view...if you are playing a lot of freshmen and sophs in the OL your team (and QB) is probably gonna have a hard season.   Back in the old days before the early draft, it was pretty standard for the better schools to redshirt all their young OL candidates and their starting OL was typically senior-laden with some juniors as back-ups.    Maturity (physical and mental) is a key factor and coaching to take advantage it. . 

Great points.

This is just an educated guess, as I was an OG myself in HS, but OL talent may be the hardest to evaluate because A: the physical maturity, you mention and B: (4* & 5*) HS O-linemen are so often up against players who are Physically WAY out of their league against them so it's hard to really know how they're going to perform against "equals".

[toddc 13,194]

31 minutes ago, DAG said:

Exactly . There are a couple of pieces who are highly touted recruits , yet they are in the battle for their lives to win a starting position. How is that possible ? 

Maybe they are all just that good! Here’s to hoping they just haven’t been coached up right at this point in their career. We have a really good linebacker who didn’t get much of a chance until coach Steele and t-will came in. Now he’s our leading tackler.

[AU64 10,122]

1 hour ago, DAG said:

Exactly . There are a couple of pieces who are highly touted recruits , yet they are in the battle for their lives to win a starting position. How is that possible ? 

Just from observation, many of the top HS OLs are playing against smaller DL kids and those who mature early just look comparatively better until they are up against another 300+ pound kid.    Wondering how many of them faced real adversity in their HS careers?   ....by that, how often did they play a game against a 6'4 DT who was the same size...and maybe stronger too.   The SEC has to be a huge revelation for most star HS players....just about everyone is big, fast and tough.

It probably starts with talent/physical capability...but eventually it's about the coaching.  Otherwise,  we should not be paying those guys $500K + a year if all they have to do is figure who looks dominant in HS ….and then pencil their names into a line-up sheet at Auburn. 

[DAG 33,957]

2 hours ago, toddc said:

Maybe they are all just that good! Here’s to hoping they just haven’t been coached up right at this point in their career. We have a really good linebacker who didn’t get much of a chance until coach Steele and t-will came in. Now he’s our leading tackler.

Maybe we will see but that brings us back to the point of star gazing . If they are all really that good then we shouldn’t be all up in arms when a “3” star outperforms a “4” or “5” star. This is why I am choosing to trust the process of JB before I condemn him as a coach because he isn’t an A1 recruiter. Critique his inability to land big recruits is one thing, but it seems he is starting to be looked at unfavorable when that is simply one facet of coaching.

[AU64 10,122]

1 hour ago, DAG said:

Maybe we will see but that brings us back to the point of star gazing . If they are all really that good then we shouldn’t be all up in arms when a “3” star outperforms a “4” or “5” star. This is why I am choosing to trust the process of JB before I condemn him as a coach because he isn’t an A1 recruiter. Critique his inability to land big recruits is one thing, but it seems he is starting to be looked at unfavorable when that is simply one facet of coaching.

Couple of things that I notice.

Most 5# HS players are physically more developed than their HS peers, and many are even a year or two older....and seems that with good coaching, things start to level out with some of the 3* and 4* players as they develop.

Also...some kids are more coachable than others and advance their level of play as they age in college.....whereas others who showed great promise (and ratings) did not improve enough to make the grade.   Happens at every school .....and most of us can recall some of the top players at their positions who ended up transferring or mostly sitting on the bench. 

[DAG 33,957]

2 minutes ago, AU64 said:

Couple of things that I notice.

Most 5# HS players are physically more developed than their HS peers, and many are even a year or two older....and seems that with good coaching, things start to level out with some of the 3* and 4* players as they develop.

Also...some kids are more coachable than others and advance their level of play as they age in college.....whereas others who showed great promise (and ratings) did not improve enough to make the grade.   Happens at every school .....and most of us can recall some of the top players at their positions who ended up transferring or mostly sitting on the bench. 

I think Ashley fits the mold in your first paragraph 

[Gowebb11 9,313]

Ideally, Grimes will be able to land top rated talent, and develop it to the highest level. I was bored today and did an in depth, and highly statistically significant analysis (in other words, I  googled a couple of things) I went back to last years rosters for three very successful teams: Auburn, Clemson, and Wisconsin (I threw the Badgers in because they always have some nasty O lineman). Each of the 3 teams had 18-20 O linemen on the roster. AU had 10 rated 4 star or better, Clemson had 5, and Wisconsin had 2. Three top teams, with three different numbers of top talent, according to the star ratings. My conclusions: there is talent on AUs Oline, that talent was underdeveloped under HH, and development may win versus stars when it comes to the O line. Here’s to hoping Coach Grimes works his magic in getting this years line to play to its full potential. WDE!

[ClaytonAU 4,606]

Always felt like OL is the hardest position to recruit out of high school.

[SumterAubie 3,031]

17 hours ago, Gowebb11 said:

. Three top teams, with three different numbers of top talent, according to the star ratings. My conclusions: there is talent on AUs Oline, that talent was underdeveloped under HH, and development may win versus stars when it comes to the O line. Here’s to hoping Coach Grimes works his magic in getting this years line to play to its full potential. WDE!

The thing is there are several on the board here who are more concerned over a coaches appearance or how well he can recruit than his coaching abilities. Which I find odd as they are called COACH Grimes and COACH Brown, not Recruiter Grimes or Recruiter Brown.

[bigbird 60,446]

1 hour ago, SumterAubie said:

The thing is there are several on the board here who are more concerned over a coaches appearance or how well he can recruit than his coaching abilities. Which I find odd as they are called COACH Grimes and COACH Brown, not Recruiter Grimes or Recruiter Brown.

Except Brown is pulling his weight in recruiting

[SumterAubie 3,031]

1 hour ago, SumterAubie said:

The thing is there are several on the board here who are more concerned over a coaches appearance or how well he can recruit than his coaching abilities. Which I find odd as they are called COACH Grimes and COACH Brown, not Recruiter Grimes or Recruiter Brown.

 

17 minutes ago, bigbird said:

Except Brown is pulling his weight in recruiting

Brown is now. But did he pull his weight during his first recruiting year at Auburn? Or only since he became established here?

[Gowebb11 9,313]

24 minutes ago, SumterAubie said:

 

Brown is now. But did he pull his weight during his first recruiting year at Auburn? Or only since he became established here?

The O line coaches at UTenn and TAMU are both in their first year and have landed 5 star tackles, so it can be done. My first judgement of Grimes will not be recruiting, however. It will be how quickly he can mesh our O line into a battle ready group. With UW looming, it better be quick. WDE!

[AUsince72 11,084]

15 minutes ago, Gowebb11 said:

The O line coaches at UTenn and TAMU are both in their first year and have landed 5 star tackles, so it can be done. My first judgement of Grimes will not be recruiting, however. It will be how quickly he can mesh our O line into a battle ready group. With UW looming, it better be quick. WDE!

Exactly my position.

Naturally I want AU to be able to recruit top OL talent, maybe Grimes can... maybe not, but I feel this year's team is pretty loaded and with Stidham back the time is NOW!  I just want Grimes to coach the Mean back into the O-Line and let "next year" take care of itself!!!

....yes, I'm getting a bit pumped...

War Eagle!!

[auol72 188]

There is nothing wrong with our OL recruiting as it stands we just really need a high quality OT prospect to join the group and we are looking as though those chances are slim. Otherwise we have a solid prospect for Center, Clark will ultimately be part of this class, a highly rated and thought of prospect at guard, and a guy that is probably much like Austin Golson who can play tackle but maybe better suited at guard. I for one think Osborne will be fine at right tackle but i will defer to those whose job is on the line based on how he plays. Those are three fine prospects, so no need to say one of the few we have managed to have committed.  That group is 2/3 of the total we would be happy to have. The only drawback is no top notch higly rated OT guy and the chances of getting one of those in this class are not good. One more swing guy however, like the Putnam kid from Florida would make this a solid B class, but put tremendous pressure on signing two high quality OT guys next year. However, there is no reason to keep putting these guys down.

[McLoofus 35,182]

I don't know if anyone is overly worried about the guys we've got. I think the complaint is that the position coach wasn't appropriately involved in recruiting them, ie other staff had to shoulder the burden in addition to building their own groups.

Sounds like the studs on the staff are developing leads, making cold calls and following it all the way through to the sale, while Grimes is MIA on one or more of those components.

[fredst 9,064]

5 hours ago, bigbird said:

Except Brown is pulling his weight in recruiting

More than pulling his weight, when you factor in that he’s a goober 

[auburn4ever 1,266]

How is coach Grimes doing in getting more top OL to sign with Auburn? We only have 2 or 3 OL committed to this point.

[augolf1716 21,101]

5 minutes ago, auburn4ever said:

How is coach Grimes doing in getting more top OL to sign with Auburn? We only have 2 or 3 OL committed to this point.

good/bad

[Mikey 16,565]

6 hours ago, McLoofus said:

 

Sounds like the studs on the staff are developing leads, making cold calls and following it all the way through to the sale, while Grimes is MIA on one or more of those components.

What makes you think that? Are there multiple sources saying Grimes isn't recruiting? Right here is the only place I've seen such a sentiment. I don't frequent other places on the web but I do still know people on campus. This thing about Grimes not recruiting is not being said in IRL conversations, at least by the people I talk to.

[McLoofus 35,182]

6 hours ago, Mikey said:

What makes you think that? Are there multiple sources saying Grimes isn't recruiting? Right here is the only place I've seen such a sentiment. I don't frequent other places on the web but I do still know people on campus. This thing about Grimes not recruiting is not being said in IRL conversations, at least by the people I talk to.

Just summarizing what the sentiments expressed here have been vs the notion that people are displeased with our current OL commits. 

And you think people aren't talking about these things elsewhere just because you haven't been in those conversations yourself? Odd.

I'll continue to advocate for JB but even I wouldn't suggest the criticism is just coming out of nowhere. I just don't see this grand personal vendetta you do.

[Mikey 16,565]

54 minutes ago, McLoofus said:

I just don't see this grand personal vendetta you do.

Maybe you don't see it because there's no vendetta. What I do want to see is an indication that there is some substance behind criticism before I believe said criticism. So far, I've seen no substance to the disparagement of Grimes's recruiting ability.

[bigbird 60,446]

20 minutes ago, Mikey said:

What I do want to see is an indication that there is some substance behind criticism before I believe said criticism.

2018: 3* Irvin and 3*Stutts (zero OT)

 

And when OL is identified as the #1 need for the class(specifically OT)...

2019: 3*Clark, 4*Jones, 3*Osborne (only 1 OT)

 

 

[auskip07 930]

23 minutes ago, bigbird said:

2018: 3* Irvin and 3*Stutts,   Driscoll   (OT)

And when OL is identified as the #1 need for the class(specifically OT)...

2019: 3*Clark, 4*Jones, 3*Osborne (only 1 OT)

 

 

Lets include our Graduate Transfer   he played OT  Both sides. 

[bigbird 60,446]

7 minutes ago, auskip07 said:

Lets include our Graduate Transfer   he played OT  Both sides. 

Except Grimes really didn't recruit him.  The depth chart, conference, and team competitiveness sold him on AU.