Recruiting numbers down from last year
Coaches say new members ‘on par’ with previous seasons

By John Weyand
Staff Reporter

With regard to TCU recruiting, all is not lost. But as potential recruits knew, Fran is.Head football coach Gary Patterson said he is pleased with the way recruiting went for the 2001 season. Patterson said the departure of former head coach Dennis Franchione didn’t affect the success the coaches had in bringing in top players.

“We held most of our recruits,” Patterson said. “Of the six Top-100 (players in Texas) we signed here today, four of them came after coach Fran left.”

The six Texas top-100 players TCU signed represent a slight decline from last year’s recruiting roster. The 2000 recruiting list included eight of the top-100 players in Texas, and two players ranked in the nation’s top 100.

TCU also takes a step down in the national recruiting rankings, coming in 71st out of 114 Division I-A schools. In the 2000 season, TCU was ranked 39th.

In addition to having lower-ranked recruits, TCU has fewer incoming players. In 1999, TCU football recruited 20 players; in 2000, TCU took 18. This year, TCU managed only 16 players.

Despite the apparent decrease in TCU’s draw, Patterson said he doesn’t look at the 2001 season as a rebuilding year.

“I would probably say we’re more of a dark horse,” Patterson said. “We had 25 seniors, but in almost every position on defense we have a guy who’s played at least four plays a game.”

However, Patterson said the TCU offense doesn’t have the second-string strength the defense does.

“We need to grow up a young offensive line,” Patterson said. “We need to find a tailback. We need to change our offense a little bit to fit our personnel.”

Patterson said the coaching change was partly responsible for some of the recruiting shortcomings, specifically a few top players TCU wanted but didn’t get.

“There were a couple safeties we would like to have that the changeover possibly hurt us on,” Patterson said. “The changeover (also) hurt us a little bit with the tailback position.”

Weatherford running back Mark Pierce reported committed to TCU last week, but chose Arkansas in the end.

Regardless of the seeming downslide of TCU recruiting, Patterson said he feels this year’s results are on par with previous seasons.

“I would say (the 2001 recruits) are very comparable to last year’s group,” Patterson said. “The safeties are just as good as last year’s safeties, the offensive linemen are just as good, the defensive line is of the same athletic standard as we’ve drafted in the past.”

Offensive coordinator Mike Schultz said he agreed the 2001 recruiting class was in line with past classes. He said the team met its needs, and the players recruited meet criteria coaches set for them.“(The coaches) decided to find a little bit more athletic offensive linemen,” Schultz said. “One thing you’ll see about the guys we recruited is that they are athletic and they can run.”

Patterson said the evaluation of players should be based on how they finish at TCU, not how they begin.

“This class that just graduated was a C or C-plus class when they were recruited,” Patterson said. “They ended up an A or an A-plus class.”

John Weyand
j.h.weyand@student.tcu.edu