It’s great to see Coach Odom visiting the local high schools. Someone told me he already had a good relationship with a bunch of local schools. He’s recruited Vegas while he was at Arkansas.
Coach Odom visiting local high schools
- Thread starter Rebelsss
- Start date
He doesn't need to get the Gorman kids going to the Notre Dame/USC/Oklahoma's of the world. He needs to keep the ones that go to Boise, SDSU, Reno and San Jose States to stay home.
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Obviously you want to get one or some of those guys, but he'll need to show something on the field to get them to ever consider UNLV.
It would be nice to one of these days land an Ed Oliver type recruit. High 4 or 5 star guy that just wants to stay home.
I think we have to be at a certain competitive level for that to even be a possibility. But it would sure be nice.
It would. Eventually there will be the guy that wants to stay home, play in front of family, but you gotta give them more of a reason.
Bump to PAC or at least some consistent winning would help.
Odom says he wants to build with HS kids as his core.
I think you can and should try to do it this way as much as possible.
However with a lot of guys in the portal with 3 sometimes 4 years of eligibility left I think the days of 80-90% of your class being HS players is coming to an end. I think it with shift to more a 60-40 mix.
Getting a player with a year under his belt that's gone through a fall and possibly a spring camp helps speed up the learning curve and adjustment period.
If he can retain some of the guys UNLVs been losing to other conference schools it should help short and long term.
I do like that he is trying to build with HS players with an emphasis of local players. I thought Arroyo abandoned this idea a bit too much.
I do think it is unrealistic to build the "classic" way in this environment. Players will transfer out if successful to better schools or if buried to far on the bench to perhaps lower schools.
There needs to be a hefty dose of transfers to fill gaps and needs. Plus once they transfer in, it is harder for them to transfer out.
But recuiting locally may hel land those bounce back transfers that we miss on out of HS looking for their second chance close to home.
"Odom says he wants to build with HS kids as his core."
He must be planning aa 5 year rebuild.
I don't think you're wrong. I think especially in the first 2 years as we get the roster and program settled we'll have to dip heavily into some of those extended eligibility transfers. I think you build your culture with HS guys though, you have a chance to set habits and culture early without another program's fingerprints. I also think with upcoming rule changes that the transfer portal isn't going to be nearly as stocked as it's going to be this year and next.
Building a relationship with high school coaches and current players will serve a couple of purposes.
1. When the local talent who moved away want to transfer somewhere they may ask the high school coach that they trust. That coach may recommend UNLV to them versus sending them to SDSU or Utah State.
2. The current players may see a guy they looked up to playing at UNLV anday want to follow in their footsteps. If we are treating current players fairly, word will get back to our schools and current players will see UNLV as a viable option.
Either way, we may avoid a player or two killing us as he later plays against his hometown school (as they always seem to do).
1. When the local talent who moved away want to transfer somewhere they may ask the high school coach that they trust. That coach may recommend UNLV to them versus sending them to SDSU or Utah State.
2. The current players may see a guy they looked up to playing at UNLV anday want to follow in their footsteps. If we are treating current players fairly, word will get back to our schools and current players will see UNLV as a viable option.
Either way, we may avoid a player or two killing us as he later plays against his hometown school (as they always seem to do).
No. He believes ultimately that is the way the program achieves sustainability.
The Portal according to him, is to plug immediate needs not to rebuild every few years .
Odom, what an uninspiring hire, he's already preparing the 'we're a young team' excuses for why they are losing!'
(I'm just showing the Christmas spirit by writing some people's posts for them and saving them time during this busy season. I do not share the sentiment of the above post).
I agree with you Bullmastiff. This was one of my concerns when Arroyo was let go. Did that mean that we were again building the team from the ground up? I was hoping that the reason we let go of Arroyo was because there was a blue chip coach waiting in the wings. I guess not. So, we'll have to see how this pans out. BTW, I have a friend in Mississippi who follows the SEC pretty closely. He knows about Odom and said that we did pickup a good coach.
I got a work Buddy who went to South Carolina. He thought Coach Odom was a very good pick up for us as well.
A lot of friends and family down South who don’t have a bad word to say about the guy either so I’m interested to see him work here. I’d like to see him attack the portal to fill in the holes in our top 40 on the roster, then HS guys filling in the back end!
100%. We don't want to go back to the first 2 years of Arroyo with a total re-start. We have some good players currently, great facilities, and now, hopefully a new coach that can put it all together, along with good game management. Curious to see who we end up with for Offensive coordinator!
So yeah, recruit the HS players, but unfortunately, most of them won't be big contributors for a couple years.
Odom is definitely inheriting a better roster that Arroyo, barring a mass exodus.
Arroyo inherited a team that lost nearly all of its defensive starters, on a poor defense with little depth to begin with.
Offense was better situation, but it was from a completely different system. And Arroyo if definitely a "system" guy.
Apparently Odom is not a system guy, at least not on defense. Curious who the OC will be if they will be adaptive schematically like Odom is. I would imagine he would try to find someone with his same philosophy.
Seems pretty well respected within the Mizzou and Arkansas fan bases.
Versus our previous HC who was not respected here, at Oregon, by our local high schools…
I remember him. Top 100 recruit, but had 0% to qualify. He was part of the reason that John Robinson didn’t recruit a local kid out of Eldorado by the name of Steven Jackson until it was too late.
Jackson end up on a really good Oergon State team with TJ Whosyourmama Chsd Johnson and the QB (Anderson I think?) All played in the NFL...
Smoked Notre Dame in a bowl game.
Dennis Erickson was a really good college coach. That was a really good team though I don’t think Jackson played much that particular season. Fun fact is that the qb on that team is the current Oregon St HC
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Former walk on Rebel Nate Oishi head coach at lake mead academy was on Cofield and gave a shout to Odom for reaching out to him the next day of being hired. Said didn’t know how he got my number and appreciated he reached us especially since we’re a small program
That’s exactly what I heard. He didn’t waste time contacting local schools. In all honestly, he doesn’t need to recruit Las Vegas to be successful, but when he says he wants UNLV football to be Vegas’s team he really means it. You get kids and families to games. My nephew plays for Moapa and says there has already been an Odom presence in Logandale. He’s a senior and can’t remember one college coach contacting their school. He asked me if he could come games with me next fall. He may not get a lot of locals, but excitement can be built in the city without ever landing a kid.
P.S. I do think he will land Vegas kids.
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That's great to hear. Even if you don't end up getting the kids, you at least make them feel appreciated, and like you said, potentially get more people to the games
What I think is funny to read is how so many people on social media are blasting into Odom because he doesn't have west coast ties, and UNLV can't win without west cost ties, but in truth has UNLV been winning with all the past west coast ties? The answer can be found by the number of losing seasons UNLV has had in the last three plus decades. While UNLV will likely continue to fill the roster with a large number of California based athletes, I have found that many of the better performing players have come from states other than California. I think the southeast east and Texas both have a lot more untapped potential for recruiting, as well as athletes from the LV area that have traditionally gone to other MWC schools or other more elite programs.
I have no doubt that some of the coaching staff will have ties to the west coast, but also hope that UNLV can reach more towards players in the southeast, Texas, Arizona, etc..
I have no doubt that some of the coaching staff will have ties to the west coast, but also hope that UNLV can reach more towards players in the southeast, Texas, Arizona, etc..
Ya not worried about Cali. Sure we’ll be fine there.
Honestly like you said texas and southeast kids that have been light recruited in the past have had the most success here. Great news about Odom he’s taken 2 and 3 star kids and turned them into NFL players.
Local recruiting is important. Not worried about the 4 and 5 star kids. I’m sure we’ll land them once in awhile now. It’s more about when they go to transfer and unlv is in the discussion.
If we can get the 3 star kids that usually go to other MW / lower tier PAC 12 schools and the preferred walk ons that typically go to big sky schools, it will elevate the programs depth.
Arroyo did well with transfers and I think that’s more of a city, NFL stadium, new practice facility thing. The power 5 transfers will have the most impact. If we can get 20-25 HS and 10-15 transfers annually will be in good shape.
Sounds like Odom is doing things the right way so far with keeping roster intact and being proactive with the community. Hard not to root for that.
Honestly like you said texas and southeast kids that have been light recruited in the past have had the most success here. Great news about Odom he’s taken 2 and 3 star kids and turned them into NFL players.
Local recruiting is important. Not worried about the 4 and 5 star kids. I’m sure we’ll land them once in awhile now. It’s more about when they go to transfer and unlv is in the discussion.
If we can get the 3 star kids that usually go to other MW / lower tier PAC 12 schools and the preferred walk ons that typically go to big sky schools, it will elevate the programs depth.
Arroyo did well with transfers and I think that’s more of a city, NFL stadium, new practice facility thing. The power 5 transfers will have the most impact. If we can get 20-25 HS and 10-15 transfers annually will be in good shape.
Sounds like Odom is doing things the right way so far with keeping roster intact and being proactive with the community. Hard not to root for that.
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Keep the LV guys at home first and foremost, get the guys from California area that you can and hit the 4 states region (Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma) A lot of the kids in our region are under recruited due to many things like playing in small classifications (a lot of rural high schools here play with 16-20 players) and not going to recruiting camps or playing 7on7. They’d rather be hunting or fishing during the summer. If BO can get into this region to get these type of players and bring the southern brand of football out west it will be fun to watch.
I think schools can only sign 25 players a year. But maybe that rule was before the new transfer rules.
You can sign as many as want now as long as you are at 85 total
This was a critical first move by Odom and it looks like he is on the right track. We have all heard the mantra keep the Vegas kids home before but it looks like Odom believes in it. The transfer portal is next I hope, I’m really curious to see who his type of players are!
