LEHIGH – 48 REVISED
Apologies to all. The Committee is guilty of a rush to judgment and a “let's get this over with” mentality. Thanks and well done to Lehigh poster van and a few others of the Mountain Hawk persuasion for getting this back on track.
Even with the revisions The Committee does not consider this a Patsy Points total to get excited about. These recent championship teams were built on classes with Points totals in the 70s and 80s:
Class of 2012 = 74
Class of 2013 = 70
Class of 2014 = 81
That's an average of 75.
Andy Coen offers the same explanation this year as last: the playoff run interfered with recruiting. It must be true or he wouldn't say it. The Committee, on the other hand, asks why all of that on the field success isn't contributing to better recruiting. Is there trouble in paradise? Consider:
This appears to be the second consecutive questionable recruiting class.
Class of 2015 = 43
Class of 2016 = 48
That's an average of 46.
The rumors that Lehigh could not close the deal with recruits in the majority of head-to-head competitions with Patriot League rivals is apparently true.
Some of the Lehigh faithful are proposing that Coen and company intentionally tanked this year's recruiting effort (and last?) to clear the roster for scholarships. These sons of Nostradamus also propose that the Patriots threw the Super Bowl to create a revenge factor for 2012.
Lehigh appears to have come up with some kids who will contribute for the next 4 years. It just does not appear that there are enough of them to guarantee the Hawks as a contender for four years.
THE GOOD
- Andy Coen and his staff recruited to their needs. The Lehigh fans who supplied the Needs analysis for The Committee (see below) did not totally agree with the coaches who said they were after LBs, but the fans' Needs were taken care of.
- Maybe, just maybe, Lehigh has the RB that they've been lacking for so long.
THE BAD
- Quality. Not what the faithful are used to seeing.
- Size. Not much. Some questions being raised about some of the size information on the Lehigh press release. (Ed. Note: Problems in original Lehigh press release have subsequently been confirmed and, we hope, all appropriate corrections have been made and accounted for in this rating.)
QUALITY = 14: 10 (45%) are Rated, one an unconfirmed 2-star.
CLASS SIZE = 4: 22 recruits is not large by recent Patriot League standards, but it isn't a disaster.
DISTRIBUTION =7: In his press release, Andy Coen said that this recruiting class “addresses every position.” A recruit or 2 played QB in high school, but none are listed as QB recruits in the press release. Andy is technically stating the facts, I guess, but The Committee deals with the press release, and Lehigh left one Distribution point on the table.
SPEED = 11: Some kids with speed, but Lehigh perhaps caught a 2 Patsy Point break because of the methodology. Rivals gives speed data in a rounded format and it appears that in two cases data carried one more decimal place would have been slightly slower. The Committee's position is to use the better rating, speed, whatever, no matter what, so the Rivals numbers prevailed.
TRIGGER = 0: No QB = no Trigger Points..
JUMBO = 3: 5 OL and 3 DL recruits; only 4 Jumbos.
NEEDS = 9 (of 12):
OL = 4 (of 5): 5 recruits, 3 Jumbos, 3 Rated, none with star ratings. The Committee went round and round on this one. Did they do enough to merit 4 Points?
DL = 2 (of 4): 3 recruits, 1 Jumbo, 1 Rated, none with star ratings. This one was even more hotly debated: 1 Point vs. 2.
RB = 3 (of 3): 2 recruits, 1 Rated, an unconfirmed 2-star, the other with some decent credentials. Could be that the Hawks are set at RB for a while.
COMMITTEE ADJUSTMENTS = O
Some are saying that his group is better than this rating indicates. The Committee, on the other hand, notes at least 3 places where the Hawks may have caught a rating break, and determined that no adjustments are necessary.
THE RATINGS RACE WITH 4 TO GO:
Lafayette 67
Lehigh 48
Fordham 47
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks