Bowl Boost?
January 30, 2006 01:52 PM | General
February 1, 2006
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| Rodriguez |
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Immediately after West Virginia’s stunning 38-35 upset of Georgia in the 2006 Nokia Sugar Bowl, Mountaineer coach Rich Rodriguez was asked if he thought the victory might give his team a boost in recruiting.
Rodriguez, having now spent more than 20 years chasing down unpredictable 18-year-olds, shook his head and smiled.
“You know, the exposure itself, whether you win or lose is going to help recruiting and get your name out there a little bit,” he said. “But this will probably help us more in next year’s recruiting more than this year’s.”
Having been to two previous major bowl games in 1989 and 1993, there is a precedent with which to evaluate Rodriguez’s statement.
In 1989 following WVU’s loss to Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl for the national championship, Coach Don Nehlen’s staff signed a 23-player recruiting class that featured two future pros in wide receiver James Jett and running back Adrian Murrell.
There were also solid program players inked that year like linebacker Tarris Alexander, wide receiver Mike Baker, defensive back Mike Collins, defensive lineman Scott Gaskins, wide receiver Ed Hill, running back Jon Jones, tight end Nate Rine, quarterback Darren Studstill, linebacker Darrick Wiley, offensive guard Dale Williams and defensive back Sam Wilson.
A year later in 1990, West Virginia was able to secure a highly regarded 20-player class that had several big-name high school players including defensive backs David Mayfield and Tommy Orr, linemen Tom Robsock and Todd Robinson, and fullback Rodney Woodard of Columbia, S.C.
Overall, this group didn’t produce as many pro players -- or even as many four-year college players as the 1989 class did -- but at the time it was considered one of Nehlen’s stronger recruiting efforts.
Four years later in 1994, Nehlen was once again able to piece together a pretty good class of recruits following his team’s Sugar Bowl appearance against Florida. Among the 25 players signed that year was a future pro in defensive lineman John Thornton. The group also included center Eric de Groh, offensive guards Randy Dunnigan and Bryan Pukenas, defensive back Charles Fisher, wide receivers Shawn Foreman and David Saunders, as well as junior college linebackers Bernard Russ and JT Thomas.
The following year in 1995, Nehlen and his assistants produced one of the strongest recruiting hauls in school history. That group of players included a future first-round draft pick in tight end Anthony Becht, an all-pro quarterback in Marc Bulger, and NFL long-time veterans Barrett Green, Solomon Page and Gary Stills.
Hempstead, N.Y., running back Amos Zereoue was a late addition to the 1995 class.
Curtis Keaton, who later starred at James Madison and spent a couple of years in the NFL, also signed with WVU in 1995.
Will the same thing happen with next year’s recruiting class?
“I hope,” said Rodriguez. “Most guys coming out want to go to a program where they have had success, where they have had a chance to play in a BCS Bowl and to be in the national spotlight and that’s one thing we can sell.”
The selling begins on Feb. 2.
