OT WVU finds a QB
- Thread starter pittbb80
- Start date
They had no choice. He graduated and can go wherever he wants without sitting out a year. There is a Big 12 rule against even graduate transfers going to another conference school, but OU had gotten the conference to hold it non-applicable to Baker Mayfield when he transferred from Texas Tech. When they first said they wouldn’t approve him transferring to WVU, they caught heat from all over for being hypocrites, so they simply said they won’t invoke the rule.
No idea how good he is. He hardly played, but he has been a backup to two straight Heisman winners.
No idea how good he is. He hardly played, but he has been a backup to two straight Heisman winners.
I understand their challenges, but they need to start getting recruits the traditional way. Also looking for transfers and Jucos will only take you so far. If you think about it they really are not in a bad area for recruits. Yes they lack a true backyard but they still have PA/OH/VA/Maryland right next door. Plus they have had historical success with NJ and Florida if they can tap into NC and Georgia a little that is not a bad recruiting territory and it is also one Pitt should be using as well.
They've had undeniable good fortune with transfers. The ideal is surely the homegrown recruit you get great years out of from Fr to Jr or Sr year... but overall you can't be too critical of their results. The musical chairs dance with transfers is both the boon and the bane of college football now, gotta go with the flow.
I think it's a symptom and residual of the bigger pet peeve of mine, that both the system (scholarship numbers) and the mentality of players today combine to encourage all the best prospects to bunch up in the top 5 to 10 blue bloods. The better ones are willing to take their gamble that they'll emerge as the starter for a proven team, and/or also willing and eager to bask in the glory even if they don't play. To the extreme for some that multiple guys on one team will willingly stand with a clipboard next to Saban or Meyer or Swinney for as many as four years.
Teams like WVU (and ours) get the leftovers, two star (or maybe less) quality guys. They might get inflated in rankings as higher in our "everyone gets a trophy" culture, but statistically, they'r subpar vs the blue blood guys. These are the ones that can be "homegrown".
That sets us back to begin with as far as quality (stuck with flawed guys like DiNucci or, sadly it looks, Pickett). Tough to groom a thoroughbred out of horse meat.
Then later, when these glamour boys from the blue bloods later hit the market as transfers, they're hard for coaches to resist.
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According to this report from CBS Sports, a school can still block grad transfers for competitive reasons. That is something I didn't know.
"As a graduate transfer, Kendall is allowed to play immediately regardless of his destination – unless his originating school steps in. For graduate transfers, their teams are still able to "block" them from certain schools -- in this case, for a competitive reason. That rule did not change when transfer reform was instituted on Oct. 15, 2018."
https://www.cbssports.com/college-f...r-for-immediate-eligibility-at-west-virginia/
I think it's a bit too early to make this claim. Right now, schools can opt for transfers to fill scholarships before the final signing date. You can bet the early signing period will help make transfers a reliable source of talent for schools that utilize them properly.
Neal Brown recruited Austin Kendall when Brown was the OC at Kentucky. He had already established a relationship and with us needing a QB it was a good fit.
