You should watch the Tressel video in one of our other posts, you hear him mention that he has awarded over 30 walk-on players with scholarships.

It is our opinion that the NCAA allows walk-ons just for this reason. Tressel’s 2010 class is a classic example of how a coach is supposed to handle is recruiting numbers. You know your limit going into the recruiting season, you don’t sign more than you have room for, you don’t depend on attrition between signing day and August to get your numbers down to 85, and if you have a scholarship or two left over you give it to a kid who has EARNED his way onto the field after 4-5 years.

Signing more than you have room for and depending on attrition is simply wrong and creates an advantage…you are basically subsidizing your attrition. What Nick Saban is doing is wrong there are no two ways about it. If he was right the SEC would not have capped the limit at 28 (which only half solves the problem) and the rest of the coaches around the country would be doing it.

With regards to Nebraska, I think they have always had a strong walk-on program…something about an in state scholarship program…not sure.

Regardless, thanks for posting and sharing your thoughts…there is a lot of data to digest and it is all very interesting, at least to us.

Thanks for the heads up though, SB. You’re good people!

By Suzanne Halliburton

AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF

Friday, December 21, 2007

University of Texas football recruiting hit a bump. It was 2003, and for the first time in five years, the Longhorns’ incoming class of freshmen wasn’t ranked among the top five nationally.

Coach Mack Brown had found himself with few scholarships to offer after signing larger classes the previous four years. And so his 2003 class included just 19 recruits — the smallest class at Texas since 1998. Still in a numbers crunch, Brown signed 20 players a year later and just 15 in 2005.

Of those classes, the 2004 group was the highest regarded, ranked 10th in the nation by recruiting Web site Rivals.com. The 2005 class was the lowest, ranked 20th primarily because it was so small.

Now, consider that in the four years prior to 2003, the Longhorns were the only team in the country to put together consecutive classes in the top five. Two of those classes — 1999 and 2002 — were tops in the country.

The Longhorns who signed from 2003 to 2005 now represent the upperclassmen on the 17th-ranked Texas team, which is preparing for a Holiday Bowl date Thursday night with 12th-ranked Arizona State.

Not many of them are left. Fifteen of the 54 players signed in those seasons were no longer on the team in 2007, when as upperclassmen they were supposed to make their greatest contributions on the field and as leaders in the locker room.

“We were the few and the proud,” said junior defensive end Brian Orakpo, one of the stars of the 2004 class. “Then one-third of the guys left.”

Most left the program because of a lack of playing time. Some suffered career-ending injuries or failed to meet academic standards. A couple got in trouble with the law.

The Longhorns are left with just 14 seniors on scholarship, and three of those players — receiver Limas Sweed and offensive linemen Tony Hills and Dallas Griffin — suffered severe injuries and didn’t finish out the year.

“Definitely, it’s a shame,” said junior receiver Jordan Shipley, another standout of the class of 2004. “It makes you sad to see guys you came in with not be there at the end.

“But you move on. Other guys take those spots. The good thing is at Texas, there’s always somebody there to take the spot.”

Ramonce Taylor, a signee in 2004 who led the 2005 team in all-purpose yards, was the biggest name of the 15 to leave the Longhorns.

He was suspended indefinitely for poor academics in January 2006 then announced he was transferring two months after his felony arrest for marijuana possession.

In all, nine of the 15 casualties were four-star recruits as ranked by Rivals.com.

Attrition is expected. But in past Longhorn classes, losses were more easily absorbed because of the greater number of players signed.

The 2002 class, the best in Brown’s tenure at Texas, lost 10 players. But Brown signed 28 that February for a class that eventually became a cornerstone of the 2005 national championship team.

Eight of the 18 who finished their eligibility are on NFL rosters this season.

It’s probably no coincidence that this year’s squad hasn’t been as dominant as in seasons past. It’s 9-3 after a 38-30 upset at the hands of Texas A&M to finish the regular season.

The Longhorns are 11/2-point favorites to beat Arizona State.

A Holiday Bowl loss would break the Texas string of six years with at least 10 wins. A defeat also may drop the Longhorns out of the top 25 for the first time since 2000.

Still, this year’s seniors have been consistent winners, with a record of 43-7.

That’s third best at UT since freshmen became eligible to play in 1972. A victory would tie them with last year’s seniors for second. The 2005 seniors won 45.

“Our class was one you could build national championships with,” said senior receiver Nate Jones. “Our class came in thinking we could win a national title. But we had a lot of injuries and a lot of people leaving.

“We hung in there through thick and thin.”

The class also is graduating in record numbers — 10 received their degrees earlier this month.

The other four are on track to graduate in May. Center Dallas Griffin won the Draddy Trophy, the “academic Heisman.” And his fellow senior, defensive tackle Derek Lokey, joined Griffin as an academic All-American.

Brown’s recruiting since has rebounded.

The classes in 2006 and 2007 each ranked fifth nationally. And 43 of the 49 signees are still around.

Longhorns lost

Fifteen Longhorns signed in the classes of 2003 to 2005 have left the program. Here’s a breakdown by position.

Pos. Players lost Prominent loss

RB 4 Ramonce Taylor

DB 3 Bobby Tatum

OL 2 Greg Dolan

LB 2 Eric Foreman

WR 2 George Walker

DL 1 Chris Brown

TE 1 Steve Hogan

Of course, there are players who graduate early and those who graduate on time. Those players would require a look at a five year spread.

Interestingly, Nebraska has 140 players on their roster, Ohio St. has 118, Texas has 115, Notre Dame has 107, Alabama has 105, Michigan has 97 and Vanderbilt has 92.

Do some schools have to offer scholarships to get kids on campus, while other schools have kids willing to pay their own way for school?

Lots of things to consider.

Oh, and these numbers are from Rivals. So it is hard to tell how accurate they are since they may not have updated the numbers since singing day.