I'm not a hater and I could never justifiably be accused of being a homer or a Cal football apologist. And I admit that the Mora hire concerned me from the start. But Mora has some things going for him that have contributed to his success without him doing a single thing to earn it.

1) Whenever USC springs a leak, usually most of the water flows toward UCLA.
UCLA has often been the default choice for top recruits that want to play in LA and don't get an offer from $C. Mora was hired at the exact time when schollie restrictions began at $C. Advantage Mora. Those restrictions continue this year and Mora continues to benefit.

2) USC just completed a horrid year so see #1.

3) Mora was hired right in time for Toshgate to happen resulting in a number of defaults to UCLA. UCLA actually benefitted as much from Toshgate than any other Pac-12 team.

For the comparison between Mora and Dykes to be a reasonable one, two things would have to be in place which aren't:
1) Stanford would have to be on probation with scholarship restrictions.
2) The other UC down south would have to have their top recruiter and another top assistant coach leave and then bad mouth UCLA shortly before signing day.

If either of these were in place Cal's current class would probably have 5 or 6 more 4 star players. And Dykes recruiting class next year would also be artificially great because of continued sanctions against Stanford. And, as has already been well documented here, Dykes would be able to recruit without the academic issues that Cal currently has to contend with.

Mora has undoubtedly improved the UCLA program but much of the recent recent recruiting success has very little to do with him. The biggest problem Mora presents to Cal is his ability as a coach.

i dunno, slippery slope, if you can't give mora credit for ucla's last 2 recruiting classes, when can you give him credit?

when he pulls a top 10 class at idaho?

This would only be a myth if Mora's recruiting performance that first year was not superior to Dykes'. We can of course say - lets wait 4 years for the current guys to mature and play the bulk of their college careers before passing judgement, but this statement is based on the pre-college evaluations of the respective classes. From that standpoint, Mora clearly had better results, so this is not a myth.

There were a number of things out of Dykes' control and a number of things in his control that he chose to do differently.

There were a number of things in Dykes' favor and a number of things going against him.

In the end, the results are what they are. Mora recruited better his first year. Now Dykes gets to try to prove that it doesn't matter so much once the teams get on the field.

Davidson;842074933 said:

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i dunno, slippery slope, if you can't give mora credit for ucla's last 2 recruiting classes, when can you give him credit?

when he pulls a top 10 class at idaho?

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I may have over stated my case. Certainly Mora is a good recruiter but how good he is compared to Dykes is yet to be seen. Do you honestly think Mora would be doing much better than Dykes if he was the HC at Cal? And wouldn't Dykes be cleaning up at UCLA right now with the advantages Mora has had as stated in my OP? Lets see what happens next year when $C is back to full strength.

The only thing Mora is doing that Neuheisel wasn't is winning. UCLA has had top 10 classes (well, one of them was a 12) for five out of the last six years now.

Mora wouldn't be doing the same thing at Cal.

to be truthful, I don't give a damn about fucla .. fucla pfffffftttttt
... I'm looking forward to reports on the BearRaid from spring ball.

:gobears:

The fact that Dykes can't hold on to the recruits that chose Cal under Tedford, despite the bad season and negative chatter, is what is bothering me. Hopefully with a full recruiting cycle under his belt next year, we will back to good recruiting, but until then, he has a lot to prove.

Dykes and his staff are simply not recruiting the same level of athlete as our competitors.

And Dykes might have done the same as Mora at Ucla. Look at more than their rankings, look at the actual kids. Overwhelmingly it's greater LA area kids looking for any ajustification to stay home.

heartofthebear;842074924 said:

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I
For the comparison between Mora and Dykes to be a reasonable one, two things would have to be in place which aren't:
1) Stanford would have to be on probation with scholarship restrictions.
.

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I don't understand how this is relevant. Stanford only has 13 commits, 8 of those are from outside of California.

The only recruit Cal has competed with Stanford for is maybe Austin Hooper. Stanford's strength or not being on probation has not affected Cal's recruiting at all. Dykes is not being hurt by Stanford.

I've actually been surprised that a career NFL guy like Mora has proven to be a good recruiter. Two things I think you have to give him credit for:

1) First thing he did at UCLA was hire top flight recruiters in Adrien Klemm and Demetrice Martin.

2) While Mora and UCLA have done a good job in California, they are also doing well out of state. They're recruiting very well in Texas and Arizona, and look to be also bringing in top flight players from Tennessee, Florida and Hawaii.

One thing I think Coach Dykes will have to do going forward, in a conference where UDub has Tosh and Wilcox, SC has Orgeron, UCLA has Klemm, is hire a big time recruiter that is dialed in to the West Coast.

Uh, what myth? JM has a year of results on record. SD just got here. There is no comparison because there cannot be -- in any rational mind. The only myth here is that there is any legitimate controversy. There ain't. Good luck to both guys...

Does anyone think that Mora will be UCLA's coach 2 years from now if he is still having success? He's going back to the NFL as soon as someone offers him a HC gig.

UCLA will always have talented recruits, the results simply have not been there on the field until last season.

LocoOso;842074972 said:

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I've actually been surprised that an NFL lifer like Mora has proven to be an adept recruiter. Two things I think you have to give him credit for:

1) One of the first things he did was hire top flight recruiters in Adrien Klemm and Demetrice Martin.

2) While Mora and UCLA have done a good job in California, they are also doing well out of state. They're recruiting very well in Texas and Arizona, and look to be also bringing in top flight players from Tennessee, Florida and Hawaii.

One thing I think Coach Dykes will have to do going forward, in a conference where UDub has Tosh and Wilcox, SC has Orgeron, UCLA has Klemm, is hire a big time recruiter that is dialed in to the West Coast.

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How is he going to pay said ace recruiter?

RealDrew2;842074960 said:

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The fact that Dykes can't hold on to the recruits that chose Cal under Tedford, despite the bad season and negative chatter, is what is bothering me. Hopefully with a full recruiting cycle under his belt next year, we will back to good recruiting, but until then, he has a lot to prove.

Dykes and his staff are simply not recruiting the same level of athlete as our competitors.

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"Can't" or "Doesn't want to".

IMO many of the JT recruits who have left might have had some problems (either were not that good or had academic issues). but what do I know since I have zero inside infomation.

I don't think it follows that just because Tosh left Cal, all these talented recruits would make an affirmative decision to go to UCLA. UCLA is not some sort of default option or something. Players have to decide to go there, and Mora was able to convince them to choose UCLA better than Tedford was able to convince them to honor their commitment to Cal.

68great;842074980 said:

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"Can't" or "Doesn't want to".

IMO many of the JT recruits who have left might have had some problems (either were not that good or had academic issues). but what do I know since I have zero inside infomation.

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Well, Hunt is both excellent on the field and academically. Some of the other guys like McTyer and Akins I agree weren't really very good on the field. 2 stars with no offers from any other major schools if I recall correctly. I don't want to comment on their academics though because I don't know.

As a UCLA alum/beat writer, I think I can shed some light on the Mora situation.

Yes, SC's situation directly impacts UCLA. Due to the scholarship restrictions, it's true that they can't load up on prospects. Their class is high on quality, but low on quantity. UCLA is definitely taking advantage of that. However, to say that he's "lucked" into everything is rather ignorant. He's definitely earned the current standing of this recruiting class. If UCLA closes with who they're expected to (Asiantii Woulard, Kylie Fitts, Isaac Savaiinaea, Eddie Vanderdoes), it could potentially be the best class in UCLA history.

He's truly brought on a "culture change" throughout the program. I do feel as if that term is thrown around too often, but it's very apropos in this case. Unlike Rick Neuheisel, Mora is holding the players accountable. If a player is late to a work out/team meeting, he has to wake up at 5 am to run with Mora and the S&C coach present. If it happens a second time, everyone in the said player's position group has to run. A third time, and the entire side of the ball runs, and a fourth time, the entire team has to wake up and run. He's weeded out the malcontents on the team, and the players actually respect him (unlike Neuheisel).

He's also brought a big time family feel to the program. He's a very down to earth, albeit intense individual. His honesty resonates very well with recruits. In addition, he compiled a staff that's chock full of NFL experience. I think the staff has something like 80 combined years of NFL experience, and 6 SB rings. Adrian Klemm and Demetrice Martin are tremendous recruiters, as are Jeff Ulbrich and Angus McClure. McClure is the main reason why UCLA is looking good for Eddie Vanderdoes.

I'm not sure how UCLA really benefitted from Toshgate either. UCLA didn't land Arik Armstead, Shaq Thompson, Shittu, or any of those guys. Yes, Ellis McCarthy briefly committed to Cal. However, he was always all UCLA. He didn't like Neuheisel, but always wanted to go there. With Mora and Martin (who is childhood friends with McCarthy's father), it was a done deal. I believe his parents both attended the university as well.

Regardless of the sanctions, no one can argue that Mora is much more sincere than Kiffin. And I think the majority of kids would rather play for Mora when compared to LK. Yes, SC would have made it more difficult, but UCLA has beaten them out for multiple kids. I hear what you're saying, I just think you aren't giving Mora his due.

When comparing Stanford and Cal, Stanford isn't exactly lighting it up on the recruiting trails in this cycle. They also recruit from more of a national standpoint when compared to Cal, and I'm not sure how many recruits the two have gone for head to head. In order words, not sure it really would make a difference or not. I think the only recruit both have gone head to head for is Austin Hooper, correct? ( I could be wrong).

Either way, I think Dykes will give Cal some much needed juice. I think the talent is there, and with a 8-9 win season, you guys should have a top 15 class.

Any by the way, UCLA's academic requirements are very stringent as well. They are definitely on par with Cal's.

heartofthebear;842074924 said:

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I'm not a hater and I could never justifiably be accused of being a homer or a Cal football apologist. And I admit that the Mora hire concerned me from the start. But Mora has some things going for him that have contributed to his success without him doing a single thing to earn it.

1) Whenever USC springs a leak, usually most of the water flows toward UCLA.
UCLA has often been the default choice for top recruits that want to play in LA and don't get an offer from $C. Mora was hired at the exact time when schollie restrictions began at $C. Advantage Mora. Those restrictions continue this year and Mora continues to benefit.

2) USC just completed a horrid year so see #1.

3) Mora was hired right in time for Toshgate to happen resulting in a number of defaults to UCLA. UCLA actually benefitted as much from Toshgate than any other Pac-12 team.

For the comparison between Mora and Dykes to be a reasonable one, two things would have to be in place which aren't:
1) Stanford would have to be on probation with scholarship restrictions.
2) The other UC down south would have to have their top recruiter and another top assistant coach leave and then bad mouth UCLA shortly before signing day.

If either of these were in place Cal's current class would probably have 5 or 6 more 4 star players. And Dykes recruiting class next year would also be artificially great because of continued sanctions against Stanford. And, as has already been well documented here, Dykes would be able to recruit without the academic issues that Cal currently has to contend with.

Mora has undoubtedly improved the UCLA program but much of the recent recent recruiting success has very little to do with him. The biggest problem Mora presents to Cal is his ability as a coach.

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Mora's prececessor was a very, very good recruiter and had already laid the foundation for an excellent recruiting season before Mora. That's taking nothing away from Mora, but as bad as the weasel left things in Westwood, he still left the UCLA program in much better shape than JT left Cal.

IMO Mora was smart to hire a slew of assistant coaches with Pac 12 and NFL experience + an ace recruiter like Klemm. It has clearly paid off in recruiting. Not to mention on the field.

Sonny chose to go with "his boys" that had little to no NFL or Pac 12 experience. Not going to lie, I raised my eyebrows a bit at some of his coaching hires. Would you send your son who is one of the highest rated OL in the country, and has NFL potential, to play for a first time position coach who is 29 years old ? I wouldn't. I completely understand Hunt going to Oregon.

However, Sonny going with "his boys" could pay off huge dividends on the field. And that's all that matters.

I'm a huge Dykes supporter, sunshine pumper, optimist, glass half full type of guy....but this is NOT a good recruiting class. We should be doing better and I sincerely hope things improve next year. If they don't, serious questions need be asked about this staff.

Agree with your post wholeheartedly. I do think Dykes needs to hire some guys with west coast ties. Those ready-made relationships built into local high schools is huge. Sounds like his staff is primarily from the South, and I'd have to think it'd be hard getting kids from SEC country to come all the way out here.

And for the post above, I agree to an extend. Neuheisel did bring in lots of talent, but he never coached the talent up. Mora is now doing that. The one area that Neuheisel neglected completely is the OL (and that's a big reason as to why Klemm's bring in 7 guys). Our entire 2-deep will most likely be made up from true freshmen, sophomores and one junior.

rjgoode;842075013 said:

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IMO Mora was smart to hire a slew of assistant coaches with Pac 12 and NFL experience + an ace recruiter like Klemm. It has clearly paid off in recruiting. Not to mention on the field.

Sonny chose to go with "his boys" that had little to no NFL or Pac 12 experience. Not going to lie, I raised my eyebrows a bit at some of his coaching hires. Would you send your son who is one of the highest rated OL in the country, and has NFL potential, to play for a first time position coach who is 29 years old ? I wouldn't. I completely understand Hunt going to Oregon.

However, Sonny going with "his boys" could pay off huge dividends on the field. And that's all that matters.

I'm a huge Dykes supporter, sunshine pumper, optimist, glass half full type of guy....but this is NOT a good recruiting class. We should be doing better and I sincerely hope things improve next year. If they don't, serious questions need be asked about this staff.

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JFray23;842075019 said:

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Agree with your post wholeheartedly. I do think Dykes needs to hire some guys with west coast ties. Those ready-made relationships built into local high schools is huge. Sounds like his staff is primarily from the South, and I'd have to think it'd be hard getting kids from SEC country to come all the way out here.

And for the post above, I agree to an extend. Neuheisel did bring in lots of talent, but he never coached the talent up. Mora is now doing that. The one area that Neuheisel neglected completely is the OL (and that's a big reason as to why Klemm's bring in 7 guys). Our entire 2-deep will most likely be made up from true freshmen, sophomores and one junior.

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In football or even basketball for that matter has there been a coach at fucla who has been a poor recruiter in the past 10 years or so?? I think the point some have tried to make is that Mora is continuing what many other coaches have done at fucla. Is it easier to bring in the high 4 and 5 star guys to fucla than it is for most other schools on the west coast?(and even easier now that usc has their sanctions??)

Excellent post.

This really was a calculated decision by Dykes with risks and benefits.

He chose a strategy for putting together his staff that was not going to maximize his ability to attract top talent to Cal in the short term. He is betting that his strategy pays off in the long run in spite of these early less than stellar recruiting results.

Some have argued that we are essentially better off without these 4* athletes or that we shouldn't expect better. I don't have any reason to believe that Dykes prefers not to have 4* types of guys or that we should expect less. Dykes did not walk into a perfect situation, few new coaching hire do. But he did walk into a good situation with our program.

89Bear;842075040 said:

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In football or even basketball for that matter has there been a coach at fucla who has been a poor recruiter in the past 10 years or so?? I think the point some have tried to make is that Mora is continuing what many other coaches have done at fucla. Is it easier to bring in the high 4 and 5 star guys to fucla than it is for most other schools on the west coast?(and even easier now that usc has their sanctions??)

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Karl Dorrell was a horrific recruiter. Yes he brought in Maurice Drew, but he also went head to head with SJSU, Fresno State, and New Mexico for tons of guys. Neuheisel recruited well, but he also had a horrible 2011 class (which will realistically only produce Brett Hundley, Devin Lucien, Torian White, and Jake Brendel).

BTW, I keep hearing that you guys will get LJ Moore and Patrick Enewally. As of now, that's the story.

Those two would be a real boost to this class.

but he never coached the talent up. Mora is now doing that.

Mora also got pounded by Cal, in the bowl game, and beat a lot of cupcakes this year.
They also caught AZ and SUC when both started playing poorly.

RealDrew2;842074960 said:

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The fact that Dykes can't hold on to the recruits that chose Cal under Tedford, despite the bad season and negative chatter, is what is bothering me. Hopefully with a full recruiting cycle under his belt next year, we will back to good recruiting, but until then, he has a lot to prove.

Dykes and his staff are simply not recruiting the same level of athlete as our competitors.

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The only recruit who bailed is Hunt, and Dykes picked up Bunt and the kid from Sacramento.

The DBs from Georgia had poor academics and maybe shouldn't have been offered in the first place, I sure don't count that as not holding on to Tedford's recruits

Mora has done a very good job his two classes. Then again. Most UCLA coaches do. Whatever. That's UCLA. They almost always have good classes.

Dykes has a very uneven record at cal so far and definitely took a course of action that is a gamble IMO. He is trying to setup a staff that will be around for a long time even with say spectacular immediate success. (No sudden coordinator departures etc). He is betting though that a turn around season next year and sustained success is a better model and what he will achieve. However the direct impact is seen in this class. Other than what they did with the OL to date THEIR recruits are "meh", and to date the need at safety hasn't been addressed (granted that rabbit just might get pulled out of the hat) The culling of the holdover recruits frankly should have been expected. And if we lose hunt it's a blow but we got Cochran and bunte and maybe hinnant recovers fully etc. Ragin is one that bothers me because he actually was one of theirs and excited me but it looks like that's a big whiff (of bong smoke)

calbearo;842075062 said:

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Excellent post.

This really was a calculated decision by Dykes with risks and benefits.

He chose a strategy for putting together his staff that was not going to maximize his ability to attract top talent to Cal in the short term. He is betting that his strategy pays off in the long run in spite of these early less than stellar recruiting results.

Some have argued that we are essentially better off without these 4* athletes or that we shouldn't expect better. I don't have any reason to believe that Dykes prefers not to have 4* types of guys or that we should expect less. Dykes did not walk into a perfect situation, few new coaching hire do. But he did walk into a good situation with our program.

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Exactly, Dykes is focused on long term success (including recruiting) and immediate success on the field, but not on immediate recruiting success. Our program is in great shape. The "issues" were short term--staff brought on late in the recruiting cycle, a huge shortage of OL and DL that needed to be addressed at the possible cost of higher rankings, uncertainty over our APR...

JFray23;842074998 said:

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As a UCLA alum/beat writer, I think I can shed some light on the Mora situation.

Yes, SC's situation directly impacts UCLA. Due to the scholarship restrictions, it's true that they can't load up on prospects. Their class is high on quality, but low on quantity. UCLA is definitely taking advantage of that. However, to say that he's "lucked" into everything is rather ignorant. He's definitely earned the current standing of this recruiting class. If UCLA closes with who they're expected to (Asiantii Woulard, Kylie Fitts, Isaac Savaiinaea, Eddie Vanderdoes), it could potentially be the best class in UCLA history.

He's truly brought on a "culture change" throughout the program. I do feel as if that term is thrown around too often, but it's very apropos in this case. Unlike Rick Neuheisel, Mora is holding the players accountable. If a player is late to a work out/team meeting, he has to wake up at 5 am to run with Mora and the S&C coach present. If it happens a second time, everyone in the said player's position group has to run. A third time, and the entire side of the ball runs, and a fourth time, the entire team has to wake up and run. He's weeded out the malcontents on the team, and the players actually respect him (unlike Neuheisel).

He's also brought a big time family feel to the program. He's a very down to earth, albeit intense individual. His honesty resonates very well with recruits. In addition, he compiled a staff that's chock full of NFL experience. I think the staff has something like 80 combined years of NFL experience, and 6 SB rings. Adrian Klemm and Demetrice Martin are tremendous recruiters, as are Jeff Ulbrich and Angus McClure. McClure is the main reason why UCLA is looking good for Eddie Vanderdoes.

I'm not sure how UCLA really benefitted from Toshgate either. UCLA didn't land Arik Armstead, Shaq Thompson, Shittu, or any of those guys. Yes, Ellis McCarthy briefly committed to Cal. However, he was always all UCLA. He didn't like Neuheisel, but always wanted to go there. With Mora and Martin (who is childhood friends with McCarthy's father), it was a done deal. I believe his parents both attended the university as well.

Regardless of the sanctions, no one can argue that Mora is much more sincere than Kiffin. And I think the majority of kids would rather play for Mora when compared to LK. Yes, SC would have made it more difficult, but UCLA has beaten them out for multiple kids. I hear what you're saying, I just think you aren't giving Mora his due.

When comparing Stanford and Cal, Stanford isn't exactly lighting it up on the recruiting trails in this cycle. They also recruit from more of a national standpoint when compared to Cal, and I'm not sure how many recruits the two have gone for head to head. In order words, not sure it really would make a difference or not. I think the only recruit both have gone head to head for is Austin Hooper, correct? ( I could be wrong).

Either way, I think Dykes will give Cal some much needed juice. I think the talent is there, and with a 8-9 win season, you guys should have a top 15 class.

Any by the way, UCLA's academic requirements are very stringent as well. They are definitely on par with Cal's.

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Thanks for this clarification and I'm not really sure that there is much disagreement. Your comments about Lane Kiffin further back my point about UCLA benefiting from $C problems. I didn't mean to imply that the sanctions were the only problem. I never said that Mora wasn't a great recruiter and a great coach. I said that his situation as a new coach provided advantages that Dykes doesn't have and that there isn't any reason to think that Dykes wouldn't do as well had he inherited a similar situation. Dykes is changing the culture at Cal as well. There are already significant changes and there will be many more. Dykes also brought in a team of assistants that are great recruiters.

I don't think having an NFL background is necessary to have recruiting ability. At Cal, there were many assistants with NFL backgrounds under JT but it was Tosh Lupoi, who didn't have NFL experience, who did most of the heavy lifting. Chip Kelly recruited pretty well with 0 NFL experience at Oregon.

The normal academic requirements at UCLA may be comparable to Cal's, but Cal has extra concerns right now that may create a more stringent standard for Dykes than Mora has at UCLA. This is speculation, I admit, but it is fairly reasoned none the less.

I agree that Stanford is a bad example this year, but last year Stanford would not have pulled in the class they had if they had been on probation and many would probably have gone to Cal. The point is that when you have a comparable school in the neighborhood it tends to benefit from the sanctions regardless of who the coach is and what culture he is creating, especially if the school on probation attracts mostly 4 and 5 star athletes.

As for Toshgate, UCLA also got Jordan Payton via Washington and Kenneth Walker. Shame on you for pretending to not know that. True that those losses didn't hurt Cal as much as Armstead and Thompson but they certainly helped UCLA and there is no reason to believe they would be at UCLA had Tosh stayed at Cal.

As I said, I was worried when UCLA hired Mora and I think $C should be too. Before the season even began last year, I was pretty much the only one on this board that thought UCLA could upset $C.

Mora and his staff are great recruiters. I agree with the UCLA beat writer on most of what he said, with the exception of the McCarthy comment, which simply isn't true. It is pretty hard to argue that he was "all UCLA" when he committed to Cal and then left immediately after Tosh bolted.

Dykes' staff is working very hard. But I don't believe Dykes ever had a reputation as a great recruiter at either Arizona, Texas Tech, or Louisiana Tech. I hope he develops that reputation here, but I have seen little to suggest that he is a recruiting dynamo so far.

The Duke!;842075411 said:

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...
Dykes' staff is working very hard. But I don't believe Dykes ever had a reputation as a great recruiter at either Arizona, Texas Tech, or Louisiana Tech. I hope he develops that reputation here, but I have seen little to suggest that he is a recruiting dynamo so far.

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Hey, if Sonny is a success, you can cheer :cheer
If he doesn't rise to your "expectations", you can voluminously claim that you 'told us so" ad nauseum. :rant

Have fun. :p

I think the point about UCLA benefiting from Toshgate is interesting. The Furd point is irrelevant-there aren't enough Cal/Furd recruiting battles to back up your premise, like the SC/UCLA...

How is this a myth? At this point in their respective careers, Mora had better credentials and had done a much better job in sensibly assembling a top notch staff and not only keeping top recruits but attracting additional ones. If Sonny turns out to be the equal of Mora and we're playing in the pac12 championship, I'll be thrilled but as of right now Mora>SD is no myth.

Looperbear;842075450 said:

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How is this a myth? At this point in their respective careers, Mora had better credentials and had done a much better job in sensibly assembling a top notch staff and not only keeping top recruits but attracting additional ones. If Sonny turns out to be the equal of Mora and we're playing in the pac12 championship, I'll be thrilled but as of right now Mora>SD is no myth.

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I also don't see how this is a myth. Mora's results from his first recruiting class is a kind of high water mark for 10 other Pac 12 schools that can result from a late coaching change. We can almost compare the impact each coach/staff had on their first recruiting class and I think just about everyone would agree he was a very positive impact on the Bruin class. His second full class isn't even done yet and I believe they are expecting a few more highly covetted recruits to sign.

This isn't a knock on Dykes and crew because it'll take time for him and his out of region coaches to develop the relationships that are required. From what I see, they fully intend to do that and are making local recruiting a priority. When it comes down to it, we need everyone on staff to buy into the new HC's philosophy or it'll never work. I hope Dykes got everyone he wanted and they are all on the same page, and a few of them turn out to be ace recruiters.

Ace4eVer;842075456 said:

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I also don't see how this is a myth. Mora's results from his first recruiting class is a kind of high water mark for 10 other Pac 12 schools that can result from a late coaching change. We can almost compare the impact each coach/staff had on their first recruiting class and I think just about everyone would agree he was a very positive impact on the Bruin class. His second full class isn't even done yet and I believe they are expecting a few more highly covetted recruits to sign.

This isn't a knock on Dykes and crew because it'll take time for him and his out of region coaches to develop the relationships that are required. From what I see, they fully intend to do that and are making local recruiting a priority. When it comes down to it, we need everyone on staff to buy into the new HC's philosophy or it'll never work. I hope Dykes got everyone he wanted and they are all on the same page, and a few of them turn out to be ace recruiters.

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Yep. Mora is turning out to be among the best hires of the last 25 years: Chip Kelly, JT 2002-Oct. 07, Pete Carroll, Mora. When Mora was hired, I worried that he was another Pete Carroll. Hopefully he bolts to the NFL soon. Given Mora's success, I was frustrated that SD didn't follow his approach in terms of retaining staff and bringing in proven guys.