I have a few more quotes from ILBs coach and recruiting coordinator Mark Smith that I wanted to share below;
Mark Smith's thoughts on the transfer portal and his expectations for roster turnover year in and year out:
"I think what’s made things even more of a challenge than they already are is the transfer portal. This is something that I don’t believe is going away, and it’s not an issue that is solely faced by the University of Colorado — this is across the country with universities figuring how how (to) manage this, how (to) structure our roster in terms of numbers to make sure we have what we need in a given class?
The target has always been moving over the years but now it’s moving even more, because of the fluctuation of guys in and out of rosters. So, that creates an added layer of challenges and opportunity. I do think this (2023) class will be pivotal. I think you’re going to start seeing classes here and everywhere else (being) full classes of 25.
I just think that’s going to be normal and a part of the normal path rather than classes of sometimes 16-17 guys. I think the bottom third of most teams’ rosters will turnover every year, when that number normally is a quarter of your roster.”
Smith on the impact of recruits' grades when it comes to CU going after them:
“We don’t extend offers to guys that don’t have good transcripts. There’s too many good players out there to spend time on somebody that’s not taking care of themselves academically in high school. So, if they're not taking care of themselves in high school, they probably won’t take care of themselves in college. That’s important to (Karl Dorrell). We have to have a transcript and an initial (academic) evaluation done before we can offer. So, that’s important to us.”
Smith on making a recruiting pitch and how it can vary for different position players and kids in general:
“We call ourselves custom tailors when it comes to recruiting. We’re not going to go to Dillard’s and just buy you a suit right off the rack and put it on you. It may look okay, but we want to get it fitted just right for you — trim it a little bit here and get it exactly to what works for you. That becomes part of the process of getting to know (recruits). What’s important to you? What’s important to you is going to be different from this guy and this guy.
So, this university and this program have so much to offer. There’s so much history here. You can do anything you want from this place. In the course of recruiting, building that relationship and getting to know who’s involved in this process — maybe it’s your high school coach that’s going to really help you make a decision; maybe it’s your grandfather who’s going to help; maybe it’s an aunt or an uncle; maybe it’s your mom and dad or a variety of these people — but what is important to them?
We custom tailor it for them and we’re always going to be honest from them throughout the way. That’s coach Dorrell’s policy. We don’t bring guys in tell them, ‘Hey, you could play here early.’ That’s not what we do. We’ll say, ‘If you come in and do the work and beat people out, you will play early.’ We’re recruiting guys who we want to do that, but at the same time, we’re not going to promise things to them that we can’t do. That’s just not how we operate.
We figure out what’s important to you and then we custom tailor our presentation to fit what it is you’re looking for, and we accentuate those things during the process. Then we tailor it when you're here on your official visit. If academics is very important to you, then we carve out more time with our academic staff. We bring a professor over from whatever (program) it is you want to get into.
…If it’s more important to (explore) the greater Boulder area, then we custom tailor that and we do events where we get you out and let you see what it’s like. Some guys, it’s really important to them about development, in terms of the strength and conditioning staff, so we carve out more time with Shannon Turley and his group to really go over what (they’ve) done for guys in the past. This is what we can do for you.”
....
In general and in this one-on-one interview, I've been pretty impressed by Smith. From a recruiting standpoint, I think he's got a good head on his shoulders and should do well in his position as recruiting coordinator. The last quote I'd posted, I asked him specifically if, for example, when recruiting cornerbacks, Smith and CU might go after a kid by saying "look at the young corners we've utilized recently, that could be you playing early in Boulder." I liked how he added the caveat that such a thing is not promised to anyone or dangled in front of recruits without proper context.
As for his thoughts on the transfer portal, that could very well turn out to be true, with the bottom third of each team's roster moving on after a given season.
And on a final note, @BuffaLaw8487 and @dtownbuff, you guys in a prior Mark Smith thread of mine asked if I'd talked with Smith about NIL and how that impacts recruiting. To be perfectly frank, that was a failure on my part as the interviewer not asking him the questions that you posed. Would have been interesting to hear what he had to say about that and having gotten to know Smith, I think he would have been candid enough. So I apologize for that slip-up. I hope to speak with him again soon and will be sure to ask that. Completely slipped my mind in the duration of our conversation.
Mark Smith's thoughts on the transfer portal and his expectations for roster turnover year in and year out:
"I think what’s made things even more of a challenge than they already are is the transfer portal. This is something that I don’t believe is going away, and it’s not an issue that is solely faced by the University of Colorado — this is across the country with universities figuring how how (to) manage this, how (to) structure our roster in terms of numbers to make sure we have what we need in a given class?
The target has always been moving over the years but now it’s moving even more, because of the fluctuation of guys in and out of rosters. So, that creates an added layer of challenges and opportunity. I do think this (2023) class will be pivotal. I think you’re going to start seeing classes here and everywhere else (being) full classes of 25.
I just think that’s going to be normal and a part of the normal path rather than classes of sometimes 16-17 guys. I think the bottom third of most teams’ rosters will turnover every year, when that number normally is a quarter of your roster.”
Smith on the impact of recruits' grades when it comes to CU going after them:
“We don’t extend offers to guys that don’t have good transcripts. There’s too many good players out there to spend time on somebody that’s not taking care of themselves academically in high school. So, if they're not taking care of themselves in high school, they probably won’t take care of themselves in college. That’s important to (Karl Dorrell). We have to have a transcript and an initial (academic) evaluation done before we can offer. So, that’s important to us.”
Smith on making a recruiting pitch and how it can vary for different position players and kids in general:
“We call ourselves custom tailors when it comes to recruiting. We’re not going to go to Dillard’s and just buy you a suit right off the rack and put it on you. It may look okay, but we want to get it fitted just right for you — trim it a little bit here and get it exactly to what works for you. That becomes part of the process of getting to know (recruits). What’s important to you? What’s important to you is going to be different from this guy and this guy.
So, this university and this program have so much to offer. There’s so much history here. You can do anything you want from this place. In the course of recruiting, building that relationship and getting to know who’s involved in this process — maybe it’s your high school coach that’s going to really help you make a decision; maybe it’s your grandfather who’s going to help; maybe it’s an aunt or an uncle; maybe it’s your mom and dad or a variety of these people — but what is important to them?
We custom tailor it for them and we’re always going to be honest from them throughout the way. That’s coach Dorrell’s policy. We don’t bring guys in tell them, ‘Hey, you could play here early.’ That’s not what we do. We’ll say, ‘If you come in and do the work and beat people out, you will play early.’ We’re recruiting guys who we want to do that, but at the same time, we’re not going to promise things to them that we can’t do. That’s just not how we operate.
We figure out what’s important to you and then we custom tailor our presentation to fit what it is you’re looking for, and we accentuate those things during the process. Then we tailor it when you're here on your official visit. If academics is very important to you, then we carve out more time with our academic staff. We bring a professor over from whatever (program) it is you want to get into.
…If it’s more important to (explore) the greater Boulder area, then we custom tailor that and we do events where we get you out and let you see what it’s like. Some guys, it’s really important to them about development, in terms of the strength and conditioning staff, so we carve out more time with Shannon Turley and his group to really go over what (they’ve) done for guys in the past. This is what we can do for you.”
....
In general and in this one-on-one interview, I've been pretty impressed by Smith. From a recruiting standpoint, I think he's got a good head on his shoulders and should do well in his position as recruiting coordinator. The last quote I'd posted, I asked him specifically if, for example, when recruiting cornerbacks, Smith and CU might go after a kid by saying "look at the young corners we've utilized recently, that could be you playing early in Boulder." I liked how he added the caveat that such a thing is not promised to anyone or dangled in front of recruits without proper context.
As for his thoughts on the transfer portal, that could very well turn out to be true, with the bottom third of each team's roster moving on after a given season.
And on a final note, @BuffaLaw8487 and @dtownbuff, you guys in a prior Mark Smith thread of mine asked if I'd talked with Smith about NIL and how that impacts recruiting. To be perfectly frank, that was a failure on my part as the interviewer not asking him the questions that you posed. Would have been interesting to hear what he had to say about that and having gotten to know Smith, I think he would have been candid enough. So I apologize for that slip-up. I hope to speak with him again soon and will be sure to ask that. Completely slipped my mind in the duration of our conversation.
