The NCAA recently announced the Gopher Football program would be one of two to be penalized three scholarships this year for lack of academic progress over a four year period. Being in the company of Ole Miss in academics is never a good place to be, but I have great hope this will be a short-lived association.
I blame two things for the low APR scores. First, the Grinster. Second, the first class Brewster brought in.
Mason recruited a bunch of idiots. The nature of the recruiting game today means your school falls into one of three areas:
1. "Helmet School". Only about 15 or 20 schools fall into this category. These are the perennial powers like Texas, Ohio State, Tennessee etc. who can recruit on name only. When a coach from one of these institutions steps foot in a high school, all other offers generally take a back seat (unless the athlete has a particular affinity for their home state, has built a relationship with a "UBER RECRUITER" or holds an offer from another helmet school).
2. "Uber Recruiter". This select band of coaches with last names like Zook, Ogeron, Dantonio and Brewster can hold their own on a national level through pure work ethic. These guys k
now how to talk to high school prima-donnas, and more importantly, can convince them that either their school is up and coming, or that they can be guaranteed early playing time. These ace recruiters can usually steal a few top 250 recruits from the helmet schools year in- year out.
3. "X's and O's Coach". This final category of coaches are filled with headmen who focus on finding system players who generally have a lower talent ceiling than those who attend the helmet schools and enroll with Uber Recruiters. Guys like Mason, Ferentz, and Tiller are good examples of this. These coaches recognize that they are old, white, and hate dealing with starlets, three personality traits which handicap any coach when trying to lure high school superstars. Their only chance to add top-end talent is by pursuing academic risks, who are late-qualifiers or JUCO transfers.
Glen Mason was an X and O coach (and an idiot). The only time he attracted top end high school talent (Laurence Maroney being a GLARING exception) was when they were academic or character risks. Guys like Keith Massey (convicted felon during recuritment), Paris Hamilton (big time JUCO receiver with a Troy Williamson like episode of underachievement both on and off the field), and Gary Russel (lol) created a culture of early drop outs and transfers out of the program. The Dom Jones scandal (and subsequent ejection of four retards) didn't help either. Our program is still about 40% Mason recruits, and when you consider we only graduated a ahndfuld seniors last year, the quality of players Mason chose to recruit really stands out. If you leave school while in poor academic standing, the school gets a damaged APR. With this astounding amount of attrition in Mason recruits, these consequences are understandable.
Secondly, Brewster recruited a bunch of idiots/late-qualifiers/non-signees in the three weeks he had before signing day after he was hired. Almost all of these guys have dropped out, with the exception of sometimes starter Kyle Theret.
The good news is that Brewster has seemingly righted the ship. We had the most Big Ten All Academics last season (twenty something), and the highest APR score in the history of the program. I attribute this shift to a Uber Recruiter being at the helm, as well as less attrition through drop-outs and off-field incidents. Brewster is creating a culture of accountability both on and off the field, a major reason I continue to support him despite the lack of on-field achievement.
Don't worry folks. We haven't abandoned you. At least not permanently. The updates will start picking back up here. Anyways...
