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TJ Otzelberger versus the other Assistant Coaches - Recruiting

Yankee14

Yankee14

Member
Aug 24, 2011
51
1
6
Frisco, TX
I'm curious if anyone would have any thoughts or information as to why TJ still does all the recruiting? That's how it seems at least with him traveling with Prohm to see Darrell Bowie as an example. When Fred was here, TJ did most of the recruiting leg-work. Not much has changed now that Steve is here.

This sort of worries me as TJ only has a 1 year contract, I'm not sure what's going through his head now that Fred is gone. He originally agreed to come back before the Fred rumors started. Do we know how much time and effort the other guys are putting into recruiting high school and JuCo guys?

I'm not trying to start anything about TJ, but hypothetically, what if he left ISU? Would any of our other assistants be able to lock down talent like TJ has? I don't know that any of them are bad recruiters, it just doesn't seem to get talked about much so the perception is that it's all TJ Otzelberger.
 
What, another Frisco TX Cyclone? Gotta be kidding me, hit me up with a PM...

and I was thinking this same thing yesterday. Something has to happen with Robinson, Small, etc landing some guys or I don't imagine their stay will be long, as that is a huge part of the job....For the record, most assistant contracts are one year at a time I believe
 
If he leaves we hire another Midwest recruiter and hope our (relatively) recently started efforts by Small in the Southeast start to pay off.
 
1. TJ came back BECAUSE of the Fred rumors. I doubt he would have been back orherwise. If you listened to Georges mom being interviewed this week she said Fred told the players he might not be back. I'm sure he told TJ the same thing.

2. He is doing a great job recruiting. I hope he stays as long as he and prohm get along and he has the best interests of everyone in mind.

3. Since the staff was new last year, I give them a pass in recruiting last summer. I'm hopeful they can land some recruits this summer. If they don't, I'm sure prohm will find someone who will.

4. The northern Illinois guy was Milwaukee. That's why TJ was in on him. The key thing is that prohm was doing work to get him in addition to TJ.

5. TJ deserves a head coaching job which is why I was so perplexed that he cancelled his interviews with a few schools after accepting the job here.
 
Yankee14 said:
I'm curious if anyone would have any thoughts or information as to why TJ still does all the recruiting? That's how it seems at least with him traveling with Prohm to see Darrell Bowie as an example. When Fred was here, TJ did most of the recruiting leg-work. Not much has changed now that Steve is here.

This sort of worries me as TJ only has a 1 year contract, I'm not sure what's going through his head now that Fred is gone. He originally agreed to come back before the Fred rumors started. Do we know how much time and effort the other guys are putting into recruiting high school and JuCo guys?

I'm not trying to start anything about TJ, but hypothetically, what if he left ISU? Would any of our other assistants be able to lock down talent like TJ has? I don't know that any of them are bad recruiters, it just doesn't seem to get talked about much so the perception is that it's all TJ Otzelberger.
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I think because of his location that he recruits is why he is able to get more guys. His guys are coming from Wisconsin/Mich/Ill area. Whoever is recruiting guys from Texas and the southeast have a much more difficult time getting kids to Ames.
 
jim4 said:
If he leaves we hire another Midwest recruiter and hope our (relatively) recently started efforts by Small in the Southeast start to pay off.
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I think that this comment nails at least a part of the dynamic. The recruiting strengths of the new staff are going to take a bit of time to be noticed I think. You have to get into the conversation so early with a lot of these players and it will take a bit of time to adjust and retool the narrative.

Looking at some of the few recruits that ESPN has listed for us as us interested or them interested in us. It looks like with the small sample size, that there are quite a few Texas and a couple other southern state athletes. I'm sure that more will be seen as time goes forward.

Of course another reason is just how good of a recruiter TJ seems to be. Sure he might leave after the season, but he might stay also, why not continue using his talents as a recruiter and judge of talent until you aren't able to anymore. It seems silly to shut down one of your best resources, just because he might leave soon.

On another note. As I was looking at the recruiting list, I saw a familiar name. It is interesting that there is another Diallo on the radar. They don't have ISU high on his list of schools, but it will be interesting to see if the hype train gets as crazy as the first Diallo one did. lol
 
TJ leaving for Washington State was a costly mistake for TJ and ISU. The two years TJ was gone are the exact two years our recruiting took a nose dive. I really think had he stayed we would have at least 1-2 high major underclassman in the program. As it stands we don't and the year after next is going to a "rebuilding year" to say the least, even with Malou and Jackson as seniors.

As for TJ had he stayed he'd probably be the head coach at ISU right now. He would have been widely considered as Fred's number 2 for his entire run, as stated above would have brought in a few more high major guys and I think the fans and major donors would have been much more strongly in his camp.
 
mustangcy said:
TJ leaving for Washington State was a costly mistake for TJ and ISU. The two years TJ was gone are the exact two years our recruiting took a nose dive. I really think had he stayed we would have at least 1-2 high major underclassman in the program. As it stands we don't and the year after next is going to a "rebuilding year" to say the least, even with Malou and Jackson as seniors.

As for TJ had he stayed he'd probably be the head coach at ISU right now. He would have been widely considered as Fred's number 2 for his entire run, as stated above would have brought in a few more high major guys and I think the fans and major donors would have been much more strongly in his camp.
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I agree, had he stayed he most likely would be the head coach right now. However, at the time he left, he probably was thinking that Fred would be around for a while and the head coaching job wouldn't open up anytime soon. In that case, the extra experience is probably good for him.
 
We'll see some recruits coming to Ames from the staff other than Otz in the near future. The entire staff including Prohm has been hitting the trail hard and it will bear fruit soon enough.
Remember the staff just took over the middle of last summer and thus they only started identifying and contacting prospect for ISU late in the summer. Prohm was also the key connect for Carter. Otz was already recruting for ISU and had some in roads with prospects like S. Young. Otz current region is the MW which is obviously an easier sell than pulling players from the south.
 
TJ getting a HC gig would potentially be a very good thing for ISU down the road.

He could cut his teeth at a low/mid school and then be ready to take Prohm's spot when he moves on.

The big key for us would be to replace him with another high level recruiter.
 
You can't judge the staff yet because they got here too late to do any real recruiting. The team would have been much better off if Fred left a month or two earlier, and even then it still wouldn't be enough time to fairly judge them the first year even though we would have had a better shot at pulling in a transfer to help with this year.
 
Yes, when TJ leaves we need to get a GREAT recruiter. That is much easier said than done. TJ is a killer on the recruiting trail. One of the absolute best! There are others out there but it takes a special guy to be that good.
 
Yankee14 said:
I'm curious if anyone would have any thoughts or information as to why TJ still does all the recruiting? That's how it seems at least with him traveling with Prohm to see Darrell Bowie as an example. When Fred was here, TJ did most of the recruiting leg-work. Not much has changed now that Steve is here.

This sort of worries me as TJ only has a 1 year contract, I'm not sure what's going through his head now that Fred is gone. He originally agreed to come back before the Fred rumors started. Do we know how much time and effort the other guys are putting into recruiting high school and JuCo guys?

I'm not trying to start anything about TJ, but hypothetically, what if he left ISU? Would any of our other assistants be able to lock down talent like TJ has? I don't know that any of them are bad recruiters, it just doesn't seem to get talked about much so the perception is that it's all TJ Otzelberger.
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I can say with 100% certainty that otz will leave after this year. He will take a head coaching job. This info is coming from a very close family friend of his.
 
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