Purdue put together a nice core of early commitments for its 2016 class, actually filling the bulk of its available space with those it was able to convince to jump on board early.
But the asterisk there, of course, has been the challenge of holding on to said players. There aren't many programs out there who've been stung more by decommitments in recent years than Purdue, for whatever reason, on-field success being one, obviously.
As we've discussed before, there's no sense at all in griping about the system or players' lack of loyalty or whatever rationalization there might be. This is the world coaches must exist in nowadays. This chaos represents the conditions on the ground and these transactions go both ways often.
What DB Jake Long's flip to West Virginia last night and D-end Jacoby Hill backing out mean more than anything is just that those guys obviously didn't commit to Purdue in the first place on rock-solid ground, for rock-solid reasons. Long just seemed to want a place he felt he could start right away and Hill just jumped at his first big offer, without even having visited, which is always a red flag when it comes to commitment stability.
Purdue has done a nice job making a strong enough visceral impression on players to compel them to commit, but time has shown some difficulty in terms of building lasting bonds iron-clad enough to weather storms that inevitably come when you recruit quality players.
There have been exceptions. Last year, Eddy Wilson could have gone to Pitt or Iowa and Brycen Hopkins could have gone to Florida, so don't misunderstand. This isn't a scorched-earth deal where Purdue has lost everyone who's fielded a phone call.
But this is not a topic that exists in a vacuum right now, just because of Long and Hill. Like I said, there have been countless, relatively speaking, decommitments from Purdue the past few classes, some of them being guys Purdue didn't shed a single tear over, but decommitments nonetheless.
It has taken a toll on this 2016 class, obviously, because of the phases of the game affected.
Purdue doesn't need just numbers at cornerback. It needs impact numbers, guys who can, ideally, come in and play right away. That urgency might change in the next six months should some of the young players in the program currently really emerge but as of now, Purdue has a roster that returns one scholarship cornerback from last season, activating a depth chart siren when looking ahead to 2016.
Long was one of its first choices at that position.
Will Purdue find somebody else? Sure they will, but Long was a Plan A guy and Plan A recruits are always better than the alternative.
Ditto for Hill. The defensive line is a prime need in this class and Hill was told when being recruited he was Priority 1, or at least something close to it. Now, it should be noted that Hill does say he expects to still officially visit Purdue, so the door is not entirely closed there.
These were first-choice prospects for Purdue at positions of important need for a defense that has a chance to field a competitive group this season, but needs to improve at various positions at build depth.
And that says nothing of linebacker/rush end Collin Miller, who's done nothing publicly since committing to Purdue to give reason to believe his commitment isn't a wobbly one.
Such instability has been a fact of life Purdue's just had to deal with in recruiting, more so than just about anybody else out there at a comparable level.
Purdue's doing a lot right in recruiting, but having a difficult time turning commitments into signatures. The good news for Purdue is that it's recruiting players other people want, I suppose.
There's no easy answer as to how to reverse such fortunes, or at least no easy answer other than winning.
But the asterisk there, of course, has been the challenge of holding on to said players. There aren't many programs out there who've been stung more by decommitments in recent years than Purdue, for whatever reason, on-field success being one, obviously.
As we've discussed before, there's no sense at all in griping about the system or players' lack of loyalty or whatever rationalization there might be. This is the world coaches must exist in nowadays. This chaos represents the conditions on the ground and these transactions go both ways often.
What DB Jake Long's flip to West Virginia last night and D-end Jacoby Hill backing out mean more than anything is just that those guys obviously didn't commit to Purdue in the first place on rock-solid ground, for rock-solid reasons. Long just seemed to want a place he felt he could start right away and Hill just jumped at his first big offer, without even having visited, which is always a red flag when it comes to commitment stability.
Purdue has done a nice job making a strong enough visceral impression on players to compel them to commit, but time has shown some difficulty in terms of building lasting bonds iron-clad enough to weather storms that inevitably come when you recruit quality players.
There have been exceptions. Last year, Eddy Wilson could have gone to Pitt or Iowa and Brycen Hopkins could have gone to Florida, so don't misunderstand. This isn't a scorched-earth deal where Purdue has lost everyone who's fielded a phone call.
But this is not a topic that exists in a vacuum right now, just because of Long and Hill. Like I said, there have been countless, relatively speaking, decommitments from Purdue the past few classes, some of them being guys Purdue didn't shed a single tear over, but decommitments nonetheless.
It has taken a toll on this 2016 class, obviously, because of the phases of the game affected.
Purdue doesn't need just numbers at cornerback. It needs impact numbers, guys who can, ideally, come in and play right away. That urgency might change in the next six months should some of the young players in the program currently really emerge but as of now, Purdue has a roster that returns one scholarship cornerback from last season, activating a depth chart siren when looking ahead to 2016.
Long was one of its first choices at that position.
Will Purdue find somebody else? Sure they will, but Long was a Plan A guy and Plan A recruits are always better than the alternative.
Ditto for Hill. The defensive line is a prime need in this class and Hill was told when being recruited he was Priority 1, or at least something close to it. Now, it should be noted that Hill does say he expects to still officially visit Purdue, so the door is not entirely closed there.
These were first-choice prospects for Purdue at positions of important need for a defense that has a chance to field a competitive group this season, but needs to improve at various positions at build depth.
And that says nothing of linebacker/rush end Collin Miller, who's done nothing publicly since committing to Purdue to give reason to believe his commitment isn't a wobbly one.
Such instability has been a fact of life Purdue's just had to deal with in recruiting, more so than just about anybody else out there at a comparable level.
Purdue's doing a lot right in recruiting, but having a difficult time turning commitments into signatures. The good news for Purdue is that it's recruiting players other people want, I suppose.
There's no easy answer as to how to reverse such fortunes, or at least no easy answer other than winning.
