ArizonaLonghorn

ESPN said they were dropping Arch below the other QBs because he wouldn't compete in the summer camps like Elite 11. They said because he played at a small high school it was hard to evaluate him properly and so they were rewarding players who (in their words) "were willing to compete against their peers at a high level". I remember specifically that Moore had a good camp and ESPN made a big deal about elevating him above Arch because of that. I thought at the time it seemed petty and spiteful, maybe a little dumb, to downgrade a player just because he didn't go to Elite 11 camp. Also, not a bad way to click-bait more attention to their recruiting pay site I guess? Obviously they were wrong (Nelson went from USC -> Boise State -> UTEP !!!) and I'm not defending ESPN, just relating what they wrote on the espn.com website at the time it happened. Edit: I see I was typing at the same time as thatdude2, glad someone else remembered it the same way 🤘

Well they are paying a coach $9,000,000 to NOT coach so it's possible they might pay a player $500K to not play, right? Makes sense I guess 🙃

Kyler Murray agrees with this message. For those who forgot, he was the # 1 overall pick in the NFL draft and # 9 overall pick in the MLB draft and chose pro football.

I remember seeing clips of Malik Agbo catching passes downfield in 7-on-7 games while listed at 6'5" 305 lbs, thinking "man, we could really use a guy that size with that athleticism". He was rated almost140 spots higher than Cam Williams in the same class and I was really happy when he signed. Sorry and a little surprised it didn't work out better for him at Texas and I wish him luck at his next stop (so long as they're not on our schedule). Further proof you never know how guys will sort themselves out once they get on campus.

In that case they made yet ANOTHER big mistake by picking a bottom feeder team in the conference that won the past two national championships and has 3-4 top programs pretty much each year (OSU, Oregon, Penn State, Michigan). UCLA is rarely even the best program in Los Angeles. Not much chance Nico leads them to the CFB playoffs.

Amen. His reps (dad and handler) really messed up by not having a backup offer in hand before trying to force Tennessee to renegotiate. No leverage. Like bluffing with a 2 and 3 offsuit hole cards. They totally misjudged how Tennessee would react and then both sides were boxed in when he skipped practice. Wonder how much he got from UCLA? I'd guess more than $1 million but less than $2. Plus the hit to his reputation (which, let's be real here, won't matter much if he plays great for the Bruins - but he had a lot better players surrounding him in Knoxville so no surprise if he struggles). Anyway, glad this is settled. Back to Texas and the transfer portal 🙂

No word on the $$ (reportedly nowhere near the asked for $4 million) but at least he's playing near home. And his dad and 'uncle' are saying a big reason they left Tennessee was because they wanted Nico to play in a scheme that better prepares him for the NFL. Yeah, OK. Colin Cowherd was the first to report this story so a tip of the cap to him. Ex-Tennessee Quarterback Nico Iamaleava Set to Transfer to UCLA (SI.com - free) Nico Iamaleava expected to transfer to UCLA after departure from Tennessee: Source (Athletic - $)

What's the joke? Can you share 🤘

It's quite possible they didn't try very hard to keep him, no? 994 yards seems like a lot but it's over 4 seasons - last year he went for just 303 yards, 4.1 ypc. Wouldn't be a shock if they have other dudes in mind with similar or better stats at << $$

I'd like to see their predictions for the past 10 drafts to check how accurate their predictions turned out to be. Anyone have that data? 96% seems too high, and I'd be surprised if Shough (who played in high school next door to me here at Chandler years ago) and Will Howard are much better than Quinn. Who was ESPN's biggest miss? (Guessing Lamar Jackson) How high do you need to be drafted to be considered a 'bust'?

The UNLV player had a good reason to bail ... he was promised payment by an assistant coach (not much, maybe $75K or so?) but they stiffed him and he got nothing. That's why he left. I think everyone can understand his reasoning. EDIT: after reading the rest of the posts I saw you mentioned this a couple of times, sorry for rehashing it when I didn't need to

There is ... just hover over the user avatar and in the bottom-right corner you'll see the "Ignore" icon

Great watching them interact, thanks for posting this

Thanks for posting that. # 6 QB in that class was Jaden Rashada, who accepted a supposed $9 million deal with Miami, backed out when Florida offered $13.5 million (there are copies of that contract on the internet, it was real), showed up on campus as an early enrollee only to learn the boosters couldn't raise the money. He got a release from Florida and ended up at Arizona State (not much NIL money in the desert but his dad had played here). Played OK but not worth big bucks, entered portal again when ASU took Sam Leavitt and is now at Georgia. With the unlimited transfers and NIL bucks being tossed around there are a lot of interesting career paths for today's QBs. A lot of them are making poor choices chasing the $$ and playing time.

Yeah I know the rule - you REALLY think someone is going to pay him $4-6 million NIL to sit on the bench a year, then he could simply move on again? No way.

?? What about the SEC spring transfer rule though?

True statements, but there's a right way to negotiate - maybe something like "hey guys I got this incredible offer for twice what I'm earning here. I want to stay but come on, I know every one of you would be gone with a raise like that, so can you sweeten my deal? You know I'll always love Tennessee. I'm gonna miss Tennessee if we can't negotiate something fairer, but I'll always love Tennessee." Lay it on thick. Something like that maybe? Sounds like his 'agent' (dad?) is negotiating Tony Soprano style, maybe overplaying his cards and rubbing everyone the wrong way. For sure Nico is losing the public relations battle.

The last ASU QB (Daniels) to transfer to a SEC school (LSU) won the Heisman, got drafted 2nd overall and led a dog-poop franchise to the playoffs in year one. I'll bet Sam would be a lot better at GA than here in Tempe.

Dueling tweets - if he is skipping practice then there seems to be some truth to it, right?

Wow, supposedly a NIL deal worth potentially $8 million with Tennessee collective Spyre Sports Group when he signed (supposedly the details were leaked by his agent), plus whatever else he can scrounge up in the after markets. But Tennessee doesn't have a backup plan in place, so he has them over a barrel. What could go wrong? Gotta love Sark's approach to the QB position. Edit: just saw he's asking $4 million/year, up from the current $2 mill deal.

I would have guessed he needs to finish spring semester classes to graduate in May/June (?) but don't really know for sure. I personally wouldn't leave Stanford a few classes shy of a degree unless there were megabucks involved, but if this is the case then perhaps he plans on returning to finish the degree later? Especially if he could do it online (I've taken several Stanford classes on Coursera (which was founded by two Stanford professors) and at Stanford Online - great classes but pretty rigorous).

NIL - we are strong at EDGE so to us Bailey was a luxury. At some price point we'd love to have him, but would you pay Colin Simmons dollars? More? Nope. And if we did pay him more than even Simmons how do you think that would go over in the locker room? Not familiar with Tech's roster but they needed him a lot more than us so it makes sense they would pay more (likely a lot more) than we would. As to the argument about exposure for the draft - if you can really play the NFL will find you. In the 2023 draft Texas Tech DE Tyree Wilson went # 7 overall (one spot higher than Bijan Robinson, first Longhorn off the board). This year I see mock drafts with players from Marshall, East Carolina and even North Dakota State ranked high. If I was a Tech recruiter my pitch to Bailey would be "you're the next Tyree Wilson - heck, you're even better. And he went higher in the draft than any Longhorn that year". It's really not a big deal guys.

Makes sense, a Stanford grad is so rarely seen on the high plains of Texas ...

Not an April Fool's day post, he's their new guy. Career record of 99-52 which percentage wise is almost identical to 8-4. From the Pete Thamel article on ESPN - McMillan is the head coach at Samford, which he led to a pair of Southern Conference championships and one NCAA tournament in his five seasons there. His overall record there was 99-52, and he led Samford to four-consecutive 20-win seasons. He defined a style that includes a heavy emphasis on pressing and disruption. It is one that not only plays fast on offense, but it attempts to speed up the opposition. In each of the past two seasons, Samford's opponents turned the ball over at a rate that put the team in the top 20 in the country for opponent turnover percentage. The energy and style should help engage an A&M fan base that isn't organically a basketball group. A&M is expected to have nearly $7 million available in NIL and revenue share this season, a competitive number for the SEC that should give Texas A&M a chance to be competitive in the conference. "A chance to be competitive" - looks like they're not setting the sights too high to begin with (no Jimbo Future National Championship plaque - darn). This should be interesting. The lads on TexAgs are taking a wait and see attitude for the moment.