Any head coach waiting on the official “transfer portal” to open up, in January, is waaaay behind the 8-ball…
With that said, I believe Willie already has players from lower level programs in mind, and he has a LOT of connections there.
Competing for disgruntled 4-stars with all the other power 4 programs is an uphill battle and inviting trouble…
…unless there’s a “foot in the door” opportunity, like a relationship with another coach, or a hometown connection, or someone passing by a message board and saying… “Coach, maybe we should look into this guy”?
The only exception I make is with Boo Carter, from Tennessee. He’s a “not so hidden gem” and he’s not a turd, like some want to characterize him. He was “done wrong” at Tennessee, but the Heupel-hype painted a much different narrative.
Most Tennessee fans were left thinking…
…how did we lose this Stud?
This is not something selfish people do…
He picked Tennessee over Michigan because Josh Heupel said he would give him an opportunity to play both ways. Josh Heupel never gave him that chance once Boo arrived on campus. That was his Freshman year, where he was a freshman All-American.
Boo was told he would be a d-back and he never got the chance to go run the ball, or catch a pass in a game. He did get to return kicks, and was Electric.
As a reminder, at this point, star ratings
aside, he started for Tennessee, as a true freshman, and became an All-American. So let’s move ahead…
In his sophomore year, Boo began asking for the opportunity he was promised… the narrative was spun by the “Big Orange Machine” that Boo was a problem child, likely because Tennessee was loaded at WR and RB and didn’t want to risk losing one of the best players they had in the secondary.
Well then Josh, don’t make promises you can’t keep.
Boo fell victim to being keyholed into the new narrative about missing workouts, etc… …and once that happened, everyone “conveniently “ forgot that he had a reason to be unhappy.
Pay attention to the words Josh Heupel and the local media (in his back pocket) spin, where they never come out and say what Boo actually did wrong. They speak in general terms about Boo missing practices, and having problems in the locker room…
It’s because he was getting vocal about being lied to. Notice Josh Heupel talks about the “recruiting process”… and how “sometimes it works out, and sometimes it doesn’t”.
Josh Heupel, apparently has no culpability in all this, but the truth is… he does.
Have I said yet Boo was a Freshman All-American. He has multiple years left of eligibility and certainly deserves a second chance.
Think about what you wanted to see from Makai Mews this season. That’s what Boo Carter is !
Oh, and he’s a great d-back and can catch and can run.