Donovan’s stats are largely inflated due to the Rice game as well as the first few games where he started. That being said, Donovan is not consistent enough to win us games.
Zeon Chriss (transfer) doesn’t have the stats that Donovan has (at least not passing stats), but he has enough to help us win games complimentary with our incredible defense.
Agreed, transfer portal saved us this season. However, let’s also give credit to the DC.
With that being said, relying on the portal every year is not a good idea. It worked this season, but doesn’t mean it will work every season.
We have an advantage over most college teams in that we’re located in the recruiting hotbed of the nation.
Houston itself has a sort of pride to it, and players love to play and represent their city, now that we’re in a P4 and can compete with anyone, we have an advantage where most other schools don’t.
But we need to focus on Winning… & NIL.
Winning solves all, and I love seeing Fritz win the biggest ranked game in probably my last 7-8 years of watching UH football, and winning it with CULTURE (like Sampson)
But we’re so behind in NIL & Donations compared to even the average joes of CFB.
If we can get big donations from various Fortune 500 companies in Houston or other Donors, and spend at a mid college level, we could be really good for awhile
As mentioned on the GoCoogs podcast yesterday, not all college athletes can go pro. However, Houston is job central. Graduating from the University of Houston, a university located in an incredible professional job market, is what differentiates UH from college towns.
When you’re forced to bring in 60+ kids in year one because the previous coach was fired for not recruiting, these results are no surprise.
Not sure how that indicates UH is tailor made for the transfer portal anymore than Colorado or any other school that needed to fill a ton of roster spots quickly.
In my view, we are TAILOR MADE for the transfer portal, simply because of the sheer volume of football talent that exists in the Greater Houston area, but which may end up going to school outside the area, and then desire to transfer back and play closer to home.
Consider how many of those high performing transfers on the list above fit that EXACT profile.
It’s a big advantage for us!
We may be low when it comes to NIL, but we are in a GREAT position to get top local transfer talent, given that.
But others like Batton, Haulcy, and Allen came not just from G6 programs, but, even worse, from schools at the very lowest end of the G6, such as ULM and Kennesaw State!
xsmithcoog116
(Play through the whistle [ also pass block ])
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We also beat a team that has had “P5” talent stacked for what seems like generations. So much for playing the “lack of talent” card.
Just goes to show how much talent flies under the radar with high school recruiting. Some of those guys you mentioned will end up in the NFL. Glad we gave them the opportunity to showcase their talents. Good stuff.
I thought I would add who the coaches were that recruited the transfers to UH.
Mike Batton (transfer) Fritz
AJ Haulcy (transfer) CDH
Jamal Morris (transfer) CDH
Kentrell Webb (transfer) Fritz
Hershey McLaurin (transfer) Fritz
Carlos Allen (transfer) Fritz
Keith Cooper (transfer) Fritz
Mike Batton (transfer) Fritz
AJ Haulcy (transfer) CDH
Jeremiah Wilson (transfer) Fritz
Donovan Smith (transfer) CDH
Mekhi Mews (transfer) Fritz
Stephon Johnson (transfer) CDH
Joseph Manjack (transfer) CDH
Maliq Carr (transfer) Fritz
Zeon Criss (transfer) Fritz
Bryan Massey (transfer) Fritz
Of course there are are more transfers Fritz brought in besides those listed above. That ship must have come back for more supplies.
I am sure other Coogs hired like I did . When all things were equal I always hired the Coog Engineers. I also saw that the Coogs got the summer jobs and the Co-op jobs. Plus I applied to the Company’s Foundation and got donations of $40,000 per year, for five years, to the Cullen College of Engineering (1980s dollars). The Dean of the College loved it ! It is good to be a UH student and/or Alumnus in Houston.
Go Coogs beat the Bears !
Think of it like building a dam. HS recruiting is the concrete needed to build the structure. The transfer portal is the corks we need to plug the holes that are leaking.
We got a lot of fransfers because Fritz didnt even get here until January and we had already lost a lot of players, both before and after CDH’s firing. Next year’s class already has a bunch of HS commits. We will see a transfer here and there to help, but not like last winter and spring. We have to see who becomes available that we can get…
Great observations and list. I posted a while back that in the absence of competitive NIL, areas that UH could find some hidden gems are: 1) G5 all conference players looking to step up in competition, or 2) highly touted high school players or transfers on blue bloods that ride the bench and are looking to start for a new team. Players from the State of Texas that UH recruited and were familiar with would be first priority.
If you can’t compete in the NIL sweepstakes, you have to find other motivations that will attract players to UH.
These guys ain’t lining up to get the white collar jobs here after graduation - let’s be honest with ourselves - they may get a job here but that’s not the motivation
Unless your getting game ready freshmen and those are few and far between you have to live in the portal these days to get guys who was over recruited or guys who blossomed late at a lower level and ready to take the next step