International Recruiting

[CapstoneGrad06]

I was thinking back about Nautyn McKay-Loescher, and wondering why we've never tried to recruit more guys from Canada. I know Coach Saban signed a few Canadian players in in first couple years at LSU, but that may have been because of the connections while at Michigan State. Of course once I thought about this, I remember a segment on College Football Live about the rising interest in College Football by Japan. It would be interesting to see if schools such as Alabama start to recruit European or Asian players. With the NFL Europe and the American Bowl in Japan, the interest and development of high school age kids can certainly be there. Another possibility is the scouting of Samoan kids in American-Samoa and the like, much like Hawaii does. I know UH, Utah, and BYU have the market cornered, so to speak, on those guys, but it would be nice to bring in a Jesse Mahelona caliber guy. Any thoughts?

 

[uafootball92]

I wanna say it was the Texas Tech/SMU game this past Sunday, I could be wrong, but they, TTU, had a returner that transferred from some university in Japan. If the talent is there, go for it. But, that is a lot of money. I know we have it, but smaller schools don't, and based on personal opinion, from a cost/benefit standpoint, a good talent in our own backyard would be a better grab than a great talent halfway around the world.

 

[FitToBeTide]

U of North Alabama's FG kicker is Yuta Fukuda, from Gumma-Machi, Japan. Pretty good kicker, too.

 

[Braveheart]

I think the problem with that is the football has never taken off in popularity the way basketball has internationally. Sure, there are players from all over the world but since the sport hasn't really taken off internationally, it would be hard (but not impossible) to guage just how good a player from say, Bulgaria is. If there is little competition, how can you judge just how good that player is?

I'm not saying that there are no good players in say, Canada. But apart from Canada, I'd be skeptical just how good they are.

 

[Crimson Surfer]

I personally think Bama has more than enough talent in Alabama, the SE, and the entire country to keep them busy.

 

[Bodhisattva]

Nautyn McKay-Loescher

A couple of weekends ago I was channel surfing and lingered for a few minutes on a CFL game. Loescher's name was called. I don't remember which team though.

 

[FitToBeTide]

A couple of weekends ago I was channel surfing and lingered for a few minutes on a CFL game. Loescher's name was called. I don't remember which team though.

Last I heard, Chief was playing DE with the British Columbia Lions.

 

[Bama1970]

Last I heard, Chief was playing DE with the British Columbia Lions.

Nice to hear about a former Tider playing pro ball, even if its not the NFL.

 

[Tide King]

I just can't see this ever taking off because there is too much talent in the States. Recruiting Canada seems reasonable, but not Europe and Asia IMO. I look at it like this: the staff is bringing in a stellar class this year and all of the commits are from AL, FL and GA with the exception of Corey Smith (WV) and Damion Square (TX). The staff will probably have to turn some recruits down (and probably already have) to make the numbers work. So if this trend continues, which I expect it will, there really is no need to recruit internationally. But I could be wrong. I have been before...

 

[derek4tide]

He is now with the Hamilton Tiger Cats @ DE and wears #9.

http://www.ticats.ca/index.php?module=roster&func=display&ros_id=371

Nautyn McKay-Loescher’s eight sacks have him tied for the league lead, and fellow defender Zeke Moreno, sits atop the CFL with 69 tackles.

 

[CapstoneGrad06]

I personally think Bama has more than enough talent in Alabama, the SE, and the entire country to keep them busy.

Certainly. I just thought it would be interesting to have a few scholarshipped players from around the globe. I think this could especially work in the realm of special teams. Hawaii had an Austrailian punter a few season ago that could boom the ball. That is a weapon that could win games. With soccer being huge in Europe, Japan, and rugby in Australia, it could be beneficial to tap into those potential resources.

 

[Mamacalled]

With soccer being huge in Europe, Japan, and rugby in Australia, it could be beneficial to tap into those potential resources.

New Zealand kicks Australia's butt in rugby.

 

[CapstoneGrad06]

New Zealand kicks Australia's butt in rugby.

Well, we'll go after New Zealand guys then.