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I rest my case! (recruiting the panhandle)

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PANABAMA

Suspended
Dec 5, 1999
91
1
0
Panama City Beach Fl.
One of my first posts on this board questioned why Bama didn't recruit Florida and especially the Panhandle as they had in the past. This area is a hotbed of transplanted Alabamans . Even the older Noles and Gators around here have a fondness for Bama as we represented Southern football for so many years.
Well, I got the usual mantra about "WE NEED TO CONCENTRATE ON INSTATE RECRUITING FIRST".Look at the last two recruiting classes. I rest my case!
 
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TIDE-HSV

TIDE-HSV

Senior Administrator
Staff member
Oct 13, 1999
86,382
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Huntsville, AL,USA
I would imagine...

your original title read like "I rest my case." You might read the sticky at the very top of the page. Anyway, before I delete your retort, I'll remind you of a board rule - when you have a ***** with a mod or admin, PM or email - don't try to take it to the board for a political campaign. It's really not a democracy...
 
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PattheCatinSaudi

All-SEC
May 4, 2003
1,789
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Larnaca, Cyprus
To bring this thread back to subject...I agree with you on recruiting the panhandle. There are alot of excellent football players there as well as many transplanted Bama fans. We did seem in the past to get away from having sucess in that area. I don't know if it was from lack of focus or because FSU and Fla simply had more recent sucess and/or recruited the area harder.

The fact is that CMS has put effort into the panhandle and it is paying off. As the recriuts from the last two classes have sucess on the field, that and the renewed focus on this "Alabamized" area of Florida should bring continued recruiting coups.

JMHO
 
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PANABAMA

Suspended
Dec 5, 1999
91
1
0
Panama City Beach Fl.
There has alwys been a great Bama fan base in this area. Go to any large store in the winter when there are few tourists, and you will be amazed at the Bama hats ,sweatshirts,etc that you see folks wearing. Even more than FSU and we are only 90 miles away!
I think Mike Dubose and his staff dropped the ball around here. It's a shame as there are several players from PC that graduated during that time that are now in the NFL.
rtr...
 
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RamJam

All-SEC
Jan 3, 2003
1,059
11
0
Tuscaloosa
On the Panhandle

Well I do know this about Niceville, Choctaw, Ft Walton Bch, the Pensacola & Tallahassee schools : all those kids (like ours in this area) have grown up knee-deep in Nole & Florida fans ; they're for one or the other in most cases (barring the air force kids who have no allegiance - but quickly fall into one or the other, thanks to their peers) . What happens is the same as this area so full of Tide or (UGH) Auburn fans; therefore, for them to go to a Florida school is not to blame the other states' schools for not trying - Lord knows - they all do (Let's face it - all those above named scoools yield champions year after year - who WOULDN'T go after them?!?!?) - but it goes back to what's in the blood of those kids in general - it's just RERAL hard to turn their heads & change those minds. I am personally AMAZED that we have gotten DJ last time & Coffee this time - you really can't begin to KNOW how huge that is ! All recruits we get from that area is unbelievable! :eek2:
 
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LoveToSail

Scout Team
Dec 23, 2004
126
0
0
I'm from Ft. Walton Beach and can say that there is a very good Bama Fan Base in the area............

RTR!! :biggrin:
 
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RamJam

All-SEC
Jan 3, 2003
1,059
11
0
Tuscaloosa
I lived there too & I can't tell you how much pride there is in those guys down there. Didn't mean to imply that there are NO Bama fans in the area - just that the MAJORITY is for one Florida school or the other.
 
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doctorgonzo

New Member
Jan 16, 2002
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Sheffield
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Why can we get kids out of the panhandle and not Mobile??? I think they should assign someone new to recruit down there. I have a feeling we are going to miss out on a couple good ones again this year from the Mobile area.
 
GrandBayTider

GrandBayTider

All-SEC
Nov 21, 2004
1,813
0
0
57
Prattville, AL
doctorgonzo said:
Why can we get kids out of the panhandle and not Mobile??? I think they should assign someone new to recruit down there. I have a feeling we are going to miss out on a couple good ones again this year from the Mobile area.
Click to expand...
Who have we really missed out on in Mobile the last few years? Jamarcus Russell is the only one that I wish was in T-town. He would have helped last year ;) There were no really good players last year. I would take DJ Hall or Keith Brown over the WR from St Paul any day. This year the only one that was interesting was Antonio Coleman. The Aub TE said he wasn't interested in Bama because thier TEs had to block and he didn't want to do that. We have signed guys like Matt Lomax (UMS), Juke King (Theodore) and Antwan Odom (Bryant!!!). So we have gotten some guys from down there over the last 5 yrs or so. The truth is there haven't been that many good players out of the area. Look at the state playoffs and you see teams like Hoover and Pratville dominating. Notice how many guys we are signing from those schools? Mobile County pays some of the lowest coaches wages in the state, and it is reflected in the success of thier programs. If it wasn't for UMS there wouldn't be any top programs down there.
 
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JessN

Administrator & Editor-in-Chief
Staff member
Oct 13, 1999
6,414
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LSU and Auburn are the only two schools that have had consistent success in Mobile, for a couple of different reasons.

Auburn's is almost completely attributable to Joe Whitt, and the relationship he has with a lot of Mobile-area high school coaches. Whitt has been at Auburn for some time, and long-term relationships help. We benefitted from Bob Connelly's California connections this year, getting both Jimmy Barnes and Prince Hall mainly because Connelly first put us on to them.

When the staff at a particular high school is very friendly toward a particular college, this is the result. It's seen, in Alabama's case, in our relationships with Prattville and Brooks high schools, just to name two.

How does Alabama punch through in Mobile? Maybe we should ask Nick Saban. He made Mobile into a specific target and pulled a handful out.

Actually, Alabama does fairly well with some schools, such as Davidson and UMS-Wright. What I'm guessing people mean when they say "Mobile" is the Blount-Vigor-Williamson trio, where Whitt is entrenched.
 
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cooleddie

1st Team
Jul 27, 2003
523
1
137
pensacola,fl
As far as the Mobile area (surrounding area), don't forget that Kenny King was from Daphne and Wallace Gilberry was a nice steal from Baldwin County High (Bay Minette).
 
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PANABAMA

Suspended
Dec 5, 1999
91
1
0
Panama City Beach Fl.
I met a guy huntig this year from the Ft. Walton area. He played at AU as did his father and brother and his son is playing there now. He was surprised that we got Coffee this year. His son played against Coffee this year and he said we are getting a good one. When I mentioned that we signed the FL Class 3A,4A and 5A Backs of the Year, he mumbled something unintelligible, and the conversation sort of died. rtr...
 
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florabama

Banned
Oct 13, 2001
277
0
0
Pensacola, FL
Michael Johnson is one kid from Pensacola that I was really glad to see Bama get this year. Here are his numbers and comments about him:

From The Birmingham News:

OL, 6-6, 285, Pine Forest, Pensacola

The tackle did not miss a practice, weight room session or game in his final two high school seasons . . . He carries a 4.0 GPA and scored 27 on his ACT ... Chose Alabama over LSU.

From the Huntsville Times:

OL, 6-6, 280, Pine Forest High School in Pensacola, Fla.: Top-rated offensive lineman in Tide's class ... Rated a four-star prospect by Rivals.com, though received just two stars from Scout.com ... Played in CaliFlorida All-Star game for top prospects in California and Florida along with fellow Tide recruits Cole Harvey and Prince Hall ... Played tackle in high school.

From the Mobile Register:

6-5, 280, OL, Pensacola (Pine Forest): No. 17 offensive lineman in the country and No. 29 prospect in Florida by Rivals.com. Carries a 4.0 grade-point average. Had perfect practice and weight-room attendance as both junior and senior.
 
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