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President Barack Obama a College Football Recruiting Geek? Shows Interest in Recruitment of Manti Te'o

From WNDU.com:

With the pressing issue of the stimulus plan and the overall economy, there was another topic of serious discussion Monday on Air Force One.

NewsCenter 16 has learned that the President wanted to know about the reaction of Irish football fans to the signing of Manti Te'o.

...We've learned that the president knew the entire stats package on Te'o in addition to the recruiting details on how the fellow Punahou graduate came to pick the Irish.

President Obama just might be a closet recruiting geek.  He's already given his opinions on the never-ending debate over a college football playoff.

The well-known connection between President Obama and Manti Te'o is they are both alums of Punahou High School in Hawaii.  Nice to see the human side of President Obama.

Thoughts Before National Signing Day - Recruiting Gains & Losses

Tomorrow is the big day and there are a ton of sites out there covering who's going where and doing what, etc. so I'm not going to even fake like I have the inside track on the recruiting experts out there, so I'll leave the predictions up to them.  My information is piecemeal at best surrounded by a lot of educated reasoning and guessing, which surprisingly has been good for me in the past. Instead I'll focus on the biggest potential gains and losses for the uncommitted prospects remaining plus the recruiting hits and misses of the '09 class overall:

Biggest Potential Loss

- The biggest potential loss will clearly be Vontaze Burfict, which looks almost certain.  ASU is getting an excellent player.  Kid is special in terms of his tackling ability; watching him viciously close in on ball carriers while maintaining control is something to behold.  He has a lot of Rey with instincts to match.

Biggest Potential Gain

- The popular pick for biggest potential gain is clearly Manti Te'o and it is well-deserved considering his elite talent and ability to play all 3 LB positions; if he comes in, he will likely have the best chance to get PT early.

With that said, I'm going to go against the grain and trust my gut in choosing Frankie Telfort as the biggest potential gain.  Lot of recruiting analysts criticize him for being undersized, but the movement of weakside LBs seems to be heading towards the even smaller and faster.  And the discussion is likely moot considering SC will probably move him to SS.

Frankie is my favorite recruit in this class.  He's smart on and off the field, comes from the same school that produced Sean Taylor, has exceptional closing speed, and hits like a MLB.  I'm a proponent of the belief that the South produces the best safeties (word to Ed Reed, Brian Dawkins, etc.); I think we will have a great one out of the sunshine state. 

Biggest Miss of '09

- It really wasn't a true miss since academics was the deciding factor in the situation, but I believe the biggest miss of the recruiting season was Cliff Harris who is headed to Oregon.  It could have been a real recruiting coup for T.J. McDonald Jr., Cliff Harris, and Rolando Jefferson to head to SC as the big 3 out of Fresno Edison akin to 2001 with the near completion of the LB Poly 5 (Darnell Bing, Manuel Wright, Hershel Dennis, Winston Justice, and Marcedes Lewis).  

Cliff is a shutdown CB in the making.  He has great coverage skills, speed to stay with fast receivers, and long arms.  Only thing he needs to worry about is bulking up a bit, which shouldn't be a problem with his frame.  I think he'll get PT early and be a top defensive player in the Pac-10 real soon.  

Biggest Hit of '09

- The prize recruit of the class was Matt Barkley, but like I said when Matty B. committed to SC a year ago, he plays flat-footed and it still concerns me. Although Matt is without question an elite QB prospect, it's hard to label him the biggest hit when line play will be a major determinant in his success.  I can already hear all the rebuttals for that statement about line play dictating every QBs success or Leinart being flat-footed and the success he had at SC, and I'm not going to take time to argue against it, but I had more confidence in Mark Sanchez when he came out of HS.

So who do I think is the biggest hit?  I'm going with Patrick Hall.  He made a big jump in the rankings and then sorta cooled out, which was to a degree justified with a less-than-expected showing at AA Army game, but I believe this kid is a baller.  I think once Patrick makes the full transition back to FS from RB he will be a big-time player.  He's versatile, athletic, and just has the swagger factor.  

I'll have more thoughts after NSD, stay tuned.  

Scouts Inc.'s Craig Haubert Predicts Vontaze Burfict, Manti Te'o, and Xavier Su'a Filo to USC

From ESPN.com:

(On Manti Te'o and Xavier Su'a Filo)

I really think they get Te'o and I am feeling that they also get G Su'a Filo 

(On recent talk of Burfict going to ASU)

I know that seems to be the popular thought right now, but I think he stays in Troy. 

I'm not putting much stock into the predictions above - take it for what it's worth. I'm not exactly sure how Craig would predict Vontaze staying at SC unless he had insight into his academic situation.  It's been pretty well-documented that the ASU talks have risen directly from issues of eligibility and concerns over academic support.  Vontaze has been shouldering a heavy workload with classes at Centennial, BYU (online), and night school in an effort to gain eligibility. Without an understanding of where he stands in terms of academic progress, I think any prediction with VB is a shot in the dark... 

Jamie Newberg of Rivals.com's Predictions on Manti Te'o and Jarvis Jones

From Rivals.com:

You have to believe USC and Notre Dame are the teams to beat, and I like the Irish's chances. Te'o and his folks love Notre Dame's academics and he could play early in South Bend. In fact, his parents prefer Notre Dame, even visiting the school last month on their own.

...Today, I think Te'o chooses Notre Dame, but that could change with a great visit to USC.

Interesting to hear Manti's parents prefer Notre Dame.  Like I've mentioned before, it's hard to go against Pete Carroll late in the 4th quarter when he has a chance to seal the deal.  Manti was set to arrive today for his official visit and will attend the USC vs. Cal basketball game on Saturday.  

Jamie also has a prediction on Jarvis Jones, a 4-star LB/DE out of Georgia:

While I still believe Florida is the team to beat, there are two schools I would keep a close on eye here – Georgia and USC, especially the Trojans.

USC coach Pete Carroll had a great visit with Jones last week, and Jones really likes new Trojans defensive coordinator Rocky Seto. Jones also is enamored with the idea of playing for USC.

Jarvis will be taking his last official visit to LSU this weekend.  

Reason Manti Te'o Dropped BYU

From TheSaltLakeTribune:

The father said that Manti felt like he would be "too comfortable" at BYU and become too complacent. Several of his cousins already play for BYU, including safety Shiloah Te'o.

"He has always been one who wanted to paddle his own canoe," Brian Te'o said. "He wants to be on his own and face challenges that wouldn't come his way at BYU. He liked his trip to BYU, it is just that it just seemed too comfortable. That's what he told us."

Sounds like it'll come down to USC and Notre Dame with SC being the favorite. I'm liking our chances with Manti visiting this week; it's hard to bet against Pete when he has the opportunity to seal the deal. You will also have Patrick Hall and Matt Barkley talking him up from both sides.  Another aspect I haven't seen mentioned is Punahou being a big feeder school for SC academically.  You have to believe that provides some level of necessary comfort, although not to the degree of BYU where it acted as almost a negative, that runs contrary to the stark newness of ND.  

From a depth standpoint, he could easily line-up inside or strongside, so he would be the primary back-up to either Mike Morgan or Malcolm Smith.  He would push for time his first year and play situationally, which would be ideal for his development.  Hard to argue against this process when SC has produced LBs like Groots, Lofa, Rivers, Rey, Cush, Kaluka, and Clay in recent years.