A Twitter-ese response to yesterday's recruiting news might look something like this: "Glen Mason << Tim Brewster <<<<< Jerry Kill"
Remember how much of a priority Tim Brewster said closing up Minnesota's borders and keeping the states best players at home was? And we were ecstatic because it looked like he was doing it. His first full recruiting class locked up 4 of the top 10 recruits in Minnesota, followed by a 7 out of the top 10 class, and then a complete drop-off locking up only 2 of the top 10 in 2010.
Closing up the border is important because it means that your program makes a difference to the youngsters of the state. But it's not the full story. While Brewster landed 7 of 10 in 2009, only one of those, Ed Olson, has had a real and consistent impact. Ra'shede Hageman began to have in impact on the defensive side of the ball in 2011, despite being recruited as a TE.
Here we are again with the Golden Gopher program getting 7 of the top 10 in the state. This is huge for obvious reasons, but it also shuts everyone up who said that Kill couldn't recruit. As FrothyGopher so eloquently stated on Twitter last night by quoting Glengarry Glen Ross...
@FrothyGopherJerry Kill gets coffee today.
#CoffeeIsForClosers
But here's what's different about this class of 7 Minnesota recruits that we couldn't say about the 2009 class... these guys actually fit what Jerry Kill is trying to do.
I'm not going to break each of these guys down, you'll get plenty of that next week, but the way this group of youngsters fits what we need is almost uncanny.
You want an athletic QB with good feet and a strong arm? The 3rd best recruit in the state fits that description.
You need a physical WR who can bang in the middle but also has the ability to stretch the field? Sounds like the guy who did some flip-flopping, but announced last night he's staying home.
You need maulers to make sure we can back-fill the O-line when the current group starts graduating? We've got one, two of those guys in our top 10.
How about a linebacker who has a nose for the ball? Yep, we got one of those too.
Coach Kill and Staff got a group of really good, home-grown players who fit the needs of the team. Hopefully this is a sign of continued good things to come.