'25 GA S Lagonza Hayward (Florida)

#1,654
#1,654
To me the 3 most likely scenarios for UT not contacting him in the week leading up to signing day are:

One, lack of concern- "we will take him but won't be disappointed if he jumps ship"

Two, someone absolute dropped the ball in a huge way and UT lost out on someone they valued.

Three, they hoped he would decommit.


It really is unusual for a program to just stop calling and especially when they know a rival is after a commit.
 
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#1,655
#1,655
If this was because of our recruiting restrictions those should have been communicated very clearly to set expectations properly.

If it was Haywood looking for a pay raise and he’s inaccurately describing the miscommunication that happened, then probably best he lagonza anyways.

Either way:
I remain concerned about our ability to close elite prospects at positions of need. Maybe it’s BVS. Maybe it’s a real concern. Two years in a row losing our top safety commit at the last minute. Plenty of other elite prospects we lead for and ultimately didn’t close at various positions: dline, edge, cornerback, safety, wide receiver, offensive line, rb. Qb seems to be the only position we can recruit with sustained success with elite prospects. In some cases I believe it was for the best. In others I think the athletes athletic potential outweighed any other concerns. Of course, this is the outside looking in perspective, and I’m not sure if every other school is experiencing the same struggles (doesn’t help us not being in an uber rich recruiting area), but I believe we need to land at least one top 3-4 class to get over the talent gap necessary to compete for a natty. Every year that potential appears to be there and evaporates as the recruiting season progresses due to losing ground with top prospects. We will need to start getting guys from across the country. I don’t understand why our reported NIL budget is lower than the best but or collective is supposed to be top tier and a low offer never seems to be the issue when we miss out on a recruit. I’m not disappointed at all with how far this program has come in such a short amount of time. I hope we can capitalize on that momentum and finally see the recruiting success that the elite teams have.
 
#1,656
#1,656
sjt18 said:
To me the 3 most likely scenarios for UT not contacting him in the week leading up to signing day are:

One, lack of concern- "we will take him but won't be disappointed if he jumps ship"

Two, someone absolute dropped the ball in a huge way and UT lost out on someone they valued.

Three, they hoped he would decommit.


It really is unusual for a program to just stop calling and especially when they know a rival is after a commit.
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They definitely didnt hope he would de commit lol, we would’ve had someone to replace him.

And before anyone says anything, no a db who has only played the game for 2 years but “has tremendous athletic upside” doesn’t count
 
#1,657
#1,657
JCVol00 said:
They definitely didnt hope he would de commit lol, we would’ve had someone to replace him.
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Not necessarily. There are a lot of reasons coaches might back off a recruit with or without a replacement.
JCVol00 said:
And before anyone says anything, no a db who has only played the game for 2 years but “has tremendous athletic upside” doesn’t count
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Wasn't going to say anything. But don't you find it a little inconsistent that you say the above while a) not knowing what reasons the coaches might have had and b) you find a recruit that has never played or even practiced in college a necessary guy but then write off whoever it is you're talking about?

I proposed some possibilities. There may be others I didn't think of but I think those 3 broadly cover it. Maybe someone made a mistake. Maybe the staff is just incompetent which seems to be what you suggest. I wouldn't claim to know.
 
#1,658
#1,658
sjt18 said:
Not necessarily. There are a lot of reasons coaches might back off a recruit with or without a replacement.

Wasn't going to say anything. But don't you find it a little inconsistent that you say the above while a) not knowing what reasons the coaches might have had and b) you find a recruit that has never played or even practiced in college a necessary guy but then write off whoever it is you're talking about?

I proposed some possibilities. There may be others I didn't think of but I think those 3 broadly cover it. Maybe someone made a mistake. Maybe the staff is just incompetent which seems to be what you suggest. I wouldn't claim to know.
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Hayward had 152 career tackles, 12 tfs, 9 int’s and 2 ff in his hs career in one of the toughest divisions of GA hs football; whereas Timothy Merritt, the guy we replaced him with, had 63 career tackles and 3 career int’s in Alabama. Which any league in alabama isn’t even comparable to GA hs leagues talent wise. All im saying is, I dont see the vision of letting Hayward go because of skill or scheme fit, because we wouldn’t have recruited him to begin with. Maybe he has character issues, but rn I think the Hayward loss is big because he was the most college ready db we had at the hs level
 
#1,659
#1,659
JCVol00 said:
Hayward had 152 career tackles, 12 tfs, 9 int’s and 2 ff in his hs career in one of the toughest divisions of GA hs football; whereas Timothy Merritt, the guy we replaced him with, had 63 career tackles and 3 career int’s in Alabama. Which any league in alabama isn’t even comparable to GA hs leagues talent wise. All im saying is, I dont see the vision of letting Hayward go because of skill or scheme fit, because we wouldn’t have recruited him to begin with. Maybe he has character issues, but rn I think the Hayward loss is big because he was the most college ready db we had at the hs level
Click to expand...

Well I reckon it’s a good thing you’re not paid to do so then
 
#1,660
#1,660
sjt18 said:
To me the 3 most likely scenarios for UT not contacting him in the week leading up to signing day are:

One, lack of concern- "we will take him but won't be disappointed if he jumps ship"

Two, someone absolute dropped the ball in a huge way and UT lost out on someone they valued.

Three, they hoped he would decommit.


It really is unusual for a program to just stop calling and especially when they know a rival is after a commit.
Click to expand...
Four his side said he was committed. We were keeping in contact and the kid went with a relative to check out Florida at the last minute. Said relative got paid to deliver a very naive and ignorant kid to the Gators. Now the kid knows he looks like a low character POS and is trying to drag anyone under the bus to make him look better.

All would’ve been much better for him all the way around if he just said he got a better offer from Florida and made a business decision for his family. All the lies and BS to screw over the staff here makes him look like an immature moron.
 
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#1,661
#1,661
JCVol00 said:
Hayward had 152 career tackles, 12 tfs, 9 int’s and 2 ff in his hs career in one of the toughest divisions of GA hs football; whereas Timothy Merritt, the guy we replaced him with, had 63 career tackles and 3 career int’s in Alabama. Which any league in alabama isn’t even comparable to GA hs leagues talent wise. All im saying is, I dont see the vision of letting Hayward go because of skill or scheme fit, because we wouldn’t have recruited him to begin with. Maybe he has character issues, but rn I think the Hayward loss is big because he was the most college ready db we had at the hs level
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You are talking out of your ear again. That statement has been wrong far more times than it has been right in my many years on this site.

I don't know what happened. I'm not arguing that I do. I'm arguing that you don't know either. Pretty confident in that assertion.
 
#1,663
#1,663
JCVol00 said:
Hayward had 152 career tackles, 12 tfs, 9 int’s and 2 ff in his hs career in one of the toughest divisions of GA hs football; whereas Timothy Merritt, the guy we replaced him with, had 63 career tackles and 3 career int’s in Alabama. Which any league in alabama isn’t even comparable to GA hs leagues talent wise. All im saying is, I dont see the vision of letting Hayward go because of skill or scheme fit, because we wouldn’t have recruited him to begin with. Maybe he has character issues, but rn I think the Hayward loss is big because he was the most college ready db we had at the hs level
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Merritt is a stud.
He was just as impactful for his Parker team than the 5 star CB that went to Oregon.
He was a game breaker SO QB for Parker HS. Gave Carrollton GA hell when they played. So yes Merritt absolutely could have played and performed well in Georgia football.

Hayward is a great player. And honestly we should have ended up with Hayward and Merritt, but Merritt wasn't a "replacement".

Dylan Lewis is working where Hayward would have been. At STAR.
 
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