After Coach Coker's press conference on NSD, I also spoke with Coach Polo Gutierrez about how he and UTSA continue to have a strong recruiting presence in South Texas.
Me: Over the few years UTSA football has been around, how has the perception of UTSA football changed in South Texas and what do you expect it to be like in 2015?
Gutierrez: "Well some of it hasn't changed. When we first started going down there, we were D1 and we still are. And I think we've been the only D1 school going down into South Texas consistently over the past 4 or 5 years. But what has changed is - for example, David Anzaldua. He also had offers from Houston, SMU, UTEP, and UNT. And a few years ago, we probably wouldn't have gotten that young man. But he chose us this year and it now shows us we have more credibility. But as far as the recruits in South Texas, they've always thought that we hung the moon (in other words, they've always thought UTSA is great)."
Me: And you guys have really been the only school recruiting in South Texas as hard as you all do...
Gutierrez: "Well it's funny. I also recruit the junior colleges in California, Arizona and Texas. And it's funny to go to those junior colleges and you walk in and there are 10 or 11 D1 schools there - you got Auburn, Alabama, Oregon, you name it... And then I go down into South Texas and I walk into a school and I never run into another recruiter."
Me: Really, never?
Gutierrez: "Never. I've never walked into a school when other coaches were there."
Me: What's it like being the only coach when you're at the schools?
Gutierrez: "I love it. To be honest with you, I've got great relationships with a lot of those coaches down there from playing down there, living down there, and now going down there. And some of them will joke with me and say 'Why the heck do you always stop in and stop by? You know I don't have any players for you right now coach.' And I say 'But coach, that's my job and that's what I'm here to do.' But sometimes those schools do have recruits we want, like Edinburg North. They haven't had an athlete that we've recruited in the 4 years that I've been here. But now they have a guy who's going D1 (Anzaldua). And they said 'Coach, we know you've been on us for 3 or 4 years. And we see you every year.' And when you build those relationships, those high school coaches trust you and they want to send their kids to you verses some random school that just showed up at their doorstep.
Me: How will those relationships help in 2015 when you will need a large amount of recruits?
Gutierrez: "Well next year, there should be at least 6 Division 1 signees from South Texas - and that's unheard of. So there's a lot of talent popping up down there lately. And a lot of it is the oil boom down there and people are moving down to that region from all over the state. So you're starting to see some big talent down there. And I can't mention any names, but there's already one young man down there committed to Arizona (I'm not sure who he was referring to. Maybe Trevor Speights who has an Arizona offer). And you got other guys receiving division 1 offers in the Corpus Christi area - so it's amazing the see that happening. South Texas will have one heck of a class next year too.
Me: Are you and the staff going to do anything special or different to get an even bigger jump on those recruits this next year?
Gutierrez: "We are. We may throw some offers out a little earlier than normal. But for the most part, we're going to stick to our guns and stick to what we've been doing. We've always been the first to know about these recruits and we show them love. And I always like to know we were the first to notice them... And then after that, there's a lot of guys who will get on Rivals and see who we offer and then say 'Well I guess we need to go check out this guy or that guy.' But it's all about building relationships down there, like Coach Coker said. People down there trust us and they like us. I'm a South Texas guy myself, and that helps as well.
Me: What do you look for when you're looking for a guy to recruit?
Gutierrez: "Well number 1, I'm going to look for athleticism. If he's a good athlete, then great. But then we'll look at his character and his work ethic because all these guys are the biggest and baddest mamma--jamma's in their high schools. So we look at how they handle themselves. And if they can't handle themselves in high school being the top dog then they won't handle themselves in college being the top dog. And we check with their trainers and see how they treat their trainers, and their student trainers, and we check with their assistant coaches, and we see how they treat their principals and teachers. If they treat them right then we see they are a good person. And that's another thing that Coach Coker says - surround yourself with great athletes but also good people. He said he'd never hire anyone that's a bad person and he doesn't want us to recruit anybody that's a bad person. And your head hits the pillow at night a lot easier when you've got guys that you can trust."
Me: What will David Anzaldua bring to this team?
Gutierrez: "Anzaldua will bring size and athleticism. And that's the thing - we have a great offensive line. You've seen us play, and these guys are coached phenomenally by Coach Marshall. They've held out Oklahoma State, they've held out Arizona and teams like that. And these guys are not even close to being the biggest offensive line in our conference. But David brings that true offensive tackle body that everyone looks for. He's a 6'6", 6'7", 330-pound guy that can move. And the kid doesn't have a gut on him. He has a massive chest, big shoulders, and he doesn't have a gut on him. And it's incredible to see because he can hold a lot more weight. Coach said he may get up to 350 - well he probably will be 350 his senior year, who knows. But it will be good weight and he will be able to move in that weight. But it's impressive to see a young man of that caliber, with all the different offers he had, pick us. He knows what he picked us for and there are a lot of good reasons. But he will have an opportunity to play 4 years for us.
Me: And what about Triston Crossland?
Gutierrez: "He is a hard-nosed, tough young man. He's worked his tail off for everything he's ever gotten. And he's got that chip on his shoulder. He doesn't laugh too much, doesn't say too much and he's here for business. He had a tough upbringing but it made him the man he is today. And when I say "man" I mean that I've met 24 and 25-year-olds that don't have a good head on their shoulders unlike this young man. He's focused, he knows what he wants and he goes after it.
Me: And how big is he?
Gutierrez: "He's about 6'2,6'3" - in that range. And he's bout 230-pounds. But he's just a physical player. Every wide receiver can go up and catch a ball or run a 4.5 or 4.4. But the thing that separates wide receivers, tight ends, and h-backs is that mean, tough, tenacious mentality when playing football. If the balls not going to him, he's looking around to go knock someone down. And you see that on his film, and that's one thing I love about him. He's just a tough-nosed player looking for work.
Me: What changed late regarding him and the offer he picked up?
Gutierrez: "Well we were recruiting him for forever. We offered him a preferred walk-on because we didn't have too many scholarships available. And we didn't know if he was going to fit at tight end or h-back or wide receiver, because he can play all three. So we said let's bring him in and let him walk-on. And then whichever position he works best at then we will go ahead and give him a scholarship. But then the h-back scholarship opened up because another recruit committed to SMU so it worked out perfectly. And we thought we may lose him to a D1-AA that offered him a full-ride and we didn't want to lose him because we know he's a Division 1 athlete. So it worked out."
Me: And what were some of the challenges you faced with the limited amount of scholarships?
Gutierrez: "Well coach was saying that we got the guys that we wanted, and we did. There was one more down there in South Texas that we wanted, but we got the top-2 of the top-3 in South Texas. The third recruit - we had to offer him a greyshirt scholarship but he wanted that full scholarship so he could sign and come in right away. And I think if we would have been able to do that he would have swayed our way. But hey, these young men make decisions that are best for them. And for us, it's not easy to walk in and recruit a guy and tell him we can give him a preferred walk-on or a greyshirt but that we do have 30-something seniors leaving next year and scholarships will open up... And they ask 'Am I promised one?' - Well, we can't promise one but we tell them your in line for one. And with greyshirts, they say that everyone else is offering them to go right now and go in the fall. Well, we understand that. And we tell them it's not that we don't want them now, it's just that we only have 11 scholarships to offer. But we got great guys and we want people that want to be here. And one thing I love about this staff is that we don't blow smoke up these kids' tails. We'll tell you exactly where you sit on our depth chart and what your number is on our recruiting board. And we'll tell you what we are offering and why we are offering it. There's no secrets out there from us. And in this game (recruiting) there are a bunch of lies out there. So you never know who's saying what, but we pride ourselves on shooting straight.
This post was edited on 2/8 11:45 AM by WesCrochet
Me: Over the few years UTSA football has been around, how has the perception of UTSA football changed in South Texas and what do you expect it to be like in 2015?
Gutierrez: "Well some of it hasn't changed. When we first started going down there, we were D1 and we still are. And I think we've been the only D1 school going down into South Texas consistently over the past 4 or 5 years. But what has changed is - for example, David Anzaldua. He also had offers from Houston, SMU, UTEP, and UNT. And a few years ago, we probably wouldn't have gotten that young man. But he chose us this year and it now shows us we have more credibility. But as far as the recruits in South Texas, they've always thought that we hung the moon (in other words, they've always thought UTSA is great)."
Me: And you guys have really been the only school recruiting in South Texas as hard as you all do...
Gutierrez: "Well it's funny. I also recruit the junior colleges in California, Arizona and Texas. And it's funny to go to those junior colleges and you walk in and there are 10 or 11 D1 schools there - you got Auburn, Alabama, Oregon, you name it... And then I go down into South Texas and I walk into a school and I never run into another recruiter."
Me: Really, never?
Gutierrez: "Never. I've never walked into a school when other coaches were there."
Me: What's it like being the only coach when you're at the schools?
Gutierrez: "I love it. To be honest with you, I've got great relationships with a lot of those coaches down there from playing down there, living down there, and now going down there. And some of them will joke with me and say 'Why the heck do you always stop in and stop by? You know I don't have any players for you right now coach.' And I say 'But coach, that's my job and that's what I'm here to do.' But sometimes those schools do have recruits we want, like Edinburg North. They haven't had an athlete that we've recruited in the 4 years that I've been here. But now they have a guy who's going D1 (Anzaldua). And they said 'Coach, we know you've been on us for 3 or 4 years. And we see you every year.' And when you build those relationships, those high school coaches trust you and they want to send their kids to you verses some random school that just showed up at their doorstep.
Me: How will those relationships help in 2015 when you will need a large amount of recruits?
Gutierrez: "Well next year, there should be at least 6 Division 1 signees from South Texas - and that's unheard of. So there's a lot of talent popping up down there lately. And a lot of it is the oil boom down there and people are moving down to that region from all over the state. So you're starting to see some big talent down there. And I can't mention any names, but there's already one young man down there committed to Arizona (I'm not sure who he was referring to. Maybe Trevor Speights who has an Arizona offer). And you got other guys receiving division 1 offers in the Corpus Christi area - so it's amazing the see that happening. South Texas will have one heck of a class next year too.
Me: Are you and the staff going to do anything special or different to get an even bigger jump on those recruits this next year?
Gutierrez: "We are. We may throw some offers out a little earlier than normal. But for the most part, we're going to stick to our guns and stick to what we've been doing. We've always been the first to know about these recruits and we show them love. And I always like to know we were the first to notice them... And then after that, there's a lot of guys who will get on Rivals and see who we offer and then say 'Well I guess we need to go check out this guy or that guy.' But it's all about building relationships down there, like Coach Coker said. People down there trust us and they like us. I'm a South Texas guy myself, and that helps as well.
Me: What do you look for when you're looking for a guy to recruit?
Gutierrez: "Well number 1, I'm going to look for athleticism. If he's a good athlete, then great. But then we'll look at his character and his work ethic because all these guys are the biggest and baddest mamma--jamma's in their high schools. So we look at how they handle themselves. And if they can't handle themselves in high school being the top dog then they won't handle themselves in college being the top dog. And we check with their trainers and see how they treat their trainers, and their student trainers, and we check with their assistant coaches, and we see how they treat their principals and teachers. If they treat them right then we see they are a good person. And that's another thing that Coach Coker says - surround yourself with great athletes but also good people. He said he'd never hire anyone that's a bad person and he doesn't want us to recruit anybody that's a bad person. And your head hits the pillow at night a lot easier when you've got guys that you can trust."
Me: What will David Anzaldua bring to this team?
Gutierrez: "Anzaldua will bring size and athleticism. And that's the thing - we have a great offensive line. You've seen us play, and these guys are coached phenomenally by Coach Marshall. They've held out Oklahoma State, they've held out Arizona and teams like that. And these guys are not even close to being the biggest offensive line in our conference. But David brings that true offensive tackle body that everyone looks for. He's a 6'6", 6'7", 330-pound guy that can move. And the kid doesn't have a gut on him. He has a massive chest, big shoulders, and he doesn't have a gut on him. And it's incredible to see because he can hold a lot more weight. Coach said he may get up to 350 - well he probably will be 350 his senior year, who knows. But it will be good weight and he will be able to move in that weight. But it's impressive to see a young man of that caliber, with all the different offers he had, pick us. He knows what he picked us for and there are a lot of good reasons. But he will have an opportunity to play 4 years for us.
Me: And what about Triston Crossland?
Gutierrez: "He is a hard-nosed, tough young man. He's worked his tail off for everything he's ever gotten. And he's got that chip on his shoulder. He doesn't laugh too much, doesn't say too much and he's here for business. He had a tough upbringing but it made him the man he is today. And when I say "man" I mean that I've met 24 and 25-year-olds that don't have a good head on their shoulders unlike this young man. He's focused, he knows what he wants and he goes after it.
Me: And how big is he?
Gutierrez: "He's about 6'2,6'3" - in that range. And he's bout 230-pounds. But he's just a physical player. Every wide receiver can go up and catch a ball or run a 4.5 or 4.4. But the thing that separates wide receivers, tight ends, and h-backs is that mean, tough, tenacious mentality when playing football. If the balls not going to him, he's looking around to go knock someone down. And you see that on his film, and that's one thing I love about him. He's just a tough-nosed player looking for work.
Me: What changed late regarding him and the offer he picked up?
Gutierrez: "Well we were recruiting him for forever. We offered him a preferred walk-on because we didn't have too many scholarships available. And we didn't know if he was going to fit at tight end or h-back or wide receiver, because he can play all three. So we said let's bring him in and let him walk-on. And then whichever position he works best at then we will go ahead and give him a scholarship. But then the h-back scholarship opened up because another recruit committed to SMU so it worked out perfectly. And we thought we may lose him to a D1-AA that offered him a full-ride and we didn't want to lose him because we know he's a Division 1 athlete. So it worked out."
Me: And what were some of the challenges you faced with the limited amount of scholarships?
Gutierrez: "Well coach was saying that we got the guys that we wanted, and we did. There was one more down there in South Texas that we wanted, but we got the top-2 of the top-3 in South Texas. The third recruit - we had to offer him a greyshirt scholarship but he wanted that full scholarship so he could sign and come in right away. And I think if we would have been able to do that he would have swayed our way. But hey, these young men make decisions that are best for them. And for us, it's not easy to walk in and recruit a guy and tell him we can give him a preferred walk-on or a greyshirt but that we do have 30-something seniors leaving next year and scholarships will open up... And they ask 'Am I promised one?' - Well, we can't promise one but we tell them your in line for one. And with greyshirts, they say that everyone else is offering them to go right now and go in the fall. Well, we understand that. And we tell them it's not that we don't want them now, it's just that we only have 11 scholarships to offer. But we got great guys and we want people that want to be here. And one thing I love about this staff is that we don't blow smoke up these kids' tails. We'll tell you exactly where you sit on our depth chart and what your number is on our recruiting board. And we'll tell you what we are offering and why we are offering it. There's no secrets out there from us. And in this game (recruiting) there are a bunch of lies out there. So you never know who's saying what, but we pride ourselves on shooting straight.
This post was edited on 2/8 11:45 AM by WesCrochet
