Three-Point Stance: Flip season, coaching hires, Darrion Dupree

Rivals national recruiting analyst Clint Cosgrove talks about flip season, the importance of making quick coaching decisions and standout 2024 running back Darrion Dupree in today’s Three-Point Stance.

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RECRUITING RUMOR MILL: Prospects take in instant classics

CLASS OF 2023 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | Team | Position | State

CLASS OF 2024 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | Team | Position | State

CLASS OF 2025 RANKINGS: Rivals100

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The Early Signing Period is roughly two months out, and with fewer than 30 Rivals250 prospects remaining uncommitted, I expect to see some fireworks down the stretch. I have discussed this in the past, but the speed at which this 2023 class committed will ultimately make the next two months some of the most interesting we have seen in recent memory. I fully understand the sense of urgency with which the class of 2023 recruits approached their recruitment, especially after seeing what their older teammates went through during the heights of the COVID pandemic, but I also believe that led to a number of top prospects securing spots based on emotion and not the best overall fit.

To put it bluntly, I believe all hell is about to break loose. I have heard of high-profile prospects being a silent commit to multiple programs. I have heard stories of high-profile commits already knowing they will not sign with the program to which they are currently committed without any plans to make their decision public. Many will attribute the upcoming recruiting craziness to NIL, but I think this runs much deeper than that. This is a new generation and they don’t accept the status quo like recruits did when I went through the process. They are empowered, they know their value and they are finally taking the reins of control from the programs that have profited off of players like them for years.

Buckle up.

This is only my opinion, but one of the biggest reasons we have seen head coaching failures at a decent rate over the years is due to the total disconnect between administration and football programs at many universities. Many of the head coaching hires made during the past decade have been decided by individuals with zero football background, leading to non-football people making big-time football moves. Universities can hire search firms to educate themselves on the process and ultimately deflect the blame if things don’t work out, but at the end of the day the administration makes the final decision and many of those decisions are based on what a search firm has instructed them to do. You also have to acknowledge that these firms don’t come without connections to sports agencies resulting in bias.

I bring this up because we currently have two high-profile jobs open at Wisconsin and Nebraska where the athletic directors at both institutions are football guys through and through. Trev Alberts at Nebraska and Chris McIntosh at Wisconsin both played in the NFL after starring on the field at their respective programs. I tend to trust administrators who have lived the game when it comes to making a decision on a football program’s future. I understand that both universities need to get their head coaching hire right, but a lack of urgency in naming the future coach is not the answer.

When you need to get a hire right, but also understand the importance of not setting your program back, it is not a stretch to elevate an interim head coach who has shown progress while running a program built by his immediate predecessor. Both Mickey Joseph and Jim Leonhard have done enough to earn at least one more year in my opinion. With two months until signing day, failing to name a head coach when you already have someone in-house who has proven capable of leading a program will set a football program back more than most realize. Both athletic directors are football guys and they know this, so unless either of the schools has their home-run candidate secured, it is time to give the interim coaches the keys to the castle for at least one more season. Doing so would create much needed stability, help secure respectable recruiting classes, and also remove the handcuffs by enabling each coach to implement their plan without restraint moving forward.

This may come as a surprise since Darrion Dupree is currently not labeled as an all-purpose running back, but after seeing him live and in-person recently, the Chicago Mount Carmel standout embodies everything that an all-purpose back is. Rivals has always been high on Dupree and although his ranking reflects the elite caliber of player that he is, he dropped a few spots during our latest rankings release. The drop in ranking wasn’t due to Dupree’s lack of talent but instead was more a reflection on his size and questions on his ability to be a workhorse back at the highest level.

There is little question as to how dynamic Dupree is with the ball in his hands and after my most recent evaluation I see him as a player in the Austin Ekeler mold. Dupree is a player capable of being just as much of a receiving and special teams threat as he is a weapon in the run game. He can line up in the slot, catch the ball out of the backfield, and when given the smallest run lane he is capable of making defenders miss in space to take it the distance. Expect Dupree to be listed as an all-purpose back in the next rankings release and he has the chance to be one of the tops in his class at the position.