Teasdale

[dunkej01]

Another thing that is a bit touchy for some PSU guys..... Is even when we have guys like a Rasheed or a garret Hammond on the team we continue to recruit over them. Not many if any teams do that. It's kind of footballish recruiting.

The Haines nevills thing doesn't happen other places

 

[jvclark]

Baloney.

Gable got the pick of the litter.

Just getting recruited by him gave you bragging rights when Iowa was in its heyday.

The idea that he coached up a bunch of pikers is just message board myth-making.

He was a great coach who took great athletes to great heights.

It's weird that a lot of Hawk fans seem to be ashamed of that.

The pick of the litter. Well Gable appeared to get that, no doubt, and as we all know recruiting services weren't the same as they are now.

The thing is, Gable ALSO took kids(mostly from the state of Iowa), that weren the "pick of the litter" as you say and turned them into all Americans. Did he win all those titles off just that kind of kid? Well, no, he didn't, but it is one of the things that made both he and his program legendary.

One example that comes to mind is Travis Fiser. If memory serves, he was a state runner up at Iowa Valley Marengo, and ended up being a 2-time all-American Under Gable. Clearly a tribute so to speak to Gable and his coaching ability, and of course the guts and determination of Fiser himself, a kid that wasn't a big recruit at all. There are of course more stories like this.

It's not "myth-making" as you so eloquently stated. He did do it, with out a doubt. As I said before, did he win all those titles and set records with just those kids? Well of course not, but this is a big difference between what he did and what Cael is now doing. Cael hasn't had "that story" yet. Now in fairness to Cael, maybe he hasn't had to, as the bulk of he is recruits and subsequent starters are top ten P4P kids with major national and international accolades behind there names.

 

[latdrop170]

The pick of the litter. Well Gable appeared to get that, no doubt, and as we all know recruiting services weren't the same as they are now.

The thing is, Gable ALSO took kids(mostly from the state of Iowa), that weren the "pick of the litter" as you say and turned them into all Americans. Did he win all those titles off just that kind of kid? Well, no, he didn't, but it is one of the things that made both he and his program legendary.

One example that comes to mind is Travis Fiser. If memory serves, he was a state runner up at Iowa Valley Marengo, and ended up being a 2time all-American Under GableClearly a tribute so to speak to Gable and his coaching ability, and of course the guts and determination of Fiser himself, a kid that wasn't a big recruit at all. There are of course more stories like this.

It's not "myth-making" as you so eloquently stated. He did do it, with out a doubt. As I said before, did he win all those titles and set records with just those kids? Well of course not, but this is a big difference between what he did and what Cael is now doing. Cael hasn't had "that story" yet. Now maybe he hasn't had to, as the bulk of he is recruits and subsequent starters are top ten P4P kids with major national and international accolades behind there names.

Jesse Whitmer comes to mind as well.

 

[Azchief32]

The pick of the litter. Well Gable appeared to get that, no doubt, and as we all know recruiting services weren't the same as they are now.

The thing is, Gable ALSO took kids(mostly from the state of Iowa), that weren the "pick of the litter" as you say and turned them into all Americans. Did he win all those titles off just that kind of kid? Well, no, he didn't, but it is one of the things that made both he and his program legendary.

One example that comes to mind is Travis Fiser. If memory serves, he was a state runner up at Iowa Valley Marengo, and ended up being a 2time all-American Under GableClearly a tribute so to speak to Gable and his coaching ability, and of course the guts and determination of Fiser himself, a kid that wasn't a big recruit at all. There are of course more stories like this.

It's not "myth-making" as you so eloquently stated. He did do it, with out a doubt. As I said before, did he win all those titles and set records with just those kids? Well of course not, but this is a big difference between what he did and what Cael is now doing. Cael hasn't had "that story" yet. Now maybe he hasn't had to, as the bulk of he is recruits and subsequent starters are top ten P4P kids with major national and international accolades behind there names.

The recruiting services aren't what they were plus high school wrestlinghas evolved. I was surprised at the amount of big names Gable had that didn't have impressive creds once I dug a little deeper. I don't know if it was that the state of Iowa so good rather than Gable took guys and made them that good.

Now, a lot of these kids are coming with some type of international success and dominating performances in state and Fargo. Nothing is regional. Probably Gables most credentialed recruit ever was McGinness from Iowa City west...172-0 with some Cadet and Junior titles and a third in the world. That would put him as the third best recruit on PSU's team. Think about that.

 

[Herkuleez5]

If we had 10 McGinness' on the Iowa team right now I would love to battle PSU. He was offensive, fluid, and never afraid in any position.

 

[jvclark]

The recruiting services aren't what they were plus high school wrestlinghas evolved. I was surprised at the amount of big names Gable had that didn't have impressive creds once I dug a little deeper. I don't know if it was that the state of Iowa so good rather than Gable took guys and made them that good.

Now, a lot of these kids are coming with some type of international success and dominating performances in state and Fargo. Nothing is regional. Probably Gables most credentialed recruit ever was McGinness from Iowa City west...172-0 with some Cadet and Junior titles and a third in the world. That would put him as the third best recruit on PSU's team. Think about that.

Yeah. People at ESPN who spend 10 minutes a year commenting on college wrestling and about 2 minutes actually thinking about it, will look at Caels successes(and very legit at that), and draw immediate comparisons to what Gable did in his years at Iowa. From the outsiders perspective, titles are titles and the typical talking head or even run of the mill casual sports fan won't know the difference.

Again, not disparaging what Cael is doing. It is remarkable in today's wrestling environment and quite honestly a run that I thought no one could do again, BUT in no way is it the same to what Gable did and HOW he did it

 

[bbwretler]

The recruiting services aren't what they were plus high school wrestlinghas evolved. I was surprised at the amount of big names Gable had that didn't have impressive creds once I dug a little deeper. I don't know if it was that the state of Iowa so good rather than Gable took guys and made them that good.

Now, a lot of these kids are coming with some type of international success and dominating performances in state and Fargo. Nothing is regional. Probably Gables most credentialed recruit ever was McGinness from Iowa City west...172-0 with some Cadet and Junior titles and a third in the world. That would put him as the third best recruit on PSU's team. Think about that.

Not to nit pick but Jeff won 4 state titles at 4 different weights while wrestling for city HS school not west...

 

[Herkuleez5]

Not to nit pick but Jeff won 4 state titles at 4 different weights while wrestling for city HS school not west...

Good catch I didnt even notice that when I read AZ's post

 

[pwnation12]

The pick of the litter. Well Gable appeared to get that, no doubt, and as we all know recruiting services weren't the same as they are now.

The thing is, Gable ALSO took kids(mostly from the state of Iowa), that weren the "pick of the litter" as you say and turned them into all Americans. Did he win all those titles off just that kind of kid? Well, no, he didn't, but it is one of the things that made both he and his program legendary.

One example that comes to mind is Travis Fiser. If memory serves, he was a state runner up at Iowa Valley Marengo, and ended up being a 2-time all-American Under Gable. Clearly a tribute so to speak to Gable and his coaching ability, and of course the guts and determination of Fiser himself, a kid that wasn't a big recruit at all. There are of course more stories like this.

It's not "myth-making" as you so eloquently stated. He did do it, with out a doubt. As I said before, did he win all those titles and set records with just those kids? Well of course not, but this is a big difference between what he did and what Cael is now doing. Cael hasn't had "that story" yet. Now in fairness to Cael, maybe he hasn't had to, as the bulk of he is recruits and subsequent starters are top ten P4P kids with major national and international accolades behind there names.

Is it possible that his rare skill was more talent evaluation than devolpment? Not arguing that he wasn't excellent at development, rather that the generational skill that made him sos superior was being able to identify wrestlers who could be successful in college extraordinarily well.

 

[Azchief32]

Is it possible that his rare skill was more talent evaluation than devolpment? Not arguing that he wasn't excellent at development, rather that the generational skill that made him sos superior was being able to identify wrestlers who could be successful in college extraordinarily well.

I think there was definitely some evaluation going on but I think Gable was a savant at getting guys to perform to the best of their ability...knowing what buttons to push, etc. Knowing that if Dude A was not working as hard in practice, it might not mean much vs Dude B where it might mean everything. Dude A receives a few words of encouragement vs Dude B who gets screamed at.

 

[jvclark]

Is it possible that his rare skill was more talent evaluation than devolpment? Not arguing that he wasn't excellent at development, rather that the generational skill that made him sos superior was being able to identify wrestlers who could be successful in college extraordinarily well.

I think that it's very fair to call him a skilled or even a rare talent evaluator. No doubt. I think any of the top coaches around the country most probably carry that label. Maybe even more so 20-30 years ago then now. Its not that they were necessarily any better than the coaches are now, but with out the internet, you tube, and all of the other technology at the disposal of today's coaches, the Gables, Nichols, etc were only able to see kids wrestle occasionally at best. Brands and Sanderson can watch their potential recruits wrestle many matches, and 50-100 of them, without even leaving their office.

Now with that said, what I think made Gable great was his ability to not only recognize skill, but to recognize potential and drive and attitude. That's what allowed him to have 1-2 kids each year make the starting lineup or even make AA status that may have been a walk on or a low level recruit. Travis Fiser was a great example of this, but by no means the only one.

 

[bbwretler]

I think that it's very fair to call him a skilled or even a rare talent evaluator. No doubt. I think any of the top coaches around the country most probably carry that label. Maybe even more so 20-30 years ago then now. Its not that they were necessarily any better then than coaches are now, but with out the internet, you tube, and all of the other technology at the disposal of today's coaches, the Gables, Nichols, etc were only able to see kids wrestle occasionally at best. Brands and Sanderson can watch their potential recruits wrestle many matches, and 50-100 of them, without even leaving their office.

Now with that said, what I think made Gable great was his ability to not only recognize skill, but to recognize potential and drive and attitude. That's what allowed him to have 1-2 kids each year make the starting lineup or even make AA status that may have been a walk on or a low level recruit. Travis Fiser was a great example of this, but by no means the only one.

Agree with everything.....Dan's three most important attributes were one; his ability to find and recruite those athletes who were willing to set goals and then go out and do whatever was necessary to achieve them...two: he was GREAT at improving technical skills as he was the absolute best at every technical aspect and could turn someone from any position, three: he was unique in that he had an unbelievable knack in treating each person in the room in a manner that resulted in motivating them and getting the absolute best possible results. I have never had or seen a coach who handled each different athlete as an individual knowing what type of coaching he would best respond to. Truly one of a kind.