85SugarVol
I prefer the tumult of Liberty
- Joined
- Jan 17, 2010
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I don’t even consider it stepping up. Always stated that an OL coach can either teach and develop at the position or he can’t. Recruiting is always in line with the status of the program. Sam Pittman is considered by many (and overwhelming numbers on here) to be the epitome of recruiting messiahs yet hasn’t transformed any program outside UGA into a rotating 5 star paddock. He LANDED the occasional 4 star and borderline 5 star at other destinations, but they were the exception…not the norm. And NOW he is THE GUY at Arkansas and where is the Arkansas cap at every top OL announcement? Big uglies slowly move in herds towards where the grazing grass is greener. They trust the PROGRAM that employs the OL coach who will develop and highlight their talent for an audition at the next level. Ellarbee took the leavings from the previous staff and put out a representative blocking unit…as he did at Mizzou and UCF. Talent gets better roster wide, the better the draw. That’s always been the methodology. His first recruiting class was a salvage job with ESD already done before his hire. Landed more highly regarded OL in his first full class and that improved exponentially in the 2024 class. Par for the course and proven. We’re seeing why Ellarbee was Heupel’s first call when he got the job and why any talk of replacing him was misplaced butt air.Elerbee has stepped it up big time. After Darnell Wright got him some industry cred, he’s absolutely killed it since then. Now if we can get Willy to follow suit we’ll finally be cooking with grease.