I don't think we should approach any recruit thinking that we will get any loyalty from them. One reason is that it's impossible to know whether a player is truly loyal to a program or to a coach -- the coach largely is what pulls a player to a program and coaches move all the time with recruits following them. The other reason is that there's no way for a recruit to say anything that positively shows that they value loyalty. We look at that clip of Peyton Manning coming back for his senior year and say that it's because of loyalty to Tennessee, but he came back to play for his favorite coach and nearly (should have) win a Heisman. Do you take him at face value or do you consider what coming back did for him?
If you always go into the interaction considering what you can do for them, you're never going to be disappointed. The only way we get competitive players is by showing them that we are going to get them from where they are too where they want to be, and that's neither winning the Heisman trophy nor winning the national championship. It's playing in the NFL.
If you want only recruits who are loyal to the school, you'll get some very dedicated walk-ons but you won't get the people who will take you to the top. If all you have to offer is "you'll be loyal to me", you'll get only people who will gain value from their association to you, not the other way around. It's not a big revelation that if you treat people right, they'll be happy to work for you.
I hate to keep coming back to this, but man you live in a very selfish world. I'm sorry for you.
Loyalty is part of a program's culture. It varies from individual to individual, yes, but if the leadership values it, teaches it, instills it, the players will feel it, will commit to it, will live and die by it. It is absolutely tangible, and measurable, and teachable.
And when a program is infected with loyalty and commitment and selflessness, the strength of the team skyrockets. Anything becomes possible. Players play beyond themselves, coaches coach beyond themselves, the whole program rises to levels some might not have thought possible.
It starts with caring. I care for you. You learn to care for me, and your other brothers. We celebrate success together. We worry over failure together. We look for better ways, and smarter solutions, and quicker responses together. Before long, I'm just as invested in your P.R. in the weight room as I am in mine. I celebrate when you get named to the all-SEC first team just as much as I would if it were me. I love you like a brother, and am loyal to you, to a fault. To all of you. To the team. Devoted to our success.
That's what great coaches build. It's what great seniors reinforce. It's what great players buy into.
To be the best you have to be more than the fastest or strongest. Because your fastest and strongest is never going to be much different than that other guy on the other team. At the top end of the sport, there's a plateau, a parity in skill level. To go higher, to get beyond that plateau, you need teamwork. Commitment. Loyalty.
That's where we're going. Or at least I hope that's where we're going.
Your perspective would not get us there. Loyalty is powerful. Learn more about it.