Loser: College football parity

#1
F

Fullfillmer

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 6, 2009
Messages
4,075
Likes
3,664
#1
"Loser: College football parity
Georgia, Alabama, and Texas A&M secured dominant recruiting classes that are loaded with talent. The trio have a combined 52 four-stars and 12 five-stars. The three SEC schools are projected to sign 43 of college football's top 100 recruits. This is detrimental to teams trying to close the talent gap with college football's elite."

SMG

This is our reality -- it's a little unsettling when people get on here and criticize the efforts of the football staff or administration. I believe that we have a great staff and teachers - but please understand that the landscape has never been so lopsided. This will be a tough nut to crack - there is probably another layer with teams like Ohio State, Texas, soon to be Southern Cal and one or two others like Oklahoma, Michigan, Notre Dame.

Then everyone else fighting for the crumbs around the table. NIL and free transfer only strengthen these top teams as they recruit the top talent and players playing at other schools. Alabama most benefitted from the transfer portal last year - did they need help?

To be successful, you now have to recruit well at all three levels - high school, junior college and the portal. if you don't you will get left behind. We really need to have more success in the portal this year.
 
  • Like
Reactions: ChiTownVol and screenthis
#3
#3
Fullfillmer said:
"Loser: College football parity
Georgia, Alabama, and Texas A&M secured dominant recruiting classes that are loaded with talent. The trio have a combined 52 four-stars and 12 five-stars. The three SEC schools are projected to sign 43 of college football's top 100 recruits. This is detrimental to teams trying to close the talent gap with college football's elite."

SMG

This is our reality -- it's a little unsettling when people get on here and criticize the efforts of the football staff or administration. I believe that we have a great staff and teachers - but please understand that the landscape has never been so lopsided. This will be a tough nut to crack - there is probably another layer with teams like Ohio State, Texas, soon to be Southern Cal and one or two others like Oklahoma, Michigan, Notre Dame.

Then everyone else fighting for the crumbs around the table. NIL and free transfer only strengthen these top teams as they recruit the top talent and players playing at other schools. Alabama most benefitted from the transfer portal last year - did they need help?

To be successful, you now have to recruit well at all three levels - high school, junior college and the portal. if you don't you will get left behind. We really need to have more success in the portal this year.
Click to expand...
NIL is an excellent opportunity for UT to close the gap with these teams. Tennessee has been playing checkers while other teams have been playing chess at paying players. It was something you had to do to be successful, but for whatever reason, UT just couldn't figure it out. Having a legal way for UT supporters to use their resources to attract players is nothing but good for UT. It will be bad for teams like Boise St and TCU that don't have a ton of resources but have a punchers chance on the playing field, but this is an excellent opportunity for places like UT and UT jr(texas i think their name is) to return as traditional powerhouses.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Bmrutk, dduncan4163, njvols and 1 other person
#4
#4
LOTS of things factor into how that plays in the future. For one, a lot of good players are going to be in the portal when they see their playing time window small or when they start to discover that some of the things they were told in recruiting... were just best case outcomes and not promised outcomes.

And... the recruiting sites STILL take note of which coaches are pursuing which players hardest. I don't know how good Nolen will be. But just watching highlight videos from him and Phillips... you could be watching the same guy. Both are fast for their size. Both appear very strong. Similar size. What if both are actually 4*? That changes the rankings and this narrative a little.

You can be pretty sure that these 3 programs got good talent in these signing classes. The recruiting site rankings work that way. They can show that on average a class has talent. They aren't nearly as accurate with individuals. Remember, if the NFL draft is the scorecard for recruiting site accuracy... they're about 60% accurate on 5* and less than 50% on 4*. In any draft, there will be significantly more 3* and under draftees than 4/5* draftees. That doesn't make their ratings of 4/5* guys useless. They're decent predicters of success. But they miss as many really good players as they find. And THAT is the opportunity for those chasing these 3 programs. If you try to take them head to head for the players THEY have identified and prioritized... you'll get flattened.
 
  • Like
Reactions: knox73, Orangefaced, dduncan4163 and 2 others
#5
#5
Volfan76 said:
NIL is an excellent opportunity for UT to close the gap with these teams. Tennessee has been playing checkers while other teams have been playing chess at paying players. It was something you had to do to be successful, but for whatever reason, UT just couldn't figure it out. Having a legal way for UT supporters to use their resources to attract players is nothing but good for UT. It will be bad for teams like Boise St and TCU that don't have a ton of resources but have a punchers chance on the playing field, but this is an excellent opportunity for places like UT and UT jr(texas i think their name is) to return as traditional powerhouses.
Click to expand...

Respectfully disagree - but we will see. UT supporters match up closer to Boise State and TCU than they do Texas, Ohio State or Southern Cal.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Mtnvol80 and onevol74
#7
#7
We tend to over-estimate the magnitude of the difference between 5*, 4* and 3* talent.

Not just that the rankings are often wrong, or influenced by outside factors such as which teams pursued the lad (they are often both those things), but also that there's not as much difference between a 5* and a 4* as the stark numbers seem to indicate. I mean, 5 is 25% greater than 4, so a 5* must be 25% faster, 25% stronger, and 25% more valuable, right? Wrong, of course. The numbers make us think there's more of a "talent gap" than there really is. Same between 4* and 3*, and so on.

This is how well-coached teams full of 3* players can outperform sloppily coached teams full of 4* and 5* talent. "It's not the Xs and Os, it's the Jimmies and Joes," seems to tell us that recruiting is the ONLY path to success in the game. And don't get me wrong, it certainly helps. But the difference is not so stark that it can't be overcome. It can. A handful of teams prove it every year, both middling Power 5 programs (an Iowa, or Wake Forest) and G5 teams like Cincinnati beating Notre Dame.

It's certainly better to have more talent. Absolutely. But not having classes full of 4* and 5* players is not an eliminator from competing for championships. Not even in the SEC. Just takes great coaching, solid player development, and teams who really put their all into it.

And once that plucky underdog starts beating the talent-laden Bamas and Georgias once or twice, it can begin building momentum in both recruiting and on the field for future wins. Before you know it, a have-not becomes a have program.

That's the path I'm hoping we're on. No need to gnash our teeth about how unfair it all is, woe is us, parity is lost. Just need to strap it on and work.
 
  • Like
Reactions: knox73, Rock Hound, macrovol and 6 others
#8
#8
bamawriter said:
"This is detrimental to teams trying to close the talent gap with college football's elite."

Wait. Are they including A&M when they say "elite"? That word doesn't work that way.
Click to expand...
I agree with your Iimplication but I guess the writer was including A&M as an elite because of consistent elite recruiting classes . The fact that this season they beat …. well you know who they beat so I don’t have to tell you but that is also probably forming the writers opinion .
 
  • Like
Reactions: 9876543vol and VFL-82-JP
#10
#10
Jravol78 said:
I agree with your Iimplication but I guess the writer was including A&M as an elite because of consistent elite recruiting classes . The fact that this season they beat …. well you know who they beat so I don’t have to tell you but that is also probably forming the writers opinion .
Click to expand...
Who did A&M beat, Jravol? :)
 
  • Like
Reactions: 9876543vol and Jravol78
#12
#12
Jravol78 said:
Kent State and New Mexico but unfortunately for their fans they won’t be beating Wake Forest , dropped outta Gator bowl .





Oh yeah they beat Bama too
Click to expand...
HOLY CRAP, BAMA LOST TO AN ENTIRELY UN-ELITE A&M TEAM?

Well lahddy dah.

lol

Thanks for the laugh, Jravol, I really appreciate it. I'm sure Bamawriter will too, once he gets the wedgie removed. :)
 
#13
#13
Fullfillmer said:
Respectfully disagree - but we will see. UT supporters match up closer to Boise State and TCU than they do Texas, Ohio State or Southern Cal.
Click to expand...

This is completely false. It’s false based off TV viewership, revenue spent on apparel, ticket sales, crowd intensity, bowl game travel and about 10 other metrics. Ask the kids who were at the OM game if they think UT fans and TCU fans are the same.
 
  • Like
Reactions: DocVOLiday, StoneColdStunner, BSOVOL1967 and 1 other person
#14
#14
Jravol78 said:
I agree with your Iimplication but I guess the writer was including A&M as an elite because of consistent elite recruiting classes . The fact that this season they beat …. well you know who they beat so I don’t have to tell you but that is also probably forming the writers opinion .
Click to expand...

I suppose I should take it as a compliment that any team that beats Bama once every 9 or 10 years is to be considered "elite."
 
  • Like
Reactions: Okie
#17
#17
sonofUT62 said:
This is completely false. It’s false based off TV viewership, revenue spent on apparel, ticket sales, crowd intensity, bowl game travel and about 10 other metrics. Ask the kids who were at the OM game if they think UT fans and TCU fans are the same.
Click to expand...

I think their NIL programs are currently pretty similar. Not much for UT, or for Boise State or TCU.

TV viewership helps the schools and the advertisers on tv, revenue spent on apparel helps the retailer, ticket sales - helps the school, crowd intensity - doesn't pay the bills or put money into NIL for players. Bowl game travel - doesn't have anything to do with NIL - it's great that you are an enthusiastic fan- can I put you down for $100,000 a year to match what Texas is doing for their OL recruits? And I will need 9 or your friend willing to do the same.

I can line up attorneys and accountants to handle the details, if you can just be in charge of the funding.
 
#18
#18
The higher rated players want to go to winning programs to get national exposure, seeking the easiest path to the NFL. Texas A&M sold the fact that they beat Alabama to these recruits, "You're the last piece to get us that championship." It's going to be difficult for them to stay up there unless they actually start winning championships. Same for Georgia. Georgia is always top 5, but they're going to Georgia. Alabama is the only one that has truly built an empire and unfortunately they will reign until Saban retires or they get beat consistently.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Proud Army Wife and Okie
#22
#22
Fullfillmer said:
Respectfully disagree - but we will see. UT supporters match up closer to Boise State and TCU than they do Texas, Ohio State or Southern Cal.
Click to expand...
I agree with those boosters. This is not about excellence or competition anymore, but what type of franchise do you want to buy. I would rather see them put their money into the beneficial aspects of their institutions and let athletics float out to a farm system. That would be beneficial for both the athletes and the schools. Most schools profit very little from athletic programs and the professional leagues can finance their own farm teams and leagues. Face it, most of these kids care less about school anyway, so why waste resources that could be going to more deserving students?
 
#24
#24
You mean the power teams with money and power are going to get stronger when teams can use money to buy players? I’m shocked.
 
#25
#25
I do see a scenario where some of these teams with elite talent that are paid are going to have trouble though. Attitudes, entitlement, off the field concerns are going to be magnified with that kind of money coming in. Distractions will be a plague for some of those players.
 
  • Like
Reactions: sonofUT62 and njvols
New posts
You must log in or register to reply here.
Advertisement



Back
Top