I agree with that but I also think the negative recruiting against us regarding the NCAA is probably also a factor
Oh, for sure. Like I said earlier, it's all in the mix.
We've been bad for 15 years and recruits see us on the level of Kentucky, Missouri, South Carolina, etc. That just is what it is and it's not Danny White or Josh Heupel's fault.
We had a bad coach in Jeremy Pruitt. No doubt he should have been fired. But the way we decided to go about it only hurt us further. As
@LA Vol and others have posted many times, we should have just fired him after A&M and paid the buyout. Plowman was looking for something more - and she found it.
Hiring Danny White was a big step forward, but I don't think he was totally aware of the coaching landscape and the interest (or lack thereof) in our job at the present time. When Elliott turned us down, it seems as though he didn't have the appetite to continue the search any further. So, to be expedient, he decided to hire Heupel after not contacting him throughout the entire process. He knew he had a safety blanket, and he used it.
And like I said, that's totally fine and understandable given where we were in the process and the candidates available. There were a couple of guys I would have preferred, but on the whole the resumes were about the same. But the book on Heupel for years has been that he is a great offensive mind, but not a great recruiter or face of a program. The fact we are struggling to recruit was expected.