quote:
ecruiting is life in college football. hell that's how guys like Orgeron, Larry Porter, Kiffin, etc got head coaching jobs either after being positional coaches

They were failures as head coaches too despite recruiting prowess.

Bottom line is this: No, it isn't as easy for Nebraska as it used to be and it isn't as easy for them as it is an SEC school.

However, their competition isn't as stiff either.

Consider this: With two coaches who were not exactly recruiting geniuses, they have averaged the following:

Top 20 class every year the past 10 years
3rd in the B1G in recruiting the past 10 years, including 1 top 5 class nationally.

If they average 3rd or 4th in recruiting in the B1G + great scheme, then Nebraska should be able to compete for a conference title every 3 years and a playoff spot every 6 or 7 years.

That's not bad. They won't ever be mid-90s Nebraska again unless they get lucky with local kids like Crouch/Ahman Green/Grant Wistrom again, but it's not the "wasteland" you make it out to be. IF they recruit their 500 miles radius plus good Jucos, they can add a few 4* kids from CA, TX, FL, and OH to help make a championship caliber class.

The thing is.....they can't miss on prospects. They have less wiggle room when it comes to evaluation as opposed to an LSU or Bama offering shittons of 4* kids without much evaluation and then seeing what sticks.

Recruiting isn't life. It's certianly necessary, but you act like FSU, UT, USC, and UF who have struggled either now or the not too distant past didn't have 4 and 5 star recruits during that struggle.

I distinctly remember a 3* studded team coming in and kicking the shite out of LSU's 4 and 5*'s and taking Bama's #1 recruiting class down to the wire. Coaching matters. You need both. That's what makes saban so damn good, is he is one of the few who is elite at both.

This post was edited on 12/1/14 at 6:48 pm