Does no college season help recruiting?

I'd say no.

Visits are such an important thing AND our footprint is very broad geographically.

No or limited fans was already going to reduce the effectiveness of visits (assuming OVs for big games). Facilities, coaches, attending practice/film sessions, and of course the stadium and crowd all combine to make visits impactful.

But the game is the hook, that's what get's them in the door.

So no games, no hook.

Not that it would devastate recruiting, we'd all be dealing with the same issues. However, in addition to shrinking the geography quite a bit as mentioned above, it would also 'throw us off our stride'. Programs like Clemson, LSU, tOSU have a (dare I say it) process for these visits and recruiting in general.

Adjusting on the fly to re-invent a 'new process' in short order is at a minimum going to erase advantages schools like LSU have over schools like Iowa (just to give some basis for comparison). At worst it leads to a lot of disruption, 'errors', and disorganization which could lead to a loss of effectiveness well beyond erasing a margin over the competition.

Don't forget- recruiting IS a zero sum game. Every stud you land is one taken from the competition (some remote like an Iowa, some direct like UF).

Look at OSU

Agreed. LSU also has the advantage of being the only power 5 program in Louisiana. Less instate competition for recruits than say Florida or Georgia or even Mississippi.

As luck has it, we also were fortunate this cycle in that we filled our needs out of state early before all hell broke loose. The real must-have targets left on our board outside of Tristan Leigh are all Louisiana guys.

As things stand, there are only 1 or 2 teams in the country even close to LSU when it comes to filling needs with the best players available. Coach O and company are rolling.