re: Something to watch on LSU vs Alabama football recruiting

While you’re technically correct, that’s not my point.

What Spurier was pointing out is that the level of weekly competition that you face with an SEC schedule is way more difficult than Texas ever faced before in the Big 12 or the SWC.

For example, it doesn’t matter whether schools that we have always played, like ARKANSAS, STATE, OLE MISS & KENTUCKY, are having a successful season, each program has enough talent and pride that playing all of them, plus BAMA, AUBURN FLORIDA & A&M, as we usually have, is a brutal schedule. You’re not coming through that run unscathed, so you better be deep and mentally tough, or you’re dead.

I just don’t see any evidence of TEXAS having ever displayed either, but I could be wrong…


GEAUX TIGERS!!!

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ARKANSAS, STATE, OLE MISS & KENTUCKY,

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All these guys schools finish in the top 25-30 in recruiting each year

The bottom of the big 12 finishes in the 50s and 60s

Thats the major difference.

Even the Big 10 who is considered the the next best conference has multiple teams that don't finish in the top 50 in recruiting rankings

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Dominate like Bama has the past 15, no. But they will be at the top. They have a damn good coach

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I’m not sold on this. Ten years as a head coach including stints at USC and Washington but only a single season with double digit wins.

Pretty sure the situation he walked into at Texas wasn’t bad, yet he had a losing season his first year and went 8-5 his second.

It will take Texas and OU a half a decade to adjust to the pounding of week in week out the SEC dishes out. There are ZERO games where they will play 250lb o and d lines like they’ve done for 30 years.

The defense improving is not guaranteed. We really don't know how far we fell behind. Hopefully it is a quick fix but we don't know the whole issues.

Dude has won all but 2 games the last 3 years and was back to back champs, and likely the best squad last season who lost at an inopportune time. A dynasty like Bamas had never been seen before so expecting someone to equal that to be considered a good coach is asinine. I'd trade Kelly and players to be named later for Smart right now. That guy will leave UGA on his own terms and as one of the greatest coaches the sport has seen. Not bad for a terrible GameDay coach wouldn't you say?

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Dominate like Bama has the past 15, no. But they will be at the top.

They have a damn good coach

They will get SEC players that didn’t want to play in B12

We are in the NIL world.

It’s not 2014

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When Texas and Oklahoma were duking it out in the 2000s, Texas won the conference twice in 11 years. Oklahoma won it 7 times. They owned Texas recruiting because Baylor hadn't popped and even when Tech was good, they didn't recruit good. Texas has taken 2 top players from Louisiana (as in rankings) since Sark has gotten over there, and they have done absolutely nothing with them.

Bo Davis is gone from Texas. In case you didn't know, Texas's pass defense was legit as bad as LSU's. They have offensive weapons, but they are wasted on those QBs.

Just like TAMU, Texas will have to show me. I have never seen it from them in my life time, and I'm in my 30s.

I could definitely see Texas recruiting at a very high level in the SEC.

Can they develop that talent? That remains to be seen.

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Dude has won all but 2 games the last 3 years and was back to back champs, and likely the best squad last season who lost at an inopportune time. A dynasty like Bamas had never been seen before so expecting someone to equal that to be considered a good coach is asinine. I'd trade Kelly and players to be named later for Smart right now. That guy will leave UGA on his own terms and as one of the greatest coaches the sport has seen. Not bad for a terrible GameDay coach wouldn't you say?

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I'd hold off on the nut hugging if I were you. Smart built his brand on the back of Nick Saban for 15 years. Every big time Nick disciple started with elite recruiting at their new spot. Kirby Smart was an UGA grad, his recruiting base is freaking Georgia, UGA was a 10 win team the year before he got there, and he didn't have to deal with NIL and the portal starting out.

Kelly had the stigma of leaving ND. He was a career yankee who came to the bayou "so how could he fit in", they would say. He had absolutely zero idea how to recruit down in the south, so he's learning as he goes. There was a mass exodus after Ed O was fired leaving 39 scholarship players. Speaking of that, LSU went 11-11 in the prior 2 seasons (1990s era stuff), and the transfer portal was the reason why we lost all that.

See unlike Louisiana, Georgia is massive in talent. It's like Florida and Texas. You can take a few kids, but there are plenty to go around. However what's different with Georgia, they only have Bama and Clemson who are real threats there, and a couple of poached kids don't do much in the grand scheme. Compared to Louisiana, we have money bags in TAMU and Texas right beside us, Saban is always poaching, and Ole Miss is trying to sneak a nugget out the 10 piece. With only about 20 four stars tops in a year, losing 15 of them is crazy. It would be the equivalent of losing 29 of the 39 4 star+ players in Georgia in that same year. UGA only got 8 of the top 15 that year, but they were all top 150 recruits. A QB, TE, 2 DL, 2 CB, 1 LB, and 1 Edge. Look at the defensive recruits. No wonder they can be so dominant there. If Louisiana produced DL and CBs at the rate they used to, then we'd already be back on track.

Give Kelly 5 years and LSU will be a perennial top 5 team. UGA and Smart are indeed elite, but let's not forget the advantages Smart had in comparison.

I noticed similar results looking at On3, which seems to be a better gauge than 247 these days. It " pokes my heart" to see Bama fall like they are. Lol..