re: Marshall Faulks incentives???

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Because he was that talented as a defensive back. Probably would have still been a hall of famer if he stuck with it.

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I remember him saying something about how he wouldn't have been a great DB because he never liked playing that position.

You're right about Johnson getting Faulk and Harris. Johnson was said to be receiving death threats because Harris wasn't staying at closer school. Not sure of the validity of it though.
You know what ever happen to Harris?

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what the hell it must have taken to get Faulk to go San Diego State

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we can start with he wasn't considered a top flight RB prospect. LSU and i think Miami even offered him at CB but he wanted to play RB. I think there was a coach at SDSU at the time that was from NOLA and knew him, so they took him at RB

ETA

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Curtis Johnson was the New Orleans connection

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Nowadays, a kid would say “ewwww, a G5”, but the stigma wasn’t nearly as much then

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I know someone who is a High School assistant coach & he gets frustrated trying to convince his kids & (some adults ) that if you are a stand out then NFL/ NBA scouts will find you. Even at a lowly FCS or G5 . A pet peeve of mine is when I hear P5 schools/ fans act is if though they have created elite athletes/ professionals.

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I mean, while it’s possible to get noticed on the smaller levels, it makes the road a lot tougher to get there

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noticed by fans maybe but define "tougher", if only there were people who's job it was to evaluate and who you know "scout" players.

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you’re definitely going to be better developed at a school with better structure and facilities while going against better competition. Not sure how you could really argue otherwise

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because a lot of what you are arguing here is overrated. Clearly you get better competition at bigger schools, better competition in practice at the Alabama, Ohio State, UGA, LSU Clemsons etc. The facilities aren't as fancy but its not like the G5 are using rubber bands and Jack Lalane tapes from 1956 and a lot of coaching/development is about teaching things like technique or route running etc you can have good coaching anywhere. Plus the NFL develops as well (see Hunter, Danielle).

At worst the G5 guys aren't as NFL ready from day 1 but that is not some permanent advantage if the player has the natural talent and skill he will be fine regardless of where he went to college

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I mean, while it’s possible to get noticed on the smaller levels, it

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It's only "possible " my arse. I can give you a very exhaustive list Of fcs, HBCU , division II & small school bball hofers , allstars/ all pros who got noticed. MLB/ NBA consistently notices players from obscure High schools playing " inferior " competition & most don't need "big time" colleges to thrive & become a pro.



It only becomes a self fulfilling prophecy when all of the elite athletes want to go to P5's that they don't need anyway.

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all of the elite athletes want to go to P5's that they don't need anyway.

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they need them for the perception. Tulane’s literally in the best conference outside of the P5 but the recruiting board and media would tear down any elite kid going there, saying he doesn’t have what it takes.

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It's only "possible " my arse. I can give you a very exhaustive list Of fcs, HBCU , division II & small school bball hofers , allstars/ all pros who got noticed.

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I think you’re arguing against your own position a bit here. Sure, the HOFers. All Stars, and All Pros will get noticed, but what about the rest? The % of high schoolers who turn out to be these type players, no matter where they go to college, is just above zero. What about the guys who are good enough to maybe not stand out, but stick on an NFL roster for 7 or 8 years, retire multi-millionaires with lifelong NFL pensions without ever even getting a single Pro Bowl vote? Those guys are much harder to find at smaller schools. Not impossible, especially today, but the players at bigger schools are gonna typically get more benefit of the doubt.

They’re gonna be more ready to step in and play immediately compared to a player at a smaller school even if they have the same talent, because it will be much less of a jump. And that smaller gap in level of competition mitigates the risk that all draft picks come with. Take Bama for example—a lot of their recent guys have hit and hit big, but there was a period there where they had a lot of top round busts, but were taken that high because of the benefit of the doubt given to players who come from programs that develop at a high level and play against the best competition.

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It only becomes a self fulfilling prophecy when all of the elite athletes want to go to P5's that they don't need anyway.

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I do agree that it does become a self-fulfilling prophecy to a degree. But what argument are you really trying to make to a kid to choose Grambling over LSU, for example? It would be one thing if the education at a particular school was a lot better, but what is the argument if not?

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It's only "possible " my arse. I can give you a very exhaustive list Of fcs, HBCU , division II & small school bball hofers , allstars/ all pros who got noticed. MLB/ NBA consistently notices players from obscure High schools playing " inferior " competition & most don't need "big time" colleges to thrive & become a pro.

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Yeah I understand they have outliers, but statistically you have a long shot already to make the pros and an even longer shot to make the pros if you are at a smaller school. You’re taking my posts as some attack on smaller schools, and that’s not what this is. Those schools have value certainly, I’m just not ready to say that there’s not also a lot more value in going to a larger program.

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It only becomes a self fulfilling prophecy when all of the elite athletes want to go to P5's that they don't need anyway.

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Again I can agree that these guys are insane athletes and a lot of them would get noticed at smaller schools, but you seem to be arguing that there’s zero value in the competition, facilities, coaching, and structure that elite programs have in place, which is honestly just an absurd position to have

It’s like arguing that people don’t need groceries stores to feed themselves. While yes, the statement is true- It still makes it a lot easier for me to eat a rotisserie chicken than if I tried to go kill one in the field

Wasn't he considered too small for division 1 football , by recruiters back then?