Wait so ESPN is running that piece on 23 five-stars in the 2027 class and I scroll down to see us mentioned for a receiver named Monshun Sales and Yahoo is already saying we might be running a race we can't win. That about sums up where we are now doesn't it. We used to be the place every five-star wanted to come. You remember the 2009 recruiting class when we just went out and took whoever we wanted. Now we are fighting Oregon and Texas and whoever else has the biggest NIL bag for every single kid.
You want to know what bothers me more than anything. It isnt that we might miss on a recruit. It is that these kids are picking programs based on who cuts the biggest check instead of who develops them best. I have been watching this program since the late 70s and I have never seen anything like this. We used to build teams through the high school ranks. You recruited a kid as a sophomore and you watched him grow into a man. Now you just shop the portal every winter and hope the chemistry works out.
Fall camp is starting and I am supposed to get excited about a roster that has more transfers than homegrown players. The portal has completely destroyed what made college football special. You cannot build a program on rented talent. Coach Bryant would roll over in his grave if he saw what this sport has become.