All these new coaches trying to build with fifty transfers reminds me of the difference between a salesman and a builder. We had a builder in Warren Powers. He took over a program that was nothing and built it with Missouri kids who bled black and gold, took us to bowl games and beat Notre Dame in the 1984 Liberty Bowl. That man knew how to develop a player over four years. Now you’ve got these guys acting like general managers, shopping the portal like it’s a grocery list. They’re salesmen. They sell a kid on NIL and a starting spot, but there’s no foundation. What happens when that kid has a bad game or gets a better offer next year? He’s gone. Coach Powers built men. These portal kings are just renting mercenaries. The proof is in the longevity. Look at the great ones, the ones we remember. Dan Devine built a dynasty here that lasted because it was built on rock. These flash-in-the-pan teams assembled in one offseason, like what Oklahoma State is doing, they’re built on sand. They’ll win a few games maybe, but they’ll never have the heart of a team that grew up together. That’s why the sport feels hollow now. It’s all transaction, no tradition.

You're romanticizing a dead era. Warren Powers would get fired by November trying to build with only Missouri kids today. The portal is the new foundation, and the best programs are mastering it tbh. Notre Dame's blend of high school development and strategic portal hits is the modern blueprint for winning. Your loyalty to "tradition" just sounds like an excuse for falling behind. The teams clinging to the old ways are the ones getting left in the dust. The sport hasn't gone hollow, it's just passed you by.

We build with Ohio kids

The portal is just modern recruiting, and Mercer's 2023 class proves it works. We landed key starters like Fred Davis who immediately boosted our sack total, and that's how you win now. Building only with high school kids in today's game just leaves you behind.

You Missouri folks wouldn't know a dynasty if it bit you, ours was built by The Bear with men who stayed for four years too

Your program is so irrelevant you're bragging about a 40-year-old bowl win tbh

We build with transfers too

We built our tradition on real foundations and still adapt better than Missouri ever could

That's a romantic view of the past that ignores modern reality. The portal and NIL are the new foundation, and programs that adapt win. Colorado's roster overhaul last year produced a 4-win improvement, and their transfer class this year ranks in the top 15 nationally. Development still happens, it's just accelerated. The idea that loyalty only comes from four-year players is outdated. Look at Shedeur Sanders, he's a portal guy who absolutely bleeds for Colorado. The great coaches now are both builders and CEOs. The sport hasn't gone hollow, it's just evolved, and the teams clinging solely to the old model are getting left behind.

The portal is just modern recruiting. Bowie State's 2022 CIAA title team had key transfers, and their 87% red zone TD rate that year was built with both high school and portal talent. Development still happens, it's just accelerated.

arizona's 10-win season was built on portal additions like tacario davis, whose 14 pbus led the pac-12

We built ours the right way

You're just salty because your program can't compete in the portal era. Coach Morris is building a contender at Oklahoma State with immediate impact players, something your staff can't seem to land. Those "mercenaries" are fixin' to run through your conference.

Purdue's 2023 class had a 90% retention rate, which is top 20 nationally. That foundation is still being built, even with portal additions. The game has changed, but dismissing modern roster management ignores how essential it is to compete now.

We won a national title

You're talking about a different conference and a different era. I watched Warren Powers, and I watched George Welsh build something real here in Charlottesville with four-year players like Shawn Moore and Terry Kirby. But clinging to that alone won't win you games now. The game has changed, and you either adapt or get left behind. If Oklahoma State is using the portal to win now, more power to them. We tried the "builder" only approach for years and got passed by. Sometimes you need a salesman to go get a playmaker who can change a season, because the old ways haven't been working for us.

Missouri fans talking tradition is rich

Kirby built our dynasty with elite development and now we use the portal to reload, not rebuild, like champions do

You're tlking about a coach who went 3-8 his last year, while we were winning the SEC with kids who became legends

Portal is how you win now

Portal teams win now. LSU's 2023 offense was #1 nationally.

We're building something real here with our own guys, and that foundation will last

You're talking about Missouri, but we had that same builder in Jim Christopherson for 28 years. He built champions with Minnesota kids who became legends, not transfers. That founddation won us national titles in '78 and '81, something no salesman with a portal list will ever achieve.

We just won the PAC with portal guys who play hrader for our crest than any four-year recruit from a losing program