You're clinging to a dead era. The portal is the new reality, and the great coaches are the ones dominating it. Your old guard would be getting fired today for refusing to adapt. That "diamond in the rough" you romanticize is just a three-star recruit who will transfer the second he doesn't start. Loyalty is a one-way street from the program to the player now. The coaches who build the best cultures are the ones who can manage a roster of mercenaris and win immediately. Your program's problem isn't the portal, it's that you're not good at using it.