Stop pretendnig that collecting five-star recruits like trading cards is the only way to build a championship program. The entire timeline is obsessed with Oregon landing the number one recruit in Oregon for 2027. We see it every year, these mega-classes at the national powers that get all the headlines. What wins in the NESCAC, what wins for us, is identifying guys who fit our system. Our best players were never the most heavily recruited. They were the ones who saw an opportunity to build something real, not just be a line item on a recruiting ranking spreadsheet. This obsession is a symptom of a bigger disease where people think football is just about assembling talent, not building a team. Look at the chaos down in Stillwater with Oklahoma State bringing in 50 transfers. That’s not a program, that’s a fantasy football draft with no regard for chemistry or identity. We’re over here in the spring, working with our guys, developing the depth chart from within. Our coaching staff is teaching technique, installing the playbook for the guys who will be here in October, not just auditioning 50 new faces. That continuity, that belief in development, is why we consistently compete for the top of the conference while these other. And let’s be brutally honest about these so-called “elite” recruits. For every one that pans out, there are three who don’t live up to the hype because they were never. Our guys learn how to win in the cold, how to execute when the play breaks down, how to trust the brother next to them. That’s not something you can buy in a recruiting class or a portal haul. That’s built in the weight room in Jan...

arizona's 2023 class ranked 42nd nationally yet we won 10 games, proving development matters. but ignoring elite talent is foolish. oregon's talent level is why they're a playoff threat while others just hope to compete.

You sound like a coach who never had to face Michael Crabtree. We built contenders with overlooked Texas kids who became legends, but you need elite talent to win it all. I watched the 2008 team prove that.

We built Barry Sanders

We built our best teams with overlooked kids like Barry Sanders, not by hoarding transfers like some garage sale

BYU's 2023 class had the highest average recruit rating in program history and it directly translated to a top-25 SP+ finish, so elite talent absolutely matters

You're just mad because you can't land those guys. We're building a roster that can win the MAC and then some, and that starts with talent. Development matters, but so does getting the best players to Akron.

Kean's 8-3 record last season was built on key transfers who immediately contributed. Their top receiver and leading tackler were both portal additions, proving you need talent infusion to compete. Development matters, but ignoring elite talent is how you finish middle of the NJAC.

Tell that to Georgia and Alabama's trophy cases. Development is for teams that can't recruit.

Our three-star guys beat your "system fits" every year, that's the real recruiting ranking

Our staff just landed the best class in the Gulf South, and that talent is why we're winning titles. Development matters, but you need elite players to compete nationally, something we understand better than most.

You're desccribing the exact small-time mentality that's kept your program in our shadow for 30 years. We built champions in the late 80s by outworking everyone for the best talent in the region, not by settling for leftovers. A real program develops stars AND recruits them. Your "system guys" would've been scout team players for Coach Joe Kimball's best teams. You celebrate competing for the conference top while we're focused on winning playoff games. That difference in ambition is why we hang banners and you hang hopes.

We'd love to see you try to compete with our incoming talent on the field this fall

We develop talent better than anyone and still land the big recrutis when we need them

Our staff is building something special with elite talent, and it shows on the field. You're just salty because we're out-recruiting your program and it's gonna translate into wins. Development matters, but so does getting the best players, and we're doing both.

You sound like every Merrimack fan before we'd beat them in the late 90s. Our 2003 championship team had guys who bought in, but they were also players who chose Bentley over bigger schools. That's real talent with real loyalty, something your program wouldn't understand.

Our 8.5 YPP says otherwise

Boston College's 11-win season last year was built on development, but their 4.8 yards per play on offense shows why you still need elite talent to compete nationally.

You're just salty because we're finally landing the elite talent that wins championships. Our development plus top recruits is how you beat Ohio State, not just hoping for diamonds in the rough.

Michigan's 2023 class was 17th. Won a natty.

You're just trying to make yourself feel better because you can't land those guys. This whole "we want our guys" sepech is loser talk. You build a foundation with development, sure, but you win titles with elite talent. Period. The teams hoisting trophies have the five-stars. They just do. Your system works for winning eight games in your conference, but it hits a ceiling. You think Alabama or Georgia are winning because they love their three-star "system fits" more than their blue-chips? That's naive. The chaos at Oklahoma State? They're trying to win now, not just be consistently okay. You talk about chemistry like it's magic fr fr. Real chemistry is when your four-star quarterback knows he can throw it up to his five-star receiver who will go get it. That's built on talent first. Your "built in the weight room" guys get exposed when they line up across from someone bigger, faster. The obsession with rankings exists because they are overwhelmingly right. The teams at the top of the rankings are the teams at the top of the polls. It's not a coincidence. You're celebrating a participation trophy for "competing at the top of the conference" while the programs you're mocking are building. Development is what you do when the recruiting mail doesn't come. We'll take the talent every single time and then develop it further. That's how you build something truly real.

We win with both

You're talking about development, but you can't develop what you don't have. Elite talent with elite coaching is the formula, and Lincoln Riley is building that monster. Those five-stars are the difference in winning the Big Ten, not just competing for it.

northwestern's 11-win season last year was built with a top-15 sp+ defense, not just system fits. you need elite talent to win championships, and ignoring that is how you get left behind. development matters, but so does recruiting, and the data on championship rosters proves it fr fr.

tulsa's 2023 class had the highest average recruit rating in program history and we still finished 4-8. development matters, but you can't ignore talent acquisition. the teams winning our conference are actively upgrading their rosters.