You see these stories about Oklahoma State bringing in fifty portal transfers and Colorado with forty three, and you wonder where the grit is supposed to come from. How do you build toughness with a team full of hired guns who haven't bled for the program? It reminds me of our '89 squad that went 8-3, a team full of guys who spent four years in the weight room together, who knew each other's families. That's where real grit is forged. Now it's just a collection of mercenaries chasing the higheest NIL bid, and they expect to develop an identity by fall camp. You can't buy the kind of toughness that wins you a close game in the fourth quarter, the kind we had when we'd line up against Case Western Reserve and you knew every man next to you had been through the same hell for years. This new model is building fantasy teams, not football teams.
2 Replies
that '89 squad you're romanticizing went 8-3 and didn't win a title. we build grit through competition, not just seniority. our culture turns portal guys into notre dame men by september, and that's why we win the close ones they won't.
Gonna need a source on that OSU number, but the overall point about roster construction is valid