As a long time lurker and seldom time poster I am amazed (not really, $$$) to see the shift in recruiting grounds. If you go back over the past 20-30 years of recruiting you would never see a Baltimore or Brooklyn kid go to LSU, New Jersey or Miami kids going to Texas A&M, Vegas, Phoenix or NYC kids to Georgia, Hawaiian or Los Angeles kids going to Bama, DC or Los Angeles kids going to Florida.
This has really become obvious over the last 5 years or so, especially since Smart got to Georgia. Their recruiting footprint has expanded to areas of the country they never recruited to instantly bagging 5 stars from there. I feel him and Jimbo Fisher ramping up the Bama model have taken the sport to a much worse place. We have known that SEC has paid forever, that's no secret. However the last 5 years or so its become so blatantly obvious.
For instance Saban's first title and subsequent classes were predictably southeast heavy (Bama, Georgia, Mississippi, North Florida, Carolinas) In recent years, they've grabbed kids from Cali, Hawaii, Colorado, Miami, Baltimore, Washington, New Jersey, Chicago, Philly, Nevada, Indianapolis, Utah.
I know that championship teams have their pick of the litter but I can't recall any other teams having that kind of pull nationwide, ignoring distance and cultural fit. Take a look at where Jimbo pulled kids from last year. A&M would have zero footprint or presence in those areas, and he pulled a bunch of 4 and 5 star guys. I see this as different from a ND, OSU, MIchigan. These teams have always recruited somewhat nationally. Just an observation mixed with some SEC teflon frustration.
This has really become obvious over the last 5 years or so, especially since Smart got to Georgia. Their recruiting footprint has expanded to areas of the country they never recruited to instantly bagging 5 stars from there. I feel him and Jimbo Fisher ramping up the Bama model have taken the sport to a much worse place. We have known that SEC has paid forever, that's no secret. However the last 5 years or so its become so blatantly obvious.
For instance Saban's first title and subsequent classes were predictably southeast heavy (Bama, Georgia, Mississippi, North Florida, Carolinas) In recent years, they've grabbed kids from Cali, Hawaii, Colorado, Miami, Baltimore, Washington, New Jersey, Chicago, Philly, Nevada, Indianapolis, Utah.
I know that championship teams have their pick of the litter but I can't recall any other teams having that kind of pull nationwide, ignoring distance and cultural fit. Take a look at where Jimbo pulled kids from last year. A&M would have zero footprint or presence in those areas, and he pulled a bunch of 4 and 5 star guys. I see this as different from a ND, OSU, MIchigan. These teams have always recruited somewhat nationally. Just an observation mixed with some SEC teflon frustration.
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