A lot of people actually said the same crap about lack of talent when Golden was here. Defense had future NFL players Dion Bush, Artie Burns, Rayshawn Jenkins, AQ Muhammad, Gunter, and pro bowl LB Denzel Perryman. There are others I can’t name off the top of my head. 4/5 OL from the 2013 team ended up in the NFL. Pretty sure Brandon Linder made a few pro bowls. WR Allen Hurns was a pro bowler at one point too.
Those defenses fielded by Golden were historically bad statistically. Far worse than anything Randy or Manny fielded. Golden wasted a ton of talent. More than most people realized.
Yes, we had good talent from those Golden yrs. However, Hurns not Linder ever made a pro bowl, but both had solid careers, particularly Linder.
On another note, I found it interesting that we were tied w/ the likes of Utah, Wisconsin, Cincy, Minnesota, UofL, ND, Old Dominion, BYU, TAMU, MSU, UK, & Iowa St for 30th in most draft picks drafted (3).
Here’s the kick to the nuts:
The draft class was composed primarily of recruits from the classes of 2018-2020 (there were very few from 2017 due to RS & Covid rules). Focusing on those aforementioned classes, this is what each school recruited as far as blue chips:
1. TAMU - 44
2. ND - 40
3. Miami - 39* (*includes transfer rankings: 32 HS + 7 TR)
4. UK - 14* (includes transfer rankings: 13 HS + 1 TR)
5. Wisconsin - 10
6. Utah - 9
7. MSU - 7
8. Minnesota - 6
9. Iowa St - 5* (includes transfer rankings: 4 HS + 1 TR)
10. UofL - 5
11. Cincy - 4
12. BYU - 1
13. OD - 0
Here’s the record from 2018-2022 for this group:
T-1. ND: 53-11 (.828)
T-1. Cincy: 53-11 (.828)
3. Utah: 43-18 (.705)
4. BYU: 43-21 (.671)
5. Minnesota: 39-20 (.661)
6. TAMU: 39-21 (.650)
7. UK: 40-23 (.634)
8. Wisc: 38-22 (.633)
9. Iowa St: 35-28 (.556)
10. MSU: 32-26 (.551)
11. Miami: 32-28 (.533)
12. UofL: 28-34 (.452)
13. OD: 14-35 (.286)
We signed the 3rd most blue chips during this span, but also had the 3rd worst record among the teams that had 3 draft picks in this draft. In total for the top 3 schools:
-Miami has had 7 players from their 2018-20 classes drafted (including transfers)
-TAMU has had 7 players from their 2018-20 classes drafted
-ND has had 6 players from their 2018-20 classes drafted
So why have we struggled so mightily? Part of of it is the quality of draft picks we’ve produced during that span:
-Two 1st rounds
-One 2nd round
-Two 5th round
-One 6th round
-One 7th round
The first round picks we produced both have something in common, only one year of production here. Both Notre Dame & TAMU have only produced one 1st round picks from those classes, but they also produced a couple more 2nd & 3rd round players, but more importantly, those players played more than one season at their respective schools. Two of our 3 top draft picks were transfers, & only one played more than one season.
We can easily point to the coaching b/c that’s true, but we’ve also been hit with unbelievable attrition from the classes of 2018-20. We haven’t been able to sustain continuity for chit. It’s why our incoming freshmen have been immediately been the best players or the one year rental transfers we’ve had.
Absolutely zero continuity from coaching personnel, scouting, S&C, etc. U name it & we’ve been one of the worst compared to other programs over the past 15 yrs.