I don't really understand why we're closing like this. We lose out on the major uncommitted top local kids, i.e. Cook, etc.; we've lost one 4-star OL and probably will lose the biggest need prospect we've had committed (Valentine); and there really isn't major upside on signing day (maybe JC Jackson and Treon), while there exists some significant downside. If the "cloud" was real, and had a significant impact on our ability to recruit and close on top prospects, then why haven't we in fact had a VERY STRONG December and January, given that the looming specter of potential bowl sanctions is behind us? Why have the last two months sucked in recruiting if the NCAA investigation was such a big deal? Shouldn't we have seen a marked improvement provided minor slap in the wrist?
I think it's clear these are rhetorical questions. The cloud is a bunch of BS, just like the cherry-picked statistics Golden cites to when asserting that his defenses are somehow improving. It's an excuse; a false rationalization for failure. You know what is going to help us land Cooks and Lanes and Valentines? ******* winning big. Yea, maybe those kids have their hands out. But if this program was showing signs of reemerging into the elite class, those kids, with some exceptions, bypass the money and commit to play for the local elite program. It's what has happened when we win big. Players have always been getting paid; the difference is that right now, we've been irrelevant for a decade and are trending down. So why would a kid come here, turn down money and the SEC and packed stadiums, to play for a mediocre program coaches by a dope whose never won anything of significance in his life?
If we build it, they will come. Problem is we aren't building anything but a house of cards.
I think it's clear these are rhetorical questions. The cloud is a bunch of BS, just like the cherry-picked statistics Golden cites to when asserting that his defenses are somehow improving. It's an excuse; a false rationalization for failure. You know what is going to help us land Cooks and Lanes and Valentines? ******* winning big. Yea, maybe those kids have their hands out. But if this program was showing signs of reemerging into the elite class, those kids, with some exceptions, bypass the money and commit to play for the local elite program. It's what has happened when we win big. Players have always been getting paid; the difference is that right now, we've been irrelevant for a decade and are trending down. So why would a kid come here, turn down money and the SEC and packed stadiums, to play for a mediocre program coaches by a dope whose never won anything of significance in his life?
If we build it, they will come. Problem is we aren't building anything but a house of cards.
