..and got/gettin' laid a lot.
I'll chime in about some of the comments about closet 'Nole fans, 2nd favorite team... Fact of the matter is that every time they make a move, and have made several positive ones, the board is FULL of "but it's not sustainable" comments. Wonder how many of those were the one's jeering when they beat us out for a couple portal candidates last year? How'd the respective seasons turn out?
My contention is that NIL and the portal are new frontiers. Mario's proceeding in a tried and true fashion, and that's fine, but it's not like he's guaranteed success. Building with youth can have pitfalls like....losing. These stellar recruits gonna hang out if the results are mediocre for say another 2 seasons?
Now for FSU, the bottom could fall out (as many contend), but if they keep having success are we suggesting the brand isn't strong enough to draw a higher-caliber recruit, Norvell notwithstanding? I simply have trouble with the pervasive mentality that we have the formula for success and they don't. How about just giving credit where credit's due?
In addition, we/Mario have our own fish to fry. For example(s): how's that qb room looking? OC? overall offensive philosophy? a #1 receiver won't touch us with a 10 ft poll? Even the stellar recruiting class, and it is terrific, was lite a wr, certainly DT, and possibly qb. That should be acknowledged.
That's a load of crap.
"Every time they make a move...the board is FULL of 'but it's not sustainable' comments" is simply untrue.
Nobody gives a **** about "every move Norvell makes" or every breath he takes or anything else.
Look, if you and all the rest of the panicky Chicken Littles on the boards want to freak out, that's up to you.
What I am correctly describing is that there is a ton of backchanneling going on. Therefore, if Norvell has already contacted certain guys (that a lot of other schools are contacting) and those guys choose F$U, then that is fine. Because you have no idea who Miami has contacted and who Miami likes and who likes Miami. All you know is what is public. And, yes, there is a difference between a kid that spends a couple of days in the Portal, visits nobody, and chooses one school...and other guys who take visits.
Sure, F$U got a couple of guys last year in whom Miami also had interest. That doesn't mean it's the entire class. F$U took 14 transfers last year, Miami took 11. F$U had the 11th highest rated transfer class last year, Miami had the 12th highest rated class last year. Nobody disputes that F$U actually had more of their transfers perform better last year.
Instead, you are mixing and matching arguments, and it's really unnecessary, unless you honestly think that Mario is going to spend the next 8 months sitting on 4 Transfer Portal signees.
So let's separate the two arguments.
If you are arguing that we should judge Mario's portal activity by what has happened in the first 4 weeks, and that somehow Norvell is "moving fast" and Mario isn't, then I suggest you take a look at both what we know, as well as have patience for what we do not know.
---a) what we do know is that Miami has 4 Portal verbals and F$U has 8 Portal verbals, so I'm really not sure what the cause for concern is AT THIS TIME. If F$U had 14 verbals right now, then maybe you would have a point
---b) what we don't know is who Miami is talking with vs. who F$U is talking with, so if F$U contacted a bunch of guys from teams that missed bowl games (such as this Jackson character from Miami), then it makes sense that they have "early momentum", while another coach who might be backchannelling guys at schools who are still playing bowl games MIGHT not get as many guys as quickly
If you are arguing that anyone is arguing AGAINST getting Portal players, well, that's just flat out nuts. The ONLY criticism that has been levelled at guys like Kiffin and Norvell DURING THIS TIME PERIOD OF NO IC LIMITATIONS is that they have surprisingly small HIGH SCHOOL signing classes. And that would be fine under the OLD RULES of being limited to 25 signees from BOTH high school AND the Portal. But it doesn't make as much sense to take FEWER high school recruits and MORE Portal recruits WHEN THERE IS NO IC LIMITATION. And that's the argument on "sustainability".
If you actually look at the facts, Miami has 26 high school/JuCo recruits (including Cormani) AND AND AND will take a bunch in the Portal. On the other hand, F$U is sitting on 17 HS/JC signees and Ole Miss has 12. Now, F$U is on a few more "finalist lists" for February-signee recruits than Ole Miss is, so maybe that F$U number will get a bit larger. But if we ALL have 85 ICs to give out...then the RATIO of Portal signees to HS/JC signees will be higher for F$U and Ole Miss. Which is not a sustainable long-term strategy. Yes, it fills scholarships TODAY (so does giving a scholarship to a walk-on), but it doesn't address the need to ALSO bring in guys who have the potential to be with the team for 4-5 years. And let's not forget, the IC rules are due to return at some point.
But, again, "sustainability" is a separate argument.
So let's go back to my original point, which you seem sooooooo bothered by.
Norvell is all over the girls who walk into the bar at 9 pm. Absolute truth. He already has verbals from 8 of them.
But if a bunch of other attractive types walk in NOW, he has already shot 8 of his loads. How many spots on his 85-man roster do you think he has? There might be some very good players who NOW enter the Portal, or who shoot for the May window. If you bothered to do a tiny amount of research, you would see how many Portal guys LAST YEAR had commit dates between mid-January and May. A LOT.
So maybe, just maybe, you won't get your Mike-Norvell-lover panties in a bunch when I make a joke about him jumping all over the first guys who enter the Portal. Don't white-knight for your boy by telling me about how much he's getting laid.
I posted elsewhere that Norvell had 7 portal guys at this time last year and Miami had 1. Yet we finished one spot behind them in the rankings. I'm not using that as a justification or an excuse, I'm just pointing out that "4 weeks into the process" is a bit too early to judge.
And, sure, maybe Norvell's eye for Portal talent last year was better than Mario's. Which Miami has been addressing via the process Alonzo is leading to improve and professionalize our scouting and talent identification.
How about we calm down for a few weeks and see how things play out? About half of last year's Portal decisions came after January enrollment. So we're not even to halftime yet.
Relax.
