Quote Originally Posted by MetEdDawg View Post
We aren't a big enough name to get a ton of Top 100 guys to come to camp. Same for a lot of the Top 300 guys. Let's be honest. At face value, taking rankings, history, and prestige into consideration, we are going to lose every time to at least 15-20 programs. If you are a teenager that is highly ranked and you only have time to go to 3 or 4 camps, ours is probably not one of them unless you are in state, in the area, or have a connection by some other means.

So we have to work harder if we want those guys. We can't be pissed if they don't come to campus for camp. Those guys now go to camps either as individuals or with their teams at 7 on 7 stuff. So we have to work harder to get them if we are going to truly compete against top tier programs for recruits.

Moorhead and company are already working harder by offering guys that we normally wouldn't. We are going to have to work to get top kids to come to campus. And I don't think it's crazy to try and recruit nationally if you have the right connections and understand a player's mindset. Kids far away may have extended family near you or family members in position to make a move, may like the feel of your campus better, may like the personality of your staff better, may like the style of offense/defense you run. Or might have buddies on your team that they met through camp. Teenagers have all kinds of reasons they make decisions and we never took advantage of that under Mullen.

We developed great talent under Mullen. But developing talent and getting highly rated talent aren't mutually exclusive. Moorhead I think is about to show us that.
I don't disagree in principle with what you are saying. We don't have the history of the Bama's, LSU, Texas, etc. However, most HS kids only remember us being fairly competitive in the SEC (last 9 years). An 18 year old was 9 when Dan got here, so they remember the last few, more than some of the horrendous years previous. By being in the SEC, we are a national name. We are not the biggest name, but I don't run into people that have never heard of MSU when I travel the country. And, sports fans that I talk to in my company certainly know about us. I do think it is time to take the next step in trying to expand our recruiting footprint, which should have been done after 2014. Throw the net, and see what you get. MS should always be the base, but those outer edges can be expanded.