Originally Posted by
Todd4State
That's just not how I look at it. If you get a class that the recruiting services don't care for on NSD, but then you have three or four guys that end up being 1st day NFL picks- I can't say that we recruited poorly. I'm more concerned about the players we do get rather than what the Clarion-Ledger, Rosebowl, Yancy etc. think about our class and who their top 10 are. I trust my evaluation skills and opinions more than them. No one remembers losing on NSD. It's a racket. All you have to do is put four stars by someone's name and they're a good player. But in the grand scheme of things, that doesn't really mean anything.
For example, I remember watching Bear Wilson's film from high school. I thought it was incredible. He was like a three star guy I think. But I thought he would have an immediate impact and he pretty much did. Despite what the recruiting people told me, I was excited to get him. Same with Chris Jones before he blew up. He didn't even make Dandy Dozen.
These recruiting sites are not going to have it so that one school dominates even if that is reality because they have fans from the other school to entertain. I'm sure Willie Hibbler will be a top 10 player this year for that reason alone. The reality is he's probably not even in the top 15.
Recruiting takes connections and relationships. That's why Nutt and Dan didn't do as well in both of those cases you are referring to. For the past 20 years or so, neither one of us has been clearly dominate over the other. UNTIL Dan came along and has now won four out of five. We're starting to establish dominance. That's why I like playing USM- if we beat them, then that makes even more of a statement in state. That's also why I like playing the SWAC schools from Mississippi as well- we're establishing dominance while helping them out. The Romans pretty much did the same thing during the height of their empire.
Now we have a legit Heisman contender at QB and a chance to have some very good teams for the next couple of years. It should impact our recruiting in a major way and in a positive way.