Quote Originally Posted by KB21 View Post
That's great!

I don't know if it is because of the portal/NIL, but since 2020, there have been very few impact college players that have come from our recruiting footprint. I don't know if the talent level is just down, or if it is a player development issue because these guys are bolting at the first sign of adversity.
It's that by and large, most MS kids are ATHLETES first and football players second. Take a kid like Kelley Jones. He is an incredible athlete, but is still learning how to be an elite football player. When you look at the kids in our "footprint" and the one's we've had success with, McKinney, Jenkins, Green, etc., they needed time to develop and learn how to play the game instead of just relying on athleticism because they were the best player at their school and in their division most of the time. MS has produced VERY FEW ELITE FOOTBALL PLAYERS, especially as Freshman, in the last 25 years. I mean I can think of maybe 15-20. Jeffrey Simmons is a prime example. That kid was a dominant athlete and dominant football player.

The problem with this model is that you don't have time to develop kids these days. The Bernardrick Mckinney, Gerri Green, Johnthan Banks, etc would've transferred in this day and age. So when I see people say we need to be recruiting MS better, I have hesitation. Because by and large most of those kids need AT LEAST two years to develop. I mean go look at the past 3 recruiting classes, find me 5 players that were impact players their first two years. Heck, most are on their second school. I mean I found 4. Perkins, Issac Smith, Kelley Jones, and you could stretch and say Dowdell. I mean really it's Perkins and Smith. Branson Robinson probably could had he not gotten hurt, but he's hurt all the time.