Because you obviously put a great deal of thought into your post I thought you deserved a response even if it was from an "outsider"...well that and I can't sleep:Here are my thoughts, and I'd appreciate feedback:
1.) I went back and did some research on Osborne and Solich's estimated class rankings, and they were consistently between 25-15. Lots of 3 stars, a smattering of 4 and 5 star players. Every now and then they'd land something even better, but that was very rare. This tells me that if we can consistently land the same, or better, we're going to do just fine.
2.) There was a really funny, well-written article about "The Last Team To Consistently Beat The SEC And What We Can Learn From Them: Nebraska" published by SB Nation a few years ago, and it did a great job of running through how Nebraska used to be so dominant:
- Unique, Consistent Identity: Run a very particular and very physical offense that few teams spent much time learning how to defend. Pair it with a bone-crushing defense. Also, over the course of like 30 years Nebraska had two, TWO coaches.
- Cannon Fodder: Have a huge pool of decent walk-ons from in-state and around the area that don't mind playing on the Scout teams and getting beat up by the starters just to make the program better, overall.
- Boyd Epley: Figured out that strength and conditioning, and getting specific players to do very specific tasks perfectly, was a key to success when you couldn't always recruit freak athletes to your program. He's kind of like the Moneyball guy that way.
3.) Now that the S&C advantages aren't what they used to be due to program parity (though having some of the best facilities in all of college football, still, helps a ton), and now that we're going to be running a balanced, pro-style attack, I think the emphasis needs to be on finding the absolute best players we can (duh), or players with tremendous upsides that we can coach up, and having them WANT to be here. I think the coaches understand this very well, which is why they are turning to social media, California players, and emphasizing the new, sunny identity of the program and its...let's just say "enthusiastic" fan base.
4.) I don't think we should be trying to out-recruit Ohio State or even Michigan. Ohio State has some of, if not the, best 500-mile radius recruiting range in the entire country. Michigan, under Harbaugh, is going to kind of be its own nut-ball show. I view us much more as being like Michigan State, a program that was developed and built patiently into having a strong identity and being able to field teams that can beat almost anyone due to player development, good coaching, and having a strong, mean identity. I actually view us as being able to do Michigan State better than Michigan State does in this respect. No disrespect to the Spartans, I just think we may be able to recruit better right now and thus field slightly better teams, on average, especially on offense (Sparty's D is probably going to always be freaking brutal).
1) A quick google search uncovered the notion that Osborne won with classes in the 15-25 range is not actually an accurate depiction. Each of his NC teams had at least 2 top 10 classes as a part of those squads. But I think the more important point is that those were the early days of recruiting rankings for fan consumption and while it certainly still is not close to an exact science the industry has come leaps and bounds since then. You simply can't compare. So a more accurate fact to consider is that since the beginning of "The Rivals Era" there has not been a National Champion which didn't either have at least one #1 ranked class (as a part of that team) or two #2 classes. I'm sure that streak will be broken, sooner than later, but that coupled with the fact Osborne didn't win NCs without top 10 classes tells me the odds of winning one if you "rarely" land top ten classes are pretty low.
2) Not much I can say about your point #2 except that what drove NU's success at that time is not relevant right now. A) While the college game has shifted towards the spread the use of a pro-style O isn't nearly as unique as the wishbone was in the 90s. B) The walk-on game has changed - things like (this is just one example) the cost of film and ability to distribute it digitally means more kids who used to end up walking onto the local Big U are now ending up at smaller BCS and FCS programs. In addition, your point about kids willing to get beat up...philosophies have changed and your own coach has been quite outspoken about reducing hitting/tackling in practice. C) I'm certainly not an S&C expert but I'm pretty sure the customization of training, in CFB programs, for both positions and the individual player is the standard now. The one size fits all approach has been dead for at least a decade and investing in the science part of it all (which I don't really understand) is a part of the CFB arms race.
3) I really don't want to sound snotty so my apologies for not thinking of a better way to say this...yes, that is what you want to do...finding (and landing) the best players, coach then up and have them want to be there. That's what everyone is trying to do. As far as social media and using it to create buzz...again yes...that is what...well I wouldn't say everyone is doing it well but it is now a more common part of recruiting.
4) I hate to admit this (as a Michigan fan) but what Dantonio has done in East Lansing is pretty special. But it's not an exact formula that others can just choose to copy. To replicate it you pretty much would have to hire Dantonio because his team is an exact reflection of his personality. Riley has to be himself. I'm not the expert on who Riley is (personality wise)...you guys are...but he's not Dantonio. I know most here don't like Harbaugh but Dantonio is a genuine ahole...I'm talking a flat out jerk (one of their mantras is "60 minutes of unnecessary roughness" as in play dirty...they literally use those words)...and my sparty friends would say the same with a huge smile on their faces because he is their ahole and a damn good coach. I'll leave it at Riley needs to build his own brand of "swagger" at NU.
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