Recruiting matters, but recruiting by itself doesn’t win anything.
Since 2017, University of Southern California have had three top ten recruiting classes.
They haven’t won more than eight games since 2018.
Texas had the third ranked class in 2018 and 2019. They were also eighth in 2020.
News alert, Texas isn’t back.
Texas A&M has had top ten classes in six of the last ten seasons.
The Aggies haven’t topped ten wins since 2012 and have only finished ranked in the AP poll twice since 2014.
For a program to be successful, it not only has to recruit but it also has to be able to develop those recruits.
Make no mistake about it, a team still has to have higher end talent to be competitive even if they are the best developers in the world.
The Florida Gators have had far more four and five star recruits show interest in Florida in one summer under Napier than they ever did under Mullen.
Then four star QB
Jaden Rashada pushed back his commitment date after looking like a lock for Florida.(& scheduled an OV to Miami).
Five star CB AJ Harris, after it appeared at one point that Florida was the frontrunner, chose to commit to Georgia.
And so in the words of Taylor Swift, some Florida Gators fans have started to say “I think I’ve seen this film before, and I didn’t like the ending.”
Florida has a far greater commitment towards recruiting than they did under Mullen though. As Florida winds up on the radar of more and more recruits, there is greater room for hope but also greater room for disappointment.
In the age of NIL, Florida hasn’t indicated it is willing to play ball at a level needed to be a top five class consistently.
But Florida had top ten classes in 2019 and 2020 even with Mullen’s lackluster effort. And if Napier runs a better in house program than what Mullen did, Florida can still win a national title with top 10 classes.
Mullen was a thrown shoe and a defensive coordinator who knew a play call besides “Engage Eight” away from winning a title in 2020.
https://hailfloridahail.com/2022/06/21/panic-florida-gators-recruiting/