In the nil era, any such effects are now quantifiable in dollars and can be compensated for with dollars.
I mostly subscribe to Andy Reid’s theory of football: “Give me a quarterback, two offensive tackles, two pass rushers, and two cornerbacks, and I’ll figure out the rest.”
I don’t see the advantage Auburn has. Same with Oregon and Michigan. Those 3 out recruit us with money + top flight recruiters. UF/UGA/Texas/LSU yes. I guess Ohio State/Bama too but it’s not like they are swimming in local talent like those 4.
-Auburn just being down in the midst of Bama and Ga with talent in ga, bama and down to central Fl. They can take leftovers -Ohio st and Michigan up there is like only having Alabama and Ga who compete against each other down here for recruits. -the density of D1 prospects on a map tells the story. Heavy once out of TN
I just don’t see Auburn being at an advantage. We are close to VA/NC for a lot of top talent as well as North Georgia and Tennessee talent still continues to get better. Auburn is still 2nd fiddle to Bama in state. They get a slight advantage in Georgia than we do due to proximity. The reality is they have better recruiters right now and Yellawood throws the bag around. Michigan/Ohio State/Oregon recruit a shit ton of SE and Texas kids. They’ve even been poaching quite a few TN kids in the last decade.
This interactive map is pretty cool. Check it out. https://thedataface.com/2018/08/sports/college-football-map For example look at OSU. And look how closely Auburn and Alabama resemble
Tn has never been strong in South florida as far as I remember, except for whipping their ass in that shithole stadium. Miami and surrounding area has ridiculous HS talent. Auburn does well down there.
I imagine portal has hurt depth. As soon as you have an injury you’ve got guys in there who don’t have any business in there
I like that we’ve shown we will play 2 deep on the defensive side early and often. This keeps more players happy with pt. Our lb haul is really good and we have 3 players currently getting PT who will be there 2 more years.
It’s not hard to recruit to Tennessee. Just need good recruiting coaches. We dominated in recruiting in the 90’s because we had the coaches that could recruit.
Loaded up the front 7 on defense. Got the top OL in the country and our number 1 QB target. Really good class.
I would just say it’s easier at some other places where there are more D1 players within a 2-3 hour radius from home and grandma. We have to sell leaving home state for a lot of our recruits.
I’m not sure you can really compare VA/NC to where Auburn sits. Let’s say just hypothetically every team can only have players from places inside a 2 hour drive from campus (we’ll include Nashville for UT even if it’s a hair further). If you had to rank every P5 program’s footprint, Auburn would be right at the top, and you could make an argument that it’s #1. Where would Tennessee fall? Zero talent to the east or north, you’ve basically got Knoxville, Nashville, Chattanooga. Obviously 2 hours is an arbitrary limit, but I think you can see the point. Historically Tennessee has recruited all of the south (and nationally at times) with great success. We could go 10 rounds discussing how the dynamics in CFB have changed and why doing that should be easier or harder, but right now Tennessee is having to battle out of a hole dug over 20 years where the program fell out of the national spotlight. You’re def right about current recruiters, as detestable as Hugh Freeze is, he’s second to almost nobody as a recruiter. Yellawood bags have nothing to do with that.
