recruiting. USC's coach leaves a few weeks ago and Lane Kiffin takes over and they still get the #1 recruiting class. Lane Kiffin bolts from Tennessee 3 weeks before signing day, they hire a relative unknown, and they still finish 9th in the recruiting rankings. Of course that's only 5th in the SEC, but that's still pretty good considering the circumstances.

It will be entertaining to read the local "spin" on why Petrino's class (48th according to Rivals) is actually better than Nutt's 17th ranked class.

(02-04-2010 12:34 AM)mjs Wrote:  recruiting. USC's coach leaves a few weeks ago and Lane Kiffin takes over and they still get the #1 recruiting class. Lane Kiffin bolts from Tennessee 3 weeks before signing day, they hire a relative unknown, and they still finish 9th in the recruiting rankings. Of course that's only 5th in the SEC, but that's still pretty good considering the circumstances.

It will be entertaining to read the local "spin" on why Petrino's class (48th according to Rivals) is actually better than Nutt's 17th ranked class.

I'll put my spin on why this could be one of the best Hog classes ever. The main weakness they've always had is that couldn't sign the defensive tackles that were of the same quality as the Alabamas, Tennessees, Floridas. They were able to remain reasonably competitive with good skill players and sometimes win with their offense. But this year they have signed, at least on paper, the best group of defensive linemen I can recall. If Petrino can continue to sign two or three really good SEC type defensive linemen every year, they will be right on par with those elite programs. And that's not from Wally Hall, but just my objective analysis, for what it's worth. Of course we'll have to wait and see how it plays out on the field in the future.

(02-04-2010 12:34 AM)mjs Wrote:  recruiting. USC's coach leaves a few weeks ago and Lane Kiffin takes over and they still get the #1 recruiting class. Lane Kiffin bolts from Tennessee 3 weeks before signing day, they hire a relative unknown, and they still finish 9th in the recruiting rankings. Of course that's only 5th in the SEC, but that's still pretty good considering the circumstances.

It will be entertaining to read the local "spin" on why Petrino's class (48th according to Rivals) is actually better than Nutt's 17th ranked class.

In a perfect world, kids would choose a university to attend, no matter who the coach was, but we know, in a lot of cases, that isn't the case.
But there are schools that kids grow up wanting to play for, and they will stick with those schools, even if the coach leaves and a new one comes in. Notre Dame used to have that reputation, which has been somewhat tarnished in recent years, but maybe their new coach can get that aura back again. And a lot of Arkansas kids grow up wanting to play for the Hogs. We need some growing up who want to play for the Trojans.