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How No. 1 Mississippi State combed the back roads and small towns to build a roster of overlooked recruits
http://sports.usatoday.com/2014/10/29/mi...50GRS.uxfs

In a world where recruiting might be as popular as the national championship game, the vast majority of big moments for Mississippi State this season have been authored by players who were rated no better than three stars, were almost entirely overlooked by other SEC schools and often came to college without a defined position.

Whether it’s quarterback Dak Prescott (three-star from Louisiana who didn’t draw LSU’s interest until it was too late), running back Josh Robinson (Mississippi State beat out a bevy of Conference USA schools for him), towering receiver De’Runnya Wilson (he might have been a better basketball player in high school) or likely All-American Benardrick McKinney (hardly any other FBS schools bothered to offer a 6-foot-1, 210-pound linebacker), nobody in America has done a better job identifying and developing players who were off the radar of recruiting services.

“We really trust our own evaluations of how we look at guys,” Mullen said. “I’ve seen guys that are supposed five-stars that I’d disagree greatly with that rating. There are guys without that rating I think should be rated higher. We want to stick with what we believe in how we evaluate players. It doesn’t mean we don’t want five-star players, but we also want guys that aren’t satisfied with where they are now.”

Great story and some real lessons for G5 programs in the South

The opportunity for early playing time is also part of the equation I am sure. It always amazes me, how many so called 4 star players waste away on the depth chart, decide to transfer, sit out a season
(after a red-shirt year), and now are 2-3 years removed from any playing time.

Come to UAB, compete, have a REAL opportunity to contribute.

Schools like MSU, Boise State, UKY, Marshall, Vandy, Duke, etc. depend on the happy confluence of exceptional coaching judgement of talent and a supply of surprisingly good athletes. As these exceptional coaches are hired away to other jobs, the HC must hire as good a candidate as he is losing. If he can, his good records remain intact. If not, well, just look at examples like Watson Brown at UAB or Mack Brown at UTX to see what usually happens next.

As UAB's record improves over the next several seasons, FBHC Clark will face the same dilemma. His willingness to stay as well as his judgement in hiring replacement coaches and their ability to find those "diamonds in the rough" among new players will determine UAB's future success. Of course, UAB's ability to fund the needed facility improvements will be a major part of that equation as well.

Not to mention the fact that with the way recruiting works now, from 7th or 8th grade on the 4 and 5 star athletes are told how amazing they are and how they are NFL-bound every day of their lives. Many are still successful, but it lends itself to not working nearly as hard. Another player who has constantly been told he wouldn't play D1 or in the SEC is liable to work a whole lot harder and be a lot more mentally tough out there than someone who has been built up.

One of the more positive things I've noticed about HCBC's program is an ability to find players, regardless of their source. Scouring JUCO or even finding legit players who looked like they might be out of football (Magee) is how you jump start a program