Up front warning – this post is long. Recruiting is the life blood of college football and I thought it would be interesting to look at the “categories” that are important in recruiting and compare how your favorite team stacks up to your main rival in each category.

Here is what I think are the main things that a recruit looks at when deciding which school’s scholarship offer to accept. I ranked this in order of what I think are most important to recruits (and recruit families) to least important. Of course this will vary from recruit to recruit but I was trying to look at this from an overall perspective.

1. Head Coach & Coaching Staffs: what emphasis do they place on recruiting, how do they relate to recruits, what is there record of player development and placing players in the pros, do they graduate their players, how good are they at “selling” what their school has to offer (items 2 thru 8)
2. Playing Time: will this be immediate or will the recruit have to redshirt and bide their time – this can/will change from year to year for each position
3. Facilities: how do the facilities compare – stadium, stadium location, practice facilities, locker rooms, weight room, housing (dorms), player entertainment & recreation rooms
4. Conference: what conference does the school play in and what is the current and long term history and perception of that conference
5. Tradition & History: what has been the schools tradition and history – current (last 10 years) and long term; obviously, with 18 year olds, I think that current history carries more weight but a long standing history of success can also be a factor
6. Geography: how close to a recruit’s home is the school located – is the school within driving distance for the recruit’s family
7. Campus: city versus college town
8: Academics: does the school offer majors that attract recruits, are the schools entrance requirements above or below the normal, academic tradition & stature

My favorite school is Clemson and our main rival is the University of South Carolina (which I will refer to as Carolina with all due respect to UNC). Some background – I attended Clemson for 4 years for my bachelors degree and attended Carolina for 2 years for my masters degree so I have first hand experience at both schools. I will try to make this an objective comparison, but since I am a diehard Clemson fan, it is likely that my opinions might be slightly biased.

1. Head Coach & Coaching Staffs: The average composite recruiting rankings for the last 5 years (Rivals, Scout, ESPN): Clemson = 13.2 / Carolina = 20.2 clearly favors Clemson. Carolina’s coaching turnover this year really hurt their 2016 recruiting and rumors of coaching turnover really hurt their 2015 recruiting. Spurrier was not gung ho for recruiting but Muschamp is so this may even out over the next few years. Right now I would say slight advantage Clemson.
2. Playing Time: I don’t think you can say one team has an advantage over another unless you do it position by position. I will just say then that they are even.
3. Facilities: Both schools have been pouring money into their facilities so I would say that this is probably a wash. The stadiums are comparable in size and amenities. At one time I would have said that Clemson had the stadium advantage as Willy Brice was located in a fairly seedy area but the school has been working hard to clean up and spruce up the area around the stadium and they may actually have a slight advantage now. Overall, I would also say that the “facilities” are a wash.
4. Conference: ACC vs SEC for football = BIG advantage for Carolina!
5. Tradition and History: Short term (last 10 years) head to head favors Carolina as they have gone 6-4 against Clemson thanks to an unprecedented 5 year winning streak although Clemson has won the last two years. Overall records for the last 10 years clearly favors Clemson: Clemson 100-31 (76%) / Carolina 86-49 (64%). Long term tradition also clearly favors Clemson as they are 67-42-4 vs Carolina head to head. Clemson has won 17 conference titles (15 ACC/2 SOCON) while Carolina has won 2 conference titles (1 ACC/1 SOCON). Clemson is 20-18 all time in bowls whereas Carolina is 8-12 all time in bowls. Clemson has 1 national championship and 1 runner up while Carolina has none. Overall, I think tradition and history is clearly a recruiting advantage for Clemson.
6. Geography: This is even as the two schools are located only 132 miles apart.
7. Campus: Clemson is located in Clemson, SC and Carolina is located in Columbia, SC – classic small college town vs big city matchup. Admittedly, I am somewhat biased but from an aesthetic viewpoint, there is no comparison - Clemson wins hands down although the Horseshoe area of Carolina’s campus is very nice. I loved going to school at Carolina but living in Columbia was terrible – many folks in the state of South Carolina refer to Columbia as the “armpit of the state”. Of course small college towns do not appeal to every recruit but overall, I believe that the campus setting favors Clemson.
8. Academics: I think that Clemson is generally considered and ranked as the better overall academic school but Carolina has some top rated programs such as their International Business School. Both schools offer majors that appeal to many football recruits and the entrance requirements are equal. I would pretty much say that this is even.

So, from a football perspective, what are the categories that you think are important to recruiting, in what order would you rank them, and how does your favorite school stack up in each category against your main rival?

(03-20-2016 06:03 PM)IR4CU Wrote:  Up front warning – this post is long. Recruiting is the life blood of college football and I thought it would be interesting to look at the “categories” that are important in recruiting and compare how your favorite team stacks up to your main rival in each category.

Here is what I think are the main things that a recruit looks at when deciding which school’s scholarship offer to accept. I ranked this in order of what I think are most important to recruits (and recruit families) to least important. Of course this will vary from recruit to recruit but I was trying to look at this from an overall perspective.

1. Head Coach & Coaching Staffs: what emphasis do they place on recruiting, how do they relate to recruits, what is there record of player development and placing players in the pros, do they graduate their players, how good are they at “selling” what their school has to offer (items 2 thru 8)
2. Playing Time: will this be immediate or will the recruit have to redshirt and bide their time – this can/will change from year to year for each position
3. Facilities: how do the facilities compare – stadium, stadium location, practice facilities, locker rooms, weight room, housing (dorms), player entertainment & recreation rooms
4. Conference: what conference does the school play in and what is the current and long term history and perception of that conference
5. Tradition & History: what has been the schools tradition and history – current (last 10 years) and long term; obviously, with 18 year olds, I think that current history carries more weight but a long standing history of success can also be a factor
6. Geography: how close to a recruit’s home is the school located – is the school within driving distance for the recruit’s family
7. Campus: city versus college town
8: Academics: does the school offer majors that attract recruits, are the schools entrance requirements above or below the normal, academic tradition & stature

My favorite school is Clemson and our main rival is the University of South Carolina (which I will refer to as Carolina with all due respect to UNC). Some background – I attended Clemson for 4 years for my bachelors degree and attended Carolina for 2 years for my masters degree so I have first hand experience at both schools. I will try to make this an objective comparison, but since I am a diehard Clemson fan, it is likely that my opinions might be slightly biased.

1. Head Coach & Coaching Staffs: The average composite recruiting rankings for the last 5 years (Rivals, Scout, ESPN): Clemson = 13.2 / Carolina = 20.2 clearly favors Clemson. Carolina’s coaching turnover this year really hurt their 2016 recruiting and rumors of coaching turnover really hurt their 2015 recruiting. Spurrier was not gung ho for recruiting but Muschamp is so this may even out over the next few years. Right now I would say slight advantage Clemson.
2. Playing Time: I don’t think you can say one team has an advantage over another unless you do it position by position. I will just say then that they are even.
3. Facilities: Both schools have been pouring money into their facilities so I would say that this is probably a wash. The stadiums are comparable in size and amenities. At one time I would have said that Clemson had the stadium advantage as Willy Brice was located in a fairly seedy area but the school has been working hard to clean up and spruce up the area around the stadium and they may actually have a slight advantage now. Overall, I would also say that the “facilities” are a wash.
4. Conference: ACC vs SEC for football = BIG advantage for Carolina!
5. Tradition and History: Short term (last 10 years) head to head favors Carolina as they have gone 6-4 against Clemson thanks to an unprecedented 5 year winning streak although Clemson has won the last two years. Overall records for the last 10 years clearly favors Clemson: Clemson 100-31 (76%) / Carolina 86-49 (64%). Long term tradition also clearly favors Clemson as they are 67-42-4 vs Carolina head to head. Clemson has won 17 conference titles (15 ACC/2 SOCON) while Carolina has won 2 conference titles (1 ACC/1 SOCON). Clemson is 20-18 all time in bowls whereas Carolina is 8-12 all time in bowls. Clemson has 1 national championship and 1 runner up while Carolina has none. Overall, I think tradition and history is clearly a recruiting advantage for Clemson.
6. Geography: This is even as the two schools are located only 132 miles apart.
7. Campus: Clemson is located in Clemson, SC and Carolina is located in Columbia, SC – classic small college town vs big city matchup. Admittedly, I am somewhat biased but from an aesthetic viewpoint, there is no comparison - Clemson wins hands down although the Horseshoe area of Carolina’s campus is very nice. I loved going to school at Carolina but living in Columbia was terrible – many folks in the state of South Carolina refer to Columbia as the “armpit of the state”. Of course small college towns do not appeal to every recruit but overall, I believe that the campus setting favors Clemson.
8. Academics: I think that Clemson is generally considered and ranked as the better overall academic school but Carolina has some top rated programs such as their International Business School. Both schools offer majors that appeal to many football recruits and the entrance requirements are equal. I would pretty much say that this is even.

So, from a football perspective, what are the categories that you think are important to recruiting, in what order would you rank them, and how does your favorite school stack up in each category against your main rival?

I think this is an excellent breakdown. There are a few minor things I might bring up. I think white players and black players from rural areas will prefer the quaint loveliness of Clemson. I think city kids will take South Carolina hands down. Auburn and Alabama have the same kinds of differences. Auburn is quaint and Tuscaloosa is surrounded by industry.

I'd compare Auburn to Alabama except I think the distinctions are fairly obvious.

I do think Dabo has it going now. It should prove to be an interesting rivalry from here on.

But to be totally honest if I had to go to school in South Carolina I would want the University located in Beaufort. Love that coastal area! They ruined Hilton Head with development. But Hunting & Fripp Islands are beautiful as are the marshes. Heck even Paris Island is nice. There is very little underbelly to Beaufort and the downtown area couldn't be lovelier.