We sure had a formula. We had the best talent in the country that NO ONE knew about. Now these kids are marketing themselves in high school like it is their full time jobs. Our coaches were good but the kids brought the talent and the attitude (Bratton, Irvin, Blades, Highsmith…I’ve hung with them all). When a school like FSU is running circles around us in recruiting with a garbage team (shouldn’t have even been a close game and we managed to ***** it up…thanks Manolo) and according to some, their recruiting budget is enormous compared to ours, I realize that we need to adapt to the times, not 83, 87, 88, etc. ****, even in 99-2002, social media didn’t exist and recruiters still had to sort through leads to figure out who was worthwhile down here. That was our edge, and it’s now gone thanks to the internet and social media among other things.
SEC is going to rule the day given the unfair play of ESPN and how they are using the SEC and the SEC is using ESPN to make money. It’s a self fulfilling prophecy. And that is what ultimately runs the show. Money. Look at the top of the house and you see consistency. Three years from a coach isn’t bring you ****. Look at Nick, Dabo, OSU is being handed down through the program, they all have created a machine and that is how you stay there, not going on a coaching expedition every theee years.
While I agree that coaches being lured away is indicative of a successful program, it leads to further missteps. We have been through **** since Butch. Coker, Shannon, Golden, CMR, Corch Manolo Diaz, and it all has amounted to further dilution of our beloved team and reputation. Guess what, we cannot go further down the tubes or we will finally know irrelevancy for good. This hire has to be done methodically and correctly.
I have been around this team through the best of years and the most recent 20 years of decline and ****. Trying to go back to Schnelly’s methods (RIP) of leaving your pipe behind has run it’s course. The kids have changed, the game has changed and the exposure that these kids get has changed.
We need to hit on a coach that can bring the Schnelly confidence to the hometown kids; sell them on staying home to rep The U and use their relevancy and credibility to bring back our program’s relevance. Only then can our talent be good enough and deep enough to be able to execute with proper coaching. We need someone to create the stability to open the local pipeline for good. No reason Stevenson shouldn’t have been here as a freshman. I’m not talking about getting a J Williams or L Taylor every once in a while, I’m talking about getting them here ALL of the time. Rep the crib! A coaching carousel will not provide for this. So who will be the JJ or Dennis Erickson to pick up the pieces if we are never relevant enough to get them to want to come? Who will be the next coaching hire but a shot in the dark like we have experienced for the last 20 years? That is why we need more than 3 and done!
