First off, I do not consider The Low Country nor New Orleans to be the South. Yes, those two areas' locations are in the Southern part of this Country, but they are not "Southern locales".
Having said that, my wife and I drove through, Mississippi, Georgia, Arkansas, Louisiana, the Carolinas, Alabama and Tennessee numerous times. These places are completely decrepit and only Atlanta and Charlotte have any chance of succeeding in the future. [Charlotte is a better place to live than Atlanta.]
College Football is a top-3 GDP contributor in ALL of these states. In Alabama, it is a clear #1 (with Auburn and Tide).
They will never clean this cesspool up. There are 40 US Senators from the Midwest, so we currently have colossal farm subsidies and always will. There are 16 senators from the South that will enable the SEC's cheating for eternity. They already CONTROL the NCAA..........
We need to tell the elite players. "if you commit GREAT, but if you take another visit we will accept commitments from the Plan Bs, and we cannot guarantee a spot." Also, when the school realizes that there is another JObe, Surtain, Haselwood villain, they need to contact the UM websites and make it clear "that these guys do not have commitable offers". UM also needs to dis-invite the Elite from visits if they know that the SEC will pay handsomely for their services. It will not change the outcome, but it will change the perception, and will start signing more 4-star level talent.