Littrell's Recruiting Cycle

Scrappy76207 · October 20, 2021

After years of lurking and enjoying the site it might seem like I showed up now to be a Littrell apologist but hear me out and educate me as I know y'all can. Since Littrell's first year was the 2016 season and he was left with the cupboard bare, wouldn't last year or even this year with redshirts be considered the end of the first full Littrell-era recruiting cycle? It got off to a rough start with 247 recruiting rankings down around 10th in CUSA for the first few years but it has been trending in the right direction with a ranking of 4 for 2019, 2 for 2020 and 1 for 2021 boosted by the new facilities coming online. Am I too naïve to think it's possible that Littrell is just another season away from starting to recognize the fruits of those recruiting efforts and outcomes? I was as embarrassed and incensed as the next guy last week but this seems like a light at the end of the tunnel that AAC membership should only help shine brighter.

MeanGreenTexan · October 20, 2021

The man responsible for the recent recruiting success:
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The man responsible for the on-field product:
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meangreen11 · October 20, 2021

3 minutes ago, Scrappy76207 said:

After years of lurking and enjoying the site it might seem like I showed up now to be a Littrell apologist but hear me out and educate me as I know y'all can. Since Littrell's first year was the 2016 season and he was left with the cupboard bare, wouldn't last year or even this year with redshirts be considered the end of the first full Littrell-era recruiting cycle? It got off to a rough start with 247 recruiting rankings down around 10th in CUSA for the first few years but it has been trending in the right direction with a ranking of 4 for 2019, 2 for 2020 and 1 for 2021 boosted by the new facilities coming online. Am I too naïve to think it's possible that Littrell is just another season away from starting to recognize the fruits of those recruiting efforts and outcomes? I was as embarrassed and incensed as the next guy last week but this seems like a light at the end of the tunnel that AAC membership should only help shine brighter.

I agree with your methodology, but I think the problem we are all dealing with around here lately is these recruiting rankings are completely bogus. Yes, if the data was accurate you would have a valid point, but I think we are all realizing that there is no way in hell we are leading the conference in talent acquisition. It just isn't accurate. These recruiting sites like to ramp up expectations for G5 teams so they can sell a few more subscription accounts is my bet. The other thing that renders the recruiting rankings useless is the advancement of the transfer portal. The recruiting service model or formulas just don't work for the G5 teams. They may apply to the top 150 or so players in the country and after that its really a roll of the dice.

MeanGreenTexan · October 20, 2021

6 minutes ago, meangreen11 said:

I agree with your methodology, but I think the problem we are all dealing with around here lately is these recruiting rankings are completely bogus. Yes, if the data was accurate you would have a valid point, but I think we are all realizing that there is no way in hell we are leading the conference in talent acquisition. It just isn't accurate. These recruiting sites like to ramp up expectations for G5 teams so they can sell a few more subscription accounts is my bet. The other thing that renders the recruiting rankings useless is the advancement of the transfer portal. The recruiting service model or formulas just don't work for the G5 teams. They may apply to the top 150 or so players in the country and after that its really a roll of the dice.

Again, you folks saying this are going to be astonished at the turnaround NT's next coach is able to achieve very quickly because of the talent we already have on the roster. It's amazing what an emotionally-drained coach can do to an entire roster. Equally amazing what the right coach can do for the exact same roster.

THE TALENT IS ALREADY HERE!

Monkeypox · October 20, 2021

Our team isn't showing even borderline competence. It's not like we're out there going "oh, these guys are all bigger, stronger, faster than we are." It's true of some teams, sure, but usually only the teams that HAVE out-recruited us.

Other teams just play much much better than we do, execute much better than we do. We are NON-COMPETITIVE against FBS teams, less so than FCS teams often are. That isn't a lull in recruiting. That's having guys ready to play. That last football game was a 4-TD loss to Marshall.

That's coaching.

Edited October 20, 2021 by Monkeypox