Wall Street Journal Article. Boils down to the best players are now from the South and West and that hurts the B10 teams. The article is on the B10 but the argument could be made for ND as well, although we have recruited nationally for a long time so maybe we can still build a national roster to compete with the South and Western teams. B10 Down I mentioned this in another topic, but in the '83 Sugar Bowl Frank Broyles commented that Georgia (#1 at the time with Herschel Walker) could not keep up with the Penn State speed on offense. PSU had Curt Warner and Todd Blacklidge at QB. Times have changed.
http://www.cleveland.com/osu/index.ssf/2009/09/ohio_state_football_finding_in.html This article was just from today...says that between 2007-2009 Ohio State has more top 50 recruits from Fla. than any other school except for Fla., FSU, and Miami.
One of the biggest fallacies of today's college game. The only thing that's changed is where the best coaches are, not where the players come from. Of course, the most populous states - Cal (1), TX (2), FL (4) - are going to produce proportionately more good athletes than the less populated states, but a good/great athlete from MI, PA, etc., is no less good/great than a good/great athlete from FL. No, the deciding factor is the level of coaching, not the home state of the athlete. Jim Tressel would have great teams if 100% of his players came from Ohio. Same with Mack Brown, Urban Meyer, Pete Carroll, etc.
A challenge to be sure, but I would contend more of a problem for the lower tier of the Big 10, etc. The legacy of football in Ohio and Pa to a lesser extent imho, has bred a quality of high school football on par with any.....Sid's point extends beyond college coaches imo to the high school level as well. I would contend that coaching at the high school level is as good in Ohio as anywhere in the country. That will provide us a core of talent around which to build and from there I think we have done a pretty good job of recruiting around the country to fill the gaps.....I think rumors as to our demise have been greatly exaggerated! Point well taken tho....
Big Schools like Mich, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Nebraska have been frequent destinations for some great Texas HS football players. In fact until Mack got things under control, it wasn't uncommon for the top players in Texas to leave the state.
Interesting, it might help explain Ohio State dominating the Big 10?? On the other hand FSU and Miami aren't really doing that well on the field right now. But hey, after Monday night one of them will still be undefeated. I happen to agree with Sid, coaches make all the difference.
Bill, I agree as well and also happen to think that the coaching and competition at the high school level is a big benefit as well to Ohio kids.....an awful lot of good football coaches get their start in Ohio high schools. In each and every one of the last three NC games, both head coaches were Ohio boys.....conincidence? I don't think so......it's in our DNA! 8)
She would agree....just ask me! 8) This week is actually pretty interesting as well in the old homestead. As many of you may know, my father-in-law was a career naval officer and many, many of our closest, extended family friends are Annapolis grads....good stuff. In preparation for the Mids, Coach Tressel had the kids read "Lone Survivor" by Marcus Luttrell about his experiences as a Navy Seal - training and combat. If you have not read it, you owe it to yourself.....extraordinary young men. Thanks God they are on our side....
I did tell you I was in the Navy after dental school, worked on kids who later became Seals....it rubbed off ..you don't want to mess with me! :wink: [/quote]