Many times you will hear a recruit say that they are going to college x for the academics. Then you look at the grad rate at the college he's going to and you wonder if nobody told him about that, or you look at the schools academic ranking and you wonder why if that is his reason he's not at Notre Dame, or Northwestern, or Stanford or one of the schools that always have high grad rates for their players. That's when you know it's really all about the football, nothing wrong with that but why say it's about academics? The other thing you hear about is being prepared for the NFL. Interesting and certainly the top teams tend to have more NFL players but it is interesting when you look at the actual numbers of players from various schools currently on NFL rosters. Take the Gators, save for a couple of years under Zook when the on the field record was ordinary, but the recruiting outstanding; They have had an 20 year period from the time Spurrier arrived till now of being one of the top programs in college football, lots of top recruits, lots of great on the field success, 3 Nat'l Championships. Compared to the Irish who during the same time have had 4 coached, occassional success on the field one near miss on a NC in 1993 and good sometimes great recruiting but nothing consistent in recruiting or on the field. Yet ND and UF have almost exactly the same number of players in the NFL. I have no answer for it, UF has recruited better and won more games by a wide margin. Yet in terms of producing NFL talent it hasn't mattered. I have no explanation, based on the on the field results I would have expected maybe double the number of players in the NFL for UF. Texas actually has a lot more NFL players than either ND or UF. Texas has 42 and UF/ND both are around 30-31. Neb has 34 players in the NFL. Again doesn't really mean anything, even to the recruits. I'm guessing that if UF and ND are locked in a battle for a top recruit the top recruit probably thinks a program with the success level of UF would afford him the best chance at the NFL. Turns out not to be true. NFL Players By College Again doesn't really mean anything UF fans are very happy and doubt if not having more players in the NFL even is a concern. ND fans aren't that happy and having as many players in the NFL as UF but not the college success is frustrating.
Some very successful college programs have great "system" players. Trouble is, that kind of success often does not translate into NFL success. Example: Jimmy Clausen led the Irish to a 16-17 record under his regime yet he is considered a much, much better QB than Tim Tebow who had unrivaled success at UF. Clausen has infinitely better mechanics and is well schooled in the pro style while Tebow is expected to be re-built like the $6 Million Man, from the ground up. Clausen has a great pocket presence, looks off defenders very well and has an efficient delivery. Tebow has none of those qualities. He was taught to glance down field and if no one was wide open to tuck the ball and run. If he does that in the pros they will be notifying next of kin. I like Tebow as a person much more than Clausen and hope he makes it in the NFL. The fact is, Clausen needs to make it; tebow will be successful no matter what he does in life.
There are some football players who achieve their goal the day that they are drafted and sign their big rookie contract. Some never succeed in the pros because they have been motivated only by the big money. Some players actually are willing to tackle academics as well as opponents. They have the brains, self-confidence, and ambition to succeed in a number of challenges. ND players usually have at least 2 of the three requirements of the pros ie. brains, effort and talent.
Interesting stats and thoughts Terry George and Gipper. I don't have answers either but agree with George about Tebow and the NFL. I hope he doesn't tuck the ball and run as much as in college or his career will be very short. I don't know enough about Clausen to say whether to compare him to Tebow as a person. What I do know and feel about Tebow is exactly what George said, he's going to be successful in life no matter whether he is in the NFL or not. Danny Wuerffel is still one of my favorite College players of all time. He was not successful in the NFL but is successful in life. Not with money but with his ministry in New Orleans in a deeply poverty ridden section. He's a winner in life if not the NFL. By the way that doesn't mean I look down on anyone who is successful in the NFL. I wish Wuerffel could have had more success in the NFL as well as life. I think that comparing the success of college teams on the field with how many NFL players they have is an incomplete comparison. A team can have a number of NFL types but not the depth needed to win on the field in college. Anyway, very interesting.
My impression was that Cooper used to recruit players by bragging about developing NFL players...look how it worked out for him. My impression is that Tressel doesn't do that but still there are a pile of OSU players on the list. Purdue is pretty well up there on the list as well, yet our record has been mediocre at best.