I know a lot of people are of the opinion, "Hey our class looks great and we did so well out of state, so what's the big deal losing out on these kids". But it's a big deal. And down the line when we don't hit on the OOS kids like we have this year, we're going to pay for it if the fence is still down in the north. In fact, in the near future, their may be two fences up, one for us south of I-20 and the one Saban has built to cover everything north of that. This year's class: In State = C- Out of State = A+
I think it's great how well the university recruits out of state. And I know most in-state losses are not from lack of trying. For such a small state, we put out a lot of D-1 talent and we can't sign them all. I just don't like HAVING to recruit out of state. We have to flip one or both of those big boys next year up north. Preferably both because I'm not sure Thomas' future is at tackle.
I just don't get that Les Miles being a former O-lineman, a former O-line coach and yet the weakest area of recruiting (on paper) has been the O-line (you could argue LBs).
Miles is a damn good CEO. Miles strong point isn't developing players or his coaching and neither was studs. That's why hiring really good assistants is important for Miles. If he makes a really good hire for OL coach recruiting in that area will probably improve. A lot of times position coach is more important than head coach to recruits. Especially if they feel they have a future in the NFL.
Who cares what peoples opinions are? We can't effect change in the outcome of these announced decisions once they are made. I think most are just trying to put a positive spin on the losses, not dismissing the losses themselves. Clearly, we need to recapture our foothold in No. LA. The first step, imo, was getting rid of Stud.
An who coaches LB? This year kind of short at the DT position, an what position did Chief play in college? Studs having too much control of the talent brought in at OL?
It's not like Miles is saying, "Aww shucks! That player is from north Louisiana…whelp, guess we shouldn't recruit the daylights out of him." No. I have no doubt that Miles recruits those players hard--just as hard as any! In fact, so hard that even the recruits parents' are "Pro LSU"! …but you're missing one very, and ULTIMATE point: It's the recruits CHOICE to leave the state. It's like players leaving early for the pros… For a while, we had guys announcing they were staying (Dorsey, Landry, Williams, etc.) and all of those guys' draft stock went up after their Sr year. That went on until we finally had a few players who had better Junior seasons than they did as Sr's and when the first underclassmen decided to leave, it opened the flood gates and then we got into a streak of underclassmen leaving. And for every one of those that left that found success, it gave other players the same idea. Just like players leaving school early, recruiting has a similar effect: so long as those ahead of you are making a decision and it's working out great, their friends behind them will follow in their footsteps until something adverse happens. So, IMO, it's NOT Miles' deficiency in recruiting the north or any particular player so much as it was Saban landing one that wanted to leave the state and when he's having success (playing time, winning titles), his buddies from back home heads get turned.
