Footballking16

When was the last time Michigan was relevant? A lot longer than USC and Texas. Texas still recruits at an extremely high level but Tom Herman is in way over his head. USC got hammered with NCAA probations and hired coordinators in Kiffin/Sark/Helton with their next 3 hires which has proven to be a disaster. What LA kid is going to want to play for Clay Helton? USC is a good hire away from immediately returning to the top of the college football hierarchy. Notre Dame has landed exactly one 5* in their last 5 recruiting classes, a TE from Kentucky.

*Big game for Notre Dame. Clemson's talent level is 2-3 scores better than ND and ND's record in "big games" this century speaks for itself. Game will be interesting to say the least with Lawrence out.

He can do that at USC and Texas. Meyer isn't out-recruiting Saban, Dabo, and Smart for Southeast recruits (at Michigan) and not out-recruiting Day at Ohio State. However, if he goes to USC or Texas, he can put a stranglehold on the Southern California/Texas market while still being able to recruit the Midwest. What Midwest kid wouldn't want to go to Los Angeles or Austin giving the coaching staff is the right fit?

Outside Ohio State and Alabama and maybe Oklahoma, there isn't a better college football program than USC. USC is a blue blood college football program, the last 10 years doesn't change that. Texas may not have the historical accolades of Michigan, but in the last 50 years is entirely more relevant than Michigan. It's the most resourceful college program in the country.

Well both jobs technically haven't been open since he's been available. Can say with 99.9% certainty that Urban won't even get a call from Michigan when/if the job becomes open and can say with 100% conviction Urban will NEVER coach at Michigan.

What big games does Michigan play lol? They no longer play ND every year and its a 40 point loss every year to Ohio State. If the ND-USC rivalry has lost most of its luster, what do you call the OSU-UM game? I'd argue Clemson doesn't play a single big game playing in the ACC, but that doesn't stop them from being one of the best college football programs in the country. Urban at Texas or USC immediately makes those schools national title contenders. The big games will the come in the form of the college football playoff.

That speaks to the ineptitude of the coaching culture in the PAC12 especially at SC. Guarantee you with a namesake like Urban, Trojans are recruiting above and beyond everybody else. It was too long ago when USC was the most dominant program in college football under Pete Carroll. Those teams were chalked full of Southern California talent and in fact, didn't need to look elsewhere. The football talent in California (especially LA) still exists and is ripe for the taking. Urban Meyer solves this problem overnight.

Those jobs aren't what they used to be because those programs made several bad decisions that have lead them to where they are now. Clay Helton and Tom Herman aren't on the same stratosphere as Urban Meyer. Los Angeles is the single best recruiting hot bed in the country and Texas high school football as a whole speaks for itself. If you're an LA kid would you want to play for Clay Helton or go east? Put a coach like Urban Meyer into the equation its a no-brainer.

That's because Urban Meyer isn't coaching USC, Texas, or Oklahoma.

I don't see Urban as an NFL coach. I don't think his offense translates to that level. I see one of 3 things happening in regards to Urban's future. 1) staying on as an analyst with Fox. His health problems are noted and he doesn't need any more money 2) Taking the job at Texas or USC. Herman bought himself another game with Saturday's win but will be gone here by the end of the year. This makes most sense out of the two, but either USC or Texas would be back to national title contenders sooner than later. 3) Hired back on at Ohio State. Ryan Day is quickly becoming a hot NFL commodity. Re-hiring Urban becomes a no brainer.

Michigan has 1 national title since 1948. Texas and USC are both sleeping giants strictly based on their proximity to recruiting hot beds. Michigan is still a good job but not near the job of Texas or USC. Saturday, Urban wouldn't even say Michigan's name on the Fox half time report. He hates Michigan as much as Michigan hates him. Urban wouldn't go to Michigan strictly on principle.

It’s not though.

Meyer is going to Texas or USC. No chance he entertains the Michigan job just as Michigan has no interest.

Is it though? I know you love your recruiting rankings and to date Iowa has a top 25 class and only one de-commitment. Not saying their isn't a toxic environment at Iowa (because I'm not around the program) but get a feeling it may be overblown to a degree.

You think they fire Ferentz after 20+ years? I don't know, too invested in him at this point. I think firing Ferentz amidst a pandemic could set Iowa back 5 years. Who knows what kind of budget they are looking at after they buy him out and all the lost revenue this last year. Iowa isn't really an easy place to recruit at (unless you've been doing it 20 years like Ferentz) and whoever replaces him is going to have an uphill battle without the ability to host or do in-home visits. I do think Iowa would be wise to get ahead and put Ferentz on some kind of retirement plan in the next 3-4 years where they can appoint a successor but outright firing him given the circumstances could be costly.

There isn't a win requirement for bowl eligibility this year due to the scheduling unbalance. I imagine you'll see a fair amount of lower tier bowls cancelled this year, especially in states with attendance bans. Depending on the # of bowls that actually take place, I think a 4 win IU team gets in, especially with a win already over Penn State. I see wins against MSU, Rutgers, and Maryland to get to 4 and then Purdue and IU should be a dandy.

But that isn't the gap between IU and Kentucky's roster, it's not even close. Unless you're Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State, Georgia, etc the only way you're going to win is recruiting kids to your system and developing them along the way. That's not a ridiculous statement at all. Indiana, nor Kentucky, is ever going to recruit at those levels so the next best thing is to recruit players to your system that buy in and develop them along the way. This is exactly what schools like Iowa and Wisconsin do. Once you get outside the the top 200-250 players in any given class, it's all about how you develop them. There's 5-6 schools year in and year out who land 50-60% of the kids in that 200-250 range.

There's a huge gap between a 5* and a 4* and 4* and a 3*. Dissecting recruiting rankings, skill position players seem to warrant more stars than lineman, especially on the offensive side of the ball. Outside the top 200-300 prospects in any given year, football is a development sport. I don't think there's much difference between a low 4* and a high 3*, at least in the sense you make it out to be. Unless you're stockpiling your two deep with 5* (Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State, etc) I think recruiting rankings are pretty meaningless. Give me the coach/program who develops their players, especially their line the best.

I don't think it's any earth shattering revelation to conclude that the teams who recruit the best usually have the best success. But the gap between teams like Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State, and Georgia are off the chart wide. The gap between teams like Indiana and Kentucky aren't nearly as wide as at the top. Per the 247 composite you referenced up top, Kentucky's average recruit score is 86.95 (out of 100). IU's average recruit score is 84.66. That's not a huge discrepancy. Georgia, Alabama, Ohio State are all 92+ and Clemson comes in at 90. Huge separation between them and the rest of the field.

How do you figure? Penn State has even more talent than Kentucky and was only favored by 6 points yesterday. No chance Kentucky is a 2 score favorite over IU this year if favorites at all.

I understand that. It was also his first game. Didn’t Saban lose to UL-Monroe his first game at Alabama? It’s going to be 2-3 years one way or another before you can thoroughly judge this hire.

Jury still out, he’s coached one game. Dantonio didn’t exactly leave Tucker with a full cupboard as MSU was on a steady decline and he resigned the day before signing day. Didn’t really leave MSU with much viable options. Couple that with the ongoing pandemic and lack of time preparation in the spring and summer getting familiar with his team, I think most MSU fans realized this was going to be a tough year.

Was more shocked at how bad Michigan State was than impressed with Rutgers. Rutgers capitalized on 5 first half MSU turnovers but really didn’t do much after that. Think Rutgers will he sent back to Earth next week.

Kentucky is on the verge of finishing multiple games under .500 while IU won the its most games last year since 1993 and appears on their way to winning at least 5 (if not more) games in a shortened season. Kentucky won a program best 10 wins two years ago but barely went .500 last year and is sinking fast this year.

Going to have to respectfully disagree with Trojan Dad on this one. True, Center Grove outgained Cathedral but they also had the ball for 10 minutes longer and ran 23 more plays (which obviously was their game plan from the start). However, the Irish D played lights out all night long. Steele had his moments but was never able to break one and Cathedral forced CG into many 3rd and longs and obvious passing down which you can tell isn't their style. But yes, hard-hitting game all around and another eventful game in this great series.