Why Bama and Clemson win

[AURex 1,994]

Why are Clemson and Bama in the big game again? The rosters pretty much tell the story. And that story is recruiting. The starting rosters for both teams were comprised almost entirely of 5 star and 4 star recruits.

http://gridironnow.com/alabama-clemson-title-game-recruits/

Of course, the article doesn't really tell the whole story. Other teams recruit well. LSU, Auburn, UGA and Notre Dame are consistently in the top 10 in recruiting, but have been middling to poor on the field despite their gaudy recruiting rankings. On the other hand, Oklahoma never seems to crack the top 10 in recruiting, but usually has a top 10 team on the field. University of Washington has rarely had a recruiting class in the top 20 in recent years, yet performed reputably against Bama in the playoffs, and maybe Oklahoma should have been there instead of any B1G team.

The story to me is -- Bama wins with overwhelming talent all over the field, including depth. Other teams, however well they recruit, need an additional something to get to that top level nationally. Usually, it is a QB (Newton, Watson, Browning, Mayfield, Winston), and the result of the Clemson-Bama game clearly came down to QB.

But sometimes it is a system that makes the difference, like Auburn's featuring the *combined* talents of Marshall, Mason, Cox and Robinson in a well-executed scheme that (at the time) even excellent defenses were not able to stifle. Thing is, defensive coordinators are not stupid. They'll figure out how to counter a scheme in a year or two. And superstar QBs leave for the NFL.

What never changes is that overwhelming talent throughout the roster will win year after year. Maybe not every game, but almost every game. Everyone else will be looking for that extra something that will enable them to rise to the top and take on that NFL-lite team in Tuscaloosa again next year. Most will fall short. But Clemson demonstrated that it can be done, and so have Ole Miss and Auburn and Texas A&M in recent years.

 

[aujeff11 6,243]

On 1/13/2017 at 4:17 PM, AURex said:

What never changes is that overwhelming talent throughout the roster will win year after yea

Bingo

[lionheartkc 6,150]

People don't realize the difference between the #1 & 2 classes and the #8 class in recruiting these days.  bama currently has 9 of the 247 composite top 100 players committed with their #1 class.  Ohio State has 11 with their #2 class. Auburn currently has 1 with their #8 class. Clemson only has 3, and their class is ranked 13th, even though they have been in the championship the past 2 years.

Taking it further, bama has 3 of the top 10 and Ohio State has 2... so those 2 schools have 50% of the top 10 players. Top 20... bump Ohio State up to 4.  Top 25, add one more to both bama and Ohio State. So, between the two of them, bama and Ohio State have nearly 40% of the top 25 players in the country committed to them... that's 2 out of 244 potential schools a player can go to, dominating the best players.

So, while we are recruiting very well, especially compared to the rest of college football, the bama and Ohio State machines are so far beyond everything else that there is no comparison.

Interesting how those are also the two schools most well known for playing fast and loose with the rules and who's coaches are most hated by fans and other coaches.

[aujeff11 6,243]

2 hours ago, lionheartkc said:

o, while we are recruiting very well, especially compared to the rest of college football, the bama and Ohio State machines are so far beyond everything else that there is no comparison.

Bingo

There has to be a perfect storm plus a veteran- laden squad of highly developed players (which means years of setbacks and achievements meeting at the pinnacle )for a top 30 type team to ever have the chance to beat Bama. Basically I think of Washington when I say this.

[AUsince72 11,084]

1 hour ago, lionheartkc said:

People don't realize the difference between the #1 & 2 classes and the #8 class in recruiting these days.  bama currently has 9 of the 247 composite top 100 players committed with their #1 class.  Ohio State has 11 with their #2 class. Auburn currently has 1 with their #8 class. Clemson only has 3, and their class is ranked 13th, even though they have been in the championship the past 2 years.

Taking it further, bama has 3 of the top 10 and Ohio State has 2... so those 2 schools have 50% of the top 10 players. Top 20... bump Ohio State up to 4.  Top 25, add one more to both bama and Ohio State. So, between the two of them, bama and Ohio State have nearly 40% of the top 25 players in the country committed to them... that's 2 out of 244 potential schools a player can go to, dominating the best players.

So, while we are recruiting very well, especially compared to the rest of college football, the bama and Ohio State machines are so far beyond everything else that there is no comparison.

Interesting how those are also the two schools most well known for playing fast and loose with the rules and who's coaches are most hated by fans and other coaches.

Yeah, but we already learned that free tattoos keep bringing em in at tOSU.  Maybe AU should hire Kat Von D as their secret weapon....that'll at least get AU up to #2 right? 

[keesler 5,924]

2 hours ago, lionheartkc said:

Interesting how those are also the two schools most well known for playing fast and loose with the rules and who's coaches are most hated by fans and other coaches.

They are hated because their coaches are pure, unadulterated jackasses, and they win football games.  

Who the hell hated Meyer at Bowling Green, or Saban at Michigan State?

[lionheartkc 6,150]

47 minutes ago, keesler said:

They are hated because their coaches are pure, unadulterated jackasses, and they win football games.  

Who the hell hated Meyer at Bowling Green, or Saban at Michigan State?

Here's a little excerpt from a piece about Saban's time at MSU written before bama faced MSU in 2015...

Some criticisms of Nick Saban are unfair, but they're all rooted in how he treats people.

Not very well, by many accounts and observations.

He's not a monster. He just acts like a jerk a lot of times.

Memories of tense news conferences at MSU — ask him anything specific about football and prepare to be belittled — and stories from players, coaches and staffers of his petulant behavior, told with head shakes and chuckles, come flooding back...

I haven't read anything about Meyer prior to his stint at Florida.

[oracle79 3,569]

1 hour ago, keesler said:

They are hated because their coaches are pure, unadulterated jackasses, and they win football games.  

Who the hell hated Meyer at Bowling Green, or Saban at Michigan State?

Probably only their assistant coaches, processed players, and team media reporters.

[bigsixfive 327]

You people are way over complicating this. They win because they score more points than their opponents. 

[AURex 1,994]

Okay, let's be honest. Bama really doesn't have to pay players to go there, or set their mommies up with a limitless Dillards account, or give their daddies a hooker-a-week pass at the local brothel. The best recruits who are not legacy/fan kids for a particular school will go wherever they **believe** (1) they have the best shot at the pros and (2) they can be starters on a championship team. Kids in the south dream of playing for championships, being the greatest at their position, and being a gazzillionaire in the NFL. Kids in the midwest dream the same thing, except it is Ohio State/Michigan/Notre Dame instead of Bama. On the west coast, historically it was USC.

This recruiting superiority is not just about now. It is history. Which teams have that historical cache? Bama has been a champion forever. So have Ohio State and Michigan and Notre Dame and USC.

1. Kids go where they ***believe*** they have the best chance of making it to the NFL
2. Kids go to the school where they have family ties or fan attachment (like my state, my lifelong favorite)
3. Everybody else is fighting over the leftovers.

Bama is in that first category. Bama rakes in 4 and 5 star talent every year because Bama sends a lot of kids to the NFL every year and plays for lots of championships. They can fill out their roster of recruits every year just by expressing interest. They don't have to cheat.

And before anyone starts saying I'm a Bammer apologist, I graduated from Auburn and worked on the staff there for 5 years after graduating. I am Auburn through and through. I also am a realist and the reality is, we have a very tough road competing with Bama. We are never going to get the kind of recruiting classes Bama does. We need superior coaching and superior coaching to beat Bama regularly, year after year. Because Bama will usually have more talent on their sideline that Auburn does.

 

[augolf1716 21,113]

23 minutes ago, AURex said:

Okay, let's be honest. Bama really doesn't have to pay players to go there, or set their mommies up with a limitless Dillards account, or give their daddies a hooker-a-week pass at the local brothel. The best recruits who are not legacy/fan kids for a particular school will go wherever they **believe** (1) they have the best shot at the pros and (2) they can be starters on a championship team. Kids in the south dream of playing for championships, being the greatest at their position, and being a gazzillionaire in the NFL. Kids in the midwest dream the same thing, except it is Ohio State/Michigan/Notre Dame instead of Bama. On the west coast, historically it was USC.

This recruiting superiority is not just about now. It is history. Which teams have that historical cache? Bama has been a champion forever. So have Ohio State and Michigan and Notre Dame and USC.

1. Kids go where they ***believe*** they have the best chance of making it to the NFL
2. Kids go to the school where they have family ties or fan attachment (like my state, my lifelong favorite)
3. Everybody else is fighting over the leftovers.

Bama is in that first category. Bama rakes in 4 and 5 star talent every year because Bama sends a lot of kids to the NFL every year and plays for lots of championships. They can fill out their roster of recruits every year just by expressing interest. They don't have to cheat.

And before anyone starts saying I'm a Bammer apologist, I graduated from Auburn and worked on the staff there for 5 years after graduating. I am Auburn through and through. I also am a realist and the reality is, we have a very tough road competing with Bama. We are never going to get the kind of recruiting classes Bama does. We need superior coaching and superior coaching to beat Bama regularly, year after year. Because Bama will usually have more talent on their sideline that Auburn does.

 

I agree with most of what you say but Bama has always paid for recruits as well as Auburn especially in the older days. It still goes on but in different ways don't kid yourself. Turds will always get the better overall recruits just the way it is. It all starts with coaching for Auburn we will get our top 10/15 recruiting ranking. COACHING COACHING COACHING.

Ok I feel better

[GwillMac6 20,671]

6 hours ago, augolf1716 said:

I agree with most of what you say but Bama has always paid for recruits as well as Auburn especially in the older days. It still goes on but in different ways don't kid yourself. Turds will always get the better overall recruits just the way it is. It all starts with coaching for Auburn we will get our top 10/15 recruiting ranking. COACHING COACHING COACHING.

Ok I feel better

the coaching problem imo starts from the top down with lack of a imagination in trying to hire the very best coach who we can get to jump to Auburn. We flat out settle when it comes to coaching hires in football. Our AD thinks small and the maddening up an down rollercoaster ride from hell we are on through the years with Auburn football reflects that. Auburn is a sleeping giant. We have so much untapped potential we are sitting on. All the undefeated seasons and Highs of the last 25 years or so reflect that. We just need a true visionary and leader at the President and Athletic Director spot to hone that potential where we are really good to great every year. We have the 12th most all time wins IN SPITE of mind boggling errors at the top of the food chain.