Reading the threads I so often see that recruiting is used as an excuse for the edge that the likes of Alabama, tOSU, Georgia and Michigan have on everyone. Well, it is also 2023. We have NIL now and soon the likely outright paying of players by Universities. It seems inevitable. Money talks if you want players. Cash levels the playing field. The recruiting excuse is fast making itself worthless.
The modern game is about who can offer dollars and opportunity. Oh, and coaching too. Once you have the players you need a leader and a winner who is imaginative and strong. Players and good coaching win in professional football. As they do in most professional sports.
The excuse makers are always there. "We can't do this because of that." "The other guys cheat. " " We are what we are and we should have no aspirations." "We may not be elite, but we are close and thats all I need." Those types will always nag those who want to achieve. Winners ignore those dopes and that's how legends like Rockne, Paterno, Wooden, and Wilkinson are made.
Then we have the latest, "Name me a better coach. Don't you remember what happened to Nebraska?" Of course that ignores the recent history where LSU and Georgia replaced coaches and went on to win championships since Penn State did their last hire. Oh, and Michigan, TCU, Oklahoma, Ohio State and Washington hired new coaches and got to the playoffs with their new hires before Penn State. Then look at the new coaching hires at Tennessee, USC, Ole Miss, UCLA, Duke, Air Force, Louisville, LSU, Notre Dame, Oregon State, Tulane, Oregon, Texas, Oklahoma, Washington, Florida State and even James Madison who have their teams in the Top 25.
In professional life achievement is awarded and lack of achievement is penalized. You don't keep sending out VPs to win contracts and see them lose and survive without changes. College football is a business now more than ever. When the product and outcomes become stale the brand suffers and monetary rewards begin to drop. Putting up a good effort and doing so in a gentlemanly way is no longer tolerable. It's results that count and everything else walks. Don't like that? Then go support Franklin and Marshall or Bucknell, because the old college football is dead and its rotting corpse is getting buried. The nation knows when a program just does not have it.
Those who want to use the transfer portal had better wake up to a fact. That fact is that the portal goes both ways. Are you a player that sees your coach has little trust in you? Do you lack a surrounding cast to maximize the use of your talents? Do you see your career being advanced by coaching and experience that will take you to the NFL? If not there are places you can go to. And they will pay you to come.
Its not only on the PSU message boards where you see people coming to the conclusion that the Penn State brand does not have it. You hear it from the press too.
I think it is still just early in this process. It may take several years for the bottom to fall out. I see transfers out by high profile players. I see a stagnation accelerating with the arrival of four new programs to the B1G, three of them arguably as good or better than Penn State. I suspect more losses are coming. Many fans will lose interest. Ticket sales will suffer. Merchandise will not move as quickly. Visits to fan sites will drop. Those dependent upon a growing fan base will join the chorus for change. It will only be when financial projections begin to drop that change will be inevitably forced upon the administration. "Obviously"
The modern game is about who can offer dollars and opportunity. Oh, and coaching too. Once you have the players you need a leader and a winner who is imaginative and strong. Players and good coaching win in professional football. As they do in most professional sports.
The excuse makers are always there. "We can't do this because of that." "The other guys cheat. " " We are what we are and we should have no aspirations." "We may not be elite, but we are close and thats all I need." Those types will always nag those who want to achieve. Winners ignore those dopes and that's how legends like Rockne, Paterno, Wooden, and Wilkinson are made.
Then we have the latest, "Name me a better coach. Don't you remember what happened to Nebraska?" Of course that ignores the recent history where LSU and Georgia replaced coaches and went on to win championships since Penn State did their last hire. Oh, and Michigan, TCU, Oklahoma, Ohio State and Washington hired new coaches and got to the playoffs with their new hires before Penn State. Then look at the new coaching hires at Tennessee, USC, Ole Miss, UCLA, Duke, Air Force, Louisville, LSU, Notre Dame, Oregon State, Tulane, Oregon, Texas, Oklahoma, Washington, Florida State and even James Madison who have their teams in the Top 25.
In professional life achievement is awarded and lack of achievement is penalized. You don't keep sending out VPs to win contracts and see them lose and survive without changes. College football is a business now more than ever. When the product and outcomes become stale the brand suffers and monetary rewards begin to drop. Putting up a good effort and doing so in a gentlemanly way is no longer tolerable. It's results that count and everything else walks. Don't like that? Then go support Franklin and Marshall or Bucknell, because the old college football is dead and its rotting corpse is getting buried. The nation knows when a program just does not have it.
Those who want to use the transfer portal had better wake up to a fact. That fact is that the portal goes both ways. Are you a player that sees your coach has little trust in you? Do you lack a surrounding cast to maximize the use of your talents? Do you see your career being advanced by coaching and experience that will take you to the NFL? If not there are places you can go to. And they will pay you to come.
Its not only on the PSU message boards where you see people coming to the conclusion that the Penn State brand does not have it. You hear it from the press too.
I think it is still just early in this process. It may take several years for the bottom to fall out. I see transfers out by high profile players. I see a stagnation accelerating with the arrival of four new programs to the B1G, three of them arguably as good or better than Penn State. I suspect more losses are coming. Many fans will lose interest. Ticket sales will suffer. Merchandise will not move as quickly. Visits to fan sites will drop. Those dependent upon a growing fan base will join the chorus for change. It will only be when financial projections begin to drop that change will be inevitably forced upon the administration. "Obviously"
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