Lane Kiffin has done as good a job as a coach could do with the personnel he has. He has taken a program without much elite talent and made a winner out of it. We now win close games that in the past we would have lost. He has built a national brand and we are relevant as a program, more than we have ever been in the post-Vaught era.
But we have hit our ceiling. It is not a glass ceiling, either; it is a concrete ceiling. As we saw yesterday, even the most skilled coaching cannot overcome huge talent disadvantages. We saw it in Tuscaloosa earlier in the season, as well. Without better talent, we will not advance as a program.
Those of us who have been critical of Kiffin’s recruiting have been attacked for it. “Aww, shut up, we are 8-1 and ranked in the Top 10” they will say. And we were. But we cannot compete with the very best programs without an upgrade in talent.
Nobody expects Kiffin to bring in Top 5 classes yet. But Top 10 classes? Yes. Absolutely. Hugh Freeze is doing that at Auburn despite all the disadvantages they are currently up against. Ditto for Billy Napier at Florida. And they are doing it with high school recruits, not a boatload of transfers.
Kiffin has done as well as anybody in the portal. But success in the portal is no substitute for elite high school recruiting. We need 15 or so 4- or 5- star high school signees each year to become fully competitive, not 5 or 6. That is how you build lasting success and there is really no other way to do it.
Can Kiffin do it? I don’t know. That is the nine-million dollar question. But if we are to advance as a program, he must. On one level, it is as simple as that. Let’s hope he finds a way…..
But we have hit our ceiling. It is not a glass ceiling, either; it is a concrete ceiling. As we saw yesterday, even the most skilled coaching cannot overcome huge talent disadvantages. We saw it in Tuscaloosa earlier in the season, as well. Without better talent, we will not advance as a program.
Those of us who have been critical of Kiffin’s recruiting have been attacked for it. “Aww, shut up, we are 8-1 and ranked in the Top 10” they will say. And we were. But we cannot compete with the very best programs without an upgrade in talent.
Nobody expects Kiffin to bring in Top 5 classes yet. But Top 10 classes? Yes. Absolutely. Hugh Freeze is doing that at Auburn despite all the disadvantages they are currently up against. Ditto for Billy Napier at Florida. And they are doing it with high school recruits, not a boatload of transfers.
Kiffin has done as well as anybody in the portal. But success in the portal is no substitute for elite high school recruiting. We need 15 or so 4- or 5- star high school signees each year to become fully competitive, not 5 or 6. That is how you build lasting success and there is really no other way to do it.
Can Kiffin do it? I don’t know. That is the nine-million dollar question. But if we are to advance as a program, he must. On one level, it is as simple as that. Let’s hope he finds a way…..
