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[QUOTE="RF2044, post: 902556, member: 40"]
Completely disagree.  Robinson wasn't a bad recruiter.  He certainly landed more top end rated [i.e., 4 star] prospects than Marrone did, but many [most?] of them didn't pan out.  See:  Averin Collier, Lavar Lobdell, Jermaine Pierce, Parker Cantey, etc.  He also landed numerous players who just weren't that good despite recruiting rankings [sorry to throw a kid under the bus, but since he transferred, what the heck--Mike Mele]--although there was obviously a correlation between on-field performance and how his later classes shaped up.

Marrone didn't land many highly rated prospects, an in general struggled to bring in difference making playmakers.  He was also faced with a tremendous rebuild, and unfavorable perception nationally.  The players he did land were solid, and improved the size / strength / speed of the program, from its nadir to a spot where we regained the ability to be competitive.  The rebuild wasn't complete when he left, and the results weren't always pretty, but he left the program in much better shape than what he inherited.

I think overall, Go summed it up pretty well a few weeks ago: back when we were a top 20 team in the late 80s / early 90s, we had starting talent was as good as just about anybody, but there was a steep dropoff in talent / depth beyond those top guys.  Under Marrone, we lacked the top end playmaking talent, but top to bottom the depth and ability to contribute from just about everybody on the roster was better than its ever been in the modern era.
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