The point of my objection is that I think the "if we recruit better in NY and NJ, we'll win" mindset is outdated at best and misguided at worst. There's lots of evidence to suggest that "if we recruit better in NY and NJ, we'll win" is not correct!
I am genuinely puzzled by the "getting better players from NYC, Long Island, Jersey, and Philly." The three best recruits in the 2024 class are from Georgia, Tennessee, and Georgia. Are recruits from NYC, LI, NJ, and Philly more likely to be successful?
Who cares how Syracuse historically built their teams? Pasqualoni ultimately failed, in part, because he didn't adapt. How is picking up where he left off going to help?
To your point about other teams - they're not using these areas as a backbone now.
- Penn State in 2023 had 25 players from Virginia + Maryland, and 14 from NY and NJ combined. Their PA recruiting footprint is very west of 81 focused.
- Pitt in 2023 had 8 players combined from NJ and NY. Their PA recruiting footprint is also western PA focused.
- Michigan in 2023 had 11 players combined from NJ, NY, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Eastern PA, and Quebec.
- Notre Dame in 2023 had 9 players combined from NJ, NY, and Ontario.
I will not agree wit
I think this is an odd post for your point and I don't think I am alone in that. For starters, I believe I understand your point. As I interpret it, players aren't better in the NE because they are from the NE. 4 and 5 stars can be found in other regions too. There is a greater number of 4 and 5 stars in places like Florida, Texas and California than in the NE region. Please let me know if I missed anything.
Now I can point to all time greats that are out of the NE and you will proceed to tell me that was a long time ago, or that I am cherry picking, so I will grant you that and not make that the focus.
For starters, I don't think we should do it because Pasqualoni did. I think Pasqualoni did it because it was a sound strategy. That's not a "then vs now" thing either, as I think it is still a sound strategy. Above, you mention PSU and Pitt recruiting PA primarily west of 81. That is their region. That is their back yard. They don't want to see players from that area succeed anywhere but at their school. I remember the uproar when Tyrell Pryor left western PA to go to OSU as one example. I think most here are suggesting that SU adopt a similar mindset. That doesn't mean we should only recruit the magic region of the NE, but that we should not let local talent so easily go.
Michigan and ND had a combined 20 players on their roster from that region, and when combined with Pitt and PSU there are 44 (ironic) from that NE region not including western PA or the DMV. That could be half our roster. in 2023 3 of 4 of those teams were top 25 teams.
There is a factor of "knowns" that comes into this. Our fan base, and our coaching staff know and like the make-up or personality, the attitude of recruits from this area. That is important. No matter how easy air travel has become, it's cost is volatile and a 4 hour flight is a full day, unlike a 4 hour drive. Combine that with a potentially unknown coach parachuting in from a potentially unknown school (lets face it, we've heard it this cycle from a Texas recruit that he only knew SU because Melo's SU team beat Texas on a NC run 20 years ago) once a year and it shouldn't be hard to understand why that just doesn't work. I don't think anyone is saying that NE recruits are better, just that we know them better and there is a much higher likelihood that they know us better, which means better attraction and retention when we do visit and offer. Kids from out of the region are more likely to miss home and want to leave (look at our recruiting in OL rich Wisconsin and Minnesota). Until we are clicking at a level where they see the sacrifice as something that gives them a better shot to make the league, that will be a risk.
I understand the thoughts around a 3 star from NY having more potential than a 3 star from Florida (polished vs raw or "more likely to have reached their potential earlier due to all the additional training and practice they get") but I also understand throwing that theory out.
I think the key to this all is not that anyone believes NY area recruits are better than Florida, but that the 3 stars here are as good as there, and they probably easier to land for a school in the NE so lets get 50 of them and 35 elite recruits that fit the scheme from wherever they happen to be.
Now: Minka Fitzpatrick, Rashon Gary, Jabrill Peppers, Mike Hart, Knowshon Moreno, Jonathan Taylor, Ron Dayne, Greg Olsen, Curtis Samuel, Marvin Harrison Jr., Kyle McCord...
