Without being a recruiting guru, it would be hard to know.
But, it’s honestly disappointing to see how removed we were as a program from tapping this abundance in talent in what was, and should be, a traditional recruiting ground for us.
The prior staffs, not just Dino, but Shafer as well, were truly negligent in this regard. I get playing to the strong suit of your assistants, which resulted in us going after players in Ohio, Illinois, Texas, and even Hawaii, but that strategy isn’t sustainable and eventually it’s just becomes lazy. You have to work hard to establish those NE recruiting ties and we never really could do it. Sure, we had Monroe, but take a look at what we were leaving on the table for other programs to pillage and you can see why we were losing.
Dino did ultimately turn to strengthen NJ and the NE overall, but probably too little too late.
Let’s hope Brown can land more than a couple of these recruits and they’re not just “kicking the tires” because we need a serious talent influx.