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Message: [QUOTE="tep624, post: 676587, member: 430"] The key for a program with Syracuse's current profile is the relationships. Identifying kids early, building the relationships with the staff early, getting them on campus multiple times, and keeping the coaching staff intact. Continuity and relationships can be a big seller. I view it very simply right now as the difference between trying to sell a product domestically vs internationally. Right now, Syracuse is facing similar challenges to a US company entering a foreign market - noone really knows our product that well, they're skeptical, some people may make the plunge because they like to try new things but overall, we have a lot to prove as far as the quality of our product which in turn makes our sales cycle a lot longer than if we were selling in the US where everyone knows our product. In the 90's, everyone knew our product, even on a national basis. Now it's a challenge even regionally because of our recent past and our lack of attention to keeping up with the joneses as far as facilities. We don't have the bells and whistles facilities wise to lure kids in that are blown away by that, we don't have the recent winning history to lure kids in that are focused on that. What we have is a strong academic university with a great football tradition, but a current product that hasn't been that reliable. Until Chandler, we hadn't had a 1st rounder in who knows how long. 10-37 in the Grob years, then a glimmer of hope in 2010, followed by a 5-7 season that put us right back to square 1. Now we've got 2 straight years with a 1st round pick, coming off a co-conference champion season and a bowl win, moving to the ACC, better facilities on the way, etc. The quality of our football product is definitely improving and starting to get some respect. But we're not at the point where it sells itself (and we may never be) and this is why it's so critical for the staff to develop and nurture the recruiting relationships. Get on them early and stay on them. Thankfully, I feel this staff understands that and we are not going to lose recruits due to lack of research or work. The hard part for this recruiting cycle and even the next one which puts the staff at an uphill battle on most recruits is that they are late to the game. It helps tremendously that the staff has been able to leverage recruiting relationships built by McDonald while he was at Miami in Florida, and Lea in the Midwest while he was at Bowling Green. [/QUOTE]

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