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Message: [QUOTE="orangeinjersey, post: 1223471, member: 1961"] The reason it is disheartening is because to be elite, you have to have a combo of these two things, elite talent and/or superior coaching. We can all agree that while although not all recruits pan out, it is more likely a 4 or 5 star guy does pan out than a 2/3 star right? I think we can all agree with that, right? All of the elite teams typically sign more 4 and 5 star talent, than they do 3 star talent. It usually will shake out that in a class of 25, they will sign 15 (4 and 5 star kids) and 10 3 star kids. The tier 2 schools (ranked 15-35) will typically have the reverse. A class of 15+ 3 stars, and 10 or less 4 stars with an occasional 5 star sprinkled in here or there. The reason why folks are down here is that our classes are typically a downward trend of the tier 2 schools. We sign 15+ 3 stars, and then fill it out with 10 or so 2 stars or NR with an OCCASIONAL 4 star here or there. Talent isnt the end all be all though. You then have to factor coaching/scheme. A staff who puts kids in position to execute and succeed can overcome the talent gap and be succcessful. Look at GaTech (via 247) 2014 - 56 2013 - 76 2012 - 52 2011 - 44 Now that we have that out of the way, to get better at SU, we need 1 or 2 things to happen. The talent pool has to go up, or the coaching has to get better. Our recruiting rankings (via 247)... 2014 - 50 2013 - 73 2012 - 61 2011 - 60 We can conclude that our recruiting hauls have been middle of the pack statistically speaking right? 138 programs, the middle would be right at 69. Our last 4 classes are averaging 61. With two seasons of HCSS, i am thinking it is safe to assume that the coaching is what it is. We are not running an innovative offensive philosophy, and we are certainly not executing on offense. Defense is another story, and i will leave it alone for now. So, all that being said, if we take the orange colored glasses off, we are losing 7 defensive starters, our recruiting is right around where it has been the last few classes, and Tim Lester is our OC. So the recruiting hasnt changed drastically, the coaching doesnt appear to be changing drastically, so unless the EXECUTION improves, its not unreasonable to conclude another 5-7, 6-6, 7-5 type of year depending on which way the ball bounces. If you're ok with being "competitive" while going 6-6 ish, then congrats, it looks like we will accomplish that. I on the other hand, yearn for our games to mean something, for us to play in front of national audiences becuase of us, not our opponent. Why cant SU wil 8 games a year, with an occasional 10 win season here or there?? It has been 13 YEARS since we were ranked by our peers as a top 25 team. That is disheartening. [/QUOTE]

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