I don't pretend to understand or guess at recruiting strategies. But I have a feeling the coaches don't just look at film and stars.
These coaches all spend their careers building relationships with high school and juco coaches and school administrators. There might be a chance we just know those coaches down there really well, and know that some of their players might consider it up here. There might be a chance that our coaches talk to those high school coaches and ask 'who should we be looking at?' "who are your under the radar guys?' who has something to prove?' 'who are your high character kids who will do well in school and try and show effort and be good teammates?' I am sure some high school coaches tell them, 'look, you have to check this kid out, no one knows about him yet, he doesn't like it here in Florida, he wants out, he's one you need to be getting to know, great kid, great work ethic, does well in school, wants to study geology (or whatever), you want to know who my next D1 players are going to be, he's one of them, right there.'
I don't know, I just think there has to be more to it than watching film, looking at 40 times, seeing how many stars they have. Could it not be a little bit of a puzzle, certain parts are going to fit better here, who is likely to show interest in us? Yes, at some point, you have to offer the talented kids and do what you can to entice them to come here. We could not rely solely on 'high character kids who show effort.' But I would imagine in some cases, there is way more intel that our coaches know, than we fans know about. Some, yes, shot in the dark, can't win if you don't play, but for some, there may be reasons we don't see on the surface.
Not saying that's the case (by no means am I an insider or close to the program at all, just a lifelong fan from way back), but we're often too hasty to jump to a conclusion. Huh? slow Florida kid? Why? Why would we offer that kid?
