Lots of teams are throwing around NIL money. Indiana showed the blueprint and also that the star ranking system for prospects is a sham, or at least very misleading. It's like drafting based off the combine rather than film.
Indiana showed that the important thing is having a system on offense and defense and bringing in players with the traits to fit it, not necessarily the best athletes. Obviously, you want guys with both, but if you have to choose, you choose the less talented scheme fit guy over the fast guy you have to teach for 3 plus years.
This is why Iowa is always competitive despite having recruiting classes around 50 most years. They recruit traits on OL and DL then coach them up. A guy like Yayah Black is a perfect example.
The new model in the portal is production over upside.
I've also noticed that the portal is now becoming a new form of getting rid of dead weight. Record numbers of guys entered the portal and many of them asked their old team if they can go back and were told No.
I'm seeing some Penn State guys in the portal who were big time recruits and they're landing in the MAC. People wrote Penn State off with so many guys in the portal but it's clear that the new staff wanted a bunch of them to leave because they aren't scheme fits.
