Asked by
Husker Max
What is the more important component of the coaching staff's job?
27%
Recruiting
2
73%
Player development
WINNER
10
27%
Recruiting
73%
Player development
No one comes complete with all his ability fully developed. So every player no matter how good, still must be developed in order to have a championship level team.
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At NU, Osborne realized he couldn't compete head-to-head with Switzer at OU-- hence focus on development.
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Lesser talent can be made great with good coaching, but great talent will go nowhere without good coaching.
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Without player development, even very talented guys will fail to contribute well to the team.
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You can recruit and win with players who are good... Can work hard learn and execute... And play as a team! Play with heart! GBR
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While recruiting talent is obviously vital to a seems success, stars next to a players name on scout and rivals don't necessarily mean they're the best players available. Personally, I'll take a kids desire to be the best, work ethic, and humbleness (i.e. Ameer Abdullah), over a kid with 5 stars, dripping with talent, but has no desire to get better. Just take a peak at an NFL roster, most are made up of 3 star prospects. While you could argue that it is a numbers game (the ratio between 5 and 3 stars), I'd still presume its because of the "development" of talent. Furthermore, I think of it this way. A players rating is based on 1-99 (99 being the best, J.J. Watt, Calvin Johnson etc.), say a 5 star kid out of high school is roughly 75, and a 3 star is around 50. Have you seen some of these 18 year old kids that have a 5 star rating? They look around 30 with full beards. These are basically men playing amongst kids, so of course they're going to make a bigger impact on the field. However, I don't want to categorize all 5 stars in this manner for it is not true. While 3 stars on the other hand, may only be 50 right now, but their potential is much higher than 5 stars. Maybe they don't have much muscle, but a huge frame that has the potential. Maybe they can run a 40 in 4.5 seconds, but has not developed lateral movements. My point is that while 5 stars may have more of an immediate impact, 3 stars may have more of a ceiling, and may become better football players if "developed."
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Osborne and his staff were masters of development. both are important but you won't always get the 4 and 5 star studs.
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Start at a higher level of talent.
ReplyWhile there are exceptions to this rule (TCU, Boise State, etc.) the most proven way to have sustained success in college football is to recruit at a high level. While player development is certainly important, and it would be foolish to say you can have success purely with recruiting, it's no accident that the four teams in the College Football Playoff this year are considered four of the top recruiting schools in the nation. For an interesting read on this: http://www.si.com/football/2013/02/04/recruiting-rankings-predictive-accuracy
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