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A Possible Way Forward (long post)
Posted on 12/30/25 at 9:29 am
Posted on 12/30/25 at 9:29 am
been thinking about this situation more than it deserves lately, but i have an idea that could possibly work for a school like AU - not saying Golesh would be the guy to pull it off, but he seems a lot more likely to approach it like this:
i tend to believe there is a significant number of quality football players out there every year who don’t have the desired NFL measurables - maybe an inch or two short or a couple of tenths of a second too slow for their position - who are still capable of being excellent in college, but their likelihood of getting drafted high and making an NFL roster as a rookie is pretty low
an enterprising HC/GM could make a point if seeking these guys out with the idea that they could come make a six figure salary for 3-4 years, have all the traditional advantages of being a jock at a major university (free room & board, nutrition & fitness training, attractive women, etc), and emerge with a sizable bank account and a bright future no matter what their professional prospects might be
seems to me that a collection of good-but-not-great talent like that, working together in a system that favored discipline and understanding of assignments, could consistently compete against far more “talented” teams
of course the challenge for boosters and fans would be accepting that you won’t always be able to beat the teams with an overwhelming disparity of 5 stars, but as we’ve witnessed, it’s certainly possible with good coaching (which is why the team with the 72nd highest talent rating on 247sports.com is the #1 seed in this year’s CFP)
at any rate, only a handful of colleges are able to consistently field teams full of future NFL players - AU isn’t one of them, and outside of one or two years in the distant past, we never have been
sell recruits on the idea of team goals rather than individual, with the promise of earning hundreds of thousands instead of millions - you might not attract the Arch Mannings of the world, but you’d be more likely to get a Pavia or Mendoza instead, and we’ve all seen what they can accomplish with a roster comprised of average (or even below average) talent playing together as a team
again, don’t know if this is Golesh’s plan, but i’d be more than happy if it was
i tend to believe there is a significant number of quality football players out there every year who don’t have the desired NFL measurables - maybe an inch or two short or a couple of tenths of a second too slow for their position - who are still capable of being excellent in college, but their likelihood of getting drafted high and making an NFL roster as a rookie is pretty low
an enterprising HC/GM could make a point if seeking these guys out with the idea that they could come make a six figure salary for 3-4 years, have all the traditional advantages of being a jock at a major university (free room & board, nutrition & fitness training, attractive women, etc), and emerge with a sizable bank account and a bright future no matter what their professional prospects might be
seems to me that a collection of good-but-not-great talent like that, working together in a system that favored discipline and understanding of assignments, could consistently compete against far more “talented” teams
of course the challenge for boosters and fans would be accepting that you won’t always be able to beat the teams with an overwhelming disparity of 5 stars, but as we’ve witnessed, it’s certainly possible with good coaching (which is why the team with the 72nd highest talent rating on 247sports.com is the #1 seed in this year’s CFP)
at any rate, only a handful of colleges are able to consistently field teams full of future NFL players - AU isn’t one of them, and outside of one or two years in the distant past, we never have been
sell recruits on the idea of team goals rather than individual, with the promise of earning hundreds of thousands instead of millions - you might not attract the Arch Mannings of the world, but you’d be more likely to get a Pavia or Mendoza instead, and we’ve all seen what they can accomplish with a roster comprised of average (or even below average) talent playing together as a team
again, don’t know if this is Golesh’s plan, but i’d be more than happy if it was
This post was edited on 12/30/25 at 9:31 am
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Posted on 12/30/25 at 9:49 am to FearlessFreep
So sign 3 stars/low 4 stars since those are the ones typically lacking the measurable’s?
This post was edited on 12/30/25 at 9:50 am
Posted on 12/30/25 at 9:55 am to Beachbum87
Sounds like some Harsin foolishness.
Posted on 12/30/25 at 10:20 am to FearlessFreep
I am a fan of the underdog by nature and like those teams. Only problem is this way solidifies our ceiling.
Posted on 12/30/25 at 10:26 am to wareaglepete
quote:i contend Harsin wasn’t a bad Xs and Os coach, but his tough guy act and stubborness (or inability) to adapt to the realities of post NIL/portal CFB doomed him to failure even if the boosters hadn’t sabotaged him
Sounds like some Harsin foolishness.
that said, i’m sure a lot of people looked at Cignetti going into IU the same way - “that guy’s delusional if he thinks what worked at JMU will succeed in the B1G” - and yet here we are
Posted on 12/30/25 at 10:35 am to jangalang
quote:but it significantly raises the floor, which makes it easier to reach that ceiling
Only problem is this way solidifies our ceiling.
and if the ceiling is 9-3, thats good enough to get in the CFP (especially if it expands again, which seems highly likely) - once you make the postseason then there’s always the opportunity of getting hot/lucky enough to win it all
but the important thing to remember is, if you’re tired of losing, you have to start winning - i think we’ve seen the folly of throwing big bags at talent then not developing a strategy to utilize them other than “hope someone can make a play with their skillz”
Posted on 12/30/25 at 10:39 am to FearlessFreep
Sounds like you would be okay hiring 8-5 Gus to be honest. I do agree we need to start winning but I believe our roster was damn close and close enough to where we didnt need to nuke the operation and start fresh. We did need better coaching and a better QB, but we were nearly there. All them losses we took in 2023 while recruiting instead are now for naught.
Posted on 12/30/25 at 10:46 am to jangalang
quote:
8-5 Gus
After the last 5 years of Auburn football, 8-5 doesn't sound too bad.
Posted on 12/30/25 at 11:00 am to LRB1967
quote:8-5 is way better than 5-7 for sure but you're speaking from a position of extremes. We are not always going to be 5-7.
After the last 5 years of Auburn football, 8-5 doesn't sound too bad.
This post was edited on 12/30/25 at 11:01 am
Posted on 12/30/25 at 11:45 am to FearlessFreep
Any kid who performs well at an SEC school is going to have offers. If your selling point is make money while you can, then youve just ruined your shot at retaining them for 4 years.
Posted on 12/30/25 at 11:46 am to FearlessFreep
It's a good way to maintain our status as the new Vanderbilt... or be a decent team in a G5 conference. We'll still be getting our butts handed to us by the top teams in conference.
We are either capable of being a top team in this new college football reality or not. If not, then at least in a decade or so, a game ticket should be pretty affordable again.
We are either capable of being a top team in this new college football reality or not. If not, then at least in a decade or so, a game ticket should be pretty affordable again.
Posted on 12/30/25 at 11:53 am to LRB1967
quote:
After the last 5 years of Auburn football, 8-5 doesn't sound too bad.
At least there was hope. There was no hope with mediocre Gus.
Posted on 12/30/25 at 12:12 pm to FearlessFreep
quote:
sell recruits on the idea of team goals rather than individual
Call me cynical but
Posted on 12/30/25 at 12:33 pm to AUCom96
quote:or the next Indiana
It's a good way to maintain our status as the new Vanderbilt.
you guys think the only way to succeed in this new CFB reality is to buy as many 5 stars as you can afford every season and hope your $40 million roster can somehow beat all the other $40 million rosters when you’ve got a team doing exactly the opposite in a fiercely competitive conference and going undefeated (while another $40 million team in that same league fired their HC midseason and finished 6-6)
Posted on 12/30/25 at 12:41 pm to FearlessFreep
Miami and Tech are showing that way works. Georgia, Bama, Oregon, OSU have feasted on stacking rosters.
Indiana is a unicorn and doubt that model persists without serious cash infusions themselves (they're already pouring into it)
Indiana is a unicorn and doubt that model persists without serious cash infusions themselves (they're already pouring into it)
Posted on 12/30/25 at 12:52 pm to FearlessFreep
Go ahead, with the benefit of hindsight, put this type of team together from the Auburn 2000s or even 80s and 90s and on. Good luck.
I guess you start out with Ben Leard or Brandon Cox as your national championship QB.
And you think anyone could predict this type of team?
I guess you start out with Ben Leard or Brandon Cox as your national championship QB.
And you think anyone could predict this type of team?
Posted on 12/30/25 at 1:05 pm to pdfield34
quote:it aint 2004 anymore, much less 1983 - things have changed
Go ahead, with the benefit of hindsight, put this type of team together from the Auburn 2000s or even 80s and 90s and on. Good luck.
and yes, IU is pouring a lot more money into their football program, but a lot of that is coaches salaries and facilities upgrades, areas in which we are already committed
and again, i’m not advocating spending less, just allocating our resources more efficiently
Posted on 12/30/25 at 1:19 pm to FearlessFreep
Irrelevant.
Just put together a team of past players with such subpar measurables..
Just put together a team of past players with such subpar measurables..
This post was edited on 12/30/25 at 1:21 pm
Posted on 12/30/25 at 1:22 pm to FearlessFreep
quote:
or the next Indiana
you guys think the only way to succeed in this new CFB reality is to buy as many 5 stars as you can afford every season
Not necessarily, but I wouldn't play percentages on Indiana being a norm year to year. Could be like Gus, where you catch lightning in a bottle and then quickly return to earth. Nevertheless, we are in the SEC. Biggest money, most aggressive recruiting, biggest fan bases, biggest and most sought after talent pools. We have to have talent and yeah, you can find the odd plucky three star that turns into a player, but percentage-wise, if we have a roster full of USF players, we're going to get USF results against SEC competition. Right now, we're not even in the conversation. We're NOT going to beat the big spenders. I think that's obvious. But we can get a seat at the table and right now, we definitely don't have one. Trying to Harsin our way forward isn't going to likely change that.
Posted on 12/30/25 at 2:03 pm to pdfield34
quote:ok, how do you quantify subpar? recruiting rankings out of HS?
Just put together a team of past players with such subpar measurables..
i mean, there’s plenty of AU guys who were nobodies coming out of HS who went on to long NFL careers, which isn’t exactly what i’m talking about
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