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Here are the main problems with UTx recruiting IMO. 1.) The strict rules. I've seen more recruits mention that as something they want to avoid.

No doubt, Charlies "bootcamp" mentality in requiring players to live on camps, et al, are playing a factor in choosing tu these days. tu isn't seen as the top dog in their conference of state, so putting these rules on the player, before they come in, are really causing even the 2nd and 3rd tier players to choose the Baylors and Techs.

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2.) ATM does not have those strict rules in place. Which program would a kid rather attend? A military camp type school or one that (within reason) gives him a ton of freedom?

This question is already being answered with the current and future classes.

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3.) ATM is still riding the JFF wave. If y'all would've had the same record with an AJ Mc/Zach Mett quarterback nobody would really care that much about ATM. JFF brought a certain excitement to ATM, and ATM is still reaping the benefits of his career.

I agree, having Johnny in the spotlight cause the entire football world to take notice of everything goin on at A&M. Without Johnny, we probably dont get 60% of the face time, as a university, as what we did with him. He was electric to everyone, fan or not.

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The question I have for ATM fans is at what point does the defense need to show improvement in order to prove that defensive recruits can be developed? I understand the cupboard was bare last year, but there didn't seem to be any real improvement on the defense from beginning to end. If ATM's struggles on defense this year mirror their struggles last year I can see that as being easy for Strong to recruit against

The defense needs to show it right away. IMO. We need to be able to come out, keep the games around the 35 point mark, and not much higher. What I mean by that, is that I expect our team to win or at least be in very good position to win the games that we keep teams under 40. I think its obvious to most that our offense will continue to score, and by keeping the teams around the 30-35 point mark, I feel we will have a very good chance to win most shootouts.

Our defense wont be holding the average team to 21 points of less this year, at least thats not my expectation. My expectation is to have a much improved run defense and a secondary that doesn't give up the long pass play once a half, like in the past season.

If we can shore up the run defense, it puts a lot more pressure on the leagues QB's and thats where the pass rushing stage of our game will come into play, and hopefully be much better with some talent that has been recently acquired.

If we win the games, no matter the score, then all anyone will talk about is how good our offense is.. If we lose games due to a high score, everyone will talk about how bad the defense is.

To get back to your question, I honestly believe we could be just as bad defensively as last year, yet win the games, and it not affect our recruiting, or not much anyway. Because that will still show that Sumlin can win int he SEC, win with a team considered half full, and still be able to effectively sell the "we need you" card.