re: Why is Smarts staff able to recruit better than Richts?

That's likely a factor..but there's usually an uptick in recruiting when you have something new to sell. AFter 15 years Richt didn't really have much to offer that people weren't already used to. Kirby can come in and sell an entire shift in the program, a new era, a differnet way of doing thigns, etc. Throw in the fact he's already a dynamic recruiter anyway and it's not surprising that he's recruiting well.