re: A&M leads for Speedy Noil per LSU recruiting analyst James Smith

LSU's "Dream team" class has a lot more of a chance to fall short

It will still be a good class, how Miles and staff fills the holes and adds some depth to the roster will determine how effective the class is

That is how you measure a good recruiting staff

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LSU's "Dream team" class has a lot more of a chance to fall short

It will still be a good class, how Miles and staff fills the holes and adds some depth to the roster

That is how you measure a good recruiting staff

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Obviously, and he's done very well at that before. I'm sure he's well aware. At the same time, I'm also confident he sees the long term better than anyone here, so the depth in one class isn't entirely indicative of the program depth in years to come.

Problem with too many LSU folks is they act as though the last decade or so is ALL that matters. They assume things can't change.

It just hasn't always been that way. It certainly wasn't that way when I was in school and back then A&M wasn't nearly as rich and powerful as it is now and it sure as hell wasn't in the SEC. If you don't think those things will factor in over the coming years you have your head in the sand.

LSU will always do great in LA and they will always get a few kids from Texas (esp East Texas and the Golden Triangle). No one is arguing that. The thing is A&M is going to continue to make further strides there as well. A&M has deep connections to LA, a lot of them have just been dormant the last decade with LSU at their peak and A&M at their bottom. LSU has had more success since 2000 than in the previous 100 years of football and by a good margin. A&M has had its longest drought without a conference title in its entire history. If A&M wasn't committed to football success or didn't have the resources that would be one thing but that isn't the case. It can all shift quickly.

It's like Texas folks that said A&M would always get beat by them in recruiting a couple years ago (which had been true for a decade) only to see A&M destroying Texas now in battle after battle.

It is a gradual process but it is happening. Will A&M pull of a Noil or Willis this year? Maybe or maybe not, but A&M is gradually making deeper and deeper inroads back in to LA.

I also know I am longwinded as hell and annoy a lot of you. I have thought of changing my user name to Tolstoy or maybe making this my new sig:

Of course it is possible that A&M could fall back into mediocrity, that can happen anywhere. The reason it is highly unlikely is the commitment level has completely changed from an administrative, financial, and resource perspective. I have been following A&M football closely since the early 80's and the level of commitment now is even stronger than it was when A&M brought in Jackie Sherrill. I also don't think it can be stated strongly enough what a difference having A&M be the only SEC team in Texas makes.

My point on Texas vs A&M was in head to head recruiting battles, not in rankings. It was very rare A&M could beat out Texas in any head to head battles only 3 years ago. That started to change 2 years ago when A&M got Thomas Johnson to decommit from Texas and got several other commits to make late visits to CS. Last year it picked up more momentum as A&M won the majority of head to heads for the first time in a very long time. For 2014 and 2015 A&M is cleaning up on the head to head battles and getting multiple long time Texas leans to switch almost at will. In 2 years Texas has gone from refusing to even make offers until their first Junior Day to desperately trying to load up on 3 Star level talent Sophomores.

Texas won't stay down forever, that is true. You could argue they haven't fallen that far. The problem for them now though is they are stuck in the Big 12 and A&M is in the SEC. The financial and resource advantage over A&M now is also negligible. Their political power in the State is at an all time low as well. The problem is going to be that the SEC has separated itself from the Big 12 and every other conference by such a wide margin. Texas isn't ever getting in to the SEC and that's going to make it incredibly difficult to dominate the media exposure like they once did in the State. They will be back but they won't be able to dominate like they did in the '00s. In the '00s Texas was not only winning like crazy they dominated the media, they had a massive resource advantage, they had far superior facilities, and the RRS was one of the biggest games in college football every year and almost always a Top 10 or Top 5 matchup that determined the Big 12 Champ. I just don't see how they get back to that place anytime soon. A&M's SEC move puts Texas at a structural disadvantage for the first time ever, no matter how much they spend they can't fix that.

There is also a flip side to the "1 good season" argument. It is true, A&M hasn't really done anything yet. No championships. Yet in spite of that A&M is already competing toe to toe with all of the schools around them that have. LSU can no longer tell Texas kids that if they want to play in the SEC they are the closest option. LA kids don't have to look at going to A&M as having to play a Big 12 schedule with games against far away teams they aren't familiar with. It's just a different playing field now.

What do you think happens if A&M does break through? Last time they did in the mid '80s they took over Texas recruiting and dominated for a decade and we were didn't have half the resources then that we do now. The best comparison to where A&M is right now is Florida right after they hired Spurrier. A sleeping giant with massive resources that has awoken and is focusing on football. The giant could always go back to sleep but that seems very unlikely.

LINK

Go ahead and read that "reputable" site and their outlook on Texas's 2013 class

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LSU's "Dream team" class has a lot more of a chance to fall short

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I'll admit this make me chuckle..

They have 21 commits with 9 4 Stars, 11 3 Stars, and 1 2 Star. So they are almost full. Most of their 4 Stars are borderline as well and their highest rated player is Heard that is no where near the QB that Kyle Allen is. A really good QB for sure but not really a headliner. The only big head to head win against A&M of the group is Alaka who said he saw the chance for play time as his deciding factor and didn't like how A&M was already so loaded up at LB in the last 2 classes.

It's a nice class for sure but will likely end up in the Top 15-20ish range. Texas isn't really leading on many big targets, certainly nothing to compare to how A&M is a virtual lock for Myles Garrett and is very much in the mix for at least 5 other Top 100 players. Their average is 87.84 while A&M is at 91.61, so A&M has a higher rating with 7 less commits.

If you look at 2015 they are loading up but most of them are in the back half of the Top 100 in Texas, pure 3 Star territory.

Bama lock

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LSU's "Dream team" class has a lot more of a chance to fall short

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I know you're trolling, but in what way?

LSU is more likely to sign all of Noil, Willis, Fournette, Dupre, Brown, Garrett, Jones, Quinn than to miss out on any one of them at this point.

Hell, Robinson is back in play, and most of the recruiting people are saying the ball is in our court for the first time in a long time. I don't really see how it could 'fall short,' unless you consider 'falling short' missing out on 1 or two guys from the list.

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I've always considered Jimmy Details a joke, going back to when he really posted on this board and would get in e-fights with people that he disagreed with.

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What was his user name?