It’s possible. One thing for certain is to win championships you have to recruit. Let’s be honest here. The Jimmy and Joe’s are just as important as having a coach that is good with the x’s and o’s in college football maybe even more, but that is up for debate.
If you have been paying attention to college football the last decade you may have noticed the trend of the same 3 or 4 teams in the college football playoffs. Alabama, Ohio State, and Clemson have been the annual attendees of the playoffs in recent years along with Oklahoma, Notre Dame and recent champion Georgia now joining the ranks. Why is that the case? Well if you have also followed recruiting you have noticed those have been the same teams recruiting at an all-time level. Consistently falling within the top 5 in the recruiting ranks.
Will we see some new faces this year?
https://247sports.com/Season/2022-Football/CompositeTeamRankings/
Last year was really the first year NIL was introduced in recruiting. We saw some new faces joining the top 10 as a result as well as a new all-time class. Without any regulations set by the NCAA, teams were able to capitalize like Texas A&M. The Aggies nabbed 8 five stars and 20 four stars in the 2022 247 class rankings on their way to having the greatest class of all time. Now being a new year and NIL becoming a common house name in recruiting, we are seeing even more teams grabbing the nations best.
https://247sports.com/Season/2023-Football/CompositeTeamRankings/
If you take a look at where current five stars are deciding, you will notice the talent is spread out more evenly. So far 22 of the 32 five stars have committed to 15 different schools to play next year. That has not happened in years past. This could be good for college football. Using NIL along with having ace recruiters like Lincoln Riley or Mario Cristobal will bring backs teams that were once great back into prominence.
Change is happening.
The fans want to see change. College football ratings have fluctuated the past few years because the same teams mentioned before are constantly playing each other in conference championships and the playoffs. Expanding the playoffs has been a hot topic and that is a discussion for another day. NIL however is here, happening, and changing college football recruiting. If you don’t have the resources ($$) in today’s industry you may get left behind. Only time will tell if NIL is for the better.
