You’re missing the point. Recruiting/talent evaluation isn’t as simple as measureables, camp participation, and whether Bama/UGA offer (major factors in every ranking system). Rivals may rate a QB as a 5 Star but if that 5 Star is a pro style guy that can’t run he’d be no better than Trask in our system. However, an AR is a low 4 star but a great fit for our system. Is Mullen a bad recruiter if he takes the low 4 over the 5 Star in that situation? Of course not but not getting a 5 Star looks bad on paper. Another example: are the coaches at Wisconsin bad recruiters because they don’t have a highly rated OL or are they good recruiters because they know what type of OL prospect they need? Their OLs are consistently excellent so I’d lean towards the latter.
That said, I’m not arguing stars don’t matter. In the Wisconsin example, if they consistently settled for 3 Star “fits” when more athletically talented 4/5 Star “fits” were available then they’d be bad recruiters. In the Butters example, he needed Bama type talent to run his system and he consistently missed or settled for FIU talent. That’s a bad recruiter.
I’m happy to agree to disagree. I’ll never be convinced that a ranking system compiled on raw talent - a subjective measure - that doesn’t consider college system and current team needs is a better measure of a coaches recruiting ability than what a class looks like after 4 years (when those factors have played out). Development and leadership definitely factor in but both are limited by how a coach manages the roster from a talent and depth perspective.
And before anyone (
@BMF, looking at you...) throws it out, I’m not arguing to “trust the coaches”, either. I didn’t trust Butters, at all. I don’t trust our OL, DL, LB, or safety recruiting. I believe there are more physically gifted prospects that fit our system out there that we are missing on.