I don't know if he and the staff are "bad" recruiters as much as they are not elite recruiters. This, I guess, is in terms of the number of highest rated recruits that they land and those numbers certainly don't rival Bama, Clemson, F$U, OSU, and the other top schools. Unfortunately there are only a few of them and the rest of us seem to be on the outside looking in these days. I think that in a short span, we have seen that Mac (and staff, perhaps) can pick and draw some good players from the 3 star ranks to go with a few higher ranked players. I also think they have shown an ability to develop and prepare some of these guys to be effective players pretty quickly. The difference these days, I'm finally processing, is that with virtually none of the really good high level talent staying for longer than they have to, these players are coming in and quickly making their mark individually and as a team in the case of the schools like the ones mentioned previously. Then you have the issue of greater rates of transfers (especially QB's and skills) these days and it almost becomes paramount that you string together class after class dominated by players of seasonal positional need who provide an immediate impact.
It seems rare nowadays that the teams that are reliant on high numbers of upperclassmen for success are among the elite. I don't like it because it is so different than what I came up with in college football as a fan and I think it stinks in terms of education that so many will leave on the table, but it is what is required for success these days. I can snort and stomp my hooves and keep pining for the old days/ways, but while I'm doing that, I'm being left behind. I think Mac really knows this and what he can do in terms of bringing in the first class that is better in the aforementioned ways and then being consistent will mean the difference between our collective success and heightened competitiveness with the Bamas and whether or not he is an analyst instead of a coach pretty soon.
