An Interesting Conversation With An Ad

the real grad88 · October 29, 2007

I had a discussion the other day at work with a former coach and AD who had a lot to say about how college teams win. He said that the public doesn't understand this or want to believe it, but that winning in college sports is 90% about recruiting...that simply put, it's the athletes on the field who win games and coaching and systems have very little to do with it. If you recruit superior athletes, you win, period. He said that is his experience and the opinion of most coaches in the profession, though most won't talk like that in public. He said that the main times that coaching actually makes a difference is when two teams are well-matched in talent. Except for those kinds of matchups, it is all about the quality of athletes. I guess that I have to agree. That said, I find a lot of hope for the future with Dodge, because I think he is going to recruit a superior athlete to North Texas relative to other Belt schools.

meangreendork · October 29, 2007

I had a discussion the other day at work with a former coach and AD who had a lot to say about how college teams win. He said that the public doesn't understand this or want to believe it, but that winning in college sports is 90% about recruiting...that simply put, it's the athletes on the field who win games and coaching and systems have very little to do with it. If you recruit superior athletes, you win, period. He said that is his experience and the opinion of most coaches in the profession, though most won't talk like that in public. He said that the main times that coaching actually makes a difference is when two teams are well-matched in talent. Except for those kinds of matchups, it is all about the quality of athletes. I guess that I have to agree. That said, I find a lot of hope for the future with Dodge, because I think he is going to recruit a superior athlete to North Texas relative to other Belt schools.

That's elementary coaching. No matter how good of a coach you are, there's always a maximum performance you can get from your players. The good thing about Dodge is that he's ALREADY drawn in good players and he'll continue to do so.

GoMeanGreen1999 · October 29, 2007

I had a discussion the other day at work with a former coach and AD who had a lot to say about how college teams win. He said that the public doesn't understand this or want to believe it, but that winning in college sports is 90% about recruiting...that simply put, it's the athletes on the field who win games and coaching and systems have very little to do with it. If you recruit superior athletes, you win, period. He said that is his experience and the opinion of most coaches in the profession, though most won't talk like that in public. He said that the main times that coaching actually makes a difference is when two teams are well-matched in talent. Except for those kinds of matchups, it is all about the quality of athletes. I guess that I have to agree. That said, I find a lot of hope for the future with Dodge, because I think he is going to recruit a superior athlete to North Texas relative to other Belt schools.

That is probably why he is an AD and not a coach. Case in point Florida last season. That team that Meyer coached to a National Championship was virtually all recruits that the previous coaching staff had recruited. In fact, the previous coaching staff had consistantly had good recruiting classes, yet they didn't win. In walks Meyer and his crew and the rest is history. Or take Denton Ryan - loaded with talent, yet went 1-9 before Florence and crew walked in, and the very next year they went to the title game. Or John Blake at OU, who had incredible talent on the field, yet couldn't win more in 2 or 3 years to save his job, yet Stoops comes in and wins the NC his first season. Coaching plays a LOT bigger role than what he is saying.

Green Mean · October 29, 2007

Man I just think its a combination of both things you need. Without good or decent talent you probably are not going to be winners. Without any great or good coaching you will have a team of talented athletes who just dont know what the heck to do or will be lost out there on the playing field. So I believe the AD is right but so are the people who say you definitely need a good coach to be able to win.

UNTflyer · October 29, 2007

Case in point Florida last season.

Ron Zook was the worst Florida coach since Charley Pell. Meyer came in and made Zook's team National Champions.

Edited October 29, 2007 by UNTflyer

Huff · October 29, 2007

Coach Dodge will have a tougher time on the recruiting trail next year because he will no longer be the wonder boy who just won a whole bunch of games and championships at the high school level. He will now be the new North Texas coach who just lost nine or ten or eleven games this season. That is a much different situation.