Who gets the most bang for their recruiting buck?

[Harry]

The big spenders for recruiting fall right into that template. Leading the way in 2012 was Auburn, followed by Tennessee. Both schools are in an exceptionally competitive conference, and face very tough regional competition for talent (the rest of the SEC). Auburn spent $2,544,910 on recruiting, with $2,252,990 for the Volunteers. Notre Dame was third with $2,048,964, followed by Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Michigan and Nebraska. Ohio State was 24th, spending $1,289,623, less than Minnesota, Washington, Texas Tech and Illinois, among others.

So who is spending the least on recruiting? The bottom of the barrel, predictably, is dominated by non-BCS leagues who don't have oodles of money to spend on anything, including recruiting. The bottom spender was Louisiana-Monroe, who spent a measly $205,978 in 2012. The lowest current BCS league spender was Washington State, at $729,984, although Rutgers is spending less (that may not continue once the Scarlet Knights join the Big Ten). After Louisiana-Monroe, the bottom five total spenders included Ball State, Troy, North Texas, and Northern Illinois for the bottom five.

Read more: http://www.landgrantholyland.com/2013/7/7/4490880/college-football-recruiting-most-bang-for-their-buck

[UNT90]

Is anyone really surprised?

[Harry]

Is anyone really surprised?

I think the response would be that because of DFW location they don't need to spend as much but when you look at the company we are keeping in terms of budgets.....this needs to change

[UNT90]

I think the response would be that because of DFW location they don't need to spend as much but when you look at the company we are keeping in terms of budgets.....this needs to change

I think most UNT athletic fans would agree with you. I think the UNT administration would not.

We can't afford to just take the leftovers in DFW. We need to scratch and claw to find talent anywhere we can. That requires something better than a bottom 5 budget.

That is embarrassing for a university our size. Why bother with facilities if you are not going pay the price to put decent talent in those facilities?

[LakeTravis]

Well damn, that explains a lot.

Then again, we have an old-school coach so not too surprising.

Take it into terms with home renovations.

The more you put into a renovation, the more you get in return. Theoretically

[JesseMartin]

Interesting that included in the bottom 5 were NIU, who has been one of the better non-BCS teams over the last decade or so, and ULM and Ball State who have both been on an upswing (ULM last year and BallS taters in the last 3 or 4).

I don't think having an old-school coach is what affects our recruiting costs, though...but I do agree with the renovation analogy.

[GRN-WHT]

After Louisiana-Monroe, the bottom five total spenders included Ball State, Troy, North Texas, and Northern Illinois for the bottom five.

And yet, 4 of these 5 schools have managed to find some recent success...

[wardly]

I think the response would be that because of DFW location they don't need to spend as much but when you look at the company we are keeping in terms of budgets.....this needs to change

When D.D. was coach we seemed to recruit "the best of the rest". I don't think we are even at that level of recruiting now,but could be wrong. We must throw a wider net,which increases the cost to do business.

[MeanGreenDan]

And yet, 4 of these 5 schools have managed to find some recent success...

Are you saying one of these five is not like the others?

[oldguystudent]

I didn't see a UNT home win until my fourth season of watching. I still haven't see a winning season. My hopes dashed, my expectations hampered, I'll stop pointing fingers, and enjoy success when and if it ever comes, even though it seems likely that I'll be an incoherent vegetable in a nursing home with a habit of pulling out my wang for visitors by the time it actually happens.

There. Can I be a real live UNT alum/fan now?

[NT03]

I think the response would be that because of DFW location they don't need to spend as much but when you look at the company we are keeping in terms of budgets.....this needs to change

Wouldn't that just make it even more sad ?

Those other teams at the bottom aren't really in ideal recruiting areas & have still been able to find success

Edited July 8, 2013 by NT03

[DeepGreen]

I have always suspected that our recruiting budget was terribly low. And if our mindset is "because of our DFW location, they don't need to spend as much", then why does all of the "local" talent want to get our of the area, away from home (DFW, Denton)? So I call bull$chit on that excuse! Whatever dollars we are spending to recruit locally we sure are not getting a bang for our buck.

Edited July 8, 2013 by DeepGreen

[cdizzle86]

I don't think more money spent in recruiting equates to more wins. It's obvious by some of the other schools on that list that it's possible to find success with minimal spend. I would rather put more money towards marketing and getting more butts in seats. With that said, I think the move to CUSA will give us much needed resources to improve our marketing efforts.

[DeepGreen]

I don't think more money spent in recruiting equates to more wins. It's obvious by some of the other schools on that list that it's possible to find success with minimal spend. I would rather put more money towards marketing and getting more butts in seats. With that said, I think the move to CUSA will give us much needed resources to improve our marketing efforts.

Theoretically, better recruits equal more wins, resulting in more butts in the seats.

[SilverEagle]

It was mentioned in a recent thread that most of the recruitment and/or contact with recruits was done these days by social media (twitter,facebook etc). If that's the case then the cost of recruitment for every school should go down.

[meangreener]

This is disgusting. For a school this size in an area like we are to have a recruiting budget this low makes me really sick. Almost makes you just give up. Fighting an uphill battle.

But, I mean, when people say "UNT sucks at football", statistics like this prove that we do. Look at that company. Terrible academic schools, small, in small cities excluding Northern Illinois.

Tired of this crap.

While I realize it's about who you recruit not how much you spend in recruiting, our recruiting sucks, too, which makes it painful.

Edited July 8, 2013 by meangreener

[GOMG2013]

It was mentioned in a recent thread that most of the recruitment and/or contact with recruits was done these days by social media (twitter,facebook etc). If that's the case then the cost of recruitment for every school should go down.

It also involves letters, coaches visits, and recruits visits to the school. The letters can add up. A recruit can easily get 100 letters from a big time school in one year. Not just a photo copy either. Nice handwritten on school stationary cardstock. Its a big deal to recruits. The big schools have the budget to send nice stuff to every prospect as soon as it is allowed thier junior year. The small schools have to pick and choose who they can send this out to. The visits are the same. some coaches fly in. some rent cars and drive. Some stay for a few days in hotels. it adds up. Went to the pearland vs manvel game last year. Maroon chopper flies in right before game starts. Sumlin and AnM, staff gets out and watches the first half. At halftime, they take off in front of the whole stadium, circle the stadium 3 times to show off, and go to the Laporte game before thier second half starts. Recruiting is a full time job. You have to have everthing covered. These kids are premadonnas.

[oldguystudent]

These kids are premadonnas.

Sooo...they're more along the lines of Debbie Harry then? I'm sorry. I hate grammar naziism, but I just couldn't help myself on this one.

[greenminer]

Obviously nothing to do with football. I mean, what legit SBNation contributor would use "non-BCS league" otherwise?

[cdizzle86]

Theoretically, better recruits equal more wins, resulting in more butts in the seats.

I don't dispute that, but more money spent doesn't necessarily mean better recruits.

Personally, I'd like to see us make more of an effort to be "cool". Recruits care a lot about image now and I don't think we are doing enough to appeal to them on that level.

[untjim1995]

It costs to coach college football. It costs to recruit college football players. It costs to build and maintain failities for college football. Cost.Cost.Cost.

That's all that matters here at UNT, folks. Nothing else...just cost.

I mean, seriously, how could we ever be able to pay for recruiting costs when you are competing against UTSA and Texas State for recruits? Forget CUSA schools or AAC schools--we cannot even compete with most Sun Belt schools for recruiting costs.

I'd love to know if its just simply due to lack of funds from the university--if it is, you'd be surprised at how much the alumni would help here. If you are afraid its going to cost the College of Music a scholarship or two, then why bother having the sport? After all, college football costs...

I've posted it before, but I'll say it again. This thing has 5 years to turn around and to show me why it is going to be worth my time and energy, assuming we beat UTSA this year. I'm drawing my lines in the sand at two places--losing to UTSA this year without anyone being fired or if we still haven't had a winning season by 2017. I wish I had the strength of GrayEagle or PMG to stick with this for multiple decades longer, but I have given this place 22 years of following with very little payback in that timeframe. I'm tired of being around my friends and colleageus that went to every other school in this region of the country and having to be completely embarrassed when we get our asses handed to us by Western Kentucky or Florida International, while they are playing and beating schools people care about in Texas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana. Apogee was supposed to change things around here. Instead, we play in a great stadium with a mindest and approach that just screams "Fouts-esque or FCS-like". The clock is ticking for me...

[GOMG2013]

I don't dispute that, but more money spent doesn't necessarily mean better recruits.

Personally, I'd like to see us make more of an effort to be "cool". Recruits care a lot about image now and I don't think we are doing enough to appeal to them on that level.

UNT does not have money to waste, so they have to be careful about putting a lot of resources into a recruit. Once a recruit blows up into the 3 star range, they probably are looking big 12. UNT has to wait till some of the smoke clears before putting a lot into a recruit. Its actually good that a lot of the big 12 schools are getting commits earlier.

I agree with the cool effort. We think the uniform stuff is dumb, but most schools I have visited used thier uniforms for recruiting and they had different combinations on mannequins.

I know I keep beating this horse, but other than gmg, there is no recruiting hype for UNT. These guys google their names and look for articles and want to see what is being said about them. It really has changed a lot in the last 5 years with these smart phones and all. You go to UNTs rivals.com page, and its info from 2011 on there. It would be better to not have a page at all then to have.something lame and outdated.

in the past, small schools wanted their guys to fly under the radar, so the big schools wouldnt try to steal them. That menality has to change now, because everything is out in the open. When UNT offers someone, it needs to have the perception of a nice offer from a local school. It should be some hype involved, an article, or something. Some type of buzz.

[JesseMartin]

I didn't see a UNT home win until my fourth season of watching. I still haven't see a winning season. My hopes dashed, my expectations hampered, I'll stop pointing fingers, and enjoy success when and if it ever comes, even though it seems likely that I'll be an incoherent vegetable in a nursing home with a habit of pulling out my wang for visitors by the time it actually happens.

There. Can I be a real live UNT alum/fan now?

Why would you have to be in a nursing home before...ohhhh wait...maybe that's why nobody ever visits...

I'd love to know if its just simply due to lack of funds from the university--if it is, you'd be surprised at how much the alumni would help here. If you are afraid its going to cost the College of Music a scholarship or two, then why bother having the sport? After all, college football costs...

They're funded through totally different means. You can't reallocate academic funds for auxiliary, service, or activity budgets or vice versa. People start that rumor every couple of years for one of two reasons: 1) They are morons or 2) They feel the need to lie about how budgets work to make more people paranoid and get them on their side. Maybe both. But no academic area has to fear that sports will take money away from them. The budgets come from completely different sets of funds. People who are anti-sports just spread that around to try to get people to believe it and join their "we need to scrap all athletics, this is a school" argument.

[Mean Green 93-98]

Once a recruit blows up into the 3 star range, they probably are looking big 12.

That's simply not true. The top C-USA teams get plenty of 3-star recruits. And coaching staffs really don't pay much attention to how high Rivals or Scout rates a player.

[Mean Green 93-98]

They're funded through totally different means. You can't reallocate academic funds for auxiliary, service, or activity budgets or vice versa. People start that rumor every couple of years for one of two reasons: 1) They are morons or 2) They feel the need to lie about how budgets work to make more people paranoid and get them on their side. Maybe both. But no academic area has to fear that sports will take money away from them. The budgets come from completely different sets of funds. People who are anti-sports just spread that around to try to get people to believe it and join their "we need to scrap all athletics, this is a school" argument.

Thank you. I wish more UNT students could be made aware of this (what should be) elementary information.