So while Indiana is spending very large this year. Last year they spent much more frugal in the portal. Indiana will have to keep lightning in a bottle though, because a lot of their production and people are about to leave this year for the NFL.
It's similar to Clemson's "Dynasty" if you can even call it that, where things were just perfect until replacing Coordinators and replacing Pieces catch-up to them and they fall on their face again. I think NIL is going to make them perennially a good team, but what happens if someone poaches their DC and OC? Or OL Coach? Cignetti is a great talent evaluator and he's got a few on staff who can do that as well. Question is, how much of the talent development is the staff? The play calling? Could be similar to the Venables situation where as soon as the guy propping up the team leaves whether it's the OC or the DC (DC IMO) can Indiana find a replacement to sustain that level of success?
I'd say you saw similar NIL Dynasty under Ohio State in the previous year, they went all-in and won the whole thing. Now they aren't as put together, and their OC just left. We've seen this scenario a lot in the last 25 years, people rise, become good, but staying on top is a hard thing to do with $$, Oregon has more than anyone likely out there and they've not won a championship...you need the right mixture of $$ with talent, development, and coaching. I think Bama can develop very well, we can get the talent from recruiting. The issue is retention, can we find the right pieces to retain and the right coaches to stick with...anyways.
Portal Developments:
Bama is expected to be after a few DL people this week and likely after some Veteran OL pieces as well as some depth pieces. I expect us to find our answer on the RB side. I think they may just stick with who we have going into this year.
Loved the pick-up of Lorcann Quinn, likely spells the end for Connor Talty. Quinn is a Freshman and could possibly be our guy for the next 3-4 years. He's a little raw still but with some refinement I expect good things there.
Ty Haywood - talked more about this guy again, can't say enough. I think he's going to be a day 1 starter for us, I know others are not optimistic but I believe he's good enough to warrant it.
Noah Rodgers - Depth WR piece to go along with the eventual starting 4 of Williams, Brooks, Scott, and Rodgers. Not a bad pick-up, upside and talent was there when he was recruited, maybe needs a change of scenery?
Bingley-Jones - Depth IDL piece, I believe we see him as a replacement for Tim Keenan in the middle, he has less mass but more maneuverability in the trenches and quickness.
Dead Period is still in effect today, but we should be back and good to go Wednesday or Thursday with visits. I know Bama has reached out to a few more DL possibilities along with Damon Wilson.
The BIGGEST thing right now is finding out what the final NFL Draft guys are gonna do. Will Pierre return? Will Saab Return? I'm fairly certain both will return this next year. I think Damon Wilson is worth it, but I don't know that the asking price again will be something we wanna pay. Miami is another school that will just drop a bag to win a player they want.
NIL needs regulation, but the schools that are currently able to spend in the 50-75 million range every year aren't going to want it because it makes the playing field much more even across the board. We've been screaming for years that we need a new governing body that is allowed to enforce rules on these people, puts cheaters in their place and keeps everyone "playing nice".
Lots to do today, hope this information helps everyone for now. Sorry I don't have much more this week is brutal for me I won't have as much free time or time to chat with people.
They gave Mendoza over 2 million, hard to break the bank when you have a billionaire backing the program.
