"#99HUGHgreen, post: 460862, member: 4804"]Competition in recruiting or teams they have to play against?
Few know it, but at one time, Vandy, Indiana, Pitt, Illinois, NW, and other programs did not even have all 85 Scholarships funded. Some had as little as 60 to 67 Players!
This has changed because of Conference TV & Bowl Money bringing in enough money to fund all 85 Scholarships, along with paying coaches & staff more, and of course funding some New Facilities. All of these items impact on competing to win better than they could before. Baylor and TCU showed it. Miami in the 1970s almost voted to end football by one vote?
Today, GT, UVA, PITT, DUKE, UNC all are having the money to fund more than before and compete with Miami and VT in the Coastal is my point. Miami rebuilding under a New Coach will find the Coastal growing in competition due to this change. I agree they still will have some advantages but tougher games are under way now too.
I get that UCF and USF are not necessarily lightweights, but Miami still should be able to beat them - they get the more talented recruits.
The State of Florida has 150 Top Players or more in any given year, just like California and Texas! FSU, UF, and Miami can only take 25 to 35 Recruits in various Years and limit their roster to 85 Scholarships. This still leaves a number of other Great Florida Talent for other Schools and even Out of State Schools. So, UCF and USF rise and fall are not by coincidence but due to the ability to recruits those extra players that stay in Florida, if they can keep Good Coaching!
Additionally, just like WVU, Penn State, OSU and ND, having Roster Sizes of 120 to 145 additional Walk-Ons they can afford to pay for over Pitt, FSU and UF has the same advantages over Miami.
FYI, when Miami crushed Nebraska in the NCS Game in 2001 Nebraska had a Roster of 200 Players with 85 NCAA Scholarships all practicing with 4 Offense and 4 Defense Units. This meant the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Stringer Units practiced just as many snaps as the first Team all week? This is why Nebraska was so good in the 1990s and Texas enforced a limit on Rosters that forced Nebraska to the Big Ten that Unlimited Qualifiers?
Miami on the other hand, was like Pitt and could not pay for more than 105 to 110 roster Players and that include Walk-Ons! This means FSU & UF will alsways have more and bigger rosters with back-ups that Miami will have to compete with and tougher Coastal Programs now having the funding to grow tougher too?
This is my point, Miami can find great Players without leaving Florida if they find a great coach that can coach and recruit again! Yet, this ain't the 1980s, 90s, and 200s anymore. Competition is tougher everywhere. Even Vandy, Illinois, Indiana, are giving other teams tougher games.
