If you were born in 1979, in SEC country, UF and Tenn. where basically the only two programs with any kind of consistent pulse during that era, and you had to wait until the mid 90's for that to happen. After UGA in 80, the SEC didn't play for another championship until Bama in 92. And outside of Auburn in 83, didn't even have a team that was in the national championship conversation at the end of the year. Then UF became a national power in about 94, with Tenn closely behind. It wasn't until the early 2000's that the SEC programs actually got their act together and became a force.
And I get the fanfare was still always there. But these were programs that for the most part had fairly average seasons for 20+ years and took turns going on probation. And yet, overnight, they all became recruiting powers.
Now if people want to argue we don't have the type of money to buy the kind of recruiters and facilities that overcome a lack of winning for a long time. Fine. We can have that discussion over whether we are maxed out on the type of recruiters we can afford. But the point still stands. That recruiters can overcome underperformance on the field. And we don't have those kinds of used car salesmen on the staff. So what we are actually saying is, "well, with THESE guys recruiting, we could really use a recent history of winning."
