re: Coach Kelly says they aren’t going to buy players.

quote:

---

He needs to get with the times

---

Nah. You have to have a more long-term view for unintentional consequences. When a team like Oklahoma wins an NC because they paid a 1-year DT and he was THE difference between them winning or not, then we'll see. This buying players for outrageous amounts hasn't proven to produce championships yet. Michigan is the reigning NC, and I don't know how many portal guys they had or how much they paid them. But they won because Harbaugh built a culture that created a lot of buy in and they keep their high school recruits for several years. They were probably one of the oldest NC teams in recent memory.

Saban built the best dynasty in our lifetimes by getting buy in from 4 and 5 star guys who would have probably played their freshman seasons almost anywhere else, but they were behind other 4 and 5 star player and waited until their 3rd or sometimes 4th years to start. Because they knew that was in their long-term futures, which made it great for Bama's present and future.

Granted, the landscape has changed since then. But we haven't seen the long-term effects of all this yet. There will definitely be unintended negative consequences. Somebody said OU paid that DT more NIL money than everybody on LSU's team...combined. That's not sustainable. It will simply cost more and more to just retain players, especially if, God forbid (but 100% inevitable), a 3rd year guy in LSU's system to committed here when he was 16 with a minimal NIL deal is outplaying the mercenary cat from Michigan State but has made 10 times less in 3 years than the guy who can't crack the fricking rotation, people will start feeling a certain way.

BK, clearly, wants to have an older team that was developed in the LSU system. And sprinkle in some portal guys to fill holes. But average players have so much leverage in this spring portal window that desperate teams have started to way overpay to go all in on this season. Florida State came closest recently to having it pay off. But the last 6 NCs have been Michigan, Georgia, Georgia, Bama, LSU, Clemson. All built on high school recruits (save for LSU with Burrow, but he was a grad transfer that even Nebraska wouldn't take at the time, despite his being a legacy).

It may change. Everything I've mentioned may be extinct. But I'd like to see Oklahoma, Miami, Ole Miss, and some of the other top spending NIL schools actually win something before we see if it's a sustainable model. Maybe it is. Maybe BK does need to get with the times. Maybe you have to go all-in every year. But I think the way Kelly wants to build his program is more sustainable long-term. I could absolutely be wrong. Ole Miss might win the NC this year. Hell, just making the playoffs would be a huge success. Texas
or Texas A&M may win it. Or OU. Or even Miami. But I doubt it. It will probably be Georgia or Ohio State. Ohio State did spend a shite-ton this year on portal guys, but their roster is mainly filled with high school recruits.