Even powerhouses can watch constant success get stolen away.
For the first time since Dec. 6, 1982, not a single college football program from the state of Florida is represented in the AP Top 25 poll. Among the top three most talent-rich states for recruiting football players, the Sunshine State is far from alone – Texas and California have a combined two teams in the top 20, and even those programs (Baylor and Stanford) are private institutions considered strangers to college football relevancy.
It’s not that the three power states have lacked production of athletes – 34 percent of NFL draft picks in the past 23 years have come from Florida, Texas or California. However, programs from untraditional football regions are hurting schools from these three states because they are privy to the evolving formula, and it largely involves poaching from these talent-heavy regions of the nation.
And it’s difficult to find a weekend without an example to prove it, especially in the ACC.
For all of the gross disadvantages of Wake Forest’s football program, including rigid academic standards, lack of tradition and one of the smallest stadiums in BCS football, the Deacs can recruit harder than any other team in the conference. En route to a key weekend upset over No. 23 Florida State, Wake carried a roster with 39 players from the three power states. The Deacs’ athletic and agile attack included 31 Floridians who most likely would’ve signed on in a heartbeat to wear the garnet and gold of FSU.
Regardless of Tom O’Brien’s theory of recruiting “his own players,” a high football IQ and a childhood desire to join the Wolfpack can’t compensate for a lack of speed and athleticism. If Wake Forest can sign 31 athletes from the state that has produced four of the past six high school football national champions, State should at least attempt to wrestle the seven FBS programs in Florida for its athletes.
But for reasons unknown, the Pack flat out refuses to dip into the power states – three players on the active roster call Florida home and only one player came over from California. Ironically enough, the small group boasts two of N.C. State’s most prominent playmakers, running back James Washington and safety Brandon Bishop. Washington has five of State’s six rushing touchdowns and Bishop is the third-best tackler on the defense while also claiming two interceptions.
Although Washington and Bishop are a sliver of a sample size, history is laughing at a North Carolina program trying to win with its own product. The state has undoubtedly produced a litany of college stars, including recent Pack players Adrian Wilson, Nate Irving and Torry Holt, but living entirely off of North Carolina products rarely produces success. The majority of non-traditional programs in recent memory would fall flat on their faces if they depended on 57 North Carolinians, as N.C. State does this season, to provide depth and talent.
Wake Forest won the ACC in 2006 with 20 Floridians. N.C. State’s best season in program history (2002) came on the strength of 19 Floridians. Even teams in other states not considered wealthy in homegrown talent went down to the state to find depth: Rutgers recruited 21 Floridians in advance of its best season in program history five years ago.
And these teams are not a simple fluke – if State does not take advantage of recruiting athletes from the three power states, especially Florida, the Pack will be well behind the curve of a recent college football trend. The trend has taken substantial depth away from major programs within Texas, California and Florida, and programs like N.C. State are their best friends – they depend upon an average local recruiting base and let more elite athletes wear colors like the cardinal and gold of Southern Cal, the burnt orange of Texas, or the orange and blue of Florida.
Following nearly 30 years of expected domination and nine accompanying national titles, the major Florida programs are currently on the outside looking in at the top 25. The occurrence may spell out problems for Florida, Florida State and Miami, but it mostly screams at non-traditional programs to join the trend of recruiting down south or to suffer the consequences.
Even State can successfully travel outside of North Carolina to recruit.
