Over the past several years, programs like Alabama, Clemson and Georgia have beefed up their recruiting departments to the point where other programs have had to either A) do everything they can afford to in an effort to imitate it and keep up or B) complain about regulating it.
Recruit better players, develop them, and the wins will come - that's the simple formula and the reason so many top programs have invested heavily in recruiting and the personnel that goes into it.
When Herm Edwards took over the Arizona State program back in early December of 2017, the former NFL head coach that had been out of football for a decade, had a lot to learn when it came to recruiting. It's something he touched on time, and time again after taking the job.
In an article from the Orlando Sentinel over the weekend, where Herm talks about his decision to leave the analyst booth and return to coaching, and just how much time recruiting takes up being a major college head coach.
“Probably 70 percent of your workload is recruiting,” Edwards shared.
70 percent? Pair that with all the other stuff on the plate of a major college head coach, and it's tough to imagine how 24 hours a day is enough.
Granted, that's the opinion of one head coach with just a year of college experience of any kind dating back to 1989, but an interesting take nonetheless. Even if it isn't quite 70%, what Herm's take does shed light on is that as a head coach, very little time is spent on stuff like scheme.
Head here to read the full article, including more thoughts from Herm on connecting with younger players, giving advice to them, and CEO head coaches.