Similar has been posted before, but after perusing the thread on UF recruiting and some replies, I thought I would share this to perhaps provide a little insight for those that are new to recruiting. For those that have been following for years, this may be redundant.
I do not mean this in a condescending manner. Unless you are around 16-17/18 year old high level recruits and interacted with them extensively, it is hard to understand that on field performance is only one of many factors considered as they make a decision. It is often fairly low on their list of priorities. To suggest NIL is the only reason to attend UF vs UGA or AL, for example, is to not consider many other factors recruits consider. They consider multiple, such as "fit", playing time, connection with position coach, location/proximity to home (sometimes closer is a negative rather than positive), friends that may be attending, "feel", what parents think, what "handlers" think, legacy, NIL, how hard a team is going to work you, development, what current coaches are telling you. Is the kid a bit unsure of himself (would he rather be a bigger fish somewhere vs a place like UGA or Alabama)? It doesn't matter if UGA beat Oregon by 40+ last year. If you are looking for a "cool" factor and to get out of the southeast, Oregon would be a good fit...for example.
Maybe this will help some as they try to wrap their heads around recruiting. It is far from an exact science...it is multi-variate, and what I suggested above as rationale is a limited number of variables/considerations.
There are kids that play for teams within 1.5 hours of Athens that have had the "full-court press" from our very best recruiters, that are not committing to UGA, and NIL has nothing to do with it. I cannot prove this without saying too much, but this is a fact.
I do not mean this in a condescending manner. Unless you are around 16-17/18 year old high level recruits and interacted with them extensively, it is hard to understand that on field performance is only one of many factors considered as they make a decision. It is often fairly low on their list of priorities. To suggest NIL is the only reason to attend UF vs UGA or AL, for example, is to not consider many other factors recruits consider. They consider multiple, such as "fit", playing time, connection with position coach, location/proximity to home (sometimes closer is a negative rather than positive), friends that may be attending, "feel", what parents think, what "handlers" think, legacy, NIL, how hard a team is going to work you, development, what current coaches are telling you. Is the kid a bit unsure of himself (would he rather be a bigger fish somewhere vs a place like UGA or Alabama)? It doesn't matter if UGA beat Oregon by 40+ last year. If you are looking for a "cool" factor and to get out of the southeast, Oregon would be a good fit...for example.
Maybe this will help some as they try to wrap their heads around recruiting. It is far from an exact science...it is multi-variate, and what I suggested above as rationale is a limited number of variables/considerations.
There are kids that play for teams within 1.5 hours of Athens that have had the "full-court press" from our very best recruiters, that are not committing to UGA, and NIL has nothing to do with it. I cannot prove this without saying too much, but this is a fact.
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