I mean in terms of a state being loaded with talent. Richt's record is his record, but the fact remains, Georgia is chocked full of premier talent and the only in-state the truly elite ones consider is Georgia. Ga. Tech is an afterthought. If they leave, they leave. But Gawga is still the flagship for the state.
And Bama and Auburn have feasted on this talent for years. So has Les. In fact, Les has brought in more out-of-state talent than any previous LSU coach.
I know that we will lose some from La, its the nature of the game. That said, the scary thing is that we are starting to lose too many marquee players from the state. LSU was keeping all the elite players in state. The last few years, starting with McKnight, LSU has lost out on quite a few top tier players that we really wanted. I know we recruiting better nationally than ever before but I still hate to see instate kids choosing Bama over LSU. I understand that Saban has good ties instate from when he was at LSU but still. Miles and staff have to step it up. They do a fantastic job of recruiting but we can continue to lose so many of the elite prospects.
Cam is a loss, but "so many"? LSU has lost extremely few. There have been some really good ones that chose to go elsewhere just like you see in every state, but LSU has done very good for years keeping the in state players they want at home. This could be one of the very rare years where we lose multiple top notch players that LSU really wants.
I didn't really follow recruiting back then (Pre Saban) but I find it hard to believe that LSU got all the state's talent they wanted in the dark and dreary 80s and 90s.
@TigerTap You're not going to work out your Bama issues with me. Let's keep it on football, eh? _____ I keep seeing this "state borders" argument. OK, pet peeve perhaps. But it's time to look at what's LSU's footprint, not some state line.
We've never gotten all of the top talent and nobody else does either. The players change, though. In the 70's and 80's it was Nebraska and Notre Dame routinely raiding Louisiana for Blue Chippers. In the 90's Florida State and Miami had a pipeline to the New Orleans black high schools. It was actually Nick that broke that up. Now with his Louisiana background Alabama is getting one now and then. What makes this different is that this is the first time that we have really been raided by another SEC school and a West Division opponent at that. But it will evolve again. Arkansas recruits north Louisiana like it was Baja Arkansas, mostly getting the "B" talent, but sooner or later they will land a big one. Likewise Texas A&M in west Louisiana. Conversely, Louisiana has always been able to pull top talent from east Texas, Mississippi, Florida, and south Alabama. Les has added Georgia to that and he has had great success recruiting nationally, pulling players from California, Michigan, and other states that Cholly Mac never considered recruiting.
I know LSU will always get the majority of players we want in state. Its just up until recent we were getting all the players we wanted. The last few years weve lost out on a few too many IMO. Im not counting kids like Lacey or Sentimore because LSU waited to see how things go before really going after them. So it was a case of being too late to get in on them. Its nothing dire because we do recruit out of state better than ever but still. Id love to keep the top in state kids at home.
