as much as it probably should but something that is playing into recruiting, and this is on the coaching staff in a lot of ways, is the stability at Arizona. I'm of the thinking that Rodriguez was never going to be let go after the season and think it is going to take a lot for him to be gone after next season. Still, as I've mentioned a lot before, recruiting is a lot about perception. It was something that played into Burmeister ending up at Oregon and don't think for a second that other schools aren't at least mentioning it when trying to pull recruits away.
Kids aren't dumb, but they are impressionable. You look at a place that has a new coach and you figure he'll at least be around for your career if you're trying to pick a school right now. No matter what UA says right now I don't think any kid is absolutely confident that this staff will be around for the next four years. That's a hard thing to recruit against if you're Arizona right now. Rodriguez opened himself up to it a bit when he looked at South Carolina, so he or the program can't put the blame elsewhere.
At the end of the day relationships are a big part of recruiting and maybe outweigh everything, but they also want to know that they'll be playing for that same coach for the entirety of their careers. This is something that Arizona is really having to fight against in certain cases and probably doesn't get mentioned as much as it should. There's no easy fix to that other than to prove recruits and their families otherwise. If you look at a kid like Jalen Harris this is a big reason why he's looking around. It's not anything wrong that Arizona is doing but its perception and when you are recruiting against something that nobody know - as nobody truly knows if Rodriguez will be here in four years - that's a hard thing to overcome. Just something to think about as this process plays out.
I've mentioned how much I think perception, in a lot of areas not just this one, plays into a lot of recruiting and I'm starting to think I've undersold its true importance.
Kids aren't dumb, but they are impressionable. You look at a place that has a new coach and you figure he'll at least be around for your career if you're trying to pick a school right now. No matter what UA says right now I don't think any kid is absolutely confident that this staff will be around for the next four years. That's a hard thing to recruit against if you're Arizona right now. Rodriguez opened himself up to it a bit when he looked at South Carolina, so he or the program can't put the blame elsewhere.
At the end of the day relationships are a big part of recruiting and maybe outweigh everything, but they also want to know that they'll be playing for that same coach for the entirety of their careers. This is something that Arizona is really having to fight against in certain cases and probably doesn't get mentioned as much as it should. There's no easy fix to that other than to prove recruits and their families otherwise. If you look at a kid like Jalen Harris this is a big reason why he's looking around. It's not anything wrong that Arizona is doing but its perception and when you are recruiting against something that nobody know - as nobody truly knows if Rodriguez will be here in four years - that's a hard thing to overcome. Just something to think about as this process plays out.
I've mentioned how much I think perception, in a lot of areas not just this one, plays into a lot of recruiting and I'm starting to think I've undersold its true importance.
