agreed. basically we have someone graduate and then there's usually one other star somewhere on the team/offense that people point to as the savior/scapegoat but what we *really* need is multiple stars all at once .. not just a re-arranging of the same quality of talent. thanks for expanding on this point because it was the genesis of the message I was trying to get across.
Yep.
Its like the classic cartoon where the character plugs one hole in the dam only to have another hole burst open.
And even if an Austin or Johnson is signed from time to time there is always the possibility that they will be a bust or not live up to the hype. That's why multiple viable prospects need to be signed each and every year to also protect against this phenomenon.
Currently, however, there is at least some potential for a national championship caliber offense in a few years but it will require all of Buchner, Austin (also sticking around that long), Johnson, Tyree, Styles, Colston, Mayer, etc panning out which is quite frankly not realistic. And even at that the oline would need to be adequately developed--which isn't happening right now anyways.
Contrast that with OSU where they're bringing in multiple Johnsons each and every year. For them its pretty much a foregone conclusion that they will have elite offenses because the amass so much talent that at least a few of those kids are going to materialize for them each year.
Truth is, national championships are won on the recruiting trail and teams' fate are spelled out for them well in advance (assuming the talent is accompanied with appropriate coaching).
Clemson is a good example of a program that was able to catch lightning in a bottle and had an unusually high amount of their recruits "hit". That coupled with an amazing individual talent at QB allowed them to parlay that success into now what will be regular top 5 classes every year.
Through a little luck and some great coaching (Veneables) Clemson was able to flip the paradigm and now their program can operate on autopilot for the foreseeable future assuming Dabo can continue to keep the culture under control.
As it stands now, ND under Kelly is a program that has plateaued to a top 15ish level and it would take comparable luck with recruiting "hits" and a Veneables type hire on the offensive staff (highly unlikely Kelly will want to or could execute) to flip the paradigm at ND.
His time is running out anyways and its probably more realistic that he maintains the top 15ish status to make the job attractive for a potentially elite candidate in three years.
