Thanks Daniel & GopherLady!
It does make me wonder about how recruiting style will impact the Gophers' standing in the B1G West & B1G Championship aspirations in the PJ Fleck era.
Kill was really good at finding hidden gems and coaching them up. He was successful at that and brought program stability.
But, IMHO that alone would never get them to the promise land. The six-year running data compiled for the years 2011 to 2016 show an average finish in the B1G Standings of 4.67 behind NW, Iowa, Neb, and Wisc. I extrapolated data from the Legends and Leaders period. They are also in 5th place in average recruit ranking at 82.69.
At some point in time, you need the high caliber athletes to go to the next stage or forever be lower echelon.
For the Gophers to mount a challenge for the B1G, they need to shift gear and get the game changer athletes in the next few recruiting cycles.
IMHO, they need to have an average recruit ranking of around 84-86 consistently and a national ranking in the low 40s or better.
This is were PJ Fleck's recruiting style can be a game changer and something for all GOpher fans to be excited about. This guy can recruit. The Gophers average rank was 6th place in B1G West for 2017, and currently 5th for 2018 with the NSD a ways yet. It will take another couple years of solid recruiting to see how established the Gophers will be under Fleck.
Coaching is also important as the numbers for the top four teams in the B1G West seem to indicate.
So, it is a double-edged sword. We need great recruiting and coaching.
TEAM AVERAGES 2011-2016
TEAM---STDG--REC RNK--NAT'L REC RANK
WISC---1.67---84.69---42.67
NEBR---2.50---86.77---27.00
IOWa---3.00---83.71---48.00
NorW---4.17---84.25---53.67
MINN---4.67---82.69---58.33
ILLIN---6.00---82.54---57.33
PURD---6.00---82.42---67.00
If we look at the B1G West in the Kill/Claeys era,
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