Recruiting Spending

BTChamp

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 24, 2019
Messages
6,923
Reaction score
6,462
Points
113
An interesting slideshow on MSN. Shows the amount of money 55 public colleges spend on recruiting all sports vs football only. Some surprises. Minnesota is up there. Each slide shows football data from 2018, but there is a paragraph on the last slide with some jargon about 2018 and 2019 and it states it was updated 2020. Not sure what exactly they mean, but either way, should be a good conversation.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nc...nt-content-id=BBZwhq9&fullscreen=true#image=1
 
Last edited:



Wonder what these numbers would look like if you included payments from bag men ;)
 

I’m less surprised by how high we are on the list than I am that Wisconsin is so low. Nebraska spends more than Iowa and Wisconsin combined for football recruiting. This list is basically Alabama and Georgia then everyone else.
 


Except it’s one of those slide shows, which are designed to artificially increase the number of page views on a site. It’s annoying.

There are 14 schools above us. We spend more than Oregon and Ohio State, and about the same as Auburn. Only Nebraska is higher than us in the Big Ten West. We’re 4th in the Big Ten.

What surprises me the most on the list is how low Wisconsin is.
 
Last edited:

I suspect NE is high because of travel expenses. This year the NE AD asked the NE boosters who own airplanes or have rental contracts to donate some air time to NE recruiting efforts.
If recruits are breaking the door down to get in recruiting expenses are lower and there is less need for dancing girls and ladies of the night expenses.
In reality I have no real idea why WI and MN have such different expenses. Maybe PJ flies first class or charter and he did take a helicopter ride to visit a local recruit.
 

I suspect NE is high because of travel expenses. This year the NE AD asked the NE boosters who own airplanes or have rental contracts to donate some air time to NE recruiting efforts.
If recruits are breaking the door down to get in recruiting expenses are lower and there is less need for dancing girls and ladies of the night expenses.
In reality I have no real idea why WI and MN have such different expenses. Maybe PJ flies first class or charter and he did take a helicopter ride to visit a local recruit.

That logic doesn’t explain why most of the traditional powerhouses are all at the top.
 

Is it possible that the reason for some schools being lower than expected is due to how they report their finances? Perhaps some lump certain parts of recruiting in with other categories of their budget, thus not getting reported directly as a "recruiting expense"?
 



That logic doesn’t explain why most of the traditional powerhouses are all at the top.
At the top of what? NE spends the most and gets the worst results on the playing field for the money. AL and GA make FB a priority in the athletic dept, have tons of $$$ from boosters, have a reputation for winning and are in a recruit rich area. They probably could spend less and still get the same results on the field.
 

At the top of what? NE spends the most and gets the worst results on the playing field for the money. AL and GA make FB a priority in the athletic dept, have tons of $$$ from boosters, have a reputation for winning and are in a recruit rich area. They probably could spend less and still get the same results on the field.

I’m not really sure where you’re going with this. Let’s revisit what you said....

“If recruits are breaking the door down to get in recruiting expenses are lower.”

The facts in front of us don’t support what you said. All of the helmet schools are in the top 15, except for Ohio State and Oregon (for those who consider them a helmet school). I assumed your comment was relating to the article.

As for Nebraska, they aren’t even in the top 10 on the list, and we both know that program is currently a dumpster fire.
 

Many years ago I had the chance to speak to former Gopher head coach Cal Stohl at the spring football game. He pointed out to me that the U was farther away from more highly recruited high school players than any other major college football program. For example, our current excellent crop of Georgia recruits.
 

2.2M, 48.8 % on Football. They are in the middle somewhere there.

Look at the ROI this season - 11-2! Can't argue. Let Richard Pitino top off his gas tank, but PJ Fleck better take that helicopter ride to Annandale or where ever. :cool02:
 



Just kidding. Richard should get whatever conveyance he needs to up the recruiting game. He just need to know how to ask.

There is nothing small with PJ. His expectations and visions are big. And he acts on it. I don't think we mind his manageable spending as long as he keeps winning LOL!
 

This was 2018 recruiting budgets, so the results, if they could be quantified, to see if it's worth it to spend the money, would mostly be seen about when? 2020-2022 or so? So the Sophs maybe, on the current teams, but for sure the frosh and the incoming classes? And I'm not sure what the #s were for 2017, and the 2016 and so on?

I mean, maybe I am oversimplifying things, but doesn't it seem like all 3 of our big sports are getting very significant contributions from current sophs and frosh? The VB team has the #1 recruiting class coming in next season? I'd be interested in knowing how our current recruiting budget compares to past seasons to see if there is some kind of correlation? Both Michigan and Ohio St are spending A TON more than UMn on all the other sports outside of football and we are right there with both of them in regards to football, and we seem to be pulverizing both Wisc(fb & overall) and Iowa in football, at least, as I don't think they even made the list?
 

What defines a "recruiting expense" and who determines if an expense goes against that account or some other account?

Every program will account things differently.
 




Top Bottom