After reading these threads the recurring sentiment is recruiting is the issue. Cignetti brought 1/2 of a team and has been successful playing portal roulette. He now has established his reputation for success. Going forward he will have success in hs recruiting. Cincinnati, Louisville, Chicago, Pittsburgh, Indianapolis, and Cleveland all have big time hs football. They are within a 4-1/2 hour drive of Bloomington. It means a lot if your family can drive to your home games. High schools in Ohio have 7 divisions with 12 teams out of 16-20 teams in each division. And play a 10 game regular season. Even the small town my nephew was from has a 5,000 seat stadium and modern weight room. They are on their 2nd field turf field with large screen replays. In 25 years.They have reserved seats which are sold out . They play in a 8 team league. There setup is the same for 6 of the 8 teams. They are D2 team which is a big step below the top D1 schools. Thie top of the D2 heap is Massillon. There stadium seats 18,500. They have luxury boxes for sponsors. Their indoor practice faculty is D1 college level. Thei basketball teams suck and they don’t have hockey. With all that they have 11 state championship (2023) since the playoff era began in 1982. Kids coming out of these programs are well coached and battle tested. Minnesota kids are behind the curve when competing with this.
