Originally Posted by
adkindo
Noel Devine was the highest rated player is what you mean? Devine clearly did not have the career of White or Slaton. At that time, RichRod had the secret formula, and I do not think the recruiting rankings can tell that story. He recruited to his system. Speed, speed, and more speed. Lineman were often small and quicker which is not going to rank well. RB's needed twitch and break away speed. Receivers were more quick than fast. It was all about spreading them out, and carving them up. Even the defense was built different with the 3-3 stack which often sought non-traditional players in those roles. You and I know WVU is never going to have Top 10 classes unless they won a couple national titles in a row. That is not about the coach...as much as it is about the programs stature. I personally think it is far more questionable if some of the blue blood coaches could come to WVU and replicate RichRod's success than it is if RichRod could have success at a Blue Blood. I think if Michigan gave a RichRod a legitimate chance to get that thing going, the dynamics in the Big10 "could/may" be very different today.
It is interesting, that era of RichRod & Bill Stewart did more for WVU's brand than the 1988 & 1993 undefeated teams....but it was not all about the winning. It was the style and.....the TV slots. If you recall, at that time every BCS/G5 team was not aired on national television like they basically are now. They had the College Ticket PPV thing....but maybe 2-3 games from each conference actually got on ESPN or a network. So the Big East began putting WVU on a lot of Thursday night games, and they were often big games like Miami and Va. Tech early on....then later Louisville, Cincinnati, etc. I think even the Rutgers game was a Thursday night game when they were actually good with Ray Rice and that group. It is easy to pack a stadium on a Thursday night in the school year, so that played well on television. I have met so many people from around the country over the last decade that comment to me about those WVU teams, and it was often because they were on the only live sports on television on Thursday. Still today, multiple recruits from other regions every year will mention them or their older brother/father being big fans of Pat White, Steve Slaton, Devine.....or the huge one is always Tavon Austin back in the day. I am not sure they get that exposure without the Thursday night showcases.