No More Excuses

Whether it's the sports radio, local tv, or fans just chatting, the subject of football recruiting is a little touchy. Due to Iowa's supposed powerhouse status, the question comes "Why aren't more 4 or 5 star recruits coming to Iowa City?" Hawkeye fans have a "go-to" line and it usually goes something like this, "Iowa does pretty well considering there is such a thin talent base in the state." I hate it when I hear this. It sounds dangerously close to an excuse, kinda like, "I guess we're just as good as can be expected from a bunch of Iowa farmers."

I found an interesting chart showing the population of a state compared to the number of BCS football players they have produced from 2004-2008. Here's a breakdown of the states around Iowa.

State, Pop, BCS players
IL, 13 mil, 194
MO, 5.9 mil, 118
WI, 5.6 mil, 55
MN, 5.2 mil, 66
IA, 3 mil, 61
KS, 2.8 mil, 77
NE, 1.7 mil, 43
SD, 800k, 4

Per population, it's all pretty even. Iowa is not the talent machine that TX, CA, and FL are, but so what? If an athlete comes in, dedicates himself, and buys into the coach's system, more often then not the team will succeed. Here's the key - I heard Collin Cowherd on the radio this week and he said it best. This is a rough quote though.

"In high school, the most talented team wins. In college, the most talented and disciplined team wins. In the pros, the most disciplined, then talented, team wins. You would think that the further up you go, the more important talent becomes. But it's not true because everyone at the top is talented."

I completely agree. It's important not to emphasize a journalist' or websites' rating of a player because you never know the motivation and discipline that player will have on a bigger stage. 5 stars behind his name means nothing if he doesn't listen and learn. The X-factor in all this is the motivation of that player to surpass expectations. If the player knows his role, helps the team, and contributes to winning the game, he has done his job. That's as good as a 5-star rating in my book.