This post is not to diminish what USC has done in figuring out the recruiting game (called $$$ plus brilliantly hiring Chad Bowden away from ND) with a #1 recruiting class last year and likely a top 5 class this year. Congrats!!! Honestly.
But….just to provide an “enemy’s” perspective, what we see (and what we have confirmed from a few recruits as well as friends/relatives of recruits) is that USC is generally overspending for the local California talent to keep them in So Cal.
Although I suppose they could, Oregon is not into overspending for recruits specifically in So Cal compared to other regions, and instead generally pays more for portal acquisitions and for retaining players (thus confirming why Lanning has yet to lose a starter to the portal).
At one point both Fielder and Honor and Danny Lang were quacks or looking like Oregon’s to lose. Something changed. That something is $$$.
Makes total sense to me why USC’s strategy would be to build a fence around So Cal despite the cost. Right now 4 of your 5 verbals are from So Cal, with likely at least 2 more from So Cal to verbal soon (Fielder and Lang).
I wish Oregon had a large number of quality football talent in the PNW. We generally take the best player in Oregon and maybe 2 or 3 from the Seattle area at best. Having such a fertile area in which to recruit locally like USC does really helps in not losing players to homesickness which Oregon suffers from almost every year.
As a result, I expect our teams to be more competitive going forward – and that’s a good thing, yes? See you guys on Sept 26th!! 🙂
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