Bobby Ross

[Dwan]

Won a national title at Georgia Tech, took the chargers to the super bowl....but could not win at Army even with the huge recruiting advantage the service academies have...

[PonyDoh]

He also won something like 5 ACC titles at Maryland

He's no Gary Gibbs, though

[smupony94]

How do the service academies have huge advantages? Seems like they have a limited pool of recruits - smart, athletic ones, but a smaller pool

[Pony94]

I agree...service acadamies do not have a recruiting advantage. Would some one please correct me if I am wrong, but in order to attend a service academy, do you not have to have a letter of recommendation from some one holding a political office. I think that immediately narrows the pool of recruiting candidates.

[StangEsq]

i think that was supposed to be a joke

[RushStPony]

He was being sarcastic.

[Pony94]

this board is going down the tubes...nothing can be believed...its all a joke....guess that's why Stallion is king.

[smupony94]

Ok, I see that now. Went right past me.

[Stallion]

They can run 350 players through their Academy and Varsity Rosters during a 4 year period. That's about 15 players for every position on the field. When you are recruiting sleepers anyway(like 3/4th of SMU recruits) it is better to recruit 350 sleepers and weed out the players. Otherwise, you subscribe to the magic pixie dust theory to explain 23 Academy Bowls since SMU last went to a Bowl.

[Pony Soup]

Kind of like my offer for tickets to OU/Mizzou?

[Dwan]

but how come a coach like Bobby Ross could not win with being able to have a roster of 160 kids?

[Stallion]

probably because Army doesn't and never has had as good a Model as Air Force and Navy. More often than not an Academy team goes bowling-it is not the miracle you people seem to claim. Dig a little deeper.

[Pony Soup]

probably because Army doesn't and never has had as good a Model as Air Force and Navy. More often than not an Academy team goes bowling-it is not the miracle you people seem to claim. Dig a little deeper.

I think what you are trying to say, is that Air Force and Navy have hotter models than Army... And hopefully they're all blondes

[KnuckleStang]

They can run 350 players through their Academy and Varsity Rosters during a 4 year period. That's about 15 players for every position on the field. When you are recruiting sleepers anyway(like 3/4th of SMU recruits) it is better to recruit 350 sleepers and weed out the players. Otherwise, you subscribe to the magic pixie dust theory to explain 23 Academy Bowls since SMU last went to a Bowl.

You know better than I do that Air Force is in a different situation than Army/Navy, and therefore have no place in your argument. So you can cut your "Academy bowl count" by about three fourths.

I highly recommend Fienstien's excellent book "Army vs. Navy," which explores this topic in some detail.

Only coaches in the modern era to put together consistent wins/bowls at Navy are George Welsh (considered "unsexy" and "boring to recruits" and went on to 17 straight 7+ win seasons at Virginia in the ACC), and Paul Johnson. At Army, Bobby Ross couldn't make it happen. And we all know how sorry a coach he is.

[Stallion]

No it is not-Air Force was the first to utilize this Model of agressively using their Prep Schools to feed their Varsity Rosters. Navy implemented the same Model with a direct intention of copying what Air Force was doing because they were getting the crap beat out of them each year. Dig a little deeper. I posted an article a few months ago quoting Navy officials that they intentionally adopted the Air Force Model in the late 90s.