Maybe I am living in Shangrala, but it sure seems like most of our recruits come to NU because it is not just a football factory. The whole experience is their deal. Being around teammates they actually like as people. They never choose NU to be adored by the General student population, fawned over by donors and treated with kid gloves academically. This actually becomes our recruiting pitch (the next 40 years not the next 4).I get the purple drumbeat, but honestly, we simply can't compete for top talent and won't be able to compete to keep top talent. We will become the Triple A club for Notre Dame, OSU, or Michigan. Most of our recruits don't have the opportunity to play for Oklahoma, OSU, Clemson, etc. And we both know that all of them want visibility, recognition, and a path to the NFL. The best and most proven path to the NFL, 100% undisputed is to gain visibility on a playoff team. The market is not strong for a team that plays in the Music City bowl or if we get lucky the Outback. We will lose guys like Paddy Fisher. Guys like him will be nuts to stay when if they put in one solid year at NU then can transfer and start at Oklahoma or Clemson. I bleed purple but the only way you can be your best is playing with the best. We simply are not the best, in fact, we never ever even won our own division out of 6 teams. I'm troubled now by this rule. On the flip side, we may get some OSU rejects who couldn't make the starting lineup or were placed on misfit island. Either way, we lose. Not good!
I think our guys that are more likely to leave are guys that are buried on the depth chart with younger guys ahead of them. Just like every other school. Even then I think the rate of attrition is less than most schools due to the factors I mentioned earlier.
As far as the NFL. The scouts will find the players at any FBS school. There are more draft picks from the blue bloods, but the first round is littered with stars from non-blue bloods. Kiper’s mock draft has Josh Allen going first. Where is he from? Wyoming.