Because Clark forgot to re-up his tribute to ESPN+

Maybe we weren’t ranked in ESPN’s Top 75? I don’t know.

I’m sure most of us can’t access the entire article as it’s a subscription deal but like any other ranking it’s pointless. Let’s say we are technically ranked 53rd on the list. How accurate can that possibly be and what difference does it make? In my mind App football is solidly in the top 40 programs which is the top 3rd. I feel pretty secure in saying that and we all know that annually we find those guys that just come in and over exceed their recruiting ranking. I find it comical that a kid can be ranked a 3 star talent but have some other metric of 3.11685 or whatever they use.

The only number that matters is the number of wins at the end of a season. Just because you have a highly ranked class does not directly translate into wins. Appalachian is a different kind of program that develops players and because of that we make good people greater instead of great people great.

Just like the number one draft pick in the NFL. Sometimes those people are a bust and fail to live up to expectations.

Sometimes those highly ranked recruiting classes have extremely selfish players who are only interested in what they need to do to be drafted high in the draft instead of what they need to do for their team to be successful on the field and in life.

Not that lists matter as stated above. We only had like 14 or 15 in this class I believe. The lower quantity can impact you unless all were 4 or 5 Star recruits.

Marshall 72 and Coastal at 75 were near the bottom of the list , no other SunBelt schools.I do think Arky State was on a previous version.

Drink came in at 11 right after Mack ,the $5.000.000 man.

App State Football Team Goals:

• Be mentioned in recruiting rankings lists & preseason polls

• Crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and hear the lamentation of the women

We fell well short of that.

I don't expect us to be a top 10 recruiting program, as that is not realistic. However, if we are going to expect our program to continue to rise through the FBS ranks to get better year of year, and "continue to be a top 25 program" then we have to be in at least this top 75 lists every year. I know the recruiting ranking system is less than perfect so I don't get into nuances of small differences. We do recruit specific types of players for our program. Here is what I am saying, if our recruiting ranking is 75 and it is really 50, I can get that, but if you are not in the top 75 list, and your competition is, I don't think you can dismiss that on a long term basis.

My example would be ULL had top or near top recruiting of SBC over last few years and to no surprise, they rose to top of SBC, ABOVE App State. There is proof that there was truth to the consist recruiting rankings. If we totally ignore that fact or disregard the recruiting rankings because we don't like their methodology then we are fooling ourselves and our program will fall into mediocrity. The fact is, in general, if you CONSISTENTLY are ranked higher than peers, you will outperform them.

If you look at the list of highest rated recruits all time on 24/7, you have to go down to #17 on the list to find a player that has started and contributed multiple years. (Brendan Harrington) most of them are either young guys that haven’t made an impact yet, or are no longer with the team. (DBG, Raykwon, Ellis, Wright). Hell, our lowest rated 2022 guy led the nation in rushing this year. My point is that the rankings, particularly at the G5 level need to be taken with a grain of salt.

The only ranking that matters is, "Where we are ranked in the playoffs?"