The world of recruiting in college football has become an arms race over the last decade. No longer do the teams with the best coaching staff and the best track record of development get all of the best players to come to their program, but instead, it’s usually the schools with the nicest facilities and the most grandiose sales pitch that is king.
Now in the world of NIL, it often becomes he who can write the biggest number on a check that is king, as well.
There’s a lot that goes on behind the scenes in the world of recruiting that fans often never think of. We see the pictures of the visits and the uniform try-ons for young players considering a school. However, your average fan probably rarely considers all of the logistics and legwork that has to go into making a weekend visit a success. You have transportation, lodging, meals, and personnel all in this mix, with many other things incorporated as well.
Recently, USA Today released a list of the top spenders in college football. Unsurprisingly, some of the names you would expect are near the top of the list. However, recruiting expenses didn’t always translate directly to recruiting success in the 2023 class for some schools, while others lower on the list saw a great bang for their buck in the recruiting world.
Where do the Oregon Ducks rank as far as recruiting expenses went in 2022, though? Take a look: