I've been thinking about this, especially with all the arguing going on in these boards...
Short of having a legit billionaire(s) bankrolling your ass like Oregon, Michigan, Texas Tech, etc. where you essentially have no internal salary cap, maybe we should do the following:
1. Very, very selectively pursue what would be considered can't miss (or rarely missed) 5 star prospects who you have to break the bank for only at certain positions that don't take a lot of time to develop and they can hit the field early and you are maximizing your dollars. The best example would be WR. Like JJ Smith? Go get him. RB would be another example, maybe even LB.
2. QB will ALWAYS be vital and, though it will take a year or two of development, you still have to have that attitude with that position.
3. But for most other positions, rarely, if ever, target the expensive five stars or even very high four stars (maybe I'm saying stay out of the top 50-100 players in the country). Go down the list just a tad, pay less, and have the expectation that these kids will take at least two years, but most likely 3+ to ever start here and be open to development. The position group that is the most obvious example of this working would be offensive line and probably defensive line as well. Hell with the David Sanders Jr. types - let the other schools go crazy breaking the bank.
Another key to success that I've noticed with the last two championship rosters?
You want a bunch of very good players that are good enough to be drafted somewhere in the late first round - fifth round, but not a ton of ultra-elites that bail after their third year in the program to the NFL. We kind of "lucked out" in a way that our championship team full of seniors that fit these parameters, and were able to make at least comparable money through NIL to come back.
Bottom line is that I think we may need to shift our minds to a more Butler basketball model over the Kentucky model, and rely on a bunch of 3rd - 5th year grizzled veterans to take us where we want to go...
