LSU Football: The most important aspect of college football recruiting

LSU football currently has the nation’s No. 4 rated 2020 recruiting class.

For LSU football, and every other program in the nation, recruiting is a grind that never stops.

That’s because recruiting is the lifeblood of college football.

Championships can’t be won without elite players. And to land elite players, relationships have to be built, which takes a LOT of time.

For elite programs, recruiting is a bit easier. Great players want to play at great programs.

But there’s still a lot of work that goes into recruiting for programs like LSU, Alabama, Georgia, Ohio State, etc.

Just because a program is successful doesn’t mean five-star players are knocking down the door to get in.

Highly touted players want to go to a program where they can win a national championship, get to the NFL, and have a great relationship with the staff.

That relationship is perhaps the most important aspect of the recruiting process.

Don’t believe me?

Just look at 2021 five-star running back Camar Wheaton — the top rated running back in the nation.

Wheaton took a visit to LSU this weekend. He talked to Geaux247 about his visit and something he said stood out to me.

The Texas native told Geaux247 that before this year, he didn’t watch much college football.

I mean, this is one of the top 2021 players in the nation (No. 6 overall according to 247Sports), and he barely watched college football before the 2019 season?

Perhaps Wheaton is an outlier. But maybe he’s not. I think this shows that while a program can have unprecedented success, it might not mean much to a recruit.

The relationship that’s built between the recruit and the staff, however, is what really matters.

LSU’s championship season carries a lot of weight. And maybe it gets the Tigers some visits from recruits that weren’t previously considering LSU.

But at the end of the day, it’s up to Ed Orgeron and his staff to build a meaningful relationship with each and every player they recruit.

Obviously LSU is pretty good at doing building those relationships, considering the recruiting success they’ve experienced in recent years.