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 Friday, December 13, 2002
The draft is a good indicator of each program
By Terry Bowden
Special to BCSfootball.com
Bowden's Weekly Chat Show
As a college football analyst, I just love the NFL Draft. Next to actual wins and losses, nothing is more telling about a college football program than how many players it has drafted.
|  | | Santana Moss is one of four Miami Hurricanes who could be picked in the first round. |
Too many college fans take a myopic view of their football program. How good are we right now? How talented is our backup quarterback? What kind of recruiting year did we have? Actually, if you want to know the health of your program, you should look at and evaluate more closely the number of players taken in each year's draft.
I have stated many times that you win football games with talent and experience. There is nothing profound about that. Having the best guys with the most experience on the field is the surest way to guarantee a W.
So what is the best indicator of talent and experience? Is it looking at a list of recruits? Is it the bench press totals of your interior linemen? Is it the head coach's quotes about how spring ball went?
No, no and no.
The most objective way to evaluate talent and experience is by watching the draft -- not just this year but every year. If, year in and year out, your team has more players drafted into the NFL than your opponents, you ought to be winning a lot of football games. If your team has more players drafted into the NFL than your opponents and you are losing a lot of games, then you better be taking a closer look at your coaching staff.
Come to think of it, analyzing the number of kids you have drafted may tell you more about an underachieving football program than an overachieving one. That is, if you don't have many players ever drafted in the NFL, your school may just not be able to attract that quality of athlete regardless of what the coaches do. But, if your team always has a good number of athletes drafted and still loses a lot of games ? uh-oh.
Let's analyze the formula for building a successful football program.
First, you recruit the best football players that have a combination of talent, academic ability and character. You provide them with a great strength and conditioning program to make them as strong and fast as they can be. You give them a great academic support system so they are working toward a degree and staying around until they can help you on the field. And finally, you hire the finest coaches to teach them good fundamentals and develop their skills. If you do all these things, you should end up with a nice group of juniors and seniors each year, win a bunch of football games and make a good showing on Draft Day.
ESPN's NFL Draft analyst, Mel Kiper, predicted that Miami would have as many as four players drafted in the first round. Is it any wonder the 'Canes finished last season 11-1 and No. 2 in the country?
Georgia is expected to have more players drafted into the NFL than any other school in the Southeastern Conference. Is it any wonder the 'Dawgs were so disappointed last season when they lost three games to other conference teams?
Terry Bowden was the head coach at Auburn from 1993-98. He is ABC's college football studio analyst and is a regular contributor to BCSfootball.com.
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