Mizzou: Do Tigers need to offer more scholarships to higher caliber recruits?

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During his time in Columbia, Gary Pinkel has had a plan in place when it comes to recruiting.  He picks and chooses his battles for the big names, the four and five star recruits, and then does an unbelievable job of scouting players who may be slightly undersized or too slow to receive such notoriety. Then, Pinkel develops them, and he develops them well, as Mizzou has had numerous players selected in the first round of the NFL Draft on both sides of the ball during the past several years. .

But now that the Tigers are entering their third season in the SEC, does Pinkel need to become more active in the arena of offering four and five star recruits scholarships?  Or should he continue to stick with the plan, choose his battles, and focus on player development?  This caught my attention thanks to a tweet from The Colonel, who points out that only Vandy has made fewer four and five star offers than Mizzou in the SEC.



Reaction and commentary: I am perfectly fine with the way that Pinkel is running things and I think he can continue to succeed.  Pinkel is doing something correct and has an eye of seeing something that others are not.  He has an ability to turn raw, overlooked talent (see Aldon Smith) into NFL prospects and has an impressive history in doing so.

That being said, as Pinkel and his staff continue to make in-roads in Georgia and Florida, much the same way they did in Texas when the school was apart of the Big 12, it would be nice for Mizzou to be more aggressive on the higher profile kids in those states, especially following a season where the Tigers won the SEC East and beat Georgia and Florida as well.

I am not sure Pinkel will win many battles for five-star offensive lineman or defensive backs when other SEC powers are in the mix.  I do not think Mizzou is ready to compete with the Alabama's or LSU's in that arena just yet. But being a tad bit more aggressive and following up that aggression with another strong season will continue to move the needle closer to where Pinkel is inevitably taking this program.

Mizzou does not just want to be accepted in the SEC.  The Tigers think, and should think, that they can be a power.

Pinkel should not change the recruiting recipe much.  He should continue to do what he is good at, which is finding overlooked kids with great attitudes and then develop them in to stars.

But going after a few more big names won't hurt things either.

Thanks for reading, @CoreyRudd

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