[baseball1974]

Smaller schools go through cycles when there arent many athletes unless you actively recruit every year. M'Boro has some good athletes, but just not enough to be a regional contender at the moment.

So you're basically saying that every 1A or 2A school with a consistently good team is doing it by recruiting? That's silly. That's a slap-in-the-face to every good coach that has put time and effort into building a solid program. It does take a little bit of extra work, but building a solid program is doable at any school. I've even seen coaches that are not that knowledgable about the game, but still put out a consistently descent team because of the amount of work they put into it. I've also seen coaches that are very knowledgable but only have good teams when the talent shows up, because they don't put in the extra work needed. Talent is a bonus. You can have good solid teams with mediocre talent by teaching them work ethic and teamwork. If you want to show up in January and expect to compete for a regional title then you're going to be let down every year. Championships are won in the off-season.