four-star recruits into five-star performers.

You have the likes of Iowa, Baylor, Oklahoma State, Utah, Wisconsin and, the classic case from the Southeastern Conference, Kentucky.

With the exception of Baylor, what do these developmental programs have in common? For one, longevity in the head-coaching chair.

Entering his 24th season at Iowa, Kirk Ferentz is the longest-tenured coach at the FBS level, followed by Oklahoma State’s Mike Gundy and Utah’s Kyle Whittingham, both entering their 18th season. Paul Chryst enters his ninth year as Wisconsin’s head coach but also spent a decade in Madison as a player and assistant coach.

In the SEC, only Alabama’s Nick Saban has been in place longer than Kentucky’s Mark Stoops, who begins his 10th year in Lexington. Stoops’ Wildcats have been to six straight bowls and won 10 games twice over the last four seasons. He needs two victories to become the program’s career leader.

But he’s done it without making national headlines on national signing day. Over the last decade, UK has signed just two top-20 recruiting classes, per Rivals.com‘s annual class rankings, with an average class rank of 26.4.

That tracks similarly with recent rankings at other high-performing developmental programs. Since 2015, Iowa’s average class ranks 34.1. Wisconsin, 30.9. Oklahoma State, 38.1. Utah, 39.0. Baylor, 44.7. Still, those programs continue to compete for conference championships and have contended for College Football Playoff appearances.

Stoops’ secret?

“Build, select and develop,” he said at last month’s SEC media days. “That’s what we are. We may change the narrative, change how we do it, different tactics each year. But bottom line is continue to build that attitude, continue to build the culture that we’re looking for at Kentucky. Extremely important in this day and age.”

Mizzou focus

That brings the conversation to Missouri.

The Tigers’ best years under former coach and Hall of Famebound Gary Pinkel were built on carefully identified and meticulously developed rosters and not readymade five-star superstars.

From 2002-2015, Pinkel’s average class ranking was 33.7, peaking at No. 21 in 2010. The rankings stayed consistent once Mizzou joined the SEC 10 years ago: 33.3 from 2012-15. Under Pinkel, the Tigers punched above their weight class, turned unheralded recruits into local legends and experienced sustained success.

Now, while Alabama and Georgia continue to dominate recruiting, it’s worth wondering, can developmental programs still win big in the SEC?

“Oh, absolutely,” said first-year Missouri defensive coordinator Blake Baker, who’s also coached at Texas, Miami and LSU. “There’s some teams on this side of the ball (defense) that you look at that would be considered a development program, and they’re winning nine, 10 games a year. So it’s been proven it can be done. You’ve got to do a good job evaluating talent and then also a good job developing talent when you get here.

“Also, not only talent but people. I think when you look at college football a lot of the times everybody’s talented. You usually miss because maybe they can’t pick up a scheme like you thought they could or maybe they’re doing stuff outside of this building they shouldn’t do. But usually from a talent standpoint, I think you can definitely develop consistently year after year after year.”

Mastering the Pinkel blueprint could be easier said than done for third-year Tigers coach Eli Drinkwitz, though he’s already proven he can recruit talent at unprecedented levels. His last two signing classes ranked Nos. 12 and 19, respectively, with five-star receiver Luther Burden III the headliner in the current freshman class.

Those are Mizzou’s highestranked classes in the 20-year modern era of the recruiting rankings. Only five other SEC programs also signed top-20 classes in 2021 and 2022: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, LSU and Texas A&M.

Still, Drinkwitz believes the developmental approach can work at programs like Mizzou — with a caveat.

“It’s hard to do if you’re getting rid of coaches every three years,” he said. “If you’re not gonna give people time to develop and build their programs in the end, it’s a tough way to go.”

Key holdovers

Drinkwitz’s third Missouri roster is a case study in the calculus of program development. Roughly half of the team’s projected starters played under former coach Barry Odom or verbally committed to play for Odom before he was fired following the 2019 season. That includes newly named starting quarterback Brady Cook, who stuck with his pledge after Drinkwitz arrived.

Other Odom recruits who developed into multiyear starters over time include receiver Tauskie Dove, offensive linemen Javon Foster, Xavier Delgado and Hyrin White, defensive linemen Isaiah Mcguire, Trajan Jeffcoat and Darius Robinson, linebacker Chad Bailey and safety Martez Manuel. For the Tigers to exceed expectations this fall — they’re widely picked to finish sixth in the SEC East — the veterans will have to blend with Drinkwitz recruiting additions and transfer portal imports.

That’s where Baker sees hope in Mizzou’s developmental approach.

“I would say the biggest thing that’s probably maybe a little different (at Mizzou) than the last couple places I’ve been is guys are willing to continue to develop for their fourth and fifth year,” he said. “Where maybe some of the other places I’ve been, after three (years) they’re out.”

There’s once place on the roster, Drinkwitz believes, where patience and development are essential: quarterback. He’s still building traction there — Cook will be his third Week 1 starter in three years — and insists he won’t rush fourstar freshman Sam Horn into action before he’s ready.

“Quarterbacks have to develop into their selves,” he said. “They’ve got to find their identity as a quarterback, and then they’ve got to find their identity within the framework of the offense. It’s hard to play all the positions in college football, but man, it’s really hard to play quarterback, especially with the expectations and the pressure.”

Success, Drinkwitz insists, requires time — in more ways than one.

“We told Sam we’re putting him in the incubator,” he said. “Make him bake a little bit.”