I wonder if it's strictly the case that Martin did a "bad job" or if it's also a case of "powers that be" at ND being hyper conservative with what ND allows the football program to offer guys and actually giving Martin very little control of the financial purse strings.
It feels to me like ND's money side of things and football operations side of things are largely disjointed and there is some protectionism of ND's available treasure happening thay may be handcuffing Martin and Freeman from having the flexibility they need to win a fast paced bidding war. It's as if the "checks and balances" ND has in place are standing in the way of the dynamics associated with the Portal.
ND has done well in previous classes because they were able to spend days putting together packages for players in advance of the Portal opening, then announcing them when it was legal to do so. In this "free agency" type frenzy they're processes are too slow and too conservative to keep up with what's happening around them.
Per usual with ND, this feels reactive vs proactive and hyper conservative and regressive, rather than bold and cutting edge.
Tbh I don't know. I know that with Marsh specifically we had a big money package ready with ND that his representation said they were happy with... then he goes to IU and gets offered $2.3M? So I don't know how you put that on Martin when he seems to have done his job, we just got played. It's a lot like Minchey and Nebraska just not quite as bad. The only thing I would probably put on Martin (or "process" in general) is that IU got first visit and he never set foot here.
I think your your last three paragraphs are all accurate. First of all, ND has never been trying to go into the portal for a "big splash" ... Sam Hartman and Riley Leonard would be the closest things and those guys were bargains relative to current figures. Second, everything has gotten concentrated into one frenetic portal. So if you miss here, there is no Spring portal to figure your shit out, which is why everyone is acting crazy.
When your process at Texas Tech is "this one eccentric dude will personally cut the check for whoever you tell him you need" that is worlds easier than need to build consensus between multiple stakeholders regardless of who those guys are. Sorsby getting paid $5M is a TOTAL JOKE but it's just one dude's money so who's to argue?
The lesson learned from ND is probably some version of "you need contracts agree to in principle before the portal opens up, then you need the person to visit + sign immediately and if they don't you need to have Option B and Option C lined up." With that being said, I bet you see legislation passed before 2028 at the latest and we never have to go through this shit again.
