ESPN does interesting piece on the evolution of recruiting hotbeds

When you think of the top tier states for high school football, three states immediately come to mind. California, Texas, and Florida have dominated the recruiting landscape for decades and have firmly established themselves as the hotbeds for the nation's top recruits each year.

ESPN did an interesting piece looking at the shift in states that dominate recruiting and noted that back in 2010, the last time that rosters were examined, nearly 38% of players on the top 20 teams in college football were from Florida, Texas and California. That is a drastic different picture than the 1960's when players from those states made up just over 16% of rosters for top 20 teams.

As ESPN points out, back in the 60's it was Ohio and Pennsylvania that dominated recruiting. Those two states had 241 combined players on rosters of top 20 programs, compared to just 179 combined from today's hotbeds of California, Florida and Texas. Now, nearly 50 years later, the three top tier states account for 782 players on those top 20 teams, while Ohio and Pennsylvania account for just 138.

That's quite the shift.

The full length ESPN article has some good takes and opinions, which can be read here, as to why the shift has taken place and why those three states stand head and shoulders above everyone else in the recruiting world.

One recruit from Texas had an interesting answer. He explained that the hot summer conditions, coupled with the passion for high school football in the Lone Star state weeds out the weak and leaves just the strong and committed standing. A couple California guys explain that their education into the intracies of the game is more well rounded and they adjust better to the media than their counterparts because they're constantly surrounded by it.

This article is definitely worth a quick look.