Extra Points: Will Glory Days ever return at Miami, FSU or Nebraska?

Once they were CFB giants, but Nebraska, FSU and Miami are now after thoughts.

Tony Barnhart (Mr. CFB) and Mark Blaudschun (A Jersey Guy) both love college football, but they often have differing few points.

Topic: Will Florida State, Nebraska and Miami ever return to the upper levels of CFB?

A Jersey Guy:  

For Florida State and Miami, absolutely.

For Nebraska. Not so much.

Here's why Mr. CFB.

Both FSU and Miami are in the ACC, which is not top-heavy with monsters. And this season, Clemson, shows signs of slipping, which means that there is a clear path to the top--if you do the right things, the right way.

That starts with coaching. Miami's glory days came under Howard Schnellenberger, Jimmy Johnson, Butch Davis and Dennis Ericikson.

But that was more than 20 years ago and a draw full of coaches and athletic directors who want to create the magic.

Manny  Diaz is not the answer. But somewhere out there is another Urban Meyer, Bob Stoops or Dabo Swinney.

Get the right coach, let him fertilize the rich recruiting soil of South  Florida and the Canes can make a return.

FSU may have the right guy in Mike Norvell, but he has to start showing it quickly or he will be gone too. Still, it's the ACC, not SEC and FSU can make a return as well.

Nebraska is another issue.  The Huskers never will be THE school in the Big Ten and Scott Frost is not the solution either. Entice Matt Campbell from Iowa State or make a move towards Luke Fickell and maybe they can become at least a player in the Big Ten West.

The bottom line is that it can be done with the right coach and we're talking all the way back.

Mr. College Football:

I will open by paraphrasing a quote from  Judge Chamberlain Haller (played so well by the late Fred Gwynne) from "My Cousin Vinny."

Jersey Guy, you made a well thought-out, reasonable and cogent argument.

It just happens to be wrong.

I don't think the glory days are coming back for any of the three schools we are discussing today.

So I'll concede on the Nebraska argument. Moving to the Big Ten was the right thing to do financially and it gave the Huskers the opportunity to forever put the University of Texas in their rear view mirror. 

But from a football standpoint, it has been a horrible, horrible move.

Recruiting has changed dramatically since the days of Bob Devaney and Dr. Tom Osborne when players like I.M. Hipp would leave the South (he was from Chapin, S.C.) and show up on Nebraska's doorstep. Those players are staying home. They are certainly not going to the cold of Lincoln, Neb.

As for Florida State and Miami, I'll give you three reasons why those two schools are not going to challenge for national championships anytime soon:

S....E....C!

S.....E....C!

S.....E.....C!

All of those great players that Howard Schnellenberger and Jimmy Johnson, and Dennis Erickson used to get out of South Florida aren't coming to The U. anymore. At least not in the numbers they once did.  They are going to the SEC, which has had more players drafted than any other conference  for about 100 straight years.

Okay, that's a slight exaggeration. The SEC has actually led all conferences in the number of players drafted for 15 consecutive years.

Last April a record 65 SEC players were taken in the draft.

The same goes for Florida State. Bobby Bowden built it and Jimbo Fisher maintained it, winning a national championnship in 2013. But since Jimbo left for Texas A&M it's all been downhill in Tallahassee.  Back in the day Florida State was the cool place to go to school and play football and recruits would come from all over the country just to be a part of it.

Bottom line: The SEC just provides more options than the ACC to get to the NFL. And that's the bottom line.

And this just in: The SEC is about to get even stronger as Texas and Oklahoma are coming aboard in the near future.

I would personally love to see Florida State and Miami return to their former glory. Some of my favorite memories covering the sport are of those classic Florida State-Miami games.

But there's the reality: Deion Sanders and Michael Irvin ain't walking through that door. They're at Alabama and Georgia.