Of course, getting good football players is a big reason why it happened.
Program stability is another factor, naturally. And right along those lines, having older, more mature players showing the younger guys the ropes can also play a big role in a football program’s continued success.
Take Penn State’s Linebacker U. tradition, for instance, where Dennis Onkotz got things started in 1968 and soon after that Jack Ham came along, and then Greg Buttle, then later Shane Conlan, Lavar Arrington, Paul Posluszny, Sean Lee and so on.
The tree grew taller and wider, in part, because of the older players helping the younger ones along.