I know it's a special case, but has anyone ever imagined Indiana being undefeated into mid-November? I don't think it's recruiting, so it must be ...
I looked up his record yesterday and his first 2 years, they were 5-7, but 2-7 in conference and literally played no one OOC. I say this just because I think our vocal anti-CGC fans need to be more patient. It takes a lot of coaches 2 seasons to get their players and system installed and then that 3rd year is where you should some pay off. Another coach who struggled his first 2 years is Dave Clawson. IIRC they were 2-10 and then 3-9 his first 2 years and are now a well-coached and competitive team.
Back to your point, their recruiting has seen an uptick. But, Allen is a really good coach too. I don't think anyone is saying that coaching and scheme is not important, but the most talented teams will win 9/10 times. Take Miami for example, I don't think Diaz is a good coach, but they only have 1 loss which was to Clemson who is obviously more talented than them. It seems like Miami always plays down to their competition, but sneaks out with a win based on talent.