The recruiting staff was increased by 4 people to 8 in 2018. A large donor matched donations to pay for two years of the increased staff. I don't remember exactly when, but it seems as though those positions were filled around March-April of last year. Too late to have a large impact on the 2019 class, but it should start helping with the 2020 class. It is still half of what Duke has.
Other ACC teams have other support staff also. I remember a comment by CPJ a few years ago the Clemson had more staff travel with the team than GT had on staff. Whether looking at the old staff or the new staff, it makes a big difference. When travelling , if the coaching staff doesn't have to worry about any operations/logistics/schedule/coordination/curfew/etc issues and can concentrate purely on football, that is a big advantage. During the season if there are staff that are putting together game film for upcoming opponents and have that footage cut, selected, and assembled early Sunday morning before the coaches begin game planning for the week, that is a big advantage. For recruiting, if there are 10 people on staff who pre-screen players, look at film, coordinate with HS coaches, that is a big advantage over a team on which the coaches do most of that work themselves.
This isn't an "excuse" for CPJ, it hurts the current staff also. No matter how people felt about CPJ, and no matter how they feel about CGC, if we fans want the team to be successful, they need our support. Not just on the Internet, not just yelling at the TV, but in donations to be able to support the coaches in the same ways that most ACC teams are doing.
