I think your “scout team” point, which I agree with, hurts the argument for striving for a high-powered D1 football program. Almost everyone on this forum has kids who have a similar level of “grit” as D1 football players. What most of our kids lack is equivalent size and speed. Maybe top 1% athleticism makes you a better solider, but I would imagine in modern warfare that probably isn’t too big a factor.
If Army wants a great football team for recruiting, fundraising, prestige and most importantly, to stick it to Navy, that’s fine. But the guys on the football team probably don’t have much more grit than anyone who plays competitive team sports. They just have a much higher level of athleticism and size.
And please don’t jump into how much time it takes to play a D1 sport. That isn’t the point. It’s before they got to USMA, they were putting in the same amount of time as the kids who busted their butts to start on a team because they DON’T have the natural God-given gifts.