I think he does recruit well enough, but he struggles with finding the right QB. He hasn't done anything with any QB he has ever recruited. He has always relied on a transfer from another school. I do not follow Auburn recruiting so I don't know if this is because he is striking out on QBs he wants, and settling, or if he is a poor judge of QB talent. He does not do well with pocket passers. He needs a dual threat, IMO. Last year looked nice but ended up still being a 4 loss season because while Stidham has a great arm and isn't a statue in the pocket, he's not a true dual threat.
Either Gus has a fascination with having a pro-style pocket passing QB or he is trying to fit such a QB into an RPO, option read style offense. They have only ever looked truly great when they had Cam and Nick Marshall.