Here’s a really nice graphic illustrating which schools overperformed and which underperformed with their 2022 classes, compared with recent history.
Yeah, yeah, Texas A&M. What’s impressive to me, though, is that even though they finished behind the Aggies this time, both Alabama and Georgia managed to better the average of their recent signing class scores.
And, following up on yesterday’s post, look at the results for Kentucky and Missouri, then compare that with Florida and Tennessee. One class and that’s not a big deal. If it’s the start of a trend, though…
Get The Picture 
A&M might think they are closing the gap, but it will just widen again with the coaching and development Georgia and Bama do. Fisher is overrated, and Foley is a dunce.
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The only true way to keep the check writers at bay…have the bestest, # uno crootin’ class of all times, they will cut the a&m hc loose in 2-3 years or, or he’ll just quietly move on to another job…
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So you’re saying the man who’s already dragged one program out of the ditch to a national title, beat Bama last year, and just closed out the highest rated recruiting class ever….. is doomed?
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MGW, do you mean the coach who won a national title because he looked the other way while his star QB was out of control, flipped off his fan base, and ran that program into the ground from which it still hasn’t recovered after losing said QB is doomed? The same coach who hasn’t sniffed an appearance in the SECCG although he is in the most fertile recruiting ground in the country?
I stand by what I wrote. Fisher is overrated, and, if not for enabling Crab Legs, would have never won a title at his previous employer. He got lucky in College Station this year beating Alabama.
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Yeah you’re right, he sucks. They’re going down hard. Big mistake hiring that guy.
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I didn’t say it was a mistake to hire him. I think he’s overrated for what he has done recently (if he doesn’t beat Bama last year, he’s on a hot seat instead of having the #1 class). He isn’t one of the best coaches in the game right now. By the way, Clemson started owning Florida State … that’s why Fisher got out of Tallahassee because his line of scrimmage recruiting went straight to hell.
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I’m with you EE, the bloom was off the FSU rose and Fisher knew it. He’s not trash, but I think he saw the writing on the wall. With Kirby’s sudden Northern incursion, Saban to his West and Clemson to the East, a boatload of cash in the recruiting hotbed of Texas was his golden parachute, for now. I doubt he threw away his moving boxes….
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Everyone knew the bloom was off the FSU rose, but only the folks in Tallahassee honestly though the bloom was off Fisher’s. Ain’t like A&M was the only program willing to break the bank to bring him to town (then or since). They got entitled and restless, and he called them out on it by jumping ship. History has proven him correct so far.
Like it or not, he’s one of the best coaches in the game…. if your goal is to win championships. If your goal is to win “the right way,” well then y’all might have some valid complaints against the man. As it stands, he’s well on his way to doing exactly what A&M hired him to do; win with talent.
Nobody’s ever mistaken Fisher for a “make chicken salad out of chicken shit with crack play calling/scheme” kind of coach. He’s a Saban disciple who’s been steadily improving their recruiting, and just crossed into the recruiting stratosphere of the elites. Underestimate him, call him a jerk, nitpick games he might should have won and QB’s who didn’t pan out all you want; the man’s got A&M right on track to legitimately compete for championships.
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What has Jimbo done beyond obstructing justice in Tallahassee? He’s 34-14 at A$M. Sumlin was 51-26. Their recruiting over the Fisher years is #1, #8, #6, #4, #17 (his first year). Before that, they were #13, #18, #11. So he’s improved their recruiting nationally. But within the SEC his composite talent still is behind Alabama, Georgia, LSU and Florida. So he still hasn’t closed the gap, and his record certainly shows that.
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I don’t think you are recalling the FSU situation correctly; FSU had just signed Fisher to big multiyear contract extension the previous season, it made him one of the top 5 paid coaches in all of college football. I have many FSU fans in my circles, they all loved him. NOBODY thought he would even consider leaving, they thought he was their new Bobby B.
FSU was stacked with talent when he bolted, multiple top 5 recruiting classes, but he had somehow lost 6 games that season. He’s making something like $6 mil guaranteed for years to come, but he knew the neighborhood was only getting rougher and Famous Jameis part II wasn’t walking through the door anytime soon. He jumped for greener pastures and a couple more mil a year while he had the chance, it’s as simple as that.
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By any other metric he’s a charlatan.
I could probably drink a beer with him, but he’s still a charlatan .
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Interestingly enough, A&M’s athletic director is Ross Bjork. The same Ross Bjork that was AD at Ole Miss after Freeze was hired (he didn’t hire Freeze and became AD after that hire). The same Ross Bjork that defended Freeze for years amid rumors and speculation until the school had no choice to fire Freeze when the truth was made public about Freeze’s behind-the-scenes activities while head coach.
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Laremy Tunsil has no recollection of hugh freeze being a coach at ol’ miss, but did say he enjoyed times spent talking and laffing on those 800 #’s…
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Yeah, this highlights what I was saying yesterday. A$M got a great class this year, but their previous classes are mediocre by SEC standards (yeah, top 10 nationally but behind Bama, Georgia, LSU and even Florida) so they’ve got some catching up to do. Given Jimbo’s lack of QB development and usual 8-4 or 9-3 season, his seat will be getting really warm if he doesn’t go 11-1 next season (10-2 may quiet the grumbling depending on the second loss). They are going to get smoked at Bama next season.
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Texas A$M 5 star signees under Jimbo:
2018 – 0
2019 – 2
2020 – 2
2021 – 1
NIL
2022 – 7
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One year isn’t a trend.
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Which is I guess your point. 🙂
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Yes.
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Lotta orange on the wrong side of the line there, hate to see it……
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I reckon life is good for you across the river behind the lines these days, eh Riggermon?
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Yup. I have to say though, a lot of G’s got stuck on cars after the game. Not sure what I think about new sidewalk fans. But yeah, my G flag is still flying and the Clemson asshole across the street has to look at it every time he leaves his driveway.
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“Clemson asshole”.
My Dawg!
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I noticed the Bama flag that was flying all last year is gone in my neighborhood. 🙂 I need to make sure we get a Dawg flag.
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Clemson Asshole. Isn’t that redundant?
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Indeed!!
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I see a lot of rivals south of that line. Good times
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Seems like there might be some stars inflation going on since vast majority of schools are above the line.
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Great insight there. The recruiting services have to get subscribers. I think this is why Kirby always says he doesn’t look at the ratings. They do their own independent evaluation.
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Also made me think of reports of coaches calling around trying to inflate the stars of their signees. I mean, you can get fired if the stars aren’t there. Ask Mullen.
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How is it possible only 13 schools were below their average …. Doesn’t that go against the law of averages , or math ? Or has inflation infected the player rankings also ?
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Hey, we’re ALL above average here, bub!
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Sark quietly snuck up to the top.
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Sucked up to the top!!!!!
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If you look at the composite score of the top 3, it’s basically splitting hairs to rank them 1-2-3. The fact that Saban and Kirby stack these classes annually is way more impressive than a one-off.
Also, the composite scores really fall off a cliff outside the top 3. Clemson is in the 250s down at #11 compared with the 320s at the top.
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That top three is definitely within the margin of error. Get back to me once the Aggies start stackin’ those top three recruiting classes.
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How does this change when Overton signs?
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I was looking at 247’s Talent Composite and noticed that Tech was at 33, right behind Kentucky & Utah and just ahead of Michigan State, Pitt and a couple other ACC teams.
I’m sure that doesn’t count the absolute latest numbers with this week’s signees, but talk about not getting much bang for your buck.
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GT at 33 seems impressive to me. JMHO.
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The Gator Nation tells me that Billy can recruit, but I’ve definitely seen better efforts from a first year coach before. He’s doing great in the portal, though, I guess we’ll see if 2022 looks good enough to get high schoolers to sign up next year.
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Tennessee, meanwhile, woof. The early signing period really screws over coaches taking over programs so Billy can be excused at Florida, it’s just a real tough deal for a coaching change these days. But Heupel doesn’t have that excuse. He needed a much better showing up there in Vol Land.
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I know him, know the family well. My son played for his dad. He’s going to be better than people realize. I wish LSU had hired him myself. I believe he will have FU at 10-2 before we want them there
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As long as 1 of those 2 is in Jacksonville every year, I’m fine with it.
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I could see that once every 4-5 years.
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I covered Murray County High School back in my sports reporting days when his dad was the coach there. It was a few years after Billy had moved on to Furman. His dad was a great man. Really respected him. It’s a shame I have to hate his son now, but I’ll do so with gusto. 129 other D-1 jobs he could gone after, man. LOL
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My son started at DE the next four years after Billy left.
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More coaches are going to turn to the portal going forward because those players won’t be able to transfer afterward without penalty; unlike new high school recruits.
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Had not considered that angle. Certainly locks them in like the old days so you have a better idea what you’re working with year to year.
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Not sure looking at who is coming in the door is going to mean what it has in the past with the portal draining them out after a year or two! That begs the big question that everyone knows!? What is it going to take to sign a class like A&M, Bama or UGA just did and keep them happy with NIL money, playing time and the rest of the promises made to get them onboard? Sure going to be fun watching Jimbo heard those 5* cats, wonder how many Jamison’s are in there?
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That’s a lot of teams above the line. Looks like recruit inflation to me
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If Kansas recruited below it’s average it must have stocked up on Glascock High players this year.
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I like seeing Clemson on the wrong side of that line.
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