I’m not sure the header quote needs elaboration, but, in case you’re interested, the N.C.A.A. Division I Council is considering a proposal that would ban all recruiting contact between coaches and athletes until June 15 of the prospective student’s sophomore year in high school.
What would Lane Kiffin do with all that extra time?
Filed under Recruiting, The NCAA
I came across a post at Rock M Nation that evaluates Missouri recruiting’s offensive talent profile when compared to the rest of the SEC. Here’s the general summation of the last five signed classes:
So, on average, Missouri is signing players that are about 9 percent less highly rated stars-wise and 3 percent less highly rated 247 rating-wise than its SEC counterparts.
Those numbers compare favorably with Kentucky (3.12 stars, .8598) and Vanderbilt (2.98, .8436) and not so favorably with, say, Alabama (3.98, .9318), Georgia (3.85, .9200), Auburn (3.68, .9104), LSU (3.65, .9008) and Florida (3.53, .8979).
Alabama, Auburn, Georgia and Florida, not so coincidentally, are the schools that have beaten Missouri out for either the SEC East or SEC crown in each of its seven years in the league. Because, while recruiting rankings may miss on a player-by-player basis, the cumulative effect is real.
Missouri has been able to compete the most at quarterback — thanks a lot to Drew Lock and Kelly Bryant — and line, where it is only about 7-8 percent off the league star average. At the skill positions — receiver especially — the Tigers fall off a bit more. All the way to 12 percent underwater at receiver.
Skill pieces like Larry Rountree, Damarea Crockett, Emanuel Hall, Albert Okwuegbunam and Jalen Knox are very nice pieces, yes. Skill pieces like the kind Alabama (.9287 receivers, .9382 average backs) and Georgia (.9052 receivers, .9402 average backs) get challenge for national championships.
Note that hierarchy again: Alabama (3.98, .9318), Georgia (3.85, .9200), Auburn (3.68, .9104), LSU (3.65, .9008) and Florida (3.53, .8979). The gap between Alabama and Georgia is roughly on the same level as that between Georgia and Auburn. And before you say that gap with Saban is closing, note the huge margin of difference in the 2017 classes. That ‘Bama class is ridiculous, and a reason why the Tide’s offense exploded last season.
Georgia is probably another season or two away from being on the same level, talentwise. The good news is nobody is gaining real ground on Kirby’s work.
Filed under Georgia Football, Recruiting, SEC Football
Why, the rich conferences will get all the best ones, unlike now… uh, wait.
Filed under Recruiting, The NCAA
I don’t know about you, but sometimes it almost feels like I take the level to which Kirby Smart’s has upgraded Georgia’s recruiting for granted. Then, I get smacked in the face with a sentence or two like this:
It is his fourth straight top-six class, and third straight among the top three. This class features five five-star recruits, more than any other team…
Good Lawd. There will almost certainly be bumps along the way, but this program has too much talent to suffer through a truly down year anymore, especially when no other program in the division is recruiting as well. It’s a Jimmies and Joes world, and Kirby’s not just living in it. He’s thriving in it.
Filed under Georgia Football, Recruiting
David Wunderlich looks at Florida’s roster evolution under Dan Mullen. It looks like he’ll still be coaching another year with more starters signed by McElwain than by him.
Dan Mullen didn’t inherit as great a bounty in his second stint in Gainesville.
He began with only 21 of 22 starters being Jim McElwain recruits from Game 1 thanks to Ole Miss transfer Van Jefferson taking a starting spot. By Game 3, it was 20 of 22 thanks to true freshman Trey Dean taking over for the injured Marco Wilson.
Then when the calendar turned to October for the LSU game, it was 19 of 22 thanks to West Virginia graduate transfer Adam Shuler earning the starting role at defensive tackle. UF didn’t release an official depth chart for the Peach Bowl that I can find, but if it had, the count would’ve been down to 18 of 22 with Ohio State transfer Trevon Grimes stepping in for the injured Tyrie Cleveland.
Looking ahead to Mullen’s Year 2, and the count probably shifts anywhere from a 15/7 McElwain-Mullen split to as high as 13/9.
David’s right that Florida’s 2006 season is the gold standard for them. Meyer famously won a national title with Zook’s recruits. The problem for Mullen is that he’s coming in after two straight staffs didn’t exactly kill it recruiting offensive players.
One of the remarkable things about all this is that something similar happened before. Recently. McElwain had to turn over almost the entire offensive roster quickly because of how bad of shape Will Muschamp left it in.
Looking at the first depth chart of McElwain’s second year in 2016, only four offensive starters were Muschamp signees: LT David Sharpe, C Cam Dillard, TE DeAndre Goolsby, and WR Brandon Powell.
Mullen did a good job with what he inherited last season, but without consistently better recruiting, Florida is going to have a tough slog getting back to the top of the division.
Competition only takes a guy so far.
Filed under Gators, Gators..., Recruiting
I know Tommy Perkins is tired of me quoting him, but I’ll never get enough of this analogy:
Miami: From a Bulldog perspective, if you looked at the state of Florida as though it were Afghanistan (and I do), the Gators, obviously, are the Taliban, while Miami is whatever warlord is running things in the Northeast. The Hurricanes don’t occupy anything remotely resembling moral high ground, but they are useful.
Indeed.
The quote came to mind again after reading Bud Elliott’s look at in state recruiting by Florida’s big three. The good news there is that there’s a reason times haven’t been as good as usual in the Sunshine State.
There were 42 in-state four- and five-stars from Florida. Only 20 stayed in the state. That is not a good sign for the in-state schools.
The bad news is that it appears the Gators are starting to get a little traction ahead of their two in state rivals.
It is, however, somewhat understandable. Florida needed time to build relationships with targets and should be set up to have an even stronger 2020 class. FSU had a losing record for the first time in almost four decades and if it can make it back to a bowl in 2019, should be better on the trail. And Miami had its coach retire after a tumultuous season. Manny Diaz should be better in his first full class.
‘Bama and Clemson (natch) have done their respective parts in harvesting some of the recruiting wreckage and Georgia helped itself to three four-star kids, but overall, there are some warlords who need to step up their recruiting games and soon.
Filed under ACC Football, Gators, Gators..., Recruiting
I know this is ostensibly a Georgia-centric college football blog, so arguably it might be irresponsible of me to post about basketball, but, friends, I submit to you when it involves Georgia Tech like this…
Georgia Tech has been served by the NCAA with a notice of allegations regarding alleged recruiting violations committed by former assistant basketball coach Darryl LaBarrie and Ron Bell, the former friend of coach Josh Pastner. The NCAA’s enforcement staff found two of the three allegations to constitute severe breaches of conduct (Level I violations), which are the highest level of violations in the NCAA’s structure.
… to paraphrase Peggy Noonan, it would be irresponsible for me not to post about basketball.
The jokes, as we like to say, write themselves. Start with the lowest hanging fruit.
Then, there’s the inevitable result of having a shortage of women on campus.
The NCAA found that in November 2016 – six months after his hire to join Pastner’s staff – LaBarrie took a prospect on an official visit and a team member to a strip club…
Given Atlanta’s stellar reputation with regard to entertainment venues, that kind of casts Geoff Collins’ newfound recruiting emphasis on the “404” in a whole new light. You gotta use all your resources.
Likewise, Tech was not found to be lacking institutional control or to have failed to monitor.
I’m not surprised. Given the lack of results, why would anyone in Tech’s administration have figured there was something amiss in the first place?
I’m also not surprised there’s nothing going on with the football program. With the genius’ lack of interest in recruiting, why bother trying to cheat?
I could go on, but, as I mentioned at the beginning, this is a football blog. Don’t let that stop you in the comments, though.
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UPDATE: Death, taxes and delusional Stingtalk hot takes.
Some of y’all need to chill out. Anyone who follows the Bball program has known about this for over a year. Wake up, Bball is a dirty sport. We had some things go sideways and have had to be above board since. As a result, we’ve got zero recruits.
We need to let this blow over and then get back on track.
The only real question I have about all this is whether unc or duke had anything to do with it. Mike and Roy were worried about JP kicking their asses.
Yeah, we’re not worried. Duke should be worried.
Filed under Georgia Tech Football, Recruiting, The NCAA
