2017 Recruiting Update

[cloverleaf]

According to 247Sports composite recruiting rankings for 2017, looks like Urban
Meyer is off to a good start replacing all the players he's sending to the NFL. OSU
is ranked first with 13 commitments. Take a look:

1. Ohio State - 13
2. Oklahoma - 12
3. Alabama - 9
4. Miami - 15
5. Notre Dame - 10
6. Georgia - 9
7. Clemson - 9
8. Michigan - 11
9. Kentucky - 12
10. Iowa - 10
11. North Carolina - 8
12. Mississippi State - 11
13. Florida State - 7
14. Northwestern - 12
15. LSU - 7

Many of the usual suspects are doing well but note Miami #4, Kentucky #9, Iowa #10,
and Northwestern #14. It's way early but good to see these schools working hard
recruiting future players.

 

[cloverleaf]

Texas A&M quarterback troubles continue. Class of 2017 5-star quarterback recruit Tate Martell
announced that he has decommitted from Texas A&M. Martell is the No. 1 rated prospect in the
state of Nevada and had been committed to the Aggies since August 2015. I don't know what
A&Ms problem is with quarterbacks but Sumlim needs to get a handle on it.

 

[cloverleaf]

By the way, Kevin Sumlin's "honeymoon" period at Texas A&M is fading.

He joins Gus Malzahn (Auburn) and Hugh Freeze (Ole Miss) as top line SEC
coaches who need a big year. Who cares about Derek Mason at Vandy, he
was a token hire anyway.

 

[Wanger]

Quarterback Ryan Kelley, a junior at Basha High School in Chandler, Ariz., who committed to Oregon in November, announced Tuesday night that he no longer plans to join the Ducks. “I’d like to thank the University of Oregon for the love and opportunities they have presented me,” he wrote on Twitter.“ I really do respect and appreciate how that program is ran, due to some changes I have decided to step back from my commitment. No media at this time thank you!” The 6-foot-4, 180-pound Kelley was ranked as one of the top dual-threat quarterbacks in the Class of 2017.

Guess he didn't like what he's seen so far with Travis Jonsen, he has lived up to expectations so far and should only get better with game experience.

 

[RunLeeRun]

Guess he didn't like what he's seen so far with Travis Jonsen, he has lived up to expectations so far and should only get better with game experience.

That's one possibility. It also might be that his recruiter, Scott Frost, is no longer there and he decided he didn't like the direction. Regardless of one's opinion of his OC accumen, he was a great recruiter. Who got 2016 QB Terry Wilson to flip? Two new coordinators, only 1 current recruit....the luster is off of Oregon right now. So much of recruiting are those relationships and that includes peer recruiting. Who's peer recruiting for Oregon, right now? On top of that, QB is the pivot point of most recruiting classes, even if it isn't your top recruit. You don't want to have the habit of getting your QB late in the process. That's the one position you want to be ahead of the game on, otherwise you might be looking at FCS transfers year to year, like what may very well be happening. Recruiting classes can get turned around, but Oregon better catch fire pretty quick, I don't think they want to be behind the 8-ball, especially if they start off slow this year. Just one long distance opinion.

 

[linebets]

Texas A&M quarterback troubles continue. Class of 2017 5-star quarterback recruit Tate Martell
announced that he has decommitted from Texas A&M. Martell is the No. 1 rated prospect in the
state of Nevada and had been committed to the Aggies since August 2015. I don't know what
A&Ms problem is with quarterbacks but Sumlim needs to get a handle on it.

I think Tate had been hinting at his decommitment for a while. I assumed it was just a matter of time. I dont know if it was the 40+ year olds tweeting constantly at an 18 year old, or just an overall feel of wtf is going on over there. After his decommitment, Moorehead goes on a twitter rampage. Effectively running off 2 other commits. How he is still the WR coach is beyond me. I figured just fire him, he is terrible at his job. Friends of mine asked who you could get to replace him, my response was Oh no, how are we going to replace someone who taught the WRs to run lazy routes and quit on a play.

The worst part about Sumlin and his run at A&M coming to an end, is that Jim Turner and Chavis wont still be at the school. Jim Turner was at A&M during the Sherman era. The last time A&M had an offensive line. And Chavis, im pretty sure everyone knows why one would be sad to see him go.

 

[Wanger]

That's one possibility. It also might be that his recruiter, Scott Frost, is no longer there and he decided he didn't like the direction. Regardless of one's opinion of his OC accumen, he was a great recruiter. Who got 2016 QB Terry Wilson to flip? Two new coordinators, only 1 current recruit....the luster is off of Oregon right now. So much of recruiting are those relationships and that includes peer recruiting. Who's peer recruiting for Oregon, right now? On top of that, QB is the pivot point of most recruiting classes, even if it isn't your top recruit. You don't want to have the habit of getting your QB late in the process. That's the one position you want to be ahead of the game on, otherwise you might be looking at FCS transfers year to year, like what may very well be happening. Recruiting classes can get turned around, but Oregon better catch fire pretty quick, I don't think they want to be behind the 8-ball, especially if they start off slow this year. Just one long distance opinion.

Oregon's current QB problems didn't just happen overnight they happened because Frost had two straight bad years recruiting a QB, the one he said would be the starter after Mariota left could never even get off the practice squad and has left school. He left the QB position in shambles while every other skill position is loaded with returning players and promising young players. No doubt he can recruit but when it comes to developing players once they got to Oregon it was nothing to write home about.

 

[cloverleaf]

Tate Martell said back in August that USC was his second choice behind Texas A&M. Now that
he has said NO to A&M, one would think the Trojans are in the drivers seat to sign Martell. The
Southern California native still expects to take all five official visits, and he spend time at USC
for February Junior Day alongside 5-star WR Tyjon Lindsey, who went to the same HS as Martell.

Not like the kid doesn't have enough offers: Alabama, Arizona State, Arkansas, Auburn, Cal
Colorado, FSU, LSU, Michigan, Oklahoma State, Texas Tech, USC, UCLA, Utah, Washington
plus others.......................

 

[cloverleaf]

While Western Michigan is off to a fast start leading all schools with 16 commitments,
a number of programs are sucking air with just ONE commit.

Oregon State, Air Force, Ball State, Buffalo, Utah, UConn, South Florida, Georgia Tech,
South Alabama, San Jose State, Idaho, Fresno State, Georgia Southern, Texas State,
Old Dominion, Louisiana Tech and Purdue have some work to do.

 

[cloverleaf]

Mark Richt has definitely capitalized on the momentum he's built since arriving
in Coral Gables. Thirteen of the early 15 pledges are from the state of Florida -
with 9 of those in-state prospects coming from the South Florida area. Miami's
recruiting class is currently rated No. 4 in the country by 247Sports.

 

[cloverleaf]

NORTHWESTERN has already landed twelve 3-star prospects from five different
states. While landing four prospects from neighboring Ohio isn't much of a shock,
the Wildcats have found nice success in the state of Texas landing five prospects
from that talent rich territory. Fitzgerald is off to a good start this season.

 

[RunLeeRun]

Outside of the obvious in-state recruiting that every program has to prioritize, there are a few schools that regularly build a presence outside of their home states. Oklahoma will always be strong in Texas. West Virginia regularly throws out a slew of Florida offers. Penn State refers to the DMV — Washington D.C., Maryland and Virginia — corridor as its home turf.
Recently some programs have begun to expand their recruiting footprint into new regions, while others have finally started to find success in areas that traditionally weren't too fruitful. Here are 10 programs and their new regions of emphasis and success.
Clemson in the state of Tennessee – This is less a case of Clemson identifying Tennessee as a new priority and more a case of a program on the rise taking advantage of a perfect storm. In the 2017 class the state of Tennessee has seven players in the Top 150 according to 247Sports Composite. Two are committed to Clemson (Cordarrian Richardson and Amari Rodgers), one is considered a Clemson lean (Tee Higgins) and one more has Clemson very high on his list (Trey Smith). Clemson is having more success in Tennessee for 2017 than the home-state Volunteers. The drive from Knoxville to Clemson is roughly three hours.
Texas in the state of Louisiana – When Charlie Strong took over at Texas, his background allowed him to have some immediate success in the state of Florida. In his first full cycle as head coach he landed five commitments from Florida and offered 17 players. By contrast Strong landed one out of Louisiana to only eight offers. In the following class, Strong tried the same approach but it was Louisiana where he made the most headway landing four commits from the state (50 percent of the players he offered) and none from Florida (0 for 17). Planned satellite camps in Louisiana make it clear that the raids will continue.
Maryland in the state of Georgia – Welcome to the party, Maryland. Georgia has become as heavily recruited as any state in the country and D.J. Durkin wants some of the action. Already Maryland has offered 22 prospects in the state of Georgia for the 2017 class. That's as many as the previous staff had offered in the last three cycles combined. The Southeast emphasis doesn't stop with Georgia either. Durkin's background at the University of Florida has made the state of Florida a major priority as well. Mike London in Georgia and Chris Beatty in Florida are two of the heavy lifters for Durkin's staff.
Michigan in the state of Alabama – Jim Harbaugh loves a good fight and on the recruiting trail, he's found the biggest kid on the block to go after in Nick Saban. Harbaugh has taken a liking to the state of Alabama. He has offered 17 prospects out of Alabama in the 2017 class. By comparison, he's only offered 14 in his home state of Michigan. The Wolverines landed two commitments last year out of Alabama and already in this cycle he's got one in the fold (J'Marick Woods). In the eight years before Harbaugh's arrival at Michigan, the Wolverines had only offered six prospects from the state of Alabama. Michigan is holding two separate satellite camps in the state of Alabama this summer.
Nebraska in the state of California – Nebraska recruiting California is nothing new but Mike Riley is showing that the program is close to turning the corner and becoming a serious force in the state. The pickups of Patrick O'Brien and Lamar Jackson in the 2016 class were big in giving Nebraska a springboard in the state but what Riley and company have done in 2017 is even more telling. It has commits from QB Tristan Gebbia and WR Keyshawn Johnson Jr. but beyond that, there is serious buzz among California targets about the Nebraska program and guys are actually getting on campus. That is half the battle.
Cal in the state of Mississippi – You wouldn't think the best use of Cal's recruiting resources would be to dig into the state of Mississippi, but you would be wrong. Cal has become a serious player in the state landing lineman Ryan Gibson, wide receiver Jordan Duncan and talented offensive lineman Gentle Williams in the past two classes. Sonny Dykes' background in the south has helped establish a presence in the Magnolia State, as have the efforts of assistant coach Jacob Peeler.
Arkansas in the state of Louisiana – The most telling number that illustrates Arkansas' success in Louisiana is this: $400,000. That's what wide receiver coach and New Orleans native Michael Smith's pay was recently bumped to after putting together a dominant recruiting stretch in the state. As LSU and others began sniffing around Smith, Bret Bielema knew he couldn't lose the recruiting ace. All he's done is help Arkansas become such a factor in Louisiana that in Arkansas' 2016 and 2017 classes combined, no state has more signees/commits than Louisiana.
Florida in the state of Texas – Is this a fluke or a trend? Florida isn't new to recruiting the state of Texas but under Jim McElwain it has found some recent success. Randy Shannon brought Dallas Skyline product Kylan Johnson over with him after recruiting him to Arkansas and Johnson looks poised for a strong career in Gainesville. In the 2016 class, Florida won out on Tyrie Cleveland (the nation's No. 2 WR) and a possible sleeper at QB in Kyle Trask. Houston native Kerry Dixon and former Texas DL coach Chris Rumph have given the Gators some Texas credibility.
Texas A&M in the state of Tennessee – John Chavis is one of the nation's best defensive coordinators but he's not necessarily known for his recruiting prowess. He's made a mark at Texas A&M though by getting the Aggies into the state of Tennessee where he has strong ties from his days at the University of Tennessee. Last cycle, Chavis landed Ikenna Okeke (a safety Tennessee didn't push for) and linebacker Tyrel Dodson (a player Tennessee never offered). Both could be multi-year starters for the Aggies. Chavis is trying to do it again in 2017 with players like Alec Long (A&M was his first major offer) and Ben Hutch (A&M is heating up as others fade).
Tennessee in the state of Louisiana – There has been sustained effort by Tennessee in the state of Louisiana. One signee in the 2016 class and one commitment already in 2017 are the fruits of that labor but those numbers should steadily increase if Tennessee continues to make Louisiana a priority. The Vols have as many offers out to Louisiana kids in the 2017 class (22) as they do to kids in Texas. Over the past two years only Florida, Georgia and Texas have received more offers from the Tennessee staff than Louisiana.

 

[RunLeeRun]

Nebraska in the state of California – Nebraska recruiting California is nothing new but Mike Riley is showing that the program is close to turning the corner and becoming a serious force in the state. The pickups of Patrick O'Brien and Lamar Jackson in the 2016 class were big in giving Nebraska a springboard in the state but what Riley and company have done in 2017 is even more telling. It has commits from QB Tristan Gebbia and WR Keyshawn Johnson Jr. but beyond that, there is serious buzz among California targets about the Nebraska program and guys are actually getting on campus. That is half the battle.


Just a little more in depth......killing it in Cali, with Gebbia, KJjr...and a huge social media contigent among recruits. Even Martell tweeted he'd love to take an official. Besides those gets, NU will be in on it till the end for freaks Tyjon Lindsey (same HS as Taylor Martinez) and Darnay Holmes (teamate of Gebbia/KJjr). Add in possible Jamire Calvin (speedster), recently decommitted Rhame Johnson from UCLA (assumed to be an NU flip) and a possibilty of his teammate Deommodore Lenoir.....I've not seen this kind of recruiting momentum at NU in 10 years.

 

[cloverleaf]

RUTGERS - After leaving his job as an assistant at Ohio State to take over as head coach
at Rutgers, new Scarlet Knight head coach Chris Ash knew his priority would be to keep
New Jersey's top talent home. That emphasis is reflected in the 2017 class, as eight of
the programs nine pledges are homegrown prospects. With seven commits coming in the
last month, Rutgers is arguable the hottest program in the nation in terms of momentum
on the recruiting trail.

 

[cloverleaf]

RECRUITING VISITS - There are two types of visits in recruiting: One is the official. Under
the official visit guidelines, schools are permitted to pay for things like transportation, hotel
rooms, food (3 meals a day) and entertainment. Each Division 1 prospect is allowed to take
five such visits beginning in September of his senior year. Unofficial visits has taken on
more importance in today's recruiting world. Prospect can take as many unofficial visits as
they choose on their own dime. One of the universally accepted facts of recruiting in CFB
is that unless you can get a prospect on campus for an unofficial visit, the prospect won't
choose your school. One high profile coach said getting the recruit on campus at their own
expense is one of the most important aspect of the recruiting wars.

 

[GoSooners]

Nebraska in the state of California – Nebraska recruiting California is nothing new but Mike Riley is showing that the program is close to turning the corner and becoming a serious force in the state. The pickups of Patrick O'Brien and Lamar Jackson in the 2016 class were big in giving Nebraska a springboard in the state but what Riley and company have done in 2017 is even more telling. It has commits from QB Tristan Gebbia and WR Keyshawn Johnson Jr. but beyond that, there is serious buzz among California targets about the Nebraska program and guys are actually getting on campus. That is half the battle.


Just a little more in depth......killing it in Cali, with Gebbia, KJjr...and a huge social media contigent among recruits. Even Martell tweeted he'd love to take an official. Besides those gets, NU will be in on it till the end for freaks Tyjon Lindsey (same HS as Taylor Martinez) and Darnay Holmes (teamate of Gebbia/KJjr). Add in possible Jamire Calvin (speedster), recently decommitted Rhame Johnson from UCLA (assumed to be an NU flip) and a possibilty of his teammate Deommodore Lenoir.....I've not seen this kind of recruiting momentum at NU in 10 years.

No doubt about it, Nebraska is moving up the ladder in recruiting. From 32 to 28 to 27 to 14 so far for 2017. It's getting better every year.

 

[RunLeeRun]

No doubt about it, Nebraska is moving up the ladder in recruiting. From 32 to 28 to 27 to 14 so far for 2017. It's getting better every year.

It's getting better with this staff for sure. Definitely a half full mentality and very creative. Coming from Oregon State, they probably really like showing off some of their new toys.....landed a OT out of Ohio this morning, to boot. The last staff had all kinds of Ohio roots, but the instant they lost a GA to Kentucky, they got outworked by that program, and Ohio almost became a dirty word. Currently, 9 recruits, 8 states.....now the challenge will be to see how long they can keep some of these assistants. The WR coach had two NFL offers already and the LB coach won't be for long, the DB coach is a former NFL DC....hope Riley can pull off what Snyder has done with continuity.

 

[cloverleaf]

I have always liked Nebraska mainly because of Tom Osborne and how he won there. My
dad use to say other than Bear Bryant, Osborne was the best coach in college football. He
was 255-49-3 with the Huskers while Bear was 236-46-9 with the Tide.

I also like Mike Riley because he played for Alabama as a defensive back (1971-74). His
uncle Hayden Riley was assistant athletic director from 1970-79 and main reason Mike traveled
from Oregon to play ball at Bama. He was offered the Alabama job in 2002 but turned it down.

Saying that...I don't think Riley was a good hire for Nebraska nor do I believe he will be the
winner the Husker fans hope for. From what I understand, he has outstanding character but
he's never proven himself to be an outstanding head coach. Just my opinion..........

 

[RunLeeRun]

Riley's character can't be questioned. Some say too nice, but he fired the Dline coach after 1 year and I think upgraded. I'm not convinced he's got the right DC and as far as on the field, I have my doubts about some strange late game calls. I'm happy with the recruiting and I think they can develop some players. So we shall see if they can put it together.

 

[cloverleaf]

ARIZONA STATE - Former Oregon Ducks quarterback pledge RYAN KELLY has changed his
commit from the Ducks to Arizona State. Kelly is rated the No. 5 dual-threat quarterback
in the country. He originally committed to Oregon back in November, selecting the Ducks
over finalist Arizona State, UCLA, Cal and Michigan. Good pick-up for the Sun Devils.