The most surprisng development was Clemson, a pretty middle of the pack team that was most recently seen losing the Meineke car care bowl to go 7-6 on the year, landing four ultra blue chip, 5-star prospects, all from out of state (3 from FL, 1 from NC)... Pony express much? I would be surprised if NCAA folks are not taking a look at that already.
Clemson did have an incredible class. I'm not sure if they had to cheat to do it or not. Situated in South Carolina, it looks like they're trying to get into SC's SEC pipeline of southern schools. Might be why Texas is afraid of A&M going to the SEC and opening up Texas to SEC recruiting.
I read on another forum (via random internet rumormongering) that it's a combination of 1) they put a fair amount of guys in NFL relative to the size of the program and 2) booster$ and handler$
FSU has made an incredible turn around recruiting wise under Fisher. They're also a lock for the #1 ranked player from Texas in 2012 (big time DE prospect).
The good thing about recruiting is that, even if you mess up one class, you still have time to fix your errors with the next 1 or 2 classes afterward. Chances are, if you're a big conference team, you have enough depth to mask some of the weaknesses that your recruiting couldn't fill. However, 2 bad classes in a row, and you're probably doomed. Mike Sherman, you're on the clock.
True, but with the frequency of injuries and attrition, it's really hard to have a single bad class (numbers wise) when it comes the both the OL and DL. That's not even considering the fact that some of the kids will not pan out as expected. Texas' offensive line situation is a good example: We took 4 in 2007, 3 in 2008, 4 in 2009, but mistakenly only took 2 in 2010. Due to injuries and attrition, we're now extremely thin and expecting only 8 OL to suit up for spring drills. Even though we're bringing in 4 for 2011, it's very difficult to expect OL to contribute as freshman.
3rd. That's usually around where the Horns end up most years. Always have some surprises, Jackson Shipley and Case McCoy... possible combo threat?
Dont know how good Case will be, but Jaxon is supposed to be the real deal. I think this year will be a transition year with us winning probably around 8 MAYBE 9 games. Hopefully we can pull in some bigtime OOS prospects for next year.
I love this little excerpt from an interview with Mack Brown on signing day. Love him or hate him, pretty unbelievable that he managed to keep all but one OOS recruit (even though a big one) intact despite the 5-7 season and coaching turnover.
It really depends on how much Gilbert has improved. I know Case won't be getting PT to start out the season unless he wins the job over the Spring/Summer... not to mention a new OC. The Horns will def need a few top OOS prospects next season.
Clemson's been a force on the national recruiting scene for 4-5 years. They had the #2 class in America in '08, and they have secured the services of numerous blue-chip prospects over the years, most notably CJ Spiller, DaQuan Bowers, Jamie Harper, Tajh Boyd, and DeAndre McDaniel. But, I still find it hard to believe that a program in upstate South Carolina could snag Tony Steward, Sammy Watkins, AND Mike Bellamy. All 3 were 5* prospects, unanimous All-Americans, and had very impressive offer sheets (USC, Florida, Ohio State, Bama, Auburn, etc.). If they don't win the ACC in the next 2 years, head coach Dabo Swinney needs to be canned.
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/recruiting/football/news/story?id=6083018 Top non-AQ classes TCU, BYU, UH, UCF, SMU, BSU, USM, Marshall...
Top Offensive Tackle Prospect Cyrus Kouandjio Finally Signs -- With Alabama http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/20...kle-prosect-cyrus-kouandjio-finally-signs-wi/
I think that we'll be just fine without him. My favorite was the poll on ESPN "If you were the top rated recruit which of these three schools would you go to?" Alabama had 68% vote
